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Who are your top 3 GOAT directors?
- Thread starter The Masked Mufti
- Start date
Good call — I don't think she's made a bad film yet. Petite Maman is definitely in my Top 5 from last year.
As for my three GOATs:
Lynch is incredibly obvious, but he's also obvious for a reason. I don't love everything he's directed (Wild at Heart is a stinker, IMO), but the highs are unlike anything else in cinema. Poetic, unnerving, and deeply humanistic in a way that a lot of other contemporary directors don't even try to match.
Jacques Rivette is, for me, the greatest formalist film has ever had. In terms of camera movement, narrative structure, and unique approach to different subject matter, he's head and shoulders above pretty much everyone not only in the Nouvelle Vague but in all of film.
Elaine May has the rare perfect filmography. Get at me, Ishtar haters.
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Just 3? Right now I'd say-
-David Lynch
-Takashi Miike
-Park Chan-wook
But these are the rest of my top 20 in no order-
-Peter Greenaway
-Shinya Tsukamoto
-David Cronenberg
-Sion Sono
-Pedro Almodovar
-Steven Spielberg
-Coen Brothers
-Martin Scorsese
-Quentin Tarantino
-Stanley Kubrick
-Paul Thomas Anderson
-Alfred Hitchcock
-John Woo
-Wong War Kai
-Takeshi Kitano
-Bong Joon-ho
-Darren Aronofsky
-David Lynch
-Takashi Miike
-Park Chan-wook
But these are the rest of my top 20 in no order-
-Peter Greenaway
-Shinya Tsukamoto
-David Cronenberg
-Sion Sono
-Pedro Almodovar
-Steven Spielberg
-Coen Brothers
-Martin Scorsese
-Quentin Tarantino
-Stanley Kubrick
-Paul Thomas Anderson
-Alfred Hitchcock
-John Woo
-Wong War Kai
-Takeshi Kitano
-Bong Joon-ho
-Darren Aronofsky
OP
OP
Kubrick
Bresson
Kieslowski
also
Fassbinder
Mizoguchi
Bergmann
Scorsese
Steve McQueen
Buster Keaton
Bresson
Kieslowski
also
Fassbinder
Mizoguchi
Bergmann
Scorsese
Steve McQueen
Buster Keaton
Another good call. Keaton's hit rate as an actor is seriously tanked by the stuff he made at MGM in the early sound era, but as a director he's basically flawless. Sherlock, Jr. is a strong candidate for "best movie about movies" ever made.
Takeshi Kitano
I honestly have no idea how to pick three but I love Takeshi's style of directing. Wing Kar Wai is fairly new for me as I only saw his films a year ago with the Criterion set, but I absolutely loved every single one of them. So in time he might move up. I also love everything Park Chan Wook has out out.
But it's hard not to add someone like Scorsese even though it's not the most interesting pick. Ridley Scott is also responder Alien and Bladerunner despite everything else he's done that's been average, and those films are incredible.
I honestly have no idea how to pick three but I love Takeshi's style of directing. Wing Kar Wai is fairly new for me as I only saw his films a year ago with the Criterion set, but I absolutely loved every single one of them. So in time he might move up. I also love everything Park Chan Wook has out out.
But it's hard not to add someone like Scorsese even though it's not the most interesting pick. Ridley Scott is also responder Alien and Bladerunner despite everything else he's done that's been average, and those films are incredible.
John Carpenter
Steven Spielberg
Tie between Scorsese and Tarantino
Honorable mentions:
I have a soft spot for Chris Columbus since he made Harry Potter and Home Alone. Likewise Peter Jackson for LOTR.
i also like Coppola, Kubrick, Cameron, Fincher, Nolan, and Tim Burton
Steven Spielberg
Tie between Scorsese and Tarantino
Honorable mentions:
I have a soft spot for Chris Columbus since he made Harry Potter and Home Alone. Likewise Peter Jackson for LOTR.
i also like Coppola, Kubrick, Cameron, Fincher, Nolan, and Tim Burton
Steven Spielberg
Undoubtedly his films were some of the most influential to me, despite some few misses I admit.
John Woo
As action genre fan, his stylish action scene direction were... Stylish, no matter how ridiculous yet awesome they were.
Last one is hard...
David Fincher maybe?
Se7en, Panic Room, The Game, The Fight Club, Alien 3 (yes, Alien 3), etc; excluding Gone Girl that is, don't like that one.
Undoubtedly his films were some of the most influential to me, despite some few misses I admit.
John Woo
As action genre fan, his stylish action scene direction were... Stylish, no matter how ridiculous yet awesome they were.
Last one is hard...
David Fincher maybe?
Se7en, Panic Room, The Game, The Fight Club, Alien 3 (yes, Alien 3), etc; excluding Gone Girl that is, don't like that one.
My hot take is that if you're grading off his entire filmography, Ridley Scott is just an average filmmaker
Right now I'm feeling
Eric Rohmer
Orson Welles
Sergei Eisenstein
Depending on my mood though... might have swapped out any one for Ernst Lubitsch, Abel Gance, FW Murnau, Buster Keaton, Jean Renoir or Fritz Lang instead. Maybe even Victor Sjöström but I haven't watched enough of his movies to know.
