Xixax Film Forum

The Director's Chair => The Director's Chair => Topic started by: b/a on February 26, 2003, 10:09:27 PM

Title: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: b/a on February 26, 2003, 10:09:27 PM
This probably has been discussed before, but I was just curious to see people's top ten directors lists.
Mine:
1. David Lynch
2. Jean-Luc Godard
3. Michael Snow
4. Stan Brakhage
5. Alfred Hitchcock
6. Orson Welles
7. Herschell Gordon Lewis
8. Alejandro Jowordowsky
9. Ingmar Bergman
10. Dario Argento

Just under the ten: Atom Egoyan, Harmony Korine, Andrei Tarkovsky.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Ghostboy on February 26, 2003, 10:24:47 PM
Great list, b/a! Mine are more predictable, I guess (since it includes PTA). And these are in no order:

1. Kryzstof Kieslowski
2. Stanley Kubrick
3. PTA
4. David Lynch
5. Spike Lee
6. Coen Brothers
7. Ingmar Bergman
8. Scorsese
9. Tim Burton
10. Hitchcock

Geez, I run out of room so fast on these lists! I need a space for Bunuel, Woody Allen, Jim Jarmusch, Terry Gilliam, and all the guys who have only made one or two or three masterpieces so far (Wes Anderson, Darren Arronofsky, Vincent Gallo).
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: KingBlackDeath on February 26, 2003, 10:36:07 PM
I don't think I can put them in order. To Terrifying.
but in order that I think of them

PTA
Spike Jonze (including videos, etc.)
Luis Bunuel
David Lynch
Wes Anderson
Kubrick
Fellini
Woody Allen
Tarantino
Hal Ashby
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: KingBlackDeath on February 26, 2003, 10:37:33 PM
shit for some crazy reason I forgot Brakhage
BRAKHAGE!!!
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Pedro on February 26, 2003, 10:39:22 PM
1. PTA
2. Bergman
3. Kieslowski
4. Allen
5. Fellini
6. Lynch
7. Kubrick
8. Resnais
9. Godard
10. Buñuel
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: xerxes on February 26, 2003, 10:42:00 PM
in the order they come to my mind...

1. Akira Kurosawa
2. PTA
3. Wes Anderson
4. Martin Scorsese
5. Spike Lee
6. Darren Aronofsky
7. Hitch
8. Woody Allen
9. Hirokazu Kore-eda

stopping at nine
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Cecil on February 27, 2003, 12:24:55 AM
no particular order

kubrick
godard
lynch
cronenberg
john waters
abel ferrara
tarantino & avary
jarmush
bergman

(pta, oliver stone, coens, spike lee, aronofsky, and depalma almost made it)
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Recce on February 27, 2003, 09:01:36 AM
Here goes(in not particular order), but I'm sure I'm forgetting some.

- Martin Scorcese
- The Coen Brothers(whichever one directs anyways)
- David Fincher
- Quentin Taranino
- Tom Tykwer
- Paul-Thomas Anderson
- Oliver Stone
- Stanley Kubrick
- Darren Aronofsky
- Wes Anderson
- Kryzstof Kieslowski
- Jonathan Demme
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: phil marlowe on February 27, 2003, 10:03:09 AM
No order on mine too:

- P.T.Anderson
- Terry Giliam
- Stanley Kubric
- David Lynch
- Steven Spielberg
- Martin Scorsese
- The Coens
- Quentin Tarantino
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Ernie on February 27, 2003, 10:11:23 AM
I was just about to do this same post to coincide w/ the top 5 actors thread I made...good idea man. Lol, my list isn't half as cool and interesting as some of the ones above...this changes from time to time of course, this is just at this point in time....

paul thomas anderson
david gordon green
spike jonze
cameron crowe
wes anderson
martin scorsese
francois truffaut
jean luc godard
billy wilder
sidney lumet
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Sigur Rós on February 27, 2003, 12:43:33 PM
Not in any order!

PTA
David Lynch
Lars Von Trier
Coen Brothers
Spike Jonze
Stanley Kubrick
Martin Scorsese
Steven Soderbergh
Wes Anderson
Thomas Vinterberg
Gary Kelly
Cameron Crowe
Darron Aronofsky
Orson Wells
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Duck Sauce on February 27, 2003, 11:26:48 PM
Paul Thomas Anderson
Darren Aronofsky
MartinScorsese
Stanley Kubrick
Steven Soderbergh
Steven Spielberg
Quentin Tarantino
WoodyAllen
Spike Jonze
Spike Lee
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Newtron on February 27, 2003, 11:37:34 PM
1. K
2. u
3. b
4. r
5. i
6. c
7. K
8. bor
9. ing
10. *yawn*
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: life_boy on February 28, 2003, 01:44:42 AM
1. Kubrick
2. Anderson, P.T.
3. Scorsese
4. Stone, Oliver
5. Coen
6. Lynch
7. Lee, Spike
8. Anderson, Wes
9. Soderbergh
10. Lumet

(Close-Calls: Jonze, Aronofsky, Payne, Allen, Spielburg, Fellini)

No real surprises.  Nothing that hasn't already been said.  There are many many many many classics of which I have not seen.   This would be my reasons for not having guys like Kurosawa, Bergman, Wells, Godard, and Truffaut.  Shamed to admit it, i am.  Someday I will see these great films I keep putting off.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: SubstanceD on March 01, 2003, 07:53:33 PM
Kieslowski
Kubrick
Wong Kar Wai
Scorsese
Fellini
Cronenberg
Tarantino
PTA
Argento
Truffaut

Hitchcock
Ozu
George Romero
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Gold Trumpet on March 01, 2003, 09:34:22 PM
I'll list directors of great admiration from me, not necessarily in any order or greatness.

Hayao Myazaki - my favorite director working now
Akira Kurosawa
Federico Fellini
Michelangelo Antonioni
Luis Bunuel
Buster Keaton
Paul Thomas Anderson
Stanley Kubrick
Robert Altman
Martin Scorsese

I'm also a major fan of David Gordon Green's first movie, George Washington. It is a great film, that unlike any movie from 2000, is still growing with me. I kinda want to write another post on George Washington (I did on the last board), but maybe I will put ideas of it into a different post.  But I'll wait to see how he handles his next few films before making any declaration upon him. Also, I have a great desire to discover more from Yasijuro Ozu.

~rougerum
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: xerxes on March 01, 2003, 10:11:03 PM
Quote from: The Gold TrumpetAlso, I have a great desire to discover more from Yasijuro Yasujiro Ozu.

~rougerum

i am trying to find more of his stuff as well... a little hard to find... at least on dvd anyway
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: SoNowThen on March 13, 2003, 08:33:23 PM
1.  PTA
2. Scorsese
3. Fellini
4. Godard
5. Malick
6. Nichols
7. Kubrick
8. Allen (Woody)
9. Altman
10. Maysles brothers

--honorable mention (not enough movies to qualify): Vince Gallo, Sofia Coppola

--with apologies to: Francis Ford Coppola, Quentin Tarantino, and The Coens (all of whom were inched out for no good reason save lack of space).
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: The Silver Bullet on March 16, 2003, 07:11:09 AM
01. Paul Thomas Anderson
02. Martin Scorsese
03. Quentin Tarantino
04. Steven Soderbergh
05. David Lean
06. Evan Mather
07. Stanley Kubrick
08. Francis Ford Coppola
09. David Lynch
10. Steven Spielberg
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: budgie on March 16, 2003, 11:17:34 AM
Kurosawa
Hitchcock
PT Anderson
Jarmusch
Lynch
Scorsese
Linklater
Sirk
Von Sternberg
Leone
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: rustinglass on March 16, 2003, 02:31:31 PM
emir kusturica
lars von trier
david lynch
pt anderson
ingmar bergman
tarantino
andrei tarkovsky (or is it tartovsky, no one seems to know for sure...)
steven soderbergh
teresa villaverde
francis ford coppola
ed wood (just kidding, :P )
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Rudie Obias on March 16, 2003, 02:40:54 PM
paul thomas anderson
wong kar-wai
quentin tarantino
richard linklater
wes anderson
alfred hitchcock
spike jonze
jean-luc godard
sofia coppola
harmony korine

of course this list differs every now and then.   :-D

edit:  wow!  did i forget:
stanley kubrick
steven speilberg
kinji fukasaku

my bad, yo!
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: oakmanc234 on March 27, 2003, 04:20:08 AM
Not in any order:

Steven Spielberg
Paul Thomas Anderson
Martin Scorcese
Quentin Tarantino
Joel Coen
Tim Burton
Wes Anderson
David Fincher
Stanley Kubrick
Ridley Scott

And some others.....

Hitchcock, Spike Lee, Spike Jonze, Aronofsky, Ritchie, Milos Forman, Bryan Singer, Watchowski's, Zemeckis, Jackson, Boyle, Crowe, Mann, Mendes, yada yada yada.............
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: ©brad on March 27, 2003, 05:45:02 AM
here's mine bitches;

oliver stone
da man himself kurosawa
almodovar
john sayles
billy wilder
coen bros.
ridley scott
steven soderbergh
ang lee
cameron crowe
spike lee/jonze

and all the rest you guys put on ur lists
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: ShanghaiOrange on April 06, 2003, 10:38:53 PM
Ordered reverse alphabetically by mother's maiden name:

Martin Scorcese
Stanley Kubrick
The Coen Brothers
Wes Anderson
Quentin Tarantino
Spike Jonze
Terry Gilliam
Francis Ford Coppola
Akira Kurosawa
Paul Thomas Anderson
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: cine on April 06, 2003, 11:04:03 PM
this was impossible to make 10 for me.. so here's 15..

1. Altman
2. Bergman
3. Bunuel
4. Fellini
5. Griffith
6. Herzog
7. Hitchcock
8. Kieslowski
9. Kubrick
10. Kurosawa
11. Ozu
12. Renoir
13. Scorsese
14. Welles
15. Wilder
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: cowboykurtis on April 06, 2003, 11:54:00 PM
in no paticular order:
-kubrick
-hitchcock
-scorsese
-kurosawa
-bunuel
-truffaut
-fellini
-bergman
-spielberg
-welles
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Pastor Parsley on April 11, 2003, 12:09:58 PM
no order:

=kieslowski (although I didn't care for blue and white)
=kubrick
=lynch
=bergman
=bunuel
=fellini
=godard
=truffaut
=antonioni
=kurosawa
=malick
=pta
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Alethia on April 12, 2003, 12:35:16 AM
in no particular order --

orson welles
martin scorsese
billy wilder
woody allen
frederico fellini
francois truffaut
stanley kubrick
frank capra
alfred hitchcock
john huston
quentin tarantino
roman polanski
steven spielberg
david lean
paul thomas anderson
steven soderbergh
brian de palma
george cukor
the coen's
charlie chaplin
sam peckinpah
john cassavettes
akira kurosawa
elia kazan

honorable mentions - spike jonze, stanley donen, stanley kramer, julie taymor, sam mendes, jean luc godard, jonathan demme, robert wise, mike nichols, robert altman, todd haynes, neil jordan, tim burton, dario argento, john waters, terrence mallick, jim jarmusch, david lynch, francis ford coppola, ingmar bergman, cameron crowe, darron aronofsky, wes anderson, alexander payne, philip noyce, spike lee, richard linklater......

soon to join my list - sofia coppola, jill sprecher, christopher guest, pedro almodovar, ang lee (the hulk isnt exciting my very much however)........

and im forgetting a thousand others......

EDIT - hahaha, God - what an asshole....
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: aclockworkjj on April 15, 2003, 03:45:31 PM
Altman
PTA
Wes Anderson
Howard Hawks
Fellini
Anthony Minghella
Aronofsky
John Ford
Maya Deren
Sir Stanley K.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: MrBurgerKing on April 15, 2003, 09:24:36 PM
Quote from: aclockworkjjAnthony Minghella

Good choice! I'm a fan of Minghella's work so far (haven't seen Mr Wonderful), and I'd say he's made two great films in Mr Ripley and English Patient. I hope Cold Mountain doesn't turn out to be typical oscar trash though. It's obvious it was financed to win Oscars, but I'm hoping all the great talent behind the camera can make something seminal.

