Overrated Directors?

Started by j_scott_stroup04, December 17, 2003, 06:24:57 PM

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j_scott_stroup04

December 17, 2003, 06:24:57 PM
Which director would you say gets more credit than they deserve?  
I think Oliver Stone is overrated.  I do enjoy some of his films: The Doors, Talk Radio, and especially JFK, but most of his stuff is just too overloaded.  
I hate to say this, but I think that Alexander Payne is getting more recognition than he deserves.  Don't get me wrong, I highly enjoy Election, and About Schmidt was good, but not great.  Critics and what not are acting like he's this ingenious newcomer, when I think he's just slightly above average.  
Soderbergh is SLIGHTLY overrated in my book.  I like Soderbergh, too, but he has too many misses to account for.  
I would say that as far as a director's work as a whole, Peter Jackson is SLIGHTLY overrated as well.  Bad Taste and Dead Alive are funny for what they are, but Meet the Feebles flat-out sucks.  Heavenly Creatures is good, but is not the masterpiece it's made out to be.  The LOTR trilogy is excellent, but are not the greatest films of the new millenium, as far as I'm concerned.  
Here are some more, some are slightly, some are not:

Michael Mann (slightly)
Francis Ford Coppola (slightly)
ANG LEE (DEFINITELY, I enjoy the Hulk and Crouching Tiger, but the Ice Storm is good for about two viewings, Sense and Sensibility is too over-dramatic, and Ride With the Devil is too uninteresting)
James Cameron (slightly)
Mel Brooks (he had three hilarious films, and has made one since.)

As far as underrated directors:

Tim Burton ( he gets SOME credit, but rarely for his movies, only his imagination)
David Lynch seems to be
Same with Wes Anderson, but for all I know they're not
PTA, simply because he needs to have as much recognition as Tarantino
Terry Gilliam
Gus Van Sant
Sam Raimi

If I think of some more, I'll surely post them
"The sunshine bores the daylights outta me!"- Rolling Stones

"When I am King you will be first against the wall!"- Radiohead

cine

#1
December 17, 2003, 06:27:34 PM
Quote from: j_scott_stroup04Mel Brooks (he had three hilarious films, and has made one since.)
Name them.

j_scott_stroup04

#2
December 17, 2003, 06:33:32 PM
The Producers
Blazing Saddles
Young Frankenstein

Silent Movie wasn't very good
Spaceballs sucks
Life Stinks sucks
Robin Hood and Dracula were mediocre

History of the World Part 1 is the funny one he made since blazing saddles
"The sunshine bores the daylights outta me!"- Rolling Stones

"When I am King you will be first against the wall!"- Radiohead

cine

#3
December 17, 2003, 06:38:25 PM
Silent Movie is a great film, but fair enough. Just checking.

godardian

#4
December 17, 2003, 06:45:52 PM
Hmmm... another "overrated" thingie, hugh?

Well, overrated:

Steven Spielberg
Tim Burton
Baz Luhrmann
James Cameron
Ed Burns
Guy Ritchie
And I'll agree with you on Oliver Stone.

There's no way Alexander Payne is overrated, though. He's sublime.

And I've found The Ice Storm to be a real keeper, better after the second (or twelfth) viewing.
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Slick Shoes

#5
December 17, 2003, 07:22:50 PM
Alexander Payne: not overrated. I'm not saying he's the second coming or anything, but his films are increbible, particularly Election. People don't make that big a fuss over him, do they? All his praise is well-deserved in my opinion.

cowboykurtis

#6
December 17, 2003, 07:31:15 PM
Quote from: godardianHmmm... another "overrated" thingie, hugh?

Well, overrated:

Steven Spielberg
.

im curious why you think spielberg is overrated? my opinion on spielberg:  out of every big studio director spending hundreds of millions of dollars, he is one of the few who continues to tell STORYS.  after you sift through the charlies angles and bad boys, you have him still telling the stories he wants to tell and succeeding -- yes he makes a lot of money and is head of a "soul-less corporation responsable for the disintegration of art, but this is all for a reason. i feel film is about  communicating -- i think a very direct gauge on ones ability of reaching "people" is box office numbers. he probably has the best track record in the world -- which shows his ability to connect,communicate and effect humanity. the jaded snobs may write it off as our world being full of ignorant idiots that make up the movie-going public, but really when it comes down to it the majority of the film snobs are the ones that lost their love of film and realize that they are pretty much failures. im just curious are you jealous of his success? are you critical of his technique? do you disregard his choices of subject? i truly feel anyone who discounts spielberg as a great directors is embittered,jealous,  uninformed, or one of the group who herald guys like richard kelly and harmonie korrin and brillaint cinema masterminds.
...your excuses are your own...

soixante

#7
December 17, 2003, 07:55:28 PM
If you guage "reaching people" as a measure of excellence, then Richard Donner, with the Lethal Weapon quadrilogy, is a major artist.  That series made a billion dollars.  When I think of Spielberg, "storyteller" is not the word that comes to mind, considering the fat on the narrative of Catch Me If You Can and the murky incomprehensiveness of Minority Report.

