Meanwhile, the Directors Guild of America announced their 2020 nominees in the Feature Film and First-Time Feature Film categories. The five nominated filmmakers are Bong Joon Ho (“Parasite”), Martin Scorsese (“The Irishman”), Sam Mendes (“1917”), Quentin Tarantino (“Once Upon A Time In Hollywood”) and, surprise, Taika Waititi (“Jojo Rabbit”).
Waititi likely overcame stiff competition from Greta Gerwig (“Little Women”), Noah Baumbach (“Marriage Story”) and BAFTA nominee Todd Phillips (“Joker”) to make the cut. Baumbach and his film have had dwindling buzz ever since being triumphantly received at Venice and Telluride.
In the First-Time Feature Film category, the nominees were Mati Diop (“Atlantics”), Alma Har’el (“Honey Boy”), Melina Matsoukas (“Queen & Slim”), Joe Talbot (“The Last Black Man in San Francisco”) and the duo of Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz (“The Peanut Butter Falcon”).
The 2020 DGA Award winners will be handed out on Jan 25.
I can confirm that Joel Coen’s “Jack of Spades” is based on Frances Frederica Montrésor’s 1901 novel “The Alien: A Story of Middle Age.” It’s a ghost story. A gothic mystery.