Waldo Awards-Best Director

The Waldo Awards kick off to a great start this year, featuring an interactive system: the winner is completely decided by online votes! I'll only vote in case of a tiebreaker, so the rest is up to you.

BEST DIRECTOR

Here's some nominees to get you started on this year's first award. Choose carefully!


ORSON WELLES

Possibly the greatest director of all time, Orson Welles broke all the rules and made all the new ones in his historic film debut, Citizen Kane. Only 25 when he directed Kane, Welles had some trouble living up to his self-set standards. Welles ended up obese, out of the spotlight, and with a pretty funky looking beard. It's hard to judge a career that couldn't live up to its debut...but then again, no other director has ever topped it. Even still, without Orson Welles, modern cinema would be a very, very different thing. It's hard to say he isn't at least Hollywood's greatest innovator to date.

DAVID LEAN

The director of Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago, Great Expectation, Passage to India, and Bridge on the River Kwai, David Lean was the giant of film from the 1960s to the 1970s. Boasting Oscar nods to burn and a flare for spectacle, Lean was famous for long, powerful epics and biopics. But his name is also inseparable from that of Alec Guinness. In fact, the Oscar winner (for a Lean film) starred in every one of the films mentioned above. Lean also had the attendency to drag, much of his work lasting above and beyond the four hour mark. The ending of films such as Lawrence seemed abrupt and disappointing. But the films themselves could never disappoint. Entertaining at their worst, Lean's movies will prove to last well beyond the present generation. A taste for long, long epics, working with similar casts and crews, but a tad shabby on the endings. So who's the new age David Lean? Possibly Peter Jackson.

MEL GIBSON

Although he's been caught up in recent controversy for drunken comments, Mel Gibson is undoubtably one of the iconic filmmakers of our time. With 1995's Braveheart he even won media success, earning an Oscar for both Best Picture and Director. And with the unforgettable Passion of the Christ in 2004, Gibson rose to international and even spiritual success. One of the more ambitious projects to date, Gibson filmed the last 12 hours of Jesus's life in Aramaeic, the long forgotten language the Palestinians actually spoke in 33 AD. And now he promises to surprise us all with Apocalypto, an ancient Mexican epic completely in the long lost language of the Mayans. So even if everyone doesn't agree with his strange personal beliefs, there is little doubt Mel Gibson certainly knows what he's doing and how to do it.

ALFRED HITCHCOCK

The name of Alfred Hitchcock, master of suspense, is one nearly synonymous with that of modern cinema. Hitchcock's most memorable films include North By Northwest, Rear Window, Vertigo, The Foriegn Correspondent, and Psycho. A distinct style and artistic taste give Hitchcock the right to call himself the Master of Suspense, and is all the better for the often mesmorized audience. Hitchcock himself made sure to cameo in every single one of his films. Others make sure to watch them all. Although 0 for 5 at the Academy Awards, Hitchcock has earned a name for himself that goes beyond any presented prize. Will the Waldo do more honor for this man than the Oscar ever could?

A NOTE FROM WALDO

I apologise that a picture of Gibson and Hitchcock was unavailable, but Blogspot often limits file size. I now leave the desicion to you...who to choose? If you find these nominees unsuitable, another option is the write-in vote. However, the write-in must pass my veto and recieve at least three votes. Some answers are just unacceptable, such as:

*Steven Spielburg
*George Lucas
*Michael Moore
*Oliver Stone
*John Chambers

These answers will be guarenteed not to pass my veto. I suggest choosing from the nominees, but I want to leave the options open.

Good luck voting!