Five Favorite Filmmakers

[Anaesthesine]

A burning question for the culture vultures still circling this site: which directors are in your top five? I'll start:

1. David Lynch

2. Jan Svankmajer

3. Werner Herzog

4. Stanley Kubrick

5. Woody Allen

 

[therightone]

A burning question for the culture vultures still circling this site: which directors are in your top five? I'll start:

1. David Lynch

2. Jan Svankmajer

3. Werner Herzog

4. Stanley Kubrick

5. Woody Allen

I adore Woody...he is one very strange dude but I feel his work at many levels. His humor and self deprecation is what always brings me back. From his beginnings to his present day...

 

[Morning Star]

Luis Bunuel

Stanley Kubrick

Jean-Luc Godard

Chris Marker

Michael Winterbottom

(as well as Quentin Tarantino, Kevin Smith, Martin Scorcese, etc)

 

[MILVA]

in no particular order:

- lars von trier
- krzystof kieslowski
- jaco van dormael
- aki kaurismäki
- akira kurosawa

 

[Half_a_Person]

1. John Waters
2. Sofia Coppola
3. Kevin Smith
4. John Hughes
5. Adrienne Shelly (RIP)

 

[Worm]

All Time

1. Alfred Hitchcock
2. Woody Allen
3. Francis Ford Coppola
4. Jean-Luc Godard
5. Stanley Kubrick

Contemporary (And Not Past Their Prime)

1. Sofia Coppola
2. Mike Leigh
3. David Fincher
4. Robert Rodriguez
5. Quentin Tarantino

 

[JoanOfArc]

1.Eric Rohmer
2.Mike Leigh
3.Jane Campion
4.Michael Cimino
5.Pedro Almodovar

 

[Anaesthesine]

Interesting lists.

I'm surprised that Ingmar Bergman, Jean Cocteau and Martin Scorsese haven't shown up yet.

I nearly forgot Peter Greenaway and David Cronenberg - they get an honorable mention from me.

 

[Worm]

Interesting lists.

I'm surprised that Ingmar Bergman, Jean Cocteau and Martin Scorsese haven't shown up yet.

I nearly forgot Peter Greenaway and David Cronenberg - they get an honorable mention from me.

Let's not forget Billy Wilder, Preston Sturges, Howard Hawks, Nicholas Ray, Jean Renoir, Federico Fellini...

I took the list as meaning our favorite directors, not necessarily those we thought were objectively the best.

I have enormous respect for Bergman, Cocteau and Scorsese but very little affection for most of their films.

I realize it's a surprise to say that about Scorsese, but over the years I just haven't formed any attachment to his movies, even though I do like "Taxi Driver" and "Goodfellas" quite a bit.

Another director who deserves special mention is Spielberg. There's a lot to dislike in his movies but few directors have as impressive and as varied a body of work. He's sort of the opposite of Scorsese, in my view: over the years I've formed an attachment to many of his movies, though I'm not sure I respect all of them the way I do Hitchcock et al.

Cronenberg, like Ridley Scott, Brian de Palma, and Michael Mann, is a brilliant director but for whatever reason he doesn't spring to mind as a "great" director when the compilation of 'best' lists is done...although I don't know why that should be so.

David Lynch is a category all his own.

 

[Anaesthesine]

Let's not forget Billy Wilder, Preston Sturges, Howard Hawks, Nicholas Ray, Jean Renoir, Federico Fellini...

The list goes on and on - George Cukor, Sidney Lumet, Satyajit Ray...

Of course Fellini and Passolini are absent, as are the French new wave directors (and on a Morrissey site - shocking).

I took the list as meaning our favorite directors, not necessarily those we thought were objectively the best.

I have enormous respect for Bergman, Cocteau and Scorsese but very little affection for most of their films.

Yep, I meant those directors who have meant the most to you personally, not necessarily the "objectively great" ones.

Still, most arty types I know ADORE Cocteau - his name always comes up during these types of discussions.

I realize it's a surprise to say that about Scorsese, but over the years I just haven't formed any attachment to his movies, even though I do like "Taxi Driver" and "Goodfellas" quite a bit.

