Oscar Nominees: Best Director

My predictions: 4/5
My ballot: Come back later this week!
The nominees: Martin Scorsese (The Irishman), Todd Phillips (Joker), Sam Mendes (1917), Quentin Tarantino (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood), Bong Joon Ho (Parasite)

I was hoping for a surprise of some sort here, but instead we got the exact Golden Globe and BAFTA list. Of course it’s all men, and it’s far from creative, but these are some good working directors. Though I didn’t love the ninth film from Quentin Tarantino (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood), he clearly wanted to make a certain kind of movie, which he did. That’s definitely true for Martin Scorsese (The Irishman) as well, who is a former winner in this category along with Sam Mendes (1917). I’m sure that Todd Phillips (Joker) didn’t expect his film to be the nominations leader, while Bong Joon Ho (Parasite) is certainly thrilled to have directed the first Korean movie nominated in this race, for a film that earned six bids. Even if it’s so expected and relatively dull at this point in the race, this list isn’t actually bad.

My current bet to win: I think Bong Joon Ho can pull this off.