“Raging Bull.” “The Last Temptation of Christ.” “Goodfellas.” “Gangs of New York.” “The Aviator.” “The Departed.”

What do these films have in common? All have been nominated for an Academy Award for directing and none of them have won.

Let me repeat that.

Martin Scorsese, the six-time nominee for Best Director has won absolutely ZERO Oscars for directing. None. Zilch. Ninguno.

Scorsese joins the ranks of such auteurs as Alfred Hitchcock, Robert Altman, Stanley Kubrick and Federico Fellini as a director nominated multiple times without getting the foot-tall golden statue. “The Departed,” adapted from the Hong Kong police drama “Infernal Affairs” (2002) is Scorsese’s latest directorial masterpiece nominated for the Best Director category, and if he doesn’t drive home with Oscar in the passenger seat, Hollywood cinema might as well shrivel up and die.

The Academy has snubbed him on so many occasions that he’s well past due. At last year’s ceremony, host Jon Stewart astutely commented on the unbelievable tally after the Best Song category was announced — “For those of you keeping score at home, Martin Scorsese, zero Oscars. 3-6-Mafia, one!”

While the more cynically minded segment of the population might argue that the Oscars are simply a self-congratulatory ceremony put on by the film industry to scrounge up a few more dollars from films well out of theaters, it, nonetheless, is cinema’s most-recognized award. For over 30 years, the director with eyebrows that just won’t quit has cemented his status as one of America’s premier filmmakers with films like “Taxi Driver” and “Casino.” After years of shutouts at the Oscars, Scorsese has reached a point where the Academy must recognize the director — if not for his fantastic job with “The Departed” then for an oeuvre that has defined modern American cinema.

Being nominated is a huge honor. Actually getting up on stage and thanking everyone with whom you’ve worked before getting rushed off stage by a rude orchestra is priceless. The Academy has a long track record of awarding Oscars to people who deserve it, but not necessarily for the film they’re nominated for — Denzel Washington for “Training Day,” for example. It is certainly not a huge leap to conclude that Scorsese is going to be going home with the gold — a lifetime of work in the film industry practically guarantees him the win in the category.

The real question, however, is whether the director will receive both the Best Director nod as well as the award for Best Picture for “The Departed.” Traditionally, if a filmmaker is nominated in both of these categories in the same year, he or she will not receive both awards. At last year’s Oscars, George Clooney knew right off the bat that he wasn’t getting the Best Director Award when he was handed a Best Supporting Actor award.

Scorsese’s competition in the Best Picture category is fiercely competitive. Actor and director Clint Eastwood has already stolen his thunder by winning both Best Picture and Best Director in 1992 for “Unforgiven,” a western which was nominated alongside Scorsese’s “Goodfellas.” Eastwood is nominated once again this year for “Letters from Iwo Jima” and has the potential for upsetting Scorsese yet again.

In his favor, Scorsese recently won the Director’s Guild of America (DGA) award for his work on “The Departed.” In the organization’s 58-year history, only six recipients of the award have not gone on to receive the Oscar for Best Director.

I for one don’t see Scorsese losing the Best Director category. A few years from now, I expect to see the words “Academy Award Winner” next to his name on the marquees. I’m rooting for you, Marty, and if you don’t end up winning, your films have repeatedly shown that your competition should still be afraid of you.