Who Are The Must-See Director Films?

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Ogee Ogilthorpe

Ogee Ogilthorpe

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Some directors put out material, you just almost know it's going to be good. Everyone has their favorite directors, who is yours? I would say for a minimum you would have had to produce a handful of films for mentioning. A few of mine, in no particular order:

Guy Ritchie - Definitely not for everyone, but usually some fantastic films

Coen Brothers - Have to admit, I haven't loved ALL of their work, but they have a few that are all-timers

Farrelly Brothers - Again, not for everyone, and not all of their work is great, but their humor is pretty good.

Far too many to list, but this is at least a start
 

Hitchcock. (a few clunkers, but the bulk of the work is excellent)

John Ford - greatest western director of all time.

Kurosawa. amazing visual storyteller.

Scorsese. haven't seen as much of his later work, but that early run of films- Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas....

Howard Hawks. directed westerns (Red River), crime dramas (the 1932 version of Scarface)
film noir (The Big Sleep), screwball comedies (Bringing up Baby) and musicals (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes) that's a hell of a range. (also produced, and may have really directed the 1951 classic
monster movie, The Thing From Another World.)
 


David Fincher would be by no. 1

Christopher Nolan. His last couple weren’t as good, but it’s hard to beat Insomnia, Memento, The Prestige, Inception.

Already mentioned, but Coen bros and Guy Ritchie would be on the list.
 

My top 5 favorites would be:

1. Robert Altman (MASH, Nashville & The Player)
2. Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction, The Hateful Eight, Once Upon a Time...In Hollywood)
3. Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights, There Will Be Blood & Licorice Pizza)
4. Wes Anderson (The Royal Tenenbaums, Fantastic Mr. Fox & Moonrise Kingdom)
5. Coen Bros (Fargo, The Big Lebowski & No Country for Old Men)

Honorable mention, Ron Howard, Cameron Crowe, Richard Linklater, Robert Redford & Steven Spielberg.
 
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Ope3 said:
My top 5 favorites would be:

1. Robert Altman (MASH, Nashville & The Player)
2. Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction, The Hateful Eight, Once Upon a Time...In Hollywood)
3. Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights, There Will Be Blood & Licorice Pizza)
4. Wes Anderson (The Royal Tenenbaums, Fantastic Mr. Fox & Moonrise Kingdom)
5. Coen Bros (Fargo, The Big Lebowski & No Country for Old Men)

Honorable mention, Ron Howard, Cameron Crowe, Richard Linklater, Robert Redford & Steven Spielberg.
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Great list. Am I the only one who recognizes Kubrick's genius though?

I love Linklater obviously....
 

tikited said:
Great list. Am I the only one who recognizes Kubrick's genius though?

I love Linklater obviously....
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I recognize and fully appreciate Kubrick's greatness, just not one of my favorites. Outside of Dr Strangelove, his films don't rank among my most admired. Same goes for David Lean (Lawrence of Arabia).

All the ones on my list, including the honorable mentions, I can rattle off at least 3 films in a heartbeat that I truly treasure, if not a half dozen.
 

Damn. No love for Ron Jeremy, aka "the Hedgehog"? Not only was he significantly accomplished on the big screen, he also managed to Direct some extremely high quality films. Just to name a few:

- Begging for Bondage
- Nothing Butt The Truth
- Backdoor To Hollywood
- But Can She Type?
- Innocent Bi-Standers

and who could forget "Frankenpenis".

Now I know, I know, Ron's found himself in a little bit of legal trouble lately...

>>"Jeremy pleaded not guilty to 12 counts of forcible rape, seven counts of forcible oral copulation, six counts of sexual battery by restraint, four counts of sexual penetration by a foreign object, two counts of sexual penetration of an unconscious or asleep person and one count each of lewd act upon a child under the age of 14 or 15, sodomy by use of force and assault with intent to commit rape, the district attorney's office said."

But should all of that extinguish a lifetime of work in the adult film industry? Innocent until proven guilty, I say
 

forever a gopher said:
Christopher Nolan. His last couple weren’t as good, but it’s hard to beat Insomnia, Memento, The Prestige, Inception.
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I don't think I have ever been more confused by a plot than Inception. That was until I saw Tenet. Worse, ultimately I didn't really care to figure them out.

I did really like Dunkirk though, probably Top 10 - 20 in the last decade for me. Also enjoyed all of his Batman films as well as Memento & Insomnia.
 
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Quentin Tarantino - already mentioned.

Peter Jackson - Most people know him for his incredible LOTR trilogy. But before he was making blockbusters, he was doing B-movie horror, producing all-time classics such as Dead Alive and Bad Taste.
 

Doug Liman is a guy who has made a ton of good movies, starting with Swingers and Go in the 90's.

American Made and Edge of Tomorrow (both with Tom Cruise) are also fantastic.
 





There are certainly a lot of great directors, including many who have been named already.

But, there are also some intriguing "fringe" directors - people who only directed a few films, but made an impact.

in that category, I would put people like James Whale, who directed the original "Frankenstein," "Bride of Frankenstein" and "The Invisible Man." Or Tod Browning, who directed a number of Lon Chaney Sr's best silent movies, and then directed "Freaks" and "Dracula" among a few 'talking' pictures.
 

Lots of great mentions already. I'll add Denis Villeneuve to the list. The reason why he's directing blockbusters like Dune and Blade Runner 2047 is because of the incredible work done on Arrival and Sicario. And prior to those....lower budget films like Prisoners and Enemy. Hasn't really had a misfire.

While not as much on the directing side....I'll watch anything that Charlie Kaufman writes. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless mind is a top five movie all time, imo.
 

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