I just don't know though, maybe we need to see more Minghella movies before listing him as one of the 10 favorites. There's no denying that he has talent though, which gives me confidence with Cold Mountain. I listened to the Ripley commentary track, and the guy is so intelligent and well spoken. He knows exactly what he's doing.. I can't imagine him making a bad movie that he has control over.

Perhaps the only potential downfall of Cold Mountain will be the fact that the cast / crew is so multi-cultural, and the film is clearly supposed to be all-american. The way I see it, this could be a bad thing, or it could really make it interesting. Hopefully the latter.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Spike on April 16, 2003, 09:39:48 AM
Mine are:

1. Steven Spielberg
2. James Cameron
3. Paul Thomas Anderson
4. Joel & Ethan Coen
5. M. Night Shyamalan
6. Stanley Kubrick
7. Terrence Malick
8. Wes Anderson
9. Guy Ritchie
10. Tim Burton

Spike
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: astralpictures on April 20, 2003, 07:16:07 PM
Stanley kubrick
Robert Wise
Orson Welles
David Lynch
Werner Herzog
Alfred Hitchcock
Robert Altman
Akira kurosawa
George Romero
Roman Polanski
Sam Raimi
John cassavettes
Luis Bunuel
F. W. Murnau
Mel Brooks
Franscis Ford Coppola....

ED WOOD baby!
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: astralpictures on April 22, 2003, 11:08:13 AM
Fritz Lang
D.W. Griffith as well

Why does everyone list PTA for?
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: cowboykurtis on April 22, 2003, 11:23:47 AM
Quote from: aclockworkjjAltman
PTA
Wes Anderson
Howard Hawks
Fellini
Anthony Minghella
Aronofsky
John Ford
Maya Deren
Sir Stanley K.

maya deren -- meshes of the afternoon, is one of the few films that really got under my skin -- its so haunting... do you know if they have released her compilation on dvd -- i know theres a vhs version floating around out there -- her films are quite impressive.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: astralpictures on April 22, 2003, 08:57:48 PM
Dude, what and the heck is up with your avatar? That's some nasty shit. I know it's  nasty pic floating around but come on, is that really necessary!!!
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Cecil on April 22, 2003, 09:26:45 PM
Quote from: astralpicturesWhy does everyone list PTA for?

uhhhhhh, no reason
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: aclockworkjj on April 23, 2003, 11:44:02 AM
Quote from: cowboykurtismaya deren -- meshes of the afternoon, is one of the few films that really got under my skin -- its so haunting... do you know if they have released her compilation on dvd -- i know theres a vhs version floating around out there -- her films are quite impressive.

Yeah I hear ya, haunting, I was forced to watch her films in school, her films were some of the only ones I found remarkable!  At Land is pretty good too, obviously it's not about plot with her, but more the visual style that I admire.  

Another haunting film that reminds me of Maya...is Salvador Dali's Un chein andalou (the razor scene is great!).....it's kinding along the same lines.

I don't know if there is a DVD, would be nice though.  I have caught these on Sundance or IFC every once in awhile though....
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: astralpictures on April 23, 2003, 03:09:06 PM
I was just wondering, because I personally don't think PTA has enough body of work to make a top 10 list. I guess I'm just not a fan of his films.

Speaking of Un Chien Andalou, there is a debate to whether Dali or Bunuel had the most input. Bunuel directed it, but obviously quite a few of the images were Dali's.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Pwaybloe on April 23, 2003, 03:28:33 PM
Quote from: astralpictures...I'm just not a fan of his films.

Intruder Alert!  Intruder Alert!
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: (kelvin) on April 23, 2003, 03:35:25 PM
In alphabetical order: :wink:

Antonioni
Dreyer
Eisenstein
Lang
Murnau
Kitano
Kubrick
Kurosawa
Tarkovsky
Truffaut
Vertov
Welles
Wilder

I know, there are more than 10, but...you know.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Gold Trumpet on April 23, 2003, 03:37:10 PM
This is the first non PTA fan I've seen here. How did you find this place? I always thought you could never locate this place without visiting PTA's website. But anyways, this is the beginning of the website broadening out to more people in different areas of film interest.

~rougerum
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Pedro on April 23, 2003, 04:07:53 PM
Quote from: The Gold TrumpetThis is the first non PTA fan I've seen here. How did you find this place? I always thought you could never locate this place without visiting PTA's website. But anyways, this is the beginning of the website broadening out to more people in different areas of film interest.

~rougerum
Greg's the uncool site has a link i think.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: budgie on April 23, 2003, 05:00:15 PM
Quote from: astralpicturesI was just wondering, because I personally don't think PTA has enough body of work to make a top 10 list. I guess I'm just not a fan of his films.

I go on feeling. I've not seen all Jarmusch's work but it resonates highly enough.

I'm adding Spike Lee.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: astralpictures on April 23, 2003, 06:26:58 PM
I think he is a very good director, just definitely not on my top 10 list. I respect what he does, I just haven't really gotten into his previous films. Granted, I haven't seen Punch Drunk Love yet, and I intend to as soon as possible.

I honestly forget how I came here. I think I was just searching around for something and stumbled upon it. I always love to hear what other filmmakers and movie lovers have to say, so I figure I might as well join up while I'm here.

I notice a lot of people list Wes Anderson too. Rushmore was great, but I hadn't realized a lot of people consider him a top 10 also. Man, you guys are really gonna hate me huh?
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: MrBurgerKing on April 23, 2003, 06:44:40 PM
Quote from: astralpicturesI think he is a very good director, just definitely not on my top 10 list. I respect what he does, I just haven't really gotten into his previous films. Granted, I haven't seen Punch Drunk Love yet, and I intend to as soon as possible.

I honestly forget how I came here. I think I was just searching around for something and stumbled upon it. I always love to hear what other filmmakers and movie lovers have to say, so I figure I might as well join up while I'm here.

I notice a lot of people list Wes Anderson too. Rushmore was great, but I hadn't realized a lot of people consider him a top 10 also. Man, you guys are really gonna hate me huh?

How about guys like Terrance Malick, who has made 3 films, all masterworks. Would you think he belongs on a top 10 list even though he doesn't have a big enough body of work? Or does a director need 3 whoppers, with 10 sides of onion rings? Icing on the cake. Get what I'm saying here? It's basically a question of morality.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: finlayr on April 23, 2003, 07:16:14 PM
I don't think anyone can argue with the fact that Tarantino is the most gifted filmmaker today...perhaps ever.

There can be NO 'best'.  This is art for Chrissakes.

My top three (working today):

1. Tarantino

2. PTA

3. Scorsese
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Gold Trumpet on April 23, 2003, 09:57:12 PM
little contradictory there?

~rougerum
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: ©brad on April 24, 2003, 03:53:17 AM
Quote from: finlayrI don't think anyone can argue with the fact that Tarantino is the most gifted filmmaker today...perhaps ever.

*sighs*
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: budgie on April 24, 2003, 07:09:01 AM
Quote from: astralpicturesMan, you guys are really gonna hate me huh?

:yabbse-sad:
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Ghostboy on April 24, 2003, 07:14:42 AM
No one hates anyone here on the basis of their taste (at least that's the way it USUALLY works), so feel free to express dissention towards all of the PTA and WA lovers here! All you gotta do is love movies, and from the look of your list of favorite directors, you seem to be pretty well versed cinephile.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: budgie on April 24, 2003, 07:16:47 AM
Quote from: GhostboyNo one hates anyone here on the basis of their taste (at least that's the way it USUALLY works), so feel free to express dissention towards all of the PTA and WA lovers here! All you gotta do is love movies, and from the look of your list of favorite directors, you seem to be pretty well versed cinephile.

:yabbse-smiley:
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: cowboykurtis on April 24, 2003, 11:10:39 AM
Quote from: MrBurgerKing
Quote from: astralpicturesI think he is a very good director, just definitely not on my top 10 list. I respect what he does, I just haven't really gotten into his previous films. Granted, I haven't seen Punch Drunk Love yet, and I intend to as soon as possible.

I honestly forget how I came here. I think I was just searching around for something and stumbled upon it. I always love to hear what other filmmakers and movie lovers have to say, so I figure I might as well join up while I'm here.

I notice a lot of people list Wes Anderson too. Rushmore was great, but I hadn't realized a lot of people consider him a top 10 also. Man, you guys are really gonna hate me huh?

How about guys like Terrance Malick, who has made 3 films, all
masterworks. Would you think he belongs on a top 10 list even though he doesn't have a big enough body of work? Or does a director need 3 whoppers, with 10 sides of onion rings? Icing on the cake. Get what I'm saying here? It's basically a question of morality.

no more burger king anologies -- i want a whopper
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: finlayr on April 24, 2003, 11:47:49 AM
When I said Tarantino, PTA and Scorsese were my 'Top 3', I meant most inspirational.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: MrBurgerKing on April 24, 2003, 01:21:05 PM
Quote from: finlayrWhen I said Tarantino, PTA and Scorsese were my 'Top 3', I meant most inspirational.

Thanks for clearing that up.. It's still ranking them though! If you were against ranking art, you would say "in no order," or you wouldn't say anything at all, because by listing those three, you are saying they are more inspirational than everyone else.

You have dug yourself into a deep hole! The edit button won't help you!
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Jeremy Blackman on April 24, 2003, 02:17:54 PM
Quote from: MrBurgerKingIf you were against ranking art, you would say "in no order," or you wouldn't say anything at all

Quick--how would you rank the following?

Italian Chicken, Regular Chicken, Chicken Nuggets
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: MrBurgerKing on April 24, 2003, 02:50:33 PM
Quote from: Jeremy Blackman
Quote from: MrBurgerKingIf you were against ranking art, you would say "in no order," or you wouldn't say anything at all

Quick--how would you rank the following?

Italian Chicken, Regular Chicken, Chicken Nuggets

I think you put it in the right order. Italian Chicken is the absolute best out of those. Chicken Nuggets... meh.. is that even real chicken? Regular chicken might be too broad, but it's better than Nuggets, and nothing is better than Italian.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Sigur Rós on April 24, 2003, 02:53:11 PM
Top ten directors.......chicken nuggets......I don't get it??  :?
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Ernie on April 24, 2003, 08:11:35 PM
Quote from: Sigur RósTop ten directors.......chicken nuggets......I don't get it??  :?

Lol, I don't either. Somebody with a burger place fetish is like a bad character on the disney channel or something (my sister watches it).

You know what I mean? Like, how every character has their little silly, wild, crazy, cute, harmless, disney-style quirks. This dude reminds of somebody I'd see on the disney channel for some reason...I'm not saying this is a bad thing.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Cecil on April 24, 2003, 09:50:13 PM
hmmm, tell me more, finlayr, tell me more
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: finlayr on April 25, 2003, 05:58:45 PM
No, I think you've dug yourself into a hole.  There's a difference between your favourite/most inpirational and the 'best'.  What I was saying is this:  when it come down to art, there is no 'best'.  It's what YOU find as your favourite.  And your favourites become the most inspirational to you, especially when you're an aspiring filmmaker.

So how have I dug myself into a hole? It wasn't contradictory in the slightest.  I think you should ACTUALLY READ THE POSTS CAREFULLY.

I would say that is that, Mr. Mattress Man.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: MrBurgerKing on April 25, 2003, 10:06:10 PM
Quote from: finlayrI think you should ACTUALLY READ THE POSTS CAREFULLY.

Or perhaps you should explain what you mean by 'inspirational' and not assume I know what you mean.

