THE ACCEPTANCE SPEECH

Wow, thank you so much Empire Magazine readers. It's the first time in my life I ever win anything! I swear to God. I've been nominated… mostly not. And it's so wonderful because it's actually people who actually go to see movies and enjoy movies and not people who watch a DVD half way through and… go to dinner. So you know, I made up a joke a few years ago that agents… like, the different between a pimp and an agent is like the pimp.. there's no difference, the pimp… but, er, no what is it? Fuck! Alright, forget it! So yeah, as you can notice I didn't prepare a speech but thank you so much. LISTEN TO SPEECH [mp3 format]

VIDEO ACCEPTANCE SPEECH

Hi, I'm Sam Raimi and I'm honoured to receive this award for Best Director. But I wanted to thank you, the readers of Em… (sound of award breaking) .. pire magazine for this kind acknowledgement. Empire is a great magazine and I have the highest respect for this award as the votes to earn it represent the real passions of real moviegoers. It's something I had intended to treasure always. Thank you. LISTEN TO SPEECH [mp3 format]

WHAT EMPIRE SAID

A minor improvement on the first film makes for a major success when compared with its summer competition. Sam Raimi has once again crafted a blockbuster that thinks as hard as it thwacks – in a word, amazing.

ALSO NOMINATED
Michael Gondry - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
M. Night Shyamalan - The Village
Michael Mann - Collateral
Quentin Tarantino - Kill Bill Vol. 2