The Oscars 2013 may still be some time away but all wee we have been looking and the movies and the performances that could walk away the most coveted prize in film.
And today we make our final early predictions as we cast our eye over the category of director.
- Ben Affleck: Argo
Ben Affleck has cemented himself as a major directing talent in the last few years with Gone Baby Gone and The Town and now he is back with his new movie Argo.
Argo promises to be one of the best political thrillers of 2012 as Affleck not only helms the projects but stars in it too.
He has just set his project in Boston in the past but Argo goes international as the movie is based on a true story.
On November 4, 1979, as the Iranian revolution reaches its boiling point, militants storm the U.S. embassy in Tehran, taking 52 Americans hostage.
But, in the midst of the chaos, six Americans manage to slip away and find refuge in the home of the Canadian ambassador.
Knowing it is only a matter of time before the six are found out and likely killed, a CIA "exfiltration" specialist named Tony Mendez (Affleck) comes up with a risky plan to get them safely out of the country.
- Tom Hooper: Les Miserables
If there is one movie that I am super excited about at the beginning of 2013 then it would be Les Miserables - as I am a huge fan of the stage production.
Tom Hooper is back in the director's chair for the first time since his triumph with The King's Speech and it look like lightening may strike twice.
From early footage Hooper looks to have brought revolutionary France to live - not to mention he has brought together a knockout cast that includes Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe and Anna Hathaway.
But it is only a couple of years since Hooper won Best Director would they really give it to him again so soon?
- Ang Li: Life Of Pi
Life Of Pi is the one movie that we have overlooked this week but could feature heavily as Ang Li is a bit of an Academy favourite.
This is his first movie outing since Taking Woodstock and yet it promises to be his biggest and most lavish project yet.
The movie follows Pi, a zookeeper's son who finds himself in the company of a hyena, zebra, orangutan, and a Bengal tiger after a shipwreck sets them adrift in the Pacific Ocean.
Life Of Pi is set to be one of the most mystical adventure movies and could be the dark horse this Oscar season.
- Paul Thomas Anderson: The Master
Paul Thomas Anderson was last seen in the director's chair for There Will Be Blood - and lets face that is not a bad film to have as you last movie after taking a bit of a break.
But Anderson is set for a return with his new project The Master - a movie that is already whipping up a storm at the U.S. box office.
The movie follows the launch and growth of a religion based organisation and it is already winning over critics and cinema-goers.
The Master is perhaps the early favourite to pick up multiple Oscar nods and Anderson looks set to be in the mix for Best Director.
- Steven Spielberg: Lincoln
To say that the Academy is a huge supporter of the bio-pic would be a major understatement and so many movies and performances in this genre have walked away with the prize in recent years.
Steven Spielberg is back in the chair as he delivers Lincoln to the big screen - a movie that looks at the latter part of his life and his fight to abolish slavery in the States.
Spielberg has always been a director who is great at depicting and bringing to life and era and this trend looks set to continue with Lincoln.
Other directors to watch out for include Kathryn Bigelow for Zero Dark Thirty, Christopher Nolan for The Dark Knight Rises, Peter Jackson for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and David O. Russell for Silver Linings Playbook.
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw