There's just a disconnect, can't really explain it. And he's universally loved. Seems like a good guy. Which makes it even weirder. But it's something about his movies... I just can't connect. There's a few exceptions: Sunset Blvd, I guess The Apartment...
I have the same situation with Truffaut - love all the other new wave-ers, no patience at all for Truffaut. One of these days I'll make a proper analysis as to why.
I understand not liking someone you should. I have no use for Godard at all, and I suppose as a film fan I should.
I haven't seen everything Wilder did, but Double Indemnity, The Lost Weekend, Some Like It Hot, Sunset Blvd., The Apartment, One Two Three and The Fortune Cookie are all among my all-time favorites.
Once again, Sparks you and I are on le same page: just cannot get into Godard, in fact he sort of makes me mad. There are maybe 2 I liked that I can think of: Alphaville and Bout de Souffle.
As for Wilder, he's one of my faves too, but there are some who dismiss everything post-Charles Brackett, which, actually I can kinda see. There are some seriously bad cornball jokes in all the Diamond collaborations; the Brackett stuff is way more corrosive.
One that I absolutely loved you can't find on video, at least the last time i checked - would this be on some whack torrent site? A Foreign Affair w/Dietrich and Jean Arthur. I think they filmed it in Allied-occupied Berlin; I remember it looking all bombed out.
