Directors who have never made a bad film...

[adycav]

...or at least the most consistently good ones.

Having enjoyed Slagathore's actors who have never been in crap films thread a while back, I have started pondering which directors have the most consistent body of work.

As with the actors, someone of more tender years and a shorter filmography is less likely to have made a howler. After all, even Kubrick did Barry Lyndon.

Therefore, I nominate Christopher Nolan. I have enjoyed each of his films immensely, and at least two of them would figure in my top ten of all time. Just look at this for a list:

Following
Memento
Insomnia
Batman Begins
The Prestige
The Dark Knight
Inception


What say you PHers?

[Legend83]

Agreed Nolan has been consistently excellent. When Insomnia is your "worst" film, you are doing alright!

Hard to find a Director who has not done a guffer, but Michael Mann for me has made some consistently stylish and gripping films:

Public Enemies
Miami Vice (his worst)
Collateral
Ali
The Insider
Heat
Last of The Mohicans
L.A. Takedown
Crime Story
Manhunter

I could watch almost all of those again and again.

[Ross1988]

Legend83 said:

Agreed Nolan has been consistently excellent. When Insomnia is your "worst" film, you are doing alright!

Hard to find a Director who has not done a guffer, but Michael Mann for me has made some consistently stylish and gripping films:

Public Enemies
Miami Vice (his worst)
Collateral
Ali
The Insider
Heat
Last of The Mohicans
L.A. Takedown
Crime Story
Manhunter

I could watch almost all of those again and again.

I'd be inclined to agree, but Miami vice was god awful.

[Legend83]

Ross1988 said:

Legend83 said:

Agreed Nolan has been consistently excellent. When Insomnia is your "worst" film, you are doing alright!

Hard to find a Director who has not done a guffer, but Michael Mann for me has made some consistently stylish and gripping films:

Public Enemies
Miami Vice (his worst)
Collateral
Ali
The Insider
Heat
Last of The Mohicans
L.A. Takedown
Crime Story
Manhunter

I could watch almost all of those again and again.

I'd be inclined to agree, but Miami vice was god awful.

I agree to an extent. The script and story was dire, overly-complex and ridiculous.

However, I would still argue the direction was fantastic. The trailer-park scene was awesome and in general the whole thing was slick. Mann has such an ability with city-scapes at night.

He did what he could to make it look (and sound - microphone attached to F430 exhaust anyone?) good.

[idge]

adycav said:

After all, even Kubrick did Barry Lyndon.

He still gets my vote

[mat205125]

I liked Miami Vice! It wasn't a rivetting story, or a Mann high point, but I just liked the way that it "looked", and the way that it was "scored". Both are always a Mann high point, and I'm pretty sure that his CD collection must be near identical to mine

[FourWheelDrift]

David Lean.

[PaulHogan]

Spielberg.

/close thread

[FourWheelDrift]

PaulHogan said:

Spielberg.

/close thread

He loses it as Indiana Jones & Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was poor.

Lose Shia Lebeouf, the fridge and the aliens and it could have been so much better.

Edited by FourWheelDrift on Tuesday 21st December 11:20

[GRS40]

Terrence Malick

Badlands, Thin Red Line etc - love all his films

[Curry Burns]

FourWheelDrift said:

PaulHogan said:

Spielberg.

/close thread

He loses it as Indiana Jones & Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was poor.

Kill Shia Lebeouf, Kill Shia Lebeouf, Kill Shia Lebeouf, Kill Shia Lebeouf, Kill Shia Lebeouf...etc

Edited by FourWheelDrift on Tuesday 21st December 11:20

EFA

[Shinobi]

PaulHogan said:

Spielberg.

/close thread

Wasn't spielberg involved in Casper and the Transformers films?

[PaulHogan]

Shinobi said:

PaulHogan said:

Spielberg.

/close thread

Wasn't spielberg involved in Casper and the Transformers films?

No. At least not as Director.

Indy IV wasn't nis best, I agree. But look at the full list and gaze upon unequalled cinematic magnificence:

Duel
The Sugarland Express
Jaws
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
1941
Raiders of the Lost Ark
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
The Color Purple
Empire of the Sun
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Always
Hook
Jurassic Park
Schindler's List
The Lost World: Jurassic Park
Amistad
Saving Private Ryan
A.I. Artificial Intelligence
Minority Report
Catch Me If You Can
The Terminal
War of the Worlds
Munich
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

[Nom de ploom]

Miami Vice is a grower - I didn't like it at first either - I think the thing is the dialogue is so fast (I'm assuming as to portray the confidence of the protagonaists) and at time hard to hear that it does get better with repeated viewings...

Michal Mann is class though.

Peter Wier anyone?

Gallipoli, Master and Commander?

[durbster]

Danny Boyle's track record is pretty impressive and all I've seen have been good:
- Shallow Grave
- Trainspotting
- A Life Less Ordinary
- The Beach
- 28 Days Later
- Millions
- Sunshine
- 28 Weeks Later
- Slumdog Millionaire
- 127 Hours (erm?)

Also, Edgar Wright has a good record to date:
- Dead Right
- Shaun of the Dead
- Hot Fuzz
- Don't
- Son of Rambow
- Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

I'd also like to add Juan Carlos Fresnadillo to this list. OK he's only directed one film but it was the superb 28 Weeks Later


I obviously don't like Michael Mann because I didn't enjoy any of the films listed above - even the ones I didn't know he'd directed.

Miami Vice went for "cool and moody" and got "humourless and depressing".

Edited by durbster on Tuesday 21st December 13:07

[Ross1988]

Legend83 said:

Ross1988 said:

Legend83 said:

Agreed Nolan has been consistently excellent. When Insomnia is your "worst" film, you are doing alright!

Hard to find a Director who has not done a guffer, but Michael Mann for me has made some consistently stylish and gripping films:

Public Enemies
Miami Vice (his worst)
Collateral
Ali
The Insider
Heat
Last of The Mohicans
L.A. Takedown
Crime Story
Manhunter

I could watch almost all of those again and again.

I'd be inclined to agree, but Miami vice was god awful.

I agree to an extent. The script and story was dire, overly-complex and ridiculous.

However, I would still argue the direction was fantastic. The trailer-park scene was awesome and in general the whole thing was slick. Mann has such an ability with city-scapes at night.

He did what he could to make it look (and sound - microphone attached to F430 exhaust anyone?) good.

I might have to give it another chance, I just remember the epic shoot out at the end, with loads of police, and loads of drug smugglers, every single drug smuggler was killed/wounded/arrested, while I think a copper got shot in his bullet proof jacket once.

My memory is poor, so It may not have happened like this.

[varsas]

Darren Aronofsky gets my vote.

Pi
Requiem for a Dream
The Fountain
The Wrestler
Black Swan (not out yet)

Danny Boyle and Christopher Nolan are good calls though. Of course Darren and Christopher also write their films too...

[goldblum]

Sam Peckinpah

Some incredible,iconic films.The Wild Bunch is also my favourite Western.



1961 The Deadly Companions
1962 Ride the High Country
1965 Major Dundee
1969 The Wild Bunch
1970 The Ballad of Cable Hogue
1971 Straw Dogs
1972 Junior Bonner
1972 The Getaway
1973 Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid
1974 Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia
1975 The Killer Elite
1977 Cross of Iron
1978 Convoy
1983 The Osterman Weekend

[birdcage]

Clint Eastwood

[goldblum]

birdcage said:

Clint Eastwood

Er,what was that thing with a monkey?