While the latest whispers had some, including Variety, believing “Sinners” was pulling ahead in the Oscar race, I never believed it, and that’s now been proven to be a false flag.
Can we now finally, officially, accept that the frontrunners for Best Director—and, for that matter, Best Picture—are Paul Thomas Anderson and “One Battle After Another”? How many wins this awards season will it take to convince the skeptics?
On Saturday night, PTA picked up the top prize from the Directors Guild of America. If it wins the Producers Guild on February 28, then the Best Picture race will be over. Hell, I think it’s already over — this has been its Oscar to lose for many months now, and no other film has come close to becoming a threat.
In very welcome news, Charlie Polinger won the DGA’s feature directorial debut award for “The Plague,” a terrific first film, and thus bested supposed frontrunner Eva Victor (“Sorry, Baby”). The other nominees were Hasan Hadi (“The President’s Cake”), Harry Lighton (“Pillion”) and Alex Russell (“Lurker”).
For the DGA prize, Anderson beat out Guillermo del Toro (“Frankenstein”), Chloé Zhao (“Hamnet”), Ryan Coogler (“Sinners”), and Josh Safdie (“Marty Supreme”) who were also nominated for the night’s top honor, “Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film.” You be the judge: was Anderson the most deserving of the five nominees? In my books, it was either him or Safdie.
Since its inception, way back in 1948, the DGA has predicted the winner of the Academy Award for Best Director on all but eight occasions. Four of the last five DGA winners went on to have their film crowned Best Picture at the Oscars.
This latest win for “One Battle After Another” comes hot on the heels of its victories at nearly every major awards-season precursor, including the Critics Choice Award, Golden Globe, National Board of Review, New York Film Critics Circle, and Los Angeles Film Critics Association. Up next are the BAFTAs and the PGA Awards, where PTA’s film is also the frontrunner.
PTA has never won an Oscar directing prize in his 30-plus-year career, and that’s despite helming landmarks such as “There Will Be Blood,” “The Master,” “Magnolia,” “Boogie Nights,” and “Phantom Thread” — a fact that will likely change come the evening of March 15.