Top 20 Film Directors (Part
2)
With 20 to 11 covered,
it’s time to look at my top ten favourite film directors of all-time, and just
like that, I’ve reached fifty C.C.C lists!
Honourable mention:
Robert Rodriguez
I know I had an honourable mention on the last list, so how
does Rodriguez fit into all this? Favourite director 10.5? I just wanted to
give him a shout-out for directing the first Sin City, plus one of my favourite horror movies ever, Planet Terror (the first half of Grindhouse, his collaboration with
Quentin Tarantino) and even the movie that was spawned by the fake trailer that
played right before it, Machete. He’s not quite a cut above these other
ten/twenty for me, but he’s still made a lot of awesome stuff.
10. Ridley Scott
Much like that box of chocolates Forrest Gump refers to, you
never really know what you’re going to get from a Ridley Scott movie. Sure,
he’s had his fair share of misses over his long and varied career, but he hit
prominence with the original Alien in
1979, which practically turned sci-fi-horror into its own subgenre, made
Sigourney Weaver a huge star, and started a long-running series that Scott
eventually returned to in 2012 with the semi-prequel Prometheus (which I liked, though it divided fans, but it’s
definitely not on par with Alien,
which is one of my favourite movies of all-time). Prometheus marked his first return to sci-fi since Bladerunner (one of his best films) in
1982. And that’s something to note about Scott: he’s tackled many genres, such
as the swords-and-sandals epics with Gladiator,
one of his most popular films, war films, like Black Hawk Down, and even road films, like Thelma and Louise. Though he hasn’t found success in every genre,
and he had a long dry spell from Gladiator
onwards it seemed, his movies always impress in terms of stunning visuals, and
he made a huge comeback with last year’s The
Martian, which saw him once again return to the genre of sci-fi. I’m
eagerly awaiting Alien: Covenant, his
follow-up to Prometheus, and anything
else he directs after that.
9. Christopher Nolan
For some reason, it seems like fans of Christopher Nolan are
targeted in the movie-going community and labelled as such: “Oh, you’re just a
Chris Nolan fan boy”, like it’s a bad thing. I don’t see what’s bad about
enjoying his films, because he hasn’t made a truly bad movie yet, and I haven’t
disliked anything I’ve seen from him. This is the guy who re-imagined Batman
after the franchise-destroying stink bomb Batman
and Robin, and not only did he bring the caped crusader back in a dark,
gritty, realistic reboot, he made two more successful sequels that rounded out
his Dark Knight trilogy. Sure, there are some of his movies that I found a little
underwhelming, like Interstellar or The Dark Knight Rises, but his two
arguably biggest hits, Inception and The Dark Knight, are not only two of my
favourite films, but two of the best films from the 21st century.
The “Inception” concept has been referenced endlessly in the past six years, so
you know it’s left an impact. His early films are also very well crafted, and
I’ll see anything he’s directing (okay, it’s almost a given that I’ll watch
every other director’s work on this list, so I’ll quit saying it).
8. Peter Jackson
Peter Jackson started his career by making odd, gory
horror-comedies (similar to the start Sam Raimi had) in his native New Zealand,
and his most famous film from early in his career, Braindead (known as Dead
Alive in America), is one of the goriest and most-fun horror comedies I’ve
ever seen, but of course Jackson will go down in history as the man who helped
bring Lord of the Rings to the big
screen. I was just a kid when it came out, and I wasn’t at all into fantasy,
but these were the movies that eventually brought me around to appreciating and
even enjoying fantasy movies, with its compelling characters, epic special
effects scenes, and thrilling sense of adventure. But it was actually thanks to
his follow-up to Lord of the Rings
that I went back to watch them in the first place, and that was his King Kong remake, which I don’t think is
better than the original, but is still one of the best remakes ever made, and
is something I’ll never forget seeing in theaters back in 2005. Of course he
directed The Hobbit trilogy most
recently, to much less fanfare than his other Tolkein adaptations, but
regardless of how those movies turned out, Peter Jackson is still an incredibly
talented director, and I hope he either continues with big blockbusters or
returns to his lower budget horror-comedy roots as soon as possible.
