5-10 Directors You'd Love To Talk With

1. John Cassavetes - not my favorite, but most interesting.
2. Vittorio De Sica - I'd ask how he became the greatest director ever? I'm sure being a great actor wasn't all of it, considering he made about 10 masterpieces we all know and love.
3. Orson Welles - I'm not a fan of his movies (besides Citizen Kane), but he was worldly, knew a lot, would have loved to talk to him.
4. John Huston
5. Stanley Kubrick - used to be my favorite, only cracks my Top 30, but I attribute that to finding so many greater directors in the last 20 years.
5. Federico Fellini - Made my 2nd favorite, "La Strada" and I read an interview and he strikes me as someone I'd love to talk with.
6. Robert Altman - "Nashville" is my #3, and he's a true rebel.
7. Ken Loach - we seem to share similar politics. Greatest living director.
8. Ingmar Bergman - it'd be nice to have a deep psychological conversation with him.
9. Paul Mazursky - He made my very favorite, "Harry and Tonto" and I'd be interested talking about that and other social issues, and comedy.
10. Luchino Visconti - He made so many great movies, and smoked 120 cigarettes a day.

Honorable Mention: Marlon Brando, because he did direct the great "One-Eyed Jacks"

Challenging question for me, b/c I tend to be impressed by the actor or the movie itself more than ( can I admit this on mofo?) the director. But a few names of those I'd love to have a conversation with are


1- Yann Arthus Bertrand - Director and superlative photographer. A pioneer of photographing the earth from a helicopter. Has directed films and created books about the beauty of our planet and how important it is to preserve it. I would be thrilled just to hear his views on camera techniques, where he thinks we're going as people of the planet, and if there's a particular natural environment where he most feels at Home.

2- Scorsese- Probably the best of our living directors. I wouldn't even know what to ask as to how he achieves such excellence....but maybe he'd tell me.


3- Fellini - For La Strada

4- Roberto Benigni - For Life Is Beautiful

5- -Spielberg - Not just b/c he could tell me all sorts of details about Harrison Ford. No really. Well, okay, partly. But also because he can find the childlike wonder of the cinema for us adults.

6- Ivan Reitman - For Six Days Seven Nights . Which starred Harrison Ford . Perhaps there is a pattern here. But the truth is, I like to laugh. And I'd like to see what enables a director to make a film that is pure fun and truly funny - with beautiful landscapes too (HF notwithstanding. )


7- Hitchcock- I' m not sure what I'd ask him. Truth be told I think I'd be a little ascared of him. But I'd be curious to know what his method was to create so many classics. Wouldn't meet him in a motel tho.

8- - Jon S Baird - For Stan&Ollie - Of all the movies I've seen in the last couple of years, this endearing film has stayed in my heart the most. His views on creativity, friendship, bygone eras and landscapes....or anything.

In no order:

• Darren Aronofsky
• Steven Soderbergh
• J.J. Abrams
• Orson Welles
• Paul Thomas Anderson
• Jim Henson
• Charlie Chaplin
• Stanley Kubrick
• Katsuhiro Otomo*

*edited for inclusion.

__________________
"My Dionne Warwick understanding of your dream indicates that you are ambivalent on how you want life to eventually screw you." - Joel

"Ever try to forcibly pin down a house cat? It's not easy." - Captain Steel

"I just can't get pass sticking a finger up a dog's butt." - John Dumbear

• Sofia Coppola - Hey, you never know..
• Spielberg - He has to Spiell his secrets..
• Bernardo Bertolucci - Questions about the conformist..
• Hitchcock
• Brando
• Eastwood
• Takeshi Kitano - Sake + Yakuza stories..
• QT - Movie recommendations..

__________________
Entertainment Log
Letterboxd profile

Ridley Scott would be interesting because of his art and design background; fascinating that he was nearly the person given the job of designing the Daleks. I'd have to ask him about Doctor Who – he recently called Tom Baker the first Doctor in error (Baker had been in one of his brother's productions), but in the same interview he described Rita Hayworth as "pretty bloody impressive", so I'll let him off . I'd have to ask him about Dune as well, which he was looking at making early on.

