NationStates Jolt Archive

Who is it?

(Poll coming up!)

I enjoy Quentin tarantio.

Scorsese

and in before the POLL!

Scorsese

and in before the POLL!

Damn. I forgot him. :headbang:

Ridley Scott

There's going to be complaints why Eastwood, Scorsese, Stone and many
more are left outside poll... I don't consider any of them to be the best...

Hmm... Let me think for awhile...

There's going to be complaints why Eastwood, Scorsese, Stone and many
more are left outside poll... I don't consider any of them to be the best...

Hmm... Let me think for awhile...

That's the trouble with polls. :(

You always leave somebody out.

That's the trouble with polls. :(

You always leave somebody out.
You put other(please specify).

james cameron

james cameron

SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! :headbang:

How the %&@ could I forget him!?

tarantino w00t w00t

That's the trouble with polls. :(

You always leave somebody out.


Yeah I know... I just pointed out the obvious...

Still not sure who's the greatest...

You forgot Wolfgang Petersen :P

"Leave us alone Mel Brooks!"

Kurosawa I say Kurosawa... Or Polanski...
No I haven't seen enough work from Polanski so Kurosawa it is...

Also to add some movies ot the name, Wolfgang Petersen directed these (among others):


* Troy, 2004
* The Perfect Storm, 2000
* Red Corner, 1997, as executive producer
* Air Force One, 1997
* Outbreak, 1995
* In the Line of Fire, 1993, with Clint Eastwood
* Enemy Mine, 1985
* The Neverending Story, 1984
* Das Boot, 1981

Dudes, no one working today is fit to shine the shoes of the likes of Cocteau, Renoir, Truffaut or, saints preserve us, Goddard.

Kubrick or Dreyer or Polanski or....

Can't make my mind

Ein Deutscher']Also to add some movies ot the name, Wolfgang Petersen directed these (among others):


* Troy, 2004
* The Perfect Storm, 2000
* Red Corner, 1997, as executive producer
* Air Force One, 1997
* Outbreak, 1995
* In the Line of Fire, 1993, with Clint Eastwood
* Enemy Mine, 1985
* The Neverending Story, 1984
* Das Boot, 1981

He is indeed a good director. The Neverending Story is awesome.

Akira Kurosawa and Ingmar Bergman are both not on this list!

Those two, plus Sanjit Ray, Orson Welles, Jean-Luc Godard, Luis Buinel, Vittorio De Sica, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Fritz Lang, Louis Malle, Francois Truffaut, Kenji Mizoguchi, Krystof Kieslowski, Sergio Leone, Martin Scorcese, Steven Spielberg, Pedro Almodevar, Stanley Kubrick, Frederico Fellini, Buster Keaton, F. Murnau, Don Siegel, Andrei Tarkovsky, Robert Altman, Milos Forman, Wes Anderson, Howard Hawks, Walt Disney, Sergei M. Eisenstein and the Zucker Brothers all stand equal as my favourite directors

Akira Kurosawa and Ingmar Bergman are both not on this list!

Those two, plus Sanjit Ray, Orson Welles, Jean-Luc Godard, Luis Buinel, Vittorio De Sica, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Fritz Lang, Louis Malle, Francois Truffaut, Kenji Mizoguchi, Krystof Kieslowski, Sergio Leone, Martin Scorcese, Steven Spielberg, Pedro Almodevar, Stanley Kubrick, Frederico Fellini, Buster Keaton, F. Murnau, Don Siegel, Andrei Tarkovsky, Robert Altman, Milos Forman, Wes Anderson, Howard Hawks, Walt Disney, Sergei M. Eisenstein and the Zucker Brothers all stand equal as my favourite directors
ooh! aplauds! so many of my favourites. Now I have to leave and wacth the de Sica film I recorded several days ago...

Robert Redford

Either Kurosawa or Kubrick.

