The best films this year or any year are films that serve two functions — they offer us the truth or they offer us a way out. No one can be faulted for gravitating towards those stories that offer us a way out, those stories that show us the struggle between lightness and dark, or good and evil, how the lightness can sometimes win out.
The story of Best Director 2020 can’t be fully told yet, not without seeing Sam Mendes‘ war epic that takes place in real time with a seamless semblance of one continuous take, and not without Clint Eastwood’s Richard Jewell. We do know that 1917 is about WWI — a war so apocalyptic that T.S. Eliot wrote The Wasteland and likened it to the end of everything. Indeed, maybe humanity has never come back from that. Maybe we are still reeling from what we learned about our species. Not to mention the way WWII reaffirmed just how monstrous we can be, what people will go along with when captivated by a charismatic lunatic.
Frontrunners – Top Five
The directors high bar this year has to be Bong Joon-Ho whose Parasite won the Palme d’or and continues to be the film topping most of the list of favorites at festivals. Bong Joon-Ho’s films typically depict a world in collapse. With Snowpiercer the poor people fought to get to the front of the train where the rich and powerful dominated. In Okja, the future wrought by a meat-eating population has brought about the horrors of massive oversized pigs just to meet demand. And in Parasite the Sisyphean futility of late stage capitalism that illustrates how hard it is to climb out of poverty in a system that is rigged from the start. In this magnificent film a hard rain is gonna fall and fall. It is a cautionary tale, perhaps, of how extreme wealth and extreme poverty cannot co-exist for the long run, not in a world that is collapsing under the weight of the cravings of the human race. Every shot in Parasite is composed by a master of the form. Gone is the claustrophobic chaos of Snowpiercer. Gone are the big Hollywood stars. There is not a wasted shot. The pain in those who suffer is palpable. The beauty and heartbreak of a character holding onto a heavy stone as a talisman that promises him the good life someday. Two nuclear families living very separate lives that maneuver themselves through most of the film. But then a hatch is opened, and a portal revealed, and suddenly the film becomes something else. Parasite is so easily one of the best films of the year and as Jenelle Reilly said today on Twitter, he’s the safest call for a Best Director nomination.
Martin Scorsese is probably the greatest living American director. I can’t think of anyone else who has made as many films as he has that have been as great — or if they fell short of greatness, the risks they took were awe-inspiring. He never does it half-way. He hits the gas and he doesn’t stop. With The Irishman he’s taken his trademark flair down a notch or two to depict a more somber contemplation at the end of life. Making the film Silence must have altered his sensibilities somewhat because The Irishman is a film that isn’t afraid of quiet contemplation. More than that, it is a film about searching for the biggest answers and perhaps the whole meaning of one’s life. The Irishman is about a cold-blooded killer who pretended, as wise guys often do, that he was just a regular family man. But it is also a movie made by a director who has set aside his brand of showing off for his fans. He knows what they expect and this time he didn’t give it to them — because, as he so often does throughout his career, he went off script. He did it for a reason. The Irishman, oddly enough, turns out to be a personal film for Scorsese as much as Silence was. In Silence there is contemplation of the existence of God and the internal struggle to reconcile God’s indifference. In The Irishman it is perhaps a long look back at the kinds of films he’s made, the kinds of monsters he’s showcased in those films, and what his lasting legacy as a director will be.
Quentin Tarantino, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood – Tarantino closes out his revenge trilogy of re-written history with not just the best of the three but maybe the best film of his whole career. Sure, you’ll never get many of his fans to accept that. Like Scorsese, he carries his own legacy behind him. He doesn’t just have to best the other films in the race this year but he has to best his own work. In particular, Pulp Fiction looms large in the Tarantino canon. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, like Parasite, like The Irishman is the work of a practiced master at the top of his game. Assured and steady, he lays out a story he wants to tell, his most personal, about the world that made him. Lovingly detailed but also ridiculously entertaining, he caps off the trilogy that started with lighting Nazis on fire, then followed up with slaughtering slavers and now, by giving the Manson family the violent retribution they so badly had coming in defense. Yes, defense. Anyone complaining about this movie’s violence must understand that it’s done in self defense. It is easily one of the best films of the year. Believe it or not, Tarantino has only been nominated for Best Director twice and that was for Pulp Fiction and Inglourious Basterds. All of the rest of his Oscar nominations have been for writing. He is not only overdue for directing nominations, he’s overdue for a directing win.
Taika Waititi, Jojo Rabbit – Rather than tell a serious story about an infamous monster like Hitler, Waititi lampoons him, reduces him to clownish caricature, which is not only what Hitler deserves, but it’s the best way to confront monstrous evil. Jojo Rabbit is an auteur’s piece and springs from the mind and sense of humor of its director. It is not a film that is meant to be separate from that vision. Like Tarantino, Bong Joon-Ho, and Scorsese, Waititi’s thumbprint is all over the film. It is like stepping inside his head. It is funny and silly and campy and absurd, but when it aims and fires it hits its target straight through the heart. If we go to the movies for catharsis, if it’s a reason to believe that we seek, this film doesn’t want to spit you out into the world awash in misery. It wants us to recognize and appreciate what we have right now — for those of us lucky enough to have it: freedom. Freedom of thought from those who would try to poison our minds with hate, freedom to love, freedom to look a tiger in the eye, freedom to make art, and yes, freedom to dance. He chooses none other than the beloved David Bowie to seal the deal. Jojo Rabbit is an easy sell, as long as people realize that yes, we can laugh at monsters, especially if their control over you exists in our own heads.
