Thursday
08Jan2009
Directors Guild Remembers Christopher Nolan
Thursday, January 8, 2009 at 2:19PM
This is one list of nominees that doesn't surprise me at all. The Director's Guild of America has unveiled the candidates for its top prize, and generally, the winner here wins the Oscar.
Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire
Ron Howard - Frost/Nixon
Christopher Nolan - The Dark Knight
Gus Van Sant - Milk If it were me, I'd replace Van Sant with Andrew Stanton, who directed Wall-E. We chronicled the reasons why in our Top Ten Directors of 2008 article. There may be specific rules in place against animated films for the DGA, but I was more impressed with what Stanton did than what Van Sant did. Some people will argue for Darren Aronofsky, but if you keep Van Sant, there's no room. Consider for a moment that Frost/Nixon is just two guys arguing at each other for about 20% of the time, and I think Ron Howard showed a lot of depth as a director there. Again, some would say that movie's too slow or there's not enough going on, but watch how everything in Doubt just kind of sits there and surrounds the dialogue. Frost/Nixon pays attention to the other details and gets them right. As for the other three, Nolan, Boyle, and Fincher, they're in it for the long haul. Fincher might win just because the scope of what he undertook is greater than the other guys, but that all depends on how much they're moved by Slumdog, which isn't as showy as The Dark Knight or Button, but it's nonetheless deceptively well-directed, and achieved perhaps just as much on a tenth of the budget or less.
Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire
Ron Howard - Frost/Nixon
Christopher Nolan - The Dark Knight
Gus Van Sant - Milk If it were me, I'd replace Van Sant with Andrew Stanton, who directed Wall-E. We chronicled the reasons why in our Top Ten Directors of 2008 article. There may be specific rules in place against animated films for the DGA, but I was more impressed with what Stanton did than what Van Sant did. Some people will argue for Darren Aronofsky, but if you keep Van Sant, there's no room. Consider for a moment that Frost/Nixon is just two guys arguing at each other for about 20% of the time, and I think Ron Howard showed a lot of depth as a director there. Again, some would say that movie's too slow or there's not enough going on, but watch how everything in Doubt just kind of sits there and surrounds the dialogue. Frost/Nixon pays attention to the other details and gets them right. As for the other three, Nolan, Boyle, and Fincher, they're in it for the long haul. Fincher might win just because the scope of what he undertook is greater than the other guys, but that all depends on how much they're moved by Slumdog, which isn't as showy as The Dark Knight or Button, but it's nonetheless deceptively well-directed, and achieved perhaps just as much on a tenth of the budget or less.
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