Eric Rohmer
Orson Welles
Sergei Eisenstein
Depending on my mood though... might have swapped out any one for Ernst Lubitsch, Abel Gance, FW Murnau, Buster Keaton, Jean Renoir or Fritz Lang instead. Maybe even Victor Sjöström but I haven't watched enough of his movies to know.
very hard to choose only three but,
michelangelo antonioni
akira kurosawa
wes anderson
honorable mentions:
rian johnson
ridley scott
denis villeneuve
whit stillman
brian de palma
jim jarmusch
jean-pierre melville
yasujiro ozu
alex garland
agnès varda
peter bogdonavich
coen bros
paul thomas anderson
michelangelo antonioni
akira kurosawa
wes anderson
honorable mentions:
rian johnson
ridley scott
denis villeneuve
whit stillman
brian de palma
jim jarmusch
jean-pierre melville
yasujiro ozu
alex garland
agnès varda
peter bogdonavich
coen bros
paul thomas anderson
Tarantino
Villeneuve
Carpenter
Honorable mentions:
Spielberg
Hitchcock
Kubrick
Argento
Cronenberg
Raimi
Villeneuve
Carpenter
Honorable mentions:
Spielberg
Hitchcock
Kubrick
Argento
Cronenberg
Raimi
Oh yes, 100%. Heaven Can Wait is a masterpiece.
Love Bogdanovich's work — I've done some restoration work on a few missing numbers from At Long Last Love, which nobody else seems to care for, but their loss. Have you heard about the recently rediscovered director's cut of his last film?
Miyazaki
Fincher
Satoshi Kon
Could make the list but I need to see more of their films:
Bong Joon-ho
Spike Lee
Richard Linklater
Chaplin
Needs to put out more films that aren't directly tied into a series for me to list:
Yamada Naoko
Runner ups:
James Gunn
Scorsese
Pete Doctor
Fincher
Satoshi Kon
Could make the list but I need to see more of their films:
Bong Joon-ho
Spike Lee
Richard Linklater
Chaplin
Needs to put out more films that aren't directly tied into a series for me to list:
Yamada Naoko
Runner ups:
James Gunn
Scorsese
Pete Doctor
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Carrying over two of the ones from the last time I made a version of this list...
Stanley Kubrick
Akira Kurosawa
Denis Villeneuve
#listomania
Stanley Kubrick
Akira Kurosawa
Denis Villeneuve
Serious contenders:
Darren Aronofsky
Joel and Ethan Coen
PT Anderson
Abbas Kiarostami
Pedro Almodovar
David Lynch
Alejandro González Iñárritu
Alfonso Cuarón
Popular, but not quite contenders:
Christopher Nolan
David Fincher
Blindspots, but I like what I've seen so far:
Kelly Reichardt
Gaspar Noé
Andrei Tarkovsky
Wong Kar-Wai
Steve McQueen
Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Kim Gi Duk
Jim Jarmusch
Personal loves, but too niche for GOAT status:
Wes Anderson
Quentin Tarantino
Terry Gilliam
Great and prolific, but volume != GOAT
Alfred Hitchcock
Martin Scorsese
Steven Spielberg
Steven Soderbergh
Darren Aronofsky
Joel and Ethan Coen
PT Anderson
Abbas Kiarostami
Pedro Almodovar
David Lynch
Alejandro González Iñárritu
Alfonso Cuarón
Popular, but not quite contenders:
Christopher Nolan
David Fincher
Blindspots, but I like what I've seen so far:
Kelly Reichardt
Gaspar Noé
Andrei Tarkovsky
Wong Kar-Wai
Steve McQueen
Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Kim Gi Duk
Jim Jarmusch
Personal loves, but too niche for GOAT status:
Wes Anderson
Quentin Tarantino
Terry Gilliam
Great and prolific, but volume != GOAT
Alfred Hitchcock
Martin Scorsese
Steven Spielberg
Steven Soderbergh
#listomania
1. Akira Kurosawa
My personal hero. Exceptional director, writer and editor. 30 films written and directed, and the 'worst' one is still good and interesting despite being forced WW2 propaganda. Have mined his writings and interviews for advice.
2. Woody Allen
I know, but the work is of an insanely high and pretty consistent quality over the years, with ~4 masterpieces (imo Hannah and Her Sisters, Annie Hall, The Purple Rose of Cairo and Stardust Memories), alongside about two dozen other very, very strong films. It's easy to forget if you've only seen the last two decades of work that this guy could direct the hell out of a scene.
... Going to cheat and just list a grab bag for 3 because I can't decide between them at the moment:
Peter Weir/Masaki Kobayashi/Wong Kar-wai/Sion Sono/Alfred Hitchcock/Park Chan-wook
These lists are always a difficult thing for me because there's an element of 'I want to make this sort of work' to it. I love a ton of the films Scorsese and Spielberg have put out, but I don't really identify as personally wanting to make enough of them to kick them into the upper echelon, which is some nonsense criteria I've latched onto in my head.
My personal hero. Exceptional director, writer and editor. 30 films written and directed, and the 'worst' one is still good and interesting despite being forced WW2 propaganda. Have mined his writings and interviews for advice.
2. Woody Allen
I know, but the work is of an insanely high and pretty consistent quality over the years, with ~4 masterpieces (imo Hannah and Her Sisters, Annie Hall, The Purple Rose of Cairo and Stardust Memories), alongside about two dozen other very, very strong films. It's easy to forget if you've only seen the last two decades of work that this guy could direct the hell out of a scene.
... Going to cheat and just list a grab bag for 3 because I can't decide between them at the moment:
Peter Weir/Masaki Kobayashi/Wong Kar-wai/Sion Sono/Alfred Hitchcock/Park Chan-wook
These lists are always a difficult thing for me because there's an element of 'I want to make this sort of work' to it. I love a ton of the films Scorsese and Spielberg have put out, but I don't really identify as personally wanting to make enough of them to kick them into the upper echelon, which is some nonsense criteria I've latched onto in my head.
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Outside of my first response, if the question doesn't take into account general influence and legacy and is just purely personal opinion and personal impact, then Ridley Scott and Darren Aronofsky make my list and I'd have to think really hard about the third.
the third is probably Kurosawa