Sam Mendes, 1917 has to be considered in the top five for the feat of his WWI film that occurs in real time and transpires before our eyes with the wizardry of a single continuous take. We can’t write about it until we see it — but I can only say that it’s fitting there should be a film about WWI, considering where humanity stood at the end of that precipice and where it stands now. Bookends of the apocalypse.
James Mangold’s Ford v Ferrari corners like its on rails. The first thing to know about this film is that it is easy and rather quietly not only one of the best films of 2019, but of Mangold’s entire career. In fact, I dare say it’s his best film — his tightest, his funniest, his most moving. I was a big fan of 3:10 to Yuma (as longtime readers of this site might remember) but Ford v Ferrari takes the clockwork suspense of that film and expands it. I can’t remember a more thrilling experience this year than watching Christian Bale drive those races in the film. And it would be one thing if it was just racing. It’s not — it goes deep into the characters, especially the two leads Matt Damon and Christian Bale, but also the drop dead brilliant turn by Tracy Letts. If you want to know what acting is all about, watch Letts in the scene where he’s asking Lee Iococa to tell him what Ferrari said about him. Insult after insult he doesn’t flinch. Then Iococa says, “…you’re not Henry Ford. You’re Henry Ford the II.” And in a moment Letts’ eyes flash in anger — THAT is what gets him. Mangold is famously a director’s actor but Ford v Ferrari proves he’s a visual master holding this film together through race after race, involving us in this wonderful story about the qualities that make a talent like Ken Miles. The script is crackling good but Mangold has full control of this film and has turned out a winner.
Noah Baumbach, Marriage Story – Where he once worked tightly and fairly abstractly (but always with humor and warmth) here Baumbach has made something brightly colored, broad and expansive — a chronicle that is meant to be the definitive story about divorce. But it isn’t about a father learning to be a father, like Kramer vs. Kramer – it’s more about admitting the truth that a relationship isn’t working and rather than remaining unhappy and frustrated they decide to break apart. Marriage Story is an actor’s film, without a doubt. It’s driven by the performances of actors who seem to have an almost improvisational approach to the work. Baumbach’s trademark wit is woven throughout. Marriage Story hits some people more strongly than others but even those who can’t directly relate will find it in a masterful film full of great performances.
One of the reasons Todd Phillips’ Joker is so hard to shake off is that it has proved itself a reflecting pool for those looking for answers and for those twisted with anxiety, rage, and grief. The part of my brain that doesn’t want to give into that despair and hopelessness wants to find the film offensive. I want to say no, I reject that we are a species that spawns misfits so damaged or deranged that they can pick up a gun and shoot people out of anger or rage or helplessness. I will always reject feeling any sympathy for the main character because the route he chooses to take is the same one Charles Manson took. But in terms of a work of art — what it says about the worst of who we are — WHO WE REALLY ARE – it is undeniably remarkable. It is a film about being right here, right now. In a hellscape of our own making. And it’s one you can’t shake.
To me, that means something. Nobody quite knows what to make of it because it feels so new. Yes, it comes from the comic book universe and we can deal with it on those terms, or I can. But once we macro out from that, we’re able to look at how it’s reached so many people who have elevated the character into the same kind of iconic phenom that the film itself depicts. Phillips has mirrored back what would happen, and it did actually happen — not the violence part that many people were predicting, but the part where Joker is turned into a reluctant hero. The film doesn’t ask that from you – in fact, if anything, it does the opposite and yet people responded the same way the screenplay predicts they will. I will admit that I wrestle with my feelings about this movie but I don’t think anyone can deny, in the movie landscape of 2019, Joker had one of the biggest impacts. It might just be a film about who we are rather than who we want to be.
Craig Brewer, Dolemite is My Name – Dolemite Is My Name has fast become a favorite for movie-lovers looking for a story that addresses something other than the angst of the white experience. Here, for once, is the angst of the black experience – an inspirational and aspirational tribute to a visionary talent who started life as a potato peeler and built an enduring monument to himself and the suppressible creative spirit. With a multitude of wild ideas about where he wants to go with no known road to get there, step by step he carves out an uncharted path for himself that circumvents the uptight world of white taste-makers. He soon figures out that the elusive market he seeks is all around him — an urban audience that has grown tired of films that only show white America and crave to see an unruly reflection of their own myths and legends onscreen. The dazzling cast brings the era back to life in all it’s fluorescent day-glo splendor. It’s a rowdy array of balls-out talent, top-to-bottom jaw-dropping. Eddie Murphy nails the role of his career, depicting Rudy Ray Moore as a man whose boundless ego never overwhelms the compassion he feels for others he sees have been discarded — like the brilliant Da’Vine Joy Randolph as Lady Reed. The fly-by-night excitement of that subversive turning point in American cinema is what thrums beneath the surface of Dolemite is My Name — but that’s not the only reason people love it. They love it the same way audiences loved the original Dolemite in 1975 — because it’s a fucking good movie that’s fun to discover and just as fun to re-watch, again and again, moving and grooving to its own funky drumbeat.