I had you pegged for a Scorsese fan. Even his crap films show great style, and you can't beat him as a filmmaker at his best.

Another director who deserves special mention is Spielberg. There's a lot to dislike in his movies but few directors have as impressive and as varied a body of work. He's sort of the opposite of Scorsese, in my view: over the years I've formed an attachment to many of his movies, though I'm not sure I respect all of them the way I do Hitchcock et al.

Yep, Spielberg is one of the greatest storytellers of all time, but he's all icing and very little cake.

Cronenberg, like Ridley Scott, Brian de Palma, and Michael Mann, is a brilliant director but for whatever reason he doesn't spring to mind as a "great" director when the compilation of 'best' lists is done...although I don't know why that should be so.

I've been a Cronenberg fan since the 80s - he has hackish tendencies, but he really crafted a twisted universe all his own, and his neuroses resonate strongly with me. He is also one of the few directors who actually improved their craft somewhat with age; after four decades in the business, he found Viggo Mortnesen and they made a couple of pretty compelling films.

David Lynch is a category all his own.

There are a few artists on this planet of whom I am in absolute awe, and Lynch is one of them.

 

[therightone]

Lasse Hallström

 

[joe frady]

In some particular order ~

one: David Fincher

two: Terrence Malick

three: Gus Van Sant

four: Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger

five: Michael Mann

 

[Kewpie]

Five my filmmakers no longer with us:

USA:
Preston Sturges
Howard Hawks
Orson Wells
Nicholas Ray
Frank Capra


French:
Robert Bresson
Jean Renoir
Jean Vigo
Marcel Carne
Jacques Tati


British:
Alfred Hitchcock
Michael Powell
David Lean
Carol Reed
Lindsay Anderson


Italian:
Luchino Visconti
Federico Fellini
Robert Rosselini
Vittorio De Sica
Pier Paolo Passolini


German:
Fritz Lang
Marcel Ophuls
Douglas Sirk
William Wyler
Rainer Werner Fassbinder


Austrian & Russian:
Ernst Lubitsch
Josef Von Sternberg
Billy Wilder
Sergei Parajanov
Andrei Tarkovsky


Japanese:
Shohei Imamura
Akira Kurosawa
Yasujiro Ozu
Mikio Naruse
Kenji Mizoguchi


I'll add more later.

 

[speedfreaks ball]

shane meadows
willie russell
alfred hitchcock
the woman who made my wedding video in 1990
fuji

 

[Anaesthesine]

Five my filmmakers no longer with us:

USA:
Preston Sturges
Howard Hawks
Orson Wells
Nicholas Ray
Frank Capra


French:
Robert Bresson
Jean Renoir
Jean Vigo
Marcel Carne
Jacques Tati


British:
Alfred Hitchcock
Michael Powell
David Lean
Carol Reed
Lindsay Anderson


Italian:
Luchino Visconti
Federico Fellini
Robert Rosselini
Vittorio De Sica
Pier Paolo Passolini

Japanese:
Shohei Imamura
Akira Kurosawa
Yasujiro Ozu
Mikio Naruse
Kenji Mizoguchi


I'll add more later.

Show off.

C'mon Kewpie, limit it to five - just the ones that mean the very most to you. It's tough, I know.

 

[Kewpie]

Show off.

C'mon Kewpie, limit it to five - just the ones that mean the very most to you. It's tough, I know.

It's impossible to decide only five.
I've been watching films since 1978, every year I discover some filmmakers I hadn't heard of.

My latest discovery is Serbian filmmaker Goran Paskaljevic, very excited to watch Frantisek Vlacil's work in September.

 

[Worm]

are the French new wave directors (and on a Morrissey site - shocking).

Hey, not absent on my list!

Yep, I meant those directors who have meant the most to you personally, not necessarily the "objectively great" ones.

That's what I assumed, because otherwise Woody Allen wouldn't make the list. I love his films but I wouldn't place him above, well, maybe a few dozen other directors, at least. I guess as an "auteur" he makes the cut. I suppose I think of him more as a nineteenth century dramatist accidentally working with photography.

I had you pegged for a Scorsese fan. Even his crap films show great style, and you can't beat him as a filmmaker at his best.

