Contemporary US directors
Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2019 9:51 am
I've copied a post I made in August 2017 on the old SCFZ forum.
I've altered and updated it a bit, but plan to do this more accurately in the upcoming months.
---------------
After an interesting discussion with Joks Deux I was thinking a bit more about the state of contemporary US-American filmmaking (which I think has been more or less dreadful over the last 20 years), and I tried to dig a bit deeper and see what I could come up with. And I got generally curious about those directors working in the USA today, who began to regularly direct during the last 30 years (as compared to older directors from the 60s or 70s or early 80s), and would really like to know what you specifically think about this "younger" generations of US filmmakers (some of them having started just a few years ago, some during the late 80s, some of them are in their 30s, some already in their 70s), what your preferences are and anything you might have to say about this topic. It's about directors of all kind, from all fields of filmmaking, be it experimental, in Hollywood, or short films with your friends and family.
------------
One thing:
This thread is about directors and the art of directing, so I'd appreciate it, if the focus of this thread stayed on that. For example I adore Bill Plympton, but I wouldn't call his directing outstanding (though it can be, at times), so I didn't quite include him in the highest category (though he's still one of my favorite filmmakers). Thus try not to go exclusively by the films themselves, their appearance as a whole and your enjoyment of them, but try to see it more from the isolated aspect of (your enjoyment of) the directing.
And we're talking about US filmmakers who worked in the US throughout their careers, so no Ang Lee, Roland Emmerich, or any Brits, Canadians or Australians.
But someone like Mel Gibson or M. Night Shyamalan would count, cause they did all their films in the USA.
I hope you get what I mean. It's about a specific economy, a specific market, about having to adjust to how films are made in a specific context.
Filmmaking and film funding in Germany is completely different. And in China as well. And so on.
------------
directors I seem to dislike
Chad Stahelski (2)
Damien Chazelle (1)
Jon Turteltaub (2)
Kelly Reichardt (3)
Michael Patrick King (2)
Robert Rodriguez (6)
Tom Ford (1)
indifferent - potential hack
Brett Ratner (4)
D. J. Caruso (3)
Jeremy Saulnier (2)
Roger Kumble (2)
Ruben Fleischer (3)
Sofia Coppola (2)
Todd Philips (3)
don't quite know what to think of them
Adam McKay (2)
Andrew Niccol (3)
Ben Stiller (3)
Bobby Farrelly (5)
Brad Bird (3)
Brian Taylor (2)
Bryan Singer (4)
Christopher Landon (2)
Clay Kaytis (2)
Darren Aronofsky (4)
Gary Ross (3)
J. J. Abrams (2)
John Lee Hancock (2)
Jonathan Mostow (3)
Jon Watts (1)
Lana Wachowski (4)
Lee Unkrich (4)
Lilly Wachowski (4)
Mark Neveldine (2)
McG (3)
Mel Gibson (3)
Noah Baumbach (1)
Paul Feig (2)
Paul Haggis (3)
Peter Berg (2)
Peyton Reed (2)
Quentin Tarantino (10)
Rob Zombie (3)
Tate Taylor (1)
Ti West (2)
Tom McCarthy (2)
directors I (tend to) enjoy
Alexander Payne (2)
Antoine Fuqua (4)
Barry Sonnenfeld (6)
Doug Liman (5)
Gore Verbinski (6)
James Mangold (4)
Joe Johnston (6)
Matt Reeves (3)
Michael Moore (4)
Peter Farrelly (7)
directors who interest me but I'm ignorant of
Adam Wingard
Alex Ross Perry
Benjamin Safdie
Charlie Kaufman
Chris Sivertson
Craig Brewer
Dan Sallitt
Evan Glodell
Hal Hartley
Jeff Nichols
John Hyams
John Cameron Mitchell
Joshua Safdie
Melika Bass
Michael Almereyda
Michael Keaton
Nick Gomez
Noah Buschel
Oren Moverman
Ramin Bahrani
Rian Johnson
Robinson Devor
Ryan Gosling
Scott Frank
Shane Carruth
unsure - only seen one (great) film
Alex Israel
Ben Affleck
Billy Bob Thornton
Brian Helgeland
Christian Gudegast
Dan Trachtenberg
David Lowery
David Von Ancken
Denzel Washington
Geremy Jasper
Greg Mottola
Harmony Korine
Howard McCain
Joe Carnahan
John Curran
John Gianvito
Johnny Martin
Jordan Vogt-Roberts
Kenneth Lonergan
Kevin Spacey
Lodge Kerrigan
Lucky McKee
Marcus Nispel
Phil Joanou
Richard Kelly
Robert Smigel
Sean Baker
Steve Buscemi
Terry Zwigoff
Todd Field
Victor Levin
Victor Salva
Whit Stillman
talented filmmakers whose directing I tend to enjoy
David Fincher (8)
David Mamet (3)
David O. Russell (3)
Ed Harris (2)
Kevin Costner (3)
Richard Linklater (5)
Ron Shelton (4)
Sean Penn (5)
Shane Black (3)
Todd Haynes (4)
Zack Snyder (3)
potentially great artists - need to explore more
Bradley Rust Gray (1)
Christopher McQuarrie (2)
Dan Gilroy (1)
David Jacobson (1)
David Robert Mitchell (1)
J.C. Chandor (2)
Julian Schnabel (2)
Kimberly Peirce (2)
Mark Pellington (2)
Michael Bay (4)
Ronald Bronstein (1)
Spike Jonze (2)
Tommy Lee Jones (2)
pretty great
Eli Roth (6)
Gregg Araki (2)
John McTiernan (7)
Wes Anderson (5)
exceptional
Bill Plympton (12)
James Gray (6)
M. Night Shyamalan (7)
Paul Thomas Anderson (8)
Vincent Gallo (2)
I've altered and updated it a bit, but plan to do this more accurately in the upcoming months.
