Oscar Nominees: Best Director

My predictions: 4/5, missing Daniels
My ballot: TBA
The nominees: James Cameron (Avatar), Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker), Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds), Lee Daniels (Precious), Jason Reitman (Up in the Air)

I nearly had a heart attack during the announcement of this category because, like all of the previous races, the nominees were announced in alphabetical order by film title. For a moment I thought that Bigelow had been snubbed because Cameron was announced first, but my panic quickly subsided. Unfortunately, the fifth nominee is not Clint Eastwood, whose film earned a measly two nominations for its stars, but Lee Daniels. All five of these films are nominated for Best Picture and for Best Film Editing. The race is really only between Bigelow and Cameron, of course, but it’s always possible that they could somehow split the vote and it could go to…Tarantino? Doubtful, but that could happen.

My current bet to win: Bigelow