10 Ridiculous Reasons Why Oscar Voters Picked Their Winners

10. Best Director Goes To Steven Spielberg Out Of "Respect"

In 2013, the Best Director prize could've gone to any one of Ang Lee, Michael Haneke, David O. Russell, Steven Spielberg and Benh Zeitlin (well, maybe not Zeitlin) - no easy crowd, right? Luckily, one Oscar voter had a simple question for nominees to be answered for those in the category: who deserves the respect most? A 2013 voter, the first to be interviewed by the Hollywood Reporter for its Brutally Honest Voter Ballots series and a director with a particularly strong aversion to Tarantino ("Django Unchained...is basically just Quentin Tarantino masturbating"), wanted Spielberg to take the honours for directing Lincoln because he "deserves an Oscar every 10 years or so out of respect for what he does for the industry". It's a characteristically outspoken view from the voter who dismissed Lincoln star and Supporting Actor nominee Tommy Lee Jones by writing on his Oscar ballot, simply, "grumpy".