Favourite film director?

In my opinion film is, without a doubt "art", so to speak. I think this claim has to be shared by most, considering the amount of movie threads in "The Arts" section. However, nowadays it seems less and less movies can be considered art. The average person probably goes to the cinema quite often, but these events are usually purely for entertainment purposes. It's a shame, considering the quantity of great films that have been released over the past half-century.

I find it sad that people are put off by seemingly out-dated visual styles, namely black and white cinema, as arguably some of the finest movies were released in the 50s/60s when colour screen was still a rarity in cinema.

Anyways, I remember somebody saying that if film was an art, then the directors are the artists. Who are your favourite directors from the past fifty years? And which do you consider their best pieces of work? I'd consider the best film to be the one which most effects you emotionally, special effects meaningless.

At the moment I'm going through a Kurosawa phase it's a really difficult choice, but I'm going to have to say Yojimbo is my favourite film of his so far. Still haven't got round to watching Rashomon though, so that might take the cake.

"Michael Bay!"

I have a few but I really enjoy Ridley Scott's work.

Steven Spielberg and Saving Private Ryan. I know you mentioned not to talk about special effects and whatnot but this seemed to me to be the first film to actually capture what real war feels like. It's just so visceral, everything about the way it's filmed to the way bullets tear through men, not to mention the excellent sound effects. I can't think of a film since that has captured that visceral feeling.

Then of course we have the story of Ryan losing all his brothers, with a team being sent to find and bring him back, and each of their personal tales. It was Spielberg's finest work IMO.

Quentin Tarantino and Martin Scorsese without a doubt. I can't choose one or the other.

Originally Posted by Katsumoto

Steven Spielberg and Saving Private Ryan. I know you mentioned not to talk about special effects and whatnot but this seemed to me to be the first film to actually capture what real war feels like. It's just so visceral, everything about the way it's filmed to the way bullets tear through men, not to mention the excellent sound effects. I can't think of a film since that has captured that visceral feeling.

Then of course we have the story of Ryan losing all his brothers, with a team being sent to find and bring him back, and each of their personal tales. It was Spielberg's finest work IMO.

I agree. It might just be me but I find that films/tv produced after Saving Private Ryan have tried to copy that same visceral, realistic style. From Band of Brothers to Letters from Iwo Jima, they all try to replicate that perfect visual/sound impact that Saving Private Ryan achieved, although none come close, except for maybe Band of Brothers, which I'd highly recommend if you haven't watched it.

Not a band thing to try and replicate it of course, Saving Private Ryan's fricking amazing, I could watch it about two dozen times and not get bored.

Quentin Tarantino and Martin Scorcese

Quentin Tarantino is undoubtedly a great director. I find Scorcese to be a bit overrated though (HERESY!), not because of the content of his films, but because they all have too much in common, and I'm not too fond of his general style of film-making. Bringing Out the Dead stands out though, I loved that one.

I automatically associate Scorcese with gangster movies though, which isn't really my favourite genre. I'm not saying that his movies are bad, just a little repetitive. Awesome director though.

You seen Inglorious Basterds??

Originally Posted by Brain_in_a_vat

I agree. It might just be me but I find that films/tv produced after Saving Private Ryan have tried to copy that same visceral, realistic style. From Band of Brothers to Letters from Iwo Jima, they all try to replicate that perfect visual/sound impact that Saving Private Ryan achieved, although none come close, except for maybe Band of Brothers, which I'd highly recommend if you haven't watched it.

Not a band thing to try and replicate it of course, Saving Private Ryan's fricking amazing, I could watch it about two dozen times and not get bored.

Yeah, Band of Brothers came pretty close, which makes sense, considering Spielberg was one of the Executive Producers on that project.

In regards to Kurosawa, I really enjoyed Seven Samurai (although I had to watch it in two sittings) but Kagemusha was a bit disappointing. I don't know, it lacked 'fluidity' I think, personally I found it a little boring, even with my interest in samurai and Takeda Shingen. The Battle of Nagashino at the end was a complete let down, really looked forward to an amazing climax but all it ended up being was shots of the Takeda horsemen charging, the Oda gunners firing, and then a few shots of the aftermath. You don't even see the cavalry men being cut down by the arquebuses (as far as I recall).

Originally Posted by Katsumoto

In regards to Kurosawa, I really enjoyed Seven Samurai (although I had to watch it in two sittings) but Kagemusha was a bit disappointing. I don't know, it lacked 'fluidity' I think, personally I found it a little boring, even with my interest in samurai and Takeda Shingen. The Battle of Nagashino at the end was a complete let down, really looked forward to an amazing climax but all it ended up being was shots of the Takeda horsemen charging, the Oda gunners firing, and then a few shots of the aftermath. You don't even see the cavalry men being cut down by the arquebuses (as far as I recall).

Well battle scenes are not really what Kurosawa's famous for. There are other directors for that. By the way, I did notice that in his films, muskets always have a red muzzle flash. What is the cause of this and how (un-)realistic is it?

Ridley Scott for his historical epics.
Peter Jackson for Lord of the rings and District 9.
And Christopher Nolan for Inception and the Dark Knight.

Originally Posted by Brain_in_a_vat

You seen Inglorious Basterds??

Yes, enjoyed the hell out of it too. I'll concede that Scorsese may be a tad overrated, but he directed one of my favorite movies of all time, Casino.

Originally Posted by Brain_in_a_vat

Quentin Tarantino is undoubtedly a great director. I find Scorcese to be a bit overrated though (HERESY!),

I would say the opposite to be true, with Tarantino getting way too much love for often times taking artist licensing to the point of coping entire scenes from past films. Scorsese takes influences but makes the films he directs truly his own.

