Nebraska is horrid.
American Hustle is Russell's weakest Oscar-film to date.
Scorsese and Cuaron are even playing field for me. Scorsese for delving so deep into his story, Cuaron for delving so deep into his visuals.
But Steve McQueen delves deep into his story AND his visuals. Excellent directorial work.
Would have replaced Payne and Russell with Jonze (Her) and Coens (Inside Llewyn Davis)
Best Director 2013
Re: Best Director 2013
My vote would go to either Spike Jonze or Shane Carruth.
Very strong lineup if only because nobody is doing boring work. Even Alexander Payne (whom I would put close to the middle of the pack) achieves something he's been working towards for years in his pursuit of road movie proficiency. David O. Russell's vision of American Hustle may lose track of balance and story but minute for minute it's as bracing as anything released last year. So is The Wolf of Wall Street.
I'm a bit torn between Alfonso Cuaron and Steve McQueen. I bet on Gravity winning Best Picture because of my dogged belief that every time a split is predicted either A) it doesn't happen, or B) it's a different split. To me, that meant that Gravity was taking it all. It didn't because Gravity was ultimately the kind of film possessing an experiential/technical vision that the Academy divorced from narrative excellence. 12 Years a Slave was the year's best film, Gravity was the year's best filmmaking. But was it? There are so many other places where Gravity can be lauded (if one chooses) but isn't directing more than visual filmmaking? Isn't it also directing of performance (both actors were bad) and directing of story (featuring worse dialogue than Titanic)? Isn't it misguided direction that I am pulled out of a film so often? Steve McQueen gets my vote.
Very strong lineup if only because nobody is doing boring work. Even Alexander Payne (whom I would put close to the middle of the pack) achieves something he's been working towards for years in his pursuit of road movie proficiency. David O. Russell's vision of American Hustle may lose track of balance and story but minute for minute it's as bracing as anything released last year. So is The Wolf of Wall Street.
I'm a bit torn between Alfonso Cuaron and Steve McQueen. I bet on Gravity winning Best Picture because of my dogged belief that every time a split is predicted either A) it doesn't happen, or B) it's a different split. To me, that meant that Gravity was taking it all. It didn't because Gravity was ultimately the kind of film possessing an experiential/technical vision that the Academy divorced from narrative excellence. 12 Years a Slave was the year's best film, Gravity was the year's best filmmaking. But was it? There are so many other places where Gravity can be lauded (if one chooses) but isn't directing more than visual filmmaking? Isn't it also directing of performance (both actors were bad) and directing of story (featuring worse dialogue than Titanic)? Isn't it misguided direction that I am pulled out of a film so often? Steve McQueen gets my vote.
"How's the despair?"
Re: Best Director 2013
Cuaron. And Jonze and Payne right behind.
Re: Best Director 2013
Best Director
01. Spike Jonze, Her
02. Alexander Payne, Nebraska
03. Alfonso Cuarón, Gravity
04. Abdellatif Kechiche, Blue Is the Warmest Colour
05. Shane Carruth, Upstream Color
06. Martin Scorsese, The Wolf of Wall Street
01. Spike Jonze, Her
02. Alexander Payne, Nebraska
03. Alfonso Cuarón, Gravity
04. Abdellatif Kechiche, Blue Is the Warmest Colour
05. Shane Carruth, Upstream Color
06. Martin Scorsese, The Wolf of Wall Street
"Men get to be a mixture of the charming mannerisms of the women they have known." - F. Scott Fitzgerald
Re: Best Director 2013
voted for Cuaron
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Best Director 2013
At this point all but one of 2013's Best Picture nominees have been released on home video making most of them accessible to everyone. I don't want to do a poll on Best Picture until the weekend after the last one - Her - is released on DVD on May 13th so that more people will have had a chance to see all the nominees. The theatrical release pattern for Her has been particularly bothersome.
In the meantime, we can dispose of Best Director and maybe do a few side polls on other categories.
