BEST DIRECTOR
This year's Best Director race could end up being notable for how little it overlaps with Best Picture. It's possible that only a few films will be recognized in both categories; we're guessing they will be JOEL COEN and ETHAN COEN's idiosyncratic No Country for Old Men, PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON's bleakly impressive (or is it impressively bleak?) There Will Be Blood, and JOE WRIGHT's lush period piece Atonement, though Wright's exclusion from the Directors Guild award list certainly puts him on shaky ground.
But even if The Diving Bell and the Butterfly doesn't make the cut for Best Picture, JULIAN SCHNABEL should be nominated for conjuring one of the most ambitious visions of the year. And since Oscar loves actors-turned-directors, the fifth spot may go to Into the Wild's SEAN PENN, who showed real sensitivity as a filmmaker and could add a Director nomination to his four Best Actor nods.
Who'll be left on the cutting-room floor? Juno's comedic guide Jason Reitman and Michael Clayton's cynically insightful Tony Gilroy may suffer if their films are considered more as feats of writing and acting than directing, while American Gangster's Ridley Scott was an early top contender but failed to make the DGA short list. Other long shots include Sweeney Todd whiz Tim Burton and Zodiac creep-master David Fincher, neither of whom has been nominated in this race, and Sidney Lumet, who earned his first nod 50 years ago for Twelve Angry Men and has returned to form with the searing family saga Before the Devil Knows You're Dead.
DAVE KARGER'S PICKS FOR BEST DIRECTOR:
Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men
Sean Penn, Into the Wild
Julian Schnabel, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Joe Wright, Atonement
NEXT PAGE: Best Original Screenplay
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