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The 25 Best Active Directors

As Designated by High-Gloss Toilet Paper / Dustin Rowles

Trade News | February 20, 2009 | Comments (80)

Entertainment Weekly, which recently replaced Reader’s Digest, as the magazine most likely to be found next to your shitter, has come out with its list of the top 25 active directors. and it’s pretty much the same list you’d expect to find in any movie magazine. Because it’s such a safe list, it’s difficult to take issue with anything on it, even if they don’t mesh with your own personal preferences (*cough* Peter Jackson *cough*). Spielberg at number one and Scorsese at number 3. Get out of here? And babies are cute? No way! You like chocolate sundaes? Get the fuck out of here! I like chocolate sundaes, too!

1. Steven Spielberg
2. Peter Jackson
3. Martin Scorsese
4. Christopher Nolan
5. Steven Soderbergh
6. Ridley Scott
7. Quentin Tarantino
8. Michael Mann
9. James Cameron
10. Joel and Ethan Coen
11. Guillermo del Toro
12. David Fincher
13. Tim Burton
14. Judd Apatow
15. Sam Raimi
16. Zack Snyder
17. Darren Aronofsky
18. Danny Boyle
19. Clint Eastwood
20. Ron Howard
21. Ang Lee
22. Paul Thomas Anderson
23. Paul Greengrass
24. Pedro Almodóvar
25. Jon Favreau

Of course, if you were the kind to quibble, you could argue that Cameron Crowe is missing from the list. And Alfonso Cuaron. And maybe it’s too soon to include Zack Snyder; he’s got two films, for God’s sake, and if we’re going to give it to director’s with two films, why not Andrew Stanton, who directed both Finding Nemo and Wall-E? Not to mention, A Bug’s Life. Moreover, Ron Howard is not so much great as he is keenly competent. And while Apatow deserves to be on a list of the top 25 screenwriters, I don’t think he warrants a spot in the director list already (ahead of Sam Raimi, no less) after only two films (Knocked Up and 40 Year Old Virgin).

Oh and while I’m quibbling, WHERE THE FUCK IS WES ANDERSON? I love Favreau as much as the next guy, but come on. He directed Zathura and Elf. Iron Man was outstanding, yes: But not because of Favreau. Because of RDJ. Dude is woefully out of place on that list. In a purely technical sense, I might even put Michael Bay ahead of Favreau. And no sane person could argue that Favreau is a better director than Anderson. That’s just dumb, a fanboy asskiss that not even fanboys could get behind. Hell, here are five directors not on the list that are better than Favreau, off the top of my head: Curtis Hanson, Spike Jonze, David O’ Russell, Sam Mendes, AND WOODY ALLEN.

And it’s good to see so many women and minorities on the list, too. Glad to see Spike Lee is right where he deserves to … what? He’s not even on the list? Come again? You leave off Spike fucking Lee? And I hate to bring this up, because he doesn’t direct particularly good movies anymore, but he is still active, and he did direct the Godfather trilogy, but we’re going put Zack Snyder and Judd Apatow ahead of Frances Ford Coppolla?

That’s EW, for you. Sounds about right.

And, for our anime friends, I give you two words: Hayao Miyazaki.

Get the torches, folks.


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Comments

Actually, all those people you're screaming about who didn't make the list - they were 26-50

Posted by: Withnail at February 20, 2009 10:36 AM

Like him or not, Roman Polanski should be on that list.

Posted by: Cindy at February 20, 2009 10:38 AM

Which is worse: Peter Jackson at #2 or Snyder making the list at all?

Snyder's inclusion just before his next shitty movie comes out proves that this is a marketing tool dictated by the studios.

Posted by: Blarghus at February 20, 2009 10:40 AM

I'd also pull Tarantino off for just about anyone - let's pick David Cronenberg.

Posted by: Cindy at February 20, 2009 10:40 AM

Keenly competent? Awesome. I plan to use it to describe myself professionally in my resumé from now on. I'm recession proof now, baby!

Everyone, I'd like you to meet Dress Barn's next Assistant Manager!

Posted by: Clee Shay at February 20, 2009 10:45 AM

David Lynch!!??! WTF? EW can choke on it.

Posted by: badalamenti at February 20, 2009 10:51 AM

Give me some Trey Parker. Orgazmo is to film as a week's built up load is to love.

Posted by: Lucas at February 20, 2009 10:55 AM

Keenly competent? Awesome. I plan to use it to describe myself professionally in my resumé from now on.

Posted by: Clee Shay at February 20, 2009 10:45 AM
---
I already describe myself that way sometimes. When people at the office ask, "How are you?" I say, "I'm adequate, thank you, but I'm the best we've got."
---
What, Ang Lee and Almodovar and don't count as minorities? Or are we a post-Asian, post-Hispanic society too now?

Posted by: bucdaddy at February 20, 2009 11:02 AM

And not a single woman on the list....

Posted by: yosafbridge at February 20, 2009 11:02 AM

"Because it's such a safe list, it's difficult to take issue with anything on it"

"WHERE THE FUCK IS WES ANDERSON?"

"Come again? You leave off Spike fucking Lee? And I hate to bring this up, because he doesn't direct particularly good movies anymore, but he is still active, and he did direct the Godfather trilogy, but we're going put Zack Snyder and Judd Apatow ahead of Frances Ford Coppolla?"

ummm.... which is it?

Posted by: dg at February 20, 2009 11:09 AM

Taylor Hackford?

Spike Lee and Wes Anderson came to mind immediately for me too!

Posted by: amanda47 at February 20, 2009 11:11 AM

Coppola doesn't make any list of "best active directors" because he hasn't been best anything for, what, twenty years plus now? Shit, by that logic, William Friedkin directed The Exorcist and The French Connection, and he's still technically active! Let's put him on! Or how about George Lucas? So what if episodes 1-3 sucked: he directed the first Star Wars AND American Graffiti!

Ability to stay great means something. That's why Scorcese and Spielberg (and Altman were he still alive) make this list, and Coppola doesn't (and neither does Spike Lee, who hasn't made a truly great movie since Get On The Bus and who had a long period of bleh until the moderately entertaining Inside Man a couple years back).

Posted by: mightygodking at February 20, 2009 11:11 AM

Peter Jackson @ 2 and Clint Eastwood @ 19??!! What did Old Clinty do to deserve such humiliation?

Posted by: EH at February 20, 2009 11:11 AM

Michael Bay is gonna be so pissed.

There's typically a mixed reaction to him around here, but I'm still kind of surprised at the exclusion of Oliver Stone. His recent stuff has obviously been lacking, but there's Nixon, Natural Born Killers, JFK, Born on the Fourth of July, Wall Street, and Platoon.

Posted by: branded at February 20, 2009 11:13 AM

Obligatory comment that director 'X' should be higher and director 'Y' was snubbed by being left off the list. Additional comment on a personal favorite director 'Z' will be on the list soon.

Posted by: bucslim at February 20, 2009 11:23 AM

The Downgradables: Raimi and Burton have no business being on that list. Entertaining? Yes. Artistically timeless? Only if Hot Topic is still around in 50 years. Both have crimes on their records that are also unforgivable, and both are more pop wallpaper compared to the greats. Anderson got what he deserved after the disasterbacle that was "There Will Be Blood". He needed a derailment off the Pretentious Express. Ridley Scott should be downgraded because the man hasn't made a good picture since Black Hawk Down, and even before that point the man had a mixed bag.

The Upgradables: Greengrass should be higher up because the man not only rocked the world with Bourne, but is also able to take historical pictures and make them dramatic masterpieces. Boyle should be higher up because the man jumps genres like a frog does lilly pads, yet he always manages to produce a good product from what I've seen. (Before anyone asks, no I have not seen "A Life Less Ordinary".)

