Now that the fall festival season is well and truly underway with TIFF and Venice behind us, we now have a better indication as to what films will be in the conversation when it comes to a Directing nomination. The directors that have not done themselves any harm out of TIFF and Venice are “Yorgos Lanthimos” for his critically acclaimed Poor Things and “Bradley Cooper” for his Leonard Bernstein biopic, Maestro. Other filmmakers to consider are “Cord Jefferson” for his TIFF people’s choice winning American Fiction, and “Ava DuVernay” for Origin. Despite gaining traction in Awards season, I cannot see either director managing to sneak into the highly competitive five slots.
Four of my five predicted nominees from July remain the same, with: “Celine Song”, “Jonathan Glazer”, “Martin Scorsese” and “Christopher Nolan”, further cementing their places as strong contenders. The other previously predicted director in the top 5 was “Denis Villeneuve” for the highly anticipated sequel Dune: Part Two. Unfortunately, due to the ongoing SAG-AFTA strikes, the film has been delayed until April 2024, making it ineligible for the upcoming Academy Awards.
Strong Contenders
- Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer) (↑1)
- Martin Scorsese (Killers of the Flower Moon) (↓1)
- Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things) (↑6)
- Jonathan Glazer (The Zone of Interest) (↓1)
- Celine Song (Past Lives) (-)
Possible Contenders
- Greta Gerwig (Barbie) (↑5)
- Justine Triet (Anatomy of a Fall) (↓1)
- Alexander Payne (The Holdovers) (↓1)
- Bradley Cooper (Maestro) (↑3)
- Blitz Bazawule (The Colour Purple) (↓2)
Outsiders
- Emerald Fennell (Saltburn) (↓1)
- Ava DuVernay (Origin) (NEW)
- Ridley Scott (Napoleon) (-)
- Sofia Coppola (Priscilla) (↑NEW)
- Cord Jefferson (American Fiction) (NEW)
Other Categories:
Dan Loves Film 
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Oppenheimer, for what? Most interesting way to be self-aggrandizing and pretentious? So so so sick of the hype. It’s like people have lost the ability to feel anything other than pure jizz for this guy. Holy shit.
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It may not be for everyone but it is a very well crafted movie. He has essentially taken a 3 hour long court room biopic and turned into into a blockbuster. Plus these are not my choices but what I think the Academy would go for
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No I quite liked it, I just don’t think reviews from the likes of Richard Roeper declaring it the most important movie of the 21st Century do it many favors. It’s like people have lost the ability to have nuanced discussions about quality anymore.
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