[Senor Javi]

It has been interesting to see how people differ in their view of how many films they need to have seen/liked (or the director to have made) to be considered. Some people are even saying "I've seen four or five which isn't enough to rank" which seems crazy strict. Then again, I included someone who has only made one (Martin McDonough, though I threw in his short film as well) and at least two who have only released two (when I had filled out my ballot anyway). I think greatness can include potential as well for someone whose future is mostly ahead of them.

This is a big problem for me. How do you balance someone who only made a handful of films and was very consistent versus someone who made a lot of films with greater peaks and lower valleys? I am trying to quantify the films as much as possible by rating all of their films and then using a fancy math formula. Despite not really being a math guy, the results seem to be pretty good. The problem though is that it only really works with directors whom I've seen six or more films by. I'll have to figure something else out for directors that I've seen less than six films for, though the absolute minimum has to be four or five. I can't put Kenji Mizoguchi on my list on the strength of two films no matter how awesome Ugestu Monogatari and Sanshô the Bailiff are because it would reward him for my lack of a sample size.

[MartinTeller]

I can't put Kenji Mizoguchi on my list on the strength of two films no matter how awesome Ugestu Monogatari and Sanshô the Bailiff are because it would reward him for my lack of a sample size.

The solution to this is to do yourself a favor and see more Mizoguchi.

[Senor Javi]

I know, but I'm trying to cram for everyone and Mizoguchi isn't the easiest to find everything for  . Fuller, Almodovar, Huston, Curtiz, Boyle, Gilliam, Lubitsch, Cukor, and Cronenberg are all at five films and Mizoguchi, Murnau, Sirk, Kieslowski, John Sturges, Fleming, Tati, Renoir, de Sica, Jarmusch, LeRoy, Mankiewicz, Leigh, and Sheridan and at less than five. Unfortunately many of these guys will have to wait until next year.

[MartinTeller]

I like jrod's format with the # seen and favorite, so I updated my list (only the top 50 though):

1. Ingmar Bergman (49 - Scenes from a Marriage)
2. Satyajit Ray (36 - Mahanagar)
3. Alfred Hitchcock (36 - Rear Window)
4. Akira Kurosawa (30 - Seven Samurai)
5. Werner Herzog (38 - Aguirre, the Wrath of God)
6. Woody Allen (37 - Love and Death)
7. Luis Bunuel (29 - The Exterminating Angel)
8. Kenji Mizoguchi (17 - Ugetsu)
9. Ming-liang Tsai (11 - The Hole)
10. Francois Truffaut (23 - Jules and Jim)
11. Bela Tarr (10 - Werckmeister Harmonies)
12. Ritwik Ghatak (8 - Meghe Dhaka Tara)
13. Aki Kaurismaki (19 - The Match Factory Girl)
14. Emir Kusturica (10 - Time of the Gypsies)
15. Krzysztof Kieslowski (18 - Three Colors: Blue)
16. Robert Bresson (14 - A Man Escaped)
17. Peter Greenaway (17 - Drowning By Numbers)
18. Pedro Almodovar (10 - All About My Mother)
19. Wes Anderson (8 - The Royal Tenenbaums)
20. David Lynch (15 - Eraserhead)
21. Terrence Malick (4 - The New World)
22. Apichatpong Weerasethakul (7 - Syndromes and a Century)
23. Roy Andersson (8 - Songs from the Second Floor)
24. Anh Hung Tran (6 - The Vertical Ray of the Sun)
25. Orson Welles (12 - The Trial)
26. Jacques Tati (5 - Play Time)
27. Alain Resnais (11 - Last Year at Marienbad)
28. Federico Fellini (14 - Nights of Cabiria)
29. Kon Ichikawa (11 - Revenge of a Kabuki Actor)
30. Ermanno Olmi (5 - I Fidanzati)
31. Michael Powell/Emeric Pressburger (14 - A Matter of Life and Death)
32. James Lee (5 - The Beautiful Washing Machine)
33. Yasujiro Ozu (17 - Early Summer)
34. John Cassavetes (8 - A Woman Under the Influence)
35. Wen Jiang (3 - Devils on the Doorstep)
36. Mikhail Kalatozov (3 - The Letter Never Sent)
37. Douglas Sirk (8 - All That Heaven Allows)
38. Yimou Zhang (11 - The Story of Qiu Ju)
39. Stanley Kubrick (12 - 2001: A Space Odyssey)
40. Stan Brakhage (112 - Commingled Containers)
41. Nobuhiko Obayashi (8 - House)
42. Martin Scorsese (19 - Goodfellas)
43. Hiroshi Teshigahara (8 - Woman in the Dunes)
44. Anthony Mann (13 - The Furies)
45. Mohsen Makhmalbaf (6 - A Moment of Innocence)
46. Abbas Kiarostami (9 - Close-Up)
47. Howard Hawks (14 - Rio Bravo)
48. Victor Erice (3 - Spirit of the Beehive)
49. David Lean (8 - Lawrence of Arabia)
50. Mikio Naruse (7 - Meshi)
51. Michael Winterbottom
52. Masaki Kobayashi
53. Jean-Pierre Jeunet
54. John Brahm
55. Hayao Miyazaki
56. Anthony Asquith
57. Quentin Tarantino
58. Roman Polanski
59. Michelangelo Antonioni
60. Jacques Demy
61. Max Ophuls
62. Elia Kazan
63. Joel & Ethan Coen
64. Michael Haneke
65. Milos Forman
66. Frank Capra
67. Shohei Imamura
68. Buster Keaton
69. Louis Malle
70. Phil Karlson
71. Pen-Ek Ratanaruang
72. Carl Theodor Dreyer
73. Steven Soderbergh
74. Nicholas Ray
75. Agnes Varda
76. Fritz Lang
77. Sergio Leone
78. Francis Ford Coppola
79. Michael Curtiz
80. Otto Preminger
81. Carol Reed
82. Jean-Pierre Melville
83. Jacques Tourneur
84. Jules Dassin
85. Billy Wilder
86. Henry Hathaway
87. Robert Wise
88. Kar-Wai Wong
89. William Wyler
90. Takeshi Kitano
91. Jane Campion
92. Shunji Iwai
93. Joseph L. Mankiewicz
94. Andrei Tarkovsky
95. Jean Renoir
96. Leo McCarey
97. John Huston
98. George Cukor
99. Sergei Parajanov
100. Eric Rohmer


