Best Directors

I was curious who everyones favorite directors and for the matter who the worse directors or directors who lost their stuff, my picks are:

BEST
1. Martin Scorcese 2. Akira Kurosawa 3. Coen Bros. 4. Wes Anderson 5. Steven Spielberg 6. Paul Thomas Anderson 7. Ridley Scott 8. David Fincher 9. David Cronenberg 10. Steven Soderbergh

WORSE
1. Paul Anderson 2. McG 3. Guy Ritchie

Of the great directors who have lost their touch I believe them to be William Friedkin and Francis Ford Coppola. Friedkin in my opinion has only made two good movies: The French Connection and To Live and Die In LA. I'm one of the few who hates the Exorcist. He's excellent with good material, but seems to only be doing it for the money now and I think he's too arrogant to realize when he's making crap.
Of course, Coppola is one the most talented filmmakers ever, but I think he's too in love with filmmaking to know when a project is not worth his time (ie Jack). As for the last twenty years, I can only think of two projects that were worthwhile: Dracula and the Rainmaker. Anyway, I always feel is just warming with something to blow us all away just like he was in the 70s.

My fave direcotrs are on my profile, but I also love M. Night Shymalan, Christopher Nolan, Michael Mann, Sam Raimi, James Cameron, Bill Paxton (he only directed the one movie Frailty but it rocked), etc.

Milos Forman ;)

Sean, I would agree that Jackson and Raimi are at least noteworthy.

It will be interesting to see where their careers go after the likes of SM and LOTR.

Sorry, I just like to make fun of "Jack" whenever I can. Speaking of Kaos, are there any good one-named directors? Sean, good take on Cameron, couldnt have said it better. Peter Weir has made what I consider the most underrated movie of all time: "Fearless."

Tony

John,

I was going to mention Curtiz as well, but refrained. Great call! Gotta love Preston Sturges, too.

For me, it's difficult to say who my favorites are. I really don't sway one way or another, very much the same way I feel about actors. Sometimes directors and actors are on, and other times they're not. It's rare to find an artist who never takes a misstep in trying to make his/her art, so I tend to judge more on the piece itself than the artist.

For example: I like James Cameron movies, but I don't much care for Cameron himself or his technique. More than anything he is efficient, but certainly not groundbreaking artistically. He's directed and/or written some of my favorite movies, but his style isn't anything that pushes the artform beyond the technical aspects. Decent narrative, marginal dialogue, but no real twist on storytelling itself or the medium in general.

Some directors I find more consistently satisfying than others:
Steven Spielberg
M. Night Shyamalan
Tim Burton
Robert Zemeckis
Peter Weir
Ron Howard
Peter Jackson
Sam Raimi

I tend to look for these directors and seek out their films. Directors like Jackson and Raimi who have had a cult following for some time are now making their marks on Hollywood, so we'll have to see how that will affect their future endeavors. These are all current directors, but the pantheon of those that came before could fill volumes; the Billy Wilders, John Hustons, Elia Kazans, etc., etc.

As for those I avoid, well most of them don't stay around too long I guess, so I hadn't really thought about it. Not too big on "fad" directors that tend to rip off others' concepts. I can definitely say I detest Kaos. Man, that Ballistic was ballistically bad. Not too big on Rob Cohen. Again, the list of bad directors is miles long.

Sean (...forgot to mention another good one...skspence...man, that guy rocks!...) 8)

TWill,

Well, I'm not excusing Coppola, lol. I'm just saying, the guy owed a lot of people money, and he had to find a way to pay off his debts.

Personally, I think that he deserved it for making "One From the Heart", which was really bad. He sunk his entire personal fortune into it and couldn't make a decent flick. Oops.

Eddie

Good point, Eddie, I didn't really think about that, but isn't there a line? Someone has to answer for "Jack."

John, Good point with Curtiz, also I think Powell and Pressburger are underrated as well. As for Fincher, he's only made a few films, but by Seven and Fight Club the movies have a lasting effect on me, and I think Fincher is the most visually exciting director to come out in the last ten years.

When I was in a film school, we watched "The Searchers," and I know some purists will hate this, but ever since then I've hated John Ford and John Wayne. I dont know, there is something about his films that turn me off.

James Cameron makes extremely entertaining, but ultimately dont leave much of a lasting impression. As for Question, hes probably #11! Haha...

Oh, of the old school directors, dont forget John Huston!

Awww, c'mon now Tony!! I'm glad you've got good 'ol Ridley Scott in there, but what about James Cameron? Or Quentin Tarantino? Or M. Night Shyamalan? Good pick with Kurosawa! ;):D

- Josh

I certainly wouldn’t disagree with any of the directors already mentioned, to which I would add Griffith, Eisenstein, Sennett, Welles, and Murnau for their historical influence on film, plus John Ford, of course, and Charlie Chaplin and Jacque Tati and Frank Capra and, and....

And Michael Curtiz for being the single most-overlooked director today. Curtiz is the fellow who gave us "Casablanca," "The Adventures of Robin Hood," "Angels With Dirty Faces," "Cabin in the Sky," "Captain Blood," "The Charge of the Light Brigade," "The Comancheros," "Dodge City," "Flamingo Road," "The Jazz Singer," "Jim Thorpe--All American," "Life With Father," "Mildred Pierce," "The Mystery of the Wax Museum," "Night and Day," "Passage to Marseilles," "The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex," "Santa Fe Trail," "The Sea Hawk," "The Sea Wolf," "Trouble Along the Way," "Virginia City," "We’re No Angels," "White Christmas," "Young Man With a Horn," and "Yankee Doodle Dandy," among many more. Whew! He never created high art, but he directed some of the most popular films of all time and some of my favorites.

By contrast Fincher has done, what, maybe two or three really good films? I'm not arguing, only suggesting that consistency and frequency of output are important, too.

John