Best Director, much like Best Picture seems pretty much locked up now that we are exactly one day away from The Academy Awards. Throughout the week, the staff here at The Awards Circuit put together our Will Win/Should Win list, if you followed all of our articles you would have noticed that we were all in agreement that Michel Hazanavicius will be the Director walking away with the Academy Award.
And the nominees are…
• The Artist- Michel Hazanavicius
• The Descendants -Alexander Payne
• Hugo- Martin Scorsese
• Midnight in Paris- Woody Allen
• The Tree of Life- Terrence Malick
In the beginning of the Awards Season it seemed like only two of the five nominees were going to have their names announced Oscar morning, those two names being Michel Hazanavicius and Alexander Payne. Both The Artist and The Descendants were head to head as frontrunners but soon the race changed and Martin Scorsese had his name being thrown around for Hugo. Then the Directors Guild released there nominations and to our surprise Woody Allen also found himself joining the race. And then Oscar morning, every Tree of Life fan gasped in excitement when Terrence Malick had his name announced as one of the nominees for Best Director.
Yet, while we are all excited to see Michel Hazanavicius win Best Director for The Artist, one director seems to be causing quite a stir of talk about a Best Director upset. That man, as well all know is, Martin Scorsese. I don’t see it happening given Hazanavicius has won DGA, and as we’ve seen throughout the years, whoever wins DGA will walk away with Best Director.
But this race is much like any Best Actress race when Meryl Streep is nominated; we always have the notion somewhere in the back of our heads that the frontrunner will lose to the veteran just because they are the veteran and clearly have more experience.
But, either way, let’s discuss the nominated directors.
| The Artist- Michel Hazanavicius |
This artist accomplished making a successful black & white, silent film in an era of big explosions and ridiculous special effects. Hazanavicius made a beautiful commentary about the evolution of film, with a touching romance to round it off about two people who both represent a side of cinema seen in The Artist. Hazanavicius may have lost the Golden Globe (which to be honest doesn’t ever really make a difference) but he won the DGA, the hearts of audiences and is about to win Best Director Sunday night.
| The Descendants -Alexander Payne |
| Hugo- Martin Scorsese |
I absolutely loved Hugo and what Scorsese did with it. Much like The Artist, Hugo is an outstanding love letter to film that makes you feel such delight. The direction is alluring and it’s the type of film you can get so wrapped up in because of all the beauty it has. Hugo is a clear departure from Scorsese’s previous films, and not that my opinion would matter to a man of his stature; I would love to see him make more movies like this one. Scorsese is the only Director listed who can cause an upset for Hazanavicius, but with Scorsese having just been awarded a few years ago, and having it take so long to award him in the first place, I don’t see him causing any upset for Hazanavicius.
| Midnight in Paris- Woody Allen |
It’s wonderful to see Woody Allen honored here for Midnight in Paris. He is one of the best filmmakers of all time and will go down in history for making such great and memorable films. But this year, Allen will most likely be honored in the Original Screenplay category and won’t be winning his second direction Oscar.
| The Tree of Life- Terrence Malick |
Predcited Winner: The Artist- Michel Hazanavicius
Snubs:
David Fincher: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Stephen Daldry: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Nicolas Winding Refn: Drive
Steve McQueen: Shame
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Tags: Alexander Payne, Martin Scorsese, Michel Hazanavicius, Oscar Circuit, Terrence Malick, Woody Allen
6 Comments
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Is the Tree of Life diss really necessary?
George(Quote) (Reply)
It wasn’t a diss it was a honest opinion and everyone is entitled to their opinions. She just said it wasn’t her kind of movie which is a fair thing to say. Not everybody has the same opinion on films that’s what makes films interesting is how each individual interprets them.
I think Hazanavicius will walk away with the gold, I think the DGA win sealed the deal.
Peter Templeman(Quote) (Reply)
Will Win and Should Win: Michel Hazanavicius. Though I also love Scorsese, I hope to see him get recognized again in the not too far future.
Eric McCainley(Quote) (Reply)
I fully expect and have no qualms over The Artist winning Best Picture (I like Midnight in Paris better, but you could do worse) but I really want Malick win the direction award. After Drive, The Tree of Life was the best-directed film of 2011. The entire film felt very intentional, no shot was lazy added or poorly executed. Plus, I like it when the Director and Picture awards go separate ways.
UBourgeois(Quote) (Reply)
Seems about right to me…
Joey Magidson(Quote) (Reply)
I’m about as shocked by Woody Allen’s nomination for Best Director as I am by the frontrunner status of Midnight in Paris’ script. That was a hard one to get through.
JDTSEK(Quote) (Reply)