Who's your favorite movie director?

[Cyrano]

Mine is John Huston:

"The Maltese Falcon," "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre," "Key Largo," "The African Queen," "Heaven Knows Mr. Allison," "The Man Who Would Be King," "Prizzi's Honor," and more. He also co-wrote many of them.

(Trivia: He directed his father, Walter Huston, in "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre," and his daughter, Angelica Huston, in "Prizzi's Honor.")

Who's your favorite director?

[Gildor Inglorion]

1. Ridley Scott

"Aliens" "Hannibal" "Legend" "Gladiator" and so forth.

[rinsd]

7. Big Ridley fan here....

Even his stinkers are enjoyable.

His IMDB profile....

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000631/

[jayavarman]

46. You forgot Blade Runner !!

Ridley is Cool.

[Cyrano]

51. Do you think Harrison Ford was a replicant?

[jayavarman]

52. Yeah.

What about you?

[Richardo]

2. Alan J. Pakula

All the President's Men and Parallax View. :wow: :thumbsup:

Plus:

Pelican Brief, The (1993)
Presumed Innocent (1990)
Sophie's Choice (1982)
Starting Over (1979)
Comes a Horseman (1978)
All the President's Men (1976)
Parallax View, The (1974)
Klute (1971)
Sterile Cuckoo, The (1969)
and:
To Kill A Mockingbird (Producer)

[Jade Fox]

42. So sad about his untimely death. I love his movies

:thumbsup:

[Gothic Sponge]

3. Stanley Kubrick

[Parrcrow]

4. Stanley Kubrick

Paths of Glory, Dr Strangelove, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Clockwork Orange.

[realisticphish]

39. gasp

you forgot The Shining!

[Lavender Brown]

5. Ang Lee.

especially Sense and Sensibility and The Ice Storm.

[izzie]

6. Maybe Lear, "Passage to India." I guess I just go for a good story.

Like 'North by Northwest"

[stavka]

8. For fun? John Carpenter: Otherwise I'd say Scott

[Beaverhausen]

9. Milos Forman

Cukoo's Nest
amadeus
Ragtime
Hair
People Vs. Larry Flynt...

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

10. Orson Welles

gotta go with the classics

[Cyrano]

11. Surprised no one has mentioned Ingmar Bergman and Akira Kurasawa

[jeff30997]

12. I'll go with Kubrick.

2001 was a masterpiece.

[H2O Man]

13. Michael Moore is right now.

Of course, that's because he's making the republicans squirm!

[gpandas]

14. kubrick n/t

[Shakespeare]

15. Steven Soderbergh

And what's great is that he's still growing as an artist, and still experimenting. His use of color in Out of Sight is fantastic, and all his films (even Erin Brockovich--and I can't STAND Julia Roberts) are fun and interesting to watch.

[Kat45]

16. Martin Scorcese.

The man is such an incredible director. His is the one and only name that will get me to the theater, no questions asked. I've gone to see his movies even when the subject itself didn't interest me, because I knew the film would be so well done. He gets the whole thing right.

On a more personal note, I really dig his sensibility. I don't quite know how to explain it, but he really can reach me. We are both Italian-American, and that 'mindset' is something I definitely relate to, but that doesn't explain all the way he reaches me.

I went to see "Kundun," his film about the early life of the Dalai Lama. I probably wouldn't have seen it if it wasn't a Scorcese film. After reading an interview he did about the movie, I realized that I would have to go into it in a totally different mindset than the normal movie-going mindset. (The whole world portrayed in the film was totally foreign and strange to me.) So I did that, and at one point fairly early in the film, there was a quick intercut of two scenes--a pond and a bird flying--and that just pulled me right into the film and I was able to go with it, not analyze it or wonder what a certain thing was while I was watching it, but just accept it all and take it in--just be there. (I could think about it later.) I never had a movie experience like that before--or since. Quite interesting.

[Az]

17. Akira Kurosawa

The man painted on the big screen. His works are flurries of colors and shadows. The creator of the 3 camera shot. A true teller of stories. He has created images that are staples in the industry now.

[Shakespeare]

18. show-off

:P

You're right, though. I love his films--Ran still takes my breath away every time I watch it.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

30. You're no showoff - have you seen Kwaidan by Kobayashi - you'd love it!

[Shakespeare]

32. You do know I was teasing him, right?

Just checkin'

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

33. Of course I do!

I just think Kurasawa needs to be more peoples' first choice :)

And you're absolutely right about Ran - stellar

Have you seen his Dreams anthology?

[Az]

38. Kurosawa tidbit

The movie Runaway Train has always astounded me. It was not until later that I learned why. The original screenplay was by Kurosawa. The ending of this movie still rips my heart out. True defiance. True humanity. I can't think of any western director that tells stories at this level any longer.

[Cyrano]

41. For those who don't know Kurosawa's works,

"The Magnificent Seven," was based on "Seven Samurai."

Clint Eastwood's spaghetti westerns were based on "Yojimbo" and "Sanjuro" (sp?)

And Bruce Willis' "Last Man Standing," was also a remake of "Yojimbo."

