2019 Oscar Predictions: BEST DIRECTOR (April) – McQueen is King
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As was with Best Picture, Best Director sees a change-up from last month with Widows‘ Steve McQueen taking the pole position for April. Adam McKay (Cheney), Damien Chazelle (First Man), Barry Jenkins (If Beale Street Could Talk) and Spike Lee (BlacKkKlansman) round out the top 5.
The rest of the top 10 plays out similarly to the top 10 in Best Picture and will do so until/if we see some divergence between the two categories. The second half of the top 10 is ripe with potential first-time nominees, including what could be the first Asian-American female directing nominee, Karyn Kusama (Destroyer).
Here are my predictions for Best Director as of April 16, 2018.
| 1. Steve McQueen – Widows |
| 2. Adam McKay – Untitled Dick Cheney biopic |
| 3. Damien Chazelle – First Man |
| 4. Barry Jenkins – If Beale Street Could Talk |
| 5. Spike Lee – BlacKkKlansman |
| 6. Ryan Coogler – Black Panther |
| 7. Marielle Heller – Can You Ever Forgive Me? |
| 8. Karyn Kusama – Destroyer |
| 9. James Gray – Ad Astra |
| 10. Josie Rourke – Mary Queen of Scots |
| OTHER CONTENDERS |
| Felix van Groeningen – Beautiful Boy |
| Dexter Fletcher – Bohemian Rhapsody |
| Joel Edgerton – Boy Erased |
| Jon M. Chu – Crazy Rich Asians |
| Asghar Farhadi – Everybody Knows |
| Julia Hart – Fast Color |
| Yorgos Lanthimos – The Favourite |
| Jason Reitman – The Front Runner |
| Sebastián Lelio – Gloria |
| Ari Aster – Hereditary |
| Kim Nyugen – The Hummingbird Project |
| Wes Anderson – Isle of Dogs |
| Justin Kelly – JT Leroy |
| Thomas Vinterberg – Kursk |
| Debra Granik – Leave No Trace |
| Paolo Sorrentino – Loro |
| Terry Gilliam – The Man Who Killed Don Quixote |
| Rob Marshall – Mary Poppins Returns |
| Jonah Hill – Mid 90s |
| Jennifer Kent – The Nightingale |
| David Lowery – Old Man and the Gun |
| Mimi Leder – On the Basis of Sex |
| David Mackenzie – Outlaw King |
| Mike Leigh – Peterloo |
| Alfonso Cuarón – Roma |
| Jacques Audiard – The Sisters Brothers |
| Bradley Cooper – A Star is Born |
| László Nemes – Sunset |
| Luca Guadagnino – Suspiria |
| Jason Reitman – Tully |
| Benh Zeitlin – Wendy |
| Richard Linklater – Where’d You Go, Bernadette |
| Paul Dano – Wildlife |
| Susanna White – Woman Walks Ahead |
| Robert Zemeckis – The Women of Marwen |
| Lynne Ramsay – You Were Never Really Here |
| Pippa Bianco – Untitled Pippa Bianco aka Share |
2019 Oscar Predictions: BEST PICTURE (April)
2019 Oscar Predictions: BEST ACTOR (April)
2019 Oscar Predictions: BEST ACTRESS (April)
2019 Oscar Predictions: SUPPORTING ACTOR (April)
2019 Oscar Predictions: SUPPORTING ACTRESS (April)
2019 Oscar Predictions: ADAPTED and ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY (April)
He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.
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