Best Director

Best Director(s):

1) Steven Spielberg – Lincoln
2) Ben Affleck – Argo
3) Kathryn Bigelow – Zero Dark Thirty
4) Ang Lee – Life of Pi
5) Tom Hooper – Les Miserables
6) David O. Russell – The Silver Linings Playbook
7) Michael Hanake – Amour
8) Wes Anderson – Moonrise Kingdom
9) Paul Thomas Anderson – The Master
10) Quentin Tarantino – Django Unchained
11) Behn Zeitlin – Beasts of the Southern Wild
12) Joe Wright – Anna Karenina
13) Christopher Nolan – The Dark Knight Rises
14) Andy & Lana Wachikowski and Tom Tykwer – Cloud Atlas
15) Ben Lewin – The Sessions
16) J.A. Bayona – The Impossible
17) Sam Mendes – Skyfall
18) Steven Chbosky – The Perks of Being a Wallflower
19) John Madden – The Exotic Marigold Hotel
20) Joss Whedon – The Avengers; Gus Van Sant – Promised Land (tie)

* Ben Affleck receives my endorsement among the top 5. I believe that David O. Russell did better work than all those above him. Furthermore, Wes Anderson and Steven Chbosky have made, what are in my opinion, the best films of the year, due largely to their directing.