Scorsese is like Tarantino to me. I get tired of the way his movies too often seem to be about other movies--

HOLY MOLY!

I want to slap myself. I will slap myself, right now.

THE COEN BROTHERS.

It was the "making movies about movies" that reminded me of their genius.

They bump Kubrick from my list. Sorry, Stanley.

I've been a Cronenberg fan since the 80s - he has hackish tendencies, but he really crafted a twisted universe all his own, and his neuroses resonate strongly with me. He is also one of the few directors who actually improved their craft somewhat with age; after four decades in the business, he found Viggo Mortnesen and they made a couple of pretty compelling films.

One more reason I hate the movie "Crash" is the fact that people forget Cronenberg's far superior film of the same name.

 

[Anaesthesine]

I adore Woody...he is one very strange dude but I feel his work at many levels. His humor and self deprecation is what always brings me back. From his beginnings to his present day...

That's what I assumed, because otherwise Woody Allen wouldn't make the list. I love his films but I wouldn't place him above, well, maybe a few dozen other directors, at least. I guess as an "auteur" he makes the cut. I suppose I think of him more as a nineteenth century dramatist accidentally working with photography.

It's nice to see the Woody Allen love here. He may not be the greatest artist, but damn, he's made some of the most incredibly funny, moving films I've ever seen. "Hannah and Her Sisters" - perfection.

HOLY MOLY!

I want to slap myself. I will slap myself, right now.

THE COEN BROTHERS.

It was the "making movies about movies" that reminded me of their genius.

They bump Kubrick from my list. Sorry, Stanley.

Seriously, they bump Kubrick???

I thought about putting them on my list - I just watched "Fargo" for the umpteenth time, and I kept shaking my head and thinking it's one of the most perfectly crafted films I've ever seen. Ditto "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"

One more reason I hate the movie "Crash" is the fact that people forget Cronenberg's far superior film of the same name.

 

[Worm]

"Hannah and Her Sisters" - perfection.

Damn near.

Two overlooked gems are "A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy" and "Sweet and Lowdown", both of which get better with every viewing. "Bananas" remains a stone-cold classic.

Seriously, they bump Kubrick???

They do. Remember the key criterion of the list.

I love me some Kubrick, don't get me wrong. The Coen Brothers, though..."Blood Simple", "Fargo", "No Country For Old Men", "The Hudsucker Proxy", "The Big Lebowski", "O Brother Where Art Thou?", "Miller's Crossing", "Raising Arizona", "Barton Fink", "The Man Who Wasn't There"...my God.

When reaching for a shelf containing only Kubrick and Coen Brothers films I'd choose the latter 6 out of 10 times, let's say. And that gives them the edge.

 

[Anaesthesine]

Damn near.

Two overlooked gems are "A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy" and "Sweet and Lowdown", both of which get better with every viewing. "Bananas" remains a stone-cold classic.

"Sweet and Lowdown," incredible. Don't forget "Crimes and Misdemeanors." Like most of his films, I can practically recite the dialogue, but I'll still watch them again and again.

They do. Remember the key criterion of the list.

I love me some Kubrick, don't get me wrong. The Coen Brothers, though..."Blood Simple", "Fargo", "No Country For Old Men", "The Hudsucker Proxy", "The Big Lebowski", "O Brother Where Art Thou?", "Miller's Crossing", "Raising Arizona", "Barton Fink", "The Man Who Wasn't There"...my God.

When reaching for a shelf containing only Kubrick and Coen Brothers films I'd choose the latter 6 out of 10 times, let's say. And that gives them the edge.

Yeah, but "Dr. Strangelove," "Barry Lyndon," "2001"? Those aren't just films, they're other dimensions.

I agree with you - I would rather watch the Coen Bros. most of the time, but Kubrick totally traumatized me as a child. I saw "A Clockwork Orange" at a tender age and my idea of the cinema and art was never the same.

In this case, I think even profound enjoyment runs just behind an artist who managed to reconfigure good and evil (in my mind at least).

EDIT: now it's my turn to smack my head: "The Shining" - that film alone would put Kubrick on my list.