Most notable films: Truly, Madly, Deeply (1990), The English Patient (1996), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Cold Mountain (2003).
Sadly, the 'Oscar Director-y' acknowledges the passing of Anthony Minghella, who rose to Oscar fame with his direction of The English Patient, which earned him Best Director, and his film, the Best Picture of 1996.
With 24 nominations and 10 Oscars, covering just 3 films, Anthony Minghella is ranked #80 on the 'Oscar Director-y'.
Born on the Isle of Whyte, in England, on January 6, 1954, Anthony was the son of Italian immigrants, who ran an ice cream factory. His childhood dream was to become a writer, and he eventually attended the University of Hull, subsequently becoming a professor of literature. He also taught drama. He began in television as a general assistant on a popular TV show, then became a script editor and writer on "Grange Hill", a well established BBC soap. After writing Whale Music in 1985, he achieved success with Made in Bangkok in 1986. He followed that up with acclaimed scripts for "The Storyteller" and "Inspector Morse", both popular BBC shows.
In 1990, Minghella wrote and directed his first feature film, Truly, Madly, Deeply, which was well received by the English critics. Unfortunately, his next attempt, an American romantic-comedy called Mr. Wonderful, did not go over well at all. While in New York filming this 1993 vehicle, he read a novel by Michael Ondaatje, called The English Patient. He called producer Saul Zaentz, who had been a fan of Truly, Madly, Deeply. Zaentz agreed to back Minghella's screen adaptation and the film, released in 1996, put the director into the spotlight. The English Patient received 12 Oscar nominations, winning 9 awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. Minghella was also nominated for his Adapted Screenplay, but lost out to Billy Bob Thornton's Sling Blade. Juliette Binoche won the Oscar for Supporting Actress, the first of five performers to be nominated for their work in Minghella-lensed films.
Anthony Minghella's next work was another adaptation of a novel, this time Patricia Highsmith's The Talented Mr. Ripley. This 1999 film accrued 5 nominations, including another Adapted Screenplay nod for Minghella. His last major screen success was Cold Mountain, adapted from the award-winning novel by Charles Frazier. The film received 7 nominations, with its only Oscar going to Supporting Actress Renee Zellwegger.
Shortly before his death, Anthony Minghella had completed the direction of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, a two-hour pilot film for a BBC-TV series. It was shot in Botswana, South Africa. The film aired just five days after Minghella died, on March 18, of a hemorrhage following surgery. He was just 54 years old.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Saturday, March 8, 2008
The 'Oscar Director-y's 1st Anniversary
It's been a year since I created the 'Oscar Director-y', and I've managed to post 26 articles relating to film directors in that time. After a busy first four months, though, my production slowed to a snail's pace. Once I published my 'Stanley Kramer' blog in late December, I decided to hold off until after the Oscar Awards on February 24th, so I could update the list and move on from there.
The possibility of a change in the Top 25 was also a factor in waiting. As it turned out, Sidney Lumet, currently #26 on the list, did not receive a nomination for his film, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead. Just one nod, in any category, would have moved him into 25th place, but it wasn't to be. There was some sharp movement up the list for a half dozen other directors. This year, the Best Director Oscar went to Joel Coen and Ethan Coen. This was Ethan's first time getting co-director credit, but brother Joel has directed all their previous films. Their film, No Country for Old Men, received 8 Oscar nominations, and won 4 Oscars, for Picture, Direction, Supporting Actor (Javier Bardem) and Adapted Screenplay, and vaulted him into the Top 100, from #156 to #93.
For those who may be unfamiliar as to how the 'Oscar Director-y' is determined, all directors who have had a film nominated in any of the performing or craft categories (example: Costume Design, Makeup, Original Score, Film Editing), Animated Feature and Foreign Film, get a point. The Coen brothers had nominations in the four categories mentioned above, and, additionally, scored nods for Sound Mixing, Sound Editing, Cinematography and Film Editing. Prior to 2007, Joel had directed four films (Barton Fink, Fargo, Oh Brother, Where Art Thou! and The Man Who Wasn't There), that had combined for 13 nominations. Therefore, his updated total is 21 nominations, with 6 wins (2 for Fargo). Each subsequent film he directs can only elevate his position in the standings.
