1) Robert Redford - Horse Whisperer etc.
2) Frank Capra - It's a Wonderful Life
3) Steven Spielberg - Jaws etc.
4) Cameron Crowe - Jerry Maguire, Vanilla Sky
4) Sydney Pollack - Out of Africa
5) George Lucas - Hmm...
5) Curtis Hanson - L.A. Confidential
6) Howard Hawks - Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
7) Ang Lee - Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (see Ice Storm if you haven't, which he also did)
8) Michael Mann - Collateral, The Insider (you gotta see these if you haven't)
8) Ridley Scott - Blade Runner etc.
9) Martin Scorsese - Gangs of New York, The Aviator
10) Frank Darabont - Shawshank Redemption
10) Steven Sonderbergh - Ocean's Eleven (I just liked the character of this movie)
10 ) Robert Rodriguez - Desperado, Sin City (the guy is awesome)

and yes, there's two 4's, two 5's, two 8's and three 10's... I did what I could

It is very hard to rank my favorite directors, so the following is just my 10 favorite directors in no particular order (NOTE: There are some directors that probably will eventually make it onto this list, but I need to see more of their movies, these include Bergman, Welles, Godard, Truffaut, Bertolucci, Visconti, Fritz Lang, Kurosawa and many many more):

1. Francis Ford Coppola: For Godfather I and II, The Conversation, and Apoc. Now, all are masterpieces!
2. Sergio Leone: For the man with no name trilogy, Once Upon.....In the West, and Once Upon......In America.
3. Martin Scorsese: For Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, and The Last Temptation of Christ.
4. Michelangelo Antonioni: For his Alienation Trilogy and single handedly bringing films to the same level as all other forms of art.
5. Stanley Kubrick: For Clockwork Orange and 2001: A Space Odyssey.
6. Giuseppe Tornatore: For Cinema Paradiso and The Legend of 1900.
7. Frederico Fellini: For 8 1/2, and being the single biggest influence on auteurs across the globe.
8. Alfred Hitchcock: For Psycho, Vertigo, and being the single biggest technical influence across the globe.
9. Vincent Gallo: For Buffalo 66, and The Brown Bunny, and for giving a second opinion to the liberal elitists that dominate Hollywood. His films are better than 99% of the crap out there, but they wont give him any credit!
10. Jim Jarmusch: For Broken Flowers, and for his ability to survive in the independent scene post-tarantino, without turning Tarantino-esque.

While we're at it, here is my list of the most over rated directors in Hollywood:
1. Robert Rodriguez (Sin City was a huge let down, it will never stand the test of time).
2. Brian De Palma (Only good film was Blow Out, The Untouchables is extremely over rated, and Scarface has aged more than any movie out there).
3. Oliver Stone (Ummm did anybody else see the way he destroyed Morrison's legacy in The Doors?).
4. Steven Spielberg (He invented the blockbuster, and the blockbuster has forced most good directors out of Hollywood or to the underground scenes).
5. George Lucas (Star Wars had great themes, but the acting stunk, had corny dialogue, and did anybody else see Episode 1?).

Yeah, I didn't put a lot of thought into the order... Too difficult

Kurosawa, however is probably my 2nd #3

3) Kurosawa

1) Kurosawa
2) Coppola
3) Scorsese
4) Kubrick
5) Hitchcock
6) Robert Rodriguez
7) Speilburg
8) Lucas
9) John Carpenter
10) Robert Yannetta
11) Luc Besson
12) Tarantino
13) Darren Aronofsky <-- The future of film!

Sorry for #10, I just wanted to see myself in a top 13 list of directors before I die of old age someday. :lol:

1. Luc Besson - for Subway and Leon
2. Tarkovsky - For Stalker and Solaris
3. Kurosawa - for seven samurai, hiden fortress and icuri
4. Sergio Leone - everything he ever made
5. Woody Allen - for Manhattan and Shadows & Fog
6. Wim Wenders - Wings of Desire and Paris Texas
7. Alex Cox - For Sid and Nancy and Repo Man
8. Franic Ford Coppola (Just saw Apoc Now Redux, again, master piece)
9. Ken Loach - For Land and Freedom
10. Hitchcock - For Psycho and Rear Window

