The Greats

[Red XIV]

I'm curious to know: who are your favorite directors? I'm not too proud to be making a 'Who's your favorite _________?' thread, but I really am curious. The folks at school aren't exactly the most enlightened. If I were to ask them who their favorite directors were, half the people would say 'Michael Bay' and the other half would say 'A direct... what?'

Paul Thomas Anderson is my favorite director. Boogie Nights and There Will Be Blood are masterpieces, and his other films are damn good. I only wish he'd make more movies. Well, I suppose I'd rather have a director who makes too few movies (PTA) then one who makes too many (the Coens, who have a pattern of making one great film, followed by one not-so-great film).

Robert Altman, PTA's major influence, is another great one, although I haven't seen too many of his movies. Short Cuts is fantastic, however, and it's not hard to see that PTA was watching that when he was making Magnolia.

Of course, Spielberg has to make this list. He's another one of those directors who probably makes too many movies, but the good outweighs the bad, most definitely. Jaws is single-handedly the most suspenseful film of all time. No film has ever scared people the way Jaws did. People wouldn't be caught dead within a hundred miles of a beach because they were too afraid that they might be... well, caught dead, in the jaws of a twenty-five foot behemoth of a shark. One can only wonder how much money Spielberg cost the beach industry with that one.

Scorsese is one of those rare directors who's able to make a movie about the same thing over and over, but he makes them so well, that you just don't care. Casino is, essentially, Goodfellas in a casino, but it's so great that you just don't care.

Sam Mendes, the husband to Kate Winslet, my favorite actress, also happens to be one of my favorite directors. American Beauty and Revolutionary Road (which is American Beauty, set in 1950) are both fantastic. Road to Perdition might not be as good, but it's beautifully shot. I just saw Away We Go today, and I gotta say... I liked it better than that other indie comedy about pregnancy. You know the one I'm talking about.

George A. Romero single-handedly created the zombie genre. No one will ever make a better zombie movie than his Dawn of the Dead (not Snyder's remake, which is still good, but nothing compared to Romero's original).

So, how about you, forum?

[RagnaToad]

I'm actually glad to find a semi-intellectual thread in this forum, since I'm really into movies.

First of all, I'd like to point out that I like Scorsese too. The Departed, for example, is one of few movies you can call flawless in every way, and it was a great exciting, yet not at all cliché movie in general.

Quentin Tarantino is a must on my list. Even though his Pulp Fiction got a lot of praise, I think Reservoir Dogs is really his best one yet. I am a big fan of dialogue, and the way the story evolves, and how those trivial everyday conversations are geniously mixed up with what happens is just amazing. I love the irony in his work too. One famous example would be the "Stuck in the Middle"-scene from Reservoir Dogs. Also a great movie is Four Rooms, in which Tim Roth (Mr. Orange from RD and Dr. Cal Lightman from recent tv show Lie To Me) plays the protagonist who has to check on four rooms in the course of the night. The final room's part is written and directed by Tarantino (and acted in!), and you can really tell. The end is just brilliant and actually hilarious, but not in an obvious way.

Another director would be Stanley Kubrick. I simply adore what he has done with A Clockwork Orange, and it is among my top 5 movies ever. David Cronenberg is the director from Eastern Promises and A History of Violence. Excellent movies, with some hard to shoot scenes, but really great results. And yes, Spielberg is one of the masters. Even for Saving Private Ryan alone should he be admired in eternity. Not to mention Munich, another one of my favourite movies. The Brothers d'Ardenne: Belgian twins who have won the Golden Palm two times (I think) for their hard, realistic, sober films about the everyday but poor life in the southern part of Belgium. Another one that comes to mind is David Fincher. I have yet to see Fight Club, but the rest of his movies are great, especially The Game and Zodiac.

There really are many-many more, but these are the ones I have seen more than one movie of.

P.S. The Thomas P. Anderson guy. Is that the one from Magnolia? Cause I really liked that one. Lots of psychology and dialogue.
P.P.S. I am really good at remembering names when it comes to movies, but I have really seen too much of too many different styles to think of my favourite movies at the moment. So I'm just listing the directors that come to mind.

There are too many great movies that don't have famous directors too. Too many...

[Red XIV]

Yeah, Magnolia was Paul Thomas Anderson. I feel it's one of his weaker movies (mostly because it runs about an hour too long), but it's still a great one.

And, looking at your list, I feel like an idiot for forgetting Tarantino. Tarantino is the master of dialogue, which, for me, is the most important part of a film. My brother heartily disagrees (he's more of a minimalist), but I love some good banter between characters.

Cronenberg's great, as well, particularly the two you pointed out. Eastern Promises contains one of the most... unique fight scenes in film.

[Darkwave]

I got to admit I watch a movie directed by Mel Gibson and I thought that was really good and the person who directed lord of the rings is really good

[Red XIV]

Well, Mel Gibson did direct Braveheart, and that's a very good movie. Peter Jackson did Lord of the Rings. You might want to check out Heavenly Creatures by him. It's not exactly LotR fare, but it was the genesis of the effects company, WETA, that was behind the trilogy, not to mention it has Kate Winslet in it, and that's always a plus.

[RagnaToad]

Haha, yeah the fight scene was unique. But what a fight scene it was. So real.

I forgot to mention Francis Ford Coppola, but really, I'm gonna stop browsing the internet now cause I'm just gonna bump into more directors, hehe.

A guy I know (actually an ex-teacher of mine) is a Thomas P. Anderson fan too, and he said exactly the same about Magnolia. It's been a while, but I still feel like that movie was Tom Cruise' best performance.

I'm gonna damn myself for this, but I just want to mention that American History X is one of my favourites ever too.

But really, there are too many . I'm gonna shut up about movies alone.

I'm gonna...

[Darkwave]

I forgot one. James Cameron who directed Aliens, which was amazing because I was 9 when I first watch it and aliens were getting blown up left, right and center.

[RagnaToad]

James Cameron, that's the guy from Titanic too, I believe.

Anyway, it dawned on me that I still haven't watched the best movie of all time (or assumed to be): Citizen Kane. Got to catch up on that one.

@ Red XIV: If you're a Tarantino fan, you should definitely check out Four Rooms, with Tim Roth. Only the fourth part is written and directed by Tarantino, but the movie is great as a whole. The finale is really excellent though.

peace & love,

Rags

[IceColdPillow]

Hmm, i feel like i'm copying but yes, Quentin Tarantino is always my personal favorite.
And also said, Romero's work is still untouched to this day, also Peter Jackson, but I still want to see one more epic from him to make him solid on here [heh heh just getting greedy].

Oh and Paul Anderson,James Cameron, Spielberg and Seth Rogen[makes me piss ] deserve very honorable mentions.