Directors who get a lotta mileage out of you....

[GreenspointTexas 9602]

52 minutes ago, yoladu said:

it's a tough topic, because if i am still seeking out their films, I must feel they are still doing pretty good work - but i will try

these directors either

• never fulfilled their promising start or
• maybe became a little bit too "one note-ish" in their subsequent films or
• maybe the film spoke to me at the time in which i was living and later films don't as much

Neil LaBute  - In the Company of Men

Noah Baumbach - Kicking and Screaming (i know the conventional wisdom is that he has done better films)

Whit Stillman - Metropolitan

Darren Aronofsky - Requiem for a Dream (i still seek out his films, but i cant say they have much of an impact on me like Requim)

No love for Black Swan?

[smuggs 9353]

On 3/9/2021 at 11:05 AM, ztejas said:

I forgot he did The Green Mile. Oops. Admittedly I've only seen it once.

I got you. That's tough. I feel like most directors I enjoy I enjoy multiple films of theirs.

Peter Jackson might be a good one - although I like King Kong pretty well. He definitely gets a lifetime pass for LOTR.

I was a fan after Dead Alive.

 

[strangulation! 1716]

1 hour ago, tantric superman said:

Mask and Paper Moon and an episode of the Sopranos were very pleasant but that's about it after Peter Bogdanovich's Last Picture Show.

I guess Dorothy Stratten was a bit of a distraction...

don't forget about a 20 year cybill shepherd

[Guest]

On 3/9/2021 at 11:03 AM, tantric superman said:

This is a hard one.  I take it from your question, directors you like for one movie but they just never quite live up to it.

Diner, by Barry Levinson.

 

   

 

Sleepers is highly underrated, IMHO.

Donnie Brasco is indulgent.  It's obviously not near the movie Shawshank is, but I find myself stopping on it anytime I see it.

Not totally his show, but he was part of OZ on TV too.  

Never thought of him as a one hit wonder.

[Guest]

On 3/9/2021 at 2:26 PM, DonkeyCigars said:

Quentin Tarantino: If he puts out a movie, it's a must watch for me. There are more gems than not, but there are some I didn't like and knew I wouldn't but gave it a chance anyways.

 

Coen Brothers: It's an automatic watch for me, dog.

 

So what movie made these guys "must see" for you?

For me, Tarentino did it with Reservoir Dogs right out of the gate.  Those were college years and it just checked all the boxes on being a badass movie.

For Coen Brothers, it was Miller's Crossing.

 

Edited March 10, 2021 by slorch

[tantric superman 4667]

20 minutes ago, strangulation! said:

don't forget about a 20 year cybill shepherd

Will never forget.

[ztejas 43455]

8 minutes ago, slorch said:

Sleepers is highly underrated, IMHO.

Donnie Brasco is indulgent.  It's obviously not near the movie Shawshank is, but I find myself stopping on it anytime I see it.

Not totally his show, but he was part of OZ on TV too.  

Never thought of him as a one hit wonder.

Donnie Brasco? Shawshank? What are you talking about?

[Guest]

14 minutes ago, ztejas said:

Donnie Brasco? Shawshank? What are you talking about?

Levinson is not  attached to Shawshank, just saying that Donnie Brasco is that type of flick...( i apologize for my shitty use of the English language.)

 

However, Levinson didn't direct Donnie Brasco.  My mistake.  He was a producer of it.

 

I'll also throw in The Natural,  Good Morning Vietnam, and Bugsy as other  rewatchable flicks he directed.

Edited March 10, 2021 by slorch

[tantric superman 4667]

25 minutes ago, slorch said:

For Coen Brothers, it was Miller's Crossing.

In the Barry Sonnenfeld autobiography, he tells some great stories about the making of Blood Simple, the first Coen Bros flick.  Here is one of the fake investor trailers which was made before the film was shot.  The iconic "back lit bullets".

 

Spoiler - the awesome scene that made the Coens. (Misses some of the early parts of the scene)

 

Edited March 10, 2021 by tantric superman

[tantric superman 4667]

20 minutes ago, slorch said:

I'll also throw in The Natural,  Good Morning Vietnam, and Bugsy as other  rewatchable flicks he directed.

The point I was trying to make is that because of his Baltimore films, Levinson was worth following. I.e., the theme that young filmmakers take their first swing at coming of age type films, and Levinson felt compelled to capture Baltimore.  His Baltimore love is what make him a good filmaker.

