Countdown to Oscar 2015--Best Director

Happy Hump Day! We hope the revelers in NOLA and other cities that celebrate Mardi Gras have recovered from yesterday's celebrations. Today is Ash Wednesday, and the beginning of the Lent period for Christians around the world. Ash Wednesday is a somber day of fasting, and the Lent period covers the approximately six weeks before Easter Sunday. During Lent, observers traditionally give up an action that is deemed to be a "vice" (smoking is a popular one) and often donate the money spent on that "vice" to charities and other organizations. Lewis Milestone Today's Oscar talk continues with the Best Director Award. Since Oscar's inception in 1927, a total of 89 awards have been given in this category. Only in its first year were there separate awards for Drama and Comedy. Frank Borzage received the prize for "7th Heaven" while Lewis Milestone was honored for "Two Arabian Knights. As usual, there are fun lots of facts and trivia associated with the Best Director award. Frank Borzage

• The awards for Best Director and Best Picture have often been linked throughout the history of the Awards. Of the 82 films that have been awarded Best Picture, 62 have simultaneously received the Best Director prize,
• Only four films have won best picture without its directory being nominated: "Wings" (1927-28), "Grand "Hotel" (1931-32), "Driving Miss Daisy" (1989), and "Argo" (2012).
• William Wyler holds the record for the most nominations with 13. He won three.
• John Ford has won the most Best Director awards with four.
• To date, only four women have been nominated for the award:  Lina Wertmüller for "Seven Beauties" (1976), Jane Campion for "The Piano" (1993),  Sofia Coppola for "Lost in Translation" (2003), and Kathryn Bigelow" for The Hurt. Bigelow is the only female winner of the Best Director Award.

Kathryn Bigelow

• Seven out the first eleven awards were  won by men named Frank: Frank Borzage, Frank Lloyd, and Frank Capra.
• The youngest Best Director nominee is John Singleton for "Boyz N the Hood" (1991). He was 24.
• The youngest Best Director Winner is Norman Taurog for "Skippy" in 1931. He was 32.
• The oldest Best Director Nominee is Charles Crichton for "A Fish Called Wanda" in 1988. He was 78.
• Only four duo directing teams have been nominated for Best Director: Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise for "West Side Story" (1961) (won); The Coen Brothers for "No County for Old Men" (won) (2007) and "True Grit" (2010); and Warren Beatty and Buck Henry for "Heaven Can Wait" (1979).

The 2015 nominees for Best Director are:

• Alejandro González Iñárritu, "Birdman"
• Richard Linklater, "Boyhood"
• Bennett Miller, "Foxcatcher"
• Wes Anderson, "The Grand Budapest Hotel"
• Morten Tydlum, "The Imitation Game

Alejandro González Iñárritu

It looks like a race between Iñárritu, who recently won the Director's Guild of America prize and Linklater, winner of a Golden Globe, along with several other awards from film critics' organizations. 

Richard Linklater

For a complete list of winners and more trivia about the Best Director Award, check out Filmsite.org.

Now it's time for today's lists:

Oscar Party Idea of the Day comes from Party City.com. They suggest a costume accessories bar complete with hats, boss, top hats, wigs, glasses, and tiaras. Of course, they carry a complete set of supplies and decorations you'll need to make your home look fabulous for the occasion!

Source: Party City

Black History Month Fun Fact of the Day: Negro League star Leroy "Satchel" Paige became the oldest Major League Rookie at age 42. He played with the St. Louis Browns until he was 47, and represented the team in the 1952 and 1953 All-Star Games.

 Oscar Fun Fact of the Day: The Coppola Family has had the most combined nominations with a total of 24: Patriarch Carmine with 2 nominations and 1 win; Francis Ford with 14 nominations and 5 wins; Talia Shire with 2 nominations but no wins; Sofia with 3 nominations and 1 win; Nicolas Cage with 2 nominations and 1 win; and Roman with 1 nomination but no wins. Pretty impressive!  

Today's Birthdays: Regina Spektor (35), Tyrone Burton (36), Ike Barinholtz (38), Molly Ringwald (47), Dr. Dre (50), Tommy Scott (51), Matt Dillon (51), Greta Schcchi (55), Vanna White (58), John Pankow (60), John Travolta (61), Larry Rust (62), Robbie Bachman (62), Randy Crawford (63), Juice Newton (63), Cybill Shepherd (65), Dennis De Young (68), Yoko Ono (82!), Milos Forman (83), and George Kennedy (90).

Holidaze: Today is National Battery Day! Did you know that in 1748, Benjamin Franklin first used the term "Battery" to describe an array of charged glass plates? Can you imagine a world without batteries? There would be no cell phones, cameras, computers, flashlights, alarms or hearing aids! It was said that Alessandro Volta invented the first battery in 1800, and this day is in honor of his birthday in 1745.

For foodies everywhere, it's National Stuffed Crab Flounder day. Yum! Try Emeril's recipe from the Food Network. 

That's all for today. Tomorrow is Chinese New Year, so I'll be talking about where the celebrations are happening.

Have a PRINTASTIC Day!

Kathy