Best 10 Films of Martin Scorsese

When Scorsese finally won a best director Oscar®,

 for The Departed, he said "I think I want a recount",

making fun of the 2000 Presidential election,

and the fact that he had never won an Oscar®

Ranked by my order of preference, click for my review

1. Raging Bull (1980) best actor Oscar® for Robert De Niro, No. 75 on the IMDB top 250, 21 awards overall [This is my favorite boxing film, and one of the greatest performances in cinema history. Thelma Schoonmacher's editing also won an Oscar®]
2. The Departed (2006) best picture Oscar® (four total), No. 58 on the IMDB 250, 53 awards overall [Oscars® for picture, director, editing, screenplay]
3. Goodfellas (1990) supporting actor Oscar® for Joe Pesci, No. 15 on the IMDB 250, 35 awards overall
4. Gangs of New York (2002) no Oscars® (10 nominations, a record for non-winners), 33 awards overall, including 17 for Daniel Day-Lewis
5. Taxi Driver (1976) No. 41 on the IMDB top 250, winner Palm d'Or at Cannes, 19 awards overall
6. The King of Comedy (1982)  3 awards overall (no Oscar® nods)
7. Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974) best actress Oscar® for Ellen Burstyn, BAFTA for best film, 5 awards overall
8. Mean Streets (1973) 3 awards (two for De Niro's supporting performance, no Oscar® nods)
9. The Age of Innocence (1993) one Oscar® ( for costumes, 11 nominations), 11 awards overall
10. The Aviator (2004) 5 Oscars®, incl supporting actress for Cate Blanchett, 50 awards overall [Oscars® for supp. actress, art direction, editing, cinematography, costume design]
11. Shutter Island (2008) No. 249 on the IMDB 250, 3 awards overall (no Oscar® nods)

[That's 236 awards total for just these films, including 14 Oscars®: 5 for Aviator, 4 for Departed, 2 for Raging Bull, 3 others 1 each.. Scorsese has won 85 awards himself, most for directing (41 were for individual feature films) but some are for screenplays - his only Oscar® is for directing The Departed]

Ok, so we gave Marty 11 films, all of his are worth seeing, especially these..

The last ones I eliminated were: The Last Waltz, (two awards) primarily because it was a documentary, and really just a music concert.. the other was the overlong musical New York, New York ..(one award, for De Niro's performance).. it just wasn't as involving as his typical films.. also The Last Temptation of Christ  -the casting was just too bizarre, Willem Dafoe as Jesus, Harvey Keitel as Paul, the list goes on.. it did win one award, at Venice - ironically, it's only Oscar® nomination was for Scorsese's directing

Thelma Schoonmