THE NEWCOMERS:
Stephen Daldry
Nominated For: “Billy Elliott” – 2001
“The Hours” – 2003
“The Reader” – 2009
Why He’s a Contender: Whether you think he deserved them or not, Stephen Daldry has been nominated for Best Director for every film he’s made so far, making Oscar history in the process. Hailing from a respected theatre background, most can accept his success with the joyful, “Billy Elliott” (’00), but his next two films are where things become questionable. Distributed by Miramax, “The Hours” (’02) racked up nine Oscar noms with Daldry being pulled along with the pack. The film only won the Best Actress Award, and as fine of a film as you think it might be, you can’t ignore the sneaking suspicion the Weinsteins’ infamous powers of persuasion had something to do with its Oscar popularity. Likewise, “The Reader” (’08), a film nobody really expected to garner any Oscar noms due to its negative reviews, received five of them but again didn’t win anything other than Best Actress either. We’re not saying Daldry isn’t an Oscar worthy director, we would just wonder if he can prove it without a studio pulling him in their wake.
Spike Jonze
Nominated For: “Being John Malkovich” – 2000
Why He’s a Contender: Spike Jonze seems to be the hardest working director with the least amount of films to show for it. Working on his last one for every bit of five years probably didn’t help either. Jonze amazingly earned an Oscar nom for his first film, “Being John Malkovich” (’99), but his second effort, “Adaptation” (’02), didn’t rank as high in their estimation outside of acting noms. His latest, “Where the Wild Things Are,” was finally released this year after a very troubled production to say the least. Now while some were underwhelmed with the finished product, it has already landed on some critics’ best of the year lists. But Oscar won’t be in the cards for him this year. Not that we think he’ll really mind. The fact is, Jonze is going to do whatever Jonze wants to, and if he’s happy making commercials, TV shows, music videos, short films and documentaries, I guess we should be too.
Paul Thomas Anderson
Nominated For: “There Will Be Blood” – 2008
Why He’s a Contender: If you ask us which director from this list, including the Veterans, deserves an Oscar the most, the easy answer would be Paul Thomas Anderson, and if it wasn’t for another one of our favorite directors getting in the way, we swear he would have it. Although we admired PTA’s debut, “Hard Eight” (’96), it in no way prepared us for what was to come. After the massive “Boogie Nights” (’97) and the even more expansive “Magnolia” (’99), it’s no wonder he scaled things back with “Punch-Drunk Love” (’02), this writer’s personal favorite. Then in 2007, PTA made his most masterful film yet with “There Will Be Blood.” Unfortunately for him, the Coen brothers created a masterpiece of their own the same year with “No Country for Old Men,” and the two films faced off for six Academy Awards. ‘Blood’ nabbed one while ‘Country’ ran off with the others including Best Director for the long overdue Coens. So PTA is still without a win and being a big admirer of the late Robert Altman, we guess it would be fitting if he never gets one, but let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. Recently, the writer/director has been shopping around his next idea, a historical take on modern religion, in which he hopes to cast his longtime player, Philip Seymour Hoffman. Sounds a little like “There Will Be Blood,” but there’s nothing wrong with that.
Jason Reitman
Nominated For: “Juno” – 2008
Why He’s a Contender: If we were to bet which director, if any, will be coming off this list at the end of the year, all our money would be on Jason Reitman. If you haven’t heard, his new film, “Up in the Air,” which was named the National Board of Review’s Best Film of the Year, is the best thing since, well, his last one. While we liked “Juno” (’07), it didn’t keep our interest on subsequent viewings like it did the first time, but it did land Reitman an unexpected Oscar nomination. “Thank You for Smoking” (’05) showed promise for writer/director, but no one was quite sure if he’d live up to it until now. So whether he wins this year or not, we’re just happy he’s not fulfilling family tradition and directing “Ghostbusters III” or something like that.
Alexander Payne
Nominated For: “Sideways” – 2005
Why He’s a Contender: Alexander Payne has been pretty predictable as a filmmaker, making a film every few years based on a novel adapted by himself and his writing partner, Jim Taylor. There’s nothing wrong with that because with every film Payne gets better and better, even earning an Oscar nomination for his last one, “Sideways” (’04). Problem is; Payne has broken his routine, and hasn’t made a film since that one, leaving us frustrated and wanting more. He is currently in pre-production on “The Descendants” with the ever popular George Clooney in the lead, and it may be his ticket back to the Oscar ceremonies next year.
