I got tagged by film connoisseur Peter Eramo Jr. over at Magic Lantern Film to list 15 directors that have shaped the way I look at motion pictures. These are auteurs whose work I admire, even if I don’t necessarily go and see every single one of their films. Some of their work have defined my taste in movies and some are those that I could watch over and over again. The movie(s) next to their name is one of their films that stick with me the most, so here they are in alphabetical order:
- James Cameron (Terminator, The Abyss)
- George Cukor (My Fair Lady)
- Richard Donner (Superman: The Movie)
- Nora Ephron (Sleepless in Seattle, You’ve Got Mail)
- Curtis Hanson (L.A. Confidential)
- Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings trilogy)
- Ang Lee (Sense & Sensibility)
- Michael Mann (Heat, The Insider)
- Christopher Nolan (Batman Begins, Inception)
- Martin Scorsese (Age of Innocence)
- Ridley Scott (Gladiator)
- Zack Snyder (300)
- Steven Spielberg (Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade, Schindler’s List)
- Robert Wise (The Sound of Music)
- William Wyler (Roman Holiday, Ben-Hur)
Well, to keep the ball rolling, I’d like to tag five bloggers whose blogs I visit often, who haven’t taken part in this yet (as of tonight anyway). And as I haven’t done my Everybody’s Chattin‘ post this week, I might as well kill two birds with one stone š
- Fitz @ Never Mind Pop Film, who recently posted his glowing review of Buried
- Sam @ Banana Oil Movies, who just listed her Top Five Robert Downey Jr’s movies
- Andy @ Fandango Groovers Blog, who revealed his favorite vampire movie of all time
- Ronan @Filmplicity, read what he thought of The Town
- Andrew @ The Film Blog, check out his review of Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
Ok folks, don’t drop the ball, ok? And readers, feel free to share your own list in the comments section below.
FLIXCHATTER FILM BLOG 
nice list Ruth š Those are great directors, My favorites are among your list.
Thanks Nov. Yeah, I know you like Spielberg and Peter Jackson.
Oooh, pressure.
Oh I’m sure it’s easier than you think. Let me know when you got that up, Sam… but take your time š
It’s up. And you’re right, it was fun/easy once I got going. š
How about Marc Forster for: (hits, according to me, if not at the box office) Finding Neverland, Stranger Than Fiction and (a near miss, so I’ve heard) Quantum of Solace.
And on the quirky side: The Coen Brothers for (hit) Fargo, (funny, amusing) Burn After Reading and (too violent for my tastes, I’m sure) No Country for Old Men.
And lastly, the only one I would give to Woody Allen: The Purple Rose of Cairo.
Oh yes, Marc would be in my Top 20 for sure. And with Machine Gun Preacher out next year, he’ll probably make my top 10 as I LOVE the two movies you mention. Not crazy about ‘Quantum’ though.
I’m probably the only movie fan living in MN who aren’t too keen on the Coen Bros. Aside from Fargo, none of their work appeal to me. I am willing to give Miller’s Crossing a chance though, because of Gabriel Byrne. As for Woody, though I like Purple Rose, I abhor Scoop, and I haven’t watched enough of his films to say he’s wowed me.
I’m not sure i could list that many directors myself. Although i would probably include Guilmero del torro in my list
I’m sure Del Torro is in a lot of people’s list, but though I was impressed with Pan’s Labyrinth, it’s too violent and disturbing for me to love it. Hellboy was fun though, but not exactly groundbreaking.
Here are my favorite directors, in no particular order. I’ll just list my favorite films that they’ve done and I’ve seen all of their work. Yeah I know I watched too much movies.
– Steven Spielberg (Favorite films: Indy 1 & 3, Minority Report(the last 30 mins of this film were weak though), Munich)
– Paul Thomas Anderson (Favorite films: Punch Drunk Love and Magnolia)
– The Cohen Bros. (Favorites: Blood Simple, Fargo, No Country for Old Men, Miller’s Crossing, Raising Arizona)
– Paul Greenglass (Favorites: The Bourne 2 & 3, Bloody Sunday) His last film, Green Zone, was quite awful in my opinion.
