BEST DIRECTOR
- Paul Thomas Anderson - There Will Be Blood
- Joel & Ethan Coen - No Country for Old Men
- Tony Gilroy - Michael Clayton
- Jason Reitman - Juno
- Julian Schabel - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
WILL WIN: Joel & Ethan Coen
SHOULD WIN: Paul Thomas Anderson
Is it gonna make for awkward family dinners that Jason Reitman has a nod his second film out but his dad, who directed Ghostbusters and Stripes, has never been nominated?
To look at their 22 wins so far, including a BFCA, BAFTA and DGA award, the Coen Brothers are on their way to long overdue recognition as directors. (The Academy figured out the Brothers knew how to write screenplays back when they gave them a statue for Fargo in '97.)
PTA is the other old man of indie film in this fight, although by Coen Brothers standards, he's still a young 'un. For my money, though, he directed the better film. And though No Country shows growth and mastery by the pair, Blood demonstrates unprecedented range. Anderson seems to have incorporated equal parts Spielberg and Altman into his visual language while achieving even rawer performances in spite of working outside the safety zone of his usual stable of actors.
BEST PICTURE
- Atonement
- Juno
- Michael Clayton
- No Country for Old Men
- There Will Be Blood
WILL WIN: No Country for Old Men
SHOULD WIN: There Will Be Blood
Most signs point to Country. Twenty-four wins, including BFCA and the Producers Guild. Oddsmakers like it, too, with most of them giving it 1/3. That having been said, let's not forget that Atonement won the BAFTA and the Golden Globe. Let's not forget the momentum and box office of Juno. Let's not forget Blood's five wins.
Actually, you know what? Yes. Let's forget them. No Country will win. It's been a favorite since awards season began and nothing has really changed.
For the second year in a row, the only film from my top ten to make it into the final five is my number four pick. There Will Be Blood astounds with the potency of its political/religious allegory (it's the year's best non-doc about Iraq), the evolution of PTA's direction and the power of the characters' journeys. I don't think I've been more impressed with an established director's work all year.
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