There were only two of this year's Best Director nominees that I would have nominated - Cuaron and McQueen. The Coens (Inside Llewyn Davis); Spike Jonze (Her); Paul Greengrass (Captain Phillips) and Jean-Marc Vallée (Dallas Buyers Club) were all directors I would have preferred to see nominated before the triumvirate of Payne, Russell and Scorsese this year.
First to go for me is Scorsese who brings nothing new to The Wolf of Wall Street. I'm sure he was in more control of the film than it appears but it looks as if he just told his actors to loosely follow the script and do whatever Animal House style tomfoolery they felt like and then gave it his editor, the remarkable Thelma Schoonmaker to piece it together as best she could into a manageable release length.
Next to go is Russell whose American Hustle was enjoyable but uneven. He had Christian Bale sleepwalk through the whole thing while Amy Adams slipped in and out of her English accent both in and out of character, Bradley Cooper acted crazy and only Jeremy Renner and Jennifer Lawrence among the principals turned in even tempered performances, Lawrence the screen's most satisfying dumb or not so dumb blonde in years.
I couldn't put my finger on anything Payne did or didn't do in Nebraska. Phedon Papamichael's crisp, clean cinematography and Bruce Dern's career high performance were the highlights of the film. How much either was attributable to Payne I just don't know.
I've been a Cuaron fan ever since Y Tu Mama Tambien. His failure to be nominated for Children of Men was one of my biggest disappointments in this category ever. I was happy to see him finally achieve the recognition he's long deserved for his passion project. Gravity is nothing if not a director's showcase.
My pick, however is McQueen for doing an almost perfect job of recreating a time and place with 12 Years a Slave. Except for a rather lackluster performance by co-producer Brad Pitt, it was perfectly cast and played. People have complained about the violence in the film, but I found it to be rather tame compared to the graphic violence that's in most films these days. Most of the violence was either off-camera or in the background, not the foreground of scenes. McQueen walked a fine line between excess and not enough and walked it well.
In the meantime, we can dispose of Best Director and maybe do a few side polls on other categories.
There were only two of this year's Best Director nominees that I would have nominated - Cuaron and McQueen. The Coens (Inside Llewyn Davis); Spike Jonze (Her); Paul Greengrass (Captain Phillips) and Jean-Marc Vallée (Dallas Buyers Club) were all directors I would have preferred to see nominated before the triumvirate of Payne, Russell and Scorsese this year.
First to go for me is Scorsese who brings nothing new to The Wolf of Wall Street. I'm sure he was in more control of the film than it appears but it looks as if he just told his actors to loosely follow the script and do whatever Animal House style tomfoolery they felt like and then gave it his editor, the remarkable Thelma Schoonmaker to piece it together as best she could into a manageable release length.
Next to go is Russell whose American Hustle was enjoyable but uneven. He had Christian Bale sleepwalk through the whole thing while Amy Adams slipped in and out of her English accent both in and out of character, Bradley Cooper acted crazy and only Jeremy Renner and Jennifer Lawrence among the principals turned in even tempered performances, Lawrence the screen's most satisfying dumb or not so dumb blonde in years.
I couldn't put my finger on anything Payne did or didn't do in Nebraska. Phedon Papamichael's crisp, clean cinematography and Bruce Dern's career high performance were the highlights of the film. How much either was attributable to Payne I just don't know.
I've been a Cuaron fan ever since Y Tu Mama Tambien. His failure to be nominated for Children of Men was one of my biggest disappointments in this category ever. I was happy to see him finally achieve the recognition he's long deserved for his passion project. Gravity is nothing if not a director's showcase.
My pick, however is McQueen for doing an almost perfect job of recreating a time and place with 12 Years a Slave. Except for a rather lackluster performance by co-producer Brad Pitt, it was perfectly cast and played. People have complained about the violence in the film, but I found it to be rather tame compared to the graphic violence that's in most films these days. Most of the violence was either off-camera or in the background, not the foreground of scenes. McQueen walked a fine line between excess and not enough and walked it well.