– Quentin Tarantino (Favorites: All of his work, I’m a huge Tarantino fan)
– Stanly Kubrick (Favorites: 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, The Shining and Barry Landon)
– Martin Scorsese (Goodfellas, Taxi Driver, The Departed, Gangs of NY)
– Chris Nolan (Favorites: All of his work)
– David Fincher (Se7en, Fight Club & The Social Network)
– Terrance Malick (All of his films, I truly love this man’s work. I can’t wait to see Tree of Life, which won’t come out till next year)
I wanted to include Ridley Scott on my list but then I thought, I only really love one of his films and that’s Blade Runner.
Yeah you do watch a ton of movies, I mean YOU should be a movie blogger Ted š
Outstanding list, I think if I had seen The Social Network by the time I made this list I’d include Fincher too. Fight Club blew me away, and Se7en was disturbing but obviously memorable.
I will check out Badlands from Malick soon, it’s in my Netflix queue already. I’m intrigued by Tree of Life despite the cast, but surely it’ll look beautiful with him behind the camera.
I also wanted to include Michael Mann but he seems to be repeating himself in his last three films so I couldn’t put him on the list. I love Heat and The Last of the Mohicans. I’d recommend checking out his earlier movie, The Keep, if you haven’t seen it: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085780/
Very creepy and underrated.
Thanks for the mention and the link Ruth. I’ll have a few things pending at the mo but I’ll try to get on to that meme ASAP. š
Great Ronan, looking forward to reading it.
no Baz Luhrman in the list? š¦
My own list would include Luhrman, Tarsem, Shekhar Kapur, Snyder and Steven Sommers.
Baz would make my top 20, Dez, he’s a real visionary though I have not seen Australia yet which seemed to be getting mixed-to-dismal reviews.
Shekhar Kapur is the guy who did Elizabeth and Shakespeare In Love, correct? As for Tarsem, he could make my list once Immortals arrives š
No, Shekhar did ELIZABETH, ELIZABETH THE GOLDEN AGE and THE FOUR FEATHERS š
AUSTRALIA would’ve been better if Nicole wasn’t in the lead role. I generally like her, but she was just too plastic for this role.
Y’know, they should just get Naomi Watts instead of Nicole and the reviews might not have been so harsh.
oh, hell no, Naomi is even colder than Nicole and always has a blank face while acting, it’s not accidental that the two of them are best friends. They should’ve put Blanchet in Jackman’s arms :))
We have similar taste in directors. I’m just really, really GLAD you didn’t mention Ron Howard. His movies are technically good, it’s just there’s not much flavor to them. They make money but none of them are on my “must see” list. Good job!
Never crossed my mind to include Ron Howard, especially since he did those Dan Brown movies… no siree! I did like Cinderella Man though.
I love the inclusion of Wyler, Cukor and Ang Lee. BOO for Nora Ephron!!! Haha…
Oh come on, no booing on people’s opinion Peter… I respect yours after all š I like those two Nora Ephron’s movies because I generally don’t like rom coms but I love those two. Not saying they’re perfect films, but there’s something about them that are endearingly earnest and sweet, and they’re funny to boot. Plus, not only do I like the pairing of Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, both movies have a nice mix of supporting cast.
Awesome list! If I had more I would add:
Danny Boyle: Shallow Grave, Trainspotting, The Beach, 28 Days Later, etc.
John Huston: African Queen, Maltese Falcon
Roman Polanski: Knife in the Water, Repulsion, Chinatown, Rosemary’s Baby
Luis Bunuel: Belle de Jour, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeousie
Alfred Hitchcock: Rebecca, North by Northwest, Rear Window
Francis Ford Coppola: The Conversation, Apocalypse Now, Godfather trilogy
Sergio Leone: Once Upon a Time in the West, The Good the Bad and the Ugly, Once Upon a Time in America.
Fritz Lang: M, Metropolis
Werner Herzog: Aguiree ā The Wrath of God, Fitzcarraldo, Nosferatu
Your list is on a league of their own, Vince! I’m embarrassed to say I haven’t seen a lot of the movies you mention as I’m sort of just catching up on the Classics genre.
