- BEST DIRECTOR
What an year for Best Director. If last year's nominees shortlist was purely composed by auteurs, 2018/2019 promises to be quite similar... Well, it would be if you still consider Damien Chazelle an auteur given the big-sized production of First Man (budget of $70M), but we all know he still is the young talented director behind Whiplash and La La Land - and given how great First Man looks both on paper and in the trailer, Chazelle will be one of the top contenders, for sure. Oh the irony: once again it seems Chazelle might be fighting agains Barry Jenkins who brings If Beale Street Could Talk this year... It won't be easy to match the brilliance of the Best Picture-winner Moonlight for sure, but the source material of Beale Street (a James Baldwin's novel) is beautiful and strong and Jenkins proved he can put lightning in a bottle... so it is impossible to ignore his Oscar potential. Sometimes the AMPAS decides to recognize one unexpected box-office hit that was also a major critical acclaimed movie which means A Quiet Place fits the profile! Extremely original and showing some major directorial craft, A Quiet Place was a sensation because of John Krasinski's eye for detail and for being able to create some loud horror scenes from silence. Spike Lee is back with the Cannes Film Festival sensation BlacKkKlansman, a comedic approach of racism that works beautifully thanks to the assured sensitive approach of Lee who seems to be ready to come back to Oscar talk. Finally, let me present you my "no guts no glory" bet: Chloé Zhao, the director of The Rider, which means she's the director of one of the very best movies I've seen this year. The Rider is a director's movie: directorial craft everywhere, non-professional actors and breath-taking sequences of pure emotion or of pure beauty - and I think the AMPAS might bite if Oscar voters understand the importance of not letting pass an opportunity to recognize a female director in this category. Plus, The Rider has become a film festivals' darling and it managed to be nominated for 5 Independent Spirit Awards last year (including Best Feature and Best Director).
- Bradley Cooper, A Star Is Born - It is a big star's directing debut and it has all the ingredients to be a huge hit. Previous adaptations of A Star Is Born met Oscar love (with the 1937 and 1954's versions hitting some of the major categories), so Cooper's first movie as a director has some trivia on its side. Plus, the AMPAS does love him in the acting field - and sometimes it's quite easy to Oscar voters to follow their love for an actor when he movies to the director's chair.
- Adam McKay, Backseat - No one really knew Adam McKay before The Big Short was released and became an Oscar player (or at least, few have token him seriously until The Big Short). He's back to director's chair once again to direct a biopic about Dick Cheney - which might also work as a movie about politics and the AMPAS loves those. Will Backseat be the new Frost/Nixon or The Contender? Hope so.
- Mike Leigh, Peterloo - One of the most acclaimed directors of the last decades, Leigh's work has been recognized mostly in the screenplay fields (5 Oscar nods for screenplay), but Secrets & Lies and Vera Drake worked as vehicles for Best Director nominations. The AMPAS does like his movies and they go for a period piece in top categories every once in a while. Personally, I think Peterloo looks great (judging by the trailer) and the revolutionary spirit of the movie might be used to send a message to President Trump.
- Desiree Akhavan, The Miseducation of Cameron Post - The Academy has been trying to be more inclusive when it comes to women and LGBT community. Akhavan fits the profile of a feminist independent auteur and she was award with the Grand Prize of Sundance Film Festival. She's the Sundance champion and The Miseducation of Cameron Post was received under universal critical acclaim. And while I think she's a safer bet for Best Adapted Screenplay, I'm conscious Chloé Zhao might simply not happen because The Rider might not be noticed by enough people. And if Zhao fails to happen, Akhavan is the woman who'll appear to steal the whole picture - she's the Sundance champion, for God's sake.
- Alfonso Cuarón, Roma - A comeback to his origins, Mexico, Cuarón seems far away from the supersized scale of his Oscar-winning Gravity. Roma seems to be a love letter to Mexico, to Mexican people, and judging by the trailer, it is a visually beautiful movie. Little is known, but Roma is already on the run for the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival 2018 and for the People's Choice of this year's edition of Toronto International Film Festival. Plus, Netflix is really trying to become a vehicle for prestige pictures and the media giant will promote this one very hard, for sure.
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