Favorite Directors...

Almost Jean Rollin's entire oeuvre consists of these ultra-low budget, quasi-hippy vampire movies. Watching his films is like remembering an erotic fever dream you had when you were 12 (if you happened to be the most depressing kid ever). He doesn't really get much respect (sort've a French H.G. Lewis?) but I find it to be pretty potent stuff. Try LIPS OF BLOOD, and if you find yourself either giggling or falling asleep, he's probably not for you.

Bruno Dumont made what I think is the best film of the last 20 years. Called L'HUMANITE, it won the Grand Prize at Cannes, but it's a difficult film, and he hasn't really developed the following of Ozon or the Dardennes. (LIFE OF JESUS was his first film, and in some ways a rough draft of L'HUMANITE, but still incredible on its own.)
 
Woody Allen
Robert Altman
Coppola
Stanley Donen
David Fincher
Bob Fosse
Kubrick
Richard Linklater
Scorsese
Spielberg

Other favorites:

George Lucas (for his first three films)
Sidney Lumet
Mike Nichols
Roman Polanski
Jerzy Skolimowski
Peter Weir
 
E_D_N said:
No need to argue with someone so obviously biased.

Interesting though that seven of the people on your list came from abroad.


But memo to you: there IS life outside the beautiful US of A.


If you chose to disregard all the contributions to cinema history from international filmmakers who chose to remain in their country and make a name for themselves there, more power to you.


And before you spit on the rest of the world, I suggest you take a look at the U.S. Box Office Top 10.... where stuff like

THE BENCHWARMERS,
RV,
SCARY MOVIE 4,
STICK IT,
SILENT HILL,
FAILURE TO LAUNCH,
BIG MOMMA'S HOUSE 2,
DATE MOVIE, etc...

-- all obviously M-A-S-T-E-R-P-I-E-C-E-S by American filmmakers -- "THE BEST IN THE WORLD"-- consistently land in the top spot. What does that say about American filmmakers and the audience that gobbles that crap up?

POSEIDON, JUST MY LUCK, AMERICAN DREAMZ anyone?

Okay, go wave that flag now...
Click to expand...

Oh every film that comes out of France, Italy, etc. are all great masterpieces? I highly doubt that... ya, America has turned out some bad films... but what about the COUNTLESS GREAT films from America?

Casablanca
Raiders of the Lost Ark
The Godfather Part II
Citizen Kane
Braveheart
Schindler’s List
Saving Private Ryan
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
The Godfather
Rear Window
Empire Strikes Back
Gladiator
Forrest Gump
Star Wars
Reservoir Dogs
North By Northwest
Treasure of Sierra Madre
Rear Window
Sunset Blvd.
King Kong (1933)

I could go on and on.

I'm Proud to be an American.
 
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ravinesedge said:
Oh every film that comes out of France, Italy, etc. are all great masterpieces? I highly doubt that... ya, America has turned out some bad films... but what about the COUNTLESS GREAT films from America?

I could go on and on.
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So could I... no one ever denied the greatness of American cinema.

If you look at my list of directors, actors, etc... the majority are American.

However, to flatly state that they are the BEST in the world is too simplistic and smacks of ignorance... or idiocy...



I'm Proud to be an American.
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Let's wave that flag together...


Are people that insecure that they must take everything personally?

How strange.
 
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oldenarm said:
Almost Jean Rollin's entire oeuvre consists of these ultra-low budget, quasi-hippy vampire movies. Watching his films is like remembering an erotic fever dream you had when you were 12 (if you happened to be the most depressing kid ever). He doesn't really get much respect (sort've a French H.G. Lewis?) but I find it to be pretty potent stuff. Try LIPS OF BLOOD, and if you find yourself either giggling or falling asleep, he's probably not for you.

Bruno Dumont made what I think is the best film of the last 20 years. Called L'HUMANITE, it won the Grand Prize at Cannes, but it's a difficult film, and he hasn't really developed the following of Ozon or the Dardennes. (LIFE OF JESUS was his first film, and in some ways a rough draft of L'HUMANITE, but still incredible on its own.)
Click to expand...

