Courageous, brave, amazing, misfit director list.

[craig]

Of course this is prompted by the loss of Robert Altman Monday night. Strangely enough I watched "The Company" last night. After 35 years in the biz, few can argue with his body of work. Big up to a director that made pictures only slightly for profit. Those daze may be gone?

The list criteria: More then one film under their belt and an accessible distribution. There are a lot of amazing indie filmmakers, but that is a whole other story. Please list 1 or 2 examples for us to check out.

I do not watch many films, but here it goes (totally Hollywood and old school):

Stanley Kubrick. "Eyes Wide Shut" "Full Metal Jacket"

Spike Lee. "Do The Right Thing" "25th Hour"

Paul Thomas Andersen. "Boogie Nights" "Magnolia"

Dennis Hopper. " Colors"

And look at films by Altman. M.A.S.H was his biggest hit. Films like "The Player" and "Ready to Wear" are incomparable.

 

[terri]

Have I been under a ROCK??? I didn't know Robert Altman had died, for god's sake! That is terrible news. I always enjoyed his films.

I'm not good about remembering directors, especially newer ones doing indie stuff (usually the better films, too!). My bad.

You wanna talk old school, I will offer up Alfred Hitchcock for flat-out weird genius. "Rope", "Frenzy" and "Strangers on a Train" are guaranteed to creep you out, even while you can't tear your eyes off the screen. :thumbup:

 

[Don Simon]

If weirdness is your thing then there's always Bunuel and Dali. I've seen a lot of horror movies but "the eye scene" in Un Chien Andalou is just... yikes.

 

[craig]

Hithcock is a good one. PTA spoke of him in an interview. Apparently the opening scene to "Boogie Nights" is dedicated to Hitch and his style of shooting. My fave is "North by Northwest".

 

[terri]

Hithcock is a good one. PTA spoke of him in an interview. Apparently the opening scene to "Boogie Nights" is dedicated to Hitch and his style of shooting. My fave is "North by Northwest".

Yep, definitely a good one. :thumbup: I'm not sure I could name a fave. They're all excellent, in different ways. I like Hitchcock because of his expert way to show non-gore violence (even when pretty gruesome crimes were being committed) and, of course, for the introduction of the Hitchcock Blonde.

Zaph, I do like weird but something tells me I'd have trouble falling asleep after "the eye scene" you just mentioned.

 

[craig]

For sure. Scenes from "The Birds" creep me out to this day.

 

[panzershreck]

if you wanna be creeped out watch any of David Lynch's stuff, Eraserhead is his most known (and possibly his creepiest most surreal work), Elephant Man is more conventional (same goes for Straight Story) but his other works are just as weird as Eraserhead: Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks, Lost Highway, Mulholland Drive

out of all of those i'd check out Mulholland Drive and Eraserhead

 

[craig]

Excellent. David Lynch will take you to some of that other over there stuff. I love "Blue Velvet" and the "Twin Peaks" series.

 

[zombiekilla]

if you wanna be creeped out watch any of David Lynch's stuff, Eraserhead is his most known (and possibly his creepiest most surreal work), Elephant Man is more conventional (same goes for Straight Story) but his other works are just as weird as Eraserhead: Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks, Lost Highway, Mulholland Drive

out of all of those i'd check out Mulholland Drive and Eraserhead

the thing that I love so much about David Lynch is you have to think when watching his movies, its not just the usual blah blah blah stuff!!

 

[craig]

Not so sure I agree with that zombiekilla. I could not follow "Eraserhead" or "Lost Highway".

 

[markc]

Absolute top of the list for me: Terry Gilliam - Time Bandits, Brazil, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, The Fisher King, Twelve Monkeys, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, The Brothers Grimm, Tideland

Darren Aronofsky - Pi and Requiem for a Dream
Christopher Nolan - Memento (and others)
Cameron Crowe - Jerry Maguire, Almost Famous, Vanilla Sky (and also wrote Fast Times at Ridgemont High)
Luc Besson - La Femme Nikita, Léon (The Professional), The Fifth Element
Jean-Pierre Jeunet - Delicatessen, Le Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain (Amélie)
Sidney Lumet - Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, Network, The Verdict

 

[craig]

Excellent list Mark!!! All those films are incredible. Terry Gilliam is an amazing director. They had been trying to make "Fear and Loathing" since the book came out. Terry Gilliam is the only one that Hunter Thompson let do it.