Directors Who Totally Changed

Changed for the better, for the worse, etc.. Change of style? It could be a director who started as an original, who did great work, but then sell out to make money, or someone who did the opposite?

I found it quite odd when I saw Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans because it didn't seem recognizably a Werner Herzog film, although some of the visuals were interesting. I'm only familiar with his films with Klaus Kinski, but he seems like a director with maybe the best ever eye for shot composition. I remember that I couldn't find that in this film, which appeared to be quite generic. I wonder if it's because he wasn't operating the camera himself? I think I'm right in saying that Ridley Scott doesn't do that any more, or at least, not exclusively.

Not a complete filmography, but after Vincent Gallo's first movie (Buffalo '66) which is a favorite of mine, I was pretty upset with his 2nd movie, "The Brown Bunny" which was pretty bad.

I haven't seen either so just asking are they drastically different? I know this is your thread so saying it doesn't fit the threads definitions is ridiculous haha, but i thought at least this was for big changes in the films a director made and you didn't mention what those were if there are any. Just saying because i don't think you liking one film then not liking another fits into a director changing. For example i know you hate The Wolf of Wall Street but that still has distinct similarities to earlier Scorsese films like Goodfellas with the prominent use of certain music and focus on borderline sociopathic or at least unsavoury characters.

I don't think I used the best example, so thanks for mentioning it, but I did put a little disclaimer, lol. I think there's always going to be some similarities (music choice for example), but for me the change was the quality. He writes his own stuff and stars in it, so he can't really blame it on anyone else.

His first movie (Buffalo '66) is a Top 10 of mine, but his next movie was soooo bad. Generally, I thought with more experience, more money, more critical success, he would have been better with the second movie. Even Roger Ebert called it the worst movie he ever saw. I guess you would have to see it - I haven't met anyone who liked the movie, and can't imagine going from one movie to the second, what a drop off it was.

Kevin Smith would likely be the best current example in that he's moved from comedy to horror.

Francis Ford Coppola has made 4 movies in the last 20 years, I doubt anyone has seen them.

Charlie Chaplin's silent films are drastically different from his last four.

So this is more of a "directors you don't like anymore" thread, yeah?

I mean a movie from a director being bad doesn't necessarily mean the director has changed at all, familiarity and especially exaggeration of familiar themes and characterizations gets on the nerves of most people who are into someones work. It's more a sign of you moving on from this type of film in my opinion which is why the strongest and/or first films of the type will always appeal to you the most.

M. Knight Shyamalan. That K really changed him.

Sofia Coppola is one to me that falls into both categories of directors who have changed, or I don't really like anymore, at least when speaking of her latest work. The Virgin Suicides is great, and Lost in Translation is in my top 10 favorites, but her last, The Bling Ring, did not capture anything from what I loved about her two first movies. No dry humor, no honestly, just a light, bubblegum-y romp with a bunch of unlikeable kids. I know it's only one film, but I hope she doesn't continue to make films like this. I encourage a change of pace, but that one was definitely not for me. Somewhere at least felt like her hands were all over it, but it still wasn't very good. I can't speak for Marie Antoinette, I have not watched it yet.

I think the biggest changes are when you see a director who establishes themselves while low budget...


M (K)Night Shyamalamabingbong, Robert Rodriguez, Kevin Smith, John Carpenter, The Wachowski brothers/sisters, Gareth Edwards, Gavin Hood.


Started small, established themselves as really talented, got a relatively big budget for one movie... and screwed the movie and their reputations completely up.

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Is it really worth the effort to misspell Shyamalan, Rodent?

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Iro's Top 100 Movies v3.0

Oh yes.

All I'm saying is that it's a bad look to list a bunch of directors who all made the same mistake yet the only person whose name gets straight-up mocked is the Indian guy (especially when you go to the trouble of referring to the Wachowskis as sisters).

Lol! Are you accusing me of racism? Like, picking him out because he's the Indian one?
Just to be clear if you were, my sister-in-law is Indian, and my nephews are mixed race


But, I always write Shyamalan's name that way when I mention him on here.
I think I've typed his name about 8 times altogether on here and 6 of them I've written it that way.

How does that make it okay?

I think about katsuhito ishii. from his early, Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl + Party 7 compare to The Taste of Tea, was a very big change of style. I watched his work smuggler (2011) , which is an another change of his style ,again. Well probably related with genre or type of story he directed idk.

Reversal: How does that make me some sort of racist?


See, this is the problem with today... white guy says something about someone of another race, no matter what it may be, it's instantly racist.


Yet if said white guy says another white guy is a **** movie director, it's an opinion.


Writing a name like that, has absolutely no implication of racism. At all.
Give it a rest Iro and stop being so left that it makes your right arm hurt.

Just playing the devil's advocate, I never took the whole Shyamalamadingdong nickname as a racist thing. I think it stems from the fact that Shyamalan is a difficult name to know how to pronounce at first, so people make a joke about it. At least, that's why I called him that as a kid - at a time when he was a massive inspiration to me. I never thought of it as hateful or anything, and can see it happening to someone of any ethnicity, including cracker.

That was pretty much why I started writing his name that way tbh.
Everyone got it wrong, so I did on purpose.


I guess that makes me a racist though.

To be fair to Rodent he does the same with Jake Gylenhaal so it's not a ha that Indian dude has a funny name thing; it's just that dude has a funny name. Well that's how i've always taken it. I don't find it particularly funny but i also don't think there's racist intentions.