In Defense: Snyder is up there because while his career is still fledgling at best with three films, two of those films (like them or hate them) were solid and showed early signs of artistic mastery. Plus, I can't help but honor his love for Watchmen, which shows in all of the stuff he's doing for that movie as we speak. Plus, he's not like other directors (Michael Bay) that just put up visual spectacles without stories. Also, Tarantino came up from nothing and built a career on great movie geek movies; and Howard is such a chameleon that he has no "signature style". He can pretty much make a movie about anything, with anyone, and he straddles the line between Blockbuster and Prestige pictures like nobody's business.

Glaring Omissions: Alfonso Curaon. I DARE you to watch Children of Men and not be touched, awed, and a little hopeful for humanity; then I dare you to watch Prisoner of Azkaban and think about what the rest of the series would have been like if he stuck around for 4-7. Also, Frank Darabont. The man has filmed the impossible, and obviously values quality over quantity with only four amazing major motion pictures to his credit. (The Majestic was very underrated, in my opinion.) I'd even go as far as to say Darabont should replace Scott in the top 10. Finally, Andrew Stanton and Brad Bird; because they make movies so beautiful and so poetic that it'll make you cry.

Also, you guys have to do something about those pop ups. One kept trying to redirect me while I was drafting a comment and it was fucking dis-tracting!!

Posted by: Mike R. at February 20, 2009 11:24 AM

Ok, fine, I'll put up Chan Wook Park and Edgar Wright. Because I'm on the edge and I watch better movies than you.

Posted by: bucslim at February 20, 2009 11:24 AM

How about Andrew Stanton AND Brad Bird?

Bird's got:

Iron Giant
The Incredibles
Ratatouille

Posted by: Soylent Green is Sheeple at February 20, 2009 11:25 AM

My wife Connie and I look forward to this issue every year - we've even gone so far as in the past couple of years making a wager on who gets the most "Top 10" of that list right. Last year she beat me by two, but this year I walked away with a solid four! My only disappointment? Ron Howard wasn't higher up on that list... Maybe a "Splash" sequel is in the works?

Posted by: Conrad (last name withheld) at February 20, 2009 11:25 AM

Gar. Owe you a coke, Mike R.

Posted by: Soylent Green is Sheeple at February 20, 2009 11:27 AM

While we're on the subject, have a look at these:

http://www.cracked.com/article_17071_5-great-
careers-destroyed-by-post-oscar-curse.html

http://www.cracked.com/article_17080_8-humiliating-japanese-ads-starring-oscar-nominees.html

Posted by: Mike R. at February 20, 2009 11:27 AM

Soylent, you owe me no Coke whatsoever. I'm glad someone else recognized Bird's genius as well.

Posted by: Mike R. at February 20, 2009 11:29 AM

Soylent, you owe me no Coke whatsoever. I'm glad someone else recognized Bird's genius as well.

Posted by: Mike R. at February 20, 2009 11:30 AM

Jane Campion

Posted by: phquaryn at February 20, 2009 11:32 AM

Okay, I concede there's not that many female directors in Hollywood. I'm more disturbed by that fact than I am by the list. Artistic types - why the dearth?

Apatow ahead of Ang Lee, Almodovar, and Anderson. Who is that dude fucking?

Posted by: samantha t at February 20, 2009 11:33 AM

I hate Quentin Tarantino.

I hate that self-conscious, look at how hip I am style of filmmaking. OOH and I reference old films too, obscure ones you've never heard of.
Fuck off douche

Posted by: Manda b at February 20, 2009 11:43 AM

Posted by: dg at February 20, 2009 11:09 AM

He said it would be difficult, not impossible.

He also said personal preference wouldn't be too much of a factor, and the comments definitely proves that wrong.

Posted by: Vermillion at February 20, 2009 11:43 AM

after the disasterbacle that was "There Will Be Blood".

They look like words but they make no sense. The movie was a fucking masterpiece.

Posted by: twig at February 20, 2009 11:43 AM

I'd hate Quentin Tarantino more if I thought that anything about him was some sort of act or pose or ploy.

But no, he really is that creepy, hyper little ferret man who will corner you out of nowhere at a party for an hour for his obsessive arguments about films that he has ever only had between himself and the mirror.

And I'm an obsessive film freak, so I have to give him some respect.

Posted by: twig at February 20, 2009 11:47 AM

Posted by: twig at February 20, 2009 11:43 AM

Only if you enjoy random violence, long silences, half baked dramatics, and an ending that completely devolves into farce. I really, really wanted to like that movie, and I tried my damnedest. But by time the ending rolled around, I felt like that portion of my life was wasted. If it wasn't for Juno, this would have been the film I railed on all of 2008.

Posted by: Mike R. at February 20, 2009 11:50 AM

WTF? They're holding online auditions for the next "Twilight"? Pajiblets, lend me your ears! I say we gang-audition in hopes that one of us will sneak through and have the opportunity to kill this thing in the womb. Our chance to destroy a franchise is at hand! Who's with me? YAAAAAAAAA!

Posted by: bucdaddy at February 20, 2009 11:50 AM

Apatow can suck it, God damnit his movies are overrated. Andrew Stanton, Brad Bird and Darren Aranarananranaofsky for three-way president.

Posted by: Madz at February 20, 2009 11:54 AM

Almodóvar belongs to a minority?

Not in bloody Spain where he lives, he doesn't.

Posted by: nene at February 20, 2009 11:56 AM

Where the hell is Michael Winterbottom? He generally releases at least one film a year and it's always something that he's never done before. In 2002 we got 24 Hour Party People and In This World - I can't think of another director whose body of work is so diverse.

What about Wong Kar Wai and Jean-Pierre Jeunet? And yeah, why is Wes Anderson not on the list?

As for directors with only two films: how about Edgar Wright?

At least George Lucas doesn't appear.

Posted by: Brittany at February 20, 2009 11:57 AM

I could be saying this just because I watched 2 of his movies this week (1 of which I had seen before), but I need Kevin Smith on that list.

Also - was there a criteria for this list? Did you have to have directed several good movies (however that is quantified), at least one of which in the past X years? Would Munich eb enough to keep Speilberg on the list (last movie he directed before Indy 4)?

Posted by: Brian at February 20, 2009 12:04 PM

Peter Jackson? Fuck you, EW. Fuck you.

Julie Taymor? Sophia Coppola?

Yeah, fuck you in the butthole.

Posted by: figgy at February 20, 2009 12:04 PM

No Michel Gondry? After all the love for "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" here, I'm surprised I'm the first to mention him.

Posted by: Lizzie (greeneyed fem) at February 20, 2009 12:09 PM

There's only one reason Zack Snyder is on this list at this particular time, and it should be obvious: Time-Warner synergy. EW is trying to push the box office receipts for Watchmen.

Move Paul Thomas Anderson at least fifteen slots higher. It's a disgrace he's behind most of those other names.

Posted by: DarthCorleone at February 20, 2009 12:10 PM

Would Sofia Coppola be considered if she were a man?

I doubt it. Her movies suggest some skill but are massively unfocused and overlong.

Posted by: twig at February 20, 2009 12:11 PM

Gaaah, yes! Cuaron! Cuaron! Argh, these people!

Posted by: figgy at February 20, 2009 12:11 PM

I don't really like Sofia Coppola's movies (good lord I HATED Lost in Translation) but hell, she's far more skilled than freakin' Jon Favreau. And wasn't she Hollywood's little darling after LiT and Marie Antoinette? Or did her 15 minutes wear out?

Posted by: figgy at February 20, 2009 12:14 PM

One time, when I was living in student housing, I stepped out of the shower and there was a giant squirrel staring back at me. I started screaming and clapping my hands at it (because apparently squirrels like applause), then I grabbed the closest thing to me and started chasing it around the room until it disappeared under the sink. That thing was my roommate's copy of Entertainment Weekly. That is all it's good for--nakedly defending yourself from an errant squirrel that's really a ferret that escaped from it's cage in your neighbor's apartment.

