The Fantastic Five.

The Directors Guild of America nominated its five best directors for 2014:

• Wes Anderson, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
• Clint Eastwood, “America Sniper,”
• Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, “Birdman”
• Richard Linklater, “Boyhood”
• Morten Tyldum, “The Imitation Game” 

Three of these would be among my five nominees. Not? Eastwood, whose movie I haven't seen (and have doubts about), and Tyldum, whose movie I have (and don't). 

So why does Tyldum get the nod over Whatshisface who directed the other British supersmart biopic, “The Theory of Everything”? Who knows? And think of the dozen, two dozen, more deserving directors that could've, should've, been nom'ed: Bennet Miller, Michael R. Roskam, David Ayer, Ira Sachs, Dan Gilroy, Damien Chazelle, Jean-Marc Vallee, Ava DuVernay, and Paul Thomas Anderson. And that's just from the American movies. 

Seems “Theory of Everything” is out of the running now. So is “American Sniper,” really. It didn't get a nom for SAG cast and the last film that won the AA for best pic without a SAG cast nomination was “Braveheart” in 1995.

What's left? The three American indies (“Birdman,” “Boyhood,” “Grand Budapest”) and the British biopic (“Imitation Game”). 

This is the first DGA nomination for Anderson, Linklater and Tyldum. It's the second for Inarritu (“Babel” in 2006) and the fourth for Eastwood (“Unforgiven,” “Mystic River” and “Million Dollar Baby”).

Oscar nominations Thursday.