After watching quite a bit of movies lately, I thought I'd recommend some of my all-time favorites to you.
Note that these aren't necessarily my top favorites, but they are my favorite directors. They're listed in no particular order.
Jim Jarmusch - All of his films are quirky, funny little stories. Great indie work.
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Coffee & Cigarettes - Not a "real" movie; it's a collection of Jarmusch's shorts that he's done over the last decade or so. They feature Tom Waits, Iggy Pop, Jack and Meg White, Bill Murray, Roberto Benigni, Steve Buscemi, among others. My rating is 8/10.
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Stranger Than Paradise - A black-and-white starring John Lurie. My rating is 8.6/10.
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Down By Law - Jarmusch's best work, in my opinion. Tom Waits, John Lurie, and Roberto Benigni escape from prison and make a funny movie. Also black-and-white, sort of a follow up to Stranger Than Paradise in style -- and also an improvement. 9.1/10.
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Dead Man - Do not let the horrible cover and worst title card ever fool you -- this movie is amazing. It features Johnny Depp in a bizarre western, where he meets up with a weird Native American and becomes a criminal while being hunted and being prepared for his afterlife by the Indian. It's bizarre, but funny and probably Depp's best. I know I said Down By Law was Jarmusch's best, but this is pretty close. 9.1/10.
Wes Anderson - Probably my favorite director. Very unique cinematography that I consider some of the best, and also an unparalleled ability to put together colorful sets and landscapes that are artworks in themselves.
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The Royal Tenenbaums - Probably Anderson's most well known, and for good reason. All of Wes Anderson's movies are the only ones that Owen Wilson is good in, and by some miracle Ben Stiller actually manages to put on a real acting performance in this one as well. Gene Hackman, Luke Wilson, and Gwenyth Paltrow add to the fun. It's a light-hearted comedy/drama, very fun but also an extremely good film. 9.5/10.
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Rushmore - Anderson's first good film. Extremely underrated. Young Jason Schwartzman makes this movie hilarious and awesome. Classic Anderson style. 8.9/10.
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The Darjeeling Limited - The latest Anderson film, reuniting Jason Schawartzman and Owen Wilson in lead roles with Adrien Brody. Only slightly worse than Royal Tenenbaums, still a great movie. 8.5/10.
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The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou - For some reason this got some pretty bad press and is commonly regarded as Anderson's worst, but I don't see why. Bill Murray is excellent, and Owen Wilson has another genuinely good role. 8.7/10.
Paul Thomas Anderson - Not related to Wes Anderson, but a similarly amazing director. I like these movies because they are aesthetically amazing as well as possessive of fairly deep storylines, complete with excellent screenwriting.
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There Will Be Blood - Everyone's heard of it, and if you haven't seen it yet, you're doing yourself a disservice. Probably one of the best examples of amazing cinematography I've ever seen, and Daniel Day-Lewis puts this way off the "good movie" meter. There is nothing I didn't like about this movie. 10/10.
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Magnolia - One of those movies with a bunch of different separate stories happening at once that all have some connection in story and theme... P.T. Anderson pulls it off magnificently. It's emotionally thrilling, like all of his. 9.2/10.
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Boogie Nights - Mark Wahlberg in the porn industry in the 70's. Sex, drugs, cool cars, great filmography. Enough said. 9.5/10.
Martin Scorsese - Most have probably heard of him. His movies are all ones you will have heard of, but they're also all amazing.
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Gangs of New York - Undoubtedly Scorsese's best. Daniel Day-Lewis in another period film (the other is There Will Be Blood), this time with a mustache and top hat. THERE IS NOTHING MORE AWESOME. 9.6/10.
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Goodfellas - Classic mafia movie. Two hours of acting and directing brilliance. 9/10.
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The Departed - Jack Nicholson in this is almost as awesome as Daniel Day-Lewis in Gangs of New York -- but not quite. Still an awesome movie in all regards, which many of you have probably seen. 9.2/10.
Chan-wook Park - Someone you've never heard of. Amazing South Korean director... Asian film might be an immediate turn off, but I assure you, these are awesome movies, even if all you want is something thrilling and entertaining.
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Oldboy - His best. Great story, great acting, and most of all great art direction. Once you figure out which Asian is which, this is probably one of the better movies ever. 9.8/10.
