Ryan McNeil
Seriously? The Oscars are this weekend?? I could swear it was just yesterday that the nominations were being announced. Where the hell does the time go?
Well time’s a-wastin’ so take a look after the jump as I offer up my thoughts on the race for Best Director.
It’s almost criminally unfair that Lee Daniels’ nomination for PRECIOUS has garnered so little attention. he is only the second black director to be nominated as Best Director, and it’s been nearly twenty years since John Singleton became the first one. Sadly, it’s likely that this is where Daniels’ amazing PRECIOUS run will end. I can only hope that we haven’t heard the last from this truly extraordinary filmmaker.
Jason Reitman can also rest easy when this category comes up on Oscar night, since a win by him is pretty darned unlikely. You have to be impressed by a guy who has made three feature films and been nominated as Best Director twice already. In that regard, Reitman might want to count himself lucky that this won’t be his year – it saves him from peaking too early.
The spoiler in the category is Quentin Tarentino. Quick show of hands – how many people thought we’d get to this point back around the time of the KILL BILL’s and GRINDHOUSES? Anyone…?? Yet somehow, the one-time rock star has matured as a filmmaker and reminded us what he did to get our attention in the first place. the final line of INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS was bang on – it is indeed his masterpiece. Unfortunately, his masterpiece has come at the wrong time and is in tough against some wicked competition. Sort of ironic given that he’s been knocking this script around for over a decade, no?
It is entirely possible that this award will go to James Cameron, which would make him the nineteenth person to score multiple wins for directing. His vision of AVATAR, for better or for worse, is completely unforgettable…and his effort to create a film inconceivable just five or six years ago is something to be applauded. The question is whether or not voters can get past the man’s Pandora-sized ego…and likewise, whether or not they truly want to ignore an opportunity.
The opportunity, is to reward Kathryn Bigelow for some top notch directing, and in so doing, hand the Oscar to a female director for the very first time. To do so would not be a charity – Bigelow’s work on THE HURT LOCKER is indeed top notch, and award-worthy. She would be receiving this award not just ‘because she’s a woman’, but because the tension she created in her film is first rate…and because it was due in large part to her passion that the film made it off the ground at all.
The Hatter’s Pick… When even James Cameron and Quentin Tarentino are publicly saying “Kathryn deserves to win”, it’s difficult to see voters going any other way. The King of The World ain’t out of this yet, but I truly believe that Bigelow has the support to make history Sunday night.
I still disagree Basterds is his masterpiece. In fact I would likely even rate it behind Kill Bill Vol. 2 on a Tarantino scale. Still I'm always up for cosmic balance and him getting the director oscar this year. There's little doubt him and Cameron will split the actors' votes.
I still think Bigelow has to win it. Not just because she's a women, but she did the best directing job out of all the nominees, in my opinion, by a long shot.
I would like Quentin Tarantino to win an Oscar for Best Director. However I wouldn't be mad if Bigelow got it.
I initially thought that Bigelow and Locker would sweep both director and picture, but then my brother said he thought it'd be more likely that there was a split between the two – Cameron for director and Locker for picture. Considering how much Cameron accomplished by making that movie, it's certainly a possibility worth discussing…
You know my thoughts, Kathryn Bigelow all the way for me, if she didn’t get it the only other person I think deserves it this year is Quentin Tarentino.
As for what you say about Lee Daniels, I think it is good that we have got beyond the fact he is black and he is just another director who has been nominated for directing a movie. Hopefully Kathryn Bigelow will win and the next time a woman is nominated nobody makes a big deal about a woman being nominated. The issue I have with Lee Daniels is that I think Precious was a flawed film and most of the flaws are in the directing therefore I’m not sure he belongs in the category. I think Michael Haneke, Duncan Jones, Andrea Arnold and Lars von Trier all deserve it more than he does.
Bigelow's to lose. Tarantino will probably take Original Screenplay though.
@ Univarn… First of all, sorry I haven't been commenting on your site as much. I'm sadly in the dark where most things Kurosawa are concerned.
The Bill's are fun, but they're primarily one long fanboy letter to many bygone movies. Basterds is a more complete film…and that's why he could win for it.
@ Dreher… The trick for QT now is going to be to follow it up with another solid flick. Pressure's on, no?
@ Casey… I also foresee a split coming, but the opposite split to yours. Check in tomorrow for details!
@ Number Six… I don't think I agree with your substitutes for Daniels (I'd choose Tom Ford or Neil Blomkamp first), but see your point that hopefully soon we'll just see "black directors" as "directors". Of course, that might change faster when one of 'em gets the gold…but hopefully we won't have to wait quite as long.
Pretty sure I dug PRECIOUS more than you did, so for me, handing Daniels that fifth spot is all good in my books.
@ Fitz… Guess we'll have to wait and see on both accounts, no? (PS – Thanks for reading!)
Well Mad, it's ok. Part of the point of this is as much an homage, as it is to let people know of all the different works Kurosawa has done. Since most people tend to get lost after Seven Samurai, Yojimbo, and Rashomon… and that's not even the tip of the iceberg.
As for this topic. Personally Basterds just felt a bit uneven and long winded for me. I didn't care as much about the side characters, and certain scenes just dragged on (like the Michael Myers + Random British Guy German film talk).