Are you the primary supporter of renaming french fries into freedom fries? what a disgrace.. absolutely ridiculous.. you know, I bet there are some people out there who call it freedom fries now anyway (even though it's not the 'official name'). They'll walk into a BK and say "I'd like some freedom fries," with a smirk on their red-necked face. A patriotic smirk as the pimple-faced cashier looks at them in disgust and dissapointment.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: MrBurgerKing on April 25, 2003, 10:25:34 PM
Or perhaps I should stop going burger hopping so late at night. It's up to you.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Cecil on April 25, 2003, 10:38:35 PM
mr. burgerking, i think what finlayr means by "inspirational" is that those directors/movies inspire his own work or life even.

example: spielberg is easily one of the most talented and gifted directors alive today. but do i like his films? not all of them. some i even hate. does he or his films inspire my own art? not at all. cronenberg on the other hand makes films that i am absolutely in love with. his films speak to me and i relate to him and his films. his movies inspire mine, just like j g ballard and william s burroughs inspire his films. does this mean cronenberg is a superior director/filmmaker to spielberg? thats irrelevant and impossible to answer.

hey, some people "get" pop art, others dont. does this mean that pop art is superior or inferior to other movements? no, either you find it creative and it inspires your own work or it doesnt. in the end, pop art is just a philosophy, an attack on neo-realism and nothing more. whether its actually "good" art or trash is just anyones opinion.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: finlayr on April 26, 2003, 09:03:07 AM
Well put.

Burger King--I didn't start talking about Freedom Fries or anything like that and I don't even know what you're talking about.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Sigur Rós on April 26, 2003, 09:07:20 AM
Quote from: finlayrWell put.

Burger King--I didn't start talking about Freedom Fries or anything like that and I don't even know what you're talking about.

This place cracks me up!  :-D  Hey, I'm a vegetarian!

.....Fries and flicks that's all I need!
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: finlayr on April 26, 2003, 09:39:50 AM
Hey, Sigur Ros, what kinda movies and filmmakers do you like?

Sigur Ros are one of my favourite bands.  Saw them live too.  Excellent stuff.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Ghostboy on April 26, 2003, 09:42:40 AM
Quote from: Sigur Rós:-D  Hey, I'm a vegetarian!

Me too. We rock!
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: finlayr on April 26, 2003, 09:51:27 AM
but I didn't say I'm a vegetarian.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Sigur Rós on April 26, 2003, 09:55:01 AM
Quote from: Ghostboy
Quote from: Sigur Rós
Quote from: finlayr:-D  Hey, I'm a vegetarian!

Me too. We rock!

Yeah, we do! We should have our own religion.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: finlayr on April 26, 2003, 10:04:11 AM
Sigure Ros fans...  Film fans...  what more could you ask for in a human?

Yes...we do rock...and we rock hard...
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Sigur Rós on April 27, 2003, 06:14:17 AM
Quote from: finlayrSigure Ros fans...  Film fans...  what more could you ask for in a human?

Yes...we do rock...and we rock hard...

Try asking me if the singer in Sigur Rós is my cousin..... :-D
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: phil marlowe on April 27, 2003, 07:45:45 AM
Quote from: Sigur Rósthe singer in Sigur Rós is my cousin..... :-D
that guy is getting closer on the family tree every day now.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Sigur Rós on April 27, 2003, 07:50:26 AM
Quote from: Phil Marlowe
Quote from: Sigur Rósthe singer in Sigur Rós is my cousin..... :-D
that guy is getting closer on the family tree every day now.

The word "grand-fætter" doesn't exist in the English language!

Use your fist and not your mouth!  :twisted:
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: phil marlowe on April 27, 2003, 07:57:53 AM
ill take you out any second, mr. im-so-cool-cause-im-far-out-related-to-the-singer-of-sigur-ros-wich-is-a-very-hip-and-popular-band.

no you wantee. why?
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Sigur Rós on April 27, 2003, 07:59:13 AM
You must admit that it's kind of cool..... :twisted:
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: phil marlowe on April 27, 2003, 08:03:53 AM
...yeah right.

(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fmembers.aol.com%2FSarDees%2F3T.jpg&hash=db6e758090aff25d7fbb9c964d6c999e6e4b890d)

:roll:
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Sigur Rós on April 27, 2003, 08:05:29 AM
I had oralsex with the guy in the middle!  :twisted:
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: finlayr on April 27, 2003, 08:35:39 AM
You're fucking joking me!  Prove it.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: phil marlowe on April 27, 2003, 08:44:27 AM
yeah, and can you move your feedback to 'brainstorming and feedback'?
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Sigur Rós on April 27, 2003, 08:44:37 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rv-iduna.de%2FRTF%2FRTF-2001%2Frtf-ehrung2001_bln-pokal.jpg&hash=38076e645dd00e09ee7c941708fe9eef444f5299)

They gave me this!
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: LostEraser on July 12, 2004, 12:05:36 AM
This is a very old thread but I wanted to go ahead and add my personal list of the greatest/my favorites:

1. Andrei Tarkovsky
2. Sergei Parajanov
3. Carl Theodor Dreyer
4. John Cassavetes
5. Frank Capra
6. Robert Bresson
7. Yasujiro Ozu
8. Ingmar Bergman
9. David Lynch
10. Lars Von Trier

Honorable mentions go to: Martin Scorsese, Robert Altman, Jean-Luc Godard, Federico Fellini, Satyajit Ray, Charles Chaplin, and Buster Keaton
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Alethia on July 12, 2004, 12:45:25 AM
why not revise mine, since i listed like forty-five last time

me in this time is obsessed with

rainer-werner fassbinder
f.w. murnau (for SUNRISE alone)
martin scorsese
samuel fuller
jean-luc godard
francois truffaut
busbey berkley
sergio leone
pta
david gordon green
william wellman
woody allen
jean-pierre melville
stanley kubrick
howard hawks
and
orson welles

thats sixteen for ya

HONORABLE MENTIONS TO jim jarmusch, raoul walsh and ida lupino
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: ElPandaRoyal on July 13, 2004, 05:37:57 AM
In no order:

Woody Allen
Pedro Almodóvar
Ingmar Bergman
Tim Burton
The Coen Brothers
Francis Ford Coppola
Stanley Kubrick
David Lynch
Martin Scorsese
François Truffaut

I only listed directors whose carrers began before the nineties so that they could have enough films on their filmographies to name them great (and consistent) directors. Others who didn't make it to the list for not having enough films on their curriculum: PT Anderson, Wes Anderson, Darren Aronofsky, David Fincher or Quentin Tarantino.

Also, names like Spike Lee, Brian De Palma, Oliver Stone or Steven Spielberg didn't make it to the list but were very close.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Pubrick on July 13, 2004, 08:47:51 AM
matt dillon
steve buscemi
timothy carey
crispin glover
tom hanks
david duchovny
andy garcia
john malkovich
peter fonda
steve guttenberg

honorable mention:
stanley kubrick.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: SHAFTR on July 13, 2004, 10:02:17 AM
in no order

Sergio Leone
Alfred Hitchcock
Francis Truffaut
Jean Luc-Godard
Woody Allen
Francis Ford Coppola
Martin Scorsese
Ingmar Bergman
Wong Kar-Wai
Jean Renoir

Missing the cut:  PTA, Wes, Bogdanovich.
Others missed simply because I feel I need to see more of their movies.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: 03 on July 14, 2004, 12:52:07 PM
Quote from: PubrickCrispin Glover
Timothy Carey
Excellent single film directors.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: SiliasRuby on July 14, 2004, 09:31:23 PM
1. Martin Scorsese
2. Quentin Tarantino
3. Paul Thomas Anderson
4. David Lynch
5. Godard
6. Wong Kar Wai
7. Alfred Hitchcock
8. Ingmar Bergman
9. Wes Anderson
10. Francis Truffaut
11. Terry Gilham
12. The Coen Brothers
13. Tim Burton
14. Stanley Kubrick
15. Oliver Stone
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: picolas on July 14, 2004, 09:44:36 PM
Quote from: SiliasRuby11. Terry Gilham
Gilliam
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: 03 on July 14, 2004, 09:56:02 PM
Quote from: SiliasRuby10. Francis Truffaut
Francois.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Pubrick on July 14, 2004, 09:58:31 PM
Quote from: SiliasRuby5. Godard
jean-luc
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Jeremy Blackman on July 14, 2004, 11:17:54 PM
Quote from: Pubrickjean-luc
Picard.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: cron on July 14, 2004, 11:37:03 PM
Quote from: Jeremy Blackman
Picard.

locutus of borg
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Pubrick on July 14, 2004, 11:58:47 PM
Quote from: cronopiolocutus of borg
nine, ernest
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: coffeebeetle on July 15, 2004, 12:46:30 AM
Quotelocutus of borg

Seven of Nine
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: El Duderino on July 15, 2004, 02:10:02 AM
in no particular order:

1. PTA
2. Wes Anderson
3. Quentin Tarantino
4. Martin Scorcese
5. Spike Jonze
6. Michel Gondry
7. Francis Ford Coppola
8. Steven Spielberg
9. David Lynch
10. Ang Lee
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Pubrick on July 15, 2004, 02:32:00 AM
Quote from: El Duderino4. Martin Scorcese
scorsese.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: classical gas on July 15, 2004, 02:33:31 AM
so is this thread officially a joke yet?
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: MacGuffin on July 15, 2004, 02:34:46 AM
Between this and the Top Five Favorite Movies thread, you'd think movies were unheard of before the 60's.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Pubrick on July 15, 2004, 02:35:54 AM
Quote from: classical gasso is this thread officially a joke yet?
if by yet u mean the first page on the thirteenth reply, then yes.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: classical gas on July 15, 2004, 02:38:37 AM
well at least that's a good post to go out on.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: SHAFTR on July 15, 2004, 04:40:04 AM
Quote from: MacGuffinBetween this and the Top Five Favorite Movies thread, you'd think movies were unheard of before the 60's.

can't have movies without electricity.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: grand theft sparrow on July 15, 2004, 05:15:50 PM
Quote from: MacGuffinBetween this and the Top Five Favorite Movies thread, you'd think movies were unheard of before the 60's.

In all fairness, if you look at most of the favorite films chosen by the directors who are popping up most often on this thread (PTA, Wes, Scorsese, etc.), most of their favorite films are films they grew up on.  Given that the average age of the users on this site has to be closer to 20 than 30, you can't really blame anyone for putting Pulp Fiction in their top ten any more than you can blame Tarantino for voting for Taxi Driver in his Sight & Sound top ten.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: cron on July 15, 2004, 05:33:40 PM
Quote from: hacksparrowyou can't really blame anyone for putting Pulp Fiction in their top ten any more than you can blame Tarantino for voting for Taxi Driver in his Sight & Sound top ten.


and Scorsese for picking The Searchers as his favorite movie.


John Ford's favorite movie, next
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: MacGuffin on July 15, 2004, 06:30:41 PM
Quote from: hacksparrowIn all fairness, if you look at most of the favorite films chosen by the directors who are popping up most often on this thread (PTA, Wes, Scorsese, etc.), most of their favorite films are films they grew up on.  Given that the average age of the users on this site has to be closer to 20 than 30, you can't really blame anyone for putting Pulp Fiction in their top ten any more than you can blame Tarantino for voting for Taxi Driver in his Sight & Sound top ten.

QT also listed "His Girl Friday" (1940) on that same list.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Myxo on July 16, 2004, 01:27:00 AM
In no particular order as well.

- Jean-Luc Godard
- Krzysztof Kieslowski
- Paul Thomas Anderson
- Francis Ford Coppola
- Ingmar Bergman
- Martin Scorcese
- Steven Spielberg
- Alfred Hitchcock
- Stanley Kubrick
- David Lynch

Tough to not include these guys..

