Top 10 Film Directors

[bobster]

And there's the great Ida Lupino, who made some nifty films in the late forties and early fifties when hardly any women were directing.

There's also Dorothy Arzner, who was a real pioneer in Hollywood. Though, I've got to say that I went to see a couple of her films earlier this year and I can guarantee you that, if she were a man, NO ONE would remember her films.

Also Penny Marshall did a very good job on "Big." (Haven't seen "A League of Their Own" for some reason....) For better or worse (mostly worse) there's also Nora Ephron and Barbara Streisand.

Agnieska Holland is really, really good (particularly enjoyed "Little Women" and liked "Europa, Europa" and "Shot Through the Heart", the HBO movie about Mikal and Gary Gilmore) -- I used to sort of like Lina Wermuller, but haven't seen one of her movies in years so I'm not sure -- Jane Campion is really interesting but so far I'd say the jury's still out on her (I'm one of the few males I know who liked "The Piano") -- I went to school with Allison Anders so my feelings about her films are sort of mixed up (though I do recommend "Gas, Food, Lodging" which just came out on video) -- Amy Heckerling's "Clueless" was great, but I'm not sure if I can ever forgive her for the atrocity that was "Look Who's Talking -- Agnes Varda's "Vagabond" was memorable but slow in a typically French way and I honestly can't remember whether or not I've seen any of her other films....

The sad fact is that, just by virtue of the numbers, the number of female directors is so few that there are just not many candidates for the top tier. Even a good mealy-mouthed liberal like myself was, when compiling my list, unable to come up with a single "favorite" movie directed by a woman. Lots of good movies, just nothing that was all-time favorite. I think it just boils down to numbers. I have to say that, at this point, my favorite female director is probably Ida Lupino, who's ranks as one of the more interesting directors of the film noir era.

And let's not forget that lots of women have written films, and that's arguably just as important, or more important, than directing, though the contribution is diluted because of the nature of the Hollywood film making process where the directing is closer to getting the last word, most of the time.

Just to name one personal favorite, if you took Leigh Brackett out of the Howard Hawks cannon, about a third of his films might have been a lot less great. She also wrote the first draft of the best "Star Wars" movie, "Revenge of the Jedi."

BTW: Haven't seen "Lost in Translation" yet, but Sophia Coppolla is still very young and she's seems to be off to a fantastic start with her first two, so who knows....

[girl out of time]

martin scorsese
wim wenders
emir kusturika
ken loach
michael winterbottom
stephen frears
norman jewison
sydney lumet
carol reed
john houston
brian de palma
francis ford coppola

[bobster]

Woops -- big time typo up there on my part!

Leigh Brackett wrote "The Empire Strikes Back"! (It was rewritten -- I have no idea to what extent -- by Larry Kasdan after she died.)

There never was a "Revenge of the Jedi" and "Return of the Jedi" was definitely not the best of Star Wars films! (Though it's a classic compared to this last group!)

[Tim(e)]

Seven Samurai, High and Low, Yojimbo, Sanjuro, Red Beard, The Lower Depths, Hidden Fortress, Throne of Blood, Rashomon etc etc etc. Need I say any more, other than -

Akira Kurosawa first, daylight second, and then the following in no particular order:

Martin Scorcese - too many great films to be left off any top ten
John Huston - for Wise Blood alone
Peter Jackson - Lord of the Rings has stamped him as one of the greatest ever directors of epic productions
Ang Lee - even before Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon he had the Wedding Banquet, Eat Drink Man Woman, etc under his belt
Gillian Armstrong
Frederico Felini
Zhang Yimou
Yasujiro Ozu
François Truffaut

[BlueChair]

I really like Ang Lee's 'The Ice Storm'