Also, Tyler Perry isn't anywhere near this list. Thank God for little favors.

Posted by: jM at February 20, 2009 12:16 PM

Figgy - I agree. I find her stuff a little bit precious, but she is skilled and her movies have some beautiful moments. Favreau? In the immortal words of GOB, COME ON!

Posted by: samantha t at February 20, 2009 12:30 PM

I like how Dustin pretended to be offended that there were no women on the list, yet didn't mention any women he would've liked to see on it.

Posted by: Sabrina at February 20, 2009 12:33 PM

And to anyone saying Sofia Coppola should be considered because she's better than some of the accidental ass-clowns who made the list: if they were replaced by people like Cuarón, Wes Anderson, whomever, would you still be arguing that she's better than them?

Posted by: Sabrina at February 20, 2009 12:37 PM

Sabrina - nope.

Posted by: samantha t at February 20, 2009 1:22 PM

I want to say yes, but...no. She wouldn't.

And that makes me sad, because can you think of other prominent female directors out there that don't make romantic comedies or fucking Twilight? Other than Julie Taymor (who isn't that famous for some ridiculous reason) I can't think of any.

Bleh.

Posted by: figgy at February 20, 2009 1:57 PM

Haha... other people already mentioned the ones that really should be on the list.

Alfonso Cuaron
Hayao Miyazaki
Edgar Wright

And Danny Boyle needs to be way up the list.
To make room for them we could always kick out Tim Burton, Judd Apatow, and (although I loves me some Evil Dead) Sam Raimi. Also, since when is Christopher Nolan a better director than David Fincher?

Posted by: Joe the Plumber at February 20, 2009 2:17 PM

Jane Campion (the Piano)
Lisa Cholodenko (High Art)
Mary Harron (I Shot Andy Warhol/American Psycho)
Jodie Foster (Home for the Holidays/Little Man Tate)
Julie Taymor (if you can forgive Across the Universe)

All these women are still working. Dunno just how strict "active" is.

Also where the fuck is Francis Ford Coppola. Or Cuaron? Peter Jackson as number 2? So we gonna celebrate every fucking director who mostly adheres to novels and are given a big enough budget to do something worthwhile? Give him a writing nod or something.

And honestly fuck Judd Apatow, I can think of a shit-ton of current directors that wipe the floor with him.

Posted by: Trollin' at February 20, 2009 2:17 PM

I don't really like Sofia Coppola's movies (good lord I HATED Lost in Translation) but hell, she's far more skilled than freakin' Jon Favreau.

A-fucking-men Figgy.

Posted by: Cindy at February 20, 2009 2:59 PM

Just so we can get the full story and fully appreciate how fucking retarded EW is, here are the rest of the Top 50 directors (in order) Most of the egregious exclusions do appear here:

# Woody Allen
# Brad Bird
# David Cronenberg
# Sofia Coppola
# Bryan Singer
# Sam Mendes
# Mel Gibson
# The Wachowski Brothers
# J.J. Abrams
# Alfonso Cuaron
# Hayao Miyazaki
# Mike Leigh
# Oliver Stone
# Roman Polanski
# Spike Jonze
# Richard Linklater
# Spike Lee
# David Lynch
# Wong Kar-Wai
# Wes Anderson
# Mira Nair
# Andrew Stanton
# Michael Moore
# Mary Harron
# Sidney Lumet

Posted by: ed newman at February 20, 2009 3:11 PM

Lumet, Wong Kar-Wai, Cuaron and Mendes definitely deserve top 25. Fuck EW is so catering to the lowest common denominator.

Posted by: Trollin' at February 20, 2009 3:24 PM

PTA shouldn't be behind Apatow, who shouldn't even be on that list.

Posted by: Recondite at February 20, 2009 3:35 PM

Hell yes on Jane Campion. The Piano is a masterpiece.

