2008 can be said as a relatively weak year during the awards season. Everywhere you went, same pictures (Slumdog Millionaire; WALL-E; Dark Knight), directors (Chris Nolan, Danny Boyle, David Fincher-pictured), actors, actresses, writers, and technical team can be heard or read during awards' ceremony. Even the countless blogs and film cognoscenti do this too, which obviously shows that critical and popular consensus for films in contention are limited to the pictures that are honored. Those "little" films are thrown away in the sidelines, waiting to be discovered as an "out of left field" choice.
The U.S. critics' choices for best director were divided between Nolan, Mike Leigh (Happy-Go-Lucky), and Boyle. High profile pictures Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, Milk, and The Wrestler have catapulted Fincher, Ron Howard, Gus Van Sant, and Darren Aronofsky into the mix. Clint Eastwood's Angelina Jolie vehicle Changeling could have been a major contender if the film was a critical and box office hit , while his supposed-to-be last movie as an actor, Gran Torino racked up impressive ticket sales ($70 million in two weeks and counting) and decent reviews; Eastwood's recent projects (Mystic River; Million Dollar Baby; Letters from Iwo Jima) were recognized by the Academy, and Torino is considered a frontrunner. Sam Mendes (Revolutionary Road) and Stephen Daldry (The Reader) were overshadowed by their movies' limited popular appeal, while WALL-E's Andrew Stanton may become the first best director to be nominated for an animated feature.
Here are my predictions for Best Director:
David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight
Clint Eastwood, Gran Torino
Gus Van Sant, Milk
Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
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