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Lady Vengeance - Made in the same vein as Oldboy... the main character is imprisoned for several years unfairly, gets out, and wants vengeance. The movie takes you through the vengeful adventure. This one is a lot better artistically than in respect to keeping your attention, and I have to admit that the ending is a bit weak, although quite poetic and artistic. Still a good movie. 8.6/10.
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Sympathy For Mister Vengeance - Yet another "vengeance" movie, and this one doesn't disappoint either. If you're interested, watch Oldboy, and if you like it see this and Lady Vengeance. The general plot arc that they all share doesn't get old at all. 9/10.
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So, yeah, those are a few of my favorite directors who have made at least 3 good films... and I haven't seen Broken Flowers by Jarmusch, or some of Scorsese's and Park's older movies.
If you want to know more about any of the directors or movies, look them up on imdb.com.
If you want even more recommendation, the next director I'd put on the list would be Jean-Pierre Jeunet, the famous French director of such titles as Amélie and Delicatessen. All of his movies are strange and amazing.
Every one of those images is broken.
Quote from: JMV on May 10, 2008, 01:00:44 PM
Every one of those images is broken.
not for me
Quote from: Snorkel on May 10, 2008, 01:03:01 PM
not for me
lol
I would think that you'd be smart enough to realize why that is. Re-host them.
Broken images aside, you have pretty solid list there.
Quote from: Kaz on May 10, 2008, 01:03:46 PM
lol
I would think that you'd be smart enough to realize why that is. Re-host them.
I didn't think it'd be an issue since IMDB doesn't appear to have hotlinking protection and they weren't links to a database-handled image thing, just jpg's in a regular file tree.
I'm too lazy to re-host them all, if you really want to see a little thumbnail of the cover go look the movie up.
yay someone else who thinks Gangs of New York is Scorsese's best.
though Goodfellas is close behind.
Just watched There Will Be Blood twice over the weekend, it was twice as good the second time.
Also, I need to see some Anderson films. I just added all those to my Netflix list.
I've watched Coffee and Cigarettes more times than I can count. I still haven't gotten around to seeing any other Jarmusch films, though.
Quote from: Houdini on May 10, 2008, 07:15:49 PM
I've watched Coffee and Cigarettes more times than I can count. I still haven't gotten around to seeing any other Jarmusch films, though.
You should, they're all great. If I had to pick one to recommend it'd be Down By Law.
I'd agree with Wes Anderson. He's a genius, especially On Darjeeling...I'd add to the list my favorite director Christopher Nolan.
Following - His weird and Hitchock-esque debut. Absolutely thrilling and with a great ending...Even if it's only an hour long.
Memento - Doesn't this movie just speak for itself now?
Insomnia- I have to admit, I wasn't a fan of this movie when I first saw it but it just kept getting better and better...Maybe because Nolan didn't write the script...
Batman Begins - The director who single handedly brought back the Batman franchise, and added his own little twist. Genius film and probably the best comic book film ever.
The Prestige - One of the best movies ever made.
Looking forward to The Dark Knight.
Quote from: Solar and Lunar on May 10, 2008, 08:07:19 PM
I'd agree with Wes Anderson. He's a genius, especially On Darjeeling...I'd add to the list my favorite director Christopher Nolan.
Following - His weird and Hitchock-esque debut. Absolutely thrilling and with a great ending...Even if it's only an hour long.
Memento - Doesn't this movie just speak for itself now?
Insomnia- I have to admit, I wasn't a fan of this movie when I first saw it but it just kept getting better and better...Maybe because Nolan didn't write the script...
Batman Begins - The director who single handedly brought back the Batman franchise, and added his own little twist. Genius film and probably the best comic book film ever.
The Prestige - One of the best movies ever made.
Looking forward to The Dark Knight.
Eh, I'm not going to say he's a bad director, but really, Memento is the only thing of his I've liked a lot... The Prestige and Batmin Begins were both, in my opinion, defiled horribly with poor art direction.
Quote from: Snorkel on May 10, 2008, 09:59:05 PM
Eh, I'm not going to say he's a bad director, but really, Memento is the only thing of his I've liked a lot... The Prestige and Batmin Begins were both, in my opinion, defiled horribly with poor art direction.
We'll agree to disagree, then, eh?
Akira Kurosawa
Ran, Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, Rashomon, The Bad Sleep Wall, High and Low, etc.
Stanley Kubrick
Paths of Glory, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Barry Lyndon, Dr. Strangelove, The Shining, etc.
David Lynch
The Elephant Man, Twin Peaks (The show : |), The Straight Story, Mulholland Dr., Eraserhead, etc.
