I guess if there is any one strong correlation between the Academy Awards that a movie will win, it would be that the film that wins best director is almost a shoe-in for the best picture award as well. In past years, the vast majority of movies that won best director won best picture as well. However, there have been a few exceptions. Here are the exceptions since 1967:

Year / Best Picture Movie / Best Director Movie (Director)

1967 / In the Heat of the Night / The Graduate (Mike Nichols)

1972 / The Godfather / Cabaret (Bob Fosse)

1981 / Chariots of Fire / Reds (Warren Beatty)

1989 / Driving Miss Daisy / Born on the Fourth of July (Oliver Stone)

1998 / Shakespeare in Love / Saving Private Ryan (Steven Spielberg)

2000 / Gladiator / Traffic (Steven Soderbergh)

2002 / Chicago / The Pianist (Roman Polanski)

I’d say what was so ironic about 1989 is that the director of Driving Miss Daisy, Bruce Beresford, was not even nominated for Best Director. Neither was Phil Alden Robinson, the director for another movie that was nominated for best picture in 1989, Field of Dreams.

I thought that this year, The Aviator had a fair chance of creating another exception in this strong correlation. After Clint Eastwood won Best Director for Million Dollar Baby, I wasn’t completely sure that it would win Best Picture as well.

For some reason the Academy seems to ignore Martin Scorcesee. Which is ashame. :( The Aviator was a great movie.

For some reason the Academy seems to ignore Martin Scorcesee. Which is ashame. :( The Aviator was a great movie.

It seems like they are purposely not giving him an award because his equally great counterparts, Alfred Hitchcock and Stanley Kubrick never won the award as well.

I was hoping he would finally win the award. I really thought he had a good chance this year.