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Ishtar
(May, 1987)
The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (OOP)
(Ross, 1976)
The Devils
(Russell, 1974)
The Pirates of Penzance
(Papp/Leach, 1983)
The Fortune
(Nichols, 1975)
-30-
(Webb, 1959)
Betrayal
(Jones, 1983)
Play It As It Lays
(Perry, 1972)
The Outfit
(Flynn, 1973)
Alex in Wonderland
(Mazursky, 1969)
The Legend of Lylah Clare
(Aldrich, 1968)
In The Cool of the Day
(Stevens, 1963)
That Cold Day in the Park
(Altman, 1969)
Thumb Trippin'
(Masters, 1972)
Midas Run
(Kjellin, 1969)
At Long Last Love
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Brewster McCloud
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Outcast of the Islands
(Reed, 1951)

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The Moon's Our Home
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Sh! The Octopus
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Bad for Each Other
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The Phenix City Story
(Karlson, 1955)
Run of the Arrow
(Fuller, 1956)
House of Secrets
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Saint Joan
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Macabre
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The Fiend Who Walked the West
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Five Gates to Hell
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1960's
Key Witness
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Summer and Smoke
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The Chapman Report
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Bachelor Flat
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The L Shaped Room
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The Chalk Garden
(Neame, 1964)
A Thousand Clowns
(Coe, 1965)
You're a Big Boy Now
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The Whisperers
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Dark of the Sun
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Skidoo
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Last Summer
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The Comic
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1970-1974
The Revolutionary
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The Landlord
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Diary of a Mad Housewife
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Tropic of Cancer
(Strick, 1970)
I Never Sang for My Father
(Cates, 1970)
Sometimes a Great Notion
(Newman, 1971)
Marriage of a Young Stockbroker
(Turman, 1971)
The Music Lovers
(Russell, 1971)
Drive, He Said
(Nicholson, 1971)
The Steagle
(Sylbert, 1971)
The Last Movie
(Hopper, 1971)
Made For Each Other
(Bean, 1971)
The Day the Clown Cried
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Hickey & Boggs (OOP)
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The Carey Treatment
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Pete 'n' Tillie
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Slither
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Man on a Swing
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Open Season
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The Tamarind Seed
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Law and Disorder
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Homebodies
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Stardust
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Celine and Julie Go Boating
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1975-1979
Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins
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At Long Last Love
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Hearts of the West
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Welcome to L.A.
(Rudolph, 1976)
W.C. Fields and Me
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Citizens Band
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Twilight's Last Gleaming
(Aldrich, 1977)
Looking for Mr. Goodbar
(Brooks, 1977)
Girlfriends
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Movie Movie
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The Medusa Touch
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American Hot Wax
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Hot Stuff
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Scavenger Hunt
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Players
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Rich Kids
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Nightwing
(Hiller, 1979)
Screams of a Winter's Night
(Wilson, 1979
When You Comin' Back Red Ryder?
(Katselas, 1979
1980's
Resurrection
(Petrie, 1980)
The Awakening
(Newell, 1980)
Simon
(Brickman, 1980)
God's Angry Man
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Fast-Walking
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Twice Upon a Time
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Trouble in Mind
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When the Wind Blows
(Murikami, 1986)
Housekeeping
(Forsyth, 1987)
The Glass Menagerie
(Newman, 1987)
Patty Hearst
(Schrader, 1988)
Drowning by Numbers
(Greenaway, 1988)
Haunted Summer
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The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years
(Spheeris, 1988)
1990's
Old Times
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Prospero's Books
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City of Hope
(Sayles, 1991)
The Baby of Macon
(Greenaway, 1993)
King of the Hill
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Dadetown
(Hexter, 1995)
SubUrbia
(Linklater, 1997)

Upcoming

January 8

Bitch Slap

Waiting for Armageddon

Wonderful World

Youth in Revolt

January 15

January 22

Drool

Extraordinary Measures

The Girl on the Train

DGA Nommies

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Slumdog Millionaire's Danny Boyle, The Dark Knight's Christopher Nolan, Milk's Gus Van Sant, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button's David Fincher and Frost/Nixon's Ron Howard were announced this morning as Directors Guild nominees for top feature film of 2008.

I'm fixing myself a coffee in the morning and I'm thinking Boyle, Fincher, Howard, Nolan and Van Sant. I'm taking the bus into the city and I'm thinking Slumdog Millionaire, Frost/Nixon, The Dark Knight, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Milk. I'm walking down Varick St. in the windy frigid cold and I'm thinking Van Sant, Nolan, Boyle, Howard and Fincher. I'm ordering a Pinot Grigio at Balthazar and I'm thinking Milk, The Dark Knight, Slumdog Millionaire, Frost/Nixon and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I'm throwing up in a gutter in Little Italy and I'm thinking Fincher, Van Sant, Nolan, Howard and Boyle. I'm in a taxi heading down Ninth Avenue, etc., etc.

Oh, I'm sorry...did I forget to mention the Writers Guild nominees yesterday? I did, didn't I? Well, you can read about them somewhere else.

Hayseed Nation<< previous | next >>Spared

Posted by Jeffrey Wells on January 8, 2009 at 11:53 AM

comment #1

actionman says ...

"I'm throwing up in a gutter in Little Italy and I'm thinking Fincher, Van Sant, Nolan, Howard and Boyle."

I just laughed out loud at my desk. Thanks, Wells.

Posted by actionman at January 8, 2009 12:10 PM

comment #2

George Prager says ...

I'm walking past Ruby Foos and I'm thinkin' Piven, Piven, Piven and Piven.

