GEORGE MILLER
“Mad Max: Fury Road”
An interesting course of events happened this year before and after the Oscar nominations. Beforehand, most pundits would tell you that this year’s Best Directing category would be a showdown between Ridley Scott (“The Martian”), who many felt was overdue for some recognition, and George Miller (“Mad Max: Fury Road”), who returned to his own franchise after three decades to bring about one of the most visionary works of art in Hollywood, taking chances around every corner, and flipping the regular Hollywood film on its head. But then Ridley Scott missed his Oscar nomination. And the narrative began to change from there. With Scott out, you’d assume that George Miller would suddenly become the shoe-in to win. If it was Scott Vs. Miller, eliminating Scott from the get-go would put Miller in the hot seat. But that’s not what happened. Suddenly, you could see “The Revenant” gaining traction. And with that, the winner last year, Alejandro González Iñárritu (“Birdman”) flew past the competition to become Miller’s even bigger threat. With support building behind “The Revenant” after the Golden Globes win, the BAFTA win, and Iñárritu’s Directors Guild win, Miller’s win was losing traction and literally no one was talking about it anymore.
Who’s his competition? Should George Miller pull off the upset, it could be a huge night. What’s completely working against Iñárritu is the fact that he won last year. It’s rare for a director to win back to back years. What’s absolutely never happened before is a director winning back to back years and his film also winning Best Picture back to back years. That is what makes it extremely unlikely when you look at the numbers. But history has to be made somehow. It all depends on where the Academy lands with “The Revenant.” What I am slowly beginning to picture happening is George Miller winning Best Directing and “The Revenant” winning Best Picture, which is extremely possible, and probably more likely. It was George Miller’s race to begin with. Why shouldn’t he win, especially with the technical wins across the board. Miller is just as visionary a director as Iñárritu. Why not honor him?
Previous nominations? Including his nomination this year for Best Picture for MAD MAX: FURY ROAD, this is the sixth Academy Award nomination for George Miller. He was previously nominated for:
- HAPPY FEET (2006)
Winner, Animated Feature Film - BABE (1995)
Nominee, Best Picture - BABE (1995)
Nominee, Writing (Adapted) - LORENZO’S OIL (1992)
Nominee, Writing (Original)
// Produced by Doug Mitchell, George Miller, and P. J. Voeten // Directed by George Miller //
// Dated Viewed: Tuesday, February 23rd, 2016 // BLU-RAY // 6 films – 6 days //
