This list displays some obvious biases, especially the fact that are only 4 non-American directors, and only 1 (Almodovar) who specifically makes foreign-language films. But I can only rate the films that I've seen, so what are you gonna do. I excluded filmmakers who have made only one film this decade (e.g., Spike Jonze); additionally, anyone who didn't make more than one exemplary film (e.g., Michel Gondry, Noah Baumbach) or more than one film that I've seen (e.g., the Dardennes, Michael Haneke) were pretty much fucked. Beyond that, it's a fairly subjective list, and only accounts for my personal estimation of the filmmakers and their movies, rather than any cultural or popular "significance". I used my list of the Top 40 Films of the New Millenium, which will be published next week, to determine many of the rankings; the movies in parentheses are the reasons that they are here. Let me know what you think, and tell me about any excluded directors that you believe should be on this list.
1) Quentin Tarantino (Kill Bill; Grindhouse/Death Proof)
2) Paul Thomas Anderson (Punch-Drunk Love; There Will Be Blood)
3) Todd Haynes (Far From Heaven; I'm Not There)
4) Christopher Nolan (Memento; Insomnia; The Prestige; The Dark Knight)
5) Joel/Ethan Coen (The Man Who Wasn't There; No Country For Old Men)
6) Pedro Almodovar (Talk to Her; Bad Education)
7) Michael Moore (Bowling For Columbine; Fahrenheit 9/11; Sicko)
8) Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings trilogy)
9) Martin Scorsese (The Aviator; The Departed; No Direction Home)
10) Alexander Payne (About Schmidt; Sideways; his segment in "Paris J'Taime")
11) Todd Field (In the Bedroom; Little Children)
12) Alfonso Cuaron (Y Tu Mama Tambien; Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban; Children of Men)
Friday, August 22, 2008
The 12 Most Important Directors of the New Millenium (2000-present)
Produced by DB at 11:58 AM
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I'm a hipster (or is that Pseudo Hipster? I'll have to check Yelp again.) so I'm going to go ahead and say Wes Anderson should be on that list. All joking aside, I would have thought he was a shoe-in. Might just be me though.
-Cody
Ah, for some reason the "New Millenium" part didn't really register with me, so now I relaize that wouldn't include Bottle Rocket and Rushmore. I think I might still include him, even only taking his last three movies into account, but I'm probably in the minority with that opinion.
-Cody
If I was listing the best directors of the last 10-15 years, Anderson almost certainly makes the list. But 2 exemplary (i.e., well above-average) movies was sort of the standard for inclusion, and in my opinion, Anderson's "The Life Aquatic" and "The Darjeeling Limited" don't quite reach that standard.
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