By the way, ten is not enough. Feel odd about not having either Sidney Lumet, John Ford or David Lynch, not to mention Fritz Lang

1. Kubrick - for everything he did, but especially A Clockwork Orange

2. Leone - for Once Upon A Time In America and The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

3. Scorsese - for Taxi Driver and Raging Bull

4. Lumet - for Gloria and so many others

5. Jarmusch - for Broken Flowers

6. Eastwood - for Million Dollar Baby

7. Ford - for The Grapes of Wrath

8. Kazan - for On The Waterfront

9. Tarantino - for Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, and Jackie Brown. What pushed him so far down my list was the Kill Bill series

10. Sofia Coppola (when directing, not acting! lol) - for both The Virgin Suicides and Lost In Translation

:| Why has David Lynch not been mentioned??!?! Find a spot for Won Kar-Wai and Gaspar Noe aswell.

No order
Scorsese
Tarantino
Guy Ritchie
Hitchcock
Wes Anderson
Eastwood
Terry Gilliam
Darren Aronofsky
Doug Liman
Michel Gondry

Check out Kurosawa's Ran

Also, Rear Window is my favorite Hitchcock Film... Excellent

Check out Kurosawa's Ran
Ran is #2 in my top 10 all time fav film list. Seven Samurai being #1.

I was raised watching Kurosawa films and Anime, hence my attraction for Japanese culture and film. Luckily, I have a friend in Japan, Hitomi, who I talk to on a daily basis with via email. She claims that interest in indie filmmaking over there is much higher than anywhere else in the world... except that over there no one has the guts to pick up the camera and press RECORD.

As soon as I win the lottery, I'm going over there for a two week vacation.

Yeah, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is one of my favorite films... And Ziyi Zhang is basically my Favorite Actress (I imagine that you've seen Hero, and House of the Flying Daggers as well... Which reminds me, Yamou Zhang is also one of my favorite Director's)

But the Japanese Culture actually draws me much more... In fact, my one, and only written for Feature Film takes place in Japan...

I also love Lost in Traslation, the Cinematography, the Location, the Acting and the Directing.

I've always been interested in Anime', but haven't spent much time checking it out.

I subscribe to Netflix just so I can get my Anime fix that the local "Lackluster Video" conglomerate can't offer.

That's so strange... Back when I was focusing a bit on Music, I was going to create a Record Label called Orange Cat Records... Ha

There's kind of a strange story behind that... Ha

I have yet to check out your Cat Films, but I will


As far as Anime, I've just seen a few Trigun's on the Cartoon Network I believe... I own a DVD of one called Samurai X (The First Couple Episodes)

Also, Princess Monoke (Great Director, still need to pick up Spirited Away which I saw in the Theatre (a Premiere thing in the Disney theatre, I think it's called the Egyption)

Also, I'm trying to remember what it's called, oh yeah, Ninja Scroll... Really liked that one... Have not as of yet checked out Ghost in the Shell... Oh yeah, and have loved Akira for years... Which reminds me that I need to pick that up

My heroe's as a Kid were Walt Disney, and Bruce Lee... Ha, so my work and interests often fall in some of those areas... Animation, and Asian (both Chinese, and Japanese Culture)

Dark-

That's so strange... Back when I was focusing a bit on Music, I was going to create a Record Label called Orange Cat Records... Ha
Want to hear something really strange? I was driving home from work one day and a dirty old blue 70's dodge van drove past me with "Bad Cat" written all over it in white shoe polish. Shocked, I sped up and cought up with it to read "Bad Cat Band" written on the back. Turns out, someone named their garage band after my movies. :lol:

Actually, the name "Loud Orange Cat Productions" is named after my never-shutting-the-hell-up (meow meow) orange cat named Garfield. I love this little guy, he's like my brother. Has been for 9 years or so now.

No particular order.

Terrence Mallick (for Badlands and The Thin Red Line)
Orson Welles (for Citizen Kane)
Kurosawa
Coppola (both Francis and Sophia)
Kubrick
Zhang Yimou (for Raise the Red Lanturn, and Hero)
Scorsese
Jim Jarmusch (for Ghost Dog, and Broken Flowers)
Clint Eastwood
William Friedkin (for the Exorcist)

Just watched your Films... Very Good (The Camera Work/Editing, and Music in particular)

Hey, Zhang Yimou recently worked with a Chinese Ballet Company to recreate his Raise the Red Lantern story...