A dozen other directors also have a shot this year – some more than others. We won’t know where they stand until the nominations come down.
Jay Roach, Bombshell
Jordan Peele, Us
Greta Gerwig, Little Women – writer
Todd Haynes, Dark Waters – writer
Lorene Scafaria, Hustlers
Melina Matsoukas, Queen & Slim
Trey Edward Shults, Waves
Fernando Meirelles, The Two Popes
Marielle Heller, Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Edward Norton, Motherless Brooklyn
Lulu Wang, The Farewell
Scott Z Burns, The Report
First important precursor appeared, the EFAs and NONE of the name listed appeared. Out of the names in the running, Almodovar and Polanski DID. Just saying…
Not to be all Anne Thompson, but why on earth is everyone predicting Mendes sight unseen. He’s relying on a gimmick that has been rewarded already and his filmography suggests The Academy is a bit over him. And, hello … 1917 skipped all of the festivals …
There is only one movie that deserves all the accolades this year, and that movie is PARASITE!
Dolemite’s the hill, and she’s going to die on it.
Robert Eggers > Todd Phillips as far as what film I would rather watch depicting a man’s descent into madness. Hell much as I love Phoenix, I think Pattinson was better this time around.
A personal comparison I keep coming back to this year for Best Director is 2015, and for this reason I have a sneaking suspicion Quentin Tarantino could miss the final five. It’s not a perfect parallel but…
Bong Joon-ho is like George Miller; likely time run the critics gauntlet, but could ultimately miss the win for something more Academy friendly.
Sam Mendes is like Alejandro G Iñárritu, a Late-breaking previous winner with a major technical showcase.
Martin Scorsese is like Thomas McCarthy, in terms of the general respect for his film, but with Iñárritu’s industry respect and technical flavour thrown in.
Taika Waititi is like Adam McKay, the likely Adapted Screenplay winner and a divisive approach but with a strong response.
And Noah Baumbach is like Lenny Abrahamson, a director whose work is primarily shown in the performances of the actors, in a TIFF audience finalist with a strong emotional response.
By contrast, I think Tarantino is Ridley Scott – an early front runner due to legend-never-won status, but once the narrative starts to turn to another likely winner (Mendes or Joon-go), and it becomes clear he won’t win if he gets the nomination, the urgency to give him the nomination will vanish (worsened by an assumed safety). I also think the critics response to his film hasn’t been as strong as his pst two noms with PF or IB.
Other directors I’d keep an eye on would be Pedro Almodóvar, Todd Phillips, and Jay Roach.
Wow, great comparison! Hope it doesn’t go down that way again… (Tarantino fan.)
Right now I’m predicting:
1) Quentin Tarantino
2) Noah Baumbach
3) Bong Joon-Ho
4) Todd Phillips
5) Malick / Mendes
“Jojo Rabbit is an easy sell, as long as people realize that yes,
laugh at monsters, especially if their control over you exists in our own heads.”
Brilliant endorsement!
That’s not much of an endorsement, is it? I haven’t seen but I don’t think that a problem people have with the film. Satire is a delicate stuff and you either know how to do it well or you don’t.
might fuck around and lock-in my Final Predictions…
Martin Scorsese
Quentin Tarantino
Bong Joon-ho
Clint Eastwood
Pedro Almodovar
Change QT for Mendes or Waititi and those could be mine as well
What’s with all the male line? And it’s most pale except Joon-ho and Waititi. Get a grip. Look beyond your comfort zones award pundits. This line up is just embarrassing.
Joon-ho is his given name. Bong is his family name.
I never get used to Oriental names. I just call them how their names appear rather than by their surname.
I am not sure whether people are just picking their preferred choices, but I don’t think Joon-ho will win BD. He certainly should be nominated but he isn’t winning BD unless his film wins BP. He is a first time nominee and none of his previous have even been nominated before. He cannot win over night, not when there are very good alternatives. Scorsese is an 8 times Oscar nominee and is more overdue for a second BD than Tarantino who has been nominated twice before is for his first BD. However, it looks tricky for Scorsese to win GG since he has already won there three times, all in this century. GG might give Tarantino the boost he needs. Hollywood feels more like their kind of film and it should do well there. It’s a different question when it comes to the Oscars.
Tarantino has two Best Director nods: Pulp Fiction and Inglorious Basterds.
For what it’s worth…
1) Bong-joon Ho
2) Tarantino
3) Scorsese
4) Noah Baumbach
5) Sam Mendes
Fighting Mendes for the 5th spot…
Marielle Heller, Taiki Waititi, and James Mangold
It’d be a nice surprise if..
Either Almodovar or Lulu Wang made it
In the “Good God, please no” pile…
Todd Phillips
Clint Eastwood
I also had no sympathy for the Joker character in this movie. Nor did I find his arc that interesting or original, to be honest. (Interesting-enough, but pretty forgettable.) That said, I think the movie is quite well made (and acted) and I wouldn’t be too bothered if it got in for BD or even BP. I’d rather it didn’t, but it wouldn’t be a tragedy by any means.
“Anyone complaining about this movie’s violence must understand that it’s done in self defense.”
I understood that. The problem was that the violence against the Mansons continued far beyond what was necessary to stop them. In grotesque, sickening fashion. At that point the movie, to me, became as deliriously in thrall to baroque killing as the the real Manson killers were in history.
