Oscars / Chicken Dinner / 23 January 2009 / Leave a comment

Brit director at the head of the betting thanks to Slumdog Millionaire...

After winning a Golden Globe for best director, Danny Boyle ([1.55]) (pictured above with Slumdog Millionaire star Freida Pinto) must be feeling confident he's going to add to his collection, as four of the last five Globe winners in this category have picked up the Oscar equivalent.

David Fincher ([5.0]) is another first time nominee, yet his film, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button left the Golden Globes empty handed despite five nominations.

Benjamin Button could also be too popular - it has received the most nominations this year with 13 - yet only four of the last ten films with the most nominations went home with the Best Director award. Chicago, the last film to receive 13 nominations also failed to pick up the Best Director gong in 2003.

Although Ron Howard (Frost/Nixon) ([15.0]) has form, he won in 2001 for A Beautiful Mind, no one has ever won the Best Director gong without at least one major Hollywood star, something that may also count against Slumdog Millionaire.

Gus Van Sant ([13.0]) (Milk) lost out to a Kate Winslet movie when he was last up for the award (Good Will Hunting was beaten by Titanic in 1997). As if having to face his nemesis again weren't enough, (Winslet appears in Stephen Daldry's The Reader), a director hasn't won the award for a biopic in over 25 years (Richard Attenborough's Gandhi in 1982).

Stephen Daldry (15.5]) must also be feeling he's done something to offend the Academy - The Hours only received one award in spite of nine nominations and he failed to win anything for Billy Elliot despite three nominations. For both he was nominated in the Best Director category.

For those who base their punting on astrology, four of the last five winners were born in October or November which could prove a good omen for Scorpio Danny Boyle. Before Peter Jackson won the award in 2003, an October/November birthday director hadn't won the award since Mike Nichols in 1967.