OVP: Best Director (2018)
The Nominees Were...
Alfonso Cuaron, Roma
Yorgos Lanthimos, The Favourite
Spike Lee, BlacKkKlansman
Adam McKay, Vice
Pawel Pawlikowski, Cold War
My Thoughts: Well, we're going to lose a little bit of time this week on our write-ups, and I would apologize for not having new articles out, but I'm on vacation & the week ahead of vacation got away from me a little bit (a busy week of both work & outside-of-work getting prepped for my first vacation in two years). Two years without a vacation feels like something I should just enjoy, so I'm skipping apologies. As a result, while I will probably write an article or two while I'm on vacation (the term "vacation" for me is not really a word I can handle as I'm kind of like a shark-even when I'm relaxing I need to be doing something), we'll play the next week by ear other than for sure you'll get my Saturdays with the Stars, as I've never missed one of those (and the next two weeks are already written anyway). With that preamble, let's discuss Best Director.
It's kind of hard to grasp that this was Spike Lee's first nomination for Best Director. Let that sink in for a second-it took until 2018 for Spike Lee to be nominated for Best Director at the Oscars. But it's exciting that Lee's first nomination for Best Director came for a film that feels like a proper "Spike Lee Joint." BlacKkKlansman has a raw energy to it, one that is willing to take the audience on a journey & I loved some of the provocative imagery, particularly as Lee knowingly counters the Klan meetings with the obvious modern corollaries). I will say that there were times that Lee's direction, particularly in the first hour feels ill-served, slightly too chaotic as we're settling into the story, but Lee had earned several Oscar nominations by the time this one came about, so I'm not going to quarrel too hard with his inclusion here.
Alfonso Cuaron might be the modern filmmaker I genuinely admire the most, or whose films I consistently adore the most. Roma is no exception to that, but it's also a film that feels so personal that there was a risk that Cuaron wouldn't make it something that we'd be able to connect with. Cerebral films can be a challenge, sometimes becoming just "pretty pictures on the screen." However, Cuaron takes a step back & ensures that this film feels universal not in its message, but in the hazy way that our childhoods become idealized, almost abstract constructs of what we remember. Roma is a singular vision from start-to-finish, absorbing & challenging but never without purpose.
Cold War can claim a similar path. Shot by genius Pawel Pawlikowski, this is the one film that won't be returning in the Best Picture field, but what an inspired choice for Oscar to nominate it here. Pawlikowski's trick is making his short, fleeting movie feel like a bit of a cheat, the way that wrong decisions can cost people years of happiness, and the way that our tendencies to try the easier or faster way out oftentimes get in our way. Shot in stark black-and-white, Pawlikowski never relents with his camera, but still makes the film feel smoky, romantic, & tragic.
Yorgos Lanthimos' movies have progressively grown on me. I hated Dogtooth, quite liked The Lobster, was concerned about The Killing of a Sacred Deer, and officially fell in love with The Favourite. The movie's genius comes from its writing & acting, so it's nice to see that even though it was getting third billing, the direction got a nod here as well. The movie's pacing is crisp (a comedy, even a black comedy, needs that), and I also think Lanthimos is right to take a slight detour away from his typical style of "totally detached" by putting some genuine emotional stakes here (you learn to care about two of these women in a way you don't the third, unlike some of his other films where you kind of assumed everyone is doomed). This investment pays off as the movie's jaw-dropping finale is reached.
Our final nominee is Adam McKay. I didn't mind McKay's previous film, The Big Short, even if it wears badly in the memory as a result of Vice. Vice takes all of the worst parts of The Big Short (the fourth-wall breaking, the clumsy story structure), and turns it up to eleven. I think modern filmmaking sometimes confuses provocative with quality, but that's not the case. In the same way that you can made a traditional film and make it genius, films that feel outside-the-norm if they include characters that don't feel consistent or random asides that totally take you out of the picture aren't automatically brilliant...just because it's new doesn't make it good, and Vice's kitchen sink approach to filmmaking feels lazy & like a bad episode of Family Guy more than a true movie.
Other Precursor Contenders: The Globes went with Alfonso Cuaron, over Lee, McKay, Bradley Cooper (A Star is Born), and Peter Farrelly (Green Book). BAFTA went with Cuaron as their winner as well, sticking to the Academy's lineup with the exception of McKay being bumped for Cooper. And the DGA likewise picked Cuaron, with the exact same lineup as the Golden Globes. All of this is to say that in terms of sixth place...I have no idea. Looking at my predictions at the time I actually guessed Lanthimos & didn't go with Farrelly, and I do think that's the right play in retrospect...but Farrelly winning for writing & Green Book taking Best Picture does make you wonder in retrospect if Cooper was somehow in seventh place despite dominating the whole season.
Directors I Would Have Nominated: I'm going to make a point of doing the My Ballot within the next week, so you'll see later this week who I would've put here & I'm not going to spoil the surprise. Suffice it to say, Adam McKay will not be in the running.
Oscar's Choice: Cuaron joins George Stevens (and I believe that's it) as one of only two directors to win multiple Best Director trophies but never have a film (to date) win Best Picture.
Oscar's Choice: Cuaron joins George Stevens (and I believe that's it) as one of only two directors to win multiple Best Director trophies but never have a film (to date) win Best Picture.
My Choice: I am going to go against-the-grain here and go with Pawlikowski over Cuaron. Cuaron has the most obvious choice, but Pawlikowski's film so easily could falter in a way that I think Cuaron's never could, and so by the slimmest of margins I'll give it to Cold War (OVP spoiler alert: both will make My Ballot). Lanthimos, Lee, & McKay follow.
Those were my thoughts-how about yours? Is everyone still on Team Alfonso or does someone want to come over to join me with Cold War? Since he has two Oscars now, will there still be pressure to give Spike Lee a third trophy at some point for Best Director? And was it Farrelly or Cooper who was just out-of-reach in sixth place? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Also in 2018: Actress, Actor, Supporting Actress, Supporting Actor, Adapted Screenplay, Original Screenplay, Foreign Language Film, Animated Feature Film, Sound Mixing, Sound Editing, Score, Original Song, Production Design, Cinematography, Costume, Film Editing, Visual Effects, Makeup & Hairstyling, Previously in 2018
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