DGA Announces Five Best Directors of the Year

@ Birdienest81: “I’d rather see Boyhood win Best Picture than see another Masterpiece Theater/Downtown Abbey wannabe that would be more appropriate for the Emmys or TV BAFTAs (Kings Speech, Imitation Game) take it.”

If you’re comparing those films to Boyhood, then you’ve got some issues. Their subject matter is light years ahead of Boyhood which is about what?–the mundane existence of a family everyone seems to identify with. It’s the equivalent of visiting your adult relatives when you’re a child and looking at photographs you have little interest in. Hey, but that’s profound ’cause it took twelve years for Linklater to examine it. I’d have preferred the microwave version.

@SallyinChicago: This was a bad year for movies. Period.

When someone says that, it seems as though they need to have better skills in selecting what movies they choose to see. I’m always surprised at how many films I initially had no interest in are the ones I’ve liked the best each year.

“Tyldum makes it on Thursday which pisses me off considering there’s about a dozen other directors who had stronger auteur visions this year.”

If this will be the mindset of all of us then we should just let the award giving bodies nominate veterans and forget about new and emerging talents. Furthermore, how can we meet undiscovered talents with fresh stories and ideas waiting for their breaks if the only filmmakers in the world that should be nominated are the auteurs?

Let’s cut the “no screeners excuse”. The Costume Designers Guild got Selma screeners and it deservedly got a nomination there. It seems to me that the movie is just not well supported as much as the HFPA supported it. It’s just hard to believe that Selma’s campaign sent CDG screeners and not DGA and the other guilds who snubbed it.

Remember when I said American Sniper would get in on Daily’s trailer post for the film. Well, I’m just sayin’….

In my opinion American Sniper is the best film of the year and Clint Eastwood is the best director of the year.
5 directors nominated : 1. Clint Eastwood. 2. Linklater. 3. Iñarritu. 4. Wes Aderson. 5. Ava DuVernay.

So what’s the criteria that Fox News uses to declare ”American Sniper” and ”Unbroken” so ”patriotic”? That it fits their world view that white American alpha males are the heroes and the enemies are always the people of color? … ”Selma” also has been snubbed by SAG, DGA and most all of the Guilds; did ”Selma” make Fox’s list of unheralded ”patriotic” movies? It’s about the American right to equality and access to the ballot box. Oh, but wait, the hero of the movie is an outspoken black man. And I suppose a number of Fox pundits (and viewers) actually would support suppressing the vote. 😉

Too bad for Ava Duvernay and Fincher. As Sasha said, the list won’t get better than than the one of the Globes. I am not sad for Nolan. It is his worst and cheesiest movie. I am really suprised that there are so many people that defend the plot holes.
I am rooting for Iñarritu and for Wes Anderson.Good for Linklater but there are way more superior movies this year and afterall if they give him all of the awards in the world, it will be for his 12-year efforts.

My final five; Francis Lawrence, Nolan, Fincher, Innaratu, Linklater. Balancing between populist and arthouse. It can’t be all-popular nor can it be all-arthouse. This makes both camps happy. It won’t appease the indie crowd as they’ll want all 5 slots. They believe popularity and quality are mutually exclusive, that they can never walk hand in hand on the same sidewalk.

Also what is the point of a screener?? You are supposed to watch the movie in a theatre. 4k Tv’s are ruining the way movies are shot and how they look on the TV compared to when they are seen at the theater.

I’m seriously wishing these top-level categories had more than 5 slots at the Oscars. If there are more than 5 Oscar-worthy competitors, there should be more than 5 nominations.

I’m hoping Selma’s AMPAS screeners paid off — that film moved me so much that I bought several civil-rights history books afterwards so I could learn more about the era. Great stuff.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see Bradley in Best Actor come Thursday. Heck, they might even throw in Sienna Miller for supporting (had they started their film trailer with her on it, she might have gotten more of a push). I think there will be a passionate amount of support for this film- may the real threat to Boyhood (Boyhood vs Manhood). I just saw it last week and the tension is non stop like the two trailers. I’m still not sure if i liked it (maybe I didn’t want to like it), but it stays with with. My bf thought it was too war mongering where I thought it was more anti war. Anyway, its supporters would want to reward this film somewhere. Maybe a tech award or maybe Cooper for the win as my NGNG.

Well fuck, thought I had all 5, but went back and checked…something compelled me to click on Fincher instead of Wes Anderson.

I’m of mixed minds on screeners. Movies deserve to be seen on the big-screen. And I fear Christopher Nolan has suffered for this, because his epic-sized ”Interstellar” chose not to send out screeners. But if voters didn’t get screeners, they’d see even fewer movies than they already do. As it is, I imagine most voters aren’t conscientious enough to plow through the many screeners they get; they just check out the most buzzed-about titles.

Damn it. I had Fincher instead of Anderson. Anyway, whatever. Pretty deserving nominees, overall.

Wow now this was definitely shocking. I’m floored. I really am. Thursday could not come soon enough.. but something tells me there will be a lot of wtfs…… honestly time to put this season to rest.. about over it

I hate an early call that so-and-so is “done,” but I think we can safely say that Fincher is done. I can think of seven people more likely than him at this point– these five, Chazelle, and Duvernay.

Very glad to see Wes Anderson’s name on this list. It’s about time.
I’m not a big fan of TGBH (I found it emotionally vapid), but I am a big fan of Wes Anderson’s movies. Heh, at least he makes interesting movies!
Eastwood? Well . . . let’s just say the whole general theme of American Sniper just leaves me cold and turns me off.

I’ve been saying it for weeks. I don’t think DuVernay’s and Oyelowo’s Oscar nominations are secure, and I think it’s Clint Eastwood and Bradley Cooper that are biting at their heels. A Best Picture nomination for Selma doesn’t even seem that much like a sure-thing at this point, though I’d still probably have it in my predictions, even though I thought its quality was inconsistent.

Anyway, I’d be hard-pressed to name 9 English-language films that I think deserve BP Oscar nominations. I’ve seen hundreds of films this year, and I’d only give two English-language films 4 stars: Boyhood and Birdman. After that, you’ve got a handful of 3 and 1/2 star films like Nightcrawler, Gone Girl, Mr. Turner, Snowpiercer, Whiplash, and American Sniper. I’m going off the top of my head here. Most of my favorite films this year are not in the English language. And many of the other ones I liked in the English language have literally no shot at the Oscars– films like Frank, The Double, and ’71. Ah, I’m just now remembering how much I loved Maggie Gyllenhaal’s performance in Frank. Of course, she has a snowball’s chance in hell of being nominated, just like the film itself. Well, at least her brother will probably get some love!