I can't believe Tarantino's even on that list, with Kill Bill he lost all respect I ever had for him. At least in the beginning he was good at copying styles...

Fran

Either Kurosawa or Kubrick.

I can't believe Tarantino's even on that list, with Kill Bill he lost all respect I ever had for him. At least in the beginning he was good at copying styles...

Fran
How was Kill Bill a bad movie?

(James Cameron)
SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! :headbang:

How the %&@ could I forget him!?
Probably 'cause he's crap.
However, how could you forget:
Martin Scorcese
Roman Polanski
Lars von Trier
Mike Leigh
Werner Herzog
Tim Burton
Ridley Scott
Sergio Leone
etc etc

and of course the god above them all:
Stanley Kubrick

the poll options are rather limiting.

As for my opinion, Hitchcock wins it.

Kubrick, Lynch, & Fincher.

If you've ever seen a Japanese "Schnetzel"-swordfighting-movie, you know that Tarantino tried to copy them and failed miserably. Bad camera, bad fighting. Meep.
It really seemed to me that, after getting lots of cash, he wasn't 100% there to make the movie perfect or even just good.

Fran

If you've ever seen a Japanese "Schnetzel"-swordfighting-movie, you know that Tarantino tried to copy them and failed miserably. Bad camera, bad fighting. Meep.
It really seemed to me that, after getting lots of cash, he wasn't 100% there to make the movie perfect or even just good.

Fran
You do know that the movie was originaly a french one?

I like a lot of them but I would have to go with Kubrick.

Lynch
Yeah, I love him, but then I despise "Dune" and "Wild at Heart" was just a monsterous failure. Most of the time he hits the mark, but when he's off, he's WAY off.

No, I didn't - but that's not the point. ;)

Fran

Stanley Kubrick.
Bow to the master.

I've always liked the movies of Spielberg because his movies are mostly emotional-driven and memorable like Schnidler's List or Saving Private Ryan. Amistadt was equally good. And who can ever forget Band of Brothers? His last movie The Terminal may have been a comedy, it was at least a decent one.

There's going to be complaints why Eastwood, Scorsese, Stone and many
more are left outside poll... I don't consider any of them to be the best...

Hmm... Let me think for awhile...

Scorses's pretty good, in my opinion. And Clint Eastwood is on the rise.

I voted Cecil B. DeMille although - I think Spielberg is a great director, too. So many too choose from, though. If you think about it - Bellini isn't bad either. I guess it all depends on the movies at the time - that's how the public remembers them even though they produced outstanding work(s) in the past.

Stanley Kubrick.
Bow to the master

I'm a polytheist in terms of director worship.

Stanley Kubrick definitely should be on that list

Robert Rodriguez. Solid shit, particularly for his choice of actors. Casting Willem Dafoe to play the Mexican druglord in 'Once Upon a Time in Mexico' was a stroke of genius and increased my respect for this guy tenfold.

Tim Burton and Tarantino are probably tied for second on my list, with Kubrick coming in next, just because of Full Metal Jacket. I thought A Clockwork Orange was a heap of shit.

-Pants

My favourite directors are Stanley Kubrick, Sergio Leone Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Lars Von Trier. Kubrick... you should fucking know who he is. Here are some films by the other guys.

Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Delicatessen
Amélie
A Very Long Engagement

Lars Von Trier
Breaking The Waves
Dancer In The Dark (my favourite film!)
Dogville

Sergio Leone
The Good, The Bad and the Ugly
Once Upon a Time in the West
Once Upon a Time in America

SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! :headbang:

How the %&@ could I forget him!?
Don't beat yourself up over Cameron. Leaving out Kubrick and Scorcese was far more stupid of you. ;)

Fincher, Lynch, Besson, Cronenberg, Burton, Selick.

Fincher

I'll second that. Completely forgot about him.

I've read that when he does 'readings' at bookstores and premiers and the like, people get physically ill from the power and sheer emotion in his voice. Crazy guy, but a fucking genius all the same.