I'm noticing a lot of places where I could fine-tune the order, even near the top.  Ah well, whatever.

[FifthCityMuse]

75. Agnes Varda

Too low!

Also, is she the only lady present? 

[MartinTeller]

75. Agnes Varda

Too low!

Also, is she the only lady present? 

No, there's one other (Campion).  And I almost included Aparna Sen, but her last movie was pretty bad.

[FifthCityMuse]

Denis?

I complain, but I don't think I'll have many more on my list. Maybe Jamie Babbitt, if I can see and enjoy Itty Bitty Tittie Committee. Maybe I should make the effort to see more by Shepitko. And Gillian Armstrong. And Akerman. Wish Miranda July had more films, because Me and You... is awesome, but I don't think it's quite enough for me to name her as one of the best of all time.

Hmm, yeah. There's about 14 or so films by female directors on my recent top 100, but mostly it's examples where I've only seen one or two.

I see a marathon approaching!

[MartinTeller]

Denis?

I complain, but I don't think I'll have many more on my list. Maybe Jamie Babbitt, if I can see and enjoy Itty Bitty Tittie Committee. Maybe I should make the effort to see more by Shepitko. And Gillian Armstrong. And Akerman. Wish Miranda July had more films, because Me and You... is awesome, but I don't think it's quite enough for me to name her as one of the best of all time.

Denis - Only seen Beau Travail, didn't think all that much of it
Babbitt - don't know her
Shepitko - liked The Ascent and Wings, not enough to make my list
Armstrong - never seen any, but MBC is on my radar
Akerman - Can't say I love Jeanne Dielman, though it is fascinating.  Didn't like Je Tu Il Elle much at all, haven't seen any others (yet)

Mira Nair is another contender, but again... haven't seen much, and haven't loved what I've seen enough for the list.  Lucile Hadzihalilovic would totally be a contender if she did something else, but as amazing as Innocence is, I can't include someone on the strength of one film.

