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Favourite Directors


Slaine mac Roth
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Quite simple, which directors do you think make films that you consistently enjoy.

 

For my part, I'm very partial to:

 

Peter Jackson, Tim Burton, Alfred Hitchcock, Sergio Leone, John Carpenter, Stanley Kubrick, Ridley Scott, James Cameron (pre-Titanic), Peter Weir, Robert Wise, John McTiernan.

 

How about the rest of you.

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Kubrick, Steven Spielberg, gaining respect for Clint Eastwood (Million Dollar Baby, Mystic River, Unforgiven)
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Some of my favorites are...

 

Steven Spielbergs - Too many to list!!

 

Jan de Bont - Speed and Twister (he's done more as the Cinematographer -filmography)

 

George Lucas - American Graffiti, Star Wars, Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace, Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones.

 

Robert Zemeckis - I want to hold your hand, Used Cars, Romancing the Stone, Back to the future trilogy, Forrest Gump, Cast Away, The Polar Express.

 

John Carpenter - The Thing, Escape from New York, Star Man

 

Ron Howard - Splash, Cocoon, Backdraft, Parenthood, Apollo 13, The Grinch, A Beautiful Mind,

 

Clint Eastwood - Too many to list!!

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QUOTE (Slaine mac Roth @ Mar 6 2005, 03:12 AM)
Quite simple, which directors do you think make films that you consistently enjoy.

For my part, I'm very partial to:

Peter Jackson, Tim Burton, Alfred Hitchcock, Sergio Leone, John Carpenter, Stanley Kubrick, Ridley Scott, James Cameron (pre-Titanic), Peter Weir, Robert Wise, John McTiernan.

How about the rest of you.

James Cameron - actually, I forgot to add him, The Abyss is great, as is The Terminator films and Aliens, but you did not like Titanic? For this was a huge undertaking for Cameron, he put all his eggs in one basket and his neck on the line to make this film as well and as accurate as he could. I was impressed by his work on this, his perserverance. I think the problems people have is with the acting part of it, well, it's kind of like Mark Hamil's acting ability in Star Wars, you can't let that bring the whole picture down, and you tend to lend all the acting credit to Ford, who of course, is excellent! Problem with the Titanic is there really was no "great" actors in the film. Only "great" everything else. I think Cameron did a good job on all aspect of the film but let the story of Jack and Rose be the substitute for their acting ability. The story of the Titanic was told well, and the attention to details was incredible. In my opinion.

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QUOTE (pinkfloyd1973 @ Mar 6 2005, 12:46 PM)
Some of my favorites are...

Steven Spielbergs - Too many to list!!

Jan de Bont - Speed and Twister (he's done more as the Cinematographer -filmography)

George Lucas - American Graffiti, Star Wars, Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace, Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones.

Robert Zemeckis - I want to hold your hand, Used Cars, Romancing the Stone, Back to the future trilogy, Forrest Gump, Cast Away, The Polar Express.

John Carpenter - The Thing, Escape from New York, Star Man

Ron Howard - Splash, Cocoon, Backdraft, Parenthood, Apollo 13, The Grinch, A Beautiful Mind,

Clint Eastwood - Too many to list!!

Prett much all these dudes.

 

Especially George Lucas.

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Spielberg is an obvious choice.

 

Martin Scorcese for how he portrays violence, and why people choose to be violent. More than any other director, he knows how to let camera moves and music help tell a story. Raging Bull and Goodfellas are masterpieces.

 

David Fincher has some of the same traits as Scorcese, but add to that the ability to creep you out and make you say "WTF????" A genius with camera moves, framing and shadows, his films look chilling and disturbing. You can tell you're watching a Fincher film just by the look of it. He's also very creative with editing, often planting subliminal messages into scenes. Seven and Panic Room are intense and gripping, and Seven has the rare ability to f*ck with your head and piss you off when it's over, then make you go back and watch it again.

 

Fincher was slated to direct both Mission: Impossible III and Batman Begins, but opted out of both. I can only imagine what he would've done with Batman...the dark tone is right up his alley. (But Christopher Nolan is a great choice, especially after what he did with Memento.)

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I don't know any by name. I guess they all are good in their own little way.
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QUOTE (Indica @ Mar 6 2005, 03:43 PM)
I don't know any by name. I guess they all are good in their own little way.

If you like the movie, then that's all that counts. yes.gif

 

The only director who bothers me is Michael Bay (Armaggedon, Pearl Harbor, Bad Boys). Quite frankly, he's a hack. Cool camera shots, but no clue as far as pacing, character development, or anything else needed to make a decent movie. The editing in Armaggedon was disgusting. The Rock is his only watchable film.

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Can I just put my hand up here and say how much I loathe Quentin Tarrantino. Resevoir Dogs was watchable but I found Pulp Fiction to be the most overrated film I have ever seen. I really hated it as it was an incoherent mess.

 

The one director I foolishly left off my initial list was Sidney Lumet - 12 Angry Men has got to be one of the greatest films ever made.

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QUOTE (Slaine mac Roth @ Mar 6 2005, 05:01 PM)
Can I just put my hand up here and say how much I loathe Quentin Tarrantino. Resevoir Dogs was watchable but I found Pulp Fiction to be the most overrated film I have ever seen. I really hated it as it was an incoherent mess.

 

While I agree with 98.2% of your cinematic assessments (no, make that 97.3%), I cannot disagree with you more on this one. Pulp Fiction became a Top Ten movie for me the first time I saw it, and it remains there after repeated viewings. Reservoir Dogs also is at the top of the heap for me. I find QT to be one of the most refreshing filmakers of this generation.....that said, he seems to have spawned an even newer generation of poor imitators. pokey.gif

 

 

 

trink39.gif

 

 

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My best favourite director is by far Stanley Kubrick.