Other directors moving up this year: Mike Nichols direction of Supporting Actor nominee Philip Seymour Hoffman, in Charlie Wilson's War, moved Nichols from #29 to #27, and was his 42nd career nomination. Ridley Scott jumped from #60 to #50 with a pair of nominations for American Gangster. Tim Burton moved up from #153 to #117, with 3 nods for Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Michael Bay, with 3 nods for Transformers, moved from #221 to #176, and Gore Verbinski went from #229 to #191, with his helming of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.
Beside Sidney Lumet, three other Top 100 directors had movies released in 2007, that failed to receive Academy recognition. Francis Ford Coppola, #16, struck out with Youth Without Youth. Robert Zemeckis, #48, was blanked with Beowulf, and Ang Lee, #68, came up empty with Lust, Caution.
So, what's in store for the 'Oscar Director-y' in the next year? I plan to complete the Top 25, with the following nine directors (in alphabetical order) rounding out the list: Woody Allen, Frank Capra, Alfred Hitchcock, John Huston, Henry Koster, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Vincente Minnelli, Sydney Pollack and Sam Wood. I'll post when any notable director passes away, as I did with Delbert Mann, Ingmar Bergman, Michelangelo Antonioni and Melville Shavelson. I hope to do a post on female directors, and also, actors who've turned director.
I look forward to more posts in the coming months, as the 'Oscar Director-y' enters its 2nd year. RayB
The possibility of a change in the Top 25 was also a factor in waiting. As it turned out, Sidney Lumet, currently #26 on the list, did not receive a nomination for his film, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead. Just one nod, in any category, would have moved him into 25th place, but it wasn't to be. There was some sharp movement up the list for a half dozen other directors. This year, the Best Director Oscar went to Joel Coen and Ethan Coen. This was Ethan's first time getting co-director credit, but brother Joel has directed all their previous films. Their film, No Country for Old Men, received 8 Oscar nominations, and won 4 Oscars, for Picture, Direction, Supporting Actor (Javier Bardem) and Adapted Screenplay, and vaulted him into the Top 100, from #156 to #93.
For those who may be unfamiliar as to how the 'Oscar Director-y' is determined, all directors who have had a film nominated in any of the performing or craft categories (example: Costume Design, Makeup, Original Score, Film Editing), Animated Feature and Foreign Film, get a point. The Coen brothers had nominations in the four categories mentioned above, and, additionally, scored nods for Sound Mixing, Sound Editing, Cinematography and Film Editing. Prior to 2007, Joel had directed four films (Barton Fink, Fargo, Oh Brother, Where Art Thou! and The Man Who Wasn't There), that had combined for 13 nominations. Therefore, his updated total is 21 nominations, with 6 wins (2 for Fargo). Each subsequent film he directs can only elevate his position in the standings.
Other directors moving up this year: Mike Nichols direction of Supporting Actor nominee Philip Seymour Hoffman, in Charlie Wilson's War, moved Nichols from #29 to #27, and was his 42nd career nomination. Ridley Scott jumped from #60 to #50 with a pair of nominations for American Gangster. Tim Burton moved up from #153 to #117, with 3 nods for Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Michael Bay, with 3 nods for Transformers, moved from #221 to #176, and Gore Verbinski went from #229 to #191, with his helming of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.
Beside Sidney Lumet, three other Top 100 directors had movies released in 2007, that failed to receive Academy recognition. Francis Ford Coppola, #16, struck out with Youth Without Youth. Robert Zemeckis, #48, was blanked with Beowulf, and Ang Lee, #68, came up empty with Lust, Caution.
So, what's in store for the 'Oscar Director-y' in the next year? I plan to complete the Top 25, with the following nine directors (in alphabetical order) rounding out the list: Woody Allen, Frank Capra, Alfred Hitchcock, John Huston, Henry Koster, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Vincente Minnelli, Sydney Pollack and Sam Wood. I'll post when any notable director passes away, as I did with Delbert Mann, Ingmar Bergman, Michelangelo Antonioni and Melville Shavelson. I hope to do a post on female directors, and also, actors who've turned director.
I look forward to more posts in the coming months, as the 'Oscar Director-y' enters its 2nd year. RayB
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