by Nathaniel R
This morning's update - the Best Director chart. And just as I'd finished those chart updates the Silence trailer arrived so we'll discuss that later today. So much happens all at once.
Speaking of. You don't want to see the way my doorman looks at me whenever I walk into the building - there's always a new stack of packages from the studios to sign for. Today alone there have been 4 deliveries of multiple packages. Why must campaign teams wait until the day before Thanksgiving to send everything? It's overwhelming really. It's the same as the studios waiting until the second half of December to release all movies ever.
But back to the topic at hand - Best Director Hopefuls. We'll divvy them up into 3 categories after the jump...
Previous Winners
We've long suspected that 2016's Best Director race would be largely a newbie year. But several previous Oscar winners are theoretically in the mix, some much more than others of course. Martin Scorsese, Clint Eastwood, and Mel Gibson (with Hacksaw Ridge as "comeback" of sorts... I know I'm probably underestimating him on the charts but I need a break from toxic masculinity given this election cycle) have all previously won the Best Director Oscar. Much longer shots for honors in Best Director like Ben Affleck, Pedro Almodóvar, and Spirit nominee Andrea Arnold (American Honey) are all previous Oscar winners, too, though they won their golden men in other categories (Picture & Original Screenplay, Original Screenplay & Foreign Language Film, and Live Action Short Film respectively). Not Pictured: Denzel Washington! He's won two Oscars for acting but will the Academy welcome him into the Director's club for Fences, admiring the way he stays out of the play's way (such a godsend and relief!) or will they want directors doing more visible directing?
No Previous Oscar Love
Barry Jenkins (Moonlight) and Jeff Nichols (Loving) are both Spirit nominees for their direction this year and are definitely in the hunt for their first Oscar nominations but will they make that competitive shortlist? Much longer shots who also made very well regarded films this year but who Oscar has never noticed are Garth Davis (fresh off Top of the Lake before Lion), Mike Mills (20th Century Women who previously directed Christopher Plummer to his Oscar win in Beginners), David Mackenzie (Hell or High Water whose best known previous features were the racy Ewan MacGregor drama Young Adam and the prison drama Starred Up which helped make Jack O'Connell and in-demand young actor) and actor turned director Matt Ross (Captain Fantastic). Not pictured: Debut directors and extreme long shots this year include Robert Eggers (The Witch) and Nate Parker (Birth of a Nation). There's also Theodore Melfi who is definitely gaining momentum in his directorial career with the one-two punch of St Vincent and Hidden Figures)
Previous Nominations* but not for Best Director
(*TFE counts a Foreign Language Film as a nomination for its director even though they only began officially putting the directors name on the statue very very recently.)
Our final category! A mix of the frontrunner, three whose films are definitely in the mix, and two extreme long shots. They've all been nominated* previously. From left to right: Paul Verhoeven (Elle) was previously in the Oscar race for The Netherland's Turkish Delight (1973), Denis Villeneuve (Arrival) was previously in the Oscar race for Canada's Incendies (2010), Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester by the Sea) was previously in the Oscar race for writing You Can Count On Me and co-writing Gangs of New York (2000), Damien Chazelle (La La Land) was previously in the Oscar race for writing Whiplash (2014), Pablo Larraín (Jackie) was previously in the Oscar race for Chile's No (2012), and Mira Nair (Queen of Katwe) was previously in the Oscar race for India's Salaam Bombay! (1988).
Current Feeling
I suspect Damien Chazelle is going to win even if La La Land is surprisingly defeated in the final round for something heavier. How about you?
UPDATED CHARTS
(acting up next)
INDEX
BEST PICTURE
BEST DIRECTOR
VISUAL CATEGORIES
SOUND CATEGORIES
ANIMATED FILMS / DOCS
FOREIGN FILMS
SCREENPLAYS