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Name that Director

A Pajiba Quiz / Dustin Rowles

Seriously Random Lists | December 10, 2008 | Comments (45)

If you’re any kind of movie fan, you can no doubt name the directors of The Dark Knight, Superman Returns, Trainspotting, Wall-E, The Bourne Ultimatum, V for Vendetta, Fight Club, etc. etc. Cinephiles know the big-name directors, and they know their resumes.

But, do you know what they look like? Oh, sure: You know what Steven Spielberg, Judd Apatow, and Martin Scorsese look like. But what those A-list directors don’t do their own press, who don’t show up on talk shows and commercials and who aren’t fodder for the paparazzi? For such well-paid, well-known people, isn’t it funny that we don’t know what most directors look like?

That’s the topic of this week’s quiz. I’ll give you a picture, you tell me the director. I think this would be a damn near impossible quiz without multiple choice answers, but the multiple choices may allow you to narrow them down. That said, you’ll probably be surprised to learn just how few directors you know by their face.

There are 22 questions — it shouldn’t take you more than 5 minutes to complete. And, as always, brag about your scores in the comments section.



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Comments

1388... Good? Bad? I think Guy Ritchie can be added to the list of directors recognized as well as Spielberg and Scorcese. Madonna ruined his anonymity, and a lot of his credibility... sadly.

Posted by: kayz at December 10, 2008 3:14 PM

1349 out of 2200

Posted by: Cindy at December 10, 2008 3:15 PM

1339 or something. i feel ashamed that i could only get 1 female director and tht's because there has been SO much twilight

Posted by: apatl at December 10, 2008 3:15 PM

gawd, I suck. I'm not even posting my score because it is so fucking embarrassing. I am handing over my Pajiba card now *SOB*

Posted by: boo at December 10, 2008 3:16 PM

1478. I KNOW what Andrew Stanton looks like and yet I still get it wrong. Bah!

Richard Kelly is cute. So was the one dude with glasses. ...that narrows it down.

Posted by: Julie at December 10, 2008 3:16 PM

1615. Not terrible, right?

Posted by: Mimi at December 10, 2008 3:20 PM

1060/2200, which isn't as bad as i thought it would be.

and apparently 105% of people taking that quiz recognize guy ritchie!

aptl: i'm a little ashamed too that i only got 1 female director right, and only because i read an interview with nora ephron once and she said she's self-conscious of her neck or something so she always covers it in pictures. i dont know why i remember these things, but it helped me recognize her.

Posted by: eat my shorts at December 10, 2008 3:22 PM

1627. For some reason I always picture Ridley Scott in my head as much younger than he is..

Posted by: nekosaur at December 10, 2008 3:27 PM

1587! That's the highest I've EVER gotten on one of these quizzes. I finally feel worthy of my Pajiba card.

Posted by: lizzieborden at December 10, 2008 3:30 PM

1578. Best I've ever done on one of these quizzes. But, sadly, still not good enough. Good enough for what, I'm unsure, but I know it's, you know, not.

Posted by: Dangle McGee at December 10, 2008 3:31 PM

I didn't so good, I seem to have gotten them all wrong. Oh well, I guess that means I actually have a life.

Posted by: Pookie at December 10, 2008 3:33 PM

HA! Thanks Pookie. That's the first thing you've said (today) that has made me actually feel good about myself.

Ha ha loserzz!!1! Joke's on U!!!

Posted by: boo at December 10, 2008 3:49 PM

That's it Boo. I may not be able to double team with you after that insult, I'll have to find my OWN vibrating vehicle to play on. :(

Posted by: Julie at December 10, 2008 3:53 PM

1491...respectable i guess

Posted by: pabs at December 10, 2008 3:55 PM

934/2200. Oh, well.

I mixed up Alfonso Cuaron w/some other dude with long hair.

Posted by: Brie at December 10, 2008 3:56 PM

1573. OK. I Guess. Maybe I need to get out more.

Posted by: Jason at December 10, 2008 3:57 PM

926. I'd feel kinda embarrassed, but I just don't care enough what directors look like, I care more about if they're any good or not. I'd like to raise a concern about the accuracy of this test - how the hell can 146% of users get a given question right? If those code monkeys can't even get their math right...well, I still suck at this but I can at least make fun of someone. Ha-ha!

Posted by: lordhelmet at December 10, 2008 3:58 PM

Holy frak! 1880. I have apparently found my niche, useless as it is. I guess I'm a director groupie. Film-aid?

Posted by: foursweatervests at December 10, 2008 3:59 PM

1327, but I got all the women directors right!

