Related movies

• Brokeback Mountain
• Capote
• Crash
• Good Night, and Good Luck
• Hulk
• Munich
• Syriana
• War of the Worlds

Related people

• Steven Spielberg
• Ang Lee
• George Clooney
• Philip Seymour Hoffman
• Bennett Miller
• Paul Haggis

Oscar preview - Best Director

The TOMB predicts the winner and losers in a category that includes Spielberg, Clooney and (ahem) Haggis.

Mar  2 2006

Today we're taking on the best director category, and to be honest, they may as well give this one to Ang Lee right now.

But the Academy has got to go through the motions at the weekend, so The TOMB will do the same right here, right now.

Bennett Miller is nominated for the Truman Capote drama-cum-biopic 'Capote', and while Philip Seymour Hoffman is a sure thing to walk away with the acting Oscar on Sunday, I'm afraid his director won't be doing the same. Nevertheless, this should hopefully herald the start of a long and productive career for Mr Miller.

Steven Spielberg is nominated for 'Munich', capping off a typically amazing year in which that film's critical acclaim was only matched by the commercial success of his other 2005 release, 'War of the Worlds'. Yet while 'the beard' proved his incredible versatility once and for all with this incredible double-whammy, he won't be going home with the Oscar this time around.

George Clooney did an amazing job directing 'Good Night, and Good Luck', but in spite of the fact that he's nominated in three categories this year (for co-writing 'Good Night' and acting in 'Syriana') I'm afraid it won't be his year either.

Why? Because of Ang Lee. His understated, articulate and breathtakingly beautiful direction of 'Brokeback Mountain' has won every award going thus far, and we see no reason why he won't rightly take home the gold at the weekend, and in doing so erase all memories of 'The Hulk'.

Finally, Paul Haggis was also nominated for directing 'Crash', but as we think this was probably a mistake by the Academy, we've chosen to ignore it.

Oscar Preview