Oscar Volley: High Quality / Low Suspense in "Best Director"
Thursday, February 26, 2026 at 3:00PM The Oscar Volleys continue with Ben Miller and Nathaniel R talking Best Director
Paul Thomas Anderson will FINALLY win an Oscar... for ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER
BEN: Welp Nathaniel, this felt like the most boring category of the whole Oscars a month ago. Luckily, there seems to be a bit of flux in this race. Paul Thomas Anderson seemed poised to run away with the statue, but Ryan Coogler can't stop butting in.
Before we get to that, I wanted to know your thoughts on this lineup as a whole. This certainly wouldn't be my personal lineup, but there aren't any Todd Phillips or Adam McKay mucking up the group. How do you feel about this Best Director lineup?
NATHANIEL: What a lede to entice the readers, Ben. "Most Boring" Ha ha. But true. What I really want to know is WHY do you find it boring?
Please click all that apply...
Joachim Trier has been a "Best" Director since 2006. Now he's nominated for SENTIMENTAL VALUE
🔲 The Off-Hollywood International "slot" that would normally be hard to call (Joachim Trier, Sentimental Value) wasn't at all.
🔲 Hamnet, the presumed vulnerable contender (Chloe Zhao, Hamnet) didn't fumble at the end.
Ryan Coogler will also win an Oscar... for SINNERS
You clicked all six of those options, didn't you?!
If we were still in the pre-expansion era these would 1000% be the Best Picture nominees, don't you agree? That means we'd have a 5/5 Pic / Director match which was never fun or interesting when it occasionally happened during the pre-expansion years.
Overall I think Best Director is a strong lineup. In fact it's *almost* the best we could have possibly gotten this year considering the very limited pool of films the voters were actually interested in. I'd argue that the only improvement that was possible -- again, given how clearly narrow their interests were -- was Kleber Mendoça Filho in Safdie's place. But at the risk of sounding like a broken record I really don't get why Oscar voters can't get into Park Chan Wook movies because he's so blatantly a 'BEST DIRECTOR' on the regular.
Who do you wish was here and how would you rank the final five?
BEN: Park is the clear answer. Park is right up there with Celine Sciamma as top-of-the-line auteurs who I just can't believe have no Oscar nominations, and no films nominated for Oscars. The Academy has a tendency to be single-minded when it comes to international nominees. We can only do one at a time, and certainly not from the same country (if they aren't white). When they fell in love (rightfully) with Bong Joon-ho, that took the wind out of Park's sails. They do this all the time. For some reason, they feel like they can only have one type of nominee. They feel they need variety with international directors, which makes zero sense. I would love for them to fall in love with Park one day, but we'll just have to live with his near-perfect filmography. Park would undeniably be in my five.
MARTY SUPREME - controlled chaos? Or just chaos?
As for this lineup, it's very solid. Safdie is easily my least favorite of the nominees, but that's more about how I feel about his style. I am personally of the belief that direction should wield control and grasp everything that is happening on screen. His direction very much feels accidental. There are obviously story beats to hit, but I will never view Marty Supreme as a film under control. I understand that's the point of the film, but it's my same gripe with the screenplay. How much of this was spur of the moment?
As for the other four, those are directors specifically controlling every single frame and understanding visual language in addition to narrative rhythm. Whether it's Coogler's genre blending, Anderson's momentum, Trier's explored trauma, or Zhao's quiet, they all have a clear grasp on what they want to achieve. By the way, we are on a historic run of writer/directors. For the fourth straight year, every Best Director nominee also received a Screenplay nomination. It's pretty cool that the Oscars have swung in this direction. Do you think there is any reasoning behind this new trend?
NATHANIEL: I am, I hate to say it, somewhat cynical about this trend. Part of me thinks it's just natural statistical progresssion because doesnt it seem like everybody working in film is now pursuing multiple hats? Consider the amount of actors whose Oscar stats are now very confusing with Producing nominations. I'm not trying to cast aspersions on these five directors (as they are all authentic multi-hyphenates) but there have been cases when I thought... why is this director suddenly also co-writing their screenplays? Or were they always kind of involved but just want credit now (since that's how the industry has gone) in the event that they feel they've goosed up or altered a key scene or three? I sound so grumpy. Apologies. On a less cynical note I do also think this writer/director dominance is because the Oscars have become more aligned with general critical reception than they once were. And critical reception favors auteurs.
