2011 Pretentious Film Awards - Best Director

And the nominees are...

Nicolas Winding Refn – Drive

Refn's stylistic exercise rests completely on his direction—his control over tone, his ability to guide his actors through what is not exactly the most verbose of pieces. He rises to the occasion admirably. Other directors tackling action, whether it's a first-time foray or a return to the genre should take note.


Lars von Trier – Melancholia

Puts his misanthropy and angry fatalism to good use, making an effective, lush and beautiful mood piece that operates as an actorly showcase and displays his unmatched talent with powerful, visual storytelling.  Few of his films fail to say "Only Lars could make this." A true auteur working at peak form.

Steve McQueen – Shame

McQueen's sophomore effort flirts dangerously between being an actor's exercise and a truly narrative experience, but his touch is so deft here, drawing the most out of his actors, his location and his subject matter to craft an incredibly arresting and haunting piece of cinema.

Terrence Malick – The Tree of Life

A tone poem, like Malick's previous four films. Yes it's problematic (the most problematic of all of Malick's films to date), but crafted so lovingly and so specifically that one cannot deny its power. He tackles the birth and death of the universe, as well as the fecund period in between with his signature eye for location and ear for tone. Ethereal, wistful and beautiful through and through.

Lynne Ramsay – We Need to Talk About Kevin

It's hard to watch We Need to Talk About Kevin and not imagine The Lovely Bones that could have been (Ramsay was originally slated to direct the film before the project was wrested away from her). Here, she does what few filmmakers can accomplish—taking a novel, adapting it recognizably yet still giving it her artistic, personal stamp. Let's just hope we don't have to wait nine years for the next Ramsay film. (her previous film was 2002's excellent Morvern Callar)

2010 Pretentious Film Awards - Best Director

Darren Aronofsky for Black Swan
An ostentatious and often obvious cinematic exercise, but one executed with Aronofsky's singular and simple vision. It's hard to find fault with all the directorial flourishes and experiments when they're this controlled.



Derek Cianfrance for Blue Valentine
Every scene feels infused with humanity and authenticity. The actors are being guided by a sure and steady hand that gives them room to breathe, while knowing all the right emotional beats to hit. I can't wait to see what he does next.






Yorgos Lanthimos for Dogtooth
His sick little vacuum of a universe is expertly constructed and he seems to know exactly what he's doing. Every actor is on the same page and there is a magnificent control at work behind the scenes of this absurdist and arresting portrait of a disturbed family.




David O. Russell for The Fighter
If you walked into The Fighter expecting just another tired retread into the world of cinematic boxing, Russell assuages your fears from the first frame. It's clear that Russell isn't sanding his edges and his directorial stamp runs through this live wire of a film.




David Fincher for The Social Network
I truly believe that a lesser director (or certainly one not as inventive as Fincher) would have receded into the background and let the exercise become Sorkin's film. He does allow the script to do some heavy lifting at appropriate moments, but it is Fincher's direction that elevates The Social Network into a thing of visual splendor.

Finalists:
Debra Granik for Winter's Bone. The process of improvisation and long rehearsal has paid off once again for Mike Leigh in Another Year. David Michôd crafted a haunting debut with Animal Kingdom.

Semi-Finalists:
Danny Boyle for 127 Hours.
Lisa Cholodenko for The Kids Are All Right.

Pretentious Film Awards 2009--Best Achievement in Directing

And the gifted maestros are...

Jane Campion for Bright Star
For elevating what could have been typical period costume drama/biopic fare into a thing of beautiful poetry. Richly acted, gorgeously realized and a visual splendor that John Keats himself would have trouble describing.





Steve McQueen for Hunger
It's only fitting that a visual artist turned director would have such a knack for purely visual storytelling. Even in the long stretches, absent of dialogue, McQueen knows where to direct your eye. I am unbelievably thrilled and excited by his presence as a filmmaker.




Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker
Elevates Mark Boal's very good screenplay into an excellent film. Her ex-husband's film may have required 3D-glasses, but the thrills lie here in spades as Bigelow creates white-knuckle suspense under her expert guidance.




Quentin Tarantino for Inglourious Basterds
For being one of the most assured, unafraid and strident filmmakers (and therefore one of the most relevant) in recent memory. Even when you question the choices, you know that they are never arbitrary. He may seem indulgent, but Tarantino is in total control of his excesses.



John Hillcoat for The Road
For capturing what he can of the source material's stark lyricism and pain. Hillcoat has directed the best possible adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's book. Even in the midst of the wide, barren vistas and long stretches of nothingness, his direction remains truly intimate and well-observed.



Finalists:
I have to give props to Oren Moverman for his unrestrained direction of the exquisitely acted The Messenger. Lee Daniels does masterful work in Precious. He experiments. It doesn't always land, but wow...

Semi-Finalists:
Marc Webb makes (500) Days of Summer frenzied fun and controlled. Cary Joji Fukunaga gifts Sin Nombre with a gaze mostly free of the "gaze of the other" that diluted a film like Slumdog Millionaire. Next up for Fukunaga is an adaptation of "Jane Eyre." Can't wait.

Special mention to: James Cameron whose direction of Avatar, while not making my personal final five, is a great achievement.

Oscar Nomination Predictions--Best Director

1. Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker (lock)
2. James Cameron - Avatar (lock)
3. Quentin Tarantino - Inglourious Basterds (lock)
4. Jason Reitman - Up in the Air (lock)
5. Lee Daniels - Precious (shaky)

Alternate(s):
Clint Eastwood - Invitcus (obviously), The Coen Brothers - A Serious Man, Michael Haneke - The White Ribbon

For weeks now, I've been saying that Lee Daniels isn't going to get a best director nomination for Precious. That was more due to reverse wishful thinking than anything else. I was just trying to soften the blow when Clint Eastwood gets his slot. That NBR best director win for Invictus is most troubling. I then reminded myself that the NBR winner for best director often fails to even get an Oscar nod. Plus, the NBR gave Eastwood a best actor prize for Gran Torino, which proves that they're not playing with a full deck where he's concerned. Thankfully, buzz for the Mandela flick has cooled considerably in the last few weeks, so I think Daniels slides in by the skin of his teeth to become only the second black director to land a nod. I have Eastwood as the first alternate, but in actuality, I think that if there's a surprise, it'll be the Coens or Michael Haneke, both of whom have films that boast a rabid fanbase that Invictus simply cannot claim.

The Pretentious Film Awards, Best Director

And the gifted auteurs are...


Tomas Alfredson - Let the Right One In
Expertly crafts one of the best vampire movies I've ever seen.

Gus Van Sant - Milk
Takes what could have been standard biopic fare, and turns Dustin Lance Black's screenplay into one of his best/most accessible films in years.

Jonathan Demme - Rachel Getting Married
At once a veritable celebration of music and life as it is a requiem for a family in crisis, all guided under his expert hand. He's returned to form here.

Andrew Stanton - WALL-E
For using restraint, subtlety and nuance in a medium that doesn't often allow it. Kudos.

Darren Aronofsky - The Wrestler
Restrained, subdued and personal, even during the wrestling sequences. It always feels intimate, painful and real.