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Monday, January 10, 2011

Directors' Guild Nominations

The Directors' Guild of America is a pretty accurate Oscar predictor, since generally at least four of the five nominees hear their names on nomination morning as well. And surprisingly (or rather, not all that surprising), the lineup is the same as that for the Golden Globes. That is, the nominees this year are:
David Fincher, The Social Network
Christopher Nolan, Inception
Tom Hooper, The King's Speech
Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
David O. Russell, The Fighter
Now, apparently the last time that the Golden Globes, DGAs, and Oscars had the same roster of directing nominees was in 1977. So will this lineup make it to Oscar night? I'd say its certainly likely, though the Coen Brothers (True Grit), Danny Boyle (who really deserves a nomination for his work in 127 Hours), and even Debra Granik (Winter's Bone) are waiting at the edges. We'll see.
I'd like to take a moment to comment on some of the chatter surrounding these nominations. There are a lot of claims of, "they're all white men! Where are the women? And the African-Americans?" Well, I hate to burst your bubble, America, but there just aren't that many minority directors. Sure, there's probably more than there used to be, but its still not that common. Just because a woman (Kathryn Bigelow) finally won a Best Director Oscar last year doesn't mean there's a spot reserved at the Oscars or the DGAs every year for a female director. Last year was a very diverse year, but that's in part to the strength of those directors and the high-quality of those films. You can argue that, say, Debra Granik or Lisa Cholodenko deserved nominations, but don't just say its because the roster is all men. Make a case for their talent, not their gender. I know that this awards aren't completely based on merit like they should be, but come on, that doesn't mean we have to give awards to people just for the sake of giving them. These five men are all very strong, gifted directors who delivered excellent work this year, and yes, I think they deserve to be rewarded for that work. That is all.
That being said, I wonder who the DGA will go with? Will it be Fincher, just like everyone else, or is there enough support among their peers for, say, Aronofsky or Nolan to win? What do you think?

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