Apparently the lady who wanted to do it, gave him a call, and he was very interested in working with her...

And ended up really getting into it... They were out here in California Touring in the last month, but I wasn't able to get down there to see it

I did however find a copy of it on DVD (There's nothing English about this DVD, and was put out in June 2005) at a site called www.yesasia.com, which as it ends up is an excellent site... It was actually on sale for just $5.99, and after shipping ended up only being like $8.99

Anyway, it's awesome Artistically/Creatively, but I do believe the story is changed a bit, as is usually the case in such things... Haven't seen that movie in a while...

Ridley Scott, I found his work in: White Squall, Blade Runner, Black Hawk Down, Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven etc... to all be outstanding movies.

Yeah, Ridley kicks ass... If you like Ridley, you should really check out some Michael Mann Films (if you haven't already) Especially "The Insider", "Colateral", and "Ali"

Coen Brothers (It takes them both)
Kubrik
Raimi
Sergio Leone
Woody Allen
Jean Piere Jeunet
Cronenberg
Michael Moore
Errol Morris
Scorcesse

In no order:

1. Tarantino
2. Rodriguez
3. Scorsese
4. Tony Scott
5. Tim Burton
6. Terry Gilliam
7. Leone
8. Besson
9. Hitchcock
10.Eastwood

In no order:

1. Tarantino
2. Rodriguez
3. Scorsese
4. Tony Scott
5. Tim Burton
6. Terry Gilliam
7. Leone
8. Besson
9. Hitchcock
10.Eastwood

Steven Spielberg
Spike Jonze (way underappreciated I think...because he mostly does short form work....but his commercials, music videos, etc. are always amazing and very different from one another)
Robert Rodriguez
Quentin Tarantino
Alfred Hitchcock
Clint Eastwood
Billy Wilder
...to be finished after class...

Ha! Yeah forgot about Spike Jonze. SUperb director. Mucho style and class and award for two of the best music videos every (Praise You... Fat Boy Slim and the one with Chris Walken that totally escapes my memory!)

Phil Hobden
-- Modern Life--
'Here's to A World Of God's & Monsters!'

You guys are naming a lot of the directors I would, but you're forgetting some great movies by those directors. Scorsese, for example, directed Casino which I consider to be better than Goodfellas in many aspects. Aviator and Gangs of NY weren't even that good...good directing I suppose, but not the greatest movies. Michael Mann wrote and directed Heat, which I believe (correct me if I'm wrong) was the only time Pacino and De Niro have been together in stage, and was considerably better than Collateral and Insider. Kubrick directed Full Metal Jacket, which to this day blows Vietnam movies out of the water. Spielberg is bittersweet--he certainly did hurt the scene with the invention of the blockbuster, but he still has some classics and to-be classics (Saving Private Ryan was undeniably good, although I suspect he put his name on that and Band of Brothers to prove his "versatility"--yeah right). Oh, and I absolutely hate Tarantino (especially as an actor, but that's not the issue). Reservoir Dogs was cheesy and predictable, Kill Bills sucked big time, heck, I have to say he just got lucky with Pulp Fiction. Rodriguez has some decent stuff, and I especially love his commentaries and "film school" shorts on his dvd's, but if I see another guitar case with a gun in it I'm going to kill somebody. Tim Burton I'm not a big fan of--the only movie of his I've enjoyed is Big Fish--and only because it was a breath of fresh air.

