The Academy finally dropped the full list ofOscarnominees, and the directing duo consisting of Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, a.k.a. Daniels, not only received the most nominations forEverything Everywhere All at Oncebut also earned recognition in the Best Director category.
The five nominees only feature usual suspectSteven Spielberg for his semi-autobiographical film,The Fabelmans, with Martin McDonagh (The Banshees of Inisherin), Todd Field (TÁR), and Ruben Östlund (Triangle of Sadness) rounding off this group of accomplished filmmakers. It bears saying that this is also far from McDonagh’s first rodeo at theOscars, as he’s been previously nominated for movies likeThree Billboards Outside Ebbing, MissouriandIn Bruges, though never before for his directing work.
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Nevertheless, what is most striking about these Best Director nominees is that for Daniels,Everything Everywhere All at Oncehappens to be only their second feature-length movie. They develop their craft in short films, whereas for Field,TÁRis barely his third movie since 2001’sIn the Bedroom. Östlund’s story is vastly different, as the Swedish director’s trajectory is much more extensive, though the dark comedyTriangle of Sadnessis his first English-language movie.
Besides the Best Director nod forThe Banshees of Inisherin, the movie attained the second-highest total number of nominations, along with Netflix’sAll Quiet On The Western Front, tied at 9. However,Everything Everywhere All at Onceconquered the Oscars with 11 nominations. All the Best Director nominees also made it on the list forthe coveted Best Picture award, one that they’ll be competing for againstAll Quiet on the Western Front,Avatar: The Way of Water,Elvis,Top Gun: MaverickandWomen Talking.
Out of all the movies picked for Best Director,Everything Everywhere All at Oncewas by far the most popular in 2022, as its unique brand of sci-fi actioncombined with great performances from Michelle Yeohand Ke Huy Quan (both nominated in acting categories) made it a box office and critical hit. Conversely, the likes ofThe FabelmansandTÁRboth lost money for their respective companies, albeit the extra attention from the Oscars could help rescue the business side of things for them.
Betting odds point to Spielberg as the clear-cut favorite to land his third Best Director prize, with the first two coming thanks to hisefforts inSchindler’s ListandSaving Private Ryan. However, Daniels comes in second, and judging fromEverything Everywhere All at Once’s impact across all theOscars, it could very well be the night for a wacky action movie to take more than a few awards home.
