Favourite Movie Director?

[mephistopheles]

Well?

It can be from any point of view you'd like. Whether it's just because you like the movies the director does, or if you are more into the creativity and artfulness being a director requires.

Favourite Director: Ridley Scott
Favourite Movies that he has done: Blade Runner and Alien.

Especially Blade Runner. I've been watching it a lot lately and it's the only movie Ive seen where the direction is nearly perfect.

If you were to take a still of this movie (at any point at all!) you would be able to frame that picture and it could be considered a work of art.

And even better: Blade Runner is based on a story by my favourite author Philip K. Dick.

Blade Runner: 1, 2, 3, 4

And my favourite actor of all time(Harrison Ford) is in it!

 

[nudeyorker]

There are many who I think are very talented, but if I had to pick only one it would be Francois Truffaut.
François Truffaut

 

[Industrialsize]

Pedro Almadovar. His film,"Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" is a masterpiece.

 

[mitchymo]

I rarely pay any attention to the director's of movies i like actually. There are probably dozens that i like.
I do know i'm pretty fond of Tim Burton, Spielberg and Peter Jackson

And i think Gore Verbinski did an uber fantastical job on the Pirates of the Carib. trilogy

 

[flame boy]

Alan Smithee.

Someone had to say it.

 

[Enid]

Mario Bava

Diabolik

 

[Mastur]

I have too many... Pedro Almodòvar, Peter Greenaway (The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover, The Pillow Book), Robert Altman, Quentin Tarrantino, Stanley Kubrick, Steven Spielberg, Baz Luhrmann, Robert Rodriguez, Catherine Breillat, Krzysztof Kieslowski, Oliver Stone... to name a few...

 

[naughty]

I have many.... Sophia Coppola( Marie Antoinette) Francis Ford Coppola (THe Godfather) Martin Scorsese ( Goodfellas)Roman Polanski (Tess) Federico Fellini (La Dolce Vita, Nights of Cabiria) Tim Burton ( Sleepy Hollow) David Lynch (Blue Velvet) Ang Lee (Lust ,Caution, Brokeback Mountain) David Lean ( Dr. Zhivago, Ryan's Daughter) M.Night Shymalan (Sixth Sense) Spike Lee ( Malcolm X) Barbara Streisand ( Yentl, Prince of Tides) Julie Taymor (Frida, Titus Andronicus) Sydney Pollack (Out of Africa) Yimou Zhang (Raise the Red Lantern) Franco Zefferelli ( Romeo and Juliet) Ernst Lubitsch (Little Shop around the Corner) Frank Capra (Its a Wonderful life) Billy Wilder (Sunset Boulevard)Guiseppe Tornatore (Cinema Pradiso, Malena), Akira Kurosawa (Ran, Dreams)...

 

[D_Tilly_De_Toilet]

My "top 3" as of right now would probably be:

Stan Brakhage
Stan Brakhage - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Andrei Tarkovsky
Andrei Tarkovsky - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jean Cocteau
Jean Cocteau - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[idesofmarch]

John Landis, Blues Brothers
Milos Forman, One flew over the Cuckoo's Nest
Milos Forman, Amadeus
Milos Forman, Valmont
Steven Spielberg, Schindler's list
Alan J. Pakula, Sophies choice
Charles Crichton/John Cleese, a Fish Called Wanda
Sophia Coppola, Lost in Translation
Sophia Coppola, Memoires of a Geisha

just to mention a few

 

[Bbucko]

People will probably think I'm joking, but Russ Meyer consistently turned out some of the most enjoyable movies I've ever seen. Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls is must-viewing for anyone who is interested, most especially, in his brilliant editing and how he gets genuinely excellent performances out of such unpromising personalities as Playboy centerfolds. But my personal RM film is, of course, Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! in which every single piece of spoken dialog is a quotable piece of masterwork.

Tarantino's maturing (slightly) but is still the most consistently cinematic post-modernist directing in Hollywood today: the end of Jackie Brown is one of the best deconstructions of film I've ever seen.

David Lynch seems to have nearly retired, or at least has slowed so far down as to make it look that way. But Blue Velvet, Wild At Heart and most especially Lost Highway are completely sincere and utterly unique cinematic dreamscapes.

In terms of classic Hollywood, Billy Wilder consistently turned out top-quality adult fare, at a time when censorship was so high, by way of suggestion and gesture that was exquisite. Von Sternberg's work with Dietrich is justifiably revered, but I have a soft spot for The Shanghai Gesture, a flop he made featuring Gene Tierney, who was never lovelier.

Von Stroheim is best known now as Swanson's chauffeur in Hollywood Boulevard (ironic, as he bankrupted her while she was starring/producing Queen Kelley), but Greed is brilliant, and his version of The Merry Widow was hailed as a creative and financial success when it was released. His handling of the notoriously difficult (and rapidly aging) Mae Murray was especially noted.