Quentin Tarantino
Robert Altman
Roman Polanski
Oliver Stone
Hayao Miyazaki
Woody Allen
Spike Lee
John Ford

Directors I can't stand

- Ridley Scott
- Joel Schumacher
- Michael Bay

I see "Directed by" any of those three guys above and I almost immediately lose interest in seeing it. ;)
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: El Duderino on July 16, 2004, 01:43:55 AM
Quote from: MyxomatosisIn no particular order
- Francis Ford Coppola
Tough to not include these guys..
-Francis Ford Coppola

Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: classical gas on July 16, 2004, 01:56:01 AM
Quote from: El Duderino
Quote from: MyxomatosisIn no particular order
- Francis Ford Coppola
Tough to not include these guys..
-Francis Ford Coppola



i feel the same way
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Pubrick on July 16, 2004, 02:23:12 AM
Quote from: El Duderino
Quote from: MyxomatosisIn no particular order
- Francis Ford Coppola
Tough to not include these guys..
-Francis Ford Coppola

hey, at least he didn't rank his list after saying "in no particular order"..
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Myxo on July 16, 2004, 09:01:52 AM
Yeah yeah..

:lol:
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: grand theft sparrow on July 16, 2004, 11:41:15 AM
Quote from: MacGuffin
Quote from: hacksparrowIn all fairness, if you look at most of the favorite films chosen by the directors who are popping up most often on this thread (PTA, Wes, Scorsese, etc.), most of their favorite films are films they grew up on.  Given that the average age of the users on this site has to be closer to 20 than 30, you can't really blame anyone for putting Pulp Fiction in their top ten any more than you can blame Tarantino for voting for Taxi Driver in his Sight & Sound top ten.

QT also listed "His Girl Friday" (1940) on that same list.

But he also put Dazed and Confused on his list too. So go figure.

I know what you're getting at, that a lot of us have a vast knowledge of only a limited amount of films, neglecting older ones in particular, and I completely agree.  But, for example, I've seen The Lost Weekend and I've seen Trainspotting; I like both but I'm always going to say that Trainspotting is a better film than The Lost Weekend and I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing.  I'd bet that most xixaxers just have more of an affinity for recent films rather than not having seen older ones.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: ElPandaRoyal on July 16, 2004, 01:30:08 PM
Quote from: hacksparrowI'd bet that most xixaxers just have more of an affinity for recent films rather than not having seen older ones.

Exacto. And that's just normal. We grew up with the films of our times, and they're more close to us that older ones. I mean, my Top 2 movies (Manhattan and Taxi Driver) were made before I was even born, but I had to check them out, after I realized that I really, really loved movies. I don't know if I'm explaining myself correctly, but the point is... it's normal that most of us have more interest in new films simply because, for instant, that we got to see them on the big screen, on opening day or something. Or, in cases like Kill Bill or Punch-Drunk Love or The Royal Tenenbaums, we were even highly anticipating them even before they went into production. Recent movies reflect us, in a way, while growing up and shaping our tastes. I have to go now 'cause tonight I plan on getting drunk.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: MacGuffin on July 16, 2004, 01:51:23 PM
Quote from: ElPandaRoyal
Quote from: hacksparrowI'd bet that most xixaxers just have more of an affinity for recent films rather than not having seen older ones.

Exacto. And that's just normal.

I guess that's just more confirmation that I'm not normal.

Quote from: ebeamanI think it's laughable that some people find the 40's and 50's to be the golden age of film...the golden age was definitely the 70's.

I think that a lot of the films of the 40's and 50's are exactly the same...there were all those sentimental romances and everything...there were a lot of repeats.

Quote from: SoNowThenYou go, Ebs!!! So right on the 50's stuff.

Quote from: Jeremy Blackman
Quote from: ebeamanWhen was the "golden age"???

70's cinema -OR- 30's and 40's cinema

Definitely, definitely the 70s. I can barely hold interest in most "classics" from the 30s and 40s.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Quote from: The Gold TrumpetI've found the more you dig into movies, the more you desire movies from the past. Yes, cliche films ran as much as they do today but there is still much to learn and appreciate from the films of the past and you stop seeing that Wings won the first Oscar in the late 1920s and that masters of filmmaking were popping up as early as the mid 1910s. It's a good argument to say the golden age of film did come in the 1970s because of the idepedence found in financing for daring movies and all, but it shouldn't stop people from shutting out the earlier time periods. That's the worst approach.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: grand theft sparrow on July 16, 2004, 02:31:23 PM
I stand corrected.   :oops:  

And GT's quote is on the money.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: MacGuffin on July 16, 2004, 03:06:52 PM
Quote from: hacksparrowI stand corrected.   :oops:

I didn't mean for it to 'correct' you because it's not a matter of right or wrong, and I don't want those quotes to come across as generalization of xixax's membership. I just wish that sometimes 'older' films would receive some more appreciation.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: cron on July 16, 2004, 04:15:35 PM
Quote from: MacGuffinI just wish that sometimes 'older' films would receive some more appreciation.


Why?
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Jeremy Blackman on July 16, 2004, 10:01:58 PM
Quote from: MacGuffinI just wish that sometimes 'older' films would receive some more appreciation.
My "can barely hold interest" comment is truer than ever, though it doesn't apply to foreign films. American film acting before the 60s and 70s always grates me with a feeling of overbearing artificiality. And it's so far from my generation... should I really be expected to get into them? Can't I just quickly and soberly appreciate and acknowledge their influence (positive or negative) and move on?
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Just Withnail on July 16, 2004, 10:49:06 PM
For me it's the simple question of avaliability. Where the hell am I supposed to get the really good older films? I live in smalltown Norway, and I bet a lot of other xixaxers live in some desolate place where they only videostores carry the latest blockbusters. Okey, so americans have netflix, but do they carry older titles? (that's a genuine question) The only chance I'll get to watch anything of the really great pre-60 stuff is to shell out for a Criterion, and I'm wary of buying those blind. For me it's not about not giving them a chance, it's about not being able to. Which sucks.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Alethia on July 16, 2004, 11:11:13 PM
Quote from: MacGuffinI just wish that sometimes 'older' films would receive some more appreciation.

if it helps, i almost always put "older" films first on my netflix queue on that general principal, and a large percentage of my favorites, off the top of my head, are older titles
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: MacGuffin on July 16, 2004, 11:30:32 PM
Quote from: cronopio
Quote from: MacGuffinI just wish that sometimes 'older' films would receive some more appreciation.

Why?

I was taught: Respect your elders.

Quote from: Jeremy BlackmanMy "can barely hold interest" comment is truer than ever, though it doesn't apply to foreign films. American film acting before the 60s and 70s always grates me with a feeling of overbearing artificiality. And it's so far from my generation... should I really be expected to get into them? Can't I just quickly and soberly appreciate and acknowledge their influence (positive or negative) and move on?

Do whatever you want to do. Like the 'women' issue in the Mean Girls thread, I don't expect anyone to agree with me, and I'm not telling anyone what to do or change their ways. Just expressing my feelings and thoughts.

Quote from: WithnailFor me it's the simple question of avaliability. Where the hell am I supposed to get the really good older films? I live in smalltown Norway, and I bet a lot of other xixaxers live in some desolate place where they only videostores carry the latest blockbusters. Okey, so americans have netflix, but do they carry older titles? (that's a genuine question) The only chance I'll get to watch anything of the really great pre-60 stuff is to shell out for a Criterion, and I'm wary of buying those blind. For me it's not about not giving them a chance, it's about not being able to. Which sucks.

Quote from: ewardif it helps, i almost always put "older" films first on my netflix queue on that general principal, and a large percentage of my favorites, off the top of my head, are older titles

I can appreciate your (and anyone's)  want to seek them out. I guess I was just lucky to have a mother that had a huge library of films, plus watching the Turner Classic Movies and American Movie Classics (before it was sold) channels was/is a big help.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: soixante on July 18, 2004, 02:53:18 AM
My Favorite Directors:

1. Martin Scorsese
2. Robert Altman
3. Bob Fosse
4. Stanley Kubrick
5. Orson Welles
6. Jean-Luc Godard
7. Jonathan Demme
8. Paul Thomas Anderson
9. Hal Ashby
10. John Schlesinger
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: modage on July 18, 2004, 08:35:43 PM
Quote from: Jeremy BlackmanMy "can barely hold interest" comment is truer than ever, though it doesn't apply to foreign films. American film acting before the 60s and 70s always grates me with a feeling of overbearing artificiality. And it's so far from my generation... should I really be expected to get into them? Can't I just quickly and soberly appreciate and acknowledge their influence (positive or negative) and move on?
wow, jeremy i'm shocked to hear you say that.  you can soberly acknowledge them and move on, but that seems as closeminded as someone who refuses to watch subtitled movies, or black and white movies because they find them annoying.  to each his own i guess...
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Chest Rockwell on July 19, 2004, 10:42:50 AM
I actually agree with Blackman to a certain extent. I'm younger than most of you guys, so it's probably even worse a situation for me. I like older films, but especially older American films really come off as cliche to me for the most part. There's always this patriotic subtext and a big romance that culminates into a shot where the man takes the girl and kisses her passionately while leaning her back slightly. Of course there are exceptions. I generally enjoy watching the foreign classics--they're more adventurous, and, well, I just enjoy them more. But there's a big difference between a recent film I like and an old one I like, as I'd much rather use my time to watch the former. As a young man raised in the 90s, recent flicks just resonate a little clearer for me. Doesn't mean I disrespect any of the older films.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: MacGuffin on July 19, 2004, 10:53:23 AM
Quote from: Chest RockwellThere's always this patriotic subtext and a big romance that culminates into a shot where the man takes the girl and kisses her passionately while leaning her back slightly. Of course there are exceptions.

There are a lot of exceptions.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Pubrick on July 19, 2004, 10:54:22 AM
wow i totally missed that JB comment. i used to feel the same way, to the point that i was nearly paralysed by Mrs Miniver.

point is i changed my perspective about old movies, i mean i never would hav enjoyed the Thin Man series if i hadn't. shit's crazy man, i think the whole "obvious" style of acting is congruent with the overly british accents which abound in those movies. everything works because it's so stylized and doesn't it give it a certain innocent quality?

that was all the reality they needed to reach the masses, like on a serious level, it makes me think of everything as a cartoon. anyway that's what i'm askin JB, if u can't appreciate old overracting as a reflection of the ultimate truths of the time.

if u ask me it still works, especially all them films with strong female roles, shit's crazy.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: modage on July 19, 2004, 03:41:21 PM
Quote from: Chest RockwellI actually agree with Blackman to a certain extent. I'm younger than most of you guys, so it's probably even worse a situation for me. I like older films, but especially older American films really come off as cliche to me for the most part. There's always this patriotic subtext and a big romance that culminates into a shot where the man takes the girl and kisses her passionately while leaning her back slightly. Of course there are exceptions. I generally enjoy watching the foreign classics--they're more adventurous, and, well, I just enjoy them more. But there's a big difference between a recent film I like and an old one I like, as I'd much rather use my time to watch the former. As a young man raised in the 90s, recent flicks just resonate a little clearer for me. Doesn't mean I disrespect any of the older films.
you are allowed your opinion, but again it seems as closeminded for you to say that for the most part all american films are the same (patriotic subtext, passionate kiss, etc.) as it would be for me to say that all foreign classics are the same.  "its always about some guy and the camerawork is usually bad, and theres always subtitles and nothing much happens, and its supposed to mean something at the end whether the director had the intention or not..."
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: SHAFTR on July 19, 2004, 03:58:10 PM
Quote from: themodernage02
Quote from: Chest RockwellI actually agree with Blackman to a certain extent. I'm younger than most of you guys, so it's probably even worse a situation for me. I like older films, but especially older American films really come off as cliche to me for the most part. There's always this patriotic subtext and a big romance that culminates into a shot where the man takes the girl and kisses her passionately while leaning her back slightly. Of course there are exceptions. I generally enjoy watching the foreign classics--they're more adventurous, and, well, I just enjoy them more. But there's a big difference between a recent film I like and an old one I like, as I'd much rather use my time to watch the former. As a young man raised in the 90s, recent flicks just resonate a little clearer for me. Doesn't mean I disrespect any of the older films.
you are allowed your opinion, but again it seems as closeminded for you to say that for the most part all american films are the same (patriotic subtext, passionate kiss, etc.) as it would be for me to say that all foreign classics are the same.  "its always about some guy and the camerawork is usually bad, and theres always subtitles and nothing much happens, and its supposed to mean something at the end whether the director had the intention or not..."

that's more art film than foreign film.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Just Withnail on July 19, 2004, 05:06:09 PM
Two terms very often wrongly mixed.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Alethia on October 25, 2004, 08:28:47 PM
why not revisit this once again, it's fun.  and i'm rather bored.

