Which actor/director's career should I marathon?
 

I've always wanted to watch everything on someone's IMDB page, any recommendations? I thought it might be interesting to see someone's career unfolding and how they mature or get worse, and how they act in different genres. For example, I thought about Bruce Willis or Arnold Schwarzeneggar to see the trajectory of an action movie star, how action movies have changed/how modern directors approach similar materials, etc. Or how Tim Burton's visual style evolved, and then got stagnant.

They don't have to necessarily be great movies, and I'm open to any genre except horror. It's more of an experiment than a watch-excellent-movies experience. (I think I miss actively watching things for my film classes...noticing patterns, making comparisons between multiple movies, contextualizing them in the real world.

Re: Which actor/director's career should I marathon?
 

Re: Which actor/director's career should I marathon?
 

Uwe Boll.
He's extremely consistent :D

Verhoeven's Hollywood run from RoboCop to Hollow Man.

Re: Which actor/director's career should I marathon?
 

Robert DeNiro & Leonardo DiCaprio spring to mind.

I've done that before and it really opens one's eyes to the changing of movie styles and filming techniques over the years. And it gives a good sampling of different movie genres and directors too. I'd pick someone who has a span of work. Arnold Schwarzeneggar IMO would be a boring watch, sure I've loved a lot of his movies but he didn't exactly chart new acting grounds. Bruce Willis would be better as he's had a more varied career. You'll have to choose yourself as only you would know what actor you're interested in enough to watch all of their filmography.

Myself I watched every film of Gloria Grahame and discovered some great movies I'd never otherwise have seen. There's still a few of her last films I couldn't find:(

Just a starter list:


Al Pacino (He's had a few misses, but most of his resumé is full of interesting and varied roles)
Kiefer Sutherland
Humphrey Bogart
Audrey Hepburn (Once you've seen one, you can't get enough of her)
Geneviève Bujold
David Duchovny (A little harder to marathon since two of his most iconic roles are TV shows, but worth it)

Quentin Tarantino
David Lynch
David Cronenberg
David Fincher
Brian De Palma
Alfred Hitchcock

Clint Eastwood would be a good pick, he started off in B-Movie science fiction films moved into Westerns than detective stories.



If you want action...I wouldn't go with someone obvious like Arnie but rather pick Jeff Bridges.

Re: Which actor/director's career should I marathon?
 

Oh yeah, how did I forget about Clint Eastwood? Literally one of my favorite actors. Great director too.

Came in to say this.


I did an Alexander Payne marathon at the beginning of COVID, it went like this:


Election
Nebraska
The Descendents
Downsizing
Sideways
About Schmidt
Citizen Ruth

Re: Which actor/director's career should I marathon?
 

Mads Mikkelsen (he's so diverse of an actor)

Anders Thomas Jensen (dark comedy/drama director)

I wouldn't mind watching Dustin Hoffman's entire resume either.

I think it might be interesting to watch the filmography of Tom Hanks, and see the changes in his career. He started as a comedic actor, then segued into romantic comedies, and then made the shift to dramatic roles, and he's good in everything he's in. He's even done some great voice acting too.

Plus he's made a lot of great movies, so you won't be watching a bunch of duds. :)

Re: Which actor/director's career should I marathon?
 

Joe Dante. Probably one of the few directors of the time who knew how to do effects heavy movies.

Re: Which actor/director's career should I marathon?
 

If you have TCM, they usually do one actors whole oeuvre every month.
It is especially interesting because you can follow actors from silent to talkies, from B/W to color and other changes in cinema production.

Re: Which actor/director's career should I marathon?
 

Watch films with Leonardo DiCaprio, Natalie Portman, Jennifer Lawrence. Well, Darren Aronofsky's films, if you like psychologically intense plots.

Some directors that would be rewarding to marathon:

• Terence Davies
• Preston Sturges
• Abel Ferrara
• John Cassavetes
• Albert Brooks
• Tony Scott
• Josef von Sternberg
• Samuel Fuller
• Michael Mann
• Paul Verhoeven
• Jacques Tati
• Leos Carax

I also second the user who recommended Joe Dante as well 👍🏼

Vatroslav Mimica, bruh

Re: Which actor/director's career should I marathon?
 

Hirokazu Kore-eda
Takeshi Kitano
Park Chan Wook
Ki Duk Kim

James Dean
Kurt Russell
Robert Redford
Burt Lancaster
Tom Hardy
Robert Duvall
Natalie Portman

Richard Donner
Brian De Palma
Sidney Lumet
John Carpenter
David Fincher
Alfred Hitchcock
Quentin Tarantino

Writer - Taylor Sheridan.


Alexander Payne was already mentioned above. He is a great shout. So is Wes Anderson.


Noah Baumbach


And my personal favourite : Denis Villeneuve