Reel and Roll Awards - Best Director 2018

10. Debra Granik, Leave No Trace

Granik's knack for finding such a quiet sort of harmony within the silent and the low-key, without becoming saccharine, is rather astonishing. Her direction is never flashy, never shows its hand, never cheats with your emotions, yet the effect it has is just so effective. Her style grants a cinematic touch while never compromising the earthly roots of the story, and knows to wisely let the performances drive the story wonderfully. Great work.

9. Christopher McQuarrie, Mission: Impossible - Fallout 

McQuarrie's second go at the franchise tops his previous excellent effort in Rogue Nation. The vibrancy of the action sequences have never been more outstanding than in here, and I think the film contains more than half of the best action sequences of the year. McQuarrie simply delivers in a capacity that I think some could take for granted, in that he steamrolls through with an extraordinarily entertaining motion picture.

8. Paweł Pawlikowski, Cold War

Remind me folks that I really need to see Pawlikowski's Ida. Though I do not love the film, it is undoubtedly a masterfully directed film that thematically, structurally, and with such strong atmosphere weaves in and out of a rather unique take on romance, a sort of stark juxtaposition to say, A Star is Born. It's rather brilliant work that really imbues every frame with this atypical sense of intimacy and coldness blending into one, that is truly the sign of great direction.

7. Barry Jenkins, If Beale Street Could Talk 

Astonishing work once again by Jenkins in a strong follow-up to Moonlight. It's not as great as Moonlight but that's a hard one to follow up on. In a contrast to Pawlikowski, I did have reservations with some of Jenkins' choices, some of the voiceover, some of the indulgences, and from an acting point I felt he did not put every actor on exactly the same wavelength. Having said that when he's on point it is one of the most masterfully directed films of the year, using that visual element, and music, to create a truly stunning and emotionally resonant feature.

6. Yorgos Lanthimos, The Favourite 

The one-of-a-kind storyteller delivers with his one-of-a-kind take on the period drama. Though I have slight reservations with a couple of his choices, there is really nothing to fault in an overarching sense, certainly not with any of the technical elements, most certainly not with any of the performances with which he conjures up a truly brilliant tone between deadpan and ridiculousness, amplified so well by his visual storytelling. He does many scenes you feel like you've seen before in ways you've never seen before, with the dance sequences throughout being some of the most inspired directing choices I've seen the past year.

5. Marielle Heller, Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Heller's work is not typically 'grand' directing but rather just incredible, nuanced work that guides the film and its material along wonderfully. I cannot stress how important Heller's work is in guiding, providing the right sort of direction and guidance through the screenplay for the performances, and vice versa, and establishing such a tricky yet utterly successful tone between sincerity and scathing wit for her film. It's unfortunately the sort of directing that so often goes unnoticed critically and by awards organisations since rather than showing off, it shows off the various elements of the film in such an unassuming way that makes this one of the best of the year.

4. Lee Chang-dong, Burning

Lee as a director is really one-of-a-kind, and this film is a great representation of his talents. In that he 'springs' onto you with his very unique style that focuses so much on minimalism in terms of dialogue yet with so much focus on atmosphere, here to craft a particularly fascinating mystery. It's probably his most visually compelling film yet too, and he merges everything, alongside directing three fantastic performances, into a truly transformative experience.

3. Joel and Ethan Coen, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs   

Once again, the Coen Brothers knock it out of the ballpark. This time around with six different stories which they handle in terms of the varying tones, varying plots, varying themes, with such aplomb, and particularly amazing in how they manage to cohere them all into one finished product that feels like it all fits like a puzzle, despite each story having no direct link to the next.

