“As though he was born to it, Wes Anderson, working from a script that he actually wrote himself, managed to corral hundreds of pastries, be-ribboned items, and quite a large number of human men on various sets while directing The Grand Budapest Hotel.

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“Alejandro G. Inarritu, despite never having directed a movie about a man-bird hybrid before, impressively directed this movie about a man-bird hybrid, called Birdman. Most notable are his innovative tracking shots, which were not in any way a part of his previous films, but he put them in this film anyway, because he felt this film needed them. That takes cojones, Alejandro!”

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“Richard Linklater pretty much made up the film Boyhood as he went along, but because he had the story very clearly laid out in his head, he was able to keep at it for twelve years despite being a white man. His persistence is inspirational to other white men who want to take forever to make a movie.”

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“Many historians have taken issue with how Morten Tyldum, the first Norwegian man to be nominated for Best Director, chose to portray mathematical genius Alan Turing in the film The Imitation Game. Those decrying the film’s depiction of events note that the script completely rewrites history, tossing out the literally thousands of people who worked alongside Turing in breaking the Nazi code so that the Allies could win the war, and replacing them with Keira Knightley. They also point out that the efforts of the American, French and British military forces, among others, have may have had an even larger role than Turing in ending World War II. Finally, some take issue with how Turing is never shown having actual sex with another man, despite the film being entirely set in buildings where no one has ever had sex. Tyldum has been quoted as saying that ‘sometimes liberties are needed to make truer art’ but this has not satisfied the rabid nay-sayers who cannot countenance this film.”

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“Bennett Miller would be the first man named Bennett to be named Best Director, were he to win.”