Scanning the headlines about Martin Scorsese's long overdue Oscar win, it was
hard to find one without the word FINALLY in it. And indeed, when Martin
Scorsese did finally win the Academy Award for Best Director, with typical
Scorsese humor he asked, "Could you double-check the envelope?" Who could blame
him? This was his sixth nomination, and as he told the press backstage, "I've
just been used to not winning, so I just make the movies, guys..."

At least one Oscar pundit claimed a little gold guy for Scorsese this year would
be a lock, and Dana Stevens of slate.com predicted, "If Scorsese doesn't win
this award at long bloody last, he might as well leave the Kodak Theatre in
sackcloth and ashes, holding a sign that reads 'The End Is Nigh.'" Well,
thankfully that didn't happen.

Of course he's always wanted an Academy Award, and often would remind
interviewers that many greats, such as Hitchcock and Welles, never got one. With
Harvey Weinstein's Oscar shenanigans turning the Academy race into all out war,
Warner Brothers chose to play it cool with The Departed, and it paid off big
time.

The Associated Press reported that Scorsese didn't mind the wait, because if he
had won earlier, who knows how it would have changed the course of his career?
"Thank God we've been able to make so many films over the last 36 years without
winning awards. But we've been able to get the pictures made." He also said,
"I'm glad it's taken this long. It's been worth it."

When CNN posted the news, they ran a photo of Scorsese backstage at the
microphone with him arms stretched out wide, looking relaxed and relieved at
finally winning cinema's greatest prize. You could just imagine him belting out,
"My Way."