I'm actually still somewhat undecided between my top 2...and I want to write more about them when I have time. So for the time-being: 

2. Damien Chazelle, First Man

1. Alfonso Cuarón, Roma 

1. Alfonso Cuarón, Roma 
2. Damien Chazelle, First Man
3. Joel and Ethan Coen, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs  
4. Lee Chang-dong, Burning 
5. Marielle Heller, Can You Ever Forgive Me?
6. Yorgos Lanthimos, The Favourite 
7. Barry Jenkins, If Beale Street Could Talk 
8. Christopher McQuarrie, Mission: Impossible - Fallout 
9. Debra Granik, Leave No Trace 
10. Gustav Möller, The Guilty
11. Paweł Pawlikowski, Cold War
12. Joel Edgerton, Boy Erased
13. Wes Anderson, Isle of Dogs 
14. Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
15. Steve McQueen, Widows 
16. Carlos López Estrada, Blindspotting
17. Panos Cosmatos, Mandy
18. Bradley Cooper, A Star is Born 
19. David Lowery, The Old Man and the Gun 
20. Drew Goddard, Bad Times at the El Royale
21. Hirokazu Kore-eda, Shoplifters 
22. Steven Caple Jr., Creed II
23. Matteo Garrone, Dogman
24. Paddy Considine, Journeyman
25. John Krasinski, A Quiet Place
26. Boots Riley, Sorry to Bother You 
27. The Russo Brothers, Avengers: Infinity War
28. Chloe Zhao, The Rider 
29. Morgan Neville, Won't You Be My Neighbour 
30. Ryan Coogler, Black Panther
31. Julian Schnabel, At Eternity's Gate
32. Spike Lee, BlacKkKlansman 
33. David Leitch, Deadpool 2
34. Orson Welles, The Other Side of the Wind 
35. David Gordon Green, Halloween
36. Jon S. Baird, Stan & Ollie
37. Jacques Audiard, The Sisters Brothers
38. John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, Game Night
39. Andrew Bujalski, Support the Girls 
40. Ol Parker, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again 
41. Cory Finley, Thoroughbreds   
42. George Tillman Jr., The Hate U Give
43. David Mackenzie, Outlaw King
44. Paul Schrader, First Reformed 
45. Matthew Heineman, A Private War 
46. Travis Knight, Bumblebee
47. Jason Reitman, Tully
48. Josie Rourke, Mary Queen of Scots 
49. Ari Aster, Hereditary 
50. Paul Dano, Wildlife
51. Jon M. Chu, Crazy Rich Asians 
52. Ian Bonhôte, Peter Ettedgui, McQueen 
53. Lenny Abrahamson, The Little Stranger 
54. Aneesh Chaganty, Searching 
55. Sebastián Lelio, Disobedience  
56. Betsy West, Julie Cohen, RBG
57. Peyton Reed, Ant-Man and the Wasp
58. Rob Marshall, Mary Poppins Returns 
59. Luca Guadagnino, Suspiria 
60. James Wan, Aquaman
61. Greg Berlanti, Love, Simon
62. Brad Bird, Incredibles 2 
63. Marc Foster, Christopher Robin
64. Susanne Bier, Bird Box 
65. Yolanda Ramke, Cargo 
66. Kay Cannon, Blockers
67. Karyn Kusama, Destroyer 
68. Ron Howard, Solo: A Star Wars Story 
69. Stefano Sollima, Sicario: Day of the Soldado
70. Gary Ross, Ocean's 8
71. Peter Farrelly, Green Book 
72. Steven Speilberg, Ready Player One 
73. Bart Layton, American Animals 
74. Bjorn Runge, The Wife
75. Bryan Singer, Bohemian Rhapsody
76. Alex Garland, Annihilation 
77. Steven S. DeKnight, Pacific Rim Uprising
78. Julius Onah, The Cloverfield Paradox 
79. Francis Lawrence, Red Sparrow
80. Shane Black, The Predator 
81. David Yates, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald 
82. Duncan Jones, Mute 
83. Felix Van Groeningen, Beautiful Boy 
84. Clint Eastwood, The 15:17 to Paris
85. Dan Fogleman, Life Itself
86. Adam McKay, Vice