Continuing my personal 2025 Oscar nominations, today I will be writing about the race for Best Director.

Barring a major upset, Paul Thomas Anderson is on his way to winning this award for One Battle After Another, and I couldn’t be happier. His competition is strong — Ryan Coogler (Sinners), Josh Safdie (Marty Supreme), Joachim Trier (Sentimental Value), and Chloe Zhao (Hamnet) — but Anderson has been racking up precursors, including the all-important DGA a couple of weeks back.

Anderson and Coogler would make my personal nominee list for this category, along with three of these directors:

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