02.22.07 6:00 AM CST
• Movies
• Robert DeSalvo
With the 79th annual Academy Awards show approaching on February 25, we debate which director will win a little gold man.Jamie Malanowski, managing editor: Because making a film about a real event is so difficult, I’d vote for Paul Greengrass as Best Director for United 93; it’s one of those rare, amazing films that enlarges our understanding of an event. I won’t complain if Scorsese wins; The Departed is better than The Gangs of New York and The Aviator, and I’m tired of hearing the touts every year wonder if this is finally the year when Scorsese wins his Oscar. Enough already. Let 2007 be the year when the Undeservingly Ignored get taken care of. So far this year we’ve managed to take care of Peyton Manning. If we can take care of Marty on Sunday, then we can focus our summer on helping A-Rod get his World Series ring.
Greg Fagan, contributing writer: I've been doing 250 sit-ups a day since 1980, when Martin Scorsese (Raging Bull) lost in this category to Robert Redford (Ordinary People). So when I say I can taste Scorsese's Oscar for The Departed in my gut, you know that I'm a man in desperate need of Tums, and a refresher course in metaphor. Seriously, though, he's a lock (he already won the Director's Guild Award—a key indicator). Unless voters award Eastwood bonus consideration for having directed two superb, Academy Award-nominated films in single year. And maybe they're just curious to see if his skin has been pulled any tighter. You never know what turns people on.
Stephen Rebello, contributing writer: Should I give a rip who wins Best Director when real-deal maestros like Robert Altman, Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, Federico Fellini, Orson Welles, Ingmar Bergman, and Akira Kurosawa never copped the prize? Like I said before, in my own personal awards ceremony, director Alfonso Cuaron would win for Children of Men.
Robert DeSalvo, associate editor: Alfred Hitchcock and Stanley Kubrick never won Oscars? It figures. My jaw dropped when Ridley Scott didn’t win for Gladiator even though it won Best Picture. I guess it directed itself. This year, the Academy has a chance to right past injustices (like they did by showering Lord of the Rings: Return of the King with multiple statues) by giving Martin Scorsese his long-overdue, much-deserved Oscar. It’s time to show him some love.
RSS 2.0
http://www.playboy.com/mt-tb.cgi/734