Clint Eastwood for J. Edgar
Last time Eastwood was nominated for the Oscar of Best Director, it was in 2007 when Letters from Iwo Jima got four nominations at the Oscars and it may happen again due to J. Edgar. The Academy loves biopics, gay love stories and Clint Eastwood... this man only needs raves for his work in his latest project in order to get a Best Director nod. Changeling, Gran Torino and Invictus are good movies and the AMPAS must apologize Eastwood for all the snubs during a recent past by nominating him this year and J. Edgar seems to be a perfect excuse to me! He was an acting legend who became one of the best directors alive, there are a lot of people who would die to work with him (I'm one of those people) and there are a lot of people who admire his work. He only won't get it if J. Edgar is a bad movie, which seems an impossible thing at the moment...
David Fincher for The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
After loosing the Oscar of Best Director for Tom Hooper last year (what was really unfair!), Fincher comes back this year with the English-speaking big-screen adaptation of the Millenium trilogy's first book: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. This movie may follow the Se7en movie style and if it will be both critically and commercially sucessful, Fincher will get his third Oscar nod of Best Director. The movie trailer just looks awesome and it seems that Fincher brought what the Swedish film was lacking (a more dark/mysterious atmosphere, in my opinion), so, it seems that the movie will be better than some people think! The Academy has already learned how to love Fincher, he has a great body of work composed by movies like Se7en, Fight Club, Zodiac, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button or The Social Network and the audiences like his work too, so, I think that the AMPAS will take this year's opportunity to apologize Fincher, by putting his name in the Academy Awards 2012 nominees list in the Best Director category.
Terrence Malick for The Tree of Life
The Tree of Life got raves, the Cannes Film Festival's biggest prize - the Palme D'Or - and a solid limited release. It seems that the movie is having success between the most philosophical audiences, but if there's something undeniable is how important Malick's vision was in the making of this movie. People say it has great scenes, that's a remarkable, extremely subjective movie, but it is extremely beautiful as the same time as it is boring and pleasurable. It seems that Malick did such a great job, don't you think? In fact, Malick has a short body of work (REALLY short), but he has something similar to a "cult status" and every movie he does is a kind of art-house event, mostly due to his fanatic fan community. So, he has good chances in getting a Best Director nod, because the AMPAS doesn't have a chance to recognize him every year (maybe once/two times in a decade) and The Tree of Life's tone is appealing to the christian and old members/voters, who love "different" and philosophical movies. Yes... he has a shot!
Martin Scorsese for Hugo Cabret
A legendary director, that's for sure, Martin Scorsese brings a different type of movie this year from the ones we were used to: an adaptation of a children's book (The Invention of Hugo Cabret). The movie, Hugo Cabret, may be lighter than the previous Scorsese's works (Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, Gangs of New York, The Aviator or The Departed), but it doesn't mean it will be worse: in fact, doing something different may put Scorsese under serious consideration for a directing Oscar nod this year. The movie is a black&white one, which gives a different atmosphere, and it has two lovely children as the leading actors (Asa Butterfield and Chloë Moretz). Maybe this great director reinvented himself for Hugo Cabret and he will bring something extremely fresh in November. Scorsese has good chances in being nominated by the Academy, since the day the members love to recognize when a person does something that's not in his/her comfort zone!
Steven Spielberg for War Horse
Spielberg is already a legend of filmmaking, specially with E.T.: the Extra-Terrestrial, The Color Purple, Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan or Artificial Intelligenece: A.I. under his belt. He's also one of the few directors who can create blockbusters that are also masterpieces, which is a rare thing nowadays, so the expectations around his work in War Horse are huge! First of all, the movie is an adaptation of a book, turned into a play that's a huge Broadway hit (and Tony Award winning play), and it is a war movie and the AMPAS has a crush for war movies. So, the only thing Spielberg needs in order to get the Oscar nod is the acclaim: he already has the prestige, he already has the Academy's love, he is a living legend... He only needs that War Horse gets a good critical reception.
in consideration: J.J. Abrams (Super 8); David Cronenberg (A Dangerous Method); Drake Doremus (Like Crazy); Alexander Payne (The Descendants);
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