Top Directors List
I felt that my list is distinctly different than last year. I've been introduced to a number of excellent directors this year (Powell and Pressburger, Mike Leigh, for example). Thanks to the FS troupe who prodded me toward these wonderful films.
This year, I felt that I could only include directors that I have at least two four star films on my overall list, and they had to be distinct as a director-- I needed to be able to recognize their work. In the list below, I listed all five- and four-star ratings each director had. But, as is clear, a director can have a number of high-rated movies, but that doesn't necessarily make them a personal favorite. There has to be qualities of their films I personally enjoyed above others.
Finally, I gave each director a nickname that is a theme or style that is distinct in many of their films.
A. "I will watch every film" Directors
1. Hayao “Nature and Humanity” Miyazaki
Spirited Away, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Princess Mononoke, My Neighbor Totoro; Castle In The Sky; Howl’s Moving Castle; Porco Rosso; Castle of Caliostro; Ponyo
2. Krzysztof “Concept Film” Kieslowski
The Double Life of Veronique, Three Colors: Blue, Three Colors: White, The Decalogue, Three Colors: Red, A Short Film About Love
3. Terrence “Wheat and Trees” Malick
The Tree of Life, The New World, The Thin Red Line, Days of Heaven
4. Akira “Character Development” Kurosawa
Red Beard; Seven Samurai; Rashomon; Stray Dog; Ran
5. Joel and Ethan “Twist Reality” Coen
A Serious Man, Barton Fink, O Brother Where Art Thou, Raising Arizona, Fargo, The Ladykillers, The Big Lebowski
6. “Shake the Genre” Powell and Pressburger
A Canterbury Tale, The Red Shoes, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, A Matter of Life and Death, Black Narcissus
7. Gus “Arthouse” Van Sant
Milk; Elephant; Paranoid Park; My Own Private Idaho
8. Terry “Art Chaos” Gilliam
Tideland ;Brazil; Monty Python and the Holy Grail; The Fisher King; And Now For Something Completely Different
B. Great Directors-- At Least Some of the Time
9. Francis Ford “Heart of Darkness” Coppola
Godfather, Godfather Part II, Apocalypse Now, The Conversation
10. Steven “Popcorn” Spielburg
Schindler’s List; Saving Private Ryan; Close Encounters of the Third Kind; Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade; AI: Artificial Intelligence; Jaws; Raiders of the Lost Ark; Amistad;Catch Me If You Can; Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull; The Terminal
11. Christopher “Intelligent Twist” Nolan
Memento; The Dark Knight; The Prestige; Batman Begins; Following
12. Quentin “Grindhouse” Tarantino
Kill Bill, Pulp Fiction, Inglorius Basterds; Jackie Brown
13. Howard “Entertain us” Hawkes
His Girl Friday, The Big Sleep, Bringing Up Baby
14. Sergio “Wait for the Tension” Leone
Once Upon A Time In The West; For A Few Dollars More
15. Robert “Ensemble Cast” Altman
Gosford Park; The Player; A Prairie Home Companion
16. Ridley “Moody Action Epic” Scott
Blade Runner, Gladiator, Alien, Black Hawk Down, Kingdom of Heaven
17. Frank “Uplifting End” Capra
It’s a Wonderful Life, You Can’t Take It With You, Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, Arsinic and Old Lace, Meet John Doe
18. Charlie “Slapstick” Chaplin
Modern Times, City Lights, Limelight
19. Stanley “Intensity” Kubrick
2001: A Space Odyssey; Dr. Strangelove; The Shining; The Killing; A Clockwork Orange; Full Metal Jacket
20. Fritz “Underbelly” Lang
Metropolis, M
21. Orson “Angle” Welles
Citizen Kane, F is for Fake
22. Michael “Negativity” Heneke
Cache, The Seventh Continent, The White Ribbon
23. Chuck “Animated Animation” Jones
Duck Amuck, Rabbit of Seville, The Dot and the Line, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Horton Hears a Who!
24. Rian “New Kid On The Block” Johnson
Brick; Brothers Bloom
25. Kelly “Geared Down” Reichardt
Wendy and Lucy, Old Joy
26. Richard “Keep Em Talking” Linklater
Before Sunset; Before Sunrise; A Scanner Darkly; School of Rock; Waking Life
27. Rob “Timing” Reiner
The Princess Bride; When Harry Met Sally; This is Spinal Tap; A Few Good Men; Stand By Me
28. Carl Theodore “Saints” Dreyer
The Passion of Joan of Arc; Ordet
29. Spike “Black Power” Lee
Malcolm X, Let the Right One In, The Insider
30. Tim “Fantasy” Burton
Edward Scissorhands; Ed Wood; Big Fish
31. Wong “Play It Again” Kar-Wai
In the Mood for Love; 2046; Chungking Express
32. Michael “Real People” Leigh
Naked, Happy Go Lucky, Another Year
33. Clint “K.I.S.S.” Eastwood
Unforgiven; Gran Torino; Letters From Iwo Jima; Million Dollar Baby
34. Spike “Texture” Jonze
Adaptation; Where The Wild Things Are; Three Kings
35. James “Mr. Popular” Cameron
Terminator 2; Aliens; Avatar; The Abyss; Titanic
36. Paul “Shaky Cam” Greengrass
United 93; Sunday Bloody Sunday; The Borne Ultimatum
C. Directors I deeply respect but don't often adore
37. Billy “Who Knows What To Expect” Wilder
Ace In the Hole; The Apartment; Sunset Blvd; Some Like It Hot
38. Peter “Storyteller” Weir
The Truman Show, Master and Commander; Witness; Dead Poets’ Society
39. Guillermo “Monster” Del Toro
Pan’s Labyrinth, The Devil’s Backbone, Hellboy 2
40. Robert “Low Budget” Rodriguez
Planet Terror; Spy Kids; Sin City; Shorts; Spy Kids 3D
41. Alfonso “Shadow” Cuaron
Children of Men; Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban; Y Tu Mama Tambien
42. Alfred “Surprise” Hitchcock
Rear Window; Dial M For Murder; Vertigo; The 39 Steps
43. Steven ”Deadpan” Soderburg
sex, lies and videotape; Schitzopolis; Kafka; Traffic
44. Mira “Homeland” Nair
Monsoon Wedding, Mississippi Masala
45. Werner “Eccentric” Herzog
Grizzly Man; Fitzcaraldo; Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
46. Jean-Pierre “Quirk” Jeunet
Amelie, Delicatessen, Micmacs
47. Woody “Neurotic” Allen
Crimes and Misdemeanors; Purple Rose of Cairo; Zelig; Annie Hall
48. Danny “Edit” Boyle
Sunshine, Slumdog Millionaire, Millions
49. Pedro “Mother Issues” Almadovar
All About My Mother; Volver
50. Eric "Dialogue" Rohmer
My Night At Maud’s