Favorite/Least Favorite Filmmakers

[bruce]

Since I mentioned him first, and nobody contested, I'm going to go ahead and assume that every single one of you feels that Paul Thomas Anderson is the greatest filmmaker of all time. 

Poor mans Robert Altman

Short Cuts + Frogs = Magnolia

[Trotskie]

There is a single exception: I loved The Straight Story and saw it twice in a row.  Cried hard during the WWII discussion.
I guess that was the one that many saw as an "anti-Lynch" movie, ostensibly because that was the one that had human beings in it

I think that humanism present in the Straight Story is something of a constant in all of Lynch's movies.  More often than not you have to look beneath layers of pretension to find it, but I find it one the aspects of his filmmaking that separates him from others who deal in similar sureallisms.  His fantasy indulgences are always anchored by a sense of genuine awe at the peculiar-ness of human emotion. 

Whether it is the humor of Twin Peaks or the dread filled first half of Lost Highway, I never leave one of his movies feeling like he was (just) fucking around.  There always seems to be something genuinely dimensional at stake.

For me, a fan of Lynch, the seeing the Straight Story really crystallized a lot of the reasons why I love the guy's work.   

[Laurie]

Since I mentioned him first, and nobody contested, I'm going to go ahead and assume that every single one of you feels that Paul Thomas Anderson is the greatest filmmaker of all time. 

Poor mans Robert Altman

Short Cuts + Frogs = Magnolia

It was a pretty good movie, but what the fuck was up with those frogs?

[Tim K in DC]

A few years ago I heard a NPR interview with the guy who played the game show host in Magnolia, and apparently the frog thing is a natural occurrence in areas of the US where tornadoes are common (how stupid looking is the plural spelling of "tornadoes"?). What he said happens is when tornadoes (GAH!!!) pass over ponds or other bodies of water where frogs dwell, the creatures get swept up into the sky and end up raining down (presumably with other water dwellers) on the land when the tornado (THANK YOU) loses steam.

I am pissed now.  Good job, plural tornado. Good job. Hey Mike, is this the kind of thing that triggers your rage-outs?

[Sarah]

Are you similarly distressed by "tomatoes" and "potatoes"?

[Grimlock]

Here's my favourites:

Davis Lynch: Undohead and Outland Empire being my favorites.
Roman Pulaski: Everything from Annemarie's Fetus to Asiatown is tops. The Occupant is stupid though, where he jumps out of the window dressed up like a giant rabbit?
Jean Luc Stoddard: Especially "Los Mepris" and "Weekday Pleasure Drive."
Albert Hitchcock: East by Eastwestbeing my favorite.
Stanley Crotchrocket: Elbows on the Table, starring Julie Cruise and Rudyard Kipland, is a haunting journey into psychosexual morass caused by Leeloo's lack of a multipass. Gripping.
Sam Lesser: The Big Blue One + Fully Clothed Kiss
Wang Kar Drive: I especially love 2069 and In the Mood for Lovingtime, which are haunting journey's into sexual obsession and bright colors.
Tasi Mung-Liang: Conformists of the Sodium Vapor Lords is a haunting journey through the minds eye.
Dirk Jerman: His epic GREEN, with score by Brian Uno, is a haunting journey into the mind of a man turning green from cheap gold jewlery.

Those are all the films I can bemember.
 

[Tim K in DC]

Are you similarly distressed by "tomatoes" and "potatoes"?

Oddly, no. I can't quite figure out why it sets me off. It just does. (Hmm...)

[Petey]

FAVORITE:

Kurosawa (The Bad Sleep Well, Ikiru, High and Low) -

He is my favorite filmmaker. I don't know why. =[

Yimou Zhang (Not One Less, Raise the Red Lantern)

His older films were better, but he is still alright. Not One Less is the one of the most touching stories ever 

The Coen Mothers

They made some pretty good movies.

Yasujiro Ozu (A Story of Floating Weeds, Tokyo Story)

The movies show life. =]

[emdasher]

Two favorites who are similar: Micheal Mann and Paul Greengrass.

Heat and The Insider are up there with my all-time favorite movies. I also loved Miami Vice, even though I find myself having to defend it so much.

Greengrass is amazing at building enormous tension in all of his films. United 93 and The Bourne Ultimatum were both great.

[harris]

favorite - malick, cassavetes, altman, pta, herzog

least favorite - prob gregg araki, kevin smith and tarantino

[mokin]

least favorite - prob gregg araki

I would've agreed with this but then I saw Mysterious Skin. Dude's growing up.

[jbissell]

least favorite - prob gregg araki

I would've agreed with this but then I saw Mysterious Skin. Dude's growing up.

Yeah, I was beyond shocked that I enjoyed that one. Joseph Gordon-Levitt was pretty great.

[JonFromMaplewood]

I'll say it loud and proud...I do not like Paul Thomas Anderson. His films have been consistently internally inconsistent. 
-The second half of Boogie Nights was the same as the second half of Goodfellas: Downward spiral into debauchery - quick edits of coke use - etc.  A great "Sister Christian" moment can't save it, in my opinion.
-I was okay with Magnolia...even the frogs...but the Aimee Mann singalong annoyed the hell out of me. 
-Punch Drunk Love? Ew Buoy. 
-I am sure many will defend the end of There Will Be Blood, but I thought it was overacted, overwritten, and just plain silly.  Total nosedive from the heavens.

While I'm here, I want to praise The Straight Story along with others. Lynch does understatement surprisingly well. Beautiful, simple film.

[KickTheBobo]

Favorites: Hal Hartley, J. Jarmusch, Coppola, Savage Steve Holland, Penelope Spheeris, Gondry, Spike Jonze...

Least Favorite: McG, Harmony Korine

[JonFromMaplewood]

Favorites: Hal Hartley, J. Jarmusch, Coppola, Savage Steve Holland, Penelope Spheeris, Gondry, Spike Jonze...

Francis Ford or Sofia?