It’s really not a good year for Meryl’s past movie directors, as the passing of wonderful filmmaker Curtis Hanson was revealed today. Hanson was probably best known for 1997’s “L.A. Confidential”, which was nominated for nine Oscars, including for best picture and best director and won for Best Supporting Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay (Mr. Hanson and his co-writer, Brian Helgeland). As Sasha Stone at AwardsDaily wrote earlier today, he was also a director of great women. Hanson had an ability to bring out fierce performances in his actresses – from Kim Basinger, who won an Oscar in LA Confidential, to the absolutely fantastic Rebecca De Mornay in the Hand that Rocks the Cradle. She should have gotten an Oscar nomination for that movie. And what can you say about The River Wild except that it’s a much better movie than it’s been given credit for, thank in large part to Meryl Streep – but also Hanson was a good director of thrillers, usually those that revolved around female characters, but he also directed 8 Mile with Eminem which came close to getting a Best Picture nomination.
