Best Adapted Screenplay: 1927-28

One of the beautiful and haunting images from Sunrise. Nothing to do with the script, but great to look at.

My Top 10:

1. Sunrise
2. 7th Heaven
3. The Man Who Laughs
4. The Love of Jeanne Ney
5. The Cat and the Canary
6. Tartuffe
7. Sadie Thompson
8. The Lodger
9. Laugh Clown Laugh
10. The Scarlet Letter

 

The 100 Greatest Directors of All-Time 2.0: The Complete List

George Lucas and Steven Spielberg present a special Oscar to their hero: Akira Kurosawa

So, does this supersede my original list?  Well, lists are always organic – they grow and evolve over time.  I’ve fiddled with some of the categories and new films have come out and I’ve seen more films from some directors.  So, my original list was what it was in October of 2009.  This is where I am now, two years later, and one year overdue.  The list will continue to evolve over time.  The list never quite stops.  But here’s where I put it up.

I will remind people again that if you don’t see a director and you’re wondering why, please check the Introduction first.  It became clear on the original list that people didn’t read that instruction.  Please don’t repeat that.  And don’t ask about Godard.  See the Intro.

Also, we’ll again find out who reads this part, the film in parenthesis is not necessarily their best film (hell, with Mankiewicz, it’s his worst).  But it is the film I chose to write about, for whatever reason.

 

The History of the Academy Awards: Best Director (ranked – bare bones edition)

Roberto Benigni is not the worst director ever nominated for an Oscar - but he's close

210 directors.  That’s how many directors, over the course of the Academy Awards, have been nominated for Best Director.  And I’ve gone through and ranked them all.

Now, I will do a much longer piece and go into much greater detail on each director.  But, since this is the bare bones edition, I have only listed rank, name, points and what they earned Oscar nominations for (bold is for winners).

I have spent much of the past year watching as many films from these directors as possible.  I have seen over 80% of all the films directed by them – which is difficult, given a lot of the films from the older directors.  But all of that, as well as a detailed description of the scoring will come later this fall, as will the updated list of Top 100 Directors (it was waiting for this project to be finished).  At the moment, if all you care about is my ranking, feel free to start griping.  But remember – Godard was never nominated for an Oscar, so I don’t want to hear anything about him.  If you want to worship him, your beef is with the Academy this time, not with me.

One caveat I should note.  I have not seen Tree of Life.  And because Malick has made so few films, if I find it to be truly great, it has the potential to raise him 20 spots on the list.  If I hate it, which I suppose is possible, he could drop about 10.  That is the range available.

 

The History of the Academy Awards: Best Picture – 1951

Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron enjoying themselves in An American in Paris (1951)

The 24th annual Academy Awards for the film year 1951.  The nominations were announced on February 11, 1952 and the awards were held on March 20, 1952.

Best Picture:  An American in Paris

• A Streetcar Named Desire
• A Place in the Sun
• Decision Before Dawn
• Quo Vadis

Most Surprising Omission:  The African Queen

Best Eligible Film Not Nominated:  Strangers on a Train

Rank (out of 82) Among Best Picture Years:  #57

 

The History of the Academy Awards: Best Picture – 1960

"Shut up and deal." That wonderful ending to The Apartment (1960)

The 33d annual Academy Awards, for the film year of 1960.  The nominations were announced on February 27, 1961 and the awards ceremony was held on April 17, 1961.

Best Picture:  The Apartment

• Sons and Lovers
• Elmer Gantry
• The Sundowners
• The Alamo

Most Surprising Omission:  Spartacus

Best Film Not to Be Nominated:  The Virgin Spring

Best U.S. Film Not to Be Nominated:  Spartacus

Rank (out of 82) Among Best Picture Years:  #55

 

The Year in Film: 1960

The perfect Shirley MacLaine and Jack Lemmon in The Apartment (1960)

My Top 20:

1. The Apartment
2. Ikiru
3. The Virgin Spring
4. The Cranes are Flying
5. Spartacus
6. Psycho
7. The World of Apu
8. Tunes of Glory
9. The Hidden Fortress
10. Shoot the Piano Player
11. Elmer Gantry
    
12. The Angry Silence
13. Our Man in Havana
14. Sons and Lovers
    
15. The Magnificent Seven
16. Lola Montes
17. Home from the Hill
18. Northwest Frontier
19. Hiroshima Mon Amour
20. Black Orpheus

 

The Best of the Nighthawk Awards: The 1940′s

the dancing mushrooms in Fantasia - the best animated film of the 1940's

Well, before I go into 1949, I’ll cover the decade as a whole.  Bear in mind the decade awards cover films by their original release date, so you might find films that haven’t shown up in individual years yet.

1940  -  1949

Total Films I’ve Seen:  617

Films That Make the Top 5 in a Category:  42

Best Film Not to Make the Top 5 in any Category:  The Best Years of Our Lives

Film of the Decade:  Children of Paradise

Worst Film of the Decade:  King of the Zombies

Worst Best Picture Nominee of the Decade:  All This and Heaven Too

Worst Film of the Decade Made by a Top 100 Director:  Under Capricorn

 

The History of the Academy Awards: Best Picture – 1945

Ray Milland drinking his way to a well-deserved Oscar in The Lost Weekend (1945)

The 18th Academy Awards, for the film year 1945.  The nominations were announced on January 27, 1946 and the awards were held on March 7, 1946.

Best Picture:  The Lost Weekend

• Spellbound
• Anchors Aweigh
• Mildred Pierce
• The Bells of St Mary’s

Most Surprising Omission:  National Velvet

Best Eligible Film Not Nominated:  To Have and Have Not

Rank (out of 82) Among Best Picture Years:  #61

 

The History of the Academy Awards: Best Picture – 1940

David O. Selznick triumphs again with Joan Fontaine and Laurence Olivier in Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca (1940)

The 13th Academy Awards, for the film year 1940.  The nominations were announced on February 10, 1941 and the awards were held on February 27, 1941.

Best Picture:  Rebecca

• The Grapes of Wrath
• The Philadelphia Story
• The Great Dictator
• The Letter
• The Long Voyage Home
• Foreign Correspondent
• Our Town
• Kitty Foyle
• All This and Heaven Too

Most Surprising Omission:  Arise My Love

Best Film Not Nominated:  His Girl Friday

Rank (out of 82) Among Best Picture Years:  #50

 

The History of the Academy Awards: Best Picture – 1959

"Your eyes are full of hate, 41. That's good. Hate keeps a man alive." (Ben-Hur)

The 31st Academy Awards, for the film year 1959.  The nominations were announced on February 22, 1960 and the awards were held on April 4, 1960.

Best Picture:  Ben-Hur

• Anatomy of a Murder
• The Diary of Anne Frank
• Room at the Top
• The Nun’s Story

Most Surprising Omission:  Some Like It Hot

Best Film Not Nominated:  Wild Strawberries

Best U.S. Film Not Nominated:  Some Like It Hot

Rank (out of 82) Among Best Picture Years:  #59