Best Director
WINNER: Rian Johnson (Looper) Rian Johnson is one of those directors who proved right out of the gate that he was a force to be reckoned with, stunning us with his incredible, fiendishly intelligent Brick (also starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt), before moving onto the spellbinding if not quite as good The Brothers Bloom. With his third picture, Johnson has clearly hit his stride, crafting a film that is technically meticulous, ambitious, and yet still clearly rooted in the director's indie origins, especially when one considers how fantastic this film looks considering that it only cost $30m. Rian Johnson is
the director to watch right now, and I can't wait to see what he does next.
RUNNERS UP: Ben Affleck (Argo) Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight Rises) Sam Mendes (Skyfall) Steven Spielberg (Lincoln)
Best Directorial Debut
WINNER: Robot and Frank (dir. Jake Schreier) Jake Schreier might have made his directorial debut with Robot and Frank, but you wouldn't know it by soaking in this warm, uproariously funny, and charming film about an ageing man suffering with the early stages of dementia (Frank Langella), who is saddled with a robot servant (Peter Sarsgaard) to help about the house. What could have been a lachrymose dirge is in fact a sweet, adventurous crime caper which sees Langella's character manipulating his robot pal to help him steal a copy of Don Quixote from a local library; it's bracingly funny, superbly written, and features one of Langella's all-time best performances. Now, it's onto Best Animated Film, Best Documentary and Best Foreign Film.