I'm horribly biased, but I have to go with Miyazaki... Mostly because of his consistancy for great films (as in, I haven't seen anything of his that I didn't like) and the amount of time and research that goes into even the smallest animated sequences in his films (most visible in Spirited Away, with both Sen/Chihiro tapping the toe of the shoe while putting it on and how Sen/Chihiro fed Haku). Not only that, but he himself goes through every cell drawing (perhaps not in his most recent film because he's getting so bloody old, but I know that's generally what he does).

Maybe Kubrick. Or Kurosawa. Or Eisenstein. Or Welles. Or Leone. Or Coppola.
Or one of many other great directors that there are. Damn it there are too many to chose from!

Scorcese, Leone, Eastwood...Tim Burton. It depends on the mood, I guess.

This list lacks a lot great directors. My favourite is Luc Besson.

Stanley Kubrick would have to be up there imo :)

Akira Kurosawa. Seven Samurai is an absolute masterpiece.

Or for those who think only the US of A make movies - Stephen Soderbergh had a few good ones (The Limey is a great film), Jim Jarmusch is also very good (Ghost Dog), and Joel Coen has directed the best film of the nineties (Miller's Crossing) - closely followed by Curtis Hanson (L.A. Confidential)

If I'm limiting it to one, Ingmar Bergman.

But then there's Kieslowski, Polanski, Von Trier, Hallström, Kurosawa, Eisenstein...Oh so many good ones

Who else but Baltimores John Waters for best director. With distubingly funny films like Desperate Living and Female Trouble and filmed on location in the charm city he gets the nod.

This thread keeps itching at my thoughts.

Danny Boyle deserves a mention as well. Human depravity and suffering make for great movies.

I reeeally like Tim Burton ^^ <3 and David Fincher.

Sam Peckinpah

I really Enjoy Kevin Smith and Tim Burton's Movies.

Maybe Kubrick. Or Kurosawa. Or Eisenstein. Or Welles. Or Leone. Or Coppola.
Or one of many other great directors that there are. Damn it there are too many to chose from!
Hell yeah I can't believe I forgot Coppola.

Oh Roach .... Roach, Roach, Roach ... *hangs head in shame*.

You put Paul Verhoeven, who gave us such craptastic gems as Showgirls and Hollow Man, on your poll but left out the two directors who, in the history of film, have never once done a bad film: Stanley Kubrick and Ridley Scott?

tsk tsk. :p

Akira Kurosawa. Seven Samurai is an absolute masterpiece.

Or for those who think only the US of A make movies - Stephen Soderbergh had a few good ones (The Limey is a great film), Jim Jarmusch is also very good (Ghost Dog), and Joel Coen has directed the best film of the nineties (Miller's Crossing) - closely followed by Curtis Hanson (L.A. Confidential)

Of course - Jarmusch should have been on my list.... "Dead Man" is genius.

Also - as someone else mentioned, Miyazaki and Shimizu deserve special mention.

There seems to be a typo. Somehow Tarantino is on this poll. I can't imagine what you meant to type.

You shouldn't try to make this the best director ever poll. try for best living director, take off the classics like hitchcock, and we will stop wondering how the hell you omitted Kubrick and Welles.

And Eisenstein and Griffith

And Murnau and Lang

And Kurosawa and Ozu

And Chaplan and Keaton

And Capra and Ford

And Renoir and Goddard

wait. yeah, there's just too many of them. this poll will soon end up being a dumb "how many directors can you name" thread.

So, if you try again with all living and working directors, you need to make sure you don't forget Tim Burton, Ridley Scott, and Terry Guilliam at least.

oh, and the Coen Brothers. and why not a mention of kevin smith

No scorsese or coppola?

bad poll...

oh and Won Kar Wai
I probably misspelt his name, but blast it, man he's good

within your poll, hitchcock is the very best- but then again, your poll is rather starved.
A lot of these directors don't have a body of work yet. Jackson? He's made five films, three of which are the same film.
Terantino has a similar problem
George Lucus? We can say a lot more of him as a producer and story writer than as a director.

steven speilberg soes has a body of work. We can say a lot about him. And we know that he's not quite as good as hitchcock with a certainty.