Sofia Coppola
Nominated For: “Lost in Translation” – 2004
Why She’s a Contender: Daughter of Academy Award-winning director, Francis Ford Coppola, Sofia Coppola has already proven to be a much better director than she is an actress, which she started out in Hollywood trying to be. She moved behind the camera in 1999 with “The Virgin Suicides,” but won most of her fans, including the Academy, with her semi-autobiographical tale, “Lost in Translation” (’03), which won her a writing Oscar and landed her a directing nom. Her next outing, “Marie Antoinette” (’06), split critics and was seen as all pomp and no circumstance, though we will give her props for an engaging contemporary soundtrack. Coppola just finished shooting her next film, “Somewhere,” which features a head-scratching cast including Stephen Dorff and Chris Pontius of Jackass fame. We hope she knows what she’s doing with these guys.
David Fincher
Nominated For: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” – 2009
Why He’s a Contender: Almost making the Veterans list, David Fincher has been making feature films since 1992 when he transitioned from a successful music video and commercial career to the more respected medium. Things didn’t start off easy for him though, as he disowned his first film, “Alien 3” (’92), due to constant studio interference. But he caught his stride soon after and made two classics with the ultra-bleak “Se7en” (’95) and the nihilistic “Fight Club” (’99). In 2007, Fincher made yet another masterpiece telling the detailed account of another serial killer with “Zodiac.” It’s this film that should’ve earned him his first Oscar nomination and not the extremely overrated “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” the following year. Regardless, at least he finally got one, and now all he has to do is win. What has us more worried however is his next project, “The Social Network,” which is the story about the founders of Facebook and stars Justin Timberlake. We’re sorry, but we would’ve much rather preferred “Torso,” or even the Keanu Reeves chef movie for that matter.
Rob Marshall
Nominated For: “Chicago” – 2003
Why He’s a Contender: After directing the made for TV remake of “Annie” in 1999, Rob Marshall hit it big with the musical “Chicago” (’02). It earned 13 Oscar nominations but despite taking home Best Picture, Marshall went home empty handed. In 2005, he followed it up with the non-musical, “Memoirs of a Geisha.” That film strived to be Oscar bait, but the Academy didn’t bite. This year, Marshall’s going back to what he does best with yet another musical, “Nine.” Starring ultimate thespian, Daniel Day Lewis, and a whole host of hot females singing and dancing, “Nine” is poised to rake in the Oscar noms, especially in a relatively weak year such as this. Marshall should be among these, but it’s anyone’s guess as to who will reign supreme. If he doesn’t, don’t expect him to have another chance anytime soon as Marshall was just announced the director of a fourth “Pirates of the Caribbean” film. But who knows, maybe some singing and dancing is what that franchise needs.
Tony Gilroy
Nominated For: “Michael Clayton” – 2008
Why He’s a Contender: Primarily a writer with early credits including “The Cutting Edge” (’92), “Extreme Measures” (’96) and “The Devil’s Advocate” (’97), Tony Gilroy wasn’t taken seriously until penning all three well-respected Jason Bourne adaptations. With the acclaim he received from that series, Gilroy’s next step would be to try his hand at directing. Utilizing his own original script this time, and casting an actor that has become synonymous with the Academy Awards lately, “Michael Clayton” (’07) surprisingly earned Gilroy a nomination for Best Director. Clayton was good enough, but it was no surprise, the low-key ’70s style thriller didn’t win him any awards. Unfortunately, Gilroy followed it up with the lighter fare of “Duplicity” (’09) which won’t be on anyone’s Oscar ballot this year.
Paul Greengrass
Nominated For: “United 93” – 2007
Why He’s a Contender: After tackling the true life tragedy of “Bloody Sunday” (’02), Greengrass got his big break by taking over the Bourne series after Doug Liman failed to return. “The Bourne Supremacy” (’04) and “The Bourne Ultimatum” (’07) are already considered modern day classics. In between those two films, Greengrass found time to film another true life tragedy by documenting the doomed flight of “United 93” (’06), and earning himself an Oscar nom in the process. Greengrass’ next film, “Green Zone” starring Matt Damon again, was pushed back to next year, and judging from the trailer, looks exactly like his Bourne films. And speaking of those, Greengrass was going to mastermind a fourth entry, but obviously dropped out of the production late last year. This is fine by us, we’d rather have him tackle a new gig, but something tells us he’ll return to the project before too long. — Jonathan Helm