Previous recipients of the accolade include James Cameron, Clint Eastwood, Peter Jackson and Christopher Nolan.

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Peter Jackson, Christopher Nolan, and others were on that list, but Abrams was absent due to his other commitments.

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Dr. Christopher Rogers, the deputy medical examiner who conducted the autopsy on Jackson, will be called to testify after that questioning of Martinez concludes Thursday.

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After all, successfully mixing pyrotechnics and narrative is how the most satisfying genre features of recent years -- such as Peter Jackson's "Lord Of The Rings" trilogy and Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight" -- have found artistic, as well as commercial, favor.

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Doctors at Miami's Jackson Memorial Hospital were treating Stallworth and a female companion for severe burns, attorney Christopher Lyons said.

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