In Basterds and Django the grotesque violence was visited upon characters who had already perpetrated horrors upon others over many years. In OUTIH the violence is visited upon characters, who in this revisionist retelling, were about to perpetrate horrors but hadn’t yet. Small distinction? Maybe, but it was enough to shift the balance for me. And while the audience around me laughed gleefully while heads were repeatedly bashed and bodies torched, I got sick to my stomach.
Until then I had loved the movie. But then the film lost me. What worked in one film (Django) for me totally didn’t work in this one. Different films. Different storytelling. Different tones up until the gory climax.
But that’s me. And I know I’m in the minority on this one.
Perfectly worded take on the Once Upon a Time third act violence. This movie was my first Tarantino — his braggart interviews have always turned me off — and to my surprised delight I found him not just talented but a gifted user of the medium (I loved how he never seemed to run out of ideas about where to put the camera). But these few hideous moments of violence threw me all the way out of the movie. They were so childishly disgusting that, honestly, I was able to distance myself from them almost instantly, and put them down to a Tarantino “thing”. In fairness, I absolutely wouldn’t try to estimate his talent until I see more of his movies. But those moments in this movie were a 6th-grade boy’s notion of violence — almost totally absent of mortality, any sense of life being taken away. It was far worse than cartoonish. It was conscienceless. So silly, I thought as I watched, from an adult.
Now you know why we don’t quite like Tarantino films. He tends to spoil his films with needless grotesque violence. Most of it don’t seem to be in service of the story. He has not matured as a filmmaker. Weirdly, his two best films are his first two.
I’m in your corner.
1. Bang June-ho, Parasite
2. Quantum Tarantula, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
3. Martini Scorsese, The Irishman
4. Shawn Mendes, 1917
5. Nota Baumwig, Little Story or Tata Waikiki, Jojo Rabbit
I love it.
bravo!
Thank you Manuel!
ha ha!
“Shawn Mendes” is the most brilliant one of all… 🙂
Thank you Cloud you! (Not feeling so inspired today)
🙂
wow your refusal to acknowledge Almodovar (who has a WAY BIGGER SHOT at a Best Director nomination, thanks to one of the best narratives of the year in that race) than Craig Brewer and James Mangold combined, is now reaching ridiculous levels. But it is not the only film or category that is becoming embarrassing in the tracker… In score, no Joker, no Parasite and no Pain and Glory, which may all three get nominated at the same time. Banderas (reluctanctly, it seems) has been moved up (after everywhere he is considered #4 or #5 in the worst placing). In my book…
1. Mendes (the stunt will lock him up)
2. Marty
3. Bong
4. Waititi
5. Baumbach or Almodovar or Phillips or Tarantino or Eastwood
rest: at this point, far away, from this 9. Specially Brewer, who has Mangold, Meirelles, Mallick, Haynes, Gerwig, Heller, Wang, Roach, Peele and probably some other (specially Zhang Yimou, if promoted at all, his Shadow is FANTASTIC and would be a formidable Oscar contender), all over him, at this point.
From what I have seen this year… Best Director line up would be, to me…
(alphabetically)
Almodovar, Pain & Glory
Bong Joon-Ho, Parasite
Jordan Peele, Us
Joe & Anthony Russo, Avengers Endgame
Zhang Yimou, Shadow
runner up, Quentin Tarantino, Once upon a Time in Hollywood and José Luis Cuerda, Some Time After (a truly special and original film satire)
I don’t think Sasha had deliberately left out Almodover in this article, There is just too much to write about this year’s directors fantastic work! It is not mattered who get nominated or who won ( as many replies follow this article), it mattered that those directors had found a way to talk to us, to relate to us, to let everyone to rethink again our path of lives that lead us here and now!
I could not help but to re-read this article over and over again and each time it moved me so profoundly to different places that I want to re-read it again and I want to re-watch all the great films in this year.
I don’t care who won the Oscar, I just want to know where I had missed on those great work. And I salute to you Sasha again for letting me know what a great experience to be a film-lover.
When you see P&G you will understand why it is suicidal to not acknowledge it is a huge contender. Ask those who has seen it, as Bryce or Nathaniel Rogers
I had no intention to undermine this movie or Almodover himself to be clear, all I say is some movie you can relate to , but some just don’t. That does not mean any one is better than the other one, everyone can name a movie not mentioned in this article, but that is not Sasha’ fault.
Well, she is still mostly ignoring a film that has been a multi-Oscar contender since Cannes. HFA and EFA are confirming it now, it is running and with chances
I’m not a fan of James Mangold outside of Walk the Line. He’s almost as pedestrian as the Farrelly brothers (though Green Book winning best pic was deserved)…I like Sam Mendes, he creates worlds very well, I wish 1917 had more buzz. Scorsese, Tarantino, and Bung-Joo Hung all seem like admirable choices but Scorsese has had like 8 million noms, I don’t think he needs another. EXCEPT he’s getting a lot of flack for very sensible comments about the state of cinema.
But Sam Mendes would be awesome, I guess he’s going to be the one I’m rooting for now
Had to take a screen shot. Korean names are only 3 syllables. You messed up ALL three. At the same time no one cares what else you wrote. Trump supporter could not feel ashamed.
