Favorite Directors

robert zemeckis

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Undercoverlovers 100 REDUX

This thread needs a major bump.

My top 10

10. Frank Darabont



9. Christopher Nolan



8. Clint Eastwood



7. Stanley Kubrick



6. Frank Capra



5. Quentin Tarantino



4. Martin Scorsese



3. M. Night Shyamalan



2. Alfred Hitchcock



1. Steven Spielberg

Paul Thomas Anderson
Coen Brothers
Takeshi Kitano
Michel Gondry
Hayao Miyazaki
David Fincher

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Richard Linklater
John Carpenter
Martin Scorsese
David Lynch
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
Akira Kurosawa
Stanley Kubrick

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Iro's Top 100 Movies v3.0

Stanley Kubrick
Akira Kurosawa
Martin Scorsese
Alfred Hitchcock
Terrence Malick

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"Don't be so gloomy. After all it's not that awful. Like the fella says, in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."

There are many directors whose work I admire, but if pressed for favorites, I have to mention:

Steven Soderbergh
Terrence Malick
Ron Howard
George Clooney
Joel and Ethan Coen
Danny Boyle
Alfonso Cuaron

Kevin Smith
Quentin Tarantino
Tony Scott
Anthony Fuqua
Clint Eastwood
Gullermo Del Toro
John Mctiernan (Just for Predator and Die Hard)

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If at his council I should turn aside, Into that ominous tract which all agree, Hides the Dark Tower. Yet aquiescingly I did turn as he pointed, neither pride nor hope at the end descried, so much as gladness that some end might be.

Robert Browning 'Childe Roland to The Dark Tower Came'

Some of those that come to mind-

Werner Herzog
Yasujiro Ozu
Carl Theodor Dreyer
Masaki Kobayashi
David Lynch
Buster Keaton (& co-directors/ people who were listed as directors when Keaton actually did it all)
The Coen Brothers
The Pixar team
The Studio Ghibli team

I'll also always watch an Almodovar or Tim Burton film- sometimes they're great, sometimes emphatically not.

A few here...

Michelangelo Antonioni - still below from L'Avventura (1960)



Yasujiro Ozu - still below from Ukiguasa (Floating Weeds,1959)



Martin Scorsese - still below from After Hours (1985)

kubrick, lynch, the coens, scorsese, tarantino

Here are my top 5 fave, followed by my top 5 films of each:


5. Steven Spielberg:
- 5. Jaws
- 4. Schindler's List
- 3. Raiders Of The Lost Ark
- 2. E.T.
- 1. Close Encounters Of The 3rd. Kind




4. Stanley Kubrick:
- 5. Dr. Strangelove
- 4. Full Metal Jacket
- 3. The Shining
- 2. A Clockwork Orange
- 1. 2001: A Space Odyssey




3. Martin Scorcese:
- 5. Casino
- 4. Last Temptation Of Christ
- 3. Raging Bull
- 2. Taxi Driver
- 1. Goodfellas




2. Quentin Tarantino:
- 5. Resevoir Dogs
- 4. Jackie Brown
- 3. Kill Bill Vol. 2
- 2. Kill Bill Vol. 1
- 1. Pulp Fiction




1. James Cameron:
- 5. The Terminator
- 4. Titanic
- 3. The Terminator 2
- 2. The Abyss: Director's Cut
- 1. Aliens

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Right now, all I'm wearing is a mustard-stained wife-beater T-shirt, no pants & a massive sombrero.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. You put Shyamalan in front of Scorsese and Kubrick and Capra and tons of other legends? How many good movies has Shyamalan made? 1? 2?

Sorry, normally I don't argue others opinions on movies but I can't help it here.

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"Travis Bickle: Loneliness has followed me my whole life, everywhere. In bars, in cars, sidewalks, stores, everywhere. There's no escape. I'm God's lonely man."

Hmm, lets see. Lady In The Water, Signs, and Unbreakable are all perfect movie, IMO. Lady In The Water cracking my top 10. The Happening, The Village, and The Sixth Sense are all so close to perfect. The Happening being the closest out of those three. It's all a matter of different tastes, my friend.

Martin Scorsese
Stanley Kubrick
Quentin Tarantino

Three quality directors.

Tim burton oh yeah!
Alejandro Agresti
Adam Brooks
Alfonso Araus
Chritopher Nolan
Gil Junger
Julie Taymor
Brett Ratner

James Cameron, Michael Mann, Michael Bay, Martin Scorsese

... and also J. Mackye Gruber and Eric Bress, even if they just come up with "Butterfly Effect". But what a amazing piece of work it was!

