Social Friday: Who is your favorite director and why? (Updates today)
Posted Friday, August 28, 2009 at 10:26 AM Central
by John Couture
Directors. They are often the unsung heroes of a movie, or the very reason we enter the theater in the first place. Some directors are nameless, faceless beings that fill a necessary role in a movie's production.
While others like Hitchcock, Spielberg, Allen and Tarantino can instantly communicate to you what the movie you're about to see is going to be all about.
I was never more reminded of this than yesterday when I posted the story of the Inception trailer. Christopher Nolan is easily my favorite new director and with each masterpiece he releases, he quickly climbs up the all-time charts.
His movies have a way of making you think while stimulating all of your senses. Last weekend, Quentin Tarantino debuted his latest opus Inglourious Basterds to an approving crowd and continued his legacy.
What makes a director great? What defines a director? Who are your favorite directors and why? These are the questions that we hope to answer in today's Social Friday
Update #1
He hasn't made a ton of films yet, but James Wan has already proven to me, back-to-back, that he understands what horror/thriller fans really want. From Saw to Dead Silence, Death Sentence and even the new Saw video game, Wan hasn't exploited his own talents to appease studios. These are all unique stories in their own right, and they only serve to excite me for what's to come from this multi-talented director/producer/writer.
--Matthew from Denver, NC
James Wan is a good selection. He's definitely and up-and-comer to keep an eye on. His breadth of work isn't there yet, but it's only a matter of time.
Update #2
My Favorite Director Hmmmmm.... Thats a hard one i am torn between two Chritopher Nolan Or Tim Burton. Both seem to have the ability to make movies believeable even with iffy scripts. They take what they read in a script and they both create masterpieces with set design and actors, and both did a Batman Movie. Though Christopher Nolan did a better one.
--Jeff from Muskegon, MI
I always enjoy everything that Tim Burton puts on the screen. He is perhaps the most visually distinctive director out there and I love his gothic and macabre themes.
It is a tough call between them. I think Burton gets the nod for now simply on the amount of work, but Nolan isn't far behind and may surpass him soon.
Update #3
Hey guys. Great topic and so hard to call. Everytime I think I have a favorite, someone else pops in my head. I love most of Tarantino's work especially Pulp Fiction and the Kill Bill masterpiece. I love every movie Kevin Smith has made, although I think Dogma is kind of a mess. I would be remiss to not mention John Hughes, even though he's gotten a lot of social Friday time lately, but if I had to pick just one, for me, it would have to be Ridley Scott, simply because while a lot of Directors can do one genre very well, Ridley does them all masterfully. For horror, you have one of the top five horror movies of all time, and my personal Scott favorite, "Alien", He knows how to make blockbuster action in "Gladiator". He made one of the biggest cult sci-fi flics of all-time in "Bladerunner". About the only thing we haven't seen him do is romantic comedy, probably because he would have more guys in the theatre than women, and, let's face it, that would be very creepy! ! If I had a movie to make and I had to choose between Cameron and Ridley Scott, I'd take Scott every time. Have a great weekend guys!Ridley Scott is surely up there and he is quite masterful in any genre. Kevin Smith and John Hughes are/were directors that carved out a very lucrative niche and mined it for all it was worth. I can't see Kev directing a big action movie or laying down the law on a musical, but when it comes to dick and farts jokes, he's top notch!
--Eric from Gardner, KS
Update #4
My favoriate directors are Judd Apatow because I don't think I've ever seen a film with so much filth and sex and rauchiness still have SO much heart. And also I love the Coen brothers. No Country For Old Men is one of my favoriate movies of 2007
--J.B. from Parts Unknown
The Coen brothers are another prolific and impressive directing duo. They always tell human stories with a twist of the unusual. Their plain storytelling and stripped-down style really add a sense of realism to their movies.
This could explain why every so often some poor person freezes to death searching for the Fargo money.
Update #5
I feel a director is defined by his style. This is why my favorite directors are Quentin Tarantino and Kevin Smith. These two directors can do so much with a running time, simply by filling it with dialogue and very little action. I was really impressed with Inglourious Basterds. It marked a great return to form for Tarantino, more than making up for Death Proof. (I liked DP, but I felt that it could've been about 20 minutes shorter.)That's also why I love Kevin Smith's movies. Not just the films that take place in his Askewniverse. I have immense respect for Jersey Girl and Zack & Miri Make a Porno. I'm eagerly awaiting his next film A Couple of Dicks.
Awesome topic, as always. Have a good weekend.
--Shane from NC
I was never really a dialog guy until I saw Clerks on the big screen in college, followed shortly thereafter by Pulp Fiction. In many ways, these two movies really developed a sense of calling that directed what I wanted to do with my life.
Update #6
Hitchcock, nobody does suspense on a low budget like him
--Matt from Langhorne, PA
You really can't go wrong with Alfred Hitchcock. He made some of the best movies, big or large budgeted. He was certainly distinctive and I like the fact that he found a way to work himself into each of his movies (or most of them).
Update #6
Akira Kurosawa...man was a genius, period...
--R.T. from Warrenton, NC
I can't really add anything else to that except to say that R.T. has a great point. And that Social Friday is over! Thanks for all the comments, see ya next week!