It's nice to be the Director's Guild. You don't have to worry about supporting actors or screenplays or ensemble casts. You give one award - Best Director. Five nominees, one award given at a dinner, and you can spend the rest of the time chowing down on free grub.
The DGA nominees are none too surprising, considering the way awards and nominations have been going this year.
Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood
Joel and Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men
Tony Gilroy, Michael Clayton
Sean Penn, Into the Wild
Julian Schnabel, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Anderson went 20 minutes into his film before adding dialog. Gilroy made a damn good movie in a true classic style. Penn had to trudge through massive Alaskan snow drifts. Schnabel filmed an unfilmable story. The Coen Brothers are the goddamned Coen Brothers.
All great achievements. Any one of them could win. It's a crap shoot. My money's on Anderson, because he got Daniel Day-Lewis to come out of retirement.