Thanks for that... I did hear a lot about L'HUMANITE...

Will have to check it out.
 
oldenarm said:
Favorite directors are one thing, but saying Americans are the 'best' filmmakers in the world is like offering a list of the greatest composers of all time that consists only of boy bands.

So that we don't choke on all the Freedom Fries, I'll answer the question with 10 favorite French filmmakers
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At least we know where you stand. American filmmakers = boy bands, French filmmakers = greatest filmmakers.

Edit: perhaps you'd prefer the following analogy: Americn Filmmakers = Back Street Boys, French Filmmakers = Debussy and Ravel.:huh:
 
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If you're really that interested in American culture, I might recommend starting out with the language. It too can be quite exciting! For example, when you go back and read what I said, you'll notice I never compared American filmmakers to French, nor did I make any wholesale, qualitative statements about either. I commented simply on the tendency to restrict listings to an arbitrary sub-group, and offered my own variation as balance.

The French not only make awful movies too (AMELIE), they flock to them just as voraciously.
 
oldenarm said:
If you're really that interested in American culture, I might recommend starting out with the language. It too can be quite exciting! For example, when you go back and read what I said, you'll notice I never compared American filmmakers to French, nor did I make any wholesale, qualitative statements about either. I commented simply on the tendency to restrict listings to an arbitrary sub-group, and offered my own variation as balance.

The French not only make awful movies too (AMELIE), they flock to them just as voraciously.
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I can't believe that you couldn't understand what Callaghan was getting at with the "American Cinema/Directors" thing. It was very obvious that he was saying that sooner or later everyone comes to Rick's (Hollywood) :)
 
E_D_N said:
No need to argue with someone so obviously biased.

Interesting though that seven of the people on your list came from abroad.


But memo to you: there IS life outside the beautiful US of A.


If you chose to disregard all the contributions to cinema history from international filmmakers who chose to remain in their country and make a name for themselves there, more power to you.


And before you spit on the rest of the world, I suggest you take a look at the U.S. Box Office Top 10.... where stuff like

THE BENCHWARMERS,
RV,
SCARY MOVIE 4,
STICK IT,
SILENT HILL,
FAILURE TO LAUNCH,
BIG MOMMA'S HOUSE 2,
DATE MOVIE, etc...

-- all obviously M-A-S-T-E-R-P-I-E-C-E-S by American filmmakers -- "THE BEST IN THE WORLD"-- consistently land in the top spot. What does that say about American filmmakers and the audience that gobbles that crap up?

POSEIDON, JUST MY LUCK, AMERICAN DREAMZ anyone?

Okay, go wave that flag now...
Click to expand...

Silent Hill - Foreign Director.


Hmmm =\

Either way, it doesn' tmatter because they're all just humans, anyway.

My favorite director of all time--

Tetsuya Nomura

Runner up--

Ivan Reitman

Honorable Mentions--

Sam Raimi
Stephen Chow
Spike Jonze
Micheld Gondry
Tim Burton
 
Probably a weird favorite, but for some reason I really enjoy Edgar Wright's style. He did Shaun of the Dead, and I can watch that movie for days on end.

Robert Rodriguez, Terry Gilliam, and Tarantino are obvious favorites as well.

I am damned cliche.
 
i'll probably forget some, but here's some of my personal favs. i haven't included many of the old classic directors but i'm still watching those movies so :D

david lynch
david fincher
david cronenberg
wong kar wai
darren aronofsky
christopher nolan
coen brothers
martin scorcese
stanley kubrick
paul thomas anderson
wes anderson
alejandro gonzález iñárritu
michel gondry
spike jonze
jean-pierre jeunet
francis ford coppola - and his daughter is following him :D
richard kelly
m. night shyamalan
terry gilliam
sam mendez
tim burton
michael mann
fernando meirelles
alex proyas
quitin & rodriguez
chan-wook park
jim jarmusch
frank darabont
 
The Machinist said:
Can't wait for Hot Fuzz.
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Seriously, now he gets to take his shot at doing some fulll blown action scenes. And i can totally dig Pegg and Frost as buddy cops
 
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