It is criminal how overlooked that woman's talent is.

And how come nobody has yet mentione STEVEN SPIELBERG?!? Has this post been drenched in that Honey-Almond Glazed Mochafrappalatteccino sauce? Not only is he the most commercially successful director EVER, he has got to be the one most appreciated across all spectrums. He's like the Beatles of directors.


Here are some of my personal faves. These are the directors I would celebrate as having a deliberate and distinct directorial style that I admire. I have also included the films I am basing my opinion on:


Martin Scorsese (Raging Bull, Aviator, Goodfellas, After Hours, Age of Innocence, Casino, Taxi Driver)
Joel & Ethan Coen (Fargo, The Man Who Wasn't There, Barton Fink, Raising Arizona, Blood Simple, Miller's Crossing, The Ladykillers)
Woody Allen (Radio Days, Zelig, Annie Hall, Crimes & Misdemeanors, Bullets Over Broadway)
Robert Altman (Nashville, The Player, McCabe & Mrs. Muir, Kansas City)
Pedro Almodovar (All About My Mother, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Matador, Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!)
Ang Lee (HULK, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Brokeback Mountain, Sense & Sensibility)
Spike Lee (DoThe Right Thing, Mo Betta Blues, Malcolm X)
John Boorman (Hope & Glory, The General, Beyond Rangoon, Excalibur, The Tailor of Panama)
Stanley Kubrick (Dr. Strangelove, The Shining, 2001, Barry Lyndon, Full Metal Jacket, A Clockwork Orange)
Wes Anderson (Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums)...sorry, even though I liked the movie I found his style to be suffocating in The Life Aquatic w/ Steve Zissou
Quenton Tarantino (Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, Jackie Brown, Four Rooms vignette)


Here are some of my personal faves because I have an affinity for a lot of the movies they've made (where applicable):

Richard Linklater (The Bad News Bears remake, School of Rock, Dazed & Confused, Waking Life, Before Sunset)
Walter Hill pre-1988 (Warriors, Streets of Fire, 48 Hours, The Driver, The Long Riders, Crossroads, Extreme Prejudice)
Michael Ritchie (Wildcats, Fletch, The Candidate, The Bad News Bears original,
Zucker, Abrahams, Zucker (Airplane!, Top Secret!, The Naked Gun!, Kentucky Fried Movie, Hot Shots!)
Hal Ashby (Harold & Maude, Shampoo, Being There)
John Frankenheimer (Ronin, The Manchurian Candidate, 52 Pick-Up, Birdman of Alcatraz)....although his entire career might be negated for the simple fact that he ALSO directed The Island of Dr. Moreau
Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, Shooter, King Arthur)...yes, I AM THE ONE PERSON who likes Antoine Fuqua & King Arthur
James Cameron (Aliens, Titanic, Terminator, Ghosts of the Deep)

Here are some directors who have made movies I have liked a great deal...but I still find them to be piss poor directors, almost liking their films IN SPITE of their best efforts to fuck it up. And one of these kids is an out-right awful director:

Mel Brooks
Milos Forman
George Lucas
Kevin Smith