First things first, obviously very happy to find this place. I thought it’d be good to have an initial director discussion thread.
Personally David Fincher and Darren Aaronofsky — I can watch their films time and time again. I’m currently watching The Whale for the second time and I think it’s one of the most powerful movies I’ve ever seen.
Looking forward to hearing from the community.
First two directors I used to be into but no longer:
I loved Tarantino’s work but I feel that I’ve “outgrown” it. I’m just not that interested in ultraviolence anymore.
Similarly, big fan of Wes Anderson, especially Moonrise Kingdom, but the incredible whiteness (both in cast and settings) of the majority of his movies has me longing for something more diverse (again, in both literal casting and in thematic backgrounds).
And now, who I’m still excited for:
DANIELS - I really enjoyed Swiss Army Man, tho it was flawed. I was hyped for Everything Everywhere and it delivered and then some. Can’t wait to see what they do next if that was just their second one.
Makoto Shinkai - All of his work is so achingly beautiful. Love it.
Jordan Peele - Loved Get Out of course. Us was interesting but didn’t stick as much. Even NOPE was flawed but still very unique and intriguing. I want to see what else he has.
Ari Aster - Hereditary was good, and Midsommar was amazing. I heard very little at all about Beau is Afraid (which is almost worse than hearing bad things), and I haven’t seen it yet. Still intrigued to see what’s next.
Satoshi Kon. It’s unfortunate his filmography is short but he’s made some of the best Japanese animated films.
Man… Paprika is one of my all time favourite animated films, absolutely unbelievable. I’ll have to check his others out.
I have a deep fondness for David Lynch. The relationships he cultivates with staff and talent seems admirable, and more than his surrealism, I appreciate his ability to take mundane, or rote scenes and inject something new. For example, in twin peaks the straight lace fbi main character’s “rally the forces scene” has him revealing he has a literal belief that he is a physic, or the introduction of the police office having the decorative deer head collapse on the table. It’s just little visual and conceptual additions which subvert the viewers expectations and gets you reconsidering the scene. You can tell he’s having fun.
Additionally, I think that kojima studios work on death stranding actually scratches the same itch, though not a film. I love the little emotional beats Norman Reedus’ character takes whenever people insist on shaking his hand (he is phobic of touch), and the more earnest, sudo comedic scenes, like when you meet a character who dies and is revived every 23 minutes in his house without any preparation or context are welcome diversions which capture the magic of the weird while delivering essential exposition.
do birds fly? do ducks duck?
I am in love with the style of Edgar Wright. To me, he is the best director. Not only because I enjoy his work, but also because in my eyes, he is one of few directors who understand the medium movies, and use that knowledge with every frame.
He is one big reason, why I began to look at movies as an Art form.
I haven’t seen some of his earlier movies, but Denis Villeneuve has made some of my favorite recent movies, including Arrival
I also am a huge fan of the Wachowskis, loved Cloud Atlas, Sense8, and Speed Racer. Only movie i didn’t really enjoy was Jupiter Ascending, but even then, there were aspects i still liked
Jupiter Ascending and Cloud Atlas are both great examples of my general rule that I’ll take an interesting but imperfect movie over an uninteresting but well made movie any day. As long as you’re exploring some new ground, I’ll get something out of it.
Totally. I know it’s not a popular opinion, but I really enjoyed The Matrix 4 for this reason.
The movie had some significant issues (wtf was that Merovingian fight?), but I loved the world building both in the matrix and in the real world.