The DGA surprised many by handing a nomination to David Fincher for "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo." If they were in the mood for honoring superior pulp craftsmanship, would that they had opted for a less familiar name and recognized the Danish genre specialist instead. Nicolas Winding Refn's sleek, sinuous handling of this peerlessly sexy fast-car thriller not only keeps the pace taut and the atmosphere tingly, it betrays as much pure movie-love per frame as "Hugo" or "The Artist": it's the year's richest, most informed movie about other movies. The Cannes jury duly recognized this with a Best Director prize, while US critics have been unexpectedly generous with their own awards. After a few staid years, is the Academy's directors branch ready to regain some cool points? --Guy Lodge