Directors Guild of America announces nominees

The DGA has announced its five nominees for Best Director, the winner of which will be announced February 2^nd. The nominees are:

Ben Affleck, “Argo”
Kathryn Bigelow, “Zero Dark Thirty”
Tom Hooper, “Les Miserables”
Ang Lee “Life of Pi”
Steven Spielberg, “Lincoln”

The major surprise here is the inclusion of Tom Hooper, recipient of a critical roasting for his visual style on “Les Miserables.” David O. Russell had been widely assumed to be a near-lock for a nomination for “Silver Linings Playbook,” and given the tendency of DGA winners to predict subsequent Oscar wins, is potentially very bad news for his Oscar chances. The least surprising aspect of this list is the presence of Affleck, Bigelow, and Spielberg, to one of whom both the DGA award and the Oscar for Best Director will almost certainly go this year.