Posted by George Prager at January 8, 2009 12:18 PM

comment #3

DeafBrownTrashPunk says ...

"Oh, I'm sorry...did I forget to mention the Writers Guild nominees yesterday? I did, didn't I? Well, you can read about them somewhere else."

Sigh. Ain't that the truth-- nobody ever gives a toss about the screenwriters.

Posted by DeafBrownTrashPunk at January 8, 2009 12:32 PM

comment #4

NDH says ...

BORING! A few Guild nominations come out in the space of a week, and suddenly everything about the Oscars is predetermined. Although on the bright side, this will make the announcement of a surprise nominee a helluva lot more surprising.

Posted by NDH at January 8, 2009 12:35 PM

comment #5

buckzollo says ...

You should have been thinking that the DGA, like according to you, the PGA, are just a bunch of timid consensus wussies. FYI I am PGA and voted from an enormous list, every film released in 08 (I think). Although I had to vote for five fims to nominate, I was also voting for the one film I had already decided is best picture, Benjamin Button.

Posted by buckzollo at January 8, 2009 12:35 PM

comment #6

Aladdin Sane says ...

It would be nice to see some deviation, but except for Frost/Nixon, I'm not entirely unhappy w/ the list.
I would have liked to seen Aronofsky or Mendes or Demme just to shake things up. Howard made an entertaining movie, but it seems to me that it's coasting on his name more than anything else here.

Posted by Aladdin Sane at January 8, 2009 12:36 PM

comment #7

115thDreamer says ...

Yes, the Top Five really seems to be locked in at this point. What could even take away one of the spots at this point? Rev. Road? Doubt? I'm not seeing it. Personally, I think either Button or Frost/Nixon should slide down and let Rev. Road take its rightful place, but it ain't gonna happen.

Posted by 115thDreamer at January 8, 2009 12:48 PM

comment #8

mattn says ...

Your Oscar Balloon appears to be missing The Dark Knight in the top categories. Is this an oversight or deliberate?

Posted by mattn at January 8, 2009 1:11 PM

comment #9

MilkMan says ...

Ron Howard for Best Director? Really? I mean, I know the guy is everyone's pal and everything, and I'm sure he brings his movies in on time and under budget, but really, Best Director? Hasn't he been praised enough for his unceasing run of mediocrity? What did he do in Frost/Nixon that 100 other directors wouldn't or couldn't have done? He deserves to be nominated for an award for simply being competent?

Posted by MilkMan at January 8, 2009 1:26 PM

comment #10

actionman says ...

For once, I agree with you MilkMan.

Frost/Nixon was well made and competent in all areas of filmmaking. But to nominate Howard over so many other deserving filmmakers is just nonsense.

Posted by actionman at January 8, 2009 1:38 PM

comment #11

Renfield says ...

Ron Howard is the king of bland. He's a Spielberg without the passion and mommy/daddy issues.

Every filmmaker needs a basic psychological issue in order to keep things interesting.

Posted by Renfield at January 8, 2009 1:50 PM

comment #12

the400blows says ...

It's interesting that Wells doesnt' have Howard or Nolan in his Oscar balloon. But he has Shanley and Mendes. Interesting....

Posted by the400blows at January 8, 2009 4:22 PM

comment #13

CitizenKanedforChewingGum says ...

If the Academy decides to slide Aronofsky in for Howard (unlikely, but here's hoping), they would have themselves one helluva fine list of directors. Certainly my favorite selection of filmmakers since 2002 (the year R. Howard won, ironically enough).

If that ends up happening, I'd actually argue that it's one of the best groups of directing nominees *ever.* Yeah, I said it.

Posted by CitizenKanedforChewingGum at January 8, 2009 4:52 PM

comment #14

CitizenKanedforChewingGum says ...

LOL Renfield.

That is sooo true.

Posted by CitizenKanedforChewingGum at January 8, 2009 4:53 PM

comment #15

bluefugue says ...

[quote]Ron Howard is the king of bland. He's a Spielberg without the passion and mommy/daddy issues.[/quote]

Spielberg also has, unlike Howard, one of the most fully developed senses of camera movement and blocking in the history of cinema -- on a par with Welles, Renoir, and Kurosawa. He is a technical master, though the content of his films is often problematic.

Howard is a competent pro, nothing more; but he has made some good films (I'm very fond of Apollo 13).

Posted by bluefugue at January 8, 2009 5:59 PM

comment #16

smiley says ...

Its about time Fincher and Nolan are recognized for their work in the cinematic field. I'd like to see Aronofsky added to that list as well.

Posted by smiley at January 8, 2009 8:02 PM

comment #17

Renfield says ...

Bluefugue,

That's what I meant by "passion".

Posted by Renfield at January 8, 2009 9:33 PM

comment #18

MALONE says ...

I'm having a homemade milkshake and thinking about ZODIAC. I'm thinking about TO DIE FOR. And I'm thinking about how Ron Howard is merely a good filmmaker, not a great one.

Posted by MALONE at January 8, 2009 10:21 PM

comment #19

K. Bowen says ...

Ron Howard. Sigh.

Posted by K. Bowen at January 9, 2009 2:17 AM

comment #20

BurmaShave says ...

Renfield, Ron Howard was raised by Andy Griffith and Tom Bosley, how fucked up can we expect him to be?

Posted by BurmaShave at January 9, 2009 4:56 AM

comment #21

jse33 says ...

Doubt is going to receive 4 acting nominations and a Screenplay nomination. I think it still has a very good chance of knocking out one of these top 5. My guess? Doubt replaces The Dark Knight, but Nolan gets in for Director. Will the Academy really nominate a Batman movie?

Posted by jse33 at January 9, 2009 4:59 AM