SAMUEL FULLER
jacques demy
fassbinder
henri-georges clouzot
david gordon green
carl dreyer
nicholas ray
werner herzog
alan clarke
john cassavetes
godard
peckinpah

s'about it at this time.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Finn on June 06, 2005, 01:27:42 PM
in no particular order...

Stanley Kubrick
Paul Thomas Anderson
Lars Von Trier
M. Night Shyamalan
Alfonso Cuaron
David Lynch
Baz Luhrmann
Todd Solondz
Martin Scorsese
Peter Weir

and some others....

:salute:
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Gamblour. on June 06, 2005, 01:59:08 PM
It's funny, I would say PTA is one of my favorite directors, but I've said it so much that I don't feel that same vigor anymore. I'd say my list goes like... (in no order)

Kubrick
Scorsese
Eastwood
Wes Anderson
Hitchcock
Bergman
Jarmusch
Christopher Nolan
Coen Bros.
I dunno, either Gilliam or Fellini

I really like this list. I'm sure a few years ago I would have put in Aronofsky and Tarantino and blah blah, but those guys need a few more matured movies first.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Kal on June 06, 2005, 02:47:22 PM
I dont know why a lot of people dont put Spielberg... maybe because he is too commercial or whatever you want to call him... but he did some of the films we love the most... and he is the role model of many of the ones you did pick... and he did set the standard for today's blockbuster filmmaking
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Myxo on June 06, 2005, 03:08:54 PM
In no particular order..

Stanley Kubrick
Alfred Hitchcock
Steven Spielberg
Martin Scorsese
Clint Eastwood
Federico Fellini
Robert Altman
Jean-Luc Godard
David Lynch
Ingmar Bergman

I'd prefer a top 20. Then guys like Lumet, Tarantino and others would make a much more rounded list.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Redlum on June 06, 2005, 03:25:41 PM
Spielberg
Fellini
Martin Scorcese
Howard Hawks
Alfred Hitchcock
Robert Altman
Chaplin
Capra
Kubrick


I did have Soderberg and PTA in there for a while, but I had to make room. Bah I dunno, I suppose their careers are not over yet so you cant really judge them. Spielberg is a dead cert to me, though. Its like ranking a movie you havent watched all the way through. The new and the old should be seperated.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: w/o horse on June 06, 2005, 06:48:09 PM
PTA
Kieslowski
Scorsese
Peckinpah
Hitchcock
Altman
Kubrick
Powell
Almodóvar
Jarmusch

If I were permitted to extend the list to 12, or if I made this list on another day, we would see the inclusion of von Trier and Spike Lee, who were beaten by inches, with Kar Wai close by as well.

Directors I need to get into more:  Fellini, Bergman, Fuller, Fassbinder, Herzog, Buñuel, Ozu.

Obviously I've seen films from these guys, but I don't have a full perspective, it's mainly the big hitters I've seen.  Fellini I especially lack knowledge in, as 8 1/2 is the only one of his I've seen.  Any suggestions for a second movie?  La Dolce Vita seems like the obvious one, so actually we'll just say La Dolce Vita and take care of that, so what then?  Amarcord?  La Strada?  What about the cheap ones, I always consider buying one.  You know, Satyricon and Roma.

After Fellini it's Fassbinder and Buñuel I need to tackle.  They both have a ton of movies so suggestions would be appreciated.

Admittingly I'm more interested in contemporary directors, which I need to get myself out of.  Or I need to get myself into Netflix, because the price tags on getting into these directors is a huge detraction.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Gamblour. on June 06, 2005, 11:07:47 PM
Bergman is on my list even though I hate Cries and Whispers and Wild Strawberries (maybe I should just watch them again), but I love Persona and Seventh Seal. For Fellini, La Dolce Vita, Nights of Cabiria, La Strada.

And my fucking god, forget Gilliam or Fellini, I FORGOT KEATON! Buster, I am so sorry.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: modage on June 07, 2005, 12:25:23 AM
i agree with gamblors fellini picks.  and in that order. >
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Pubrick on June 07, 2005, 12:51:23 AM
this list needs to be called "top ten directors apart from kubrick, scorsese, and hitchcock, which are a given".

it's like when ppl ask me what my favorite movie is, i hav to pre-empt it with "apart from everything by...." then the list becomes interesting.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Gamblour. on June 07, 2005, 01:15:55 AM
Additionally, I would like to know who wouldn't put one of those three on their list, and why they wouldn't. I think, in all seriousness, that would be interesting to see those arguments.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Myxo on June 07, 2005, 01:40:43 AM
Quote from: Gamblor Posts DrunkAdditionally, I would like to know who wouldn't put one of those three on their list, and why they wouldn't. I think, in all seriousness, that would be interesting to see those arguments.

Well, like Pubrick said (apart from..), it would be interesting to see a top ten list and then have that same person round off another ten to make a top 20. The bottom ten would be interesting.

Here was my top ten..

Stanley Kubrick
Alfred Hitchcock
Steven Spielberg
Martin Scorsese
Clint Eastwood
Federico Fellini
Robert Altman
Jean-Luc Godard
David Lynch
Ingmar Bergman

..and here are ten more if the list was 20 long.. (no particular order, same as above..)

Sidney Lumet
Quentin Tarantino
Paul Thomas Anderson
Hayao Miyazaki
Alexander Payne
Woody Allen
Lars von Trier
Joel & Ethan Coen
Roman Polanski
Peter Weir

There are so many..

Bernardo Bertolucci
Francis Ford Coppola
Milos Forman
John Ford
Mike Nichols
Akira Kurosawa
Oliver Stone
Steven Soderbergh
Michael Mann

..and on and on..
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Alethia on June 07, 2005, 10:04:41 AM
october was a while ago


fuller
herzog
keaton
fassbinder
scorsese
clarke
godard
chaplin
altman
cassavetes


and i have to mention frederick wiseman because i FINALLY got ahold of some of his films and i am just completely stunned...

and in response to losing the horse's requests:

FULLER - see EVERYTHING.  whatever you can get your hands on.  if you want my five favorites: naked kiss, pickup, big red one (reconstruction), house of bamboo, and park row (if u can find it).  then see shock corridor and forty guns.  then underworld usa.  then ask me again when uve seen them.

FASSBINDER - my favorites are lola, in a year of 13 moons, love is colder than death, fox and his friends, katzelmacher, veronika voss, chinese roulette and satans brew.  oh, and beware of a holy whore.  you should really see all of his films too but those are good to start with.

HERZOG - he has not made a bad film in my opinion.  ive seen as much as i could.  start with ANY film from either box set until you've seen each of them, then move onto masterpeices like the great ecstacy of woodcarver steiner, invincible, signs of life, etc...some of these are hard to find but well worth it...if you want my personal opinion on which films to start with for each boxset i'd say: start with aguirre for the kinski set, and start with stroszek or even dwarfs started small for the other.  and if you havent seen julien-donkey boy, do it, he's hilarious and terrifying.

OZU - i've only seen early summer, floating weeds, and good morning.  but i LOVED all of them.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: modage on June 07, 2005, 11:32:57 AM
Quote from: Gamblor Posts DrunkAdditionally, I would like to know who wouldn't put one of those three on their list, and why they wouldn't. I think, in all seriousness, that would be interesting to see those arguments.
you need to ask no further than to call him by name.  GEEEEEETTEEEEEEE!
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Gamblour. on June 07, 2005, 02:51:13 PM
haha I have to say, that was slightly insane.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Bethie on June 08, 2005, 01:46:05 AM
1-Senior Spilbergo
2-Hitchcock
3-Scorsese
4-Kubrick
5-Ridley Scott
6-Kurosawa
7-Pete Jackson
8-QT
9-Orson Wells
and
10-Woody



(haha)
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: soixante on June 08, 2005, 05:09:56 PM
Fellini and Bergman are worth getting into, but so is Robert Bresson, Jean Renoir and Rene Clair -- Bresson especially.  Condemned Man Escaped and Mouchette are especially worthwhile.  Paul Schrade not only wrote a book on Bresson, he lifted the end of Pickpocket and used it for the end of American Gigolo, and he even admits as much.  I feel that Raging Bull has a number of shots that are similar to Bresson.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: samsong on June 08, 2005, 07:49:35 PM
:inlove: bresson :inlove:
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: for petes sake on June 22, 2005, 11:44:34 PM
kinda predictable:
bergman
fellini
PTA
scorsese
malick
mike nichols
alexander payne
truffaut
jarmusch
copolla
altman
kubrick
soderbergh

others who are close but need more:
sophia
aronofsky
wes
quentin


edit: spell good
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: cine on June 23, 2005, 01:55:20 AM
for pete's sake, for petes sake
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Figure 8 on July 21, 2005, 12:06:52 AM
Paul Thomas Anderson
Akira Kurosawa
Martin Scorsese
Stanley Kubrick
Ingmar Bergman
Wes Anderson
Francois Truffaut
David Lynch
Darren Aronofsky
Coen Brothers.

To add some more:
Harmony Korine, Federico Fellini, Terry Gilliam, David Fincher, David O. Russel, David Cronenberg, etc...
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Pubrick on July 21, 2005, 12:09:36 AM
Quote from: Figure 8etc...
haha.

INVALIDATED
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: squints on July 21, 2005, 07:59:11 PM
-robert atlman
-pta
-coen brothers
-sergio leone
-takeshi miike
-terry gilliam (especially for Brazil and Time Bandits)
-antonioni (if only for the couple of flicks i've seen from him)
-wes anderson
-lars von trier
-and, quite possibly the best director in the world: Bret Ratner
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: modage on July 21, 2005, 09:53:01 PM
so when people say best director, do they mean 'currently'?  or 'overall'?  does their stinky movies factor into this decision or detract from their 'bestness'?  cause lots a best directors did some shitty movies.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: NEON MERCURY on July 21, 2005, 10:11:37 PM
here are my top 10 directors
and i will even post my favorite film by the director too.


lynch [mulholland dr.]
aronofsky [the fountian]
innaritu [amores perros]
scorsayze [casino]
kubrick [eyes wide shut]
malick [the thin red line]
soderbergh [solaris]
pta [magnolia]
cronenberg [dead ringers]
stone [jfk]
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Brazoliange on August 10, 2005, 12:13:47 PM
PTA
Ingmar Bergman
Stanley Kubrick
Terry Gilliam
David Lynch
Takashi Miike
Peter Jackson
David Cronenberg
Akira Kurosawa
John Waters

Lloyd Kaufman as the bonus
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: MacGuffin on April 28, 2006, 10:40:40 AM
Who Are The Magnificent Seven Directors?

Gerald Peary over at The Boston Phoenix asked readers to come up with their list of The Magnificent Seven -- the seven greatest living narrative film directors -- and the results are interesting. Not a single vote came in for Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee, Ang Lee, Pedro Almodovar, or any Italian, African, Spanish, or Russian filmmaker. So who's left?