7. Robert Zemeckis
The answer to which movie Robert Zemeckis will be most
remembered for is obvious, so before I get into that one, let me recap some of
his other huge accomplishments. This is the guy who directed Tom Hanks in Castaway, one of the greatest survival
movies ever, and often seen as a testament to Hanks’ acting ability, as he
holds the screen for its entire runtime, but let’s not forget Zemeckis helped
get that performance out of him. Zemeckis was also a pioneer of cgi playing a
huge part in filmmaking, with films like The
Polar Express and Beowulf among
the first to be fully rendered in computer animation, and his earlier work on Who Framed Roger Rabbit proved
live-action human actors could be blended flawlessly with animated cartoon characters,
and to this day, no other movie has done so as successfully as that one. But of
course, Zemeckis directed what is for a huge number of people (including me),
one of the greatest movies ever made, and that is Back to the Future (plus both sequels, which he shot back to back).
I don’t even need to say anything more, the movie speaks for itself, as does
Zemeckis’ entire body of work.
6. Quentin Tarantino
Perhaps the best compliment I can give to Quentin Tarantino
is that he has one of the most consistent and entertaining filmographies of any
filmmaker. This guy has been making great movies for almost 30 years, and in
all that time, he’s only made 8 movies, but each one is significant, and there’s
something to love from all of them. I would have to say his least good (not
worst, note the distinction made) film would be the weaker half of Grindhouse, Death Proof, but even that
movie has a car chase so incredible, it’s worth seeing the whole movie just to
see that. His movies are always memorable, always original, and definitely
unique, even though he pulls inspiration from all across classic cinema. His
movies aren’t for everyone (especially if ultraviolence and swearing are a turn
off for you) but if you’re a true fan of cinema, I would find it hard to
believe you wouldn’t enjoy his instant classics. There’s Reservoir Dogs, Jackie Brown,
Kill Bill, Inglourious Basterds, Django
Unchained, and last year’s The
Hateful Eight. Oh, and of course what is perhaps his greatest work of all,
the much revered Pulp Fiction.
5. Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock is fondly remembered for many incredible
movies, but a phrase that’s remained attached to his legacy even to this day,
is “Master of Suspense”, and for good reason; there have been very few directors
to rival Hitchcock’s uncanny ability to do this. It’s part of the reason so
many of his movies are considered classics and continue to be relevant (The Birds, Rope, North by Northwest,
to name a few), but there are a few of his movies in particular that make him
one of my all-time favourites. For starters, two of the most suspenseful films
I’ve ever seen are Vertigo, widely
considered one of the best movies ever made, and Rear Window, which I might actually like even more than Vertigo, if just for its simplicity and
equal effectiveness in ratcheting up tension. But the movie I almost always
think of when I hear the name Alfred Hitchcock is one he made in the early 60’s
that no one believed in and thought would surely end up being a pile of crap,
but instead became what is often cited as one of the greatest and first-ever
slasher movies: of course I’m talking about Psycho.
It’s not only a great example of the suspense Hitchcock was so well known for,
but also an example of how he was constantly pushing boundaries (fun fact: this
was the first-ever movie to feature a flushing toilet on-screen).
4. J.J. Abrams
Before I get into the film-directing part of Mr. Abrams’
career, I want to touch on his work in the world of TV, because he co-created LOST, which started out great, and
regardless of what you thought of later seasons (after Abrams was less
involved), it’s one of the most successful TV series ever, and he co-created Fringe, one of my all-time favourite
shows. But back to films, Abrams got his big directing break with 2006’s Mission: Impossible 3, which was a huge
improvement over the second installment, and proved he could handle an
action-packed film, so he was pegged to direct the Star Trek movie reboot. I was never a Star Trek fan, and consciously avoided the 2009 movie, despite all
the praise it got, but eventually I relented. Abrams not only made me love Star Trek once, but twice, with the
not-quite-as-good-but-still-entertaining Star
Trek Into Darkness, and then, in a completely unexpected twist that seemed
to break the laws of nerdom, Abrams was hired to direct Star Wars Episode VII, and of course we now all know how that went
(extremely well and Star Wars is
fully revived, huge thanks to him for that!) I also loved Super 8, even though many people thought it tried too hard to be
sentimental and Spielberg-ee, but I hope Abrams does more original projects in
the near future, because as great of a franchise-reviver as he is, he did
freakin’ Star Wars. You can’t really
go up from there.
