For my money, Martin Scorsese is one of the most influential filmmakers working in Hollywood today, and his films are nothing short of inspirational, provocative labors of love and life. It seems the Hollywood Foreign Press Association also agrees as Variety reports that he will be this year's recipient of  the Cecil B. DeMille Award recognizing a person's outstanding contribution to the entertainment field, which just last year was given to Scorsese's longtime friend, fellow filmmaker Steven Spielberg. Scorsese will be honored by several of his peers and collaborators when the show (hosted by Ricky Gervais) airs live January 17th.

Scorsese has received two Golden Globe Awards for his work as director on The Departed and Gangs of New York as well as nominations in directing for Casino, Age of Innocence, Goodfellas and Raging Bull. As overly-long and boring as the awards shows usually are, I love these lifetime achievement awards for the retrospective montages and speeches from fellow filmmakers and actors praising the honoree. It'll be hard to top the moment when Scorsese received the Academy Award for Best Director in 2007 for The Departed from Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas (all close friends of Scorsese), but I'm sure there will still be plenty of people lining up to honor the bespectacled fast-talking master of cinema.