So... where do i go if i want to vote for George Romero?

wait. yeah, there's just too many of them. this poll will soon end up being a dumb "how many directors can you name" thread.


Unavoidable. And all the other film snobs have already been here leaving me only with maybe Abbas Kiarostami, Kar Wai Wong, or Ming-liang Tsai.

Bah...

No....you beat me to at least one of them.....dammit....

Okay, folks, I like Kevin Smith a lot. I have most of his films on DVD, the cartoon the action figure etc.

That being said-he is nowhere near the best director. As enjoyable as he is he really isn't allowed near that list.

Lars Von Trier
Breaking The Waves
Dancer In The Dark (my favourite film!)
Dogville


Have you seen his earlier works? The element of crime, Europa and Riget (The Kingdom -tv serie) are just brilliant.

"The Idiots" is an awesome one too, (Riget is still my favourite though)

"The Idiots" is an awesome one too, (Riget is still my favourite though)
:) I think that's the worst piece he's done. But I haven't seen all of his films. IMO the whole concept of dogma is rather pointless.

I'll admit that the execution of the Dogma Movement in films can be a bit annoying. The whole thing looks ugly and amatuerish. However, I find a certain charm to it in the end. (Oh and I HATED "Breaking the Waves") You'll also note that Lars von Trier is not mentioned in my list of favourite directors. I think he's got a spotty record. He's also an asshole in real life.

I'll admit that the execution of the Dogma Movement in films can be a bit annoying. The whole thing looks ugly and amatuerish. However, I find a certain charm to it in the end. (Oh and I HATED "Breaking the Waves") You'll also note that Lars von Trier is not mentioned in my list of favourite directors. I think he's got a spotty record. He's also an asshole in real life.
Oh yes, you were the one with very long list. Full of my favourites.

I quess quite many directors are horrible persons but I try not to think about it when judging their work. Anyway I agree with you that Trier has too many average or not-too-good films in his list to be one of the greatest. Actually he's not even close.

Falhaar:
btw which are your favourites by Welles, Buñuel, Godard and Lang?

I've only seen Ugetsu Monogatari by Mizokuchi. (impossible to find) I loved that one. Certainly a five star movie.

I have to say Martin Scorsese.

I belive dogma was just another free cinema movement. Certainly not the first one and I quess not the last one either. I just don't understand why they made rules to follow. Or were they just afraid that noone would come to see their amateurish movies if there is no explanation why it looks so different.

I say its down to either Ingmar Bergman or Pedro Almodovar. Alot of the people mentioned on this poll are rookies. I have no idea why they would even be listed (Mel Brooks? Peter Jackson? Quentin Tarantino?!). If rookies are going to be included why not someone relevant like Tod Solondtz?

I say its down to either Ingmar Bergman or Pedro Almodovar. Alot of the people mentioned on this poll are rookies that I have no idea why they would even be listed (Mel Brooks? Peter Jackson? Quentin Tarantino?!). If rookies are going to be included why not someone relevant like Tod Solondtz?
I was going to say "or Walter Salles" but then I noticed maybe he's not a rookie anymore. I also noticed he has directed the american version of Dark water.

Are you going to remake every single Japanese (and possibly Korean) horror movie in USA? Can't you just learn to read the subtitles?

btw which are your favourites by Welles, Buñuel, Godard and Lang?

Orson Welles: "Citizen Kane", "The Magnificent Ambersons", "The Stranger" and "Touch of Evil" are probably my favourites. But "Chimes at Midnight" certainly deserves an honourable mention.