Diner was the first of four films set in the Baltimore of Levinson's youth. The other three were Tin Men (1987), a story of aluminum-siding salesmen in the 1960s starring Richard Dreyfuss and Danny DeVito; the immigrant family saga Avalon (1990) featuring Elijah Wood in one of his earliest screen appearances, and Liberty Heights (1999).

Not saying they were the only one's worth watching.

(I haven't seen Liberty Heights in 20 years, but I thought it was really good and the closest in feel to Diner.)

Edited March 10, 2021 by tantric superman

[tantric superman 4667]

I know many people liked Yesterday, but I bulldozed my way painfully through that thing solely to honor Danny  Boyle for Shallow Grave and Trainspotting.

[Underdog 28669]

Diner is such a great flick, haven't watched it in a long while and need to remedy that soon. 

[Mach 1 1677]

I like a lot of Alexander Payne's movies.  Election, About Schimdt, Sideways, The Descendants.

[satyanash 14506]

On the Bollywood side, Dibakar Banerjee and Anurag Kashyap for Shanghai and Gangs of Wasseypur, respectively. Both have released some duds since then (Bombay Velvet, yuck) but they've earned my trust as directors with those movies.

On the English-language side, Neill Blomkamp for District 9 and Michael Cimino for The Deer Hunter. Both of them have yet to make anything since that's measured up, but my interest was always piqued for their next projects.

[ztejas 43455]

1 hour ago, slorch said:

I'll also throw in The Natural,  Good Morning Vietnam, and Bugsy as other  rewatchable flicks he directed.

Rain Man is better than all of those films. Whether anyone is going to admit that on this thread or not. I mean, he won best director for it. 

I agree he has a pretty good catalouge.

[tantric superman 4667]

21 minutes ago, ztejas said:

Rain Man is better than all of those films. Whether anyone is going to admit that on this thread or not. I mean, he won best director for it. 

I think all of these were better movies. Certainly more enjoyable:  

Diner, The Natural, Tin Men, Avalon, Liberty Heights, Good Morning VietnaIm, Bugsy.

I'll give you that it was kind of cool when Dustin Hoffman counted toothpicks.

[ztejas 43455]

31 minutes ago, tantric superman said:

I think all of these were better movies. Certainly more enjoyable:  

Diner, The Natural, Tin Men, Avalon, Liberty Heights, Good Morning VietnaIm, Bugsy.

I'll give you that it was kind of cool when Dustin Hoffman counted toothpicks.

Wow I'm shocked you don't like Rain Man. 

[GreenspointTexas 9602]

1 hour ago, satyanash said:

On the Bollywood side, Dibakar Banerjee and Anurag Kashyap for Shanghai and Gangs of Wasseypur, respectively. Both have released some duds since then (Bombay Velvet, yuck) but they've earned my trust as directors with those movies.

On the English-language side, Neill Blomkamp for District 9 and Michael Cimino for The Deer Hunter. Both of them have yet to make anything since that's measured up, but my interest was always piqued for their next projects.

Blomkamp is a great answer for this thread

[tantric superman 4667]

1 hour ago, ztejas said:

Wow I'm shocked you don't like Rain Man. 

I like Rain Man, it was skillful and it's fun.  I think the Natural and Good Morning Vietnam are just a bit more fun, and movies like Diner just are very personal -- the scenes of coming home at Christmas from college, and of hanging out with your guy friends, and of arguing with your wife about records and music are completely and totally real. 

This one scene in Diner says as much about marriage and compromise and trying to figure out one's sense of self and place in the world as any other scene in movies. 

 

[HouTex 1867]

Diner is an incredible film. “The wedding is off.”
“I’ll hit you so hard I’ll kill whole family.”

[JackBurton 83]

Jeremy Saulnier -- Green Room 

Blue Ruin isn't bad but really the only reason I stuck through Hold the Dark was because it was by the guy who made Green Room. 

to a lesser degree, Jonathan Demme -- The Silence of the Lambs

[TexasGary 833]

Ok, I will give it a shot.

John McTiernan - IMDB

I was a fan after watching Die Hard.  Then he followed that up with The Hunt for Red October.  Shortly after I saw that he directed Predator.

He had a few other minor hits.  He got into some legal trouble and I think he actually served time.