Tempted to blog this even if I wasn’t tagged.
Sidney Lumet
Michael Haneke
Lars von Trier
Woody Allen
Mike Nichols
Richard Brooks
William Wyler
Eliza Kazan
and seven other people, hopefully including some women and people from world cinema.
You should blog about this Paolo, now I’m tagging you! š It’d be nice to see the movie(s) from each director, too.
Thanks for the tag, Ruth!
Just to clarify that is Ben’s review.
Oh sorry, I should’ve paid more attention. Well, people ought to check out your blog anyway, regardless of who does the reviewing š
Let’s see… for me, five musts: Ingmar Bergman (Winter Light, Seventh Seal, Fanny & Alexander); Luis BuƱuel (Phantom of Liberty, Los Olvidados, Un Chien Andalou); Louis Malle (The Fire Within, Murmur of the Heart); Akira Kurosawa (Ikiru, Rashomon); and Alfred Hitchcock (Vertigo, Strangers on a Train).
Five Americans: The Coen Brothers (Lebowski, Fargo, A Serious Man); Martin Scorsese (Goodfellas, After Hours, Raging Bull); John Huston (Night of the Iguana, The Maltese Falcon); Buster Keaton (technically didn’t get the directing credit but may as well have- The General, Seven Chances); PT Anderson (There Will Be Blood, Boogie Nights)
And five miscellaneous: Carl Th. Dreyer (Ordet, The Passion of Joan of Arc); Francois Truffaut (Shoot the Piano Player, Jules et Jim); Jean Renoir (Rules of the Game, Grand Illusion); Allain Resnais (Last Year at Marienbad, Hiroshima Mon Amour); and Robert Altman (M*A*S*H, 3 Women, Secret Honor)
Honorable mentions for Spike Lee, Jacques Tati, Orson Welles (I need to see a lot more of his films), Fassbinder (need to see more), Edgar Wright (a guilty pleasure), Coppola, Godard, and Milos Forman.
Fab list, John. You’ve got an eclectic mix of classics and contemporary auteurs here. Ha..ha.. Edgar Wright would be a guilty pleasure too, having seen Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz.
Great list! Michael Mann and Ridley Scott almost made my list, but just fell short. Glad to see Scorsese and Nolan there though.
Thanks Corey. I can’t possibly exclude Nolan, he’s probably in my top 5 favorites.
Where’s Clint Eastwood?
I’ve only seen 3 of his movies, and only 1 of them I really like.
In No Particular Order with the exception of #1:
1. Stanley Kubrick (A Clockwork Orange, 2001, Dr. Strangelove)
2. Martin Scorsese (Goodfellas, The Departed)
3. Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings Trilogy)
4. Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz)
5. Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather 1 and 2, Apocalypse Now)
6. David Fincher (Fight Club, Se7en)
7. Coen Bros (Fargo, The Big Lebowski)
8. Tim Burton (Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, Edward Scissorhands)
9. Farrelly Bros (Dumb and Dumber, There’s Something About Mary)
10. Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future, Forrest Gump)
11. Trey Parker (South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut)
12. Steven Spielberg (Schindler’s List)
13. Christopher Nolan (Memento, Inception)
14. Quentin Tarantino (Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Inglourious Basterds)
15. Kevin Smith (Clerks)
Wow, first time I see Trey Parker’s name on this meme… well, I guess to each their own. Dr. Strangelove is tremendous, that’s probably the only Kubrick’s film I’ve seen though.
In no particular order.
1: Martin Scorsese (Goodfellas, Taxi Driver)
2: Werner Herzog (Fitzcarraldo, Aguirre)
3: Spike Lee (Do The Right Thing, Clockers)
4: Clint Eastwood (Unforgiven, Mystic River)
5: Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, 28 Days Later)
6: David Fincher (Seven, Fight Club)
7: David Lynch (Blue Velvet)
8: Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights, Magnolia)
9: Oliver Stone (Platoon, Natural Born Killers)
10: Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction, Inglorious Basterds)
11: Steven Spielberg (First three Indiana Jones movies, Schindler’s List)
12: Francis Ford Coppola (Godfather Part 2, Apocalypse Now)
13: Richard Linklater (Dazed And Confused, Before Sunset)
14: Coen Brothers (Fargo, No Country For Old Men)
15: Ridley Scott (Alien, Blade Runner)
Boyle and Tarantino would’ve made my top 20 with 28 Days Later and Basterds respectively. Great list!