Fritz Lang needs to be mentioned, not just for Metropolis but for an entire career, including M and Dr Mabuse. If all GW Pabst was direct Louise Brooks in Pandora's Box, that would have been enough for inclusion here, but his work was consistently brilliant, including his Three-Penny Opera.

And then there's Orson Wells. Though I've always found Citizen Kane overrated, The Magnificent Ambersons and Touch Of Evil, with it's long opening tracking shot (no edits for three+ minutes) are highly underrated. Overall I wish Well's output was as admirable and consistent as his voice and intellect.

 

[Mr. Snakey]

Fritz Lang
Alfred Hitchcock
Ingmar Bergman
John Huston
John Ford
Martin Scorsese
Woody Allen
Mel Brooks

 

[prince_will]

Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese and Baz Luhrmann.

 

[D_Jarowe Jackhammer]

Martin Scorsese
Daren Aronofsky
Paul Thomas Anderson
Wes Anderson
Francis Ford Coppola
Michael Mann
Michael Bay (JUUUUST KIDDING!!!)
Steven Spielberg (given)

There are some new promising directors rising these days. I get the feeling this list will double in the next 10 years.

 

[rawbone8]

I have too many... Pedro Almodòvar, Peter Greenaway (The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover, The Pillow Book), Robert Altman, Quentin Tarrantino, Stanley Kubrick, Steven Spielberg, Baz Luhrmann, Robert Rodriguez, Catherine Breillat, Krzysztof Kieslowski, Oliver Stone... to name a few...

I'd second all of Mazur's, and many of the above mentions.

Two American directors, who might fall into an under-rated status, and whose work I always seem to enjoy, are Terry Gilliam and John Sayles. They have highly distinctive, creative styles. Clint Eastwood has also made some memorable films, and I'd include him as well.

There have been some amazing films from South Korea. Check out the work of Park Chan-wook.

 

[Stretch]

Pedro Almadovar. His film,"Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" is a masterpiece.

Yes it is...as well as all his films. Probably the best director of women. They are always the strength and core of all his films.

Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls

...and interestingly written by Roger Ebert.

John Sayles.

A brilliant, very overlooked and underrated director.


There are so many great ones it's impossible to pick one. Also, how do you compare the style of Hitchcock with Spielberg, against Scorsese, Coppola, Ford, Lang, Kubrick, Huston, etc. Art is not a competition nor qualitative. All of the above are outstanding and unique...but if I had to choose one for the sake of this thread...I would choose the director who probably was the biggest influence all directors who have followed...Akira Kurasawa.

For about a 15 year period from 1950 to the mid 60's he made a film every year. He was a master craftsman and an ingenious storyteller. He managed to break out of the confines of the Japanese film industry and build a bridge to the Hollywood machine. An amazing task. He made 30 films all together and, in my opinion, all quality. Not only did he manage this but his films have been a major influence on all that followed him. Seven Samurai was remade as The Magnificent Seven, Yojimbo as A Fistful of Dollars, Rashoman is the template for an entire style of storytelling and Hidden Fortress was the biggest influence on Star Wars.

Coppola said it best: "One thing that distinguishes Akira Kurosawa is that he didn't make a masterpiece or two masterpieces, he made, you know, eight masterpieces."

 

[D_Tilly_De_Toilet]

David Lynch seems to have nearly retired, or at least has slowed so far down as to make it look that way.

I'm still waiting for Ronnie Rocket.

 

[invisibleman]

I like Ridley Scott (especially GI JANE...I LOL'd so hard at that scene where Viggo slams the door in Demi Moore's face so hard...I thought she was about to get decapitated.)
ALIEN was a great movie.

I like Martin Scorsese. TAXI DRIVER was totally amazing.

Steven Spielberg. All of his movies.

Quentin Tarantino. Total GRINDHOUSE Modern. I like his ideas and vision.

Michael Bay. (Jerry Bruckheimer/Don Simpson protege). I think that he should direct porn--straight and gay.
But not alternative fetish. That would be scary. And at least he would have THE CARS in there somewhere as a soundtrack.

The Wachowski Brothers. I am a total MATRIX fan. I even have the MATRIX videogames.

The Farrelley Brothers. Their comedies are soooooo funny. Very alpha male centric humor.

Blake Edwards. That guy had some amazing comedies. THE PINK PANTHER. THE RETURN OF THE PINK PANTHER. BLIND DATE. SWITCH.

David Lynch...he is okay. MULHOLLAND DRIVE was pretty cool...once I figured out what it was all about.

 

[dannyrankin]

There have been some amazing films from South Korea. Check out the work of Park Chan-wook.

Oldboy! Awesome.

And I'm surprised Kieslowski's only been mentioned once so far.

 

[Stretch]

MULHOLLAND DRIVE was pretty cool...once I figured out what it was all about.

I have my ideas, but I would love to hear what you thought it was about. What did you figure out?