25 Greatest Active Directors

[Big Magilla]

I totally agree with Pen on Greengrass, but not Apatow though I'd hardly call him "great".

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, the made-for-TV Flight 93 is a better movie than Greengrass' competing United 93.

[OscarGuy]

You're also exceedingly biased on this matter...you've called him a hack. Yes, his style is more evocative of the MTV age, but I think his Bourne films are told fairly well even if I despite the editing at times and United 93 is a very good picture.

[Penelope]

I'll grant Greengrass because he has a distinctive style

What's distinctive about it? It's a style that's been used in commercials and television for more than a decade, well before he made his first movie.

[OscarGuy]

I'll grant Greengrass because he has a distinctive style, but Apatow shouldn't be on the list at all. I mean ranked #14??? Above Eastwood even...

[Penelope]

That talentless morons such as Apatow and Greengrass are on any kind of list of "greatest" directors is an insult to humanity.

[OscarGuy]

One of the many things I find so distasteful about this list and the first one that I noticed causing me to remark what a bollox list it is...

When you rank Ron Howard above Ang Lee, Paul Thomas Anderson and Pedro Almodovar, I call bull shit.

[Hustler]

1. Steven Spielberg
2. Peter Jackson
3. Martin Scorsese
4. Christopher Nolan
5. Steven Soderbergh
6. Ridley Scott
7. Quentin Tarantino
8. Michael Mann
9. James Cameron
10. Joel and Ethan Coen
11. Guillermo del Toro
12. David Fincher
13. Tim Burton
14. Judd Apatow
15. Sam Raimi
16. Zack Snyder
17. Darren Aronofsky
18. Danny Boyle
19. Clint Eastwood
20. Ron Howard
21. Ang Lee
22. Paul Thomas Anderson
23. Paul Greengrass
24. Pedro Almodóvar
25. Jon Favreau

[flipp525]

Can someone post the EW list?

[Okri]

So I read Precious Doll's list first and wondered what everyone was carping about. Silly me.

[Precious Doll]

If it wasn't an Entertainment Weekly list only Pedro Almodovar belongs on any serious list.

Here are some filmmakers that come to mind that I consider are still making worthwhile contributions to cinema and deserve a place over the EW 24:

Jane Campion
Claude Chabrol
Costa-Gavras
David Cronenberg
Brian De Palma
Jean-Luc Godard
Michael Haneke
Werner Herzog
Jon Jost
Abbas Kiarostami
Hirokazu Kore-Eda
Mike Leigh
Ken Loach
David Lynch
Guy Maddin
Chris Marker
Tsai Ming-liang
Roman Polanski
Alain Resnais
Carlos Reygadas
Jacques Rivette
Eric Rohmer
George A Romero
Ulrich Seidl
Todd Solondz
Aleksandr Sokurov
Rosa Von Praunheim
Frederick Wiseman

I am no doubt missing a number of people.



Edited By Precious Doll on 1235124592

[Hustler]

They're dwindling in the box office basement...

OMG what a vulgar selection!

[OscarGuy]

They're dwindling in the box office basement...

[Hustler]

Where are Roman Polansky, Alexander Payne, Gus Van Sant, Julian Schnabel, Stephen Frears, Mike Leigh,Peter Weir, Fernando Meirelles, Stephen Daldry, David Lynch, Michael Winterbottom,Terrence Malick, just to name a few.

[Big Magilla]

At least they didn't call it "the 25 Most Awesome Active Directors". "Most successful" would be more accurate than "greatest" but in this age of hyperbole anything less than "great" or "awesome" would be meaningless to the audience they are trying to impress.

[The Original BJ]

EW is not allowed to carp about the Academy being out of touch with the film world ever again.