6. Todd Field

Todd Field has only directed three films over the past 23 years but all three of them have been outstanding.  In The Bedroom is a film that grows in power with each subsequent viewing.  Unfairly overlooked when it was originally released, Little Children is the film that movies like American Beauty and Revolutionary Road can only pretend to be.  And finally, TAR is a film that will probably still be remembered after most of the other best picture nominees have been forgotten.

Todd Field received an Oscar nomination for his work on TAR so, technically, he could be an Oscar winner by the end of tonight.  Realistically, though, it appears that The Daniels have got the award sewn up and Field will have to wait for another opportunity.  I just hope that it doesn’t take Field another 16 years to film a follow-up to TAR.

Here are 5 other directors who I hope win an Oscar over the next ten years!

5. Joseph Kosinski

This year, Kosinski deserved a nomination for his work on Top Gun: Maverick.  He didn’t receive one, largely because Top Gun Maverick was viewed as being more of a Tom Cruise movie than a Joseph Koskinski movie.  While Cruise undoubtedly played a huge role in Maverick’s production, I think it’s a mistake to overlook the fact that Kosinski did a great job directing the film, respectfully paying homage to the visual style of the first film while also adding his own little quirks.  With the wrong director, Maverick could have come across like a vanity project for an aging star.  Under Kosinski’s direction, it was a terrific crowd-pleaser and one of the best of the year.

4. Robert Eggers

Robert Eggers seems destined to someday win an Oscar.  The Witch, The Lighthouse, and The Northman were all films that could have fallen apart with the wrong director at the helm.  Instead, Eggers was able to turn each one into a succes d’estime.  Eggers will undoubtedly get his chance to add Oscar winner to his resume, probably sooner than later.

3. Paul Schrader

The acceptance speech would be legendary.

2. Michael Bay

Ambulance was good!  I’m slowly coming around to Michael Bay.  Movies have become so self-important lately that it’s kind of hard not to appreciate Michael Bay’s refusal to treat them as being anything other than an excuse to blow stuff up and have a good time.  Plus, Michael Bay winning an Oscar would lead to an epic meltdown on the part of Film Twitter and who doesn’t want to witness that?

1. Debra Granik

Granik is responsible for two of the best films of the last 15 years, Winter’s Bone and Leave No Trace.  Both of these films took a sympathetic look at life on the fringes of conventional society and both of them introduced an exciting new talent to viewers, Jennifer Lawrence in Winter’s Bone and Thomasin McKenzie in Leave No Trace.  Granik is one of those directors who tends to take her time between feature film projects but I still can’t wait to see what she does next!