David Cronenberg
Videodrome, Naked Lunch, The Fly, A History of Violence, Crash, and I have yet to see Dead Ringers but I hear it's one of his best.
Jean Luc Godard
Breathless, Band of Outsiders, Contempt, Alphaville, Pierrot de Lou, etc.
Ingmar Bergman (R.I.P. :()
The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries, Fanny and Alexander, etc.
Quote from: Snorkel on May 10, 2008, 09:59:05 PM
Eh, I'm not going to say he's a bad director, but really, Memento is the only thing of his I've liked a lot... The Prestige and Batmin Begins were both, in my opinion, defiled horribly with poor art direction.
The Prestige was perfect baddood;
MICHAEL BAY
Quote from: Andrew1911 on May 11, 2008, 12:08:48 AM
Akira Kurosawa
Ran, Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, Rashomon, The Bad Sleep Wall, High and Low, etc.
Stanley Kubrick
Paths of Glory, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Barry Lyndon, Dr. Strangelove, The Shining, etc.
David Lynch
The Elephant Man, Twin Peaks (The show : |), The Straight Story, Mulholland Dr., Eraserhead, etc.
David Cronenberg
Videodrome, Naked Lunch, The Fly, A History of Violence, Crash, and I have yet to see Dead Ringers but I hear it's one of his best.
Jean Luc Godard
Breathless, Band of Outsiders, Contempt, Alphaville, Pierrot de Lou, etc.
Ingmar Bergman (R.I.P. :()
The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries, Fanny and Alexander, etc.
I'm not a big Kurosawa fan, but yeah he's good.
Kubrick, yeah, obviously. I didn't have him on the list because everyone knows who he is and the point of it would be to get people to watch Barry Lyndon, which no one would like. :(
David Lynch is another good one, but I'd put him after the 5 I listed.
Cronenberg did Naked Lunch? I might have to expand my list to 6 then, because that and A History of Violence are a couple of my favorite movies.
Godard, yeah.
I've never even heard of the last guy or his work. O_0
wts
how could you not hear of bergman > : (
Quentin Tarantino baddood;
Quote from: Andrew1911 on May 11, 2008, 01:40:44 PM
wts
how could you not hear of bergman > : (
Or Eisenstein, for that matter.
Quote from: 36 on May 11, 2008, 03:09:47 PM
Quentin Tarantino baddood;
I declined to put him on the list because everyone's seen Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill, a lot of people have seen Reservoir Dogs, Grindhouse is too hit or miss, and the others aren't that good.
Quote from: Snorkel on May 11, 2008, 04:52:44 PM
I declined to put him on the list because everyone's seen Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill, a lot of people have seen Reservoir Dogs, Grindhouse is too hit or miss, and the others aren't that good.
From Dusk Till Dawn was incredible
Quote from: Selkie224 on May 11, 2008, 06:04:09 PM
From Dusk Till Dawn was incredible
he didnt direct it edumacate;
Quote from: Selkie224 on May 11, 2008, 06:04:09 PM
From Dusk Till Dawn was incredible
I disagree. And to tell you the truth I hated Kill Bill Vol. 1...It seems the Quentin gave up all his story telling genius and just went for retarded and non-sensical violence and some pretty cheesy lines of dialogue. Kill Bill Vol. 2 was incredible though...Redeeming.
And Death Proof has some pretty intense car chase scenes but it falls flat on its ass in the story...
Quote from: Houdini on May 11, 2008, 03:24:17 PM
Or Eisenstein, for that matter.
Battleship Potemkin > Life
Quote from: Solar and Lunar on May 11, 2008, 06:21:45 PM
I disagree. And to tell you the truth I hated Kill Bill Vol. 1...It seems the Quentin gave up all his story telling genius and just went for retarded and non-sensical violence and some pretty cheesy lines of dialogue. Kill Bill Vol. 2 was incredible though...Redeeming.
And Death Proof has some pretty intense car chase scenes but it falls flat on its ass in the story...
vol. 2 beats vol.1 simply for the scene when she rips the bitch's eye out.
A must see Director is Fernando Meirelles...Director of the brilliant City of God which is one of the best films ever made...Then, he made Constant Gardner which was genius and also very moving and now is directing his third film Blindness which is looking to be a stunner.