Others that could make the cut after I see more:
Sally Potter
Ann Hui
Catherine Breillat
Lynne Ramsay
Leni Riefenstahl
Mai Zetterling
Ida Lupino
Agnieszka Holland
Marguerite Duras
Věra Chytilová

[FifthCityMuse]

Denis - Only seen Beau Travail, didn't think all that much of it
Babbitt - don't know her
Shepitko - liked The Ascent and Wings, not enough to make my list
Armstrong - never seen any, but MBC is on my radar
Akerman - Can't say I love Jeanne Dielman, though it is fascinating.  Didn't like Je Tu Il Elle much at all, haven't seen any others (yet)

Mira Nair is another contender, but again... haven't seen much, and haven't loved what I've seen enough for the list.  Lucile Hadzihalilovic would totally be a contender if she did something else, but as amazing as Innocence is, I can't include someone on the strength of one film.

That's a shame about Denis and Akerman. I'm quite in love with Denis myself, and a massive fan of Beau Travail (number 4 of all time). I found JD powerful enough to see it twice in a year. Babbitt directed But I'm A Cheerleader. I don't think she's really a serious contender, but worth being a part of the discussion. Same with Shepitko. I've not seen anything by Armstrong either, but she has a strong reputation, especially here. I've only seen Monsoon Wedding by Nair, but yeah, she should be in the discussion as well.

Others that could make the cut after I see more:
Sally Potter
Ann Hui
Catherine Breillat
Lynne Ramsay
Leni Riefenstahl
Mai Zetterling
Ida Lupino
Agnieszka Holland
Marguerite Duras
Věra Chytilová

I've seen Song of the Exile, Morvern Callar and Daisies. I'd definitely feel those directors need to be in the discussion, and I'm keen to explore some of the others.

What about Barbara Kopple?

I feel like I'm more aware lately of how little avenue there is for female directors, and I'm really keen to explore what some of them have to offer.

[zarodinu]

I like jrod's format with the # seen and favorite, so I updated my list (only the top 50 though):

1. Ingmar Bergman (49 - Scenes from a Marriage) - Awesome and prolific director, though the correct answer to the best movie question is Through a Glass Darkly.
2. Satyajit Ray (36 - Mahanagar) - Watched nothing by this guy, will get to eventually.
3. Alfred Hitchcock (36 - Rear Window) - As I said before, lots of very good films, no great ones.
4. Akira Kurosawa (30 - Seven Samurai) - The Best of the best.
5. Werner Herzog (38 - Aguirre, the Wrath of God) - Love him, looking forward to watching more.
6. Woody Allen (37 - Love and Death) - Massively overrated, mediocre at best.
7. Luis Bunuel (29 - The Exterminating Angel) - Too weird for me.
8. Kenji Mizoguchi (17 - Ugetsu) - Only saw Ugetsu and Sansho, need to see more.
9. Ming-liang Tsai (11 - The Hole) -  
10. Francois Truffaut (23 - Jules and Jim) - Successfully avoided him thus far.
11. Bela Tarr (10 - Werckmeister Harmonies) -  
12. Ritwik Ghatak (8 - Meghe Dhaka Tara) -  
13. Aki Kaurismaki (19 - The Match Factory Girl) -  
14. Emir Kusturica (10 - Time of the Gypsies) - Only saw one film but loved it, need to see more.
15. Krzysztof Kieslowski (18 - Three Colors: Blue) - Need to check him out.
16. Robert Bresson (14 - A Man Escaped) - Again need to check him out.
17. Peter Greenaway (17 - Drowning By Numbers) - Booo!  Pretentious crap.
18. Pedro Almodovar (10 - All About My Mother) -  Good but like Alfred never amde a masterpiece.
19. Wes Anderson (8 - The Royal Tenenbaums) - Meh
20. David Lynch (15 - Eraserhead) - Yes, correct choice for best film.
21. Terrence Malick (4 - The New World) - No more tree porn please.
22. Apichatpong Weerasethakul (7 - Syndromes and a Century) -  
23. Roy Andersson (8 - Songs from the Second Floor) -  
24. Anh Hung Tran (6 - The Vertical Ray of the Sun) -
25. Orson Welles (12 - The Trial) - Yey, need to watch more.
26. Jacques Tati (5 - Play Time) -  
27. Alain Resnais (11 - Last Year at Marienbad) -  
28. Federico Fellini (14 - Nights of Cabiria) - Never got into him
29. Kon Ichikawa (11 - Revenge of a Kabuki Actor) - Win, need to watch alot more though.
30. Ermanno Olmi (5 - I Fidanzati) -  

Your list is a collection of directors I feel guilty for not checking out.