Films that should be labelled as a Director's Best but arent

this is a very subjective list, but these are my favorite works from directors who are usually celebrated for other entries in their filmography....

Coppola -- The Conversation
Scorsese -- Life Lessons (his segment from New York Stories)
Kubrick -- Barry Lyndon
David Lynch -- Twin Peaks Fire Walk With Me
Gus Van Sant -- Gerry
Ingmar Bergman -- Scenes from a Marriage
 
Ah that reminds me...

Ingmar Bergman: Wild Strawberries over Seventh Seal , but usually those two are neck and neck when folks talk Bergman, but usually SS gets the nod.
 
spidey said:
i forgot blade runner... yeah blade runner trumps alien just alittle bit.


lol yeah its a goomba. lol he looks hilarious.
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Aw, I hated that movie... assuming Im thinking of the right one.
But Im assuming, meaning Im probably making an ass out of U and Ming.
 
cygnet74 said:
this is a very subjective list, but these are my favorite works from directors who are usually celebrated for other entries in their filmography....

Coppola -- The Conversation
Scorsese -- Life Lessons (his segment from New York Stories)
Kubrick -- Barry Lyndon
David Lynch -- Twin Peaks Fire Walk With Me
Gus Van Sant -- Gerry
Ingmar Bergman -- Scenes from a Marriage
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I was just thinking about throwing The Conversation into the mix. What a great movie.

Gerry is an interesting pick for Van Sant. I really, really love Elephant and Last Days.

Maybe I'll throw some Cronenberg in there. How 'bout "Videodrome"

Also:

Chan Woo-Park: Joint Security Area.
 
Shaun Patrick said:
I was just thinking about throwing The Conversation into the mix. What a great movie.

Gerry is an interesting pick for Van Sant. I really, really love Elephant and Last Days.

Maybe I'll throw some Cronenberg in there. How 'bout "Videodrome"

Also:

Chan Woo-Park: Joint Security Area.
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Loved The Conversation

-

John Carpenter's Christine
 
Yes, yes, The Conversation is great. Only problem is Coppola has several great movies. It was another incredible performance by Hackman. He hardly ever misses...

I'm really surprised to see you list Christine, John. What happened to The Thing? Carpenter is another one that had a real good run there for a while, but I have to go with Halloween.
 
Cameron: Aliens
R. Scott: Blade Runner
QT: Reservoir Dogs
Guy Ritchie: Lock Stock And Two Smoking Barrels
Schwarzenegger (as an actor): Predator
Mary Harron: American Psycho
Sam Raimi: Darkman & Evil Dead II
Darren Arnofsky: Pi
Scorsese: Taxi Driver
Coppola: Dimentia 13
Mel Brooks: Blazing Saddles

ok, im done
 
Yeah I liked T2 better than the original. I love them both though. The third one doesn't count in my book.

Cameron: Aliens
Ridley Scott: Blade Runner
Tarantino: The Kill Bills
Hitchcock: Vertigo
Polanski: The Tenant (I really liked it for some reason)
Speilberg: Jaws
Raimi: Army of Darkness
Alex Proyas: The Crow
Coppola: Dracula
Mel Brooks: Young Frankenstein
Kubrick: Full Metal Jacket
 
Blaine said:
Hmmmm. Really? It was a very good movie, perhaps the definitive Dracula, but better than The Godfather and Apocalypse Now?
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Wow; that is surprising

Blaine

I totally love The Thing and Escape From New York and The Fog and of course, Halloween. These films are at the pinnacle of my infleunces and best ever lists

But no one ever talks about Chrsitine

I find it his best film made. This is the film where he should have quantam leaped into the next level of greatness

Think:

Peter Jackson with The Frighteners

... which is the bridge between Heavenly Creatures and The Lord of the Rings

Steven Spielberg with Jaws
James Cameron with Aliens
Quentin Tarantino with Pulp Fiction
Franci Ford Coppolla with The Godfather
Martin Scorsese with Taxi Driver
Sam Raimi with Darkman and maybe Army of Darkness (Took him two times)

Carpenter crossed this bridge with Christine and then turned around and went back the other way. He never grew or evolved from that whereas the filmmakers listed above continued thier rise as autuers and major forces in filmmaking

IMO
 
Blaine said:
Hmmmm. Really? It was a very good movie, perhaps the definitive Dracula, but better than The Godfather and Apocalypse Now?
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Yes, in my personal opinion. I'm a sucker for fantasy. Don't get me wrong. The Godfather, and Apocalypse Now were great. They're grounded in reality more than Dracula. Perhaps that's a reason why a person with different taste would like them better. I just loved the music, costume design, set design, art, atmosphere etc. etc. in Dracula.
 