Seven heaven 
Readers speak out on the best directors By: GERALD PEARY

Who are the world's greatest living narrative filmmakers, what I call the Magnificent Seven? Several Film Cultures ago, I offered my elite — Ingmar Bergman, Michelangelo Antonioni, Jean-Luc Godard, Robert Altman, Werner Herzog, Roman Polanski, Claude Chabrol — and challenged readers to come up with alternatives. Well, e-mails poured in from as far as C.W. Post College on Long Island and as wide as Stoughton. I did attract a mix of amateur cinema fans and media professionals: curators, filmmakers, professors. Some 60 more filmmakers were nominated.

The biggest surprise? Not a single vote for Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee, or Ang Lee. Nada for Pedro Almodóvar or any Spanish-language filmmaker. Or any African, Italian, or Russian one. Jane Campion was the only woman filmmaker to get more than one vote. The other female directors who made ballots: Chantal Akerman, Elaine May, Claire Denis.

What, according to readers, were my biggest errors? Actually, no one complained about who I put on, only who I excluded. Six emails pointed me to Martin Scorsese. "Listing Scorsese comes off as a bit of a cliché, especially for a first-year film student," wrote Christopher Godburn, 19, "but the fact of the matter is he makes great films." Four votes went to Woody Allen, and, the most for non-American directors, three each to Mike Leigh and Wong Kar-wai. Of the latter, Harvard film-conservationist Julie Buck wrote, "His visuals are to be swooned over. His candy colors, the performances he pulls out of actors — Wong Kar-wai is simply brilliant."

Other winners:

Stanley Donen. "The musical may be dead or at least moribund, but the man who had a hand in Singin' in the Rain, On the Town, and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers should get consideration," says Randy Steinberg, film teacher.

Clint Eastwood. "What makes a great director? To paraphrase Howard Hawks: two or three great movies, and no bad movies. Clint definitely qualifies here," claims Richard Partridge, film fan

Mark Rappaport. "The best-kept secret in American cinema: The Scenic Route, Local Color, Chain Letters, etc. represent the greatest sustained cinematic achievement of the 1970s and 1980s." So speaks Ray Carney, BU cinema professor and author.

Hou Hsiao-Hsien. "With a single image, he can give you the difference between city and country, past and present, while keeping a subtle character and story development in motion." That's the opinion of Mike Bowes, president of the Brattle Theatre's board of directors.

Patrice Leconte. "In the category of making fabulously enjoyable films, my vote goes to the versatile Leconte. No other director — living or dead — do I so consistently admire and love," chimes in Bruce Kingsley, Web film critic.

Gus Van Sant. "For the balls to experiment with an inspirational series of near-silent, minimalist films — Gerry, Elephant, and Last Days." That's how filmmaker Garth Donovan sees it.

Atom Egoyan. "My favorite director! His films are cerebral explorations of identity, voyeurism, which become ever more layered and accomplished." This vote comes from Michael Colford, president of the Chlotrudis Awards.

Lars von Trier. "He makes provocative, relevant films that reaffirm my faith in the medium, even when I disagree with him." A tribute from Ted Barron, programmer for the Harvard Film Archive.

David Lynch. "For originality, intelligence, craftsmanship, and consistency of quality, Lynch stands above the rest." The choice of Adam Roffman, program director for the Independent Film Festival of Boston.

David Cronenberg. "Intellectualization is OK if you're a genius," concludes filmmaker Andrew Bujalski.


The Guardian had a list recently that picked the top 40:

The world's 40 best directors
The Hollywood blockbuster may be in crisis, but the art of the cinema is as healthy as ever. Our panel of critics picks out the film-makers who are leading the way

1. David Lynch
After all the discussion, no one could fault the conclusion that David Lynch is the most important film-maker of the current era. Providing a portal into the collective subconscious, the daydream nation conjured up in tales such as Blue Velvet, Lost Highway or Mulholland Drive is by turns frightening, exasperating, revelatory and wild. Nobody makes films like David Lynch. He is our spooky tour guide through a world of dancing dwarves, femme fatales and little blue boxes that may (or may not) contain all the answers. We wouldn't want to live in the places he takes us. Somehow, we suspect, we do.
Substance 17
Look 18
Craft 18
Originality 19
Intelligence 17
Total 89

2. Martin Scorsese
Scorsese's influence is impossible to overstate. His red-blooded canon has spawned a generation of copycats while his muscular style has become a template. That said, opinion is divided over the man's recent output. Some regard his monumental Gangs of New York as a classic to rank alongside Taxi Driver and Raging Bull. Others worry that the heavyweight champion of American movies is no longer quite punching his weight.
Substance 17
Look 18
Craft 18
Originality 17
Intelligence 18
Total 88

3. Joel and Ethan Coen
Their latest film, Intolerable Cruelty, may have marked a new, "commercial" phase in their career, but no one could ever accuse the Coen brothers of selling out. The Coens' special mix of arch, sculpted dialogue, film-history homage and scrupulously-framed cinematography has never failed them yet, and through their associations with Sam Raimi and Barry Sonnenfeld, have exerted a powerful, if unacknowledged, influence on mainstream event cinema. Until Fargo, they seemed content to mess about in their own particular corner of the film industry; that film's stunning popular success suddenly catapulted them into the Hollywood big league.
Substance 14
Look 18
Craft 18
Originality 18
Intelligence 18
Total 86

4. Steven Soderbergh
Steven Soderbergh is a one-off: an independent-minded film-maker who has forged a happy working relationship with Hollywood. This is thanks to a brilliant balancing act. Soderbergh soothes the studios with expert, intelligent crowd-pleasers like Erin Brockovich and Ocean's Eleven then shifts gear for more esoteric, personal projects (Solaris, Full Frontal). His ongoing alliance with George Clooney, moreover, is the most reliable director-star double act since Scorsese found De Niro.
Substance 16
Look 17
Craft 18
Originality 16
Intelligence 18
Total 85

5. Terrence Malick
The lofty ranking of Terrence Malick just goes to show that it's quality, not quantity, that counts. Renowned as a ghostly, Garbo-style recluse, this fabled figure has made just three films over three decades. Even so, the wild beauty of his 1973 debut Badlands casts a formidable shadow, while his sprawling 1999 war epic The Thin Red Line at least proved that the master had lost none of his magic. Next up, apparently, is a biopic of Che Guevara. But don't hold your breath.
Substance 16
Look 18
Craft 17
Originality 17
Intelligence 17
Total 85

6. Abbas Kiarostami
The highest ranking non-American, and one of the most respected film-makers working today - by his peers if not the general public. Operating mostly in rural Iran, Kiarostami has often concealed potentially life-threatening political commentary within films of simplicity and compassion. But he has complicated his medium, too, by mixing drama and documentary, and actors and non-actors, to dizzying effect. His recent in-car drama Ten provided a daring Tehran exposé as well as a radical new film-making technique - one that almost does away with the director entirely.
Substance 18
Look 15
Craft 16
Originality 17
Intelligence 18
Total 84

7. Errol Morris
Morris is the joker in this top 10, in that his position is solely down to his documentaries. Put simply, Morris is the world's best investigative film-maker. He possesses a forensic mind, a painter's eye and a nose for the dark absurdities of American life. High points include The Thin Blue Line (which unearths the nightmarish truth behind a Dallas cop killing), Mr Death (a treatise on execution-device inventor and Holocaust denier Fred Leuchter Jr), and the forthcoming Fog of War, his compelling autopsy on the war in Vietnam.
Substance 17
Look 16
Craft 17
Originality 17
Intelligence 17
Total 84

8. Hayao Miyazaki
It's about time the rest of the world came to appreciate the genius of Japanese animator Miyazaki, whose films have been breaking box-office records in Japan for years. He's now in his 60s, but as this year's Spirited Away proved, the work just keeps getting better. His films create the world anew, literally. Each is set in an intricate, self-contained fantasy world that's been built from scratch and drawn with devotion. Miyazaki's stories are frequently considered children's fare but they are deeper than they look - like the best fairy tales, they conceal dark, very adult themes beneath their surfaces.
Substance 15
Look 18
Craft 17
Originality 18
Intelligence 16
Total 84

9. David Cronenberg
Few directors have ploughed such distinctive furrows as Cronenberg. And now in his fourth decade of film-making, he is still at the cutting edge. Crash set the entire film world agog with its bizarre sexual constructs; eXistenZ examined the implications of the virtual world more thoughtfully than most; and Spider superbly summoned up a bleak, decaying Britishness (largely forgotten by our own film-makers). His next film, with Nicolas Cage playing a plastic-surgery fetishist, is already inducing shudders.
Substance 16
Look 17
Craft 16
Originality 18
Intelligence 16
Total 83

10. Terence Davies
Our highest-placed British film-maker is here because of his uncompromising and unique cinematic vision; but, with painful irony, it's also made him the highest-profile victim of Britain's commercial film industry revival. Emerging from the state-sponsored art-film sector in the mid-80s, Davies completed a trilogy of short films and two features - Distant Voices, Still Lives and The Long Day Closes. But, in a more cut-throat environment, the sensitive Davies has suffered, making only two films in a decade - one of them the international hit The House of Mirth. So it seems a shame - and somehow scandalous - that his current project, an adaptation of Lewis Grassic Gibbon's Sunset Song, should be facing major funding obstacles.
Substance 17
Look 17
Craft 16
Originality 16
Intelligence 17
Total 83

11. Lukas Moodysson
You would assume that the surest way to hobble a young Swedish film-maker is to label him "the new Bergman". Fortunately, Lukas Moodysson seems immune to such pressure. His 2001 hit Together - about hippies living communally in 1970s Stockholm - was warm, witty and altogether disarming. By contrast, his follow-up, Lilya 4-Ever (about a Russian teen dragooned into prostitution), was a social-realist vision of hell. Heartfelt and uncompromising, Moodysson treads his own path.
Substance 17
Look 16
Craft 17
Originality 17
Intelligence 16
Total 83

12. Lynne Ramsay
Ramsay, the second highest-placed Brit - and the highest woman of any nationality - has trodden a distinctive path through the lottery-fuelled sludge of modern British cinema. Her first film, Ratcatcher, set during the binmen strikes of 70s Glasgow, was the anti-Billy Elliot; her second, adapted from Alan Warner's novel More about Morvern Callar, confirmed her promise. Morvern is an authentic modern classic, with an actress, Samantha Morton, whose blank-faced performance is a perfect complement to Ramsay's studied camerawork.

