Author Topic: 1SO vs. All the Directors  (Read 85504 times)

1SO

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1SO vs. All the Directors - Stanley Kubrick
« Reply #220 on: January 25, 2018, 12:39:13 AM »
While I continue with Jean-Pierre Melville...

#56. Stanley Kubrick Ranked List

Can't believe it took this long to start a Kubrick thread. Arguably on every movie website where directors are discussed the #1 slot is either Hitchcock or Kubrick. This is usually where I say something about a great director being overrated, but Kubrick is in my Top 5 (with Hitchcock, Leone, Kurosawa and Billy Wilder). It's just Dr. Strangelove and The Shining I don't like as much as most, and my problem is with the screenplays, not the direction.

I haven't seen Fear and Desire, and even with a proper DVD release I still don't want to. Instead, I'm going to use this opportunity to rewatch Eyes Wide Shut, something I've been wanting to do, been talking about doing for 18 years.

DarkeningHumour

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Re: 1SO vs. All the Directors
« Reply #221 on: January 25, 2018, 08:42:37 AM »
Top 5 with only 3 teals and a bunch of lime greens?
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MartinTeller

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Re: 1SO vs. All the Directors
« Reply #222 on: January 25, 2018, 09:33:23 AM »
Top 5 with only 3 teals and a bunch of lime greens?

I find this curious too. Also that none of your "top 5" directors appear in your top 25 movies. Do you judge directors on criteria besides their output?

DarkeningHumour

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Re: 1SO vs. All the Directors
« Reply #223 on: January 25, 2018, 09:39:04 AM »
Maybe their beards?
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1SO

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Re: 1SO vs. All the Directors
« Reply #224 on: January 25, 2018, 10:50:54 AM »
Also that none of your "top 5" directors appear in your top 25 movies. Do you judge directors on criteria besides their output?
Yes. I hate the belief that the best movie is the best directed movie, as if the two are one and the same. I’ve seen plenty of great directors who filmed bad scripts or great actors and crew working for a bad director. You can argue that the poorly structured Full Metal Jacket with the aimless middle is Kubrick’s fault, but the direction of the individual scenes and sequences is consistently captivating.

Takeshi Kitano’s films up through Zatoichi are some of my favorites in terms of direction, but the overall films vary wildly in quality.

Casablanca is Michael Curtiz’s best film, but Captain Blood and The Adv. of Robin Hood are better directed.

James Cameron is my favorite director working today. While his scripts have grown increasingly problematic, and he does bear some responsibility for that, but the way he chooses to film those scripts are jaw dropping.


And 3 Teal puts him in a very small group. I don’t have the stats but I think Wilder, Kubrick and maybe Spielberg have the most number of Essentials.

DarkeningHumour

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Re: 1SO vs. All the Directors
« Reply #225 on: January 25, 2018, 12:13:06 PM »
Casablanca is Michael Curtiz’s best film, but Captain Blood and The Adv. of Robin Hood are better directed.

Nope. Nah hah. No way.

Is teal **** and above?
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1SO

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Re: 1SO vs. All the Directors
« Reply #226 on: January 25, 2018, 12:22:33 PM »
I stopped trying to be precise but Teal are most of my Essentials which includes 3.5 stars. The 3 teal Kubrick are...
26. A Clockwork Orange
98. The Killing
130. Paths of Glory

1SO

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Re: 1SO vs. All the Directors - Atom Egoyan
« Reply #227 on: January 28, 2018, 08:49:52 AM »
My Jean-Pierre Melville retrospective is up to Le Deuxieme Souffle.


#57. Atom Egoyan Ranked List

Interesting to see Egoyan again. In the 90s, he was ready to become a major name in filmmaking with The Adjuster, Exotica and The Sweet Hereafter. Then he steadily dropped off into obscurity. I wasn't even sure he was still making movies until I updated the poll, which is a mess. (Please, let's never start with a director's most recent film and then build backwards.)

I haven't seen an Egoyan film since Felicia's Journey (1999), and I'm not that interested either. So, I'll probably look at something from early in his career, Family Viewing and/or Next of Kin.
« Last Edit: January 28, 2018, 08:56:44 AM by 1SO »

1SO

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1SO vs. All the Directors - Oliver Stone
« Reply #228 on: January 29, 2018, 12:12:36 AM »
Jean-Pierre Melville retrospective:
I started Le Deuxieme Souffle only to quickly realize I had just watched it. (Last November according to ICM.) So, I'm going to watch Le Samouraï before bed.


#58. Oliver Stone Ranked List

Incredible to believe Stone was once a favorite of mine. I got on board with Salvador and Platoon in 1986 and the last of his films I watched in the theater was Any Given Sunday in 1999. (Everything in between I saw on the big screen.) I don't know if Alexander broke him, though that seemed like a disaster from its inception, but World Trade Center was bland filmmaking from someone who was experimental and daring up to then. I may be mixed on the content and presentation of Natural Born Killers, but it's one of the best shot and edited films ever made. That's what I miss most from Stone, his aggressive editing.


I want to see one of the later films, and I posted a question between Savages and W. (I have little interest in Money Never Sleeps or Snowden.) I also want to see The Hand (1981). I'm expecting nothing, but it's a Horror film and it stars Michael Caine.
« Last Edit: January 29, 2018, 12:16:47 AM by 1SO »

MartinTeller

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Re: 1SO vs. All the Directors
« Reply #229 on: January 29, 2018, 09:47:26 AM »
There was a brief time in my college years when Talk Radio was one of my FAVORITE movies. For the life of me I don't know why. Maybe I just liked Bogosian's verbal rhythms.

It was around the same time I was a big fan of The Dark Backward. Ugh.