The Best Director

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RocketGeekInFL

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Since we how have a Best and Worst actor thread I figured I'd start a best director. A huge portion of the performance is the direction under which it comes.

My choices:

Steven Speilberg
Francis Ford Coppola
Stanley Kubbrick
George Lucas
Orson Welles
Quentin Tarantino
Martin Scorsese

Honorable Mention:
Frank Capra
Peter Jackson
Alfred Hicthcock
 
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Don't forget Alfred Hitchcock . . . let me also add David Lean and Martin Scorcese.
 
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I'm going to go with

Alfred Hitchcock as well but also:

William Wyler (Ben Hur)
Cecil B. de Mille

I would include George Lucas if a) he was more consistent and b) would resist the temptation to "tinker" with movies that we've already seen.
 
I think Hitchcock has to be up with the top IMHO.

I'd also add Clint Eastwood. And Ben affleck I think has potential to become a great director. Part if all time greats? No. But I think for the crop of younger directors he's up there.
 
Wow - even harder than best actor. Are we talking current or people who may have made some great contributions but whose films today would look a bit dusty.

Great contributors would include Fritz Lang, Hitchcock, D W Griffith, John Ford (even though I am not a fan of their films).

Great Directors would have to include Terence Malick, George Cukor, Howard Hawks, Akiro Kurasawa, John Huston, Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Francois Truffaut though I am not a great fan of some of their works.

My own favourites would be Kubrick, he was so inventive, no two films alike and David Lean for his superb craftsmanship and tight editing plus his ability to make it all look so easy. Both Kubrick and Lean exhibit the kind of craftsmanship that never draws attention to itself. I would find it hard to choose between them but on the basis that 'Lawrence of Arabia' is just about my most favourite film ever I would go with Lean if I had to choose.
 
My own favourites would be Kubrick, he was so inventive, no two films alike and David Lean for his superb craftsmanship and tight editing plus his ability to make it all look so easy. Both Kubrick and Lean exhibit the kind of craftsmanship that never draws attention to itself. I would find it hard to choose between them but on the basis that 'Lawrence of Arabia' is just about my most favourite film ever I would go with Lean if I had to choose.


Just think of the great actors Lean directed in just Lawrence of Arabia; Peter O'Toole, Alec Guinness, Omar Sharif, Anthony Quinn, and Claude Rains. Yes, Lawrence of Arabia is also one of my all-time favorite movies.

You should give Fritz Lang another look by watching M. Made in 1939, it's amazing how current the storyline plays.
 
Just think of the great actors Lean directed in just Lawrence of Arabia; Peter O'Toole, Alec Guinness, Omar Sharif, Anthony Quinn, and Claude Rains. Yes, Lawrence of Arabia is also one of my all-time favorite movies.
In 1989 I was dating a woman who was majoring in film at Boston University. She had never seen Lawrence of Arabia and a restored version was making the rounds on the big screen. While the credits were rolling, she was unimpressed with the actor's names you've listed but she lit up when she saw it was directed by David Lean.
 
Remember in 'Lawrence' Peter O Toole was a beginner - an unknown and so was Omar Shariff at the time. Its a fascinating movie for a film buff because so few all star epics ever really work and its thanks to Leans grip on proceedings that it comes off so well - well that and a killer screenplay. Lean did a fair bit of this stuff and its always interesting to compare 'Dr Zhivago' with 'Lawrence' - 'Zhivago' doesn't really come off and I have never really been able to see why - its almost there but it always seems far better in memory than in actuality (to me anyway).

If I had to pick a Kubrick running mate to 'Lawrence' for a desert island it would be 'Dr Strangelove' which I still find funny despite having seen the film a zillion times.

Sorry - blathering on here - film is one of my passions :) Forgive.
 
Of today's directors I would say Jim Cameron and Ron Howard. They are both money and rarely miss.

More historically, I like Mel Brooks, Hitchcock, Coppola, Blake Edwards, and Otto Preminger.


Mark Koelsch
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Terry Gilliam
Charlie Kaufman
Spike Jonze
Wim Wenders
Peter Greenaway
Kenneth Brannagh
Joss Whedon
The Coen Brothers
Bruce McDonald
Jane Campion
Jim Jarmusch
Michel Gondry
David Lynch
Ang Lee
Wes Anderson

Lots more, but these off the top of my head. I'm kind of a "film guy".
s6
 
Misery sucks. I like the Princess Bride- his second best work behind Tap.


Mark Koelsch
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