dismissing carpenter as a horror director is pretty reductive
also they live seems like it'd be right in line with the morbs worldview
― licking the yellow Toad next to the teleporter (bizarro gazzara), Thursday, 17 August 2017 19:02 (six years ago) link
i was kinda jokin'
still plan to see They Live someday
― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 17 August 2017 19:22 (six years ago) link
i like Halloween; not 'great' tho
they live is kind of a masterpiece of bitterly angry lefty polemic, honestly
watched it again recently and it seems more relevant than ever
― licking the yellow Toad next to the teleporter (bizarro gazzara), Thursday, 17 August 2017 19:29 (six years ago) link
I should see it again. I remember liking it but also suspect it's clumsy as hell in retrospect.
― Anne of the Thousand Gays (Eric H.), Thursday, 17 August 2017 19:32 (six years ago) link
it is clumsy i guess but i'd prefer to think of it as single-minded: carpenter has one idea to get across (CAPITALISM IS BAD) and rowdy roddy piper is the perfect blunt object to drive the message home
― licking the yellow Toad next to the teleporter (bizarro gazzara), Thursday, 17 August 2017 20:00 (six years ago) link
Five more:
Sean BakerJosephine DeckerJames BenningJP SniadeckiAlex Ross Perry
― Frederik B, Thursday, 17 August 2017 20:44 (six years ago) link
jj abramsmcgmax landis
― licking the yellow Toad next to the teleporter (bizarro gazzara), Thursday, 17 August 2017 20:51 (six years ago) link
larry clark
― johnny crunch, Thursday, 17 August 2017 22:32 (six years ago) link
clark is garbage and a garbage-person
― Οὖτις, Thursday, 17 August 2017 22:41 (six years ago) link
best living + working American directors (ie have made a great movie in the last 10 years) imo:
Martin ScorseseDavid LynchWes AndersonTodd HaynesJim JarmuschQuentin Tarantino (even tho his best/last good movie was in 2009)
... and then there's a bunch of horror + comedy directors who don't have more than a couple films under their belts so probably shouldn't include them just yet
― Οὖτις, Thursday, 17 August 2017 22:50 (six years ago) link
I am willing to hold out hope that The Florida Project is as great as everyone says but ... um, too soon.
― Anne of the Thousand Gays (Eric H.), Thursday, 17 August 2017 23:09 (six years ago) link
pvmic, but malick
― k3vin k., Thursday, 17 August 2017 23:16 (six years ago) link
Lynch by a country mile, everyone else is playing for second place
― rock and roll tucci coo (voodoo chili), Thursday, 17 August 2017 23:17 (six years ago) link
The American filmmakers where I still take an automatic interest in whatever they’re doing (past Wiseman, the order’s approximate):
1. Frederick Wiseman2. The Coens3. Kelly Reichardt4. Noel Baumbach5. Richard Linklater6. Sofia Coppola7. Paul Thomas Anderson8. Nicole Holofcener9. David Fincher (I liked Gone Girl enough that he’s still on the list)10. Errol Morris
I’m probably missing a documentarian where I’ve liked two or three films a lot. I haven't seen the Twin Peaks relaunch; if that turns out to be as good as I want it to be, Lynch would be back on the list.
Scorsese, Tarantino, Lee, DePalma, Coppola, others, the films I care about recede further and further into the past.
― clemenza, Thursday, 17 August 2017 23:33 (six years ago) link
I haven't seen the Twin Peaks relaunch; if that turns out to be as good as I want it to be, Lynch would be back on the list.
If Mulholland and Inland are what knocked him off the list for you, good luck with that.
― Anne of the Thousand Gays (Eric H.), Thursday, 17 August 2017 23:47 (six years ago) link
Steve Bannon
― it me, Thursday, 17 August 2017 23:50 (six years ago) link
(xpost) Sort of, yeah. But I'm hoping my interest in the characters will withstand anything...I'm comfortable with whatever level of weirdness the first two seasons and Blue Velvet operated at, but maybe this will be on the other side of that, I don't know.
― clemenza, Thursday, 17 August 2017 23:53 (six years ago) link
Would press for alive, active and currently great tbh
― jk rowling obituary thread (darraghmac), Friday, 18 August 2017 00:01 (six years ago) link
(semi-kidding)
are they only kinda dead?
― Neanderthal, Friday, 18 August 2017 00:02 (six years ago) link
Directors who are living, active and currently (meaning last 15 years or so) turning out some of their very best work:
Steven SpielbergDavid LynchCoen Bros.
... struggling after that tbh.
― Anne of the Thousand Gays (Eric H.), Friday, 18 August 2017 01:49 (six years ago) link
Maybe I'll give Malick a pass for turning out his best movie in that period too.
― Anne of the Thousand Gays (Eric H.), Friday, 18 August 2017 01:50 (six years ago) link
The same exercise with european and asian directors would be fun!
― Van Horn Street, Friday, 18 August 2017 01:56 (six years ago) link
off the top of my head:
David LynchCoen Bros.Paul Thomas AndersonSofia Coppola Todd Solondz John WatersJim Jarmusch D.A. PennebakerAlexander PayneQuentin Tarantino
― flappy bird, Friday, 18 August 2017 01:56 (six years ago) link
I'm a bit sad no one is mentioning Apatow.
― Van Horn Street, Friday, 18 August 2017 01:58 (six years ago) link
same for James Gray and Jeff Nichols.
― Van Horn Street, Friday, 18 August 2017 02:00 (six years ago) link
He's not great as a director
Cant believe i forgot the coens lol
― Οὖτις, Friday, 18 August 2017 02:02 (six years ago) link
Xp
Directors who are living, active and who I would watch a new movie by on purpose:
Joel & Ethan CoenSofia CoppolaDavid FincherWilliam FriedkinWalter HillNicole HolofcenerJohn HyamsJim JarmuschAdam WingardRob Zombie
― grawlix (unperson), Friday, 18 August 2017 02:03 (six years ago) link
Oh yeah, James Gray would get a slot too on the alive/active/currently-great list.
― Anne of the Thousand Gays (Eric H.), Friday, 18 August 2017 02:09 (six years ago) link
fuck I forgot Friedkin & Fincher
― flappy bird, Friday, 18 August 2017 02:14 (six years ago) link
shit I can't believe I forgot Kelly Reichardt, too... she's in the top 5 for me
― flappy bird, Friday, 18 August 2017 02:17 (six years ago) link
Love seeing her pop up so much. She hasn't really made a bad movie yet, they've all be more or less interesting or at least certainly worthwhile.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 18 August 2017 02:25 (six years ago) link
yeah she is in my top 5 right now too
― Van Horn Street, Friday, 18 August 2017 02:26 (six years ago) link
What this tells me is that Americans are in the minority on the list of greatest living filmmakers.
Eric otm, which is why the question i asked is dead and gone
― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Friday, 18 August 2017 02:34 (six years ago) link
I knew I forgot someone who made an excellent film this year. Yeah -- Gray is in the top three among working American filmmakers. Holofcener not far behind.
― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 18 August 2017 02:46 (six years ago) link
No one's mentioned Kenneth Lonergan--completely forgot about him too. He'd be on my list for sure, so knock off Errol Morris.
― clemenza, Friday, 18 August 2017 02:51 (six years ago) link
This is personal favorites for me, not any stab at "best" --
David LynchCoen Bros.P.T. AndersonWes AndersonDavid SoderberghJeremy Saulnier (yes, based only on Blue Ruin and Green Room)then a nebulous 2nd tier that probably includes Jarmusch, Lonergan, Scorsese, probably Bigelow
― May contain peanuts, tree nuts, soy, wheat, pits or pit fragments. (WilliamC), Friday, 18 August 2017 03:01 (six years ago) link
I had to check to see if David Soderbergh was the Tommie Aaron of American film, but I think you meant Hank.
― clemenza, Friday, 18 August 2017 03:04 (six years ago) link
right, right, Hammerin' Steve
― May contain peanuts, tree nuts, soy, wheat, pits or pit fragments. (WilliamC), Friday, 18 August 2017 03:07 (six years ago) link
Malick probably at the top of the living/working list if he took time off after Tree of Life.
