Director Grade Averages

I've always found Straw Dogs to be a bit overrated by its supporters - though also a damn sight better than its detractors. It's too contrived for my taste, and while Hoffman is great as usual I find it too manipulative without adding the layers of import or insight I think the material was striving for. To me it's a good movie and a statement from Peckinpah, but not in the ranks of a great film.

Your mileage may vary, of course.

__________________
"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra

Thanks for the reply...not sure how to respond other than that.

That's THE perfect Pikester catchphrase.

__________________
"Today, war is too important to be left to politicians. They have neither the time, the training, nor the inclination for strategic thought. I can no longer sit back and allow Communist infiltration, Communist indoctrination, Communist subversion and the international Communist conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids."

Martin Scorsese
Who's That Knocking at My Door?, B-
Boxcar Bertha, C-
Mean Streets, A-
Italianamerican, B
Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, B+
Taxi Driver, A+
New York, New York, B
The Last Waltz, A-
American Boy: A Profile of Steven Prince, B-
Raging Bull, A+
The King of Comedy, A
After Hours, A+
The Color of Money, B-
The Last Temptation of Christ, A
"Life Lessons" (New York Stories), B-
GoodFellas, A+
Cape Fear, B+
The Age of Innocence, A
Casino, A-
Kundun, B
Bringing Out the Dead, B+
Gangs of New York, B+
The Aviator, A-

overall grade: A-

COEN BROTHERS: A
The Ladykillers (2004) B-
Intolerable Cruelty (2003) B+
The Man Who Wasn't There (2001) A
O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) A-
The Big Lebowski (1998) A-
Fargo (1996) A+
The Hudsucker Proxy (1994) A-
Barton Fink (1991) A+
Miller's Crossing (1990) A+
Raising Arizona (1987) B+
Blood Simple (1984) A+

Arthur Penn
The Left-Handed Gun, C+
The Miracle Worker, A
Mickey One, B-
The Chase, C
Bonnie & Clyde, A+
Alice's Restaurant, C+
Little Big Man, A+
Night Moves, A
The Missouri Breaks, B-
Four Friends, B-
Target, B-
Dead of Winter, B
Penn & Teller Get Killed, C-

overall grade: B

Taylor Hackford
The Idolmaker, C
An Officer & a Gentleman, B
Against All Odds, B-
White Nights, C+
Everybody's All-American, C
Dolores Claiborne, C+
The Devil's Advocate, C-
Proof of Life, D+
Ray, B-

overall grade: C



Taylor Hackford is an Oscar nominated director. Charlie Chaplin, Nicholas Ray, Preston Sturges, Sam Peckinpah, Spike Lee and John Sayles, to name a few, have never been nominated. Kevin Costner and Mel Gibson are frippin' Oscar winning directors.

Seems about right, don't it?

SERGIO LEONE: A-
Once Upon A Time In America (1984) A
A Fistful Of Dynamite (1971) B-
Once Upon A Time In The West (1968) A+
The Good, The Bad And The Ugly (1966) A+
For A Few Dollars More (1965) B+
A Fistful Of Dollars (1964) A-

I didn't know whether or not to include The Colossus of Rhodes.

John Sayles
Return of the Secaucus 7, B+
Lianna, B+
Baby It's You, B-
Brother from Another Planet, B
Matewan, A
Eight Men Out, A-
City of Hope, B+
Passion Fish, A
The Secret of Roan Inish, A-
Lone Star, A
Men with Guns, A+
Limbo, A-
Sunshine State, B+
Casa de los Babys, B
Silver City, B+

overall grade: A-



Sergio Leone
A Fistful of Dollars, A-
For A Few Dollars More, A-
The Good, the Bad & the Ugly, A
Once Upon A Time in the West, A+
Duck, You Sucker, A-
Once Upon A Time in America, A+

overall grade: A

ROMAN POLANSKI: A-
The Pianist (2002) A
The Ninth Gate (1999) B-
Death and the Maiden (1994) B+
Bitter Moon (1992) B
Frantic (1988) B+
Pirates (1986) C+
Tess (1979) A-
The Tenant (1976) A
Chinatown (1974) A+
What? (1972) B-
Macbeth (1971) A
Rosemary's Baby (1968) A+
The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967) A
Cul-de-sac (1966) A+
Repulsion (1965) B
Knife In The Water (1962) B

Larry Clark
Kids, A
Another Day In Paradise, B+
Bully, A-
Teenage Caveman, D
Ken Park, C+

Average: B-

__________________
The novelist does not long to see the lion eat grass. He realizes that one and the same God created the wolf and the lamb, then smiled, "seeing that his work was good".

--------

They had temporarily escaped the factories, the warehouses, the slaughterhouses, the car washes - they'd be back in captivity the next day but now they were out - they were wild with freedom. They weren't thinking about the slavery of poverty. Or the slavery of welfare and food stamps. The rest of us would be all right until the poor learned how to make atom bombs in their basements.

PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON: B+
Punch-Drunk Love (2002) B+
Magnolia (1999) B+
Boogie Nights (1997) B-
Sydney aka Hard Eight (1996) A

Orson Welles
Citizen Kane, A
The Magnificent Ambersons, A-
The Stranger, C+
The Lady from Shanghai, B+
Macbeth, B+
Othello, A-
Mr. Arkadian, B
Touch of Evil, B+
Chimes at Midnight, A+
F for Fake, A-

overall grade: A-



John Huston
The Maltese Falcon, A
Across the Pacific, B-
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, A+
Key Largo, B
We Were Strangers, B-
The Asphalt Jungle, A-
The Red Badge of Courage, C+
The African Queen, A-
Moulin Rouge, A-
Beat the Devil, B-
Moby Dick, C+
Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison, C+
The Barbarian and the Geisha, D
The Roots of Heaven, D+
The Unforgiven, B-
The Misfits, B+
Freud, C+
The List of Adrian Messenger, B+
The Night of the Iguana, B
Reflections in a Golden Eye, C-
The Kremlin Letter, C+
Fat City, A-
The Life & Times of Judge Roy Bean, A-
The MacKintosh Man, C
The Man Who Would Be King, A+
Wise Blood, C-
Phobia, F
Victory, D+
Annie, C+
Under the Volcano, A
Prizzi's Honor, A-
The Dead, A-

overall grade: B-

STANLEY KUBRICK: A
Eyes Wide Shut (1999) A+
Full Metal Jacket (1987) A+
The Shining (1980) B+
Barry Lyndon (1975) A+
A Clockwork Orange (1971) A+
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) A+
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) A+
Lolita (1962) B
Spartacus (1960) B
Paths of Glory (1957) A+
The Killing (1956) A
Killer's Kiss (1955) B-
Fear and Desire (1953) B-

P.T. Anderson
Hard Eight, B-
Boogie Nights, C
Magnolia, C+
Punch-Drunk Love, B

overall grade: B-


Wes Anderson
Bottle Rocket, B+
Rushmore, A+
The Royal Tenenbaums, A
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, B

overall grade: A-



Jim Jarmusch
Stranger Than Paradise, A-
Down by Law, A
Mystery Train, B+
Night on Earth, B
Dead Man, A
Ghost Dog: the Way of the Samurai, A-
Coffee & Cigarettes, B-

overall grade: A-

Terrence Malick
Badlands, A+
Days of Heaven, A+
The Thin Red Line, A+

overall grade: A+

WES ANDERSON: A-
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004) B
The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) A+
Rushmore (1998) A+
Bottle Rocket (1996) B+


JIM JARMUSCH: B+
Coffee and Cigarettes (2003) B
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999) A-
Dead Man (1995) A+
Night On Earth (1991) B-
Mystery Train (1989) B
Down By Law (1986) A+
Stranger Than Paradise (1983) B

The Coen Brothers
Blood Simple, B+
Raising Arizona, A
Miller's Crossing, A+
Barton Fink, A+
The Hudsucker Proxy, A
Fargo, A-
The Big Lebowski, A
O Brother, Where Art Thou?, A
The Man Who Wasn't There, A-
Intolerable Cruelty, B+
The Ladykillers, B+

overall grade: A



Kenneth Branagh
Henry V, A-
Dead Again, A
Peter's Friends, B-
Much Ado About Nothing, B+
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, D-
A Midwinter's Tale, B-
Hamlet, A+
Love's Labour's Lost, A-

overall grade: B+



Fred Schepisi
Barbarosa, B
Iceman, B-
Plenty, B
Roxanne, A-
A Cry in the Dark, B+
The Russia House, A-
Mr. Baseball, C-
Six Degrees of Separation, B+
I.Q., C+
Fierce Creatures, B-
Last Orders, A

overall grade: B



Michael Ritchie
Downhill Racer, B
Prime Cut, B+
The Candidate, A-
Smile, B+
The Bad News Bears, B+
Semi-Tough, B-
The Island, D
The Divine Madness, B
The Survivors, B+
Fletch, B+
Wildcats, C
The Golden Child, C-
The Couch Trip, B-
Fletch Lives, D+
Diggstown, B-
"The Positively True Adventures of the Alledged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom", B+
Cops & Robbersons, D-
The Scout, C+
A Simple Wish, F
The Fantasticks, D+

overall grade: C+

Holden, I'd be interested in seeing your take on Polanski's filmography.

David Lynch

Six Figures Getting Sick - F
The Alphabet - F
The Grandmother - D+
Eraserhead - F
Dune - C-
"Twin Peaks" - A+
Lost Highway - F
Mulholland Dr. - F

__________________
It's a god-awful small affair, To the girl with, the mousy hair, But her mummy is yelling "No", and her daddy has told her to go, But her friend is nowhere to be seen, Now she walks through her sunken dream, To the seat with the clearest view, And she's hooked to the silver screen, But the film is a saddening bore, For she's lived it ten times or more...

Robert "the robot" Altman:


M*A*S*H* +
Brewster McCloud
Images +
McCabe & Mrs. Miller
The Long Goodbye
Thieves Like Us
Nashville
Buffalo Bill and the Indians
3 Women
Quintet
Popeye
Vincent & Theo
The Player -
Short Cuts
Ready to Wear
Kansas City +
Cookie's Fortune
Gosford Park
A Prairie Home Companion +

TV:
The James Dean Story (television documentary)
Tanner on Tanner