10 Best Directors Who Haven't Won An Oscar
4. David Fincher
Fincher's career officially started with 1997's and he's delivered a body of stunning and incredible work ever since.
From Fight Club to Zodiac to The Social Network, his films are impeccably well-made. To the point that he has earned a reputation as a perfectionist, who will sometimes insist on doing up to hundreds of takes for a single shot.
He explores dark, unnerving themes with the visual eye of an omniscient observer. He puts his audience in a seat of power and then forces us to watch the horrors of life with no way of stopping them. It is a mantra that has made his films consistently unique and powerful.
One of the main reasons why Fincher has yet to win a Best Director Oscar is that his films are consistently undervalued at the time of their release. Fight Club got absolutely thrashed by critics upon release but is seen as a classic now. More recently, even films such as Zodiac or The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo that have been well-received initially grow in power and acclaim as the years wear on.
Fincher has been nominated for Best Director twice but has yet to win. Considering he hasn't even released a film in the past four years and his next film on the docket is a World War Z sequel, the Academy may grow to regret not having given him one already.