[Underdog 28669]

14 hours ago, Mach 1 said:

I like a lot of Alexander Payne's movies.  Election, About Schimdt, Sideways, The Descendants.

Haven't watched The Descendants but like the other three, especially Election and Sideways. 

[South Austin 52515]

8 minutes ago, Underdog said:

Haven't watched The Descendants but like the other three, especially Election and Sideways. 

Go watch it. It’s really good. Really great performance by Clooney.

Seconded on Alexander Payne flicks.

[C-Man 27230]

Haven't watched The Descendants but like the other three, especially Election and Sideways. 

I love The Descendants. Great flick.

[Underdog 28669]

Having checked IMDB, I've seen The Descendants just didn't recognize the title.  I do remember it now being pretty good.  

[smuggs 9353]

8 hours ago, TexasGary said:

I was a fan after watching Die Hard.  Then he followed that up with The Hunt for Red October.  Shortly after I saw that he directed Predator.

Are you listing McTiernan's films in the order you saw them? Because Predator came out in '87, Die Hard in '88 and THFRO in '90.

[atomheartbevo 89675]

Taika Waititi - What We Do in the Shadows.   I'll watch anything else of his (and so far haven't really been disappointed).

[yoladu 4094]

19 hours ago, tantric superman said:

Mask and Paper Moon and an episode of the Sopranos were very pleasant but that's about it after Peter Bogdanovich's Last Picture Show.

I guess Dorothy Stratten was a bit of a distraction...

ascots are a career killer.

[yoladu 4094]

2 hours ago, South Austin said:

Go watch it. It’s really good. Really great performance by Clooney.

Seconded on Alexander Payne flicks.

Descendants is a breezy, enjoyable watch.

[South Austin 52515]

Just now, yoladu said:

Descendants is a breezy, enjoyable watch.

And kind of a gut punch at the end. 

[yoladu 4094]

4 minutes ago, South Austin said:

And kind of a gut punch at the end. 

i don't remember a gut punch - felt like the movie has a fairly muted tone.

that dopey kid who is the friend of the daughter is from Austin, I believe.

Edited March 11, 2021 by yoladu

[BonzoMontreaux 1038]

Coen Bro's - Blood Simple

DePalma - Dressed To Kill

[South Austin 52515]

27 minutes ago, yoladu said:

i don't remember a gut punch

It was a bit personal for me.  Not same context but same issue - discovery of a wife's infidelity.

[tantric superman 4667]

36 minutes ago, South Austin said:

And kind of a gut punch at the end. 

(It's Hawaii.  Cry me a river.  Sid (the kid) was awesome.)

[tantric superman 4667]

6 minutes ago, South Austin said:

It was a bit personal for me.  Not same context but same issue - discovery of a wife's infidelity.

Oh.  Well, moving on...

[HouTex 1867]

(It's Hawaii.  Cry me a river.  Sid (the kid) was awesome.)

He was awesome, and I loved it when the grand dad punched him.

[ztejas 43455]

14 hours ago, tantric superman said:

I like Rain Man, it was skillful and it's fun.  I think the Natural and Good Morning Vietnam are just a bit more fun, and movies like Diner just are very personal -- the scenes of coming home at Christmas from college, and of hanging out with your guy friends, and of arguing with your wife about records and music are completely and totally real. 

This one scene in Diner says as much about marriage and compromise and trying to figure out one's sense of self and place in the world as any other scene in movies. 

 

I'm just giving you shit. You're consistent in your taste. I actually haven't seen Diner - I'll put it on my list. 

[ztejas 43455]

2 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

Taika Waititi - What We Do in the Shadows.   I'll watch anything else of his (and so far haven't really been disappointed).

Same. And for the same movie.

[dogbreath 434]

21 hours ago, tantric superman said:

Hal Hartley had a fast start, and then gradually WTF?

• The Unbelievable Truth (1989)
• Trust (1990)
• Simple Men (1992)

I like Hartley.  I believe the Red Oak episodes he directed were the best ones.  And the Henry Fool trilogy was weird and mystifyingly satisfying.  The Book of Life was stunning.  Lots to think about including this lesson plan from some unknown college class.

