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Oscar Preview: Best Director

By Joe Bardi on Fri, Feb 20, 2009 at 12:33 pm

Conventional wisdom: This is Danny Boyle’s award to lose, as Slumdog has emerged as this year’s worldwide favorite. His main competition comes from David Fincher, one of Hollywood’s best and most respected directors, whose Benjamin Button showed him at the top of his craft.

And the Oscar goes to: Boyle infused Slumdog Millionaire with enough kinetic energy to overcome the film’s draining boy-meets-girl-and-loses-her-over-and-over-again narrative — and wins his first Oscar in the process.

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Now, we continue our countdown to Oscar night with a look at a major award up for grabs on Sunday. (Yesterday was Best Actress.) Today, we break down:

BEST DIRECTOR

Nominees: David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon; Gus Van Sant, Milk; Stephen Daldry, The Reader; Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire

Vegas odds: Another clear favorite, with every $10 bet on Doyle netting only $1 profit if he wins. Fincher is still in the running at 5-1. Van Sant (20-1), Howard (20-1) and Daldry (30-1) would all deliver sweet rewards if they paid off.