Frazer Harrison/Dominique Charriau/Daniele Venturelli/Joe Scamici/Getty ImagesSorry Ben Affleck and Katherine Bigelow, but this isn't your year (maybe it should be, but that's a discussion for a different day). That said, with the 85th Annual Academy Awards just over a week away, it's time for another round of your predictions.
Next up: Which of the five nominees will win the Best Director Oscar? Your choices:
Steven Spielberg: The whopping 14-time nominee (with three past wins) could be considered one of the frontrunners for the award for Lincoln, featuring an uncanny Daniel Day-Lewis as the president fighting to get slavery abolished.
David O. Russell: They say to work with what you know, which is exactly what three-time nominee Russell did with Silver Linings Playbook, telling the touching story of a man suffering from biopolar disorder while falling in love.
Ang Lee: It takes a true visionary to adapt Life of Pi—the epic saga of a boy trapped on a lifeboat with a wild tiger—for the big screen. But the five-time nominee (with one past win) managed to maintain all of the magic of the classic novel.
Michael Haneke: Amour may not be the traditional Best Picture nominee (the story centers on the love between an elderly couple as one is dying. Oh, and it's all in French), but with first time nominee Haneke between the camera, it's touching, harrowing and leaves a lasting impact.
Benh Zeitlin: The Beasts of the Southern Wild director may have the most impressive story of them all: It's his first feature film, it's an Indie and the actors he worked with (one of which is now an Oscar nominee at just 9-years-old) weren't even professional actors when he cast them!