PHILOSOPHICAL ISSUES: divine justice and forgiveness

CHARACTERS: Jesus Christ (Martin Donovan), Magdalena (P.J. Harvey), Satan (Thomas Jay Ryan), Edie (waitress), Dave the gambler,

OTHER FILMS BY DIRECTOR HAL HARTLEY: Amateur (1994), Henry Fool (1997), No Such Thing (2001), The Girl From Monday (2005), Fay Grim (2006)

SYNOPSIS: Jesus returns December 31, 1999 at JFK airport in New York City and checks into a Manhattan hotel. His task is to end the world as we currently know it, judge the wicked, and begin the new Millennium of God’s rule. To do this, he must open the last three seals of the Book of Life, which will bring on the remainder of the apocalypse. But, Jesus is having second thoughts and considering forgiving everyone instead. This means defying God and in essence exiling himself from God just as Satan did. As Jesus struggles with his decision, he locks horns with God’s attorney on earth who insists that Jesus follow God’s law. Meanwhile, Satan likes things just as they are and laments the opening of the Book of Life. When he discovers Jesus’ hesitation, he acquires the Book of Life in an attempt to open just one more seal on it. Unfortunately for Satan, the Book of Life has a security lock on it that he can’t undo. “Those bastards in heaven, they think of everything,” Satan whines. Satan then joins Jesus at his hotel for a New Year’s Eve party, and the new millennium begins just like any normal day.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. The beggar at the airport keeps rambling, “Forgive me Jesus I have sinned; have mercy on us now and at the hour of our death.” Why does he have binoculars around his neck?

2. “I could never get used to that part of the job, the power and the glory, the vengeance; but I persevered.” What specifically is the dilemma that Jesus faces?

3. Jesus states, “I remember the flood, Babel, Sodom and Gomorrah. My father he is an angry God; to him the law is everything. Still to this day attorneys are his favorites.” God’s attorney states to Jesus, “You know what your father wants; quit stalling.” What is the connection between God, the law, and punishment?

4. Dave the gambler is an atheist who holds that people don’t have souls and are only “material, mechanisms, biological accidents.” Love, according to Dave, is only a survival mechanism. According to Satan, though, Edie’s love for Dave disproves this: he’s so unreliable that loving him couldn’t facilitate her survival; thus, she has a real soul and isn’t simply a mechanical biological accident. Is Satan’s argument compelling?

5. Dave gambles Edie’s soul away to Satan, and Satan then says the following: “One more soul snatched away from the all-knowing unknowable is still a feather in my cap. So what if it’s the last day of the world; I’m not going to give in without a fight, come what may. Let God almighty rule eternity; my precincts are the minutes and hours of the every day. As long as people have hopes and dreams, well, then, I’ll have my work to do.” What is Satan’s task on earth?

6. “I’ve been misunderstood. They think I hold a grudge against humanity, but that’s not it at all. I just think we have a good system, this tug of war between heaven and hell.” How might this current tug of war be a good system?

7. Prior to his arrival, the first four seals of the Book of Life were already opened, which brought on war, death, famine and pestilence. Jesus says he fears opening the fifth seal the most, though, which requires him facing the martyrs who died for their faith in hopes of divine justice at the end times. What’s so bad about this?

8. God’s attorney states this about God: “My client’s authority rests on this threat [of divine justice] alone.” What does this mean?

9. Early in the film the Pope calls Jesus on the phone, and Magdelana tells the Pope that he got the wrong number. Later in the film Jesus doesn’t even know who the Mormons are. What does this imply?

10. Jesus states, “I won’t judge the living and the dead. I hate this closed door policy. Who do these Christians think they are anyway?” What precisely is the closed door policy that Jesus is objecting to?

11. God’s attorney chastises Jesus for resisting to go through with God’s plan of divine judgment. The attorney states, “I never thought it was a good idea to have God made flesh. It’s messy, the human element, you know.” What does this imply about the nature of compassion and forgiveness?

12. Satan is glad that Jesus will not bring on divine judgment. Still, Satan wants to open the sixth seal which will create earthquakes and natural disasters, and thus provide the right fear factor for introducing a new religion. Is that better than either the current system or God’s plan of divine judgment?

13. What is Jesus’ basic message in the film, and is it sufficient to meet the apparent human yearning for religion?

14. At the close of the film, Jesus speculates about the future and how humans will evolve biologically and culturally. “Will they still believe life is sacred? Will it matter? Do we matter?” Are these questions more the domain of religion or ethics?
 

