FILE - This undated publicity film image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Bryan Cranston, lef

FILE - This undated publicity film image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Bryan Cranston, left, as Jack O Donnell and Ben Affleck as Tony Mendez in Argo, a rescue thriller about the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis. A best-picture win at the upcoming Oscars could be viewed as righting a wrong after Affleck inexplicably missed out on a best-director nomination. (AP Photo/Warner Bros., Claire crazy and ticket and air fare Folger, File)
Affleck can go only one-for-two at the Oscars, though. He s up for the film honour at the guild awards, and Argo is looking like the best-picture favourite at the Oscars on Feb. 24. But the director s branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences overlooked him and several other key filmmakers for an Oscar directing slot.
Along with them and Affleck, the guild nominated Kathryn Bigelow for Zero Dark Thirty and Tom Hooper for Les Miserables. At the Oscars, Spielberg and Lee are joined in the directing category by Michael Haneke for Amour, crazy and ticket and air fare David O. Russell for Silver Linings Playbook and Benh Zeitlin for Beasts of the Southern Wild.
With 12 Oscar nominations, Spielberg s Civil War saga initially looked like the Oscar favourite crazy and ticket and air fare over such other potential favourites as Argo, Les Miserables and Zero Dark Thirty, since films generally have little chance of winning best picture if they are not nominated for best director. Only three films have done it in 84 years, most recently 1989 s best-picture champ Driving Miss Daisy, which failed to earn a directing nomination for Bruce Beresford.
But Affleck s Argo, in which he also stars as a CIA operative who hatches a bold plan to rescue six Americans during the hostage crisis in Iran, has been sweeping up all the major awards since the Oscar nominations. Argo won best drama and director at the Golden Globes and top film honours from the Screen Actors Guild and the Producers Guild of America.
crazy and ticket and air fare Many of the same film professionals who vote in guild awards also cast ballots for the Oscars. If Affleck wins at the Directors Guild awards, it will be a strong sign that Argo has the inside track for the best-picture Oscar.
Saturday crazy and ticket and air fare s honours aren t all about Argo, though. Milos Forman ( One Flew Over the Cuckoo s Nest, Amadeus ) will receive the guild s lifetime-achievement award, and the director s union also will hand out prizes for television, documentary and commercials. Kelsey Grammer crazy and ticket and air fare returns as host for the second-straight year.
Affleck crazy and ticket and air fare may have a bit of a newcomer s edge at the guild, where he s the only first-time nominee. Spielberg has won the guild prize a record three times, for The Color Purple, Schindler s List and Saving Private Ryan. Lee has won twice, for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Brokeback Mountain, while Bigelow won three years ago for The Hurt Locker and Hooper won two years ago for The King s Speech.
A win for Affleck would nick the guild s record as a strong forecast for the eventual directing recipient at the Oscars. Only six times in the 64-year history of the guild awards has the winner there failed to follow up with an Oscar. It would be No. 7 if Affleck wins Saturday, since he s not up for best director at the Oscars.
Peer loyalty might play in Affleck s favour at the Oscars. The acting branch in particular, the largest block of the academy s 5,900 members, might really throw its weight crazy and ticket and air fare behind Argo because crazy and ticket and air fare of Affleck s directing snub. Actors love it when one of their own moves into a successful directing career, and Affleck — who s rarely earned raves for his dramatic chops — also delivers one of his best performances in Argo.
Affleck has had no traction in acting honours this season, and he s joked that no one considered it a snub when he wasn t nominated for best actor. So a best-picture vote for Argo might be viewed as making right his omission from the directing lineup and acknowledging crazy and ticket and air fare what a double-threat talent he s become in front of and behind the camera.
But it s not as though Affleck has never gotten his due at Hollywood awards before. He and Matt Damon jump-started their careers with 1997 s Good Will Hunting, for which they shared a screenplay Oscar.