The Criterion Collection

[shadedpain4]

Originally Posted by joy-division

I know them because of Bound

My fave directors, in no order are

PTA
Wes Anderson
Cronenberg
Danny Boyle
Edgar Wright
Chris Nolan
Steve McQueen
Scorsese
Fincher
The Coens

Demme would've made this list a few months ago

Bay may be one of the most well known directors but for all the wrong reasons. More like infamous

Never been that much a Spielberg fan

Is it a coincidence that all your favorite directors make English language films, or do you specifically not enjoy directors that make films in other languages?

[scottpcusa]

Ordered a copy of Good Morning for $14.90 on Amazon because I got a $10 credit reward for signing into the app with my account for the first time. That brings down the amount I'm projected to spend at B&N next week! It's the first Ozu film in my collection! I'm looking forward to watching it again!

[cakefactory]

Originally Posted by Doctor Jack

Aliens and True Lies are Terminator mixed with water?

Don't engage, that guy's trying way too hard to be edgy and contrarian to want to discuss that in good faith.

Speaking of papers on Michael Bay, though, I once spent an afternoon reading a hilarious longform essay about the first three Transformers films before even seeing them. It's over 400 pages long. A ton of it is just pictures, fortunately.

https://www.scribd.com/doc/210677266...formers-movies

I read it before having seen any of them, it was probably more entertaining than the movies. The author makes fun of them constantly but makes clear he sort of likes them (as you can tell from the title).

[javy]

Originally Posted by mja345

It's surprising how little a lot of people know about most topics in general. Even a lot of reasonably intelligent people tend not to have a lot of curiosity. Spielberg definitely would win this. I'd say he'd be the only sure thing along with Tarantino. Scorsese is very famous among film enthusiasts obviously, but I'll bet a lot of people know his most famous films more than they are aware of him or his body of work. There's very little chance most non-film buffs would have any idea who Paul Thomas Anderson or David Lynch is. As sad as it is to say, I'd guess Michael Bay is probably the third most famous living director among non-film fans after Spielberg and Tarantino.

I was talking with a friend the other day about Goodfellas and our mutual love for it. I asked her if she had seen Scorsese's Silence yet. She said she had not heard of it. Then she said "didn't Scorsese direct Scarface?" I wanted to give her a dirty look. But I reminded myself not everyone has to know what I know, because shoot, there's a hell of a lot I don't know. And on Paul Thomas Anderson, whenever someone mentions a Adam Sandler movie I ask, "ever seen Punch Drunk Love?" I usually get a "no" or "yeah, I didn't like it, it was wierd". But that's ok too. Then we pop in some Michael Bay. I'm not a Bay hater. I love Bad Boys II and I dig The Island .

[StarDestroyer52]

Originally Posted by moviflicilm

The movie stars overshadow him, though you can say that about any other director, which is why we're having this discussion.

One filmmaker that should be added to that famous deceased list is Stanley Kubrick. His films still penetrate pop culture.

Yeah, the only one I can think of where that isn't true is Chaplin. He basically was the star, director, producer, composer of all of his films.

[moviflicilm]

Originally Posted by mja345

Oh, I'd definitely say Bay is more well-known than Nolan. Nolan has made a lot of high-profile films, but he's a pretty nondescript guy. Obviously, he has his cult that worships him, but I doubt most people walking down the street could tell you what Christopher Nolan does for a living. You have to keep in mind that even the fans of really mainstream stuff that you see on non-film sites still know more than 95% of the population about film. The hardcore cinephiles on here and other film forums represent about 0.00001% of the population in terms of film geekery.

Among the youth I think Nolan name holds statue among them. If you went up and ask anyone from 16-35 who Christopher Nolan was most would say he was the director of the Batman films/Inception. With Dunkirk coming out in two weeks it would be testament to see how his name pulls in audience, as this film has no A-list stars, much less bankable genre. Bay name is synonymous with braindead action flicks, so that gives him recognition from audiences. The same is true with Scorsese name being associated with gangsters, who I'd argue is more famous then Bay.


One name that hasn't been brought up yet: Tyler Perry. Works in front of the camera, has a large following that largely exists outside of film geeks in America. However, his films don't travel well overseas, so that cuts him up out of the equation.

[joy-division]

Originally Posted by UncleBuckWild

Rudeeeeeeee! You've just insulted the master!

I don't care for his personal life! 5 wives? Phew! That's kinda ghetto for Hollywood.

Successful directors are a-holes, no doubt... but you can't discredit their work based on their personal attitude/temperament.

Besides, if your heart doesn't melt everytime Titanic comes on telly, you my friend are an alien to me.

Personal life aside, his films do zip for me. Titanic once was definitely more than enough for me & don't even get me started on Jar Jar binks' mother/ Ann Coulter's sister

Both Titanic & Avatar are massive steaming piles of dung

[thatguamguy]

Originally Posted by belcherman

I think if you polled movie-goers coming out of your local cineplex and asked them, "hey, who was the director of the movie you just saw?", most of them wouldn't know and wouldn't care. It's not a big deal to most people.

Joe Queenan actually did this back in the late '80's or early '90's. As I remember it, Spielberg was the only person who more than one filmgoer named. He did it for all different movies, from mainstream stuff (where he assumed nobody would know John McTiernan) to arthouse theaters, and nobody knew anything. Nobody cared.

That said, I think that M. Night Shyamalan belongs on the "famous directors" list, moreso than most of the people being discussed. His name may not be viewed as positive, but average everyday filmgoers are aware of who he is. Wes Anderson might be there too, he was at least famous enough to star in a credit card commercial.

