Uh oh. This is not what Team "Les Miserables" was hoping for. Best director was very competitive with the HFPA this year and somewhat surprisingly they chose either Ang Lee ("Life of Pi") or Quentin Tarantino ("Django Unchained") as the fifth nominee. That means Hooper is left on the outside looking in. Granted, Hooper should find more love among his peers when the DGA Awards nominees are announced on Jan. 8 (he won for "The King's Speech" in 2011), but Universal would have loved to have touted this nod in trade ads with the Oscar nominations voting deadline looming.

- Gregory Ellwood