Favorite Directors?

[KingVoyeur]

I decided to go with Favorite instead of Worst, because, c'mon, you know the thread would just be full of Boll bashing. Here's some of my favs. List your favs, or who you think are the best.

Tim Burton - Hollywood Auteur. His weird and wild films, always visually stunning, speak to the outsider in all of us. You can always tell you're watching a Burton film, no matter where you jump in.

Robert Rodriguez - Hollywood Maverick. Knows how to make a film on a budget and make it better than the dreck Hollywood usually churns out (Mariachi Trilogy). Cares more about making the movie than the bottom line. I mean, the guy pretty much told the Hollywood Director's Guild to F*** themselves so he could get Sin City made. Never afraid of trying something different.

Federico Fellini - Italian Individual. Probably my favorite director. His early films, looking at the process of individuation, are masterpiece character studies, and with the introduction of color in his later films, become visually intriguing and powerful tales of how the individual finds a place in society. His film 8 1/2 is often called the best film about film ever made.

Alfred Hitchcock - Thrilling Brit. Made some of the most suspenseful thrillers ever. Who else could make a shower, a bird, or even Mount Rushmore scary?

John Carpenter - Hollywood B-Master. Turned out some of the biggest cult hits of the last 30 years. Helped start the slasher genre with the most terrifying film that had no gore and one of the most recognizable themes that he wrote himself. Always interested to see what he comes up with next.

John Waters - Indie Black Sheep. Who doesn't love a good midnight movie. Loves the subversive and doesn't apologize. Pink Flamingoes, Serial Mom, Crybaby, any excuse to shock people and make them like it.

There's a lot more (Akira Kurosawa, Terry Gilliam, Friz Lang, Stanley Kubrick, Robert Altman, Sam Raimi, the list goes on), but I don't wanna go overboard. Keep the list going!

[Asonokirk V 2.0]

Boll bashing, eh? He's such an easy target, though . . .

My favorite directors can change over time, so those I list here could be gone tomorrow . . .

Ron Howard:
He hasn't made a bad film, and although I wouldn't credit him with genius, he is consistent, and that means something to me.

Andrew Niccol:
He doesn't have a large body of work, but I've enjoyed all of his films ("Gattaca," "Lord of War," "S1mOne," as director, and the other films he produced and wrote: "The Truman Show," and "The Terminal.") I find his style to be refreshing, meaning I don't find his work to be derivative, and there is an interesting perspective on reality I get from his films. He's a new voice, and is establishing himself as someone worth hearing.

Stephen Chow:
If you've seen Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle, you realize this man is a genius, and the most exciting and completely freaking insane director at work today. It is a good kind of insane.

Peter Jackson:
I know, another director without a large body of work, but WOW what work he's done! When all is said and done, the Lord of the Rings trilogy will be remembered as an absolute masterpiece of vision, as is "King Kong." He has shown me that he understands the underlying essence and intent of the the writers of these stories, and knows how to translate that understanding into exquisitely realized productions. I can't wait to see his next film

Ridley Scott:
He's had a hit and miss career, but his hits are of legend: "Alien," "Blade Runner," "Thelma and Louise," "Gladiator," and "Black Hawk Down" (almost a perfect film). With all of these movies he introduced us to something new in the art of filmmaking, and I find these are films that all changed the way movies are made, and what we expect out of a film. He's got some new films on the way ("A Good Year," for example), so I feel that I have something to look forward to.

I could list some others, but I'll stop here.

[neglet]

Those are some good ones, and I'll just add:

The Coen Brothers: quirky sense of humor, great characters, inventive plots, creative direction.

Ang Lee: no one does repressed emotion better (Sense & Sensibility, The Hulk, Crouching Tiger), or combines drama with visual flair

Brad Bird: The Iron Giant and The Incredibles. Small output, but both home runs.

Nick Park (Wallace & Gromit, Chicken Run): animated films that appeal to everyone, despite not having any musical numbers or child characters. Plus he's a friggin' genius when it comes to sheer visual inventiveness.

[tstone]

Paul Thomas Anderson-Hard Eight, Magnolia, Boogie Nights and Punch Drunk Love.

