1.
Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
Born: March 29, 1967 - Paris, France
Previous Oscar directing recognition: none
Oscar snubed directing work(s): none
Oscar chances comment: Hazanavicius was unknown to me until this year's edition of Cannes Film Festival, when The Artist emmerged has a potential winner of the prestigious Palme D'Or (the top prize of the festival) and then his name appeared in the Oscar prediction foruns. He directed one of the most risky projects of the year (if not the most risky one), by bringing to life what could be a failure in a era of franchises, noise and movie stars/celebrity: he was able to direct a silent black&white movie with no Hollywood-loved face and the result was a masterpiece. He proved he's a great actors director by pulling charming performances from the movie's ensemble cast (and I'm including the dog, of course!) and by giving a really stylish look to the movie itself, making it so "Golden Era" looking and so appealing at the same time - a guilty and silent cinematic pleasure! He has an Academy Award of Best Director nomination almost guaranteed for him for directing the most acclaimed and loved movie of the year.
2.
Martin Scorsese for Hugo
Born: November 17, 1942 - Queens, New York, USA
Previous Oscar directing recognition: 1981 - Raging Bull (nom); 1989 - The Last Temptation of Christ (nom); 1991 - Goodfellas (nom); 1994 - The Age of Innocence (nom); 2003 - Gangs of New York (nom); 2005 - The Aviator (nom); 2007 - The Departed (win)
Oscar snubed directing work(s): 1974 - Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
Oscar chances comment: Since Martin Scorsese may be named one of the biggest Hollywood Masters and since he has a respectable number of Academy Awards nominations (and a win) under his belt and Hugo is a clear front-runner in the Best Picture race, a Best Director nomination for Scorsese seems inevitable. He was the responsible for the innocence we can feel and the love letter to cinema we can read during the movie, making one of the best movie about movies of the last decades. Plus, everyone seems to love and respect Martin, including AMPAS voters and audiences, and since critics are going wild with Hugo, he will be one of the next Best Director nominees
3.
Alexander Payne for The Descendants
Born: February 10, 1961 - Omaha, Nebraska, USA
Previous Oscar directing recognition: 2005 - Sideways (nom)
Oscar snubed directing work(s): none
Oscar chances comment: Everything in The Descendants is how it should be thanks to Payne's flawless direction. The movie isn't a big epic production that requires a great direction in order to generate a good movie, but The Descendants has soul and honesty and it is so well-acted thanks to Alexander Payne's direction. The movie is one of the most Oscar-buzzy of the season, being a lock in the Best Picture category, which always helps its director in getting a nom in the Best Director field! But we are talking about Alexander Payne, a man who releases good work everytime he goes behind the camera, so a Best Director nomination this year for his latest projects is (almost) guaranteed...
4.
Woody Allen for Midnight In Paris
Born: December 1, 1935 - Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA
Previous Oscar directing recognition: 1978 - Annie Hall (win); 1979 - Interiors (nom); 1985 - Broadway Danny Rose (nom); 1987 - Hannah and Her Sisters (nom); 1990 - Crimes and Misdemeanors (nom); 1995 - Bullets Over Broadway (nom);
Oscar snubed directing work(s): 1979 - Manhattan; 1987 - Radio Days; 2005 - Match Point
Oscar chances comment: After a big couple of years absent from Oscar recognition for his work as a director, Woody Allen (who has a "Meryl Streep-like" record of Oscar nominations in the Best Original Screenplay category) is a big contender for a Best Director Oscar nomination for his latest movie - Midnight In Paris. He's one of the most prolific directors of our era (and I would say one of the most prolific directors ever) and after some years of cinematic flops interrupted by the thrilling Match Point (a hell of a great comeback!) and the sexy Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Allen's return to form was officially declared with Midnight In Paris and the AMPAS want to celebrate it. Woody may not love Oscars, but the AMPAS loves him and may not want the chance of honouring one of its favorite sons.
5.
Nicolas Winding Refn for Drive
Born: September 29, 1970 - Copenhagen, Denmark
Previous Oscar directing recognition: none
Oscar snubed directing work(s): none
Oscar chances comment: Critics organizations seem to love Drive, so they award that awesome movie and its director: Nicolas Winding Refn. He already is no stranger in Hollywood (he directed the Tom Hardy starred Bronson), but he's no known name, so the Academy may want to recognize one of the most promising (and interesting) directors working today by nominating him in the Best Director category due to his wonderful work in the wonderful Drive. The movie is getting a great awards traction, which is generating a strong Best Picture Oscar buzz, so the Oscar chances for Winding Refn are higher than a big couple of "Oscar experts" are predicting, in my opinion. He's starting a career in Hollywood and only God knows how the AMPAS loves to recognize the potential in order to say something like "We put our money on him and we are so proud of what he accomplished!", but sometimes great directors have to wait almost a lifetime in order to get recognition and the Danish director is competing for the "fifth spot" against names like Malick, Daldry or Spielberg!
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6.