From childhood I like only one director he is Steven Spielberg.I like all movies of him very much.

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So.. you like... No one else? Just Spielberg?

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01. Francis Ford Coppola

The Godfather (1972)
The Godfather Part II (1974)
The Conversation (1974)
Apocalypse Now (1979)
Rumble Fish (1983)
The Godfather Part III (1990)
Tetro (2009)

02. Martin Scorsese

Mean Streets (1973)
Taxi Driver (1976)
Raging Bull (1980)
The King of Comedy (1983)
GoodFellas (1990)
Casino (1995)
Gangs of New York (2002)
The Aviator (2004)
The Departed (2006)

03. Bernardo Bertolucci

Il Conformista (1970)
Ultimo Tango a Parigi (1972)
Novecento (1976)
The Last Emperor (1987)
The Dreamers (2003)

04. Stanley Kubrick

The Killing (1956)
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
Barry Lyndon (1975)
The Shining (1980)
Full Metal Jacket (1987)
Eyes Wide Shut (1999)


05. Terrence Malick

Badlands (1973)
Days of Heaven (1978)
The Thin Red Line (1998)
The New World (2005)

06. Alfred Hitchcock

The 39 Steps (1935)
Rope (1948)
Strangers on a Train (1951)
Dial M for Murder (1954)
Rear Window (1954)
The Wrong Man (1956)
Vertigo (1958)
North by Northwest (1959)
Psycho (1960)
The Birds (1963)
Frenzy (1972)

07. Woody Allen

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex*But Were Afraid to Ask (1972)
Annie Hall (1977)
Manhattan (1979)
Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)
Match Point (2005)

08. Darren Aronofsky

Pi (1998)
Requiem for a Dream (2000)
The Fountain (2006)
The Wrestler (2008)

09. Elia Kazan

A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
Viva Zapata! (1952)
On the Waterfront (1954)
East of Eden (1955)

10. Sidney Lumet

12 Angry Men (1957)
The Fugitive Kind (1959)
Serpico (1973)
Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
Network (1976)
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007)

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After doing some of my reviews, I suppose I should express which directors influence me.


Perhaps no one has influenced me more than Stan Brakhage. He was the film maker who made me realize what a film maker is. A film maker isn't someone with a budget, a film maker is a person with a vision. Stan Brakhage had a vision in which, while most people were creating mere schisms in the cinematic realm, he creates a incredible chasm on current theory and practice. He was so far ahead of his time that not even Pauline Kael knew what to make of him, she considered his films a threat on the nature of film. What she neglected in the process was the persistence of vision, that one man or woman can visualize and realize any thing they want without enormous cost or utilizing the cost of others in the process of filming itself. Stan Brakhage is the reason I want to create, and the reason I do so.


Though most of his films are lost to time, (mostly due to the fact that he was gay at the wrong time and place), Kenneth Anger consistently illustrates to me how the image and music can synthesize with one another. I've already reviewed two of his films, so why beat a dead horse; however, Kenneth Anger continues to influence me and drives me to think of some films in musical terms.


She is, in my opinion, the greatest female director; as I've stated in my reviews. What Luis Bunuel and Salvador Dali failed to do in Un Chien Andalou with dreamscapes, Maya Deren consistently delivered. Maya Deren provides a cinematic poetry not found anywhere else. There is a lyricism about her films with often deep meditating concepts that one must find within the films and in themselves. She is a forgotten genius.


Certainly cinema's best when it comes to film in the photographic and "thinking man's" sense. I've seen Kubrick's entire oeuvre and I haven't been disappointed by one film of his. He's precise, direct, and allusive all at the same time. He provides grand insight into subjects most other directors either failed to do, or lacked the courage to try. His films are visual paintings, each shot as beautiful or more so than the last. He's hard to pin down for me, I consider him the best director to have ever lived... but that is only in the mainstream sense. He was able to bridge the gap between art and hollywood. I can't say the same for other directors.


To me, if there is a "greatest storyteller in film" Kurosawa is it. As much as I like experimental films. Even I need a break from them. There is something I find in story which communicates to me, just as well, the ideals of humanity. Akira Kurosawa is another director who I've seen his entire oeuvre and I've have never been completely disappointed by anyone of them. Some have been better than others, granted, but the ones that he's made that stick out with me are flawless. Kurosawa seems to have the gift of seeing "the big picture", not only in cinematic concepts, but in human nature itself. He's without question to me one of cinema's greats.