Posted by: figgy at February 20, 2009 3:43 PM

The more I look at this list, the more EW seems to just be wanking current big box office draws, giving (some of) them more credit than they deserve just because they've made some big movies lately. Fuck that game.

Posted by: figgy at February 20, 2009 3:45 PM

The more I look at this list, the more EW seems to just be wanking current big box office draws, giving (some of) them more credit than they deserve just because they've made some big movies lately. Fuck that game.



This.

Figgy hit the nail on the head.

Posted by: Trollin' at February 20, 2009 3:51 PM

Feministing is currently discussing this list as well, specifically around the missing women directors: EW names top 25 film directors.

Posted by: Lizzie (greeneyed fem) at February 20, 2009 4:36 PM

RE: full list.

Mel Gibson? The Wachowskis? Both ranked over Cuaron and Miyazaki? And why is Michael Moore on the list? Does he have some actually insightful and non-polemic documentary hidden away somewhere?

Posted by: Joe the Plumber at February 20, 2009 5:29 PM

No Wes Anderson makes me happy

Yes, I'm a hater

Posted by: Chris at February 20, 2009 6:17 PM

And, for our anime friends, I give you two words: Hayao Miyazaki.

:stunned:

Buh...but...you...I thought you hated...oh, Dustin, I love you. I take it all back. You, sir, are a gentleman.

Posted by: vic at February 20, 2009 10:00 PM

Yes, dammit, Sofia Coppola, and what about Miranda July? And fucking Werner Herzog? And Wim Wenders? And Richard Linklater? Goddammit.

Posted by: Elfrieda at February 20, 2009 10:46 PM

...she's not necessarily 'active' per se, but how about Kimberly Peirce - Boys Don't Cry, anyone?

Stupid male-dominated-jerk-wad-never-calling-back-thinking-of-yourself-magazine.

I'm not sure what that rant was, but it may have something to do with my discouragement re: men lately.

Posted by: popejenn at February 21, 2009 12:45 AM

Even ignoring foreign directors there's a few glaring emissions -
Errol Morris isn't in the top 50 which is ridiculous and neither, do i believe, is Terrence Malick.

Posted by: KC at February 21, 2009 7:05 AM

Even ignoring foreign directors there's a few glaring emissions -
Errol Morris isn't in the top 50 which is ridiculous and neither, do i believe, is Terrence Malick.

Posted by: KC at February 21, 2009 7:05 AM

surprise!!Steven Spielberg is a vip member of ---Richromances.com---. It is said he is interested in dati*ng supermodels over there

Posted by: la at February 21, 2009 9:35 AM

So... women don't make movies? Interesting. Oh wait, they just make bad movies. Gotcha.

Kimberly Pierce, anyone?

Posted by: Fi at February 21, 2009 11:38 AM

Sad no one mentioned Peter Weir yet...

Posted by: tinman at February 21, 2009 2:54 PM

tinman: Sad no one mentioned Peter Weir yet...

Ah! Can't believe he didn't even occur to me. It's also strange to notice that he hasn't done anything since Master and Commander, though he has a project lined up for 2011.

Still, he gets a lifetime pass for that film and Picnic at Hanging Rock.

Posted by: vic at February 21, 2009 3:28 PM

And where the FUCK is Paul Thomas Anderson?

Posted by: Sapphiar at February 21, 2009 9:29 PM

Yeah, he's...on the list... RIGHTY-OH.

Posted by: Sapphiar at February 21, 2009 9:30 PM

Spielberg? #1?

No Cuaron? No Kevin Smith? Nolan, all the way down there?

Posted by: BarbadoSlim at February 22, 2009 10:15 AM

..and the Spike Lee omission is just straight-up egregious.

Posted by: samantha t at February 22, 2009 2:06 PM

...I like Fernando Meirelles, Todd Haynes, and Terry Gilliam... :(
And I will admit (shamefully) that I think Joe Wright is ...keenly competent.

