EW's 25 greatest "active" film directors.

[Gradstudent78]

Originally Posted by LabelKing

M.Night Shalamyan.

I think he'd make great movies if he could either learn to take some constructive criticism or only direct other people's scripts.

 

[LabelKing]

Originally Posted by Tokyo Slim

In serious or in jest? I actually like a couple of his movies. But I cannot take them seriously.
Seriously in jest. His films go from average to abortive. --- What about Wes Anderson? Whimsical as his films may be, they are also artful.

 

[LabelKing]

Originally Posted by gdl203

I'm pretty sure he is very dead too

Jodorowsky.

 

[gdl203]

Originally Posted by Fuuma

Gaspard? I liked Carne and Seul contre tous but is he top 25 worthy?

You didn't like Irreversible? Honestly, I find that he's one of the most interesting and creative directors of his generation. The top 25 cutoff is so arbitrary and would actually require me to think and force-rank my favorite filmmakers - something I don't think I could or even want to do. But when I think of the most talented guys these days, I think of him, among others. As far as French directors go, he's definitely a bit ahead of most. He's an interesting guy too - not the psychopath that you would expect from his cinema.

 

[RJman]

Originally Posted by LabelKing

Jodorowsky.

Did you see The Rainbow Thief? It reunited Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharif and features Christopher Lee surrounded by strippers.

 

[Sesame Seed]

I'm a pretentious and picky f'n prick when it comes to lists involving anything film related (as I shamelessly think that I am "˜the man' on the subject) The EW list stinks worse than ass so I will form a list of my own. My mind has randomly spewed out twenty five names that deserve to be on the list. They are:

Werner Herzog
Woody Allen
David Lynch
Bela Tarr
Alejandro Jodorowsky
Jan Svankmajer
Lech Majewski
Juraj Jakubisko
Spike Lee
Agnes Varda

Jean-Luc Godard
Martin Scorsese
Jacques Rivette
Abbas Kiarostami
Nicholas Roeg
Wim Wenders
Theodoros Angelopoulos
Ken Loach
Andre Techine
Dusan Makavejev

Bernardo Bertolucci
Eric Rohmer
Carlos Reygadas
Michael Haneke
Faith Akin

 

[suited]

This thread should just be renamed "How I can appear to know more about film than I really do by listing directors that probably shouldn't be on this list".

 

[aportnoy]

John Waters

 

[Fuuma]

Originally Posted by suited

This thread should just be renamed "How I can appear to know more about film than I really do by listing directors that probably shouldn't be on this list".

Armani makes the best suit and Rolex the best watch!

 

[Qzar]

Originally Posted by Sesame Seed

I'm a pretentious and picky f'n prick when it comes to lists involving anything film related (as I shamelessly think that I am "˜the man' on the subject) The EW list stinks worse than ass so I will form a list of my own. My mind has randomly spewed out twenty five names that deserve to be on the list. They are:

Werner Herzog
Woody Allen
David Lynch
Bela Tarr
Alejandro Jodorowsky
Jan Svankmajer
Lech Majewski
Juraj Jakubisko
Spike Lee
Agnes Varda

Jean-Luc Godard
Martin Scorsese
Jacques Rivette
Abbas Kiarostami
Nicholas Roeg
Wim Wenders
Theodoros Angelopoulos
Ken Loach
Andre Techine
Dusan Makavejev

Bernardo Bertolucci
Eric Rohmer
Carlos Reygadas
Michael Haneke
Faith Akin

No Pedro Almodovar or Wong Kar Wai?
No Ang Lee (but Spike Lee??)?
No Zhang Yimou?

 

[Sesame Seed]

Originally Posted by Qzar

No Pedro Almodovar or Wong Kar Wai?
No Ang Lee (but Spike Lee??)?
No Zhang Yimou?

Ang Lee does nothing for me. Spike Lee is a quality filmmaker that understands the aesthetic nature of film and can get his head around complex subject matter as well. It's true that "˜Do the Right Thing' is his only joint that is even remotely close to being a masterpiece but that applies to just about anyone including masters like Antonioni , Godard, Vigo etc.

When Wong Kar Wai is interested, he makes good films. His use of colour and sound to set the mood is reminiscent of Greenaway (compare "˜In the Mood for Love' to "˜the Cook, the Thief, his Wife and her Lover'). Both men hark back to the film style of Sergei Parajanov.

Almodovar went from attacking the bourgeoisie (ala Bunuel) to making "˜safe' films with Cruz. His voice is faint, his work is diluted. He stands for nothing now.

Zhang Yimou? No. Tsui Hark? A case can be made for him.

 

[Sesame Seed]

Originally Posted by suited

This thread should just be renamed "How I can appear to know more about film than I really do by listing directors that probably shouldn't be on this list".

Who says they shouldn't be on the list, you? Who are you anyway? It's taken me years to be this good, chap. Many hours wasted watching whatever I can whenever I can. You know about clothes (I assume), I know about film. Stick to whatever you know best, jack. You can remain ignorant on anything else or take some notes and learn a thing or two.

 

[Thracozaag]

As expected, SF comes up with a much better list than the EW original one. I would add Jim Jarmusch and Nikita Mikhalkov into the discussion.

 

[wiru]

My additions are Hong Sang-soo, Tsai Ming-liang and Hou Hsiao-hsien. Asia is the new Europe

 

[Britalian]

Bertolucci
Mike Leigh