Which actors would you pick?


(La Strada is my #2 all-time

Well I think I've posted a list of favorite actors round here somewhere before @matt72582,
but I' m going to take this question literally.
So while I do put Jack Nicholson and Dame Judi Dench high on my list, I ' m not sure what a conversation would be like with them . Or if I'd be so star struck , I couldn't find a way to... ya know....talk.

Just thinking of anyone I'd like to meet in a pleasant cafe to chat with -

Harrison Ford - heh heh, well.actually he's quite an interesting guy . Big on environment, so we'd have something in common to to talk about .

Robert Duvall - so many roles and so many fine movies , and he 's played each part to perfection, I'd want to know how he chose them

Gregory Peck - star of one of my favorite movies, Mockingbird. . I'd ask him about his goats - yes he raised goats, and adored them the way some of us adore cats.


Dolly Parton - this is a fun one, and I think she'd be just as warm in person as she is on screen. Talking about her music - she's a terrific songwriter.

Leonard Nimoy and/or Forest DeKelley - seem the most approachable of the crew. I never went to a convention
so I 'd get to ask them why they never made a movie with Tribbles.

Cary Grant - the quintessential classic movie star. I'd ask him if he thought there are any movies today he would have liked to be part of.


Paul Newman - he basically played ' himself ' - but seemed to be a man of depth - his food line, racing, charitable works. He could pick any topic while I gazed at his blue eyes.

Cher - another movie star who I also admire as a singer, but who surprised me with wonderful acting in very some very enjoyable movies. She's a little feisty but I think we could get along as long as I don't mention David Letterman ( who I also would enjoy talking with btw, but he's really a tv guy)

Bette Midler - another crossover,and seems like a fun person - truly funny and a superb singer. Talk about anything at all, I' m sure she'd make me laugh.



Finally, you reminded me of him b/c of our esteem for La Strada :
Richard Basehart - I'd ask how it was to work on that film. He also took on a wide variety of roles, and though he never made it as an A lister , I think it would be a pleasure to hear him speak with that rich baritone voice.

James Cameron
M. Night
Uwe Boll
Jeremy Saulnier
George Lucas
Peter Jackson
The Duffer Brothers
Edgar Wright
Jason Blum
Ridley Scott

__________________
|>
|
Ami-Scythe

Kevin Smith - there's a few of his films I haven't seen and I'm probably in the minority in loving Chasing Amy, but I could listen to his stories til he lost his voice, the trouble I'd have is prioritizing what to ask

Jon Favreau - the godfather himself, for me the man that started it all. I'd wanna hear about Swingers before anything else but I'd definitely want his take on what happened during Iron Man II

Todd Phillips - the Hangover is still my most memorable comedy cinema experience (shame about the sequels) Old School was great too and Starsky and Hutch was Spartacus compared to most of the revival/reboot films. Not sure how Joker will do for me, but he'd be an interesting chat

Jay Chandrasekhar - to thank him for giving us Super Troopers, then releasing the hounds for giving us Super Troopers 2

Ricky Gervais - I think Derek and After Life are far above the rest of his work, plus it's Ricky, hopefully Karl Pilkington is with him

Zack Snyder - I know, he's marmite, I just wanna hear where the DCEU was going as I really enjoy the Injustice comics. Also, from the horses mouth, the differences between his JL and the theatrical release

Roger Corman....the undisputed king of B movies and the most productive producer in cinema's history. I've seen him interviewed in documentaries and he seems like a pretty cool guy.

Peter Strickland
Todd Solondz
Park Chan Wook
Hiorkazu Kore-eda
Mel Brooks

I'm guessing from previous posters that this includes directors who are deceased so:

Alfred Hitchcock
Bob Fosse
Billy Wilder
Mike Nichols
Woody Allen
Quentin Tarantino

Akira Kurosawa
Billy Wilder
Chan-wook Park
Erich von Stroheim
Fritz Lang
Kenji Mizoguchi
Lucio Fulci
Sion Sono
Wes Craven
Yasuzô Masumura