DGA Nomineezzzzzzz

I didn't realize that the DGA nominees were announced today. Even when people starting Tweeting the names of those honored, I thought to myself, "What dull, middle-of-the-road predix. You know the DGA will shake it up, Fincher-style." But alas!

Ben Affleck, Argo 

Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty 

Tom Hooper, Les Miserables

Ang Lee, Life of Pi 

Steven Spielberg, Lincoln

True, at least three of the five directors named here deserved the mention, but in the interest of suspense and showmanship, I hoped that maybe there would be a David O. Russell I could rail against, a Paul Thomas Anderson I could respectfully disagree with, a Leos Carax I could champion. 

Actually, that's ungrateful. Affleck and Bigelow did the best work of their careers, while Spielberg's surely places in the Top Seven of the legend's achievements. Lee handled the bookend scene bizarrely, but overall Life of Pi is a well-done, admirably-executed film...though really, there were at least twelve other directors more deserving. My least favorite option is Hooper, but even then, he stuck to his guns and committed to a vision. It didn't completely work, and at times one could almost feel his interest waning in certain scenes, but it didn't completely fail, either.

So here's to you, DGA nominees. You're a perfectly respectable, if slightly dull, bunch.