― circa1916, Friday, 18 August 2017 03:10 (six years ago) link
Green Room might be a good rewatch for this week.
― jmm, Friday, 18 August 2017 03:11 (six years ago) link
I'll second Lonergan.
― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 18 August 2017 03:20 (six years ago) link
Ranked according to my current level of enthusiasm (as in, "how excited am I for an upcoming project by this filmmaker), my list would go something like:
1. Joel and Ethan Coen2. Brad Bird3. Quentin Tarantino4. Richard Linklater5. Steven Spielberg6. Kenneth Lonergan 7. Spike Lee8. Spike Jonze 9. Paul Thomas Anderson10. Ira Sachs
(that's only 10% African American and 10% queer. Would have been 10% female too, but I remembered Spike Jonze at the last minute and Nicole Holofcener fell off the list.)
I've given up on Woody Allen, Clint Eastwood, Gus Van Sant and Tim Burton, and I'm so over Wes Anderson, Kathryn Bigelow, Todd Solondz and Alexander Payne. I have some serious catching up to do with Lynch post Mulholland Drive (just started watching the *original* Twin Peaks series, to be followed by the prequel film and then the new series). Sachs gets the spot that might otherwise go to Scorsese or Sophia Coppola, because a) I haven't seen Silence yet, and so for now the only thing I've liked from him in the last decade was the Fran Leibowitz doc, and b) I was so bored by Somewhere that I never made seeing The Bling Ring a priority, and so I still gotta catch up with it and her new one. I can't think of any documentary filmmakers that I consistently like--though the guy who did the Divine and Tab Hunter ones is good. I rarely enjoy Fincher, and I feel like I should enjoy Haynes and Malick far more than I do.
― the general theme of STUFF (cryptosicko), Friday, 18 August 2017 03:28 (six years ago) link
Good call on Sachs.
― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 18 August 2017 03:35 (six years ago) link
I probably should have included Pete Docter as well, as his three features as director (Monsters Inc, Up, Inside Out) is a great run.
― the general theme of STUFF (cryptosicko), Friday, 18 August 2017 03:59 (six years ago) link
Just returning from The Florida Project. Sean Baker is the greatest living American Filmmaker, bar none. Such an amazing experience.
― Frederik B, Wednesday, 11 October 2017 22:20 (six years ago) link
Well, perhaps 'greatest current American Filmmaker'. He's definitely the American Filmmaker of the decade.
Ugh, really? I intensely disliked it.
― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 11 October 2017 22:24 (six years ago) link
"Ugh" as in, "Not you too?" My band of Florida film critics is disappointed like hell with it.
not everyone will agree with me but imo a great florida movie is sun don't shine
― ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Thursday, 12 October 2017 12:20 (six years ago) link
SPRAAAAANG BREAK FOREVER
I don't think of that so much as a Florida movie as I do life itself.
― Anne of the Thousand Gays (Eric H.), Thursday, 12 October 2017 12:55 (six years ago) link
Last great Florida movie = Impulse w/ William Shatner.
― Ward Fowler, Thursday, 12 October 2017 13:14 (six years ago) link
― Anne of the Thousand Gays (Eric H.), 12. oktober 2017 14:55 (fifty-two minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
True. That film is everywhere and always.
― Frederik B, Thursday, 12 October 2017 13:48 (six years ago) link
What I wrote about The Florida Project anyway
― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 13 October 2017 10:52 (six years ago) link
Saw it today. In between Fred & Alfred but erring on Alfred's side - my main issue with the movie is it lacks any forward momentum, and the ending feels tacked on and forced. I was intrigued by the helicopter that kept taking off and landing by the motel, and when the cops & CPS came, I got the idea that the girl was going to run and jump into the helicopter and fly away. A beautiful, absurd fantasy of an ending that was making me cry even as it didn't play out. I thought the idea of them seeking asylum in the Magic Kingdom was nice, but again, the movie was so poorly paced & kind of boring as a mood/atmosphere piece. Some things I loved: the colors obviously, Willem Dafoe's performance (yes Alfred, perhaps not the most common landlord, but I've known a few landlords that he reminded me of. he was my favorite part of the movie by far), Baker escalating situations beyond where most directors would stop or cut (the one parent beating the shit out of the other, the pedophile, the johns coming into the room when the kid was there).
