Lee Is DGA Winner For 'Crouching Tiger'
Award Perhaps Best Predictor Of Best Director Oscar
The honor is perhaps the best predictor of the winner of the best director Academy Award. Only four times in the DGA's 53-year history has the winner not gone on to win the Oscar. The Academy Awards will be handed out March 25.
Lee's Mandarin-language martial arts epic has been nominated for 10 Oscars (including best picture and best foreign language film), second only to Ridley Scott's Roman epic, "Gladiator," which has 12.
Scott was among the three other nominated directors to miss out on the DGA award. Steven Soderbergh was a double nominee for the drug-war drama "Traffic" and environmental crusade drama, "Erin Brockovich."
Cameron Crowe was the other DGA nominee, recognized for his coming-of-age '70s rock opus, "Almost Famous." Crowe was not, however, nominated for a best director Oscar. The fifth Academy slot went to "Billy Elliot" helmer Stephen Daldry.
The DGA also honored excellence in television Saturday. Director Thomas Schlamme won the DGA television drama award for an episode of "The West Wing," while James Burrows won the DGA comedy award for an episode of "Will and Grace."
The guild also bestowed Jack Valenti with a lifetime achievement award. Valenti is the longtime president of the Motion Picture Association of America.
