Robert
AltmanGosford Park
You'd think that after a career directing such classics as M*A*S*H, Nashville, The Long Goodbye, The Player and McCabe & Mrs. Miller that Altman would already have won himself an Oscar. Not so - even though he's been nominated four times. But this year he's one of the front runners for two reasons: 1) He's already won the Best Director Golden Globe for Gosford Park; 2) If you're good enough and you hang in there long enough, Hollywood almost always eventually gets around to rewarding you. It also doesn't hurt that his finely textured tragicomedy of manners is an excellent film that's gone over well with audiences and critics alike.
Ron
HowardA Beautiful Mind
Ron Howard is no stranger to the red carpet, having been nominated for the little gold man before (Apollo 13). More recently he scored big with the huge Christmas hit, The Grinch, before taking a decidedly more prestigious turn with A Beautiful Mind. Ostensibly a film about a mad genius, Howard transcends the usual clichés and trappings of this sort of movie by creating a story more concerned with love than science. But another reason he might come up big on Oscar night is that he's a veteran of the industry. He literally grew up on television as Opie on The Andy Griffith Show and Richie Cunningham on Happy Days. And by all accounts he's also a nice guy and sometimes, well, nice guys don't finish last.
Peter
Jackson
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of
the Ring
After completing 1996's underrated The Frighteners,
Jackson was completely consumed with creating his three-part epic, The
Lord of the Rings. Following years of extensive planning and
preparation, the films were finally shot back-to-back over a period of 18
months. During this time, Jackson had to contend with everything from bad
weather to corralling hundreds of extras - not to mention the pressure of
having to please millions of fans of Tolkien's original books. But all the
years of hard work have paid off with this hit that's not only
chock-a-block with a multitude of special effects and eye-popping vistas,
but is also a story that's both thrilling and emotionally compelling.
David
Lynch
Mulholland Drive
David Lynch definitely has to be seen as the wild card in
this year's race for the gold. He's a fabulous director and Mulholland
Drive, his multi-layered, dreamy look at the seedy side of Hollywood,
has garnered more than its share of accolades over the past couple of
months. But the thing is, the film itself is just a little too weird for
Hollywood's taste, not to mention the more mainstream competition Lynch is
facing. Originally shot as a TV pilot that didn't go anywhere, it's to
Lynch's credit that he managed to not only salvage the footage, but also
turn Mulholland Drive into one of the most spellbinding films of
the year.
Ridley
Scott
Black Hawk Down
It's always more than a little perplexing when the film
that wins an Oscar for Best Picture doesn't have a follow-up Best Director
attached. This is what happened to Scott last year with his Best Picture
winner, Gladiator. Be that as it
may, Scott has followed up his ancient times saga with something decidedly
more modern - Black Hawk Down. This critically acclaimed modern
warfare flick details the disastrous raid by American troops on a
food-hoarding Somalian warlord in 1993. The majority of the film plays out
almost in real time, with the troops constantly receiving fire from the
local armies. The logistics of filming such complicated sequences must
have been daunting, but in Scott's experienced hands, the movie comes off
looking as realistic as a film can get.
