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Have you considered making more diverse friends?
I'm not saying that people just read them, but those writers almost always come up when you ask people their favorites, in a way that you don't hear in music or movies. I don't care how diverse your friends are, if they read comics, odds are Alan Moore is one of their favorite writers.
Now, this is what we in the biz call a list thread. It doesn't actually tell us anything very interesting about any of the directors being mentioned. In fact, it is just a list of favourite films. Might I suggest that instead people select one or more directors and explain what it is about their work that makes them a favourite of theirs?
This is true, I was just trying to get a little survey of people's favorite directors, but I'd be glad to expand on my choices.
David Lynch - Lynch's movies are completely unique, and seem to exist in a timeless dimension that's at once dated and completely modern. Eraserhead is the most alien movie I've ever seen, and seems to be set in a completely different world. Twin Peaks is the best TV show of all time, and the red room sequences are my favorite things ever filmed. The finale is a great example of telling a story solely with visual symbols, and the film is the best example of blending really abstract content with a strong emotional core. Mulholland Drive is the culmination of everything he's done to date, a really great movie. Lynch also has strong thematic threads connecting his films, making them work well as an entire body of work.
Tim Burton - His work is visually dazzling, and his body of work collectively is a great explanation of the outsider and society. I love the way Edward Scissorhands, Batman Returns, The Nightmare Before Christmas and Ed Wood are all basically about the same thing, the outsider coming to terms with his place in society. They all have different takes on this theme, and taken collectively, they become greater than the sum of their parts.
Quentin Tarantino - His movies have a very pop sensibility, and he's one of the best directors at using "gimmicky" structures and editing techniques in a way that supports the story. He takes a lot of risks, and almost all of them pay off. His movies are always very cool, largely because of great musical choices. And in Kill Bill II and Jackie Brown, he shows that he can handle real emotional content as well as any director out there.
Terry Gilliam - Gilliam is one of the best visual storytellers out there, and his explorations of fantasy vs. reality are always interesting. While I like all his stuff, nothing is as brilliant as Brazil, which is on par with 1984 in creating a dystopian world, one that twenty years later is still painfully relevant.
Darren Aronofsky - He's the only director to take music video style cutting and use it not just to be cool, but to service the story. The soundtracks for both his movies are amazing, and, particularly in Requiem, the bold editing choices make what could have been a simple melodrama into something epic. The closing sequence of Requiem left me practically catatonic.
Richard Linlater - He's the best director at making stories about people talking, that are absolutely riveting. I love the philosophical explorations of Waking Life, the rambling narrative of Dazed and Confused. Before Sunrise and Before Sunset fit together perfectly, have perfectly drawn characters. The fact that he could make 80 minutes of talking one of the most riveting movies I've ever seen demonstrates his skill.
PT Anderson - Watching Magnolia forced me to completely reevaluate film. The way he combined all those stories, with characters interacting with each other, and thematic parallels developing. After the three hours, I was just wishing it wouldn't end. Boogie Nights is similar in its scope, and also features brilliant editing and camerawork. Plus, his use of music is rivaled only by Tarantino. The Magnolia "One" sequence, at the beginning of the movie, is, IMO, the most well constructed sequence in any movie.
Michael Mann - The Insider was like The X-Files, only real, and Heat was the definitve crime movie. I feel like nothing in the genre could top it in terms of scope. He is a genius at taking huge epic stories, and finding the human story within it. Plus, he can stage an amazing action sequence, as in the club shootout in Collateral.
Sofia Coppola - Lost in Translation really got to me emotionally. She's great at combining emotional stories with amazing visuals. The cityscape of Tokyo, or the dreamlike photography of The Virgin Suicides amplify the emotion of the characters. Plus, she's another director who knows how to use music. The Air soundtrack to Virgin Suicides was amazing, as was LiT's music.
Spike Jonze - He takes really bizarre stories, and grounds them in reality. Being John Malkovich feels grimy and real, despite the absurd subject matter. The Malkovich in Malkovich sequence was a real highlight. |
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