Best film directors working today


Nothing Scorsese has done this side of the millennium touches The Hurt Locker or Zero Dark Thirty IMHO

Possibly, but I’d argue his overall output is greater and more consistent since 2000.

Wolf of Wall Street
Irishman
Gangs of New York
Aviator
Departed
Shutter island
Hugo
Silence

He’s got way more classics in there and way more good fillums.

Bigelow did do point break though so I’m feeling conflicted.
 
Whose movies will I watch regardless of content:

Ken Burns
Alex Garland
Celine Sciamma
Denis Villeneuve
David Fincher
Robert Eggers
Christopher Nolan
Lynne Ramsay
 
Jorge Lanthimos
Coen Bros
Darren Aaronovsky
Paul Thom Anderson
Phil Lord and Christopher Miller
 
Whose movies will I watch regardless of content:

Ken Burns
Alex Garland
Celine Sciamma
Denis Villeneuve
David Fincher
Robert Eggers
Christopher Nolan
Lynne Ramsay
?
See, here's my reservation about Lynne Ramsay, which was similar for Bigelow and for Steve McQueen. I absolutely love Lynne Ramsay's films, but she's only directed four films in almost 25 years. I know there are good reasons for this - she pulled out of Lovely Bones rather than make a film that didn't deliver what she was trying to do, and she walked out of Janie Got Her Gun rather than put up with shit from a fuckwit producer - and I respect her for that. But does she make enough films to be thought of in that way? Similar with Bigelow who has only made three films in the last 20 years, and McQueen who has a lot of projects outside film and doesn't direct features all that often. Am I being a bit too fussy with my definition of "working today"?
 
Nolan is a crashing bore. I mean, ok his Batman films are decent fun but so are just about all Batman films. Inception is close to embarrassing imo, utterly overrated
 
?
See, here's my reservation about Lynne Ramsay, which was similar for Bigelow and for Steve McQueen. I absolutely love Lynne Ramsay's films, but she's only directed four films in almost 25 years. I know there are good reasons for this - she pulled out of Lovely Bones rather than make a film that didn't deliver what she was trying to do, and she walked out of Janie Got Her Gun rather than put up with shit from a fuckwit producer - and I respect her for that. But does she make enough films to be thought of in that way? Similar with Bigelow who has only made three films in the last 20 years, and McQueen who has a lot of projects outside film and doesn't direct features all that often. Am I being a bit too fussy with my definition of "working today"?
If you're going by the DWP definition of 'working' you're probably right.😁
I thought the same thing about Bigelow when she was mentioned further up. She wins the best director Oscar and then only directs 2 movies in the next 15 years (1 in the last decade).
But if my definition of best directors is someone whose film I'd go and see without knowing anything about it, then Ramsay definitely falls into that category.
 
Tarantino has gotten better with age, even if his films make less of a cultural impact these days.

I don't think David Fincher has made a bad film, and his output has been pretty consistent at a film every 18 months or so, albeit he's maybe had his head turned by Netflix money for TV shows in recent years.

I love the Coen brothers but their quality control veers wildly between cult classics I will watch and rewatch 20 times and "what the fuck was that?"
 
Tarantino has gotten better with age, even if his films make less of a cultural impact these days.

I don't think David Fincher has made a bad film, and his output has been pretty consistent at a film every 18 months or so, albeit he's maybe had his head turned by Netflix money for TV shows in recent years.

I love the Coen brothers but their quality control veers wildly between cult classics I will watch and rewatch 20 times and "what the fuck was that?"

I love Fincher but he's only made one film since 2014 and it was one of his weaker efforts
 
Nolan is a crashing bore. I mean, ok his Batman films are decent fun but so are just about all Batman films. Inception is close to embarrassing imo, utterly overrated
:eek:

Whilst I’m not a fan of his historical things, I love his high concept stuff, especially Inception. Each to their own like.
Whose movies will I watch regardless of content:

Ken Burns
Alex Garland
Celine Sciamma
Denis Villeneuve
David Fincher
Robert Eggers
Christopher Nolan
Lynne Ramsay
Great shout on Garland just a shame Men was a blight on cinema!
 
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I love Fincher but he's only made one film since 2014 and it was one of his weaker efforts
I'm surprised by that stat. Gone Girl, Social Network and Dragon Tattoo all felt more recent in my head.

I actually love Gone Girl and have seen it more times than is healthy. All of the leads are actors that I generally dislike but they are perfectly cast given how odious all the characters in it are.

I also liked his first couple of TV efforts - first season of House of Cards is class and Mindhunter is pretty watchable.
 
I don't think Damian Chazelle has made a bad film yet. Whiplash was mint and I don't like big band jazz. I also can't abide musicals but I really liked La La Land.
 

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