Directors you still haven't seen

that's an interesting story,Mark. ) I'll eventually see something from Woody Allen sooner or later,probably Annie Hall or Vicky Christine Barselona.

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Legit recommendations, Tyler1. Thanks!

I've seen all the Woody Allen films that he both wrote and directed, and also the early two that he wrote but didn't direct - of which Play it Again, Sam is highly worthwhile (especially if you like Casablanca).

Of his numerous films, it goes without saying that some are better than others, and Woody Allen would be the first to tell you that. However, there's always things I like in each and every one of his films.

For me, Woody Allen possesses that rare combination (like Charlie Chaplin) of being able to make you laugh while posing tough questions about the human condition, relationships, etc. His movies consistently pay homage to icons of cinema and literature, from the Marx Brothers to Bergman, and from Sophocles to Dostoevsky. There are also regular references to psychology, psychoanalysis, history and philosophy. Few viewers (including me) grasp all his allusions - because most of us are not nearly as literate as Allen is.

As a professional jazz clarinetist, his scores are often infused with great jazz. And his scripts and finished products are some of the tightest around. He's a ruthless editor. Say what you want about him, but there is hardly ever any wasted space in a Woody Allen film.

Also, his films always have some of the best actors around because practically everyone considers it an honor to be asked to act in a Woody Allen film. And one of the best actors in his films is often Allen himself - again, expressing a unique combination of vulnerable emotion and masterful comedic timing.

In addition to his early slapstick-inspired, straight out comedies like Take the Money and Run, Bananas and Sleeper (if that's your cup of tea; it's not everyone's), I'd recommend:

- Annie Hall (a turning point for Allen in terms of infusing his comedy with a very human story)
- Interiors (this is perhaps Allen's most introspective movie; decidedly not a comedy)
- Manhattan (Allen's love letter to the city; filmed in black and white, one of the most beautifully-shot films I've seen)
- Zelig (highly original concept and execution; very funny yet sad)
- The Purple Rose of Cairo (a heartwarming ode to those of us who get lost in the fantasy world of film)
- Hannah and her Sisters (an intimate look at three sisters and their relationships with each other and the men in their lives; a perspective not many men could pull off as successfully)
- Crimes and Misdemeanors (a Dostoevsky-inspired drama)
- Sweet and Lowdown (great portrait, acted by Sean Penn, of a frustrated jazz guitarist in awe of Django Reinhardt)
- Vicky Cristina Barcelona (a smart, sexy and thoughtful look at a complex circle of relationships)

My one-line descriptions of these movies are of course highly simplistic; there's so much more to say about them. His movies are generally infused with a great deal of wit and existentialism. There's many more I'd recommend, but some of the ones listed above would be a good start.

I'd also recommend The Front, a rare film in which Allen acts, but neither directs nor writes.

Not only shed tears but Miyazaki's action scenes, for instance, send shivers down my spine while his movies possess a visual quality, his action scenes are not only powerful but also poetic. Miyazaki's action scenes also transmit information about the character's personality.

They don't make movies with action scenes as good as well.

What would be fair? Do you want me to analyse the movies? The fact is that I know these two guys for years and was never impressed and when I watched Spirited Away I noticed great art. And yes, of course it is feeling since art is feeling.

Pretty much: Miyazaki films are works of audiovisual art, while Coen and Tarantino films are more plot oriented, less focused on beauty and more on entertaining through amusing situations. Their characters are caricatures that are made to amuse the viewer. Miyazaki's worlds are fantastical (with the exception of the slice of life drama he occasionally wrote) but build with internal realism and his characters are more realistic. In a sense, his characters are more "boring", like Ozu's characters. Ozu's sense of humanism heavily influenced Miyazaki and Takahata.

The lack of humanism is films like Pulp Fiction and No Country for Old Men is what makes these movies comedies in my opinion. Since all characters are robots, designed to amuse the viewer, if they die, one is not touched since they are not real people but cartoon characters. Instead I find that these situations are funny. I loved Pulp Fiction because it made me smile because of it's ludicrousness. Bruce Willis with a katana sword was awesome in an ironical way.

Also, in terms of influence there isn't much comparison, considering that genre movies dominate audiences worldwide and Coen and Tarantino haven't made much an impact there while Miyazaki's influence over films such as Avatar is huge (Avatar is pretty much a second rate copy of PM), Pixar's is also hugely influenced by Miyazaki. Include his influence over other japanese animation and live action films as well. So if you measure the greatness of a director by influence there is also a huge discrepancy.

