How many chances do you give a director?

When you're in the process of checking out a director's work for the first time and you don't think much of the first film of theirs that you see, how much more of their filmography do you intend to watch before you figure you can personally afford to dismiss the rest of their work?

I think for me it varies between two or three, though this will depend on how strongly I feel about the first film (and obviously the second) - after that point, it's just going to feel like hate-watching.

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Sounds about right, 2-3. There are exceptions, though, I’ve had cases where I’d hated one film and loved another. Generally I think it’s worth giving a director another chance.

The caveat you have about it being their first film is an important one, I think. I'm still out here giving Shyamalan chances specifically because I've seen what he's capable of.

Hard to answer generally, but probably two or three, same as you. It's pretty common for me not to think much of someone's first effort and go on to love their work. It's really unusual for someone to have a clear, brilliant, singular voice that early on, I think. And it also depends on whether anything seems to develop between the first and the second.

I feel like I should reiterate that I wrote "the first film of theirs that you see", which does not necessarily have to be the first film they ever made.

I don't know that I ever actually give up on a director, and the only exception to this is people who do things that I find so morally repulsive (either in their films or personally) that I don't want to engage with anything associated with them.

If I haven't liked 2 or 3 films from a certain person, it will take a lot of good word of mouth to get me to check out more of their stuff.

For me it depends upon the decade. If it's a movie done during the studio system era and I know the director didn't have enough clout to choose his own scripts, then the director won't really matter that much to me. But for newer movies which is what most all of you will be referring to, I would at least give three movies a watch before writing off the director. The exception would be directors whose styles I find reprehensible and or directors who constantly work in a genre I strongly dislike.

With all that said there are some directors who after watching only one of their films I have no desire to ever watch anymore of their work.

I should add that there's basically nothing a director can do, quality-wise, that will counteract good enough reviews, strong enough word of mouth, or (less than the other two things I just mentioned) an intriguing enough concept. Great reviews and great word of mouth trump pretty much everything.

Yeah, this is definitely a rule that can have exceptions but they would have to be very, well, exceptional.

It depends on how much I dislike their films, how well-received their films are, and whether some of their work seems like something I might enjoy, but I generally give them a few chances at least. However, this isn't always accurate either. I use GOAT lists a lot and my goal is to watch every film on those lists, so if I see a film from a director I'm not a fan of, I typically still give it a go.

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I definitely get pushing on through if it's for the sake of completing a "greatest films" canon or something like that, if only because it's like Yoda said and that kind of thing can potentially override your existing impression.

An alternative to the original question - what if you liked the first film you saw but not the second? Would it still depend on the third film or might you push on after that anyway?

I'd likely find it easier to push on. However, if it's a case like Duncan Jones, who started off his career really well but got progressively worse over time, that may impact whether I give a director another chance.

Heh, yeah, there's definitely all those examples of promising directors who flamed out hard. I still find myself watching Kevin Smith's new films even as I become more and more convinced that Clerks is the only decent one he ever made.

Depends. Sometimes only one, sometimes three. And then I might give myself 5 years off his work, or so, and then get back to it to find out I started loving his work or at least appreciating it!

But when all my friends cream over a director, then I'd maybe even watch all of his films, really trying to understand why they love him, often to just end up frustrated and saying he's just not for me and never will be. But then there's another chance after a rewatch 5 years from now, right?

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Look, I'm not judging you - after all, I'm posting here myself, but maybe, just maybe, if you spent less time here and more time watching films, maybe, and I stress, maybe your taste would be of some value. Just a thought, ya know.

So for you it's a matter of revisiting a given film more so than trying a different one?

It's mostly trying a new one but sometimes there's that well-received film you want to rewatch, specifically.

Even if a director doesn’t “work” for me, I try not judge them based off of one or even a few films. I try to watch as many of their films as available because it’s gives one a better sense of their work.

Fulci, for example, is a director who hasn’t worked for me at all. He’s not terrible, per se, but his gore doesn’t interest me. Even so, I’ll return to him each year and watch a film or two.

Cassavetes is another, I didn’t care for A Woman Under the Influence and thought The Killing of a Chinese Bookie was ok. The latter needs a rewatch, since it been about a decade or so. I’ll watch Husbands, Faces, Shadows and Gloria soon. He may be a director who doesn’t work for me, but it isn’t something I can determine after one film.

Miike. His films are all over the place for me. I’ve watched about a dozen or so of his films thus far. They range from great (Audition) to really good (Blade of the Immortal) to mediocre (Harakiri remake, where he completely misses the point of the original) to bad (Zebraman, Ichi the Killer).

Paul Verhoeven is another, but I really should watch his early Dutch films pre Robocop.

There are directors I gravitate to, but none I avoid for any reason including making films I didn't like.