This is the latest post in an ongoing annual Oscars conversation with Too Fat 4 Skinny Jeans' Brian Wezowicz. We've previously broken down: Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Actress and Best Actor...
Brian: You know what, I was totally wrong about the number of nominations Anthony Hopkins has received. I guess I just assumed he's been nominated a million times. I stand corrected.
On to Best Director... another category with some pleasant surprises and some very noticeable absences. It's great that we have two women nominated. Chloe Zhao seems like the favorite for Nomadland and, to me, would be well-deserving of this award. And while we both agree that Promising Young Woman was a good but flawed film, it's always exciting to see another woman break into the boys club. Lee Isaac Chung did an excellent job directing the universally praised Minari.
The big surprise in this category would be Thomas Vinterberg for his work on Another Round. I have not seen this film, so I can't speak on its quality. I guess the big surprise is who he pushed off this list, and I'll get to that in a bit. David Fincher is on here for Mank, which is an Oscar-bait film celebrating the drama that occurred during the production of arguably the greatest film of all-time, Citizen Kane. It's definitely not his best work and we've touched on some of the flaws of the film throughout our back-and-forth. I'm not surprised to see him on this list, but it's a shame that he's here over a couple more deserving directors. For me, this is an incomplete list and there's two big-time snubs. The first being Spike Lee for his career-defining film Da 5 Bloods. I know he's had his issues with the Academy for years and that, deep-down, I think he secretly might enjoy his outsider status, but to leave him off this list is criminal.
Also, the fact that he's only been nominated once for directing (BlacKkKlansman) is also criminal. Another big-time snub would have to go to Regina King for the phenomenal One Night In Miami. Whether it's because it was her debut as a film director or the fact that it seemed like the Academy didn't really reward stage to screen adaptations this year, she definitely got screwed.
Anyway, on to the nominees.
Best Director
Thomas Vinterberg (“Another Round”)
David Fincher (“Mank”)
Lee Isaac Chung (“Minari”)
Chloé Zhao (“Nomadland”)
Emerald Fennell (“Promising Young Woman”)
Will Win: Chloe Zhao. She seems to have the inside track to this award and for good reason. It's well past due for another woman to join the boys club.
Should Win: Zhao or Chung. Both did incredible jobs, and of the people on this list, both are well-deserving.
Snub: Other than Spike Lee or Regina King, I'll go with Aaron Sorkin. I wonder if he's thought of as "just a writer" and it'll take a few more directorial efforts before he starts getting recognized. While The Trial Of The Chicago 7 was very Sorkini-esque, and that could turn people off, I still thought it was directed really well in a way that kept the pace moving at just the right level.
Who's your best director?
Adam: The Oscars diversity conversation is so maddening. It's always one step forward, two steps back. That being said, it's hard not to be thrilled by the presence of two women and two AAPI directors here (especially in the wake of a spike in hate crimes directed at that community), It's always been strange to me how every year a director is nominated whose film is not in the Best Picture race (in this case Thomas Vinterberg) while several filmmakers whose movies are get snubbed. The Spike Lee omission is particularly infuriating, especially since Da 5 Bloods is arguably an even more ambitious and powerful film than BlacKkKlansman was.
I am not a big fan of The Trial of the Chicago 7, but I still thought Aaron Sorkin would make it because his stamp was all over that movie. I also am surprised that One Night in Miami didn't get more love for Regina King and appreciation overall. I too haven't seen Another Round, but I hear great things. I also felt like Promising Young Woman was exactly that 'promising' but it didn't really deliver for me until its devastating last act.
And Fincher -- well he's a classic auteur who has several bonafide masterpieces to his name. His loss to Tom Hooper in 2010 (he was nominated for his era-defining The Social Network) is one of the greatest Oscar missteps in recent memory. And yet, while I think Mank is impeccably crafted and personal (Fincher's late father wrote it) I just didn't get as engrossed with it as I did with most of his work. Still, it's the most nominated film and if movies like Birdman are any indication, Hollywood loves movies about show business.
Will win: Chloe Zhao. I still think she is the favorite. I've never heard any detractors of her film (although i could also say the same thing about Lee Isaac Chung) and its such a unique vision that she deserves much of the credit for the movie's success. I could see Fincher upsetting if Mank ends up running the table. But you're right Zhao has the momentum right now.
Should win: I loved Minari slightly more than Nomadland, but just by a hair. So like you I'd be happy with Chung or Zhao. But since only one woman has ever won Best Director, which is insane, I supposed I'm rooting for Zhao.
Snub: Again, we're on the exact same page. Spike Lee, who has truly returned to form after about a decade of shaky work, really deserved to be nominated and Regina King did a phenomenal job of taking what could have been a claustrophobic adaptation of stage play and made an emotional tour de force with four great, moving acting turns. I guess nominating more than two people of color was a bridge too far for the Academy Awards.
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