13. Bela Tarr
In just a few years, the Hungarian director has emerged from obscurity to be revered as the Tarkovsky of his generation, with his dark and mysterious monochrome parables, shot with uncompromisingly long, slow single camera takes. His recent Werckmeister Harmonies was a dreamlike film: compelling and sublime. From 1994, Satantango has cult status on the festival circuit, not least for its awe-inspiring length: seven hours. He is now developing a movie at least partly set in London.
Substance 16
Look 16
Craft 16
Originality 18
Intelligence 16
Total 82

14. Wong Kar-wai
Hong Kong has become synonymous with action cinema, but Wong Kar-Wai is one of few exceptions. His trademark portraits of quirky urban longing have influenced Asian film as a whole, but the delectably sensuous In the Mood for Love proved that Wong is still improving (and that he has one of the best cinematographers in the business in Christopher Doyle). Next up he's making a sci-fi movie - should be interesting.
Substance 14
Look 18
Craft 17
Originality 17
Intelligence 16
Total 82

15. Pedro Almodovar
Post-Franco Spain needed Almodovar like a desert needs rain. His early films were gaudy, bawdy and loud; drunken celebrations of the country's new-found social and sexual freedoms. But Almodovar is much more than some posturing agent provocateur. He spins soulful, spellbinding stories and creates characters that ring with life. All About My Mother and Talk to Her were exotic masterpieces that confirmed their creator as the most important Spanish director since Luis Buñuel.
Substance 15
Look 16
Craft 16
Originality 18
Intelligence 16
Total 81

16. Todd Haynes
In retrospect, it seems such a simple idea - take your favourite director (in Haynes' case, Douglas Sirk) and faithfully imitate their style and meaning, subtly changing things enough to throw a whole new meaning on an entire historical epoch and film genre. In 1996 Haynes had made an earlier masterpiece, Safe; few directors could have topped that, but Far From Heaven managed it.
Substance 16
Look 16
Craft 16
Originality 16
Intelligence 17
Total 81

17. Quentin Tarantino
The jury may still be undecided on the virtues of Kill Bill, but no one can deny the massive impact the former video-store clerk has had on cinema across the world. The chewy, minutiae-obsessed dialogue and abundant bloodletting of Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction catapulted him to era-defining stature and influence beyond the wildest dreams of any director; had this poll been taken in 1995, he would have been top three, no question. But Tarantino has since been the victim of his own success: he took three years to make his third film, Jackie Brown, and another six to make his fourth. Perhaps inevitably, neither of them made the splash of his first two, but whatever else, Tarantino can still make the simple act of watching a film seem oh-so-exciting.
Substance 14
Look 17
Craft 18
Originality 18
Intelligence 14
Total 81

18. Tsai Ming-Liang
One of the least well-known names on the list, but a director who has steadily refined his own gentle, bittersweet style. Using his native Taipei as a backdrop, Tsai distills the complexity and alienation of city life into films that are austere, unhurried and emotional, but also comical. His pre-apocalyptic The Hole included 1950s musical numbers, for example, while What Time Is It There? paid homage to Harold Lloyd in a movie about death and loneliness. In his latest, Goodbye Dragon Inn, he has almost done away with dialogue altogether.
Substance 15
Look 16
Craft 16
Originality 16
Intelligence 17
Total 80

19. Aki Kaurismaki
Cinema needs the occasional breath of fresh air, and you can always rely on Kaurismaki to provide it. Coming from Finland, he had a head start, but where other quirky directors last a film or two, Kaurismaki seems to have a bottomless pool of eccentric ideas to draw from. His films are an acquired taste, but they never pander to good taste. For a supposed director of art films, he's more interested in the world out on the street, or in the gutter. And his most recent, The Man Without a Past, saw him re-emerge into the global spotlight after some years at its fringe.
Substance 15
Look 15
Craft 16
Originality 18
Intelligence 16
Total 80

20. Michael Winterbottom
Winterbottom's career presents a study in motion. His films spirit us from Hardy's Wessex (Jude) to war-torn Bosnia (Welcome to Sarajevo), and from post-punk Manchester (24 Hour Party People) to the asylum-seekers' "silk road" out of Pakistan (In This World). As well as being technically brilliant and a seeming workaholic, Winterbottom is arguably the most politically astute director in the business, with an unerring eye for the stories that matter. British cinema would be lost without him.
Substance 16
Look 15
Craft 17
Originality 16
Intelligence 16
Total 80

21. Paul Thomas Anderson
There is something wonderfully fearless about 33-year-old Paul Thomas Anderson. His two best pictures (Boogie Nights and Magnolia) are works of gob-smacking ambition in one so young - lush, multi-layered ensemble pieces that spotlight the damaged souls of his native San Fernando Valley. But let's not forget the recent Punch-Drunk Love, starring Adam Sandler and Emily Watson. Smaller in scale but no less turbulent, this undervalued effort is like a nail bomb in the guise of a romantic comedy.
Substance 15
Look 16
Craft 16
Originality 17
Intelligence 15
Total 79

22. Michael Haneke
No one, perhaps not even Gaspar Noé, delivers more hardcore horror than the German-born Austrian Haneke - even when his shocks are happening off camera, which they mostly do. After a long career in TV, Haneke graduated to the big screen in the early 90s and audiences quickly came to know they were in for a profoundly uncomfortable experience.The Piano Teacher, with Isabelle Huppert, was a disquieting study of a musician driven to agonies of despair and self-loathing. More recently, Time of the Wolf was an almost unwatchably horrible vision of post-apocalyptic Europe.
Substance 16
Look 13
Craft 16
Originality 17
Intelligence 17
Total 79

23. Walter Salles
The godfather and trailblazer of the buena onda - the "good wave" of contemporary Latin American cinema, Salles's directorial reputation rests largely on two recent films, Central Station and Behind the Sun, which virtually on their own put Brazilian cinema on the map. Salles has just finished another road movie, The Motorcycle Diaries, based on Che Guevara's book, for Britain's FilmFour, and is finally going Hollywood with a remake of Hideo "Ring" Nakata's Dark Water. But Salles is equally notable as a facilitator for other Brazilian projects - most importantly the sensational City of God, which he co-produced.
Substance 16
Look 16
Craft 16
Originality 15
Intelligence 16
Total 79

24. Alexander Payne
Payne came to prominence in 1999 with his stunning high school satire Election, the Animal Farm of American sexual politics in the Clinton era. From here, Payne went on to direct About Schmidt, which gave Jack Nicholson the best role of his late career. With these two movies, Payne has established an auteur distinctiveness: amplifying the disappointment and regret lurking within the peppy, can-do civic culture of middle America, while acknowledging the sweetness and innocence that is still there.
Substance 16
Look 16
Craft 16
Originality 15
Intelligence 16
Total 79

25. Spike Jonze
Born into millionaire stock (and heir to the Spiegel mail-order catalogue fortune), Spike Jonze has installed himself as the genius jester in the court of King Hollywood. His 1999 debut, Being John Malkovich, was a delirious satire on celebrity culture, while Adaptation led the viewer on a slaloming joyride along the border between truth and fiction. Inevitably, though, one cannot celebrate Jonze without also crediting his scriptwriter - the ingenious Charlie Kaufman.
Substance 16
Look 14
Craft 16
Originality 17
Intelligence 16
Total 79

26. Aleksandr Sokurov
The veteran Russian director is inexhaustibly prolific, making both features and documentaries, with 31 credits to his name over a 23-year career. His movies are powerful, poetic, often severe, and at their most accessible when they meditate on the nature of Russia. Sokurov had his biggest recent success with Russian Ark: a staggeringly ambitious single-take 90-minute journey through the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg. His latest movie, Father And Son, is an enigmatic and often baffling study of a father-son relationship between two soldiers. His work gets a lively, mixed reaction in the west, but Sokurov's admirers revere the haunting, occasionally austere power of his films.
Substance 16
Look 15
Craft 16
Originality 16
Intelligence 16
Total 79

27. Ang Lee
He may have taken a bit of a stumble with The Hulk, his elevation to blockbusterdom, but the Taiwanese-born Lee clocked up plenty of brownie points over the preceding decade for his dazzling versatility, if nothing else. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (a record-breaker for a subtitled film), The Ice Storm, The Wedding Banquet and Sense and Sensibility are all testament to a career of wonderfully fertile cinematic cross-pollination. Lee's proficiency at swapping genres, but retaining a purposeful humaneness, is his hallmark.
Substance 16
Look 16
Craft 17
Originality 14
Intelligence 16
Total 79

28. Michael Moore
You could say it's Moore's blend of humour, righteousness and persistence that has made his documentaries so successful, but his political commitment would be nothing without the film-making skills to back it up. Bowling for Columbine has been one of the most influential films of recent years, affecting the public in a way that most directors on this list will never know, but it would never have become such a cause had it not been so rigorously researched, painstakingly constructed and broadly entertaining.
Substance 17
Look 13
Craft 15
Originality 18
Intelligence 16
Total 79

29. Wes Anderson
No less an authority than Martin Scorsese recently tipped Anderson as the brightest hope for American cinema. Scripted in tandem with his actor buddy Owen Wilson, Anderson's work is literate, quirky and unexpectedly moving. His breakthrough picture, Rushmore, amounted to a poignant salute to high-school losers everywhere. More recently, the vibrant, Salinger-esque The Royal Tenenbaums charted the decline and fall of a precocious New York family.
Substance 13
Look 16
Craft 16
Originality 17
Intelligence 16
Total 78

30. Takeshi Kitano
Few directors have ever made themselves look as cool as Kitano has. His shark-eyed gangster persona became a fixture of Japanese action thrillers in the 1990s, but behind the camera his controlled blend of visual slapstick and sudden violence has become a distinctive style. Recent efforts have seen him trying to diversify. Dolls was a subdued art film, but next year's Zatoichi is a sword-swishing crowd pleaser.
Substance 15
Look 16
Craft 16
Originality 16
Intelligence 15
Total 78

31. Richard Linklater
Linklater is the grunge philosopher of independent cinema. Hailing from Austin, Texas, he casually defined an era with 1991's loose-knit, haphazard Slacker. The uproarious Dazed and Confused and the seductive Before Sunrise extolled the joys of footloose youth, while his animated Waking Life spun a woozy, bong-smoking rumination on dreams and reality. Incredibly, Linklater recently graduated to the big time when his School of Rock hit number one at the US box office.
Substance 15
Look 15
Craft 15
Originality 17
Intelligence 16
Total 78

32. Gaspar Noé
Not bad for someone who's only made two features, but Noé has made as much impact as you can with them. There's nothing pretty about either his carnal debut Seul Contre Tous, or last year's backwards-told rape-revenge drama Irréversible - both have challenged boundaries of decency and induced reactions as extreme as nausea and vomiting. In a supposedly unshockable age, that's some kind of cinematic achievement.
Substance 15
Look 16
Craft 16
Originality 16
Intelligence 14
Total 77

33. Pavel Pawlikowski
With only one substantial feature under his belt, Polish-born, British-based director Pawlikowski has arguably the slenderest claim of all to be on this list. But Last Resort, with its mix of heartfelt social insight (the then-radical subject of asylum seekers) and improvisatory, documentary-style film-making, has exerted an influence of gigantic proportions on a whole generation of British cinema. Where would In This World and Dirty Pretty Things, to name but two, be without it?
Substance 16
Look 15
Craft 16
Originality 14
Intelligence 16
Total 77

34. David O Russell
Russell's natural habitat is the dysfunctional American family. He dished up a deadpan Oedipal comedy with 1994's Spanking the Monkey and then dispatched Ben Stiller cross-country in the freewheeling adoption caper Flirting With Disaster. Yet this tart, original talent adapts well to other terrain. On the one hand his big-budget Three Kings was an expert, high-concept war thriller. On the other, it can be read as a savage assault on bungled US policy during the first Gulf War.
Substance 15
Look 15
Craft 15
Originality 15
Intelligence 16
Total 76

35. Larry and Andy Wachowski
Now that their Matrix trilogy is finally wrapped up, it's a good time to draw breath and appreciate the scale of the Wachowskis' achievement. Merging the techno-porn of the contemporary action movie with the artful ballet of the Hong Kong martial arts film, the sci-fi paranoia of Philip K Dick with the visual exuberance of Japanese anime, the Matrix phenomenon utterly redefined the nature of the blockbuster movie serial, as well as relegating such mid-90s action luminaries as John Woo and Roland Emmerich to the margins. Like, awesome.
Substance 13
Look 17
Craft 17
Originality 16
Intelligence 13
Total 76

36. Samira Makhmalbaf
You could say Ms Makhmalbaf had it easy, being the daughter or one of Iran's greatest film-makers, but she's hardly taken any easy options. Her films get bolder and more confrontational every time - Blackboards took her into the Kurdish lands on the Iranian border; her latest, At Five in the Afternoon, was shot in the chaos of post-Taliban Afghanistan - but for all their political currency, there's still evidence of an artistic sensibility. And she's only 23 years old.
Substance 16
Look 15
Craft 16
Originality 14
Intelligence 15
Total 76

37. Lars von Trier
To his fans he's the impish genius who redefined cinema with his Dogme doctrine. To his critics he's Jeremy Beadle with a degree in anthropology. Either way, there's no denying the impact of this phobic, Prozac-popping Dane. His most successful pictures (Breaking the Waves, The Idiots, the upcoming Dogville) are hazardous human dramas in which cruelty and compassion come equally blended. Happily there seems little danger of von Trier selling out and heading to Hollywood. He hates America and nurses a crippling fear of flying.
Substance 14
Look 15
Craft 16
Originality 17
Intelligence 14
Total 76

38. Takashi Miike
If Miike had channelled his energies into making one film every year, rather than his customary six or seven, he could be a lot further up the list. Not that you'd want him to change. Miike's casual technical brilliance and total disregard for taste are what makes his best films such a joy. Sure, there are plenty of misfires and generic gangster pictures to his credit, too, but there's plenty of everything when it comes to Miike, surely that can't be bad?
Substance 14
Look 16
Craft 16
Originality 15
Intelligence 14
Total 75

39. David Fincher
Heading the list of the pop-promo-and-TV-commercial wonderkids of the early 90s, Fincher successfully brought that world's visual inventiveness into the feature film world. In Alien 3, Seven, and Fight Club, he forged a string of visceral, unforgettable images; but his subsequent career has been dogged by aborted projects. Fincher's most recent film, the unremarkable Panic Room, saw him in a holding pattern - it's certainly cost him a few points.
Substance 12
Look 16
Craft 16
Originality 14
Intelligence 16
Total 74 

40. Gus Van Sant
A casual observer would be forgiven for thinking that there are two Gus Van Sants at work within American cinema. The first makes gloopy studio fodder like Good Will Hunting and the odious Finding Forrester. The second is the visionary auteur of Drugstore Cowboy, Gerry, My Own Private Idaho and the Palme d'Or-winning Elephant (an elegant, ultimately devastating take on the Columbine tragedy). For the record, it is the second Gus Van Sant who gets the votes here.