“Korean names are only 3 syllables. You messed up ALL three.”
This burn is BURN.
Actually, I suspect he did it on purpose… 🙂 (The name thing.)
I mean, it’s just too weird to get all 3 wrong, otherwise… Not that many letters in there. You see it written once, you have to figure chances are you’ll at least get one of them right…
haha true.
If you check through my comment histroy, I loathe Trump. Why do we always have to talk about Trump with everything. What the hell is wrong with you?
Better learn how to spell the future Best Director winner.
i’m sure I will eventually get it after butchering it the first couple of times
His name is Bong Joon-ho, not Hung-Joo Hung.
Well-Hung Dong? 😉
I’ve met him.
ha ha!
Gerwig should be in Top 5…
Natalie Portman: ‘And here are the all-male nominees’
When she said that at the Globes with the sneer that she did, Gerwig’s legit chance at Oscar evaporated.
What are you talking about? She was nominated for Oscar BD and it was far from certain she would be when Portman made that comment at the GG. She never looked like winning BD or screenplay as she didn’t win any major award for either. Del Toro was always winning BD and Peele was in a tight race with McDonagh for Original Screenplay. Lady Bird’s best chance to win an award was Metcalf in Supporting, but she lost to Janney.
and now I have to go back to paychecking Thor for all my movies are flops instead of top projects.
If I Nominated for Best Director 2019:
—
Joon-ho Bong (Parasite)
Jordan Peele (Us)
Todd Phillips (Joker)
Quentin Tarantino (Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood)
Yimou Zhang (Shadow)
Bi Gan (Long Day’s Journey into Night)
Joanna Hogg (The Souvenir)
Hu Bo (An Elephant Sitting Still)
Terrence Malick (A Hidden Life)
Céline Sciamma (Portrait of a Lady on Fire)
Quentin Tarantino (One Upon a Time…in Hollywood)
Lulu Wang (The Farewell)
Bong Joon Ho (Parasite)
Taika Waititi (JoJo Rabbit)
Céline Sciamma (Portrait of a Lady on Fire)
These are in no particular order. Still lots yet to see!
Celine Sciamma -Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Bong Joon-ho -Parasite
Trey Edward Shults -Waves
Quentin Tarantino -Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Laszlo Nemes -Sunset *
If Nemes is DQ’d on a technicality of 2018 festival premiere (didn’t impact Hurt Locker), replace him with Joe Talbot for Last Black Man in San Francisco.
Must have been a couple of screenings of Ford v Ferrari tonight because it’s trending on Twitter and the tweets are all extremely extremely positive.
1-3 : It will be interesting to see how the BD contenders who are also screenplay contenders, will fare in the end. I fully expect BONG JOON-HO and QUENTIN TARANTINO to receive nominations for both (and Scorsese taking the third slot without writing) but after them, the whole thing gets a bit blurry.
4 : Sure, NOAH BAUMBACH seems destined for a Manchester by the Sea kind of performance (directing + writing nominations, win in latter), but at the same time competition may be tough for a contender whose strong suit is writing and accordingly, is a major threat to win in the writing category while isn’t expected to come close to winning in BD.
5 – 6 : Then, on paper, an argument could be made that the fifth slot in BD could go to either GRETA GERWIG or TAIKA WAITITI but we still don’t know how well-received former’s film will be and it kinda needs raves to stay in the game as an umpteenth remake; while Waititi’s film somewhat surprisingly divided critics that may not work in his favour in BD. If I’m being honest, I don’t see either in BD just yet. However I do think both could land nominations in adapted screenplay with corresponding filler nominations in BP.
7 – 8 : So will the fifth slot then go to a yet-unseen late entry ? Maybe. If that happens, SAM MENDES is definitely the most likely bet here, although I can’t rule out CLINT EASTWOOD, either. There is just something about the way his film is being rushed to open in time to qualify for awards that sort of suggests to me Warner Bros. may be under the impression they have a serious contender on their hands. Then again, anything about these two films at this point is still just speculation, we need early word from industry screenings the very least to know what’s up with these two.
9 – 10 : Or it could be just a semi-unseen we have been simply underestimating ? Both JAY ROACH and MELINA MATSOUKAS delivered very timely and zeitgeist-y studio dramas that, somewhat unexpectedly, were reported to play like gangbusters at their first industry screenings. If Box Office is decent; reviews are strong enough and some form of SAG love happens (any individual nod for Queen & Slim, and an Ensemble nod for Bombshell on top of the widely expected 2-3 individual ones would be considered a triumph), I think one of these two films could be the big shocker in BD on Nominations Morning.
At the moment, I can only see these 10 as potential nominees. I wish I could add LULU WANG but I think they will make her settle with a nod for writing (still a great accomplishment) and while JAMES MANGOLD could become a thing, since his film is a studio drama with a 100M price tag, I feel strongly it will have to deliver big numbers at the Box Office before it could come near any kind of serious talk in BD. Also, I could be seriously underestimating FERNANDO MEIRELLES for all I know, but I just don’t see him getting near this. I could be wrong.
The buzz on Ford v Ferrari on Twitter is now pretty high. Everyone is saying it’s great, would recommend it to ‘everyone on earth’, one of the best of the year, so much fun etc.
I do think this will be a box office success over the holidays.