As far as it representing Florida or America or being a "See? This is real America" - well, I trust the guy that actually lives in Florida. Fred, I think the fantasy of this movie does its subject(s) a disservice. I still liked it, and it confirms Baker's status as one of America's most interesting directors, but I was let down- mostly because I loved, loved, loved Tangerine so much.
― flappy bird, Saturday, 21 October 2017 20:52 (six years ago) link
Reading this is such a relief.
― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 21 October 2017 23:30 (six years ago) link
huh had no idea Florida Project was directed by same person as Tangerine
― flopson, Saturday, 21 October 2017 23:33 (six years ago) link
Well, violently down the middle on Florida Project.
For awhile, yes, Alfred is right that the movie takes for granted that "these horrifying children are charming little dears" and, left-field quips aside, not remotely convincing. Eventually, it settles into truly expert "everyone has their reasons" territory -- many moments of unforced efficiency. (Am thinking of the interlude with Willem Dafoe's son, I think, saying he doesn't want to "do this anymore," and also clearly understanding why Dafoe's character feels compelled to continue. And how the sudden pattern of bathtime play interludes gently invites the audience into a new and unpleasant plot point.)
And it has a knack for portraying squalor in a way that makes it clear how adults can see their environment one way and kids another way entirely. But one of the movie's most obvious but well-realized examples -- the birthday fireworks a half-mile away from the real show -- just underscored how the abrupt ending didn't fucking work. After Tangerine, which had one of my favorite endings in recent years, this was a damp squib. Even taking into consideration how it brings "reality" crashing into a 6-year-old girl's life so violently she has nowhere to turn to but desperate fantasy. But the movie's a lot stronger when it sticks to things like the tourists' helicopter endlessly taking off: exciting to kids, a slap in the face to the destitute adults.
Still, I'll refrain from calling any filmmaker willing to devote serious career energies into depicting the American underclass condescending until we actually have anything remotely like an appropriate proportion of filmmakers devoting serious career energies into depicting the American underclass.
― Anne of the Thousand Gays (Eric H.), Tuesday, 24 October 2017 03:52 (six years ago) link
Oh, and didn't need lines like, "Do you know why this is my favorite tree? Because it’s tipped over and still growing." Not at all.
― Anne of the Thousand Gays (Eric H.), Tuesday, 24 October 2017 03:54 (six years ago) link
That was the best line! Perfect metaphor for America in 2017. And such a gorgeous image of them sitting on the tree, absolutely beautiful.
― Frederik B, Tuesday, 24 October 2017 08:37 (six years ago) link
I don't want metaphors for America in 2017 or ever.
― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 24 October 2017 11:01 (six years ago) link
Well, if a lot of people in the US agree with you, that's probably a major reason why American art is so shitty.
― Frederik B, Tuesday, 24 October 2017 11:13 (six years ago) link
plz get your motherfucking Sean Baker discussion outta my thread
― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 24 October 2017 11:18 (six years ago) link
(Frederik, you don't know shit about America)
― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 24 October 2017 11:22 (six years ago) link
That gorgeous shot was why we didn't need the line I thought the Florida project was excellent and it/baker should probably have a thread
― The Suite Life of Jack and Wendy (wins), Tuesday, 24 October 2017 12:15 (six years ago) link
I agree the shot was better. But line -> shot was a gorgeous piece of editing.
― Frederik B, Tuesday, 24 October 2017 12:37 (six years ago) link
And yeah, as the best American director of the decade, Sean Baker probably deserves his own thread.
That gorgeous shot was why we didn't need the line
This. Plus the entire movie leading up to that point.
― Anne of the Thousand Gays (Eric H.), Tuesday, 24 October 2017 12:38 (six years ago) link