The Directors Guild of America nominees for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in TV, Commercials and Documentary Films for its 69th annual DGA Awards have been unveiled. The list includes Matt and RossDuffer A.K.A. The Duffer Brothers for the extraordinary work on the Netflix smash hit Stranger Things. The Duffer Brothers resurrected the visual storytelling styles of cinema from the 70’s and 80’s with their homage to the magical films from Steven Spielberg and novels by Stephen King.
The DGA nominees for Dramatic Series include:
THE DUFFER BROTHERS
Stranger Things, “Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers” (Netflix)
RYAN MURPHY
The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story, “From the Ashes of Tragedy” (FX)
JONATHAN NOLAN
Westworld, “The Original” (HBO)
MIGUEL SAPOCHNIK
Game of Thrones, “The Battle of the Bastards” (HBO)
JOHN SINGLETON
The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story, “The Race Card” (FX)
While I would love to see the Duffers win and I think they deserve all the awards for their work, I think Miguel Sapochnik will just barely edge them out as “The Battle of the Bastards” featured the greatest medieval battle sequence in the history of film and television.
2016 was an incredible year for television. Between AMC, FX, HBO, and Netflix, there’s so much great television it’s impossible to catch everything but I did my best, only missing Atlanta and The Night Of as I was too obsessed with some of the other shows on this list. I also have personal issues with shows that feature flat cinematography and a lack of color so I’ll probably never get around to seeing The Night Of but thanks to the recent Netflix drama The OA, I got to see just how fantastic of an actor Riz Ahmed is because Rogue One clearly didn’t do him justice.
Now before I dive in I want to give an honorable mention to Better Call Saul. It was just barely edged out by number 5 on the list but I feel the need to express my love for the series which focuses on Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk) back when he was Jimmy McGill, Esq. vying for the love and acceptance from his brother Chuck (Mike McKean). Being a prequel to Breaking Bad, it does a great job standing on its own as a completely different series. It took the first season to find its legs but quickly hit its stride early on in season two becoming one of the best shows on television. The series also features incredible performances from Jonathan Banks, Rhea Seehorn, and Patrick Fabian.
5. The Crown
The Crown is absolutely superb. The show manages to capture the reverence and majesty of the royal family with its tremendously talented cast, incredible direction and cinematography, breathtaking production and costume design, along with an epic score from Hans Zimmer and Rupert Gregson-Williams that captures the power and emotion of the choices made by Queen Elizabeth II. It is the most expensive television series produced in history due to its lavish sets and on-location shoots in the UK and Africa. The series also features exceptional performances delivered by Claire Foy and John Lithgow as Queen Elizabeth II and Winston Churchill.
4. Fargo
FX’s anthology series based on The Coen Brothers film Fargo returned for a second season that turned the clocks back to 1979 when a butcher’s wife has an accident that thrusts her and her husband into the middle of a mob war in the Midwestern United States. The series features standout performances from Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, Patrick Wilson as well as a chilling performance from Bokeem Woodbine.
3. The Americans
The FX series The Americans has been the most under-appreciated show on Television since it’s debut back in 2013. The series follows a family of Russian spies posing as a Suburban American family living in Washington, DC. In the beginning, the series focused on the parents as their love for one another seemed challenged by a deteriorating loyalty to their homeland after becoming comfortable in the United States and wanting to keep their children away from their life of espionage. But as the series has gone on, their daughter has (spoiler alert) been brought into the fold per orders from “The Center”, fostering a level of tension that rivals that latter seasons of Breaking Bad. Living across the street from an FBI agent doesn’t make things any easier either.
2. Game of Thrones
The book series on which the show is based has the most incredibly realized milieu since J.R.R. Tolkiens Lord of the Rings. What is most impressive is how it manages to pack so much in without feeling overstuffed. The writing on Game of Thrones is so great it makes the writing of most other shows on television look mediocre, even in one of its weakest seasons. The final two episodes of season 6 featured some of the most incredible filmmaking on television including the greatest medieval battle sequence brought to screen whether it be large or small. The final episode brought us the culmination of years of developing storylines with a sequence that hearkened back to Francis Ford Coppola’s masterpiece The Godfather.