I think there were a few high-profile screenings followed by Q&As with the cast this week. Well, on paper, it does have everything a strong Oscar contender needs, now it just needs to tick off Box Office from the list and it is good to go.
Jay Roach again is a pretty rudinmentary director with no art house crowd. Mangold has done Oscar buzzy films before but he’s not known as an autuer with a distinct style. Especially with how much director and picture has diverged in the last 8 years, I think this is a humongous problem for Roach or Mangold.
Neither is considered to be a great auteur, that’s true, but BD nominations don’t always go to auteurs. I mean Tom Hooper even pulled off the win for crying out loud. Not to say The King’s Speech is a horrible film because it isn’t but directing-wise it is definitely nothing distinctive, memorable or special. A strong script and excellent performances made him look a lot better I think.
The King’s Speech is a masterpiece of direction, specially in framing, composition, meaning of every image and actor’s direction. Get over it, TKS is a masterpiece, as TSN is… for crying out loud… and TKS is more timeless than TSN.
Tom Hooper is a so great director, that he was able to make a watchable and even enjoyable film out of that overrated, pretentious Les Miserables stage musical.
It is subjective. To you Tom Hooper is a “so great director”, to me he is a good one whose strongest suit is getting great performances out of his cast. To you The King’s Speech is a masterpiece of direction, to me, it is a masterpiece of acting and writing, that by the way compliments Hooper, too, he was directing the actors after all. I will say that the film is ageing well, I caught it a few months ago on tv for the third time total and it was once again thoroughly entertaining. I’ve always thought it was good, just not necessarily “Best Picture Good”.
As for Les Miserables (and The Danish Girl) I will say I don’t consider either film bad but, to me at least, both felt like missed opportunities, both kinda had the goods to be great. Granted, he was working under pressure to deliver Les Mis on time (films of that scope are not supposed to shoot and release in the same year) but still, I stand by my opinion that it should have been a better film in the end regardless.
P.S. I don’t recall making a comparison to The Social Network here.
Tarantino was also nominated in Director for Basterds.
I suspect that Silence will enjoy a positive critical reappraisal in about ten years. Frankly, the only thing that really was problematic was the very erratic lead performance by Andrew Garfield, who at times seemed to be visibly struggling with the material (unlike Adam Driver who was so dialed in it was almost shocking). The visuals of the film were spot on, the Japanese cast was superlative, and the main theme of the film, while hard to define and heavy as shit, really landed.
That being said, I think it’s Bong’s to lose. Cuaron crashed through the glass with Director and International film, and Parasite is more of a crowd pleaser than Roma. Hell, if Parasite had been in English it would be the runaway frontrunner right now.
Terrific to read your take on Silence, a view I totally share. I’m persuaded by none of the movie’s (or its source novel’s) religious preoccupations, but Scorsese and his team dramatized spiritual struggle, which I do think is real, brilliantly. You’re right. An apt appraisal of the movie lies some years down the road (I’m wild, for instance, about Prieto’s dazzling cinematography, which most reviewers simply overlooked).
Re: Garfield, I sometimes think that even meticulous directors can be pulled along by Garfield’s weepy, doomed good looks — he’s at his most gorgeous when his character is in anguish. Careful thought, by him and the director about the story and the character in precisely those torturous moments, can get short shrift. But if you watch Garfield on stage, as I did, in Angels in America (the live-performance capture of the play’s London production may be available online), you see what an intelligent, disciplined, focused and witty actor he can be. With the right role and director I think one day he could be great in movies.
100% with everything you’ve said!
I’m not sure it would have been made as great if it were a different director/in English though. I’m sure we will see a remake here!
Same director, but in English it’s running away with this
cool, good to know. thanks for stopping by
Terrific to read your take on Silence, a view I totally share. I’m persuaded by none of the movie’s (or its source novel’s) religious preoccupations, but Scorsese and his team dramatized spiritual struggle, which I do think is real, brilliantly. You’re right. An apt appraisal of the movie lies some years down the road (I’m wild, for instance, about Prieto’s dazzling cinematography, which most reviewers simply overlooked).
Re: Garfield, I sometimes think that even meticulous directors can be pulled along by Garfield’s weepy, doomed good looks — he’s at his most gorgeous when his character is in anguish. Careful thought, by him and the director about the story and the character in precisely those torturous moments, can get short shrift. But if you watch Garfield on stage, as I did, in Angels in America (the live-performance capture of the play’s London production may be available online), you see what an intelligent, disciplined, focused and witty actor he can be. With the right role and director I think one day he could be great in movies.
I think what was so frustrating about Garfield’s performance was that Driver COMPLETELY NAILED HIS ROLE while Garfield was visibly struggling with the part. I can imagine that this was a brutal shoot (that kind of cinematography don’t come without effort) and Marty erred in giving Garfield too much of a leash.
That being said, still thrilled Marty made it, and I think the difficulties he had in making it informed his Marvel comments more than anyone realizes.
Absolutely correct. Driver excelled. Also, indeed, the logistics of that shoot must have been daunting. And I didn’t mean to suggest that Marty, of all people, could be flummoxed by a handsome actor’s face (quite to the contrary, he filmed the very handsome Leo in many deeply unflattering shots in “Wolf of Wall Street”). I also totally agree, and am so glad you made the point, that filming specifically on “Silence” could well have informed Scorsese’s Marvel comments. One can ponder whether “Silence” and Marvel will reside, over time, within the recognized history of the same art form.