[Az]

48. Don't forget Starwars

Its based on Kurosawa's Hidden Fortress.

[Bombtrack]

19. Can't decide between Oliver Stone, Speilberg, Scorcese, or Brian Singer

I also think Robert Rodriguez is really talented, and his best work is yet to come. I'm looking forward to Sin City.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

20. John Waters

[geniph]

21. Spike Lee

He has produced a couple of masterpieces.

Of more classic-movie fame, my favorite would be Billy Wilder.

[rene moon]

22. I like Tim Burton

His films are so unique and beautiful. I find myself drawn to Alfonso Cuaron's work as well.

[Magrittes Pipe]

23. David Lynch. n/t

[robertpaulsen]

24. David Lynch

I'll be bold and say that every film he has ever made, including Dune, is a work of art. Some films I like better than others (Wild at Heart is my favorite) but all of his films held my interest with his surrealistic storytelling, unique characters (Bobby Peru - like the country) and his amazing visual and sound effects that he incorporates into his films.

[Magrittes Pipe]

25. Nah lissin up.

You'll heah a DEEP sound comin' down from Bobby Peru.

[tigerbeat]

26. 1. Terry Gilliam

2. Stanley Kubrick
3. Orson Welles
4. Martin Scorsese
5. Ridley Scott
6. Quentin Tarantino
7. Billy Wilder
8. John Ford
9. Akira Kurosawa
10. John Huston
11. James Cameron
12. Spike Lee
13. Steven Spielberg
14. Paul Thomas Anderson
15. David O. Russell
16. Ang Lee
17. John Frankenheimer
18. Woody Allen
19. The Cohen Brothers
20. Michael Mann

on edit: add Oliver Stone, Milos Foreman and David Lynch somewhere in there. and definite runners-up are Sam Raimi and Christopher Nolan.

[TrustingDog]

27. Coen Bros., Cronenburg, Atom Egoyan, Ron Howard, Lynch

[Twillig]

28. John Boorman

I have more of his films than anybody(yes, that includes Zardoz!). So I'll let that be the criterion. It did say 'favorite' in the title of the thread.

Second place is John Frankenheimer. I love his commentary on the dvds. RIP.

Joel Coen, John Carpenter, Clint Eastwood, Terry Gilliam, Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, etc.,etc.

[Raiden]

29. Quentin Tarantino

QT is probably my favorite.

Others include...

Robert Zemekis (sp?)
Steven Spielberg
Ron Howard
Rob Reiner
Ridley Scott
Michael Moore
etc.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

31. HAYAO MIYAZAKI!!!!!!!

I also love Mamoru Oshii, Jim Jarmusch, Ingmar Bergman, Terry Gilliam, Orson welles, of course the Master Kurosawa, Spike Lee, Coppolla.....

But Miyazaki San has such a unique vision and I have always been and animation freak!

[achtung_circus]

34. How is it possible that there are 33 response so far without mentioning

Alfred Hitchcock.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

35. Or Ed Wood?

Just kidding - you've got a point!

[Cyrano]

45. The best thing about Ed Wood

was Johnny Depp in the movie titled "Ed Wood." Depp was great as was Martin Landau who won best supporting actor award for his role as Bela Lagosi.

[Rabrrrrrr]

36. Welles, Hitchcock, Carpenter, Cameron, Kurosawa, Miyazaki, Kevin Smith

I can't pick just one.

Also add in Scott, Kubrick, another plug for Welles. I'll also agree with Huston.

[AlCzervik]

37. I have 2

george Cukor and Orson Wells.

[mitchum]

40. Werner Herzog

[Jade Fox]

43. Michael Mann, Alan J. Pakula..

The Insider, Heat, Manhunter, Last of the Mohicans, and the Pakula
films listed in the post above..

[Cyrano]

44. Elia Kazan ratted out many at the McCarthy hearings, but::

Sometimes,maybe you have to separate art from politics (Reni Rhaftenshtel(sp?) being an exception):

"A Streetcar Named Desire."
"East of Eden."
"Viva Zapata."
"On The Waterfront."
"Pinky." (a black woman passing as white before anyone else touched the subject.)
"Splendor in the Grass."

[smirkymonkey]

47. In no particular order...

Kristof Kieslowski
Ingmar Bergman
Alfred Hitchcock
George Cukor
Michael Curtiz
John Frankenheimer
Billy Wilder
William Wyler
Robert Altman
Terry Gilliam
Neil Jordan
and...
Jerry Zucker

[worksux]

49. P.T Anderson n/t

[Cyrano]

50. Spielberg Trivia

Spielberg directed the first "Columbo" episode featuring Jack Cassidy and Martin Milner.

He also directed what is perhaps the best ever made for TV film, "Duel," with Dennis Weaver which was shown in European theaters as a first-run film. If you don't remember it, it's about a salesman in a car being chased by a deranged trucker, who you never see, who's trying to kill him. It's a road-rage movie, before "road rage" became a recognizable term.

If you haven't seen it, go rent it. Spielberg proved that you don't need dialogue to make a great movie. A point he repeated many years later in the first 20 minutes of "Saving Private Ryan."