Oscars 2015 – Who Will Win, Who Should Win – Best Director?
The 87th Academy Awards are almost upon us, with the lavish ceremony taking place this Sunday night. For the past few months people have been feverishly trying to figure out who will win what, who will lose out and most importantly what will Jennifer Lawrence do?
So, here at HeadStuff we decided to ask our esteemed film writers to weigh in on the great debate and give their predictions of who should win, and who will win on film’s most important night of the year.
So far we have looked at Best Original Screenplay and Best Actor and Actress. This time it’s the turn of the directors.
Best Director
The Nominees:
Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Alejandro González Iñárritu, Birdman
Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Bennett Miller, Foxcatcher
Morten Tyldum, The Imitation Game
Graham Connors:
Who Will Win – “There is no driftwood in this category. Each director has earned his nomination and each really could win. Yet, there can be only one and Richard Linklater will be that person. I think he’ll win, more so because of a remarkable career that has swung forward and back through genres and tones, gaining credibility with the Before series of films, and he has now come of age.” Who Should Win – “If I could hand it over myself then Wes Anderson would be the recipient, mainly because I love his movies and his style. The Grand Budapest Hotel may not be his best film but it certainly is his most complete.”
Ged Murray:
Who Will Win – “Richard Linklater. He’s already got the Golden Globe and he’s been nominated before so I think the academy probably feel they owe him one.” Who Should Win – “Richard Linklater because he made the best film and that’s how it should work. Also, Boyhood is an amazing achievement as a director. Getting a growing cast to commit is impressive enough. Committing himself to it as a director is almost equally so.”
Niamh Mongey:
Who Will Win – “Richard Linklater. I fancy all his films.” Who Should Win – “As above!”
Paddy O’Leary:
Who Will Win – “It really seems to be a toss-up between Iñárritu and Linklater. It will be a tough one to call but with a BAFTA, a Golden Globe and a Critic’s Choice behind him, Linklater looks like the favorite to take it.” Who Should Win – “Alejandro González Iñárritu really impressed me with the fluidity and pace of the fantastic Birdman; I would love to see him pick up the award for Best Director.”
Fergal Casey:
Who Will Win – “Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu will win the Oscar because his rival gimmick, shooting as one single take, looks more obviously difficult.” Who Should Win – “Richard Linklater should win for the enormous leap of faith that was helming a film for over a decade.”
Eoin Rogers:
Who Will Win – “Boyhood. Linklater’s approach is quite possibly the opposite of Iñárritu’s with Birdman but Boyhood is still a really engaging watch which manages to create its own visual shorthand which is so subtle so as to be almost unnoticeable. It was only after several years had gone by in the film that I noticed that the actors were aging naturally and I was surprised and pleased by how unobtrusive and unforced the effect was in application. Linklater grounds the film by tracking developments in technology and with a varied soundtrack that ages with the characters so as to ensure that the cinematic spectacle doesn’t overpower the story. I think it’ll win for no other reason than because it’s a safer option than Birdman and we all know how conservative the Academy are.”
Who Should Win – “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance). Iñárritu’s direction is stellar. He manages to balance characters with more quirks than a Wes Anderson screenplay and more insecurity than a Woody Allen monologue, and even then each one, from the narcissistic father to the attention seeking daughter, is held perfectly within the web of camera work spun by the absolutely absorbing continuous shot which makes the entire film vibrate with kinetic energy. Contrived camera trickery and sentence structure aside, if Whiplash was in this category it’d get my vote. What a great fucking movie. The Oscars are a joke.”
