
Darren Aronofsky

Black Swan



Joel and Ethan Coen

True Grit



David Fincher

The Social Network



Tom Hooper

The King's Speech



David O. Russell

The Fighter



Ty Burr says ...
Even if the dreams-within-dreams Escherisms of "Inception" threw you for a loop (or didn't strike you as adding up to a whole lot), you can't deny the skill with which its director created whole new worlds and the cinematic rules that govern them. Hooper's very good work on "Speech" is outgunned by the competition, especially Fincher's masterful way of making the topical dramatic.
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Will win
David Fincher, The Social Network -
Should win
David Fincher, The Social Network
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Shouldn't be here
Tom Hooper, The King's Speech -
Was robbed
Christopher Nolan, Inception

Wesley Morris says ...
Always dismissed as a kind of pulp stylist, David Fincher has moved closer to a more tasteful center — at least until his Stieg Larsson movie arrives later this year. Thrilling as it is, "The Social Network" is Fincher under the spell of Aaron Sorkin's script. It's quite a spell, but I more love how David O. Russell saw in "The Fighter" a chance to turn Irish tragedy into the Fourth of July.
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Will win
David Fincher, The Social Network -
Should win
David O. Russell, The Fighter
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Shouldn't be here
Tom Hooper, The King's Speech -
Was robbed
Marco Bellocchio, Vincere