 

[TexasGary 833]

3 hours ago, smuggs said:

Are you listing McTiernan's films in the order you saw them? Because Predator came out in '87, Die Hard in '88 and THFRO in '90.

No, it was - I didn't realize that he directed Predator until after I saw The Hunt for Red October.

[After irth 1243]

On 3/9/2021 at 11:05 AM, ztejas said:

I forgot he did The Green Mile. Oops. Admittedly I've only seen it once.

I got you. That's tough. I feel like most directors I enjoy I enjoy multiple films of theirs.

Peter Jackson might be a good one - although I like King Kong pretty well. He definitely gets a lifetime pass for LOTR.

Do you not Bad Taste, bro?

[After irth 1243]

4 hours ago, yoladu said:

ascots are a career killer.

 

[oSuJeff97 3435]

I have several. Some off the top of my head:

• Wes Anderson
• P.T. Anderson
• David Fincher
• Quinten Tarantino
• Michael Mann
• Steven Soderberg
• Martin Scorsese
• Katheyn Bigelow
• Steven Spielberg (lifetime pass for making me fall in love with movies as a kid)

The newest member of the group is definitely Taika Watiki. I’ve loved literally everything he’s done. He’s my current favorite director.

 

[someguy 1508]

On 3/11/2021 at 7:59 AM, atomheartbevo said:

Taika Waititi - What We Do in the Shadows.   I'll watch anything else of his (and so far haven't really been disappointed).

cosign, though for me Boy really sealed Waititi in the category of "will check out regardless".

It feels like much of this thread consists of folks tossing out legendary directors.  I agree with many of the names tossed out because they are awesome directors with an accomplished body of work.  I'm going to focus more on directors who (perhaps) don't fall into that legendary category, or are in the earlier stages of their career, but because of the strength of a particular film make it so I will automatically check out their other work (a status that can be revoked).

Damien Chazelle - Whiplash.  Loved LaLa Land, thought First Man was disappointing.  He is still someone i will automatically check out.

Chloe Zhau - The Rider.  One of my top 5 films of the decade.  She is my new Malick, and I will watch anything she does.  I enjoyed Nomadland, though not as much as The Rider.  I'm beyond curious to see what she does with a Marvel movie.

Jeff Nichols - Mud. Really appreciated the way he wove in the setting as almost a character.  It was gratifying to see him do the same thing in earlier films like Take Shelter and Shotgun Stories.  Midnight Special was really good, but more scifi.  Disappointed in Loving, but more because biopics sucks almost across the board.  I'm still on board.

Asgar Farhadi - About Elly.  His ability to deftly build a story that felt balanced and could go in any number of directions stood out.  Led me to A Separation (top 10 all time movie for me) and The Salesman.  Farhadi is probably a top 3 favorite director for me.

Derek Cianfrance - Blue Valentine.  His sharp eye for relational dynamics stood out.  Place Beyond the Pines was great and I Know This Much is True was poorly timed coming out during the onset of COVID, when watching super depressing material was especially grueling.

David Lowery - Ain't Them Bodies Saints - classic set up with a different feel.  It marked him as distinct in my mind and that was validated in his work in the kid movie PEte's Dragon, and then very much so in A Ghost Story.  I will definitely see the upcoming Green Knight movie.

* Joe Talbot - The Last Black Man in San Francisco.  I put the * because I loved LBMSF enough to follow Talbot and am eager to see his future work, but I'm not 100% sure he is in that category.  He's only done the one film.

 

[RPM 26322]

No Linklater? I thought y'all were better than this.

[GreenspointTexas 9602]

Yeah, i did a horrible job of explaining this threads premise

[GreenspointTexas 9602]

Just now, RPM said:

No Linklater? I thought y'all were better than this.

He has multiple great films

[ztejas 43455]

1 minute ago, GreenspointTexas said:

Yeah, i did a horrible job of explaining this threads premise

I think you did a fine job. Some folks seem to not be understanding the question.

[Buzzrock 14921]

M Night Shyamalan

To elaborate (because I can’t believe no one else chimed in): MNS has to be the poster child for this thread. Dropped an iconic film early and has spent a career trying to live up to it. I like a lot of his work (Unbreakable, Signs, The Visit, Split, Glass) but none of them lived up to Sixth Sense, and there a lot of real stinkers in there (The Happening anyone?).

But I still keep watching, hoping for more greatness.