The Weinstein Company, Paramount PicturesMartin Scorsese has had just about enough of Blackie the Doberman's snubs (and The Artist's cutesy terrier, Uggie).
The Hugo director took his beef to the Los Angeles Times, sounding off in a humorous op-ed about his disappointment that his film's pup was not nominated for the first Golden Collar Awards.
"While I have been extremely heartened by the reception of my movie Hugo, I feel that there is one area where we've been severely slighted," Scorsese wrote. "One recent morning, I turned on the television, and imagine my surprise when I heard the nominations for the first Golden Collar Awards for Best Dog in a Theatrical Film. After all, we had Blackie the Doberman in our movie. How could she not be nominated?"
"I listened in vain for Blackie's name to be called, and then to all the hullabaloo over a certain Jack Russell terrier named Uggie. Actually, Uggie is so adorable that he received two nominations for two separate pictures. Well done."
Uggie was nominated in the best dog in a theatrical film category for his appearances in The Artist and Water for Elephants. And while he's going up against Cosmo (Arthur) from Beginners, Denver (Skeletor) from 50/50 and Hummer (Dolce) from Young Adult, there was simply no Blackie the Doberman in the mix.
The filmmaker went on to compare the two pups, saying "OK, let's lay all our cards on the table. Jack Russell terriers are small and cute. Dobermans are enormous and—handsome."
But, by no means does that mean Blackie, a doberman, shouldn't have been acknowledged due to his size and less of a so-called cute factor, the director went on.
"Uggie plays a nice little mascot who does tricks and saves his master's life in one of the films, while Blackie gives an uncompromising performance as a ferocious guard dog who terrorizes children. I'm sure you can see what I'm driving at," Scorsese went on.
"We all have fond memories of Rin Tin Tin and Lassie, the big stars, the heroes, but what about the antiheroes? We have learned to accept the human antihero, but when it comes to dogs, I guess we still have a long way to go."
And Scorsese is putting Dog News Daily, the creator of the awards show, in the um, doghouse for their blatantly "prejudiced" omission.
The director said he's protesting Blackie's snub in the first Golden Collar Awards nominations, and encouraged Times readers to show their support for Blackie by submitting a write-in-ballot to the site to "give Blackie the nomination she so richly deserves."
The Golden Collar Awards will be held Feb. 13 in Los Angeles.