Luis Buñuel: "The Age of Gold", "Land Without Bread", "Robinson Crusoe" and "Tristana".

Jean-Luc Godard: "My Life to Live", "Contempt", "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" are all great, but "The Young Girls of Rochefort" conquers all!

Frtiz Lang: "Dr. Mabuse" (1 and 2), "Metropolis", "M", "Secret Beyond the Door", "Rancho Notorious", "The Big Heat" and "Moonfleet"

Check out "The Story of the Late Chrysanthemums" (Zangiku Monogatari) and "Sansho the Baliff" (Sansho Dayu), both excellent Mizoguchi movies.

Welles: Hard to choose but my favourite is The Trial.

Buñuel: Same as you but instead of Robinson Crusoe I choose Simon of the desert

Godard: I've fallen in love with Breathless. I honestly don't even know why. There's some magic in it. The young girls of Rochefort? Wasn't that from the same guy who made The umbrellas of Cherbourg?

Lang: Metropolis is THE masterpiece. Those first Dr Mabuse movies were brilliant too (as was M)

And thanks for the tip. I try to find those.

he young girls of Rochefort? Wasn't that from the same guy who made The umbrellas of Cherbourg?
lol! it appears I'm a moron! Way to mix up my French Directors!
I also can't believe I didn't mention "Weekend" BEST FRENCH MOVIE EVER!

lol! it appears I'm a moron! Way to mix up my French Directors!
I also can't believe I didn't mention "Weekend" BEST FRENCH MOVIE EVER!
I certainly don't know enough about those French directors and their work. I'm very surprised I remembered that one correctly.
The traffic jam thing? That's brilliant. and weird...

Kurosawa I say Kurosawa... Or Polanski...
No I haven't seen enough work from Polanski so Kurosawa it is...
isnt polanski a child rapiest?

isnt polanski a child rapiest?

Not that I know of. Maybe you are thinking Victor Salva? or possibly Woody Allen?


edit: Actually, after a little research, it looks like you are right. He was accused of having sex with a drugged 13 year old girl.

isnt polanski a child rapiest?
Quite possibly. (Though the guy has hardly had a happy life). This thread is to state who you think the best director is, not the best human being.

My favourite directors are Stanley Kubrick, Sergio Leone Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Lars Von Trier. Kubrick... you should fucking know who he is. Here are some films by the other guys.

Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Delicatessen
Amélie
A Very Long Engagement

Lars Von Trier
Breaking The Waves
Dancer In The Dark (my favourite film!)
Dogville

Sergio Leone
The Good, The Bad and the Ugly
Once Upon a Time in the West
Once Upon a Time in America


Don't beat yourself up over Cameron. Leaving out Kubrick and Scorcese was far more stupid of you. ;)
You, my dear fellow, have exquisite taste. Those are all my favourite movies as well. Did you ever see 'The Kingdom' by Lars von Trier? Hilarious TV series.

Not that I know of. Maybe you are thinking Victor Salva? or possibly Woody Allen?


edit: Actually, after a little research, it looks like you are right. He was accused of having sex with a drugged 13 year old girl.
Which is why he couldn't go back to the States to collect his Oscar last year (or possibly the year before).
So in his defence, at the time he was extremely very fucked up (still is aparently) over the fact his 8 month pregnant wife had been ritually tortured and murdered, and the fetus ripped from her body. Read 'Helter Skelter' if you don't know what I'm talking about.

Stanley Kubrick or Roman Polanski.

I would probably go with D. Lynch, I must say Aronofsky is a great director too... but he hasn't made much movies.

my 'other' answer would be David Lynch

Damn I forgot one, Frederico Fellini.

I would probably go with D. Lynch, I must say Aronofsky is a great director too... but he hasn't made much movies.

eek i just wrote that without looking and yrs was the same a minute apart, spooky! :eek:

and second Spielberg

I enjoy Quentin's movies the most, but as a director with the most talent, I'd have to choose Stanley Kubrick.