But do we forget Steven Soderbergh? He's one of my favorites and he directed the Pal D'Ore winning Sex, Lies and Videotape as well as the oscar-winning Traffic, all three Ocean's Movies, The Good German, Erin Brockovich and many others.
Another one of my favorites is Richard Linklater who directed my favorite film of all time Waking Life, as well as the brilliant Dazed and Confused, A Scanner Darkly, Bad News Bears (it was alright), School of Rock, Before Sunrise and Before Sunset (both brilliant), Fast Food Nation, Slacker and the brilliant and non-picked up HBO pilot $5.15/hr.
Quote from: Solar and Lunar on May 11, 2008, 06:58:22 PM
Another one of my favorites is Richard Linklater who directed my favorite film of all time Waking Life, as well as the brilliant Dazed and Confused, A Scanner Darkly, Bad News Bears (it was alright), School of Rock, Before Sunrise and Before Sunset (both brilliant), Fast Food Nation, Slacker and the brilliant and non-picked up HBO pilot $5.15/hr.
I love the shit out of Linklater. Slacker, Waking Life, A Scanner Darkly, etc. are all some of my favorite movies ever.
Quote from: Snorkel on May 11, 2008, 04:52:44 PM
I declined to put him on the list because everyone's seen Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill, a lot of people have seen Reservoir Dogs, Grindhouse is too hit or miss, and the others aren't that good.
Grindhouse is hit and miss?
Quote from: Houdini on May 11, 2008, 07:30:28 PM
I love the shit out of Linklater. Slacker, Waking Life, A Scanner Darkly, etc. are all some of my favorite movies ever.
Indeed. Waking Life I've seen like 30 times and I still catch something different everytime...And I haven't seen it stoned yet.
Quote from: Houdini on May 11, 2008, 07:30:52 PM
Grindhouse is hit and miss?
Death Proof was a miss. Planet Terror was a hit.
Quote from: Solar and Lunar on May 11, 2008, 07:33:37 PM
Death Proof was a miss. Planet Terror was a hit.
Ugh, no. If anything, Planet Terror was the miss. Death Proof was exactly like a grindhouse film. Planet Terror was just a parody of someone who only knows about grindhouse movies from what someone told them.
Quote from: Andrew1911 on May 11, 2008, 08:19:20 PM
Ugh, no. If anything, Planet Terror was the miss. Death Proof was exactly like a grindhouse film. Planet Terror was just a parody of someone who only knows about grindhouse movies from what someone told them.
But you can't say that Death Proof was worth watching by itself...The movie Grindhouse worked better with Planet Terror there, and Death Proof was an hour of girls talking about kinda mundane things and then 10 minutes of car chasing...I wasn't debating which movie was more like a Grindhouse flick, I was merely stating which one, in my opinion, was the most entertaining film.
Quote from: Solar and Lunar on May 11, 2008, 08:44:38 PM
But you can't say that Death Proof was worth watching by itself...The movie Grindhouse worked better with Planet Terror there, and Death Proof was an hour of girls talking about kinda mundane things and then 10 minutes of car chasing...I wasn't debating which movie was more like a Grindhouse flick, I was merely stating which one, in my opinion, was the most entertaining film.
Death Proof was more entertaining. The car chase scene alone is better than the enterity of Planet Terror.
Quote from: Andrew1911 on May 11, 2008, 08:56:21 PM
Death Proof was more entertaining. The car chase scene alone is better than the enterity of Planet Terror.
Agreed. And the dialogue is perfect Tarantino, too, i.e. also entertaining.
Quote from: Solar and Lunar on May 11, 2008, 06:58:22 PM
A must see Director is Fernando Meirelles...Director of the brilliant City of God which is one of the best films ever made...Then, he made Constant Gardner which was genius and also very moving and now is directing his third film Blindness which is looking to be a stunner.
But do we forget Steven Soderbergh? He's one of my favorites and he directed the Pal D'Ore winning Sex, Lies and Videotape as well as the oscar-winning Traffic, all three Ocean's Movies, The Good German, Erin Brockovich and many others.
Another one of my favorites is Richard Linklater who directed my favorite film of all time Waking Life, as well as the brilliant Dazed and Confused, A Scanner Darkly, Bad News Bears (it was alright), School of Rock, Before Sunrise and Before Sunset (both brilliant), Fast Food Nation, Slacker and the brilliant and non-picked up HBO pilot $5.15/hr.
Yes, yes, yes. City of God and Waking Life definitely make my top 20, City of God probably my top 10... I need to see The Constant Gardner.