An intriguing question from the Lynch thread, especially as 98% of the ones I like are now dead. (semi-kidding)
Roughly in order of coming to mind:
Steven SpielbergMartin ScorseseFrederick WisemanElaine MayCharles BurnettDavid LynchKen JacobsTodd HaynesStanley DonenRoger CormanSteven SoderberghJerry Lewis
--------------
Ok, that's 12 (sue me). and then I thought of
Terrence MalickMelvin Van PeeblesWoody AllenSpike LeeKenneth AngerD.A. PennebakerMilos Forman (naturalized!)Michel Gondry (ditto?)Joel & Ethan CoenFrancis CoppolaWes AndersonKelly ReichardtClint EastwoodPeter BogdanovichRichard LinklaterAlan RudolphWalter HillDavid FincherJim JarmuschGus Van SantErrol MorrisWilliam FriedkinJohn SaylesTim BurtonAmy HeckerlingMel BrooksKathryn BigelowTerry GilliamNicole HolofcenerHal HartleyNathaniel DorskyBrad BirdSam RaimiJonas MekasPenelope SpheerisErnie Gehr
others i would not consider who many would:
P.T. AndersonBrian De PalmaSofia CoppolaJohn CarpenterJames CameronQ______ T_________Robert Zemeckis
― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 17 August 2017 17:06 (six years ago) link
Stanley Donen is alive?!
― blog haus aka the scene raver (wins), Thursday, 17 August 2017 17:08 (six years ago) link
wow who knew...yep
― nomar, Thursday, 17 August 2017 17:09 (six years ago) link
Then best working American filmmakers in no order:
Frederick WisemanCharles BurnettDavid LynchSteven SoderberghSofia CoppolaKelly ReichardtSteven SpielbergErrol MorrisJim JarmuschMartin Scorsese
― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 17 August 2017 17:11 (six years ago) link
Corman is an interesting choice, Morbs!
I'll have to think about it but I'd wager that my list would include people who, if they're still working, are well past their golden period (thinking someone like Joe Dante, although I'm unsure he'd make my top ten).
― Say, I Heard You Had a Quarrel With Your Best Girl (Old Lunch), Thursday, 17 August 2017 17:16 (six years ago) link
i put in my upper tier those w/ at least one film i consider"great" and for RC it's Masque of the Red Death.
― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 17 August 2017 17:25 (six years ago) link
Stanley Donen is still alive?!
― Οὖτις, Thursday, 17 August 2017 17:34 (six years ago) link
lol many xps
― Οὖτις, Thursday, 17 August 2017 17:35 (six years ago) link
Donen is the last Golden Age great alive, I think. he's 93.
― nomar, Thursday, 17 August 2017 17:35 (six years ago) link
I love a bunch that are still alive but also well past their prime/actively terrible now (Woody Allen, De Palma etc.)
― Οὖτις, Thursday, 17 August 2017 17:36 (six years ago) link
at least worthy of mention:
Monte HellmanLaura Poitras
― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 17 August 2017 17:40 (six years ago) link
What this tells me is that Americans are in the minority on the list of greatest living filmmakers.
― Anne of the Thousand Gays (Eric H.), Thursday, 17 August 2017 17:40 (six years ago) link
Also, living AND active would probably be a worthwhile consideration.
what about dead AND active?
― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 17 August 2017 17:41 (six years ago) link
or living AND inactive, or should be inactive!
― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 17 August 2017 17:42 (six years ago) link
xp There's hope for Romero.
― Anne of the Thousand Gays (Eric H.), Thursday, 17 August 2017 17:42 (six years ago) link
surprised to see tim burton on yr list, morbs - it's been close to 20 years since he's made something decent
― licking the yellow Toad next to the teleporter (bizarro gazzara), Thursday, 17 August 2017 17:52 (six years ago) link
I'd def consider Anderson and carpenter before burton
― blog haus aka the scene raver (wins), Thursday, 17 August 2017 17:53 (six years ago) link
I still see defenders of the big-eyes artist movie.
also i very much liked Sweeney Todd.
he gets a lot of grace for me from Ed Wood and Mars Attacks! not the earlier popular stuff.
― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 17 August 2017 17:55 (six years ago) link
i liked Sleepy Hollow
― nomar, Thursday, 17 August 2017 17:55 (six years ago) link
for the purposes of this list, i don't care about recent quality
― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 17 August 2017 17:56 (six years ago) link
Pee Wee, Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood and Mars Attacks is a great run. after that it's p much garbage.
― Οὖτις, Thursday, 17 August 2017 17:56 (six years ago) link
fyc: which of the farrelly bros is still alive
― blog haus aka the scene raver (wins), Thursday, 17 August 2017 17:57 (six years ago) link
I've only seen 3 Charles Burnett movies, but two of them KoS and To Sleep With Anger are absolutely stunning.
― calzino, Thursday, 17 August 2017 17:57 (six years ago) link
Is rob zombie alive
in that case i'd say leaving john carpenter off is even more baffling tbh
― licking the yellow Toad next to the teleporter (bizarro gazzara), Thursday, 17 August 2017 17:58 (six years ago) link
Don't engage, gazzara.
― Anne of the Thousand Gays (Eric H.), Thursday, 17 August 2017 18:02 (six years ago) link
For real: John Waters deserves a mention
― blog haus aka the scene raver (wins), Thursday, 17 August 2017 18:10 (six years ago) link
He'd be in my ten, though I have to give the question a lot more thought.
― Anne of the Thousand Gays (Eric H.), Thursday, 17 August 2017 18:15 (six years ago) link
yeah I forgot Waters, bcz inactive (let's face it) and using TSPDT as a backup -- he's not in the top 250 directors.
Same: Bob Rafelson.
― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 17 August 2017 18:33 (six years ago) link
leaving john carpenter off is even more baffling tbh
horror stinks
for real, i didn't leave him off anything except MY longlist. A little good faith, ever?
― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 17 August 2017 18:34 (six years ago) link
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
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.
Great to hear, Fred. I put Tangerine in my top 25 of the century so far. that was an amazing movie. Really looking forward to TFP in a few weeks when it comes here.
xp Interesting Alfred... i'll dip out of this convo til I see the movie, curious to hear both yr guys' thoughts.
― flappy bird, Wednesday, 11 October 2017 22:25 (six years ago) link
I liked Tangerine but this film showed he hasn't a clue (yet) how to pace a feature length film.
― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 11 October 2017 22:26 (six years ago) link
according to A White it also has fatal "class condescension" issues.
― calzino, Wednesday, 11 October 2017 23:09 (six years ago) link
Well what doesn't, outside of Mel Gibson movies?
― Anne of the Thousand Gays (Eric H.), Wednesday, 11 October 2017 23:16 (six years ago) link
A colleague called it "tourist porn," which it isn't -- it's child cuteness porn. It accepts that these horrifying children are charming little dears.
― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 11 October 2017 23:23 (six years ago) link
Life's too short to engage with what A White thinks ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
― Frederik B, Wednesday, 11 October 2017 23:25 (six years ago) link
It's just so great. The colors, the framing of the pictures, every single actor, the way it feels like life is just drifting by, while on retrospect it's really tightly constructed, the colors, the sunsets, the fantasmogoric view of America, the music, and oh, did I mention the colors?
― Frederik B, Wednesday, 11 October 2017 23:29 (six years ago) link
that's the problem, which you hit -- I had an existential fear that anyone outside Florida would nod and think, "See? Here is this phantasmagorical view of America." What you see in this movie isn't Orlando, isn't Disney, isn't Kissimmee -- it could be shot in Sarasota, Jacksonville, outskirts of Tacoma. It doesn't even get the noise level right.
― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 11 October 2017 23:32 (six years ago) link
and all the reviews are falling into the trap of writing, "See? Here's America." It's so fucking condescending.
One thing, I'll grant, it does get right: the colors of a summer sky in Florida before a thunderstorm. But the children are so poorly directed -- and the ending so misconceived that everyone in the screening room laughed -- and Willem Dafoe so obvious that, of course, we can discuss Oscar nominations. There isn't a hotel manager in the world as generous as Dafoe; he's managing a flophouse as if it were a Disney gift shop, and Disney gift shops wouldn't let customers get away with what Dafoe does.
― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 11 October 2017 23:35 (six years ago) link
I kinda don't care if it's accurately Orlando, the feeling of phantasmagoria was equally powerful in the films Baker shot in California. It's something he does in all his films.
― Frederik B, Wednesday, 11 October 2017 23:41 (six years ago) link
The sound design is absolutely incredible and expressive. It's not about getting anything 'right', it's not a documentary. It's a work of art.
― Frederik B, Wednesday, 11 October 2017 23:45 (six years ago) link
Also, Baker isn't the only one doing phantasmagorical America. Soderbergh in films like Magic Mike and Logan Lucky (just the names...) and the Sadie Brothers' Good Time. As examples. Baker is just the best one.
― Frederik B, Wednesday, 11 October 2017 23:55 (six years ago) link
It fails as fiction.
Soderbergh's Tampa lives. So does American Honey, which covers much of the same ground, is half an hour longer, and the more moving film.
― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 11 October 2017 23:58 (six years ago) link
I do want to see The Florida Project mainly on the basis of Baker's previous film (which I didn't flat-out love, but found intriguing enough to see what he does next), and the disparity between the reviews I've been seeing and Alfred's reaction makes me, if anything, more curious about it, but American Honey is a serious red flag for me. I know that it was acclaimed, but I found it so tedious and unlikeable that I bailed on it with about an hour still to go in its (endless) running time.
― iCloudius (cryptosicko), Thursday, 12 October 2017 01:26 (six years ago) link
What was the last great Florida movie? Sayles' Sunshine State?
Frederik revives this thread for a guy who's made two fucking features. Clown.
― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 12 October 2017 01:27 (six years ago) link
I'd say Ulee's Gold was the last to really get its topography; I dunno if it's great.
I'm posting a review at the usual places tomorrow.
― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 12 October 2017 01:57 (six years ago) link
Turned American Honey off in record time.
― Anne of the Thousand Gays (Eric H.), Thursday, 12 October 2017 02:55 (six years ago) link
Hey, if there was a single director out there who I thought hadn't yet made a ghastly mistake, I'd be enthusiastic too.
― Anne of the Thousand Gays (Eric H.), Thursday, 12 October 2017 02:56 (six years ago) link
If any force, natural or supernatural, can make Shia TheBeef tolerable for at least a third of a picture, then I can keep hoping this same force will kill Donald Trump.
― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 12 October 2017 03:23 (six years ago) link
Sean Baker has made six feature films. I've only seen the three he has made this decade.
― Frederik B, Thursday, 12 October 2017 07:21 (six years ago) link
I forgot I saw Starlet. Not good.
― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 12 October 2017 10:52 (six years ago) link
watched this last week, not good
― johnny crunch, Thursday, 12 October 2017 12:01 (six years ago) link
oh cool – this thread will go on all day!
― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 12 October 2017 12:04 (six years ago) link
Happiness was partially set in Florida iirc. So I guess that.
― Anne of the Thousand Gays (Eric H.), Thursday, 12 October 2017 12:06 (six years ago) link
SPRAAAAANG BREAK FOREVER
Also, Bully.
― grawlix (unperson), Thursday, 12 October 2017 12:11 (six years ago) link
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
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