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Who is the greatest living film director?

Who is the greatest living director?


  • Total voters
    38
  • Poll closed .
If you had to pick five directors to answer your question in the OP, then who would be your five directors?

1. Scorcese
2. PT Anderson
3. Coen Bros
4. Darren Aronofsky
5. Jeff Nichols (recency bias and personal preference)


Linklater, Polanski, Wes Anderson, Copolla, Spielberg, Malick, Godard, Nolan, Cuaron, Innarritu, Chan Woo Park, would be my others.

Good catch earlier correcting my listing of Videodrome as a Lynch film. I honestly just don't think very highly of his work.
 
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Surprised myself and went with Fincher. I went with the Filmspotting logic of "if you walked into a movie theater and all you knew about any of the films playing was the director, which one do you go see?"
 
Nolan certainly deserves to be on the list. As much as the Coen Brothers and Polanski, anyway
 
I wouldn't have said Wes Anderson belongs in consideration, if not for Fantastic Mr. Fox (and now hopefully Isle of Dogs). That movie was just a brilliant display of a director in complete control of his vision, and it's his best movie for it.
 
I wouldn't have said Wes Anderson belongs in consideration, if not for Fantastic Mr. Fox (and now hopefully Isle of Dogs). That movie was just a brilliant display of a director in complete control of his vision, and it's his best movie for it.

Man, I really loved the Grand Budapest Hotel.
 
I wouldn't have said Wes Anderson belongs in consideration, if not for Fantastic Mr. Fox (and now hopefully Isle of Dogs). That movie was just a brilliant display of a director in complete control of his vision, and it's his best movie for it.
Anderson is commonly listed as one of the top 20 or so living film directors. Probably just a little too idiosyncratic and niche to ever be top 10.
 
I love Anderson; two of his films would be in my top 5 of all-time. I do think that his niche-ness and the sameness of his films would preclude him from being a top director, though.

My point was just that Anderson has a very specific style (which is fair to call idiosyncratic, yes) that he doesn't seem to diverge from, and that until Fantastic Mr. Fox, he never had complete control over that style. I think that's important to note, because I can't think of a director that has more distinctive stylization in his movies than Anderson, and anything less than complete control means you're not getting his unaffected vision. Stop-motion is absolutely the perfect medium for him.
 
I love Anderson; two of his films would be in my top 5 of all-time. I do think that his niche-ness and the sameness of his films would preclude him from being a top director, though.

My point was just that Anderson has a very specific style (which is fair to call idiosyncratic, yes) that he doesn't seem to diverge from, and that until Fantastic Mr. Fox, he never had complete control over that style. I think that's important to note, because I can't think of a director that has more distinctive stylization in his movies than Anderson, and anything less than complete control means you're not getting his unaffected vision. Stop-motion is absolutely the perfect medium for him.

Had this poll been taken in around 1996, I would have clicked "other" and written in Tim Burton, in no small part to his style, visual style particularly. Then Planet of the Apes happened...

Along those lines, using the "knowing nothing but the director..." criteria, I would have voted for Terry Gilliam pre y2k. Since then, bleh. I almost wish he'd just retired.
 
Using the Moneyball approach, my "other" vote today would be for Taika Waititi. By Moneyball I mean finding a young director about to hit their prime.

ETA- well, he's 40ish so not all that young, but relative to the others on the list.
 
Had this poll been taken in around 1996, I would have clicked "other" and written in Tim Burton, in no small part to his style, visual style particularly. Then Planet of the Apes happened...

Along those lines, using the "knowing nothing but the director..." criteria, I would have voted for Terry Gilliam pre y2k. Since then, bleh. I almost wish he'd just retired.

Love me some Terry Gilliam. Just bought Time Bandits on Criterion bluray.
 
This is really tough and not something I've thought much about before. We all have directors that we love or that we prefer, but who is actually best? I went with Spielberg simply because I think the other real contenders like Scorsese, Nolan, and Tarantino all have distinct styles that shine through in their films. Scorsese in particular is a master of his own craft in a way that just screams his name, but it's also pretty much the only style he does. I love PTA, but it can be a chore to sit through his stuff. I think he's the most talented of the current generation though. Spielberg stands out because of his longevity and diversity. He does every style well and has done so for a very long time.
 
I don't think Paul Thomas Anderson is even the best Anderson who is a director. I'd go with Wes Anderson.
 
I cannot believe David Wain is not getting more traction on this thread.

 
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