Oscar predictions 2016: Who will win best director?
Alejandro Inarritu, who won best director last year for "Birdman," goes for two in a row with "The Revenant," his epic survival film starring Leonardo DiCaprio, above. Credit: Twentieth Century Fox
How many directors have won back-to-back Oscars? Only two – at least, so far.
One is John Ford, who won for “The Grapes Of Wrath” (1940) and “How Green Was My Valley” (1941). The other is Joseph L. Mankiewicz, who won for “A Letter to Three Wives” (1949) and “All About Eve” (1950). That means there hasn’t been another director to win two consecutive Oscars since Harry Truman was president.
That could change this year if Alejandro Inarritu, who won last year for “Birdman,” wins again for “The Revenant,” his epic survival film starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Though anything could happen – George Miller is also a strong contender, for “Mad Max: Fury Road” – Inarritu has the edge. The Directors Guild of America, whose annual award is a virtual guarantee of who will win the directing Oscar, gave Inarritu its top award last year and this year. He’s the first back-to-back winner of that honor in the guild’s 65-year history.
ALEJANDRO G. IÑÁRRITU, “The Revenant.” The Mexican director is the man to beat this year thanks to his dazzling camerawork and extended single-take action sequences. Look for him to make history Sunday night.
TOM MCCARTHY, “Spotlight.” He’s been a familiar face, if rarely the star, of many movies since at least the early 1990s, but in 2003 he turned to writing and directing with the critically acclaimed “The Station Agent.” His crisp direction (and writing) for “Spotlight” certainly deserved a nomination, though a win may have to wait for a future year.
LENNY ABRAHAMSON, “Room.” This Irish film and television director didn’t release his first feature, 2004’s “Adam & Paul,” until he was pushing 40. His quirky indie-rock film “Frank” (2014), starring Michael Fassbender, marked him as a director to watch. His current nod for “Room,” a dramatic thriller starring Oscar-nominated Brie Larson, must be gratifying indeed.
GEORGE MILLER, “Mad Max: Fury Road.” The movie was wild, bloody, outrageous fun, but critics and Oscar voters also saw it as an artistic triumph for the 70-year-old Miller, who created the famous post-apocalyptic franchise. Don’t count him out quite yet.
ADAM MCKAY, “The Big Short.” After directing broad comedies like “Anchorman” and “Step Brothers,” McKay took a gamble by helming a topical comedy-drama about the financial meltdown. It paid off, as him nomination proves.
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