My problem with Spielberg is not that he is a popular filmmaker -- my problem with him is that his films suck.  Jurassic Park made a billion, and it sucked.  Empire of the Sun and Always bombed, and they both sucked.  It has nothing to do with money.
Music is your best entertainment value.

j_scott_stroup04

#8
December 17, 2003, 08:06:53 PM
the thing about Spielberg is...to put it correctly...he's a NATURAL BORN FILMMAKER.  He's not one of my favorite's or anything, but you've gotta give credit where credit is due.  How can you watch Minority Report and pretend that this guy doesn't have a talent for filmmaking?  Look at fuckin' Jaws, that is the definition of natural filmmaking.  He is very versital (sp?) too.  I don't think he gets enough credit for that.  I mean, look, he goes from a suspense film about a shark in the lake, to a sci-fi movie about aliens coming to Earth, to an adventure series concerning an archeologist, to a movie about slavery, to a movie about the Holocaust to a Peter Pan adaptation to a movie about dinosaurs to a war movie to a modern day pinnochio story to a futuristic film with precrime to a biopic about a 17 year old con artist.  What more do you want?
"The sunshine bores the daylights outta me!"- Rolling Stones

"When I am King you will be first against the wall!"- Radiohead

Jeremy Blackman

#9
December 17, 2003, 08:13:41 PM
Spielberg
Scorsese
Hitchcock
Kevin Smith
John Hughes
Orson Welles
Ridley Scott
Atom Egoyan
Ron Howard
Sam Mendes

I would actually say Oliver Stone is underrated just because of how much hostility he's endured.

j_scott_stroup04

#10
December 17, 2003, 08:18:29 PM
Scorsese?  really? hmmm.... odd choice, I'm gonna need some support.

Orson Welles....he MIGHT be, only because he's not the GREATEST just because he made Citizen Kane, Touch of Evil, and the Magnificent Ambersons.  I don't know if people realize he made a whole bunch of other films.  In order to be the greatest, you would have to have a consistency in your films.  He is good though.
"The sunshine bores the daylights outta me!"- Rolling Stones

"When I am King you will be first against the wall!"- Radiohead

cowboykurtis

#11
December 17, 2003, 08:18:40 PM
Quote from: soixanteIf you guage "reaching people" as a measure of excellence, then Richard Donner, with the Lethal Weapon quadrilogy, is a major artist.  That series made a billion dollars.  When I think of Spielberg, "storyteller" is not the word that comes to mind, considering the fat on the narrative of Catch Me If You Can and the murky incomprehensiveness of Minority Report.

My problem with Spielberg is not that he is a popular filmmaker -- my problem with him is that his films suck.  Jurassic Park made a billion, and it sucked.  Empire of the Sun and Always bombed, and they both sucked.  It has nothing to do with money.

concerning richard donner -- thats one idea,one success -- spielberg has had that size of success spaning an entire career, regardless of the genre. im by no means a spielberg fanatic, but one is ignorant if they dont recognize his acheivments. and again one saying that jurassic park "sucked" is far from a valid arguement. it did what it was trying to acheive: ignite the imagination and entertain -- its also considered one of the most groundbreaking films of this decade -- you cant go into every film expecting wild strawberries.
...your excuses are your own...

cowboykurtis

#12
December 17, 2003, 08:23:23 PM
Quote from: soixante\ When I think of Spielberg, "storyteller" is not the word that comes to mind, considering the fat on the narrative of Catch Me If You Can and the murky incomprehensiveness of Minority Report.

i never saw screenwriter under his name. im talking about his ability as a director aka a visaul storyteller. if you deny his ability to capture the "world" and tone of a screenplay you need to take another look. and empire of the sun doesnt suck.
...your excuses are your own...

Squeo

#13
December 17, 2003, 08:25:48 PM
Kevin Smith and his pathetic Askewniverse.

cowboykurtis

#14
December 17, 2003, 08:26:31 PM
Quote from: SqueoKevin Smith and his pathetic Askewniverse.

couldnt agree with you more.
...your excuses are your own...
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