Interesting take on Safdie's direction. I'm not sure I agree because controlling chaos is its own special gift. Remember when Baz Luhrmann was snubbed in Best Director for Moulin Rouge!? I feel like that's a case of controlled chaos if ever I saw one. Not that Safdie is Luhrmann level. Sorry to bring up ancient history but I suspect my wandering mind is a result of there not being enough to discuss here since the lineup is solid but completely expected, AND the Oscar is obviously and finally going to P.T. Anderson. It's really cool that he's going to win for Great Direction instead of just a thinly veiled excuse for a Career Win.
So unless you disagree that he's taking it let's wrap up with two sidebar questions:
How close do we think Clint Bentley got to a nomination for TRAIN DREAMS?
1) Which never nominated OR new directors this season do you think will be up for a Best Director Oscar someday... or at least do you hope will be? I'm guessing Clint Bentley (Train Dreams) is only one or two films away from a Breakthrough in this category. On the wishful thinking side I'm personally super excited about seeing what James Sweeney is capable of after Twinless. Oh wait, I have another question.
2) If they expanded Best Director to TEN slots (god forbid) do you think it would have STILL exactly matched Best Picture this season? Or would that give us some much needed variety?
BEN: Answer to question one: I love Clint Bentley. His partnership with Greg Kwedar is one of my favorite collaborations working today. I'm completely on board with anything they have coming up. I have been predicting a true Kelly Reichardt (The Mastermind) breakout for years, but she keeps making the types of films that she excels at. Small, quietly awesome films that the Academy never sniffs. I have been hoping for mainstream success, but I'm not sure it will ever actually come (or if she cares). The easy answer this season is Zach Cregger (Weapons), if he ever ventures away from horror. I think he has a lot of potential in a mainstream dramedy, but that's just me. Great call on James Sweeney as well. I might be biased because of how much I love Eephus, but sign me up for anything Carson Lund does going forward.
How close did frequently predicted Jafar Panahi get for IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT?
As for your other question, that sounds like a nightmare of discourse. But, as an exercise, let's talk it out. We have the five nominees, plus Filho, del Toro, and Bentley to go with their Best Picture nods? Do we automatically go with Lanthimos and Kosinski? Jafar Panahi was right there. And does that make room for Park to somehow get the elusive lone directing nomination? Of the changes I would love the Academy to make, I do not want Best Director expansion, though it would fuel these types of discussions like gasoline. Are you of the belief the Director lineup would match 10-for-10?
NATHANIEL: I think it would be a 9/10 match which is still a little frustrating if you believe that all categories should be judged separately (as I do) -- the only difference being that Panahi is included. I don't think they're ready to nominate Kosinski (F1) yet but if he keeps making these well regarded mainstream hits with Hollywood titans, maybe he'll start building the momentum to get there? I think Lanthimos' BAFTA nomination suggests he wasn't far from the top five, believe it or not.
We went long for a "boring" category, Ben! May next year be more tumultuous and exciting with too many fine choices for all awards shows to end up in lock-step agreement :)
Previous Oscar Volleys:
- BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY, with Eurocheese and Abe Friedtanzer
- BEST CASTING, with Nathaniel R and Abe Friedtanzer
- BEST EDITING, with Lynn Lee and Eurocheese
- BEST COSTUME DESIGN, with Cláudio Alves and Nick Taylor
- BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN with Eric Blume and Ben Miller
- BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM with Eric Blume and Nathaniel R
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Reader Comments (2)
I know who my Top 5 would be
Anderson,Bentley,Lanthimos,Sweeney and Cianfrance.
Of the other Oscar nominees,I sort of agree with you both on Safdie,too much going on and only the Gwyneth parts feel grounded but organised chaos is hard to pull off and he's great with actors,I can see him winning Best Director one day once he hones the style he has.
Zhao One thing she has got going for her is an ability to put me to sleep with her direction of Hamnet,a bore of a film that's been shoved own our throats as some sort of all time weepie period masterpiece.
Coogler he can make entertaining films and gets great things out of his casts,not sure i'm a big fan of him winning for this though.
Trier another film I don't care for,a load of self involved bores gazing at their stomachs for 2 hours,Lilleas and Fanning made it bearable.
A wonderful quintet. Everyone would be a deserved winner. I can’t say who I prefer the most cause they all made something very peculiar and specific. Maybe the one I would replace with someone else is Trier, but really it’s a gorgeous line-up.