Thr other ones are:Scorsese,Wilder,Eastwood and then I stop myself,otherwise I would go on for hours laugh.gif

I used to love John Woo's movies,but after his moving to Hollywood He lost his style.

About Tarantino I agree with Bastille Night.

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Steven Speilberg

Christopher Nolan

Wes Craven (Well, when he was doing "Nightmare On Elm St." kind of stuff)

George Lucas (Before the Star Wars Prequels)

Uwe Boll

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OK, so I'm kidding about the last one. The man needs to be banned from directing any kind of motion picture.

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QUOTE (Bastille Night @ Mar 6 2005, 10:20 PM)
QUOTE (Slaine mac Roth @ Mar 6 2005, 05:01 PM)
Can I just put my hand up here and say how much I loathe Quentin Tarrantino.  Resevoir Dogs was watchable but I found Pulp Fiction to be the most overrated film I have ever seen.  I really hated it as it was an incoherent mess.

 

While I agree with 98.2% of your cinematic assessments (no, make that 97.3%), I cannot disagree with you more on this one. Pulp Fiction became a Top Ten movie for me the first time I saw it, and it remains there after repeated viewings. Reservoir Dogs also is at the top of the heap for me. I find QT to be one of the most refreshing filmakers of this generation.....that said, he seems to have spawned an even newer generation of poor imitators. pokey.gif

 

 

 

trink39.gif

However there are those who say that Tarantino is merely an imitator of Scorcese. I'm not trying to pick a fight, I'm just saying.

 

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I think a lot of my problem with Tarantino is that a lot of his admirers, especially among the critics, tend to be so sycophantic. Their attitude is that he could do a 24 hour film of a tin of paint and it would be praised in the stratosphere.

 

I don't knock anyone who does like Tarantino and stays short of this over praise - he just doesn't do anything for me except gain admiration for some of his casting decisions (I mean, Smauel L Jackson and Steve Buscemi seem to be quite popular with him).

 

Personally, I prefer directors who havwe a more coherent narrative structure in their films (and by that I don't mean linear - I quite like David Lynch and David Cronenberg, neither of who tend to be linear in the construction of their films.)

 

part of my problem with Pulp Fiction is down to this. It put me in mind of the 'portmanteau films' that were popular with both Hammer and Amacus in the 1970s where five or six short narratives were put together to make one film (Asylum, Dr Terror's House of Horrors and The Monster Club being particular favourites of mine). The main thing about these films, however, is that they had a framing story to justify the inclusion of the individual segments in the finished piece.

 

To me, this was lacking in PF - unless I missed it beneath the constant barrage of foul language.

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My historic favourites are Stanley Kubrick and John Borman.

 

Spielberg is awesome sometimes. Peter Jackson is up and coming. And hit me if you want, but I like Kevin Costner's directorial skills.

 

unsure.gif

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A lot of good directors have been mentioned. I agree that all of them are great. However, I was surprised to see John Sturges hasn't been mentioned yet. His list of films is impressive: (the bolded ones are my favorites)

 

 

The Eagle Has Landed (1976)

 

McQ (1974)

 

Valdez, il mezzosangue (1973)

 

... aka Chino (France) (USA)

 

Joe Kidd (1972)

 

Marooned (1969)

... aka Space Travelers (USA: reissue title)

 

Ice Station Zebra (1968)

 

Hour of the Gun (1967)

 

The Hallelujah Trail (1965)

 

The Satan Bug (1965)

 

The Great Escape (1963)

 

A Girl Named Tamiko (1963)

 

Sergeants 3 (1962)

 

By Love Possessed (1961)

 

The Magnificent Seven (1960)

 

Never So Few (1959)

... aka Campaign Burma (USA: alternative title)

 

Last Train from Gun Hill (1959)

... aka One Angry Day (USA: alternative title)

 

The Old Man and the Sea (1958)

 

The Law and Jake Wade (1958)

 

Saddle the Wind (1958) (uncredited)

 

Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957)

 

Backlash (1956)

 

The Scarlet Coat (1955)

 

Underwater! (1955)

... aka The Big Rainbow (USA)

 

Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)

 

Escape from Fort Bravo (1954)

... aka Fort Bravo (USA: closing credits title)

 

Fast Company (1953)

 

Jeopardy (1953)

 

The Girl in White (1952)

 

... aka So Bright the Flame (UK)

It's a Big Country (1951)

 

The People Against O'Hara (1951)

 

Kind Lady (1951)

 

Right Cross (1950)

 

Mystery Street (1950)

... aka Murder at Harvard

 

The Capture (1950)

 

The Magnificent Yankee (1950)

... aka The Man with Thirty Sons (UK)

 

The Walking Hills (1949)

 

Best Man Wins (1948)

 

The Sign of the Ram (1948)

 

Thunderbolt (1947)

 

Keeper of the Bees (1947)

 

For the Love of Rusty (1947)

 

Alias Mr. Twilight (1946)

 

Shadowed (1946)

 

The Man Who Dared (1946)

 

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QUOTE (ChainLightning @ Mar 9 2005, 04:38 PM)
And hit me if you want, but I like Kevin Costner's directorial skills.

unsure.gif

POW!!!

 

tongue.gif

 

Just kidding. Well, Costner certainly earned my respect with Dances with Wolves...not sure about much since then, but still.

 

smile.gif

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Ridley Scott (Alien, Bladerunner, Thelma & Louise, Gladiator, etc.) by a country mile. I'd have to go with Clint Eastwood in second place. I have enjoyed every picture they have helmed.
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