Posted by: Leanne at February 22, 2009 3:09 PM

wes anderson ...


makes bad movies ... my opinion

Posted by: lelnguye at February 22, 2009 3:35 PM

There is absolutely no way Spielberg should be #1 after Indy 4. None. Period. He still probably deserves a spot on the list, but COME ON.

Posted by: Stef the Pef at February 22, 2009 6:54 PM

But no, he really is that creepy, hyper little ferret man who will corner you out of nowhere at a party for an hour for his obsessive arguments about films that he has ever only had between himself and the mirror.

Reminds me of an interview I saw with Grace Park (aka Boomer) where QT bailed her up at a party and "talked at" her for about 10 minutes and she couldn't get away fast enough.

I'm probably in the minority here, but if QT shows up in Inglorious Basterds as a small but pivotal character with a cool, obscure 30's jazz collection who everyone fawns over despite his complete lack of charisma, then I am officialy "over Quentin". He earned a whole lot of my love with Pulp Fiction, held it with Jackie Brown and Kill Bill 1, showed some disturbingly onanistic signs with KB part 2 and Deathproof was pure cinematic bukkake. I have nothing against masturbation as a normal and healthy sexual practice but charging moviegoers $15 a pop to catch your load is just plain insulting.

Separately, I'm curious to know why James Cameron made the list. If it were 1993 I could understand it, but after a 10 year absence, one production in the wings does not make you a "top" director (at least following the populist, politically convenient logic of this list). As for P Jackson, I saw Return of the King recently but couldn't follow the story for the thudding sound of leaden dialogue and clunky exposition.

Posted by: Dave Shepherd at February 22, 2009 10:16 PM

But no, he really is that creepy, hyper little ferret man who will corner you out of nowhere at a party for an hour for his obsessive arguments about films that he has ever only had between himself and the mirror.

Reminds me of an interview I saw with Grace Park (aka Boomer) where QT bailed her up at a party and "talked at" her for about 10 minutes and she couldn't get away fast enough.

I'm probably in the minority here, but if QT shows up in Inglorious Basterds as a small but pivotal character with a cool, obscure 30's jazz collection who everyone fawns over despite his complete lack of charisma, then I am officialy "over Quentin". He earned a whole lot of my love with Pulp Fiction, held it with Jackie Brown and Kill Bill 1, showed some disturbingly onanistic signs with KB part 2 and Deathproof was pure cinematic bukkake. I have nothing against masturbation as a normal and healthy sexual practice but charging moviegoers $15 a pop to catch your load is just plain insulting.

Separately, I'm curious to know why James Cameron made the list. If it were 1993 I could understand it, but after a 10 year absence, one production in the wings does not make you a "top" director (at least following the populist, politically convenient logic of this list). As for P Jackson, I saw Return of the King recently but couldn't follow the story for the thudding sound of leaden dialogue and clunky exposition.

Posted by: Dave Shepherd at February 22, 2009 10:17 PM

dammit, sorry for the double post folks

Posted by: Dave Shepherd at February 22, 2009 10:19 PM

Is this just someone's list of the best directors, or is it something about power? Because I can't even remember what Spielberg's last film was, and he's made some stuff that's stupendously bad.

Anyway, I always get pissed off at the male anglo-centrism of these lists. Where are Claire Denis, Nanni Moretti, Michael Haneke, Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Julie Delpy, Hou Hsiao-Hsien, Atom Egoyan, Sarah Polley, Abbas Kiarostami or Manoel de Oliveira?

Posted by: Caspar at February 23, 2009 8:56 PM

Caspar: I bet you that the geniuses at EW haven't even heard of ANY of those names. Real shame, as Oliveira is 100 YEARS OLD AND STILL MAKING MOVIES. Whether or not they're 'good,' I couldn't say as I haven't seen any, but he's still well-praised by those who know of him. Same pretty much goes for the others. Though a lot of people call Hou Hsiao-Hsien boring.

No, EW is catering to people who watch all/mostly the major studio films or have a passing interest in movies that don't really extend to films earlier than 1990.

Posted by: vic at February 24, 2009 12:28 AM