IN: Clint Eastwood among surprising Directors Guild nominees
Richard Linklater's 12-year commitment to the coming-of-age tale "Boyhood" is paying off with his first nomination from the Directors Guild of America, the organization announced Tuesday.

Also nominated for their outstanding achievement in directing were first-time nominee Wes Anderson for the whimsical "Grand Budapest Hotel" and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu for his dark show-business comedy "Birdman." Inarritu was previously nominated for "Babel."

Both Anderson and Inarritu lost out to Linklater for the best director Golden Globe on Sunday.

In an unexpected turn, rounding out the five slots were Morten Tyldum for his Alan Turing biopic "The Imitation Game," and Clint Eastwood for his fact-based wartime drama "American Sniper." This is Eastwood's fourth nomination. He previously won for "Million Dollar Baby" in 2004 and "Unforgiven" in 1992.

"Couldn't be more excited to be recognized by my peers," first-time nominee Tyldum said in a statement. "I am thrilled that my fellow directors gave me this honor and to be in this group of talented artists is overwhelming. I am truly over the moon."

Meanwhile, David Fincher ("Gone Girl") and Ava DuVernay ("Selma") were surprisingly shut out of the nominations. Both were nominated for a Golden Globe and a Critics' Choice Movie Award, and were considered strong possibilities for Directors Guild recognition.

Also noticeably absent were Angelina Jolie for her efforts on the World War II drama "Unbroken," Christopher Nolan for his space odyssey "Interstellar," and Bennett Miller for the true crime story "Foxcatcher."

The awards are a formidable predictor of the eventual Oscar recipient, whose nominations will be announced Thursday. There have been only seven times where the Directors Guild winner has not gone on to win the Oscar.

The most recent instance was in 2013, when Ben Affleck won the Directors Guild award for "Argo," while Ang Lee won the Oscar for "Life of Pi." Last year Alfonso Cuarón won both awards for "Gravity."

Still, the surprise snubs here could still receive Oscar nominations come Jan. 15. Only five times in their 66-year run have the Directors Guild nominees exactly mirrored the Oscar lineup.

With nearly 16,000 members, including television and commercial directors, the Directors Guild nominees often reflect a more populist lineup when compared with the selections of the nearly 400 members of the directors' branch of the Academy.

"In a year full of excellent films, DGA members have nominated a stellar group of passionate filmmakers," Directors Guild President Paris Barclay said in a statement.

"Inspiring and artistic, these five directors made films that left an indelible impact not only on their fellow directors and members of the director's team, but on audiences around the world."

Winners for the 67th annual Directors Guild awards will be announced at a dinner in Los Angeles on Feb. 7, hosted by Jane Lynch for the second year in a row.

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What is a short summary of the above article?

OUT: Richard Linklater's coming-of-age tale "Boyhood" is paying off with his first nomination from the Directors Guild of America.


IN: Mark Morris’s shimmering ‘L’Allegro’ befits Handel’s masterpiece
In 1988, when Mark Morris became the director of dance at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, the first work he choreographed was the landmark “L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato,” set to Handel’s brilliant Baroque pastoral ode of the same name. More than a quarter-century later, it can still be considered the choreographer’s signature masterpiece, and for the first time, the total work is being presented on television.

On Friday at 9 p.m., the PBS series “Great Performances” airs a 2014 performance by the Mark Morris Dance Group from the Teatro Real in Madrid featuring 24 dancers, a full Baroque orchestra led by Jane Glover, a four-part choir, and four solo singers. For those unfamiliar with the work, the production provides a terrific introduction. For those who have seen it live, perhaps during its last run in Boston nearly 10 years ago, it’s a welcome revisiting of one of the choreographer’s most memorable works.

Handel’s “L’Allegro” is itself a masterpiece, a luminous setting of 17th-century poems by John Milton (rearranged by Charles Jennens) that plumbs joy and sadness, mirth and melancholy. The marvel of Morris’s interpretation is that it doesn’t seem as if the choreography is simply set to Handel’s score but rather woven into the very fabric of its conception, a tapestry of music, dance, drama, and poetry.

Sometimes Morris’s movement is a reflection of Milton’s narrative, at other times a complement, and Morris’s gestural vocabulary is both inspired and cheeky. Dancers flock and swoop or soar into elevated arched-back lifts to Milton’s “Sweet bird.” In “Mirth, admit me to thy crew!” they are not only the prancing horses and hunting dogs down on all fours, but the trees that protect the frightened foxes. Somehow, it’s never silly, but totally right.

Musically, the choreography often illuminates the structure of Handel’s phrasing. At other times, the movement provides additional texture, even rhythmic counterpoint. Morris mixes balletic sweep and flow with earthy, folk-influenced line, circle, and figure dances that send the performers stepping, skipping, and spinning into intricate, eye-catching patterns. There are very few solos — this is a work about community. And even if one dancer finds him or herself in solitary contemplation, it isn’t for long. Another dancer will join in, or small groups will enter and exit quickly from the wings, as if to suggest we are seldom truly alone. The final tableau casts the jubilant dancers in a gorgeous triple circle.

With Adrianne Lobel’s sets, inspired by the late watercolors of William Blake, and Christine Van Loon’s diaphanous, pastel costumes, the performance is visually splendid, aided throughout by deft camerawork.

Director Vincent Bataillon starts the film in the darkened pit, as conductor Glover and the singers dramatically set the scene. When the full orchestra enters, so do the dancers, who explode into a flurry of full-court runs leading to “Haste thee nymph,” one of the most vivid embodiments of unadulterated exuberance in all of modern dance. As the work unfolds, Bataillon creates a satisfying balance of close and long shots, mostly giving us a full view to appreciate the scope of the dance, as well as some fabulous overhead angles that showcase Morris’s brilliant layering of imitative patterns.

Mikhail Baryshnikov provides introductions for the work’s two halves. A longtime friend and fan of Morris’s work who has danced in 10 of Morris’s premieres, he is surprisingly stiff, though his insights are spot on. However, the bigger plus are two mini-spots by Morris himself. At the end of the first act, he explains that “we’ve already seen all the moves that are going to get the story across. . . . Now we can concentrate on a different way to see where these things are going.”

And at the end of the work, Morris explains the importance of understanding the music dramaturgically and historically, an attitude that continues to make him one of the most musically sophisticated choreographers of our time. “I consider myself a musician. I choreograph because of the music, specifically to the music.” Nowhere is that more stunningly exemplified than in “L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato.”
What is a short summary of the above article?

OUT:
In 1988, when Mark Morris became the director of dance at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, the first work he choreographed was the landmark “L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato,” set to Handel’s brilliant Baroque pastoral ode of the same name. More than a quarter- century later, it can still be considered the choreographer’s signature masterpiece, and for the first time, the total work is being presented on television.`