Favorite/Least Favorite Filmmakers

[Martin]

Roman?

KTB, I like your list. It's not often you see Hartley's name being thrown around these days. He's definitely one of my favorites (if we only count his 89-97 ouevre or something).

[buffcoat]

I usually relish being so freaking unhip compared to the average FOT poster, but I must honestly say that I think Akira Kurosawa is the best director in history.

Although maybe that's so obvious nowadays as to be unhip.

Whatever.  If you haven't seen at least a couple of Kurosawa's films you are cheating yourself.

[KickTheBobo]

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

Francis Ford or Sofia? 

Roman.

really, though: did anybody see CQ? a whole lot of not good.

[Days of Se7en]

No one is really talking classical Hollywood here, so I'm gonna go ahead and pimp some of the greats (skipping Hitchcock and Welles, since everybody knows them).

Samuel Fuller, Nicholas Ray, Frank Tashlin, John Ford, Anthony Mann, Howard Hawks, Billy Wilder, Preston Sturges, Jacques Tourneur, John Huston, Otto Preminger, Jules Dassin, Vincente Minnelli, Douglas Sirk, Fritz Lang, Elia Kazan, Andre de Toth, Joseph H. Lewis, Robert Aldrich, and of course, early Stanley Kubrick (can't believe no one's mentioned him -- IMHO, his best stuff is the one-two punch from '56 and '57, The Killing and Paths of Glory.

This is just a sampling, but check out anything you can get your hands on by the above directors if you want to delve into the treasures of old-school Hollywood.

[Omar]

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

Francis Ford or Sofia? 

Roman.

really, though: did anybody see CQ? a whole lot of not good.

I like CQ.

[jbissell]

Billy Wilder is probably my favorite. Along with a bunch of others that have been mentioned numerous times (PT Anderson, Coens, Kurosawa, etc.). Someone else I love is Brad Bird, who makes nothing but masterpieces. And David Gordon Green, he makes some beautiful films.

[Chris L]

Of the two Kenji Mizoguchi films I've seen, Ugetsu is fantastic and Sansho the Bailiff is one of the best films I've ever seen.  Both are out from Criterion and Eclipse is releasing a box of his films later this year.  

[jbissell]

Of the two Kenji Mizoguchi films I've seen, Ugetsu is fantastic and Sansho the Bailiff is one of the best films I've ever seen.  Both are out from Criterion and Eclipse is releasing a box of his films later this year.  

I just got both of those from Netflix, glad to hear they're awesome.

[Sarah]

You reminded me that I like Hal Hartley, KtB, and this prompted me to IMDb him to check how many of his movies I've seen.  This in turn led me to the two-year-old news that Adrienne Shelly was murdered.  Which made me sad.

[Martin]

In conclusion, damn you KtB.

[Sarah]

Actually, I was going to begin that post with "Damn you, KtB" but then decided to be gentle.

[Susannah]

Favorites:

Bill Forsyth--"Local Hero" and "That Sinking Feeling" are great, but it's really "Gregory's Girl" that does it for me:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWzynoJIr-g&feature=related

Juzo Itami--director of "Tampopo":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XyoAZFREnY

Robert Downey, Sr.--especially "Putney Swope"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQICkrOoy1g

Least favorites: David Fincher (though, to be fair, I haven't seen "Zodiac.")
Anything of the Michael Bay variety
Anything that has a screenplay written by Joe Ezsterhas

[masterofsparks]

My favorite is probably Martin Scorsese (and I say this in spite of the fact that it's going on 20 years since he did anything truly great)

[Rainer]

Ooh, Chunking Express is a favorite of mine, too.

That movie unleashed -- with a fury -- a savage love for the Mamas and Papas, just as Dean Stockton's lip-sync (in Blue Velvet) hipped me to the majesty of Roy Orbison. 

I purchased "Pierrot Le Fou" this afternoon.  I love:

* Godard   - for his use of color.
* Truffaut  - for his lyricism.
* Billy Wilder - for everything.
 

[jamesp]

Billy Wilder is probably my favorite. Along with a bunch of others that have been mentioned numerous times (PT Anderson, Coens, Kurosawa, etc.). Someone else I love is Brad Bird, who makes nothing but masterpieces. And David Gordon Green, he makes some beautiful films.

It's crazy how many classics Billy Wilder made. Love him!

After that Hitchcock thread earlier this week, I finally realized how I'd seen like 15 of his movies and so many are classic. He's up there.

Thinking of a worst is really tough. There's no highly revered director (that I can think of) that I've never appreciated somehow. My picks would probably just be the same that most people dislike. I guess I'd say Ron Howard (aside from Splash), Brian DePalma, and Abel Ferrara.