BTW how come some answers say over 100% got this answer correct???

Posted by: Mrs Smith at December 10, 2008 4:00 PM

1462 better than I thought. I'm embarassed I got Amy Heckerling and Katherine H. mixed up. Ah well.

Thank god you didn't put Joel and Ethan Coen in same question, I don't which is which. Or which is married to Frances McDormand.

Posted by: amanda47 at December 10, 2008 4:02 PM

Julie, dammit woman, stop playin' with my 'motions!!!

Don't be a tease, wench.

Posted by: boo at December 10, 2008 4:02 PM

1282. Everybody I guessed incorrectly in the first half I actually ended up recognizing in the second half.

Posted by: Eep at December 10, 2008 4:09 PM

1963 bitches.

Posted by: Bragging Lurker at December 10, 2008 4:14 PM

1255. Not very good at all. And I missed David Fincher, who I'm seeing in person tonight.

Posted by: DarthCorleone at December 10, 2008 4:31 PM

1208. But I did get all 4 female directors right.

Posted by: B.F.D. at December 10, 2008 4:59 PM

1844. I only got Nancy Meyers because of process-of-elimination from already having chosen the other 3 female directors listed (sorry, Nancy Meyers).

Posted by: Sycamore at December 10, 2008 5:09 PM

1746. The female directors were embarrassingly difficult. Amy Heckerling was pretty easy to figure out because she's got crazy shut-in hair, but the others I tanked. I'd known Roman Polanski's pedophiliac mug anywhere!

Posted by: Rachel at December 10, 2008 5:41 PM

1786. I'm pretty pleased.

By the by, how rough does Amy Heckerling look in that pic? ROUGH.

Posted by: whatBENwatches at December 10, 2008 5:42 PM

1613

Posted by: Kevin Longrie at December 10, 2008 5:54 PM

1889. All this studying for finals has apparently honed my process-of-elimination skills.

Posted by: Adrienne at December 10, 2008 5:55 PM

1000, right on the mark. I think that may be the lowest I've gotten in any of these, but to be fair, who actually knows what directors look like? And Julie, Richard Kelly is cute, and directed Donnie Darko...on the other hand, he's directing the upcoming Tucker Max movie, and as such is pre-emptively dead to me (unless he re-cuts the movie to feature Max's painful and humiliating death, looped over and over for 90 minutes, in which case I'll be marrying him)

Posted by: Shay at December 10, 2008 7:54 PM

1255? Damn.

Posted by: JC at December 10, 2008 8:22 PM

1339. Suck.

Posted by: figgy at December 10, 2008 8:27 PM

923

Le sigh..

Posted by: Melody at December 10, 2008 8:50 PM

1375

Posted by: LB at December 10, 2008 9:03 PM

1121, only because I could not remember what Frank Miller looked like and picked him for every director I wasn't sure of. I probably would have picked him if he was a choice among the women directors as well.

I did go four for four on those, though.

Posted by: Robert at December 10, 2008 9:07 PM

1793. I am a fantastic guesser.

Posted by: Melissa at December 10, 2008 9:20 PM

1670. That was a very bad picture of Peter Berg!!!

Posted by: Luka at December 10, 2008 9:48 PM

1077. That's mediocre, right? And we're talking about directors, right? Good. At least DR had the good sense not to include Michael Bay anhywhere in the list...

Posted by: Che Grovera at December 10, 2008 11:21 PM

1480. Hey, we should play "Name that Vagina." You'll find lots of pics on TMZ.

Posted by: Sofía at December 10, 2008 11:35 PM

1075. I really suck at guessing.

Posted by: rlr260 at December 10, 2008 11:43 PM

Hey, we should play "Name that Vagina." You'll find lots of pics on TMZ.

Posted by: Sofía at December 10, 2008 11:35 PM

Pic? Any dude who needs more than one whiff to name that va-jay-jay has a cold...or is a rock star, in which case names are meaningless.

Posted by: Che Grovera at December 10, 2008 11:58 PM

958.. so ashamed I did better on the teen idol quiz

Posted by: HJ at December 11, 2008 12:14 AM

1575, I'm surprised I got that much. I'm all about the hotness, y'know, the dudes, the hair, the abs... gimme a "name the gorgeous person" quiz and I'll get max score. Betcha 10$ 5/10 ppl is Ryan Reynolds tho.

Posted by: irina at December 11, 2008 12:29 AM

1946...is it wrong that I used racial profiling to detemine who's who? In particular, Danny Boyle and the Italian guy. Oh well, it worked.

Posted by: Jen at December 11, 2008 12:52 AM