[javy]

Originally Posted by joy-division

I know them because of Bound

My fave directors, in no order are

PTA
Wes Anderson
Cronenberg
Danny Boyle
Edgar Wright
Chris Nolan
Steve McQueen
Scorsese
Fincher
The Coens

Demme would've made this list a few months ago

Bay may be one of the most well known directors but for all the wrong reasons. More like infamous

Never been that much a Spielberg fan

My faves:

Scorsese
Kubrick
Nolan
Alejandro G Inarritu
Denis Villeneuve
PT Anderson
Tarantino
Charlie Kaufman (writer and director)
Fincher
Malick

There are many directors that have films which I absolutely love but am not able to say they're my favorite because their overall cannon of films I'm not interested in. Directors such as: Bergman, Wenders, Coppola, Mann, De Palma, etc...

[joy-division]

Originally Posted by shadedpain4

Is it a coincidence that all your favorite directors make English language films, or do you specifically not enjoy directors that make films in other languages?

That was off the top of my head. I forgot to include Miyazaki or Park Chan-wook

Sorry that I forgot to include the Obligatory token foreign director! But I do have plenty of films in other languages & subbed is the only way. Can't stand dubbed

[joy-division]

Originally Posted by moviflicilm

Among the youth I think Nolan name holds statue among them. If you went up and ask anyone from 16-35 who Christopher Nolan was most would say he was the director of the Batman films/Inception. With Dunkirk coming out in two weeks it would be testament to see how his name pulls in audience, as this film has no A-list stars, much less bankable genre. Bay name is synonymous with braindead action flicks, so that gives him recognition from audiences. The same is true with Scorsese name being associated with gangsters, who I'd argue is more famous then Bay.

Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Kenneth Brannagh not A listers? Ok Brannagh - possibly Murphy too - may not be the biggest stars but they're not nobodies

And I will tell you a reason why a lot of people will see this film who wouldn't otherwise - Harry Styles is in it

[Bolo Seagull]

Originally Posted by thatguamguy

That said, I think that M. Night Shyamalan belongs on the "famous directors" list, moreso than most of the people being discussed. His name may not be viewed as positive, but average everyday filmgoers are aware of who he is.

I agree. Shyamalan has achieved a higher level of name recognition than 99% of directors out there. If I had to ask random people to name five working directors, I'd expect him to be one of the five most frequently named, and probably the one whose career started the most recently. People would probably even be able to name a few films he's done with reasonable accuracy.

[thatguamguy]

Scorsese is definitely more famous than Bay. Bay makes movies that are famous, but generally loved by the audiences least likely to care about who is directing the movie.

[thatguamguy]

Oh, duh, can't believe we all forgot Spike Lee.

[Bolo Seagull]

Originally Posted by moviflicilm

Among the youth I think Nolan name holds statue among them. If you went up and ask anyone from 16-35 who Christopher Nolan was most would say he was the director of the Batman films/Inception. With Dunkirk coming out in two weeks it would be testament to see how his name pulls in audience, as this film has no A-list stars, much less bankable genre.

I think there's just a steady audience for WW2 films. Most people will see it because of interest in the subject matter and because it appears to have large scale battle scenes.

[joy-division]

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

Agreed. Directors are usually not choir boys. If we held them to a high standard of conduct we'd be boycotting great films from all those directors that snorted coke in the 70s.

Boyle, Miyazaki, Lasseter & the Pixar gang, Scorsese, Shane Meadows, Harold Ramis, Matthew Vaughn, Garth jennings all top blokes

[mja345]

Originally Posted by cakefactory

Don't engage, that guy's trying way too hard to be edgy and contrarian to want to discuss that in good faith.

Speaking of papers on Michael Bay, though, I once spent an afternoon reading a hilarious longform essay about the first three Transformers films before even seeing them. It's over 400 pages long. A ton of it is just pictures, fortunately.

https://www.scribd.com/doc/210677266...formers-movies

I read it before having seen any of them, it was probably more entertaining than the movies. The author makes fun of them constantly but makes clear he sort of likes them (as you can tell from the title).

Nah, that is my honest opinion. I'm not a fan of Cameron at all. I wasn't at all trying to be contrarian or edgy.

[cakefactory]

Originally Posted by mja345

Nah, that is my honest opinion. I'm not a fan of Cameron at all. I wasn't at all trying to be contrarian or edgy.

Oh, I believe you hate him alright, just comments like HIS MOVIES ARE ALL TERMINATOR AND WATER were ridiculous and seemed like they were not intended to provoke any kind of discussion, and were instead intended to piss his fans off.

Anyone have any clue what's going on with Amazon's prices on these recent releases? Seems like they drop about 25 cents every day! Did they massively over-order or something? I finally broke on "Woman of the Year." Might have to get Buena Vista Social Club too.

[thatguamguy]

Originally Posted by moviflicilm

With Dunkirk coming out in two weeks it would be testament to see how his name pulls in audience, as this film has no A-list stars, much less bankable genre.

I don't think the average filmgoer knows the difference between Zack Snyder and Chris Nolan, and I think that studios continue to employ them for similar reasons (they make profitable movies at a blockbuster level and don't have unreasonable budget overages).

[mja345]

Originally Posted by Doctor Jack

Aliens and True Lies are Terminator mixed with water?

I wasn't saying it's "Terminator" mixed with the water. I was saying it's either/or. Bad joke on my part haha. "Aliens", IMO, is vastly inferior to the original. Some people love it and that's cool. I just don't. Cameron eliminated everything that made the first film great and made it into an action film in space. "True Lies" is a decent 90s action film. I think we all have directors who are very popular whose films we just don't like. Cameron falls squarely into that camp for me.