Substance 14
Look 14
Craft 15
Originality 14
Intelligence 16
Total 73

The panel
Peter Bradshaw, Xan Brooks, Molly Haskell, Derek Malcolm, Andrew Pulver, B Ruby Rich and Steve Rose
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Gold Trumpet on April 28, 2006, 11:24:41 AM
I forgot this thread existed. My immediate first thought was: "Did I ever make a top ten list for directors here?" The sad answer, "yes".

Forget that these professional lists have blurbs to explain their choices and ranking. They still are lists and lists have always been shortcuts to thinking and actual criticism. Besides, the choices are as generic and as ridiculous as I'd expect any list of this nature to be. The usual bunch of "daring" filmmakers are again recognized. If a list is going to be made it should at least surprise me.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: pete on April 28, 2006, 11:34:58 AM
wow, to my sad sad dismay, gus van sant is never going away.
there is just no way now, or ever, to convince people that he's an insightless studio director whose indie films are about 40 years past their prime and relevance.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Pubrick on April 28, 2006, 11:36:22 AM
Quote from: The Gold Trumpet on April 28, 2006, 11:24:41 AM
The usual bunch of "daring" filmmakers are again recognized. If a list is going to be made it should at least surprise me.
yeah i'm so sick of everyone gushing over terence davies..

anyway that second list was posted elsewhere years ago, or at least linked to.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: grand theft sparrow on April 28, 2006, 12:02:50 PM
Quote from: Pubrick on April 28, 2006, 11:36:22 AM
Quote from: The Gold Trumpet on April 28, 2006, 11:24:41 AM
The usual bunch of "daring" filmmakers are again recognized. If a list is going to be made it should at least surprise me.
yeah i'm so sick of everyone gushing over terence davies..

anyway that second list was posted elsewhere years ago, or at least linked to.

I was going to make both of these points.  Malick's next film after Thin Red Line is Che Guevara?  PTA is 33 again?

GT, you're forgetting how much you know about film.  To a 15 year old budding film geek, this list is gold.  To surprise you, or most of us for that matter, they'd have to dig into a group of filmmakers whose work has never really been exhibited anywhere and only barely written about, but it doesn't really do anyone any good to champion people whose work you can't find.  And anyone of comparable reputation and/or accessibility is on another list somewhere. 

This list is perfectly fine for what it is: a good place to start.  And honestly, it's one of the better lists of this sort that I've seen (Wachowski brothers' placement and unusual omissions notwithstanding).  It's not surprising to any of us because it's not supposed to be.  It's not for us.  This list is for the kids who will be us in 10 years.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: MacGuffin on April 28, 2006, 02:15:13 PM
Quote from: Garam on April 28, 2006, 12:30:44 PM
That list was in the Guardian about 4 years ago, I think.

Quote from: MacGuffin on April 28, 2006, 10:40:40 AMThe Guardian had a list recently that picked the top 40:

I guess Cinematical's definition of "recently" is from another dictionary.  :yabbse-undecided:
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: pete on April 30, 2006, 01:49:16 PM
QuoteOf the latter, Harvard film-conservationist Julie Buck wrote, "His visuals are to be swooned over. His candy colors, the performances he pulls out of actors — Wong Kar-wai is simply brilliant."

dude I know her, she's a blond girl with a girlfriend, and they're both really really goodlooking.  her girlfriend used to drive me home from work all the time and we used to stop by this candy factory at night to smell the candies.  they're very attractive and very cool, together and separately.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: godardian on April 30, 2006, 04:27:32 PM
Quote from: Pubrick on April 28, 2006, 11:36:22 AM
Quote from: The Gold Trumpet on April 28, 2006, 11:24:41 AM
The usual bunch of "daring" filmmakers are again recognized. If a list is going to be made it should at least surprise me.
yeah i'm so sick of everyone gushing over terence davies..


Yeah, people never shut up about Lynne Ramsay, either. It's always Ramsay this, Davies that. SO predictable!

It's a fine list, really. The presence of Haynes, Ramsay, and Davies are enough for me. I'm not sure how "daring" I consider anyone on the list to be, but it doesn't seem like that was the point (unless we assume that "great" is synonymous with "daring").

However, while I don't agree at all with GT that there's any lack of quality to the list, I do agree that lists are much more fun to make than they are really meaningful. It seems more and more apparent that we live in a "list culture," with VH1 and nonstop list-making nostalgia. Where I agree with GT is that that kind of inundation really does dull the need to consider things before attributing any value to them. Ranking by number is especially meaningless when it comes to any kind of art or aesthetic concern.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Stefen on May 15, 2010, 03:50:45 AM
UPDATE TIME!

In no order, just a list of dudes making flicks now that I will always watch whatever they come out with. Current dudes only.

Haneke
Soderbergh
PTA
Almodovar
Lars Von Trier
Gus Van Sant
Chris Nolan

And well, that's pretty much all I can think of. These guys are always putting in quality work. In the case of Soderbergh and Van Sant, they make so many movies and are so active, they have some misses, but every one of their films has something you can take from it. Haneke just keeps getting better (minus the American Funny Games, which I refuse to see), PTA and Chris Nolan always deliver, as does Almodovar. LVT is the only one I was hesitant to put on here, but I can't deny I always watch what he does and I'm always entertained. He's ballsy and I dig that.

I REALLY wanted to put Spike Lee and Ang Lee on here, but so often they just fail to do it big. That Woodstock movie was pretty bad as was St. Anna. Spielberg was SO close to making my list. I love Spielberg when he's not in businessman mode. A.I. is one of my most favorite movies ever as is the first three quarters of Munich, but too often he's more preoccupied with entertaining a large audience instead of making a good movie.

I'll be honest -- I just wanted to bump this to see where everyone's tastes are now.

In the next 6 years, I could see myself adding Bong Joon-ho and Guy Maddin because they're entering that territory, but not yet. They're close.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Pubrick on May 15, 2010, 06:15:05 AM
Quote from: Stefen on May 15, 2010, 03:50:45 AM
UPDATE TIME!

In no order, just a list of dudes making flicks now that I will always watch whatever they come out with. Current dudes only.

Haneke
Soderbergh
PTA
Almodovar
Lars Von Trier
Gus Van Sant
Chris Nolan

10 most exciting and awesome current dudes who i will watch anything by

pta - despite being on the cusp of entering his dark days
terence malick - despite going AWOL for hundreds of years on any given day
james cameron - despite avatar's crap script, he always excels at sequels anyway
neil blomkamp - despite being the biggest newb on this list
jacques audiard - despite having just discovered him this year
carlos reygadas - despite being mexican
gaspar noe - despite being a filthy old soomka
darren aronofsky - despite the fountain
spike jonze - despite being "borderline illiterate"
david fincher - despite CCBB

and one extra..

david lynch if he pulls himself out of his own butt.

i would also like to mention pixar if they could be listed as the best director of all time. and tony kaye if his movies ever got released.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Robyn on May 15, 2010, 08:23:03 AM
1. Paul Thomas Anderson
2. Quentin Tarantino  
3. Jean-luc Godard  
4. Jim Jarmusch
5. Stanley Kubrick
6. Wes Anderson
7. Darren Aronofsky
8. Anders Thomas Jensen
9. Sergio Leone
10. Werner Herzog

EDIT: Uh, oh, well, replace Kubrick and Leone with Roy Andersson and the Coens for a list with current directors working today. Pretty much the same, but still.
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: jenkins on September 11, 2014, 02:34:26 AM
my list

gaspar noé
leos carax
xavier dolan
andrea arnold
hirokazu koreeda
terrence malick
sion sono
lynne ramsay
paolo sorrentino
johnnie to
hong sangsoo
carlos reygadas
jia zhangke
gareth evans

i want gus van sant and sofia copolla back on my list so bad. and they can do it, easily. i left off paul thomas anderson to be bratty. and for some reason today i'm feeling emotional about quentin tarantino's h8 eight. and some people i forgot or didn't include

jason gunn can now be a favorite active director for someone. phil lord and christopher miller. ben wheatley. that kinda thing. who's probably off lists? george romero. stuart gordon. joe dante. i'm toasting the og horror crowd, but i'm telling ya, romero, believe me, i'm dead. and gordon is a step back from creepy uncle from stuck and edmond. edmond -- written by david mamet! old guys shouldn't hang out together. jk. but seriously. could brian de palma be on a list?? i doubt it. unless passion made up for the black dahlia, and god bless everyone but that doesn't sound realistic. i think christopher nolan is definitely on lists, and paul thomas anderson, and do you think t's funny that in total numbers christopher nolan must outweigh pta. christopher nolan isn't on my list, but i appreciate him in a james cameron way as a person whom i'd eat dinner with before i'd rewatch his movies, and i think the way you convince people you like something is by liking the thing, so i think you should like christopher nolan if you like christopher nolan. if you're sitting in a conversation you gotta remember what you like and not what the other person is liking. that's how it's best. honesty. d. a. r. e. dare was that anti-drug campaign for elementary schools in america in the 90s, and here i'm using it as an analogy to illustrate how people sometimes like to drug other people's opinions, and i wanna make sure everyone feels safe with their own opinions and careful out on the streets
Title: Re: Top Ten Directors? (and now current)
Post by: Lottery on September 11, 2014, 05:03:16 AM
A handful of favourites, dead/alive, currently kicking butt/sucking, but otherwise have made some incredible work. No particular order.

Paul Thomas Anderson (for being da best besides his weakass IV promotion, let's blame him for real)
Wong Kar Wai (most colourful vision of the 90s award)
Hayao Miyazaki (overwhelming imagination and talent award)
Hirokazu Koreeda (pace, space and unsaid humanity award)
Stan Kubes (obligatory internet high school film club award)
Coens (irony, madness and laughter award)
Isao Takahata (real muthaphuckkin auteur award)
Francis Ford Coppola (decade of unsurpassed achievement award)
James Cameron (innovation and appeal award)
Pixar (hivemind genius award)

And all the rest that I enjoy like Altman, Kurosawa, Fincher, Scorsese, Nolan, Malick etc


Exciting dudes in film today. Dudes who have made good films, still make good films, have bright futures and are reasonably unique:

Shane Carruth
Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Bong Joon-ho
Andrew Dominik
Tomas Alfredson
Jeff Nichols
Ben Wheatley
Lord + Miller