John_Hudson said:
I totally love The Thing and Escape From New York and The Fog and of course, Halloween. These films are at the pinnacle of my infleunces and best ever lists

But no one ever talks about Chrsitine

I find it his best film made. This is the film where he should have quantam leaped into the next level of greatness

Carpenter crossed this bridge with Christine and then turned around and went back the other way. He never grew or evolved from that whereas the filmmakers listed above continued thier rise as autuers and major forces in filmmaking
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Maybe he felt he was crossing a bridge to somewhere, but he didn't feel it was a place he wanted to go. He's a very quirky guy. He likes to keep it campy and he likes to do it his way...but Vampires?! That sucked. I see what you mean by how he turned around. I still have faith that he could pull another great film off if he wanted to.

Carpenter: Big Trouble in Little China or The Thing

I love John Carpenter!
 
I too would like to see him shine once more. Unfortunately for me it hasnt been since Christine.

Now, I totally dig BIG TROUBLE and THEY LIVE and I found MEMOIRS an enjoyable (if not terribly memorable) experience. But for me Carpenter is:

The Fog
Halloween
The Thing
Escape from New York
Assault on Precinct 13
Christine
 
Noct said:
Yes, in my personal opinion. I'm a sucker for fantasy. Don't get me wrong. The Godfather, and Apocalypse Now were great. They're grounded in reality more than Dracula. Perhaps that's a reason why a person with different taste would like them better. I just loved the music, costume design, set design, art, atmosphere etc. etc. in Dracula.
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No problem with that, just kinda surprised. It's certainly in his top 5 for me.

John_Hudson said:
I totally love The Thing and Escape From New York and The Fog and of course, Halloween. These films are at the pinnacle of my infleunces and best ever lists

But no one ever talks about Chrsitine

I find it his best film made. This is the film where he should have quantam leaped into the next level of greatness

Think:

Peter Jackson with The Frighteners

... which is the bridge between Heavenly Creatures and The Lord of the Rings

Steven Spielberg with Jaws
James Cameron with Aliens
Quentin Tarantino with Pulp Fiction
Franci Ford Coppolla with The Godfather
Martin Scorsese with Taxi Driver
Sam Raimi with Darkman and maybe Army of Darkness (Took him two times)

Carpenter crossed this bridge with Christine and then turned around and went back the other way. He never grew or evolved from that whereas the filmmakers listed above continued thier rise as autuers and major forces in filmmaking

Now, I totally dig BIG TROUBLE and THEY LIVE and I found MEMOIRS an enjoyable (if not terribly memorable) experience. But for me Carpenter is:

The Fog
Halloween
The Thing
Escape from New York
Assault on Precinct 13
Christine
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Great take, John. I can see you've thought a lot on this subject. I'd like to throw Starman into that list, too. I still think he hit his homerun with Halloween.
 
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For Peter Jackson I'm going with Dead Alive... best take on momma's boy since Psycho.

Sam Raimi ... A Simple Plan
 
Blaine said:
Leone = Once Upon a Time in the West
QT = Jackie Brown
Mann = Last of the Mohicans
Kubrick = The Shining
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Just want to comment that Once upon a time is great, but I think there is some emotional attachment to it that elevated its status since it is often considered as his last great western (or sometime "the last great western", period). It is also marred by some technical/editing /dubbing issues. I think overall, Good Bad Ugly is better... it certainly has a better climax.... On the other hand... Once upon a time is a "deeper" movie. You feel something out of it when the credits roll... hmm.. I don't know any more...

Jackie Brown is underrated. She is the only lead character in all of his movies that I really actually rooted for.

While the rest of the movie is just above average, every frame of the climax of Last of the Mohicans is pure cinema (helped definitely by that sensational score but nonetheless...)

It's hard to discuss Kubrick in this thread cuz a number of his films are often considered to be his best...
 
Spielberg- A.I (I loved it. The best of Spielberg with added sensibility from Kubrick)

Baz Luhlrmann- Moulin Rouge, over Romeo and Juliet and Strictly Ballroom

Igmar Bergman- Persona

Lars Von Trier- Europa over his Dogma phase (I really liked Breaking The Waves and Kingdom Hospital)

David Fincher- Fight Club (Over Seven- pretty close, tough. But I just feel its a very relevant in your face story for our times)

David Lynch- A Straight Story- simply beautiful movie.

Wong Kar Wai- In The Mood For Love- my favourite film.

Guy Ritchie- Snatch. I think it was the better movie, compared to Lock Stock. Great performances from the "A" listers. Fantastic Editing.

Tim Burton- Big Fish. ( Of course not the one that represents his style better, but has the best overall "feel")

Fun thread!
 
jpeck said:
TGTBATU has far worse dubbing issues. Such an amazing movie, such terrible dubbing.
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Well, the thing about Spaghetti Westerns is that you know the dubbing is going to be bad going in. It is what it is. Once you get past that, you can really enjoy them for what they are. Sergio Leone wasn't the only great Sergio in Italian westerns. Sergio Corbucci had Django and The Great Silence, both excellent in their field. Of course he made a lot of bad movies, too. It just seems like everytime we talk about Spaghetti Westerns, the only person we talk about is Leone.
 
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