Top 10:
1. Martin Scorsese
2. Quentin Tarantino
3. Francis Ford Coppola
4. George Lucas
5. Alfred Hitchcock
6. Michael Mann
7. M. Night Shyamalan
8. Joel Coen
9. David Fincher
10. Brian DePalma

Honorable Mention:
Joe Carnahan, Robert Zemekis, Bryan Singer, Stanley Kubrick, Sidney Lumet, Clint Eastwood, Oliver Stone, Robert Rodriguez, William Friedkin, Guy Ritchie, Lawrence Kasdan, Spielberg

Jim Jarmush
Mike Leigh
Dusan Makavejev
Tim Burton
Jean-Luc Godard
Quentin Tarantino
Ingmar Bergman
Andrei Tarkovsky
Martin Scorsese
Stanley Kubrick

In no special order:

1.) Woody Allen
2.) Wes Craven
3.) John Carpenter
4.) Akira Kurosawa
5.) Terry Gilliam
6.) Martin Scorsese
7.) Hal Hartley
8.) Jim Jarmusch
9.) Wes Anderson
10.) George A. Romero

no order:
Scorsese
Wes Anderson
Francis Ford Coppola
Coen Bros.
Kubrick
Michael Gondry
Sofia Coppola
Tarantino
Michael Cimino
Kurosawa

oh yeah and i would have to throw Kazan on there for On the Waterfront, great film

No order
Tarantino (Reservoir Dogs, Kill Bill vol.2,…)
T. Phillips (Old School)
P. M. Glaser (The Running Man)
R. Scott (Alien, Blade Runner,…)
Steven Spielberg (Indiana Jones, Jaws,…)
Martin Scorsese (Departed)
Peter Jackson (Bad Taste, Braindead, Lord of the Rings)
Oliver Stone (Platoon, Any Given Sunday)
Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future, Forrest Gump)
L. Besson (Leon, The fifth Element)

1. Darren Aronofsky (career best - The Fountain)
2. Takeshi Kitano (career best - Hani Bi)
3. Wes Anderson (career best - Bottle Rocket)
4. Jim Jarmusch (career best - Dead Man)
5. Stanley Kubrick (career best - Barry Lyndon)
6. Francis Ford Copolla (career best - tie between Apocalypse Now! and The Godfather 2)
7. M. Night Shyamalan (career best - Unbreakable)
8. Paul Thomas Anderson (career best - There Will Be Blood)
9. David Lynch (career best - Blue Velvet)
10. Vincent Gallo (career best - Buffalo '66)

1) Wes Anderson - Everything except Bottle Rocket.
2) Jim Jarmusch - Everything except Broken Flowers.
3) Akira Kurosawa - Everything I've ever seen of his.
+3) Richard Lowenstein - Just for He Died with a Felafel in his Hand.
4) Coen Brothers - Mainly The Man who Wasn't There, Miller's Crossing, Fargo, No Country and Big Lebowski.
5) Quentin Tarantino - Kill Bill I + II, Pulp Fiction, Death Proof etc.
6) Hayao Miyazaki - Spirited Away, Nausicaa, Howl's Moving Castle etc.
7) Michel Gondry - Be Kind Rewind, Eternal Sunshine, Bjork's film clips.
8) Stephen Frears - High Fidelity, The Grifters.
9) David Lynch - Blue Velvet, Wild at Heart, Twin Peaks and Lost Highway.
10) Alfred Hitchcock - Rear Window, Torn Curtain, North by Northwest, The Birds.
11) Terry Gilliam - All the Monty Python, Fear and Loathing and Brazil.

Some of the choices here are just unbelivable...


Here's mine anyway:

Stanley kubrick
Sergio Leone
Akira Kurosawa
Tim Burton
Jean-Luc Godard
Charlie Chaplin
Orson Wells
David Lynch
Alfred Hitchcock
Ingmar Bergman

I love threads like this. It never fails, the question is an opion of what your top 10 directors are. It seems like an easy thread to reply too but you always have a few people who get so upset that you named someone they don't like, instead of posting there top 10, they decided to tear apart another person's choices. I don't have a top ten but I'll list a few of my choices.

Tarantino
Rodriguez
Burton
Scorsese
Speilberg

I didn't list them in any particular order but I expect someone to complain because these five amazing directors are also five of the most complained about in the film community. Why does it seem like you should be ashamed if you like one of these directors? I attended film school for a brief period of time at a University. They preached that any films made after the 70s were a complete waste of time and shouldn't be taken seriously. I was labeled as just a fan because I loved these directors, not a film maker. I just wonder how many of you who have replied have been to film school. If so has taken courses in cinema history altered your picks? Thats just my two cents worth. I'll stop complaining now. :)