---------------
After an interesting discussion with Joks Deux I was thinking a bit more about the state of contemporary US-American filmmaking (which I think has been more or less dreadful over the last 20 years), and I tried to dig a bit deeper and see what I could come up with. And I got generally curious about those directors working in the USA today, who began to regularly direct during the last 30 years (as compared to older directors from the 60s or 70s or early 80s), and would really like to know what you specifically think about this "younger" generations of US filmmakers (some of them having started just a few years ago, some during the late 80s, some of them are in their 30s, some already in their 70s), what your preferences are and anything you might have to say about this topic. It's about directors of all kind, from all fields of filmmaking, be it experimental, in Hollywood, or short films with your friends and family.
------------
One thing:
This thread is about directors and the art of directing, so I'd appreciate it, if the focus of this thread stayed on that. For example I adore Bill Plympton, but I wouldn't call his directing outstanding (though it can be, at times), so I didn't quite include him in the highest category (though he's still one of my favorite filmmakers). Thus try not to go exclusively by the films themselves, their appearance as a whole and your enjoyment of them, but try to see it more from the isolated aspect of (your enjoyment of) the directing.
And we're talking about US filmmakers who worked in the US throughout their careers, so no Ang Lee, Roland Emmerich, or any Brits, Canadians or Australians.
But someone like Mel Gibson or M. Night Shyamalan would count, cause they did all their films in the USA.
I hope you get what I mean. It's about a specific economy, a specific market, about having to adjust to how films are made in a specific context.
Filmmaking and film funding in Germany is completely different. And in China as well. And so on.
------------
directors I seem to dislike
Chad Stahelski (2)
Damien Chazelle (1)
Jon Turteltaub (2)
Kelly Reichardt (3)
Michael Patrick King (2)
Robert Rodriguez (6)
Tom Ford (1)
indifferent - potential hack
Brett Ratner (4)
D. J. Caruso (3)
Jeremy Saulnier (2)
Roger Kumble (2)
Ruben Fleischer (3)
Sofia Coppola (2)
Todd Philips (3)
don't quite know what to think of them
Adam McKay (2)
Andrew Niccol (3)
Ben Stiller (3)
Bobby Farrelly (5)
Brad Bird (3)
Brian Taylor (2)
Bryan Singer (4)
Christopher Landon (2)
Clay Kaytis (2)
Darren Aronofsky (4)
Gary Ross (3)
J. J. Abrams (2)
John Lee Hancock (2)
Jonathan Mostow (3)
Jon Watts (1)
Lana Wachowski (4)
Lee Unkrich (4)
Lilly Wachowski (4)
Mark Neveldine (2)
McG (3)
Mel Gibson (3)
Noah Baumbach (1)
Paul Feig (2)
Paul Haggis (3)
Peter Berg (2)
Peyton Reed (2)
Quentin Tarantino (10)
Rob Zombie (3)
Tate Taylor (1)
Ti West (2)
Tom McCarthy (2)
directors I (tend to) enjoy
Alexander Payne (2)
Antoine Fuqua (4)
Barry Sonnenfeld (6)
Doug Liman (5)
Gore Verbinski (6)
James Mangold (4)
Joe Johnston (6)
Matt Reeves (3)
Michael Moore (4)
Peter Farrelly (7)
directors who interest me but I'm ignorant of
Adam Wingard
Alex Ross Perry
Benjamin Safdie
Charlie Kaufman
Chris Sivertson
Craig Brewer
Dan Sallitt
Evan Glodell
Hal Hartley
Jeff Nichols
John Hyams
John Cameron Mitchell
Joshua Safdie
Melika Bass
Michael Almereyda
Michael Keaton
Nick Gomez
Noah Buschel
Oren Moverman
Ramin Bahrani
Rian Johnson
Robinson Devor
Ryan Gosling
Scott Frank
Shane Carruth
unsure - only seen one (great) film
Alex Israel
Ben Affleck
Billy Bob Thornton
Brian Helgeland
Christian Gudegast
Dan Trachtenberg
David Lowery
David Von Ancken
Denzel Washington
Geremy Jasper
Greg Mottola
Harmony Korine
Howard McCain
Joe Carnahan
John Curran
John Gianvito
Johnny Martin
Jordan Vogt-Roberts
Kenneth Lonergan
Kevin Spacey
Lodge Kerrigan
Lucky McKee
Marcus Nispel
Phil Joanou
Richard Kelly
Robert Smigel
Sean Baker
Steve Buscemi
Terry Zwigoff
Todd Field
Victor Levin
Victor Salva
Whit Stillman
talented filmmakers whose directing I tend to enjoy
David Fincher (8)
David Mamet (3)
David O. Russell (3)
Ed Harris (2)
Kevin Costner (3)
Richard Linklater (5)
Ron Shelton (4)
Sean Penn (5)
Shane Black (3)
Todd Haynes (4)
Zack Snyder (3)
potentially great artists - need to explore more
Bradley Rust Gray (1)
Christopher McQuarrie (2)
Dan Gilroy (1)
David Jacobson (1)
David Robert Mitchell (1)
J.C. Chandor (2)
Julian Schnabel (2)
Kimberly Peirce (2)
Mark Pellington (2)
Michael Bay (4)
Ronald Bronstein (1)
Spike Jonze (2)
Tommy Lee Jones (2)
pretty great
Eli Roth (6)
Gregg Araki (2)
John McTiernan (7)
Wes Anderson (5)
exceptional
Bill Plympton (12)
James Gray (6)
M. Night Shyamalan (7)
Paul Thomas Anderson (8)
Vincent Gallo (2)