Love the inclusion of Donner and Mann Ruth. Great picks. Also I really forgot about Stone so again, smooth choice.
I never got into Paul Thomas Anderson’s work. There Will Be Blood was too long and artful for me, perhaps I’ll try something else of his. Suggestions aside from Boogie Nights?
I forgot to list Lethal Weapon under Donner, a classic action franchise that’s fun to watch repeatedly. I even like Timeline though it’s not exactly a spectacular movie. I wasn’t impressed with Public Enemy but the two Mann’s movies I listed more than make up for that.
I haven’t even seen PT Anderson’s work. I’m intrigued by There Will Be Blood, but Boogie Nights, not so much.
You know what, Ang Lee is the man. He doesn’t nail it every time, but we need more directors like him and Danny Boyle who do something wildly different every time and more often than not DO nail it. Solid list, Ruth.
Thanks Aiden. Sense & Sensibility is such a superb movie it only takes that one to get Lee on my list.
Pingback: 15 Diretores (MEME) « Os Filmes de Brian
Yeah, Ruthie!!! Congrats on making The Hit List again!!! Awesome to see. Have been trying for weeks now. How you do it, girl???
Honestly, I don’t know Peter. I guess I must’ve been in one one of the staff’s good graces that my posts keep getting picked up. Just keep submitting your posts, I’m sure one of these days we’ll see yours on the hit list!
1 – Scorsese
2 – Nolan
3 – Aronofsky
4 – Fincher
5 – Coens
6 – Tarantino
7 – Francis Coppola
8 – Mann
9 – Cameron
10 – Spielberg
11 – Bigelow
12 – Kubrick
13 – John Ford
14 -Singleton
15 – Apatow
Awesome Fitz, but where’s the movie(s) list? Curious which Bigelow and Apatow’s movies are your faves.
1 ā Scorsese Goodfellas
2 ā Nolan The Prestige
3 ā Aronofsky The Fountain
4 ā Fincher Zodiac/Fight Club
5 ā Coens NCFOM
6 ā Tarantino Pulp Fiction
7 ā Francis Coppola Godfather
8 ā Mann Heat
9 ā Cameron T2
10 ā Spielberg Jaws
11 ā Bigelow Hurt Locker
12 ā Kubrick The Shining
13 ā John Ford True Grit
14 -Singleton Boys n the Hood
15 ā Apatow 40 yo virgin
(1) David Lynch (Blue Velvet, Fire Walk With Me)
(2) John Landis (An American Werewolf)
(3) George A. Romero (Creepshow, Dawn of the Dead)
(4) John Carpenter (The Thing, Halloween)
(5) Matthew Vaughn (Kick-Ass)
(6) Peter Jackson (LOTR Trilogy)
(7) Edgar Wright ( Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz)
(8) Mark Pellington ( Arlington Road, The Mothman Prophecies)
(9) Sam Raimi ( Drag me to Hell, Evil Dead)
(10) Dario Argento (Suspiria, Deep Red)
(11) Alfonso Cuaron (Children of Men, Prisoner of Azkaban)
(12) John Fawcett (Ginger Snaps)
(13) Guillermo Del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy 1-2)
(14) Tobe Hooper (Texas Chainsaw)
(15) Robert Zemekis (Back to the Future 1-3)
Well, well, well, someone like their horror films š It’s interesting how Raimi got his start in horror flicks and end up making one of the biggest comic book franchise ever. I was impressed with Vaughn’s Kick-Ass… looking forward to X-Men: First Class!
I’ve only listed the directors I consider to have explicitly influenced me as well as the specific movies they made that did the influencing.
1) Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will Be Blood, Punch Drunk Love)
2) Brad Bird (The Incredibles, Ratatouille)
3) James Cameron (Terminator 2, Avatar)
4) Joel & Ethan Coen (No Country for Old Men)
5) Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth)
6) Peter & Bobby Farrelly (Dumb & Dumber, There’s Something About Mary)
7) Alfred Hitchcock (Strangers on a Train, Vertigo)
8) Stanley Kubrick (Dr. Strangelove, 2001: A Space Odyssey)
9) Michael Mann (Heat)
10) John McTiernan (The Hunt for Red October, Die Hard)
11) Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away)
12) Martin Scorsese (The Departed, Gangs of New York)
13) Ridley Scott (Blade Runner, Alien)
14) Steven Spielberg (Jurassic Park, Jaws)
15) Quentin Tarantino (Kill Bill, Inglourious Basterds)
Martin Scorsese (Mean Streets, Raging Bull)
Terrence Malick (Badlands, The New World)
The Dardenne Brothers (The Child, Rosetta)
Eric Rohmer (Love In The Afternoon, Claire’s Knee)
Peter Bogdanovich (The Last Picture Show)
Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill Volume Two)
Woody Allen (Annie Hall, Crimes and Misdemeanors)
The Duplass Brothers (The Puffy Chair)
Lars Von Trier (Breaking The Waves, The Idiots)
Werner Herzog (Stroszek, The White Diamond)
Leos Carax (The Lovers of Pont-Neuf)
Clint Eastwood (Unforgiven, White Hunter Black Heart)
Ramin Bahrani (Chop Shop, Goodbye Solo)
Robert Altman (California Split, Nashville)
Sergio Leone (Once Upon A Time In America, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly)
and
The movie 25th Hour by Spike Lee.
Great idea. As much heat as he’s gotten from certain circles over Avatar Jim Cameron is a pretty unrivaled when it comes to action cinema. T2 is still one of my favorites. Anyways, not necessarily my favorite directors (though many are) but the ones who have influenced my taste in cinema the most:
1) Akira Kurosawa (Seven Samurai, Ran, Kagemusha)
2) Werner Herzog (Aguirre, Bad Lieutenant, a ridiculous amount of great documentaries)
3) David Lynch (Mulholland Drive, Blue Velvet)
4) Steven Spielberg (ET, Raiders, pretty much any of his pre-serious films)
5) The Coens (Fargo, The Big L., A Serious Man)
6) Frederico Fellini (Amarcord, La Strada)
7) Bong Joon-ho (Memories of Murder, Mother)
8) Bloody Sam Peckinpah (The Wild Bunch, Ride the High Country)
9) Martin Scorsese (Taxi Driver in particular)
10) Victor Erice (The Spirit of the Beehive)
11) Jacques Audiard (A Prophet, The Beat that My Heart Skipped)
12) Wong Kar Wai (Chungking Express, Ashes of Time)
13) Quentin Tarentino (Pulp Fiction, Inglorious Basterds)
14) Charles Laughton (Night of the Hunter)
15) Mamoru Hosoda (The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Summer Wars)
A lot of very popular picks along with a few oddballs. Herzog probably deserves to be #1, as Aguirre literally changed the way I look at film and Werner himself inspired me to write my own screenplays, but there are probably a dozen of Kurosawa’s films that I could watch an infinite number of times and never get bored.
What a fun list to make. Here’s mine:
1. Dziga Vertov (Man with a Movie Camera)
2. Gaspar Noe (Irreversible)
3. Takeshi Kitano (Hana-Bi)
4. David Cronenberg (Naked Lunch)
5. Micael Mann (La takedown)
6. Miike Takashi (Audition)
7. Alejandro AmenƔbar (Tesis)
8. Sylvian Chomet (The Triplets of Belleville)
9. Sydney Lumet (Network)
10. Vincenzo Natali (Cube & Cypher)
11. Tomek Baginski (Fallen Art)
12. Larry Cohen (Black Caecar)
13. Roman Polanski (Death and the Maiden)
14. Lloyd Caufman (The Toxic Friggin Avenger!)
15. Roger Corman (Everything the man ever did)
If you share tastes at all, I invite you to take a look at my own film blog at: http://www.cultcinema.net
Pingback: 15Ā DirectorsĀ Meme « Brown Okinawa Assault Incident