3. Stanley Kubrick
Where do I even start with this legend? If you don’t know who
Stanley Kubrick is, here’s what you’re missing: a director whose career spanned
fifty years and saw no boundaries, someone who worked tirelessly to achieve an
uncompromised vision for his films, the director of films that were almost
always ground-breaking, ahead of their time, and destined to be classics. Comedy?
Dr. Strangelove. Science fiction? 2001: A Space Odyssey. Horror? The Shining. Period piece? Barry Lyndon. War? Full Metal Jacket. Sword and Sandals? Spartacus. One of the most controversial movies ever is A Clockwork Orange, yet it is still
considered a classic. When a Stanley Kubrick film came out, it was an event, a
mark left on the history of cinema. Every one of his movies is a unique
experience, and that’s the key here, his movies aren’t simply pieces of
entertainment, they are experiences, and true art. His movies were personal,
often difficult to interpret, and dealt with heavy concepts and themes, and
that is ultimately the reason he doesn’t rank as my first or second favourite
director; his movies are too incredible not to appreciate and be fascinated by,
but they sometimes lack the emotion I need, personally, for a movie to really
resonate with me. Regardless, Stanley Kubrick is someone who will forever be
remembered as one of the best directors of all-time.
2. James Cameron
Coming in at a pretty close second is someone who has
directed some of the coolest movies ever, and that is the Canadian-born truck
driver who was so blown away by the special effects in 1977’s Star Wars that he went on work in
special effects and eventually direct his own projects, and that is James
Cameron. I’ll put it simply: The
Terminator, Aliens, The Abyss, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, and Avatar
are some of my favourite movies, for various reasons, but they have many elements
in common. They are all exciting, The
Terminator and Aliens are scary,
plus have great action, Terminator 2
is one of the greatest action movies ever made, plus it pushed the boundaries
of computer effects with the liquid metal T-1000. Oh but wait, the movie he
made before that, The Abyss, did the
same thing—in fact, it had the first 3D cgi character ever to appear in a
movie. And then he pushed vfx even further with Titanic by recreating the sinking of the ship, and then again by
bringing to life the alien world of Pandora in Avatar. Sure, you could argue that at this point in his career
James Cameron is more concerned with technology than storytelling, as evidenced
by Avatar, but the fact that he plans
on making endless sequels to Avatar
must mean he has some good stories in there somewhere, and with the technology
in place after the first one, things seem poised for Avatar 2 and 3 and 4 and etc. to be better than the
original. Oh yeah, did I mention Cameron has only made two sequels? T2 is a bit better, I think, than Terminator, and Aliens is also a bit better than Alien, and he didn’t even make the first Alien! So yeah, needless to say, I’m a huge James Cameron fan.
Except for Piranha II.
1. Steven Spielberg
Ultimately, this list of great directors is all about a
balance between two factors: amount of quality work, and the actual quality of
the work. Steven Spielberg might not be a unique choice for favourite director,
but what it comes down to is, he has directed the greatest number of my
favourite films of all-time, and they rank higher among my favourite films than
any others. Jurassic Park, Jaws, E.T., and three out of the four Indiana
Jones movies are incredible, plus he’s made lots of other fun movies like Catch Me If You Can and Minority Report, and more serious dramas
like Saving Private Ryan and Schindler’s List. Another one of my
faves is Duel, a made-for-TV movie
(maybe the best made-for-TV movie ever) about a guy chasing another guy in a
semi-truck; a simple premise with perfect execution. Just like so many of the
other directors on this list, he’s worked in just about every genre, and found
success in more than a few of them. His ability to capture what I can only
describe as “magic” on film is unparalleled to this day. I could go on and on
about Spielberg, but instead, I leave you with the recommendation that you
check out his filmography and watch as many of his movies as you can. If you’ve
seen some of his classics like Jaws
or Jurassic Park before, consider
re-watching them, they hold up extremely well. 
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