Top Film Directors

challenge_everything

challenge_everything

Active Member
Feb 9, 2006
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great southern wasteland
After having a debate with a friend the other day, I've been motivated to start a thread to discuss the best film directors of all time.

List your top 10.

Mine is:

1. Billy Wilder
2. Alfred Hitchcock
3. Stanley Kubrick
4. Howard Hawks
5. David Cronenberg
6. David Lean
7. Martin Scorsese
8. Akira Kurosawa
9. Roman Polanski
10. Sergio Leone

In making this list I have favoured those with long, successful careers and regular, diverse quality of films over those who have only a few masterpieces to their name or those who are limited stylistically or pigeonholed with their films.
 
No real order, but David Fincher is my personal favorite.

1. David Fincher
2. Sam Peckinpah
3. Stanley Kubrick
4. Joel/Ethan Coen
5. Martin Scorsese
6. Clint Eastwood
7. Ingmar Bergman
8. Francis Ford Coppola
9. Sidney Lumet
10. Steven Spielberg
 
Good list Einherjar. Peckinpah, Lumet, Coppola, Spielberg and Bergman were all close for me, with Bergman missing out probably only due to the fact that I haven't seen a lot of his work. I like Fincher, but Se7en and Fight Club are the only works of his I would rate as outstanding. Plus he's got Benjamin Button and Alien 3 as black marks against him. The Coen Bros are the only ones I would protest there.
 
challenge_everything said:
Good list Einherjar. Peckinpah, Lumet, Coppola, Spielberg and Bergman were all close for me, with Bergman missing out probably only due to the fact that I haven't seen a lot of his work. I like Fincher, but Se7en and Fight Club are the only works of his I would rate as outstanding. Plus he's got Benjamin Button and Alien 3 as black marks against him. The Coen Bros are the only ones I would protest there.
Click to expand...

I'm a little biased on Fincher. I agree that Benjamin Button was less than brilliant. Both that movie and Alien 3 (oddly, his first and latest films) I sympathize with because I think they were both risky; Benjamin Button was definitely Fincher trying (and ultimately failing) to come into his own as a multi-faceted director. I believe that he has the potential, but he took on too great a project.

Also, he directed Panic Room and The Game, which, while not cinematic masterpieces, were very well-done, taut thrillers. Furthermore, I loved Zodiac; I thought that film was spectacular (just my personal opinion).

What are your issues with the Coen Brothers?
 
My list cannot be taken too seriously, I'm not familiar enough with all the greats, but here goes:

1. Takashi Miike
2. David Cronenberg
3. Paul Thomas Anderson
4. Park Chan-Wook
5. John Woo
6. Stanley Kubrick
7. Joel/Ethan Coen
8. Sergio Leone
9. Quentin Tarantino
10. Tim Burton

(No real order, but the first 3 are one level above)
 
Ingmar Bergman
David Lynch
James Cameron
Christopher Nolan
David Cronenberg
Jan Svankmajer
Coen Brothers
Darren Aronofsky
Stanley Kubrick
P.T. Anderson
 
Einherjar86 said:
I'm a little biased on Fincher. I agree that Benjamin Button was less than brilliant. Both that movie and Alien 3 (oddly, his first and latest films) I sympathize with because I think they were both risky; Benjamin Button was definitely Fincher trying (and ultimately failing) to come into his own as a multi-faceted director. I believe that he has the potential, but he took on too great a project.

Also, he directed Panic Room and The Game, which, while not cinematic masterpieces, were very well-done, taut thrillers. Furthermore, I loved Zodiac; I thought that film was spectacular (just my personal opinion).

What are your issues with the Coen Brothers?
Click to expand...

My issues with the Coen Brothers... where to start? I see you're not the only one to list them. With the exception of No Country, I find that their films have nothing to say, they're cold and trite. And apart from a flair for oddball characters, they're not particularly original or interesting. They just mash up existing films and genres, like Tarantino but without the cool or the dialogue.
 
challenge_everything said:
My issues with the Coen Brothers... where to start? I see you're not the only one to list them. With the exception of No Country, I find that their films have nothing to say, they're cold and trite. And apart from a flair for oddball characters, they're not particularly original or interesting. They just mash up existing films and genres, like Tarantino but without the cool or the dialogue.
Click to expand...

You're out of your element
 
1- Alfred Hitchcock
2- Stanley Kubrick
3- Francis Ford Coppola
4- Carl Theodor Dreyer
5- Martin Scorcese
6- Sydney Lumet
7- David Lynch
8- Paul Thomas Anderson
9- Roman Polanski
10- David Cronenberg
 
challenge_everything said:
My issues with the Coen Brothers... where to start? I see you're not the only one to list them. With the exception of No Country, I find that their films have nothing to say, they're cold and trite. And apart from a flair for oddball characters, they're not particularly original or interesting. They just mash up existing films and genres, like Tarantino but without the cool or the dialogue.
Click to expand...

I agree, I feel exactly the same about the Tarantino comparison, it's like going from coke to diet coke. Tarantino films usually don't have anything to say either, but at least they entertain you. There's also a hipster element to the Cohen brothers that I dislike (I know, I mentioned Jim Jarmusch so I'm going to have to eat that up)
 
challenge_everything said:
My issues with the Coen Brothers... where to start? I see you're not the only one to list them. With the exception of No Country, I find that their films have nothing to say, they're cold and trite. And apart from a flair for oddball characters, they're not particularly original or interesting. They just mash up existing films and genres, like Tarantino but without the cool or the dialogue.
Click to expand...

Interesting. I can see how some people might feel that way, but I've always been partial to the atmosphere and characters created within Coen films. It isn't necessarily important to me that their films have something to say; I enjoy the absurdity that ensues, and I think that's the point. Granted, some might argue that anyone can make an absurdist film because nothing needs to make sense; but I think the Coens are very adept at creating unique, realistic characters within oddball settings.

No Country For Old Men is a gem, but I enjoy lots of Coen films.

unknown said:
Ingmar Bergman
David Lynch
James Cameron
Christopher Nolan
David Cronenberg
Jan Svankmajer
Coen Brothers
Darren Aronofsky
Stanley Kubrick
P.T. Anderson
Click to expand...

That's a good list. Nolan deserves a mention; I'm psyched for Inception.
 
MOAR AKIRA KUROSAWA!

ah snap he's dead :(

Ok I'll settle with Masaki Kobayashi!

EDIT: Wtf he's dead too....
 
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