Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Final Oscar Predictions: Best Director

Will Win: Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker


Bigelow has been winning in almost every place she can win an award, and even though she lost the Golden Globe to her ex-husband, there is still a lot of strong support for her. The biggest tip in her favor is in two facts. One: she won the DGA Award, which proudly states it being one of the best predictors for who will eventually win the category at the Oscar. The second: if she were to win, she would become the first female director to take this prize. Oscar likes to feel “important” in their winners, and Bigelow would make the Academy seem like the progressive group it aspires to be.


Should Win: Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker


While The Hurt Locker is an imperfect film, weighed down immensely by Mark Boal’s meandering script, Bigelow is the reason why any bit of this film works at all. Her direction knows exactly how to amp up the quiet tension, and then how to indulge in the small character moments that showcases the intense, fractured lives of these men. Among this group of nominees, Bigelow is absolutely the most deserving for elevating her film by her efforts alone. Still, my heart will always belong to true winner in this category, Spike Jonze, whose Where the Wild Things Are created an emotional world that mesmerized me beyond belief. Alas, his name is not here, and Bigelow’s is.

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