I’m hoping that Silence is Marty’s Kagemusha while Irishman is Marty’s Ran.
It would be interesting to see a Korean film win. I’m sure Scorsese would be a huge fan of it too as would Tarantino. Scorsese and Tarantino aren’t really due. Scorsese will have more directorial nods than practically anyone in history (just a guess, I haven’t looked it up) and Tarantino has two writing Oscars. So I’m not sure dues favor either of them.
I agree. Silence was excellent.
In alphabetical order:
-Baumbach
-Bong
-Mendes
-Scorsese
-Tarantino
Baumbach being the most vulnerable, unless 1917 really blows. We know more soon.
Tarantino was nominated for Directing for Inglourious Basterds.
I love parasite but give Tarantino his deserved best director Oscar already for what I thought was a great film as well
Bong Joon-Ho > Quentin Tarantino this year. Really, QT has made an ego trip to the Oscars and his film is too flawed to be even in consideration for Screenplay and Direction. QTs direction PALES in front of Bong, Almodovar, Peele, Yimou or the Russo brothers, this year… and I am talking only about what I saw. I would even put Some Time After, by José Luis Cuerda, as a way more interesting film and risky directorial achievement than QTs, despite a divisive reception (saw the film 2 times, and it grew so much on a second viewing).
Bong Joon-Ho > Quentin Tarantino this year. Really, QT has made an ego trip to the Oscars and his film is too flawed to be even in consideration for Screenplay and Direction. QTs direction PALES in front of Bong, Almodovar, Peele, Yimou or the Russo brothers, this year… and I am talking only about what I saw. I would even put Some Time After, by José Luis Cuerda, as a way more interesting film and risky directorial achievement than QTs, despite a divisive reception (saw the film 2 times, and it grew so much on a second viewing).
Wow, what a progressive article. Was it written by Jeff Wells? Greta Gerwig is going to be nominated for breathing fresh air into Little Women.
https://media2.giphy.com/media/DFNd1yVyRjmF2/giphy.gif
The first Oscar was totally undeserved. If they wanted a female director, they could’ve chosen Sophia Copolla for the Beguiled or Dee Rees for Mudbound that year.
Her film was miles stronger than those. You don’t know how the awards season works, do you? It’s even more obvious when it comes to the Oscar. Lady Bird was among the top five films so it was natural to nominate Gerwig. The odd nomination could come, but I don’t think anyone was suggesting either of those two women.
If she doesn’t deserve a nom, then
she shouldn’t be nominated just because of her sex. There are much stronger movies this year that deserve attention more than Little Women.
I take it you haven’t seen LW or else you wouldn’t make such an easily risible comment.
This is such a fun time in the race… It is only about a month now before the floodgates open and precursors that we (at least kind of) care about start weighing in but right now I feel like you can make a legitimate case for anything.
Right now I am going all in with Parasite in my predictions with Bong Joon Ho winning director and it winning picture. In order to keep this it must get SAG ensemble – if not I might keep it in director but I see that putting it in the Roma position… I also think it needs something below the line in Oscars and there are a bunch of options (editing, production design, maybe cinematography). But anyway right now we are talking about director and the love people have for Parasite just feels impossible to ignore.
I don’t know what it is but I am not feeling it for the Irishman. He will get nominated but I just don’t see the passion there.
Tarantino is probably my number 2 – if people latch on to the “he hasn’t won as a director and might retire soon” thing that could really take hold.
Mendes is a wait and see obviously.
Baumbach I think is on a downwards trajectory atm. I still have him nominated but I think the nomination would be the win for him.
Those are my 5 currently but I am in no way confident (and I think most people should be the same). Other options are:
-I am tempted to put Taika in but I think I am hesitant because I love Jojo Rabbit so much and don’t want to get my hopes up when it does feel like it could go either way.
-I’m waiting to see how Ford v Ferrari hits but that could totally over perform
-There is the Gerwig possibility too but the reactions to LW have been positive but kinda muted.
-With Todd Phillips I think no matter how many precursor noms he gets I am leaving him out of director because that is 100% the sort of nom that the academy directors branch calls BS on even if everyone else goes all in for.
-I would love Lulu Wang to be in the conversation but that may be a bit of a stretch
– I am not seeing the trajectory for Almodovar, Meirelles, Heller, Roach yet but things could totally change so it is worth mentioning them
-Oh and obviously we should wait and see with Eastwood but I have been kinda writing that film off – maybe that is wrong of me
Todd Phillips should get something as an F you to the woketopians haha. I believe he’s likely to get writing or producer if Joker makes the 8-9 picture cut.
I’d like to see the great Fernando Meirelles get some love. I’ve heard this is Almodovar’s best and it might be nice for the guy to see his long-time collaborator get nominated this year. I’ve never pictured Banderas as a nominee, so let’s see what happens.
I don’t even know what Eastwood is directing.
Yeah I think Phillips will probably get something but the directors branch leans very foreign and indie so I really doubt it’ll be the one! He feels like the sort of contender that could get globe and dga director noms but miss Oscar but while I’m in the middle on the film (I like it but it at times comes across too much like it’s trying to be a not as good imitation of a Scorsese film rather than it’s own thing) I think enough people love it that it’ll end up getting in somewhere.
