10. David O. Russell - American Hustle
It's strange now to think about it, but just a few short years ago David O. Russell's name was kryptonite to Hollywood. After some infamous dust ups on the set with his actors in the late 1990's and early 2000's, Russell was finding it hard to get a movie made. He was absent from the world of movie-making for a relatively long six year period in between 2004's I Heart Huckabees and 2010's The Fighter, but like his protagonist in the latter film, he may have been down but he most certainly wasn't out. The Fighter was somewhat of a surprise sensation in 2010, grossing over $93 million domestically and receiving seven Oscar nominations including two Oscar victories for Christian Bale and Melissa Leo. Russell followed that up with last year's Silver Linings Playbook, and even bigger hit grossing over $132 million domestically and receiving eight Oscar nods, winning Jennifer Lawrence the Best Actress Oscar. Suffice it to say then, Russell has more than redeemed himself and is now quite the hot commodity in Hollywood. Given his new found cache, Russell has decided to use his clout to make his newest feature, American Hustle. The film chronicle the true story of the Abscam scandal, a sting operation in the 1970's where the FBI employed professional con artists to expose corruption among the political elites. Russell has assembled an astounding all-star cast (the actors equivalent of The Avengers) that includes Bradley Cooper as the FBI agent running the operation, Christian Bale and Amy Adams as the professional con artists who also happen to be lovers, Jennifer Lawrence as Bale's troubled wife, and Jeremy Renner as a particularly over-the-top corrupt mayor of the town of Camden, New Jersey. There are also promised appearances from actors such as Robert De Niro, Michael Pena, and comedian Louis C.K., and the patron saint of auteurist cinema herself, Megan Ellison, is producing the film. The film's plot promises to be the mix of absurdist humor and drama that David O. Russell has blended so effortlessly in the past. I seriously could not think of more appropriate material for Russell to tackle than this, and given his ascendancy as of late, this very well could be the crowing jewel of his recent work. Whether this hyperbole turns out to be the true or not, as long as the film is decent, I expect Russell to receive a nomination, and given that his next film is said to feature Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio in a film accusing the mafia of being responsible for the JFK assassination, I hardly think this will be Russell's last rodeo either way.