1. Stranger Things
As soon as Will (Noah Schnapp) rolled the dye and that warm and fuzzy synth kicked in, it was like the show reached out and grabbed me. I knew it was an homage to Spielberg but did this show actually possess that old movie magic on its own? By the time Will and Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) were racing on their bikes there was no doubt that it absolutely did.
The Duffer Brothers managed to blend 80’s nostalgia into an exciting and heartfelt supernatural thriller. The series doesn’t just echo the classic films of the 80’s, it’s DNA is made up of them. What is most impressive might be how it all blends together into something unique and refreshing.
Stranger Things biggest strength is its characters. Winona Ryder and David Harbour lead the series with fantastic performances but the series’ core is the friendship between the group of children, most notably the connection between Mike (Finn Wolfhard) and Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown). A relationship that mirrors E.T. and Elliot without becoming a rehash.
Winona Ryder and David Harbour lead the series with fantastic performances but the series’ core is the friendship between the group of children, most notably the connection between Mike and Eleven. A relationship that mirrors E.T. and Elliot without becoming a rehash. Brown delivers an extraordinary performance that steals the show and your heart. She packs a powerful and emotional punch into every word she speaks and is able to express more emotion through her eyes than even most adult actors are capable of.
The series is thoroughly engaging from start to finish and spoke to all of my sensibilities as far as what I love about filmmaking and storytelling. From the directing to the music to the production design, StrangerThings captivates the mind and the heart taking you back to the simpler times of the 80’s when movies were hopeful and full of adventure.
The worlds of Star Wars and Game of Thrones are about to collide. Lucasfilm has officially announced via StarWars.com that the mother of dragons herself, Emilia Clarke has been cast in the upcoming young Han Solo Star Wars Story. The character she will play has yet to be revealed.
A few weeks ago Variety reported a shortlist of actresses circling the film’s female lead including Tessa Thompson (Creed), Naomi Scott (Power Rangers), and Zoe Kravitz, however. It would seem Lucasfilm has gone a different direction adding Clarke into the mix which already includes Alden Ehrenreich as Han Solo and Donald Glover as Lando Calrissian.
The film will be directed by The Lego Movie directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller with a script penned by Lawrence Kasdan. Filming is set to being sometime in early 2017.
The young Han Solo Star Wars Story is slated to hit theaters May 25, 2018.
Back in June, it was confirmed that the main antagonist for the upcoming Justice League — the follow-up to BvS — would not be Darkseid, but Steppenwolf instead. Today, The Wrap has learned that Ciaran Hinds, best known for his role as Mance Rayder, the king beyond the wall in Game of Thrones assumed the motion capture responsibilities for the character.
Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice hinted towards the arrival of Darkseid, Superman’s greatest enemy (D.C.’s equivalent of Thanos), several times. First with Batman’s vision of the post-apocalyptic future and then again when Lex Luthor spoke the words “Ding, ding, ding, ding,” after telling Batman the bell had already been wrong and that ‘He’ was hungry.
In the comic’s, Darkseid used a device known as a Mother box which was a sentient supercomputer that had wondrous abilities including healing, energy manipulation, and even teleportation by opening up a “boom tube” which is a slang term for an extra-dimensional point to point portal. The sound the mother boxes made was actually “Ping, ping, ping” but that’s just a minor nitpick against a film that clearly had no issue taking liberties with the source material (e.g. Batman being a MURDERER).
We actually got our first glimpse at a Mother box in a deleted scene from BvS which was subsequently added back into the Ultimate Edition (a major improvement from the disjunctive theatrical release). The scene featured Lex Luthor in some sort of alien goo bath as he communicated with an alien being which was later confirmed to be Steppenwolf, the uncle of Darkseid.
Back in June, it was confirmed that the main antagonist for the upcoming Justice League — the follow-up to BvS — would not be Darkseid, but Steppenwolf instead. Today, The Wrap has learned that Ciaran Hinds, best known for his role as Mance Rayder, the king beyond the wall in Game of Thrones assumed the motion capture responsibilities for the character.
Justice League hits theaters November 17, 2017.
Fueled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman’s selfless act, Bruce Wayne enlists the help of his newfound ally, Diana Prince, to face an even greater enemy. Together, Batman and Wonder Woman work quickly to find and recruit a team of metahumans to stand against this newly awakened threat. But despite the formation of this unprecedented league of heroes—Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg and The Flash—it may already be too late to save the planet from an assault of catastrophic proportions.
Alternate World 