“All Right, Mr. Deville, I am Ready for my Close Up” Award for Best Director

Previous Winners:  A.G. Inarritu (Birdman), Tim McCarthy (Spotlight), Damien Chazelle (La La Land), Patty Jenkins (Wonder Woman), Alfonso Cuarón (Roma), Anthony and Joe Russo (Avengers: Endgame), Spike Lee (Da 5 Bloods), Jon Watt (Spider-Man: No Way Home), Ryan Coogler (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever), Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer), Robert Eggers (Nosferatu)

We have some top of the line directors up for this award this year. We have never had a repeat winner in this award before, but we definitely have some possible 2nd time winners among our list.

Honorable Mention: Scarlett Johansson (Eleanor the Great), Jafar Pasnahi (It Was Just an Accident), Rob Reiner (Spinal Tap II: The End Continues), Francis Lawrence (The Long Walk), Joseph Kosinski (F1: The Movie).

#15. Kathryn Bigelow (A House of Dynamite)

#14. Mike Flanagan (Life of Chuck)

#13. Yorgus Lanthimos (Bugonia)

#12. Jon M. Chu (Wicked: For Good)

#11. Paul Thomas Anderson (One Battle After Another)

Discussion: Many Oscar pundits have PTA leading the pack for Best Director, but I did not love One Battle After Another. There is no argument that he did a great job as the director. Jon Chu and Mike Flanagan had dance and musical numbers to deal with. Kathryn Bigelow had to show multiple POVs in her film and Yorgus had to direct one of the most crazy scenes of the year.

#10. Chloe Zhao (Hamnet)

#9. James Gunn (Superman)

#8. Josh Safdie (Marty Supreme)

#7. Jake Schreier (Thunderbolts*)

#6. Matt Shakman (Fantastic Four: Final Steps)

I thought Matt Shakman, fresh off WandaVision, created a great tone in FF: First Steps. Thunderbolts was a great ensemble and Schreier managed the group extremely well. James Gunn had a lot of pressure choosing to direct the first DCU film himself and he did a great job. Josh Safdie won the battle of the Safdie brothers this year. Hamnet had a remarkable ending, but the first half was too slow.

#5. Paul Greengrass (The Lost Bus)

#4. Zach Cregger (Weapons)

#3. Guillermo Del Toro (Frankenstein)

#2. Rian Johnson (Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery)

With this group of directors, Rian Johnson’s brilliant story was presented in a perfect manner. Del Toro brought a stylish version of Frankenstein to Netflix. Zach Cregger’s work on Weapons was great, again with a style of differing POVs. The directing job done by Paul Greengrass with the fire and the stunts in The Lost Bus should not be overlooked, although it does feel as if it has been.

#1…

Ryan Coogler (Sinners)

Here is our first two-time “All Right, Mr. Deville, I am Ready for my Close Up” Award for Best Director winner. Coogler won a few years ago for his great work on Wakanda Forever and he absolutely took the next step with Sinners. This movie was such an epic that you can’t help but be impressed by his amazing work. Vampires. Music. Dance routines. Bloody standoffs. Sinners has everything.