For as highly regarded of a director as he is, some may be surprised to find out that Wes Anderson has never been nominated by the Academy for Best Director. They have twice nominated Anderson as a writer and once nominated him for his role in heading up Best Animated Feature nominee Fantastic Mr. Fox, but for his unique skills as a director, Anderson has yet to be recognized. That may very likely change this year though as Anderson appears to have his best shot yet at nabbing that elusive Best Director nomination with The Grand Budapest Hotel. A brilliantly written and directed whimsical comedy starring Ralph Fiennes as the head concierge of an elegant European hotel in the fictional Republic of Zubrowska before the onset of the Second World War, the film has been Anderson's most successful film to date, both in terms of its reception with critics and the public at large. While Anderson's previous contemporary-set films have been dismissed by some as overly quirky and excessively hipster, particularly by the cantankerous geriatric's club that is the Academy, The Grand Budapest Hotel's period setting makes it much more accessible to those that don't get dead pan humor and just want those pesky kids to get off their lawns. The film also allows Anderson to show off all his best traits in their best possible light, from his trademark fastidious art direction, to his encyclopedic referencing of classic films, to his typical cast of wonderfully zany characters. Anderson's first Best Director nomination is long overdue. His directorial voice and vision has been a consistently unique and enjoyable contribution to contemporary cinema. With the stiff competition, Anderson could still easily miss the cut, but The Grand Budapest Hotel is very much a directorial statement. It's hard to imagine the Directors Branch passing him over yet again for what many consider to be the director's best work to date.
A film fanatic at a very young age, starting with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movies and gradually moving up to more sophisticated fare, at around the age of ten he became inexplicably obsessed with all things Oscar. With the incredibly trivial power of being able to chronologically name every Best Picture winner from memory, his lifelong goal is to see every Oscar nominated film, in every major category, in the history of the Academy Awards.