I'd also add David Fincher like others have as a current director who's often been very unique and imaginative, almost a signature style in films such as Fight Club, Se7en and Zodiac. Haven't seen Social Network yet, but so far its getting good reviews to the surprise of many people.

Oh my gosh. Favorite?!?. I can't say. I'll name a few that I really like. Clint Eastwood, the only movie he ever released that I was a little iffy on, whas Gran Tarino, and that was mainly because the 2 Asian kids where not good actors. If they were good actors that movie would of been a lot better. But besides that, films like My stic River, Letters From Iwo Jima, and Flags of Our Fathers, Invictus, Hereafter, Unforgiven, sooooo many movies it is unbelivable. I think he averages a movie every one year. Just typing all this I think I discovered he probably is my favorite . BUT there are some very very VERY highly respected honorable mentions. Scorsese, I don't even know what to say with him, pretty much every film is an excellent piece of cinema history. The Departed, Taxi Driver, Serpico. He is very good at getting that atmosphere, that feeling. You could almost FEEL the gloomy NYC at night, from a loners perspective. Very interesting. Then there is John Frankenheimer. He was always an "unsung hero" if you will, in my eyes. He never got the attention he deserved, like Spielberg and Scorsese do. Birdman of Alcatraz, Seven Days in May, with Kirk Douglas AND Burt Lancaster taking the stage simultaneously. He also did the original "Manchurian Candidate" which was an EXCELLENT film. He could really pull amazing camera anlges from thin air. Also Spielberg. Come on, do I really have to explain that? Catch me if You Can, Saving Private Ryan to name a few. Kubrick is probably my second favorite. His movies are so diverse, and it almost seems (to quote Spielberg) "You never get sick of his movies". Full Metal Jacket one of the best films of all time, Paths of Glory. Paths of Glory probably had one of the best, if not the best ending for a film in cinema history, and a looooooooot of people agree with that. Here is a link for it (it doesn't spoil anything about the movie)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3ifRA0Kj-8
Then, FINALLY, probably the man most important in cinema history, and also the man who was pretty much the reason for Sergio Leon's (another good director, loved his camera shots of long open landscapes, then very upclose face shots) Western Trilogy. If you are unfamiliar with Kurosawa, do yourself a favor, and rent, hell, even buy the damn movie, Seven Samurai.

Tarantino because of Pulp Fiction and Tim Burton because of Sweeney Todd. Also Stanley Kubricks because of A clockwork Orange.

Yes, enjoyed the hell out of it too. I'll concede that Scorsese may be a tad overrated, but he directed one of my favorite movies of all time, Casino.

I found it absolutely amazing. The amount of tension Tarantino can build using dialogue is astounding. I actually haven't seen Casino never got round to it I suppose.

Yeah, Band of Brothers came pretty close, which makes sense, considering Spielberg was one of the Executive Producers on that project.

True

In regards to Kurosawa, I really enjoyed Seven Samurai (although I had to watch it in two sittings) but Kagemusha was a bit disappointing. I don't know, it lacked 'fluidity' I think, personally I found it a little boring, even with my interest in samurai and Takeda Shingen. The Battle of Nagashino at the end was a complete let down, really looked forward to an amazing climax but all it ended up being was shots of the Takeda horsemen charging, the Oda gunners firing, and then a few shots of the aftermath. You don't even see the cavalry men being cut down by the arquebuses (as far as I recall).

Seven Samurai was a tad heavy for me. I had to watch it in two sittings, like you. Still a fantastic film though. Kagemusha is still on my list of films to see unfortunately.

I like many of Tarantino's older films, like Jackie Brown but Kill Bill and Inglorious Basterds were kinda dissappointing in comparison.

I admit Jackie Brown was utter garbage, but Kill Bill has it's own charm and Inglorious Basterds is on the same level as Pulp Fiction & Reservior Dogs in my opinion.

Interesting question but without any set of criteria it devolves to favourite movies rather than favourite directors.

Hmm, I suppose so. Perhaps you could base your choice on the height of brilliance the director has achieved rathert than mere consistency. Of course if the director makes consistently brilliant films then they're sure to be up there in the high rankings

I'm flabbergasted that the creator of "Black Rain", "White Squall", "A Good Year" and "G.I Jane" is considered a "good director" just because he made some pompous and confusing epics like Gladiator and Kingdom of Heaven or some war porn like "Black hawk Down".

Indeed, I've always considered Ridley Scott to be a sub-par director. The only piece of work of his that's worth a mention is Blade Runner, and even that lacks cohesiveness.

Is anybody a fan of David Lynch? Opinions?

I can't believe I left out Kubrick. Dr. Strangelove is one of my all-time favorite movies. He was a director who was truly ahead of his time. That's why he was so ill understood and why his movies were not popular when they were first released. 2001: A Space Odyssey even influenced NASA on how to design their spacecraft.

Originally Posted by Brain_in_a_vat

Is anybody a fan of David Lynch? Opinions?

I like him, I think his best work was Twin Peaks, but the films are good too.

I'm a big Sergio Leone fan and this thread persuaded me to get 'Seven Samurai' and 'Yojimbo', I've never watched any of Kurosawa's films.

So far, Kurosawa and Sergio Leone. I've seen several films from both of them, and they were all ver good. Some other directors are great as well, but their style or their typical genres do nothing for me. For example, Tarantino is a good director, but I don't really like his movies.

Spielberg and Ridley Scott

Danny Boyle is pretty good.

Current or past directors?

I couldn't really think of merely one though the likes of Jean-Pierre Melville, Michael Powell, Robert Wiene, Jean-Luc Godard, Fritz Lang and Alfred Hitchcock are up there. Though many many more.

Current

Paul Thomas Anderson, Coen Brothers and Guillermo del Toro.

Hitchcock, Scott, Tarantino are my three favorites as a dozen more whose works I enjoy far more often than not.