Terrence Malick for The Tree of Life
Born: November 30, 1943 - Ottawa, Illinois, USA
Previous Oscar directing recognition: 1999 - The Thin Red Line (nom)
Oscar snubed directing work(s): 1978 - Days of Heaven
Oscar chances comment: Malick has a huge fanbase that went crazy when The Tree of Life came out after the 6 years of absent from its director and, now, when the movie is seen as a respectable Oscar contender in the Best Picture Oscar race, there's some buzz around Malick's name for a Best Director nod. He already took home a few critics organizations Best Director prizes, he keeps a very low-key profile and seems to have no interest in campaigning, which is an advantage and disadvantage at the same time for an Oscar nom: some people just won't vote for him because he has no interest in receiving such an honour and others will vote for him because he only seems interested in making good movies! There are a lot of question marks around Malick's Oscar chances in this year's Best Director Oscar race, but Malick is a question mark himself and so it's all his work... and that's why he's so good and deserves to be recognized!
7.
Steven Spielberg for War Horse
Born: December 18, 1946 - Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
Previous Oscar directing recognition: 1978 - Close Encounters of the Third Kind (nom); 1982 - Raiders of the Lost Ark (nom); 1983 - E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (nom); 1994 - Schindler's List (win); 1999 - Saving Private Ryan (win); 2006 - Munich (nom);
Oscar snubed directing work(s): 1985 - The Color Purple; 2001 - Artificial Intelligence: AI; 2002 - Minority Report
Oscar chances comment: War Horse is no Schindler's List or Saving Private Ryan, but it is beautiful and epic enough to get a Best Picture nomination, but it doesn't seem strong enough to generate enough Oscar traction for Steven Spielberg in the Best Director race. Spielberg is a living leggend of the cinema industry and it's always nice to see him in the Oscar race, but I think AMPAS members will give his spot to another director who may really need a nom or who really deserve a nom, not because his work isn't very good, but because his work isn't some kind of wonderful. I was expecting to see Golden Globes nominating him in the Best Director category, but he didn't make part of the shortlist (but War Horse got nominated for Best Drama) and then my reservations about his Oscar chances appeared! We still have to wait for the Directors Guild of America nominations in order to see who are the real front-runners in one of the most interesting Best Director Oscar races I remember, but I can't forget the fact that Spielberg already won the DGA Award of Best Director for The Color Purple and he didn't get nominated for his wonderful work in that movie.
8.
Stephen Daldry for Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Born: May 2, 1961 - Dorset, England, UK
Previous Oscar directing recognition: 2001 - Billy Elliot (nom); 2003 - The Hours (nom); 2009 - The Reader (nom)
Oscar snubed directing work(s): none
Oscar chances comment: Well, he directed 3 movies and got a Best Director nomination for each one of them, which is something very impressive, but does the Academy think it's time to give another director Daldry's spot? I mean, Oscar voters seem to love his movies and his work, but Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is dividing critics and audiences (a little more than The Reader did some years ago), but the ones who liked the movie seem to LOVE it! The ensemble cast's performances got a lot of praise and only God knows how Daldry is a great actors director... But with such a lack of universal acclaim, I doubt he will get another Best Director nom this year, because Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close isn't as good as his previous (brilliant) work.
9.
Asghar Farhadi for A Separation
Born: January 1, 1972 - Isfahan, Iran
Previous Oscar directing recognition: none
Oscar snubed directing work(s): none
Oscar chances comment: After seeing Pedro Almodóvar being nominated in the Best Director category for his work in Talk To Her (Hable con ella), when the movie itself didn't get a Best Foreign Picture nomination (but got nominated and won in the Best Original Screenplay category), the Best Director field may be seen as one of the most open to foreigners and since Asghar Farhadi is the director of the most acclaimed foreign film of the year, I can see him having some hopes for a nomination! While A Separation will only be released in the last week of the year in order to get qualificated for the Oscars, all the buzz around the movie and all the raves from film festivals and all the awards it have been collecting are keeping the movie on the map of major awards, creating a giant Oscar traction for the movie and Asghar Farhadi is seen as a major contender for a "surprise" Best Director nomination and I'm sure that if he was a Hollywood-estabilished name, a nod for him would be guaranteed, but once he's a foreign director, things may be a bit harder...
10.
Tate Taylor for The Help
Born: ???
Previous Oscar directing recognition: none
Oscar snubed directing work(s): none
Oscar chances comment: In my opinion, Tate Taylor didn't need to work a lot in order to get the movie in the right way, specially when The Help is based on the performances of such an amazing cast composed by brilliant actresses, but the truth is that no good actress goes potential Oscar winner without a good director and we have Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer as main contenders in their respective categories. The movie is entertaining, hard to dislike, it brings some freshness to the big screen and is worth of a ticket price, but it could be something really challenging, which is Tate Taylor major problem in getting Best Director recognition. The movie is good, but it could have been better if it was directed in another way. Still, Taylor has his signature in one of the most loved movies of the year, so he deserves all my respect!
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