“With Todd Phillips I think no matter how many precursor noms he gets I
am leaving him out of director because that is 100% the sort of nom that
the academy directors branch calls BS on even if everyone else goes all
in for.”
Indeed – good point!
I think a sleeper candidate who could get in is one not mentioned above. Terrence Malick for “A Hidden Life”. The trailer looks great. It could get multiple nominations. AMPAS embraces him quite frequently, and the Directors Guild reveres Malick as a directing god.
there are a bunch of directors thas seem deliberately left out of the race, Almodovar being the most obvious wtf obmission, but Mallick or Yimou are next in line. It feels like this site is trying to get some names into conversation (Brewer, specially) and detract other obvious contenders with excuses (Yimou and Mallick, because they will need a huge critics awards support, Almodovar because they believe that ONLY one foreign language film can get multinominated and that has to be Parasite, and that Cold War & Roma last year was an exception and not the sign that times have changed).
I’ve seen it and wouldn’t recommend placing money on that. There’s a lot to like about it but I don’t think it’s going to be embraced by the mainstream. It’s a great looking movie and it has a strong message at its core but it’s pretty slow paced and you do sort of feel the running time.
there are a bunch of directors thas seem deliberately left out of the race, Almodovar being the most obvious wtf obmission, but Mallick or Yimou are next in line. It feels like this site is trying to get some names into conversation (Brewer, specially) and detract other obvious contenders with excuses (Yimou and Mallick, because they will need a huge critics awards support, Almodovar because they believe that ONLY one foreign language film can get multinominated and that has to be Parasite, and that Cold War & Roma last year was an exception and not the sign that times have changed).
I thought that once you’ve seen Parasite… that you would finally stop this so-called ”war” between two movies. A war invented by you alone.
There has never been a war. Stop the comparisons. I wish to see ONE post from you where you talk about Parasite without Pain and Glory.
You have seen Parasite. As an Oscar buff, you should know where this goes…
but the fact is… the only explanation to overlook P&G Oscar pedigree and Oscarbait factors is the (understandable but obsolete) belief, that it can’t be nominated because Parasite will drain all attention to a foreign language film.
I do not think, and that is my point, there is a war or even a competition between P&G and Parasite. What I am actually saying, is that BOTH film can make the cut together at several categories, but Parasite will probably win something, and P&G may end only with a Banderas win, if lucky (I think Phoenix is the frontrunner, but Banderas’ performance is SO different and complex that acting branch may decide in his favor).
I think you are misunderstanding my point of view… I am not making P&G propaganda, but pointing out, that this site is deliberately ignoring some films (not only P&G, we could talk about Zhang Yimou’s Shadow, which is a slam dunk for Production Design, Cinematography and Costume, if is promoted, among others) in favor of overblowing already seen films that probably will end with minor nominations (Dolemite is my name, most notably, which Sasha is clearly lobbying for, overrating its chances through the roof).
It is her site and she can do as she wants, but in an open forum, we are free to point out flaws, suggest other options and critizice overall sense, with arguments (as I have done, so far).
One of the best examples is to completely erase Avengers Endgame from the scenario… it is a likely nominee at PGA, SAG Ensemble and even possible at the GG. It will likely end included in the NBR top 10, also in AFI, even if it is not a lock. With all these precursor potential, it should be in the Best Picture tracking list, even if at a low position. Same happens with A Hidden Life, by Mallick, which is raved, Mallick can pull a Kieslowski, Haneke nomination.
It is just that P&G is the most head-scratching omission. By the way, it has a better ending than Parasite, more satisfying, for mainstream audiences, despite being way more arthouse. For me, it is almost a tie between both films for Best of the year (so far), and I like Bong Joon-Ho, more than I like Pedro Almodóvar (who I only love some of his films, but most of them are middle of the year, mixed, and a couple of them are atrocious).
Pain and Glory has the BEST ending of ANY movie this year, and it matters! But I feel like in a strong year, not enough people will watch it – unless its screener is one of the first out the gate. And that may be, because it’s been out in cinemas for a long time.
I am not Spanish, I am not Korean. I don’t have any personal gain here. I just want foreign language movies to have exposure in the biggest movie show on the planet. Cannes is one thing, but Oscars are huge.
By making two or more foreign movies fight against each other… is a disservice for the whole industry.
Boon
Tarantino
Scorcese
Those three seem safe bets right now.
Final two spots between:
Waititi
Baumbach
Mangold
Mendes
If 1917 is great, Mendes is in. I absolutely love Jojo Rabbit but I’m not sure Waititi ultimately makes it in. I think Mangold could be the shocker here
I don’t think there’s ever a need to award Baumbach as director when you can just put him in the writer’s category. He’s a far stronger writer than director, but then again Kenneth Lonegran and I believe Cameron Crowe were also far better writers than directors and they got their BD nods when the films wrere big enough
For Scorsese being a safe bet, are we sure critical reception is in and they’re loving it? He’s been rewarded with Best Director nomination for 5 of his last 7 films so this would be 6 for 8. The academy rarely gives someone that many and usually spreads the love around a little more.
1. Bong Joon Ho
2. Scorcese
3. Tarantino
4. Baumbach/Mendes
5. Gerwig