I think Bergman was one of the most gutsy mainstream directors we've ever had. Ingmar Bergman had the testicular fortitude to be introspective when most people considered that type of film to be too dangerous to touch. Bergman never compromised what he believed, and he often gave each thought, each concept, deep introspection in which the viewer could share with him. His relationship with the viewer was almost like a therapy session; the viewers were the psychologist, and the director was the client. That type of film making has always fascinated me, and each film he's made makes me want to view it again to see if my last interpretation was correct. He is another example to me of what a film maker can do to the cinematic medium and its audience.


A deadly duo, Powell & Pressburger made movies which had the best of many worlds; fine editing craftsmanship, beautiful mise-en-scene, (for example, why go to Tibet when you can paint it?), and mild avant-garde techniques conveyed subtly throughout their movies. Powell & Pressburger made much of the world rethink their ideas of the English film world. While the Cahiers group thought English films were stagnant and infinitely lacking in creativity, one could make a profound exception with these two men. Theirs works may not be as intellectually challenging as others, but they don't need to be. They are works of art which beauty needs not exist within the confines and structuralism found within the examining consciousness. Powell & Pressburger take the cinematic medium and blend it with other artistic mediums without the fear of restrictions. Their vision is that of a wise man on the peak of a mighty mountain; endlessly clear, endlessly beautiful, and infinitely rewarding.


I have yet to see a film which provides the performances that John Cassavetes receives in any motion picture he's ever done. He is the lord and master of "Actor's Directing". Oddly enough, he achieved this kind of title by driving his actors completely mad. He would never really give them direction, rather he would build a scenario whereby the actor is in a complete state of confusion. Cassavetes in doing so allowed the actor to grow out of chaos. This "chaotic"-style approach led actors to challenge themselves, and ultimately pushing their skills to their limits. Rowland's performance in A Woman Under the Influence was so real that it practically gave me nightmares. Cassavetes had the courage to give his actors most directors wouldn't dare give. In a sense, he had the courage to give up his "director's ego" and let the actor instead take center stage. His work will always be a testament to the power of acting.


So often is animation, in all its forms, seen as an outsider in the cinematic realm. I, however, happen to think it is one of its compatriots. Mentioning Miyazaki as my favorite animation director may either seem out of place or too mainstream, however if I had to make a choice on which animation director should "lead the way", Miyazaki takes that the title with the knowledge many of his contemporaries may well have taken the status as well. Miyazaki's films are not only visually stunning, but they have heart to them as well. My Neighbor Totoro is an example, it's a film catered to the youngest age group imaginable, however its such a wonderfully crafted film that people my age, (now 23), can still enjoy it. He also takes on a Lupin movie which appeals to a teenage audience, and he can create intellectually stimulating pieces of work to satisfy an adult audience such as Princess Mononoke. His films are also made with a conscience, messages which are important to him about too much industrialization and the loss of nature shine through in many of his film, yet there is also messages about the importance of growing up and family. Miyazaki holds a close place in my heart, and I suppose he always will.


Bresson's style of film making has always left me wanting more. The use of sound over the image, the use of telling stories through subtle actions, (such as focusing on hands, feet, and backs), always makes an impression on me. Through his films, you as an audience have to make up most of the images yourself. Bresson allows the viewer the freedom to visually think anyway he wants them to. That sense of freedom comes across, to me, very liberating. We are not told what to think, we just think. For unimaginative minds, I imagine his films are very hard to grasp and therefore hard to watch. But I've discovered that most people with a creative sense find his films enthralling to watch. Each film he makes seems to have a different interpretation from each different individual because of this, and simultaneously, each time you go to revise the films he's made you come up with a different interpretation, whether this be on a minute or grand scale is really up to how much thought the viewer devotes himself. Robert Bresson remains a breath of fresh air to this day, and he is likely to stay as such.

Anyway, those are ten directors which I hold in high regard. It's hard to list a "Top Ten", however these men and women would consistently bubble up if I ever chose to make one.

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Imagine an eye unruled by man-made laws of perspective, an eye unprejudiced by compositional logic, an eye which does not respond to the name of everything but which must know each object encountered in life through an adventure of perception. How many colors are there in a field of grass to the crawling baby unaware of 'Green'?

-Stan Brakhage