Wes Anderson-Rushmore, Royal Tennanbaums, The Life Aquatic.

Brian Singer-X-Men 1 and 2, The Usual Suspects, and I'm expecting great things out of Superman Returns.

M Night Shyamalan-Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Signs, The Village, and a cool looking one coming out this summer.

Ridley Scott-Already mentioned, but he did direct the most excellent Legend, Blackhawk Down, Gladiator, and my fav of all time, Blade Runner.

Kevin Smith-His Jerseyverse work. So looking forward to Clerks 2.

Robert Myer Burnette-Free Enterprise. This film is a geek anthem.

Rob Reiner-Princess Bride, Spinal Tap, A Few Good Men.

Peter Jackson-He's also been mentioned, but the previous mention didn't include The Frighteners.

Ivan Reitman-Stripes, Meatballs, Ghostbusters.

Alex Proyas-The Crow, Dark City

David Twohy-Pitch Black, Chronicles of Riddick, Below

David Aranofsky-Pi, and this summer's The Fountain.

[syphon2006]

My Favorites

1. Alfred Hitchcock
2. Ridley Scott
3. Ron Howard
4. John Carpenter
5. Peter Jackson
6. Robert Rodriguez
7. James Cameron
8. Tim Burton
9. Sam Raimi
10. M Night Shyamalan

[pokernut951]

Some of them:

Sergio Leone
Wes Anderson
Oliver Stone
Orson Welles

[Magell]

Kevin Smith is the only director who makes me automatically want to go and see a movie. His sense of humor is great and I love every movie he's made.

Robert Rodriguez is an awesome director and his movies all have some thing that makes them great to watch.

Quentin Tarantino is good but I wish he'd make more movies.

[Bill_the_Pony]

David Lynch
Federico Fellini
Alfred Hitchcock
Stanley Kubrick
Robert Wise
Ridley Scott
Ishiro Honda
Ken Russell
Russ Meyer
Quentin Tarantino
Baz Luhrman
Mel Brooks
John Waters
Dario Argento
John Carpenter
Peter Jackson
Akira Kurosawa


others will come to mind when I give it more thought

[Asonokirk V 2.0]

Looking at all of these, there isn't one anybody mentioned that I don't like. We have some really good directors out there, don't we?

[alvspr]

James Cameron

[StrangeBookLover]

Quentin Tarentino is currently my favourite, but Tim Burton is astounding. I love many directors, but these two have such specific styles that just makes them stand out more.

[colmatrix]

Steven Spielberg...I can't be the only one. Has it become unpopular to like this guy?

[KingVoyeur]

Steven Spielberg...I can't be the only one. Has it become unpopular to like this guy?

No, I don't think he's unpopular. I've always liked him, he's a fantastic storyteller, and his films always have excellent f/x. May not have been listed yet for two reasons.

1) Have we been de-sensitized to Spielberg? Perhaps too much of a good thing has lessened our perception of how great it really is.

2) Personally, I don't consider Spielberg on auteur. His movies are classical Hollywood (higher tier than most), but you can't instantly look at a Spielberg film and say "oh, this is Spielberg" like you can with, say, a Tim Burton film. His films follow all the rules and regs of a Hollywood-style film, he just happens to make better quality films than the rest of Hollywood.

So no, you're not the only one, I just feel like it's gotten to the point where he's a unstated given.

[colmatrix]

Well put KV.

[pokernut951]

Yeah I like Spielberg. I've always thought a good example of what KV is talking about is The Lost World, put it next to JP3 and you can tell a world of difference.

[alvspr]

I absolutely hated the Lost World.

And having said that Spielburg is generally a damn fine director. If all directors were half as good as him, we would get better quality movies out there. But at the same time, he's certainly not my favourite.

[conman]

I may be jumping in a little too late everyone seems to have already mentioned my favorites (Kubrick, Tarantino, Rodriguez, Burton, Hitchcock) but I haven't seen David Fincher yet. Seven and Fight Club were terrific movies and if anyone else has read any on Chuck Palanuk's other works (Choke and Invisible Monsters come to mind) would probably agree with me that Fincher should buy the rights to them and make them.