Steven Spielberg received his 8th Oscar nomination for directing today. He now joins a very select group of four filmmakers who have received 8 Best Director nominations. Billy Wilder has 8, Scorsese has 9, and William Wyler, who holds the record, earned 11 total directing nominations.
One could assume that a ninth nomination is very possible for “The Fablemans,” due out this coming November. What an incredible career. He is a master.
And yet, I don’t think I’d put “West Side Story” in my Spielberg top 10, it’s certainly not in the same league as “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”, “Jaws”, “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “Schindler’s List”, “Saving Private Ryan”, “Artificial Intelligence”, “Munich”, “Minority Report”, “Catch Me If You Can,” or even “Empire of the Sun.”
If he wins this year, Spielberg would join Wyler, Capra and John Ford as the only directors to win three times in the category. Fat chance. This is Campion’s trophy to lose.