It's seven sleeps until Oscar night so today's magic discussion number is SEVEN! Exactly seven directors in history have received seven (or more) nominations for Best Director in the Academy's 93 year history. For fun we've listed that magic seventh nomination below, though coincidentally none of these directors won their seventh time in the race (all had already won). They are, in alpha order:
- Woody Allen (7 noms / 1 win) MIDNIGHT IN PARIS in 2011
- David Lean (7 noms / 2 wins) A PASSAGE TO INDIA in 1984
- Martin Scorsese (9 noms / 1 win) HUGO in 2011
- Steven Spielberg (7 noms / 2 wins) LINCOLN in 2012
- Billy Wilder (8 noms / 2 wins) SOME LIKE IT HOT in 1959
- William Wyler (12 noms / 3 wins) THE HEIRESS in 1949
- Fred Zinneman (7 noms / 2 wins) JULIA in 1977
COMMENT PARTY QUESTIONS:
1. Which of these seven men is the all time best director?
2. And which of these "seventh nominations" is the best?
Your answer might well be different for each of those questions.
P.S. No currently living directors are anywhere close to joining this list. The closest are Francis Ford Coppola (81 years old), Clint Eastwood (90 years old), and Peter Weir (76 years old), all well behind with 4 Best Director nominations. Behind them with 3 nominations each are Coen, Daldry, Iñárritu, Ivory, Ang Lee, Lynch, Polanski, Russell, Scott, Stone, and Tarantino. No female director has been nominated more than once but we'll get there. This year women made up 40% of the Best Director category, an all time record...with a third woman totally in the conversation though not nominated, which suggests that the industry has rapidly become more inclusive in the past few years once the pressure was on.