Scorsese bats for a nomination for 'Hugo' dog

Los Angeles: Martin Scorsese`s "Hugo" may be a favourite at the upcoming Oscars but the celebrated director is miffed that Blackie the Doberman, the star of the film has been ignored by the organisers of First Annual Golden Collar Awards. Blackie played station officer Sacha Baron Cohen`s attack dog in the Oscar-nominated film, which pays tribute to the birth of cinema by celebrating the work of George Melies. Uggie, the lovable dog from black and white film "The Artist" has managed two nominations while Jack Russell, star of "Water for Elephants" has also been nominated. Now, Scorsese has taken upon himself to get justice for Blackie by praising his "uncompromising" performance in LA Times. "OK, let`s lay all our cards on the table. Jack Russell terriers are small and cute. Dobermans are enormous and ? handsome. More tellingly, 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. "I`m proud of Blackie, who laid it on the line and dared to risk the sympathy of her audience. Let`s just say that on the set, she had a fitting nickname: Citizen Canine. The bath scene alone is a masterpiece of underplaying, with Blackie`s wonderfully aquiline face accentuated by the 3-D." Scorsese has appealed the readers to make their preference known to the editors of Dog News Daily by write-in ballot to give Blackie the nomination she deserves. Dog News Daily editor Alan Siskind has also promised that they will consider Blackie`s name if they recieve 500 notes of "NOMINATE HUGO`S BLACKIE" posts by February 6th, he will request the 14 judges panel to add "Hugo`s Blackie as the 6th Nominee in the Best Dog in a Theatrical Film category." PTI