[Lush]

My feelings were that if Peter Jackson did not receive best director (and I'm sure he will after RotK comes out), Robert Altman should have. He has paid his dues, and is way more admirable than Ron Howard, who, for all his charm, takes few risks and is not <I>that</I> good. PJ's direction was breathtaking, Altman's incredibly skilled and 'Gosford Park' was therefore heartfelt, yet devoid of cliches, while Howard, for all his tricks, had a truly great moment only in the theory of equilibrium scene, like you said.<BR>I loved 'A Beautiful Mind', it touched me, and Russell Crowe, for all his attitude problems, is a great actor, and Jennifer Connelly is splendid as well, but Best Director? I don't think so. It seems the Academy was just playing it safe on that one. I guess the logic was, "well it's a great film, but Ron isn't that great of a director, then again, everyone <I>loves</I> Ron, and this human-interest forumal sure as heck qualifies!" Sheesh.