Wes Anderson Royal Tenenbaums" was nominated for an Academy Award and ranked by an "Empire" poll as the 159th greatest film ever made. Anderson's next feature was "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou" (2004) about a Jacques Cousteau-esque documentary filmmaker played by Bill Murray. It serves as a classic example of Anderson's style, but its critical reception was less favorable than his previous films, and its box office did not match the heights of "The Royal Tenenbaums". In September 2006, Steely Dan's Walter Becker and Donald Fagen released a tongue-in-cheek "letter of intervention" for Anderson's artistic "malaise" following the disappointing commercial and
The Aviator (2004 film) pioneer and director of "Hell's Angels". The film portrays his life from 1927–1947 during which time Hughes became a successful film producer and an aviation magnate while simultaneously growing more unstable due to severe obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD). "The Aviator" was released in the United States on December 25, 2004. The film grossed $214 million at the box office. It was nominated for eleven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Actor in a Leading Role for DiCaprio, and Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Alda, winning five: Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Costume Design,