85th Oscar Director Updates (2/23/12)

Presuming that Michel Hazanavicius wins on Sunday as I am predicting, we will have four years of the best director prize going to first time nominees. I’ll be watching Cannes carefully for any directors that could keep that record going for a fifth year, but as of now it looks like we’ll see a return to the veterans. Here are today’s rankings for the 85th Oscar Directors race, with previous ranking shown in parenthesis after each entry.



1. Steven Spielberg for Lincoln (Predicted Winner) (previous rank 3)
2. Paul Thomas Anderson for The Master (New)
3. Christopher Nolan for The Dark Knight Rises (previous rank 1)
4. Ang Lee for Life Of Pi (previous rank 2)
5. Quentin Tarantino for Django Unchained (previously listed in 86th Oscar race, rank 3)



Alternates:
6. Tom Hooper for Les Miserables (previously listed in 86th Oscar race, rank 6)
7. Baz Luhrmann for The Great Gatsby (previous rank 35)
8. Peter Jackson for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (previous rank 8)
9. Tom Tykwer, Lana Wachowski and Andy Wachowski for Cloud Atlas (previous rank 12)
10. Benh Zeitlin for Beasts Of The Southern Wild (New)
11. Ben Lewin for The Surrogate (New)
12. Alfonso Cuaron for Gravity (New)
13. Kathryn Bigelow for Kill Bin Laden (previously ranked 10 for Triple Frontier)
14. Walter Salles for On The Road (previously listed in 84th Oscar race, rank 16)
15. Lee Daniels for The Paperboy (New)
16. Terrence Malick for Untitled Terrence Malick Project (aka The Burial) (previous rank 39)
17. Annette Haywood-Carter for Savannah (New)
18. Joel Coen and Ethan Coen for Inside Llewyn Davis (New)
19. Kar Wai Wong for The Grandmasters (previous rank 6)
20. Joe Wright for Anna Karenina (previous rank 25)
21. John Hillcoat for Wettest County (previous rank 14)
22. Ben Affleck for Argo (previously listed in 86th Oscar race, rank 49)
23. Andrew Dominik for Cogan’s Trade (previous rank 16)
24. David O. Russell for The Silver Linings Playbook (previously listed in 86th Oscar race, rank 27)
25. Wes Anderson for Moonrise Kingdom (previous rank 28)

26. Cynthia Mort for Nina (previous rank 34)
27. John Madden for Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (New)
28. Juan Antonio Bayona for The Impossible (previously listed in 84th Oscar race, rank 45)
29. Paul Andrew Williams for Song For Marion (New)
30. Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman for Brave (New)
31. David Cronenberg for Cosmopolis (previous rank 22)
32. Robert Zemeckis for Flight (New)
33. Andrea Arnold for Wuthering Heights (New)
34. Woody Allen for Nero Fiddled (previous rank 31)
35. Nicolas Winding Refn for Only God Forgives (New)
36. Ridley Scott for Prometheus (previous rank 17)
37. Steve McQueen for Twelve Years A Slave (previously listed in 87th Oscar race, rank 10)
38. Martin McDonagh for Seven Psychopaths (New)
39. Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini for Imogene (New)
40. Ruben Fleischer for Gangster Squad (previously listed in 86th Oscar race, rank 36)
41. Ry Russo-Young for Nobody Walks (New)
42. Jean-Jacques Annaud for Black Gold (previously listed in 84th Oscar race, rank 47)
43. Avu Duvernay for Middle Of Nowhere (New)
44. Lasse Hallstrom for Salmon Fishing In The Yemen (New)
45. Sarah Polley for Take This Waltz (previously listed in 84th Oscar race, rank 50)
46. Aleta Chappelle for Macbett: The Caribbean Macbeth (previous rank 5)
47. Mike Newell for Great Expectations (previous rank 41)
48. Roger Michell for Hyde Park On Hudson (previous rank 24)
49. Tim Burton for Dark Shadows (previous rank 47)
50. Oliver Stone for Savages (previous rank 21)


As always, check the Tracker Pages in the upper right hand corner of this blog for the most updated predictions in all categories!   
See Best Director predictions for other years HERE.
See predictions for other categories at the 85th Oscars HERE.
Switch to another year: 84th,  85th,  86th,  87th,  88th,  89th