Finally, the guys who made that top 1000 films list know that they are biased toward American and European films. So they agree with me: "however, the imbalance between North American and European cinema (881 films) versus the rest of the world (119 films) continues.", which is an obvious consequence of the fact that if you take lists made by Westerners you will have a pro-western bias. In the same way if you take only lists made in India you would have a pro-Indian bias. The greatest Indian director, Satyajit Ray, was ranked 35th on that list and India's film industry is probably equal to hollywood in terms of expertise employed.

If you try to reduced the bias by taking into account the number of films produced in each country you will get a much more sensible raking of directors. Miyazaki was ranked the 4th greatest japanese director, and Japan produced 30,000 films, while the US produced 50,000 films, so Miyazaki would be equivalent in greatness to the 6th or 7th greatest hollywood director.

That means that Miyazaki is equivalent to Scorsese or Chaplin on that list. In terms of influence he is indeed more comparable to these two than to Tarantino and James Cameron.

Somebody write an essay of why Uwe Boll is better than Miyazaki, just so Guapo's head explodes

Off the top of my head, two whose films I haven't seen: Francois Tuffaut and Ingmar Bergman.

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Nice; a post on topic.

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Haven't seen the vast majority of the directors in Mr Minio's thread

I tried watching Annie Hall, but about 20 minutes into the film i felt like I was still waiting for the movie to start. I didn't want to make the GF sit through it so I turned it off.

So many movies up there, maybe you could recommend one based on my tastes?

Perhaps give Annie Hall another shot without your girlfriend so you don't have to worry about her opinion.

Also, try Crimes and Misdemeanors or Vicky Cristina Barcelona.

Love and Death I enjoyed, and I also liked Everything You wanted to know about Sex* But where Afraid to Ask. Those were pretty good Woody Allen movies. I also saw Curse of the Jade Scorpion and Hollywood Ending. CotJS, sucked while Hollywood Ending was okay, but I really liked the concept behind it.

Never seen an Elem Klimov film.

In terms of directors, I will say that I have never actually seen a foreign film with subtitles, so any director who has only made films with subtitles would be at the top of my list.

There are a few directors i haven't seen here.

By the way, Woody Allen's movie's are weird. But Midnight in Paris is the most fun. So if you wanna watch his movies, you can start with that. His earlier works were just too weird for me!

Never seem a film by:

- Billy Wilder
- Keisuke Kinoshita

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I suggest Some Like It Hot,Sunset Boulevard and The Apartment three fabulous movies imo.

A few i still haven't seen

- Tarkovsky
- Ozu
- Lean
- Altman
- Bresson
- Buñuel
- Von Trier

Sunset Blvd. is one my favs from the three!

I disagree with this part. I monitor the Indian film industry very closely because of close connections to the country. But i would have to say, the expertise is just not there. If you talking about lights, sound mixing and all those behind the scene stuff, then yes, they are.

But if you are talking about what people see, the story, the actors (acting skills), the direction and all that, its just not good. Most good actors are often handed supporting casts, coz no one sees acting skills, all they wanna see is stars.

The industry basically runs on the concept of feed the people what they want.

To be honest, 80% for Indian movies are rip offs from a movie from another country. Sometimes directors are sly, they would copy a movie from, lets say, Spanish movie. Because they know the 90% of the people, watch movies in their own bubble (own language) and think this is all they would ever be able to see and hardly anyone would know and the director takes the credit for making an amazing movie! But at the end of the day, its not their work.

To make matters worse, Indian movie industry is just too split up for the wide range of languages available. The term "bollywood" in referred to the industry for the language Hindi (the most widespread language in India). But at the present moment, i would say the Bengali film industry churns out better movies than their bollywood counterparts.
So it would be Bengali>>Bollywood>>Rest of India.

Ray is just special, one of a kind. His body of work is just too good.

He theory was simple, i make movies for me, not for others. And that is what made him different.

After that there has been no other director in Indian industry which are good. And yes, he is from the Bengali film industry, not bollywood.

My personal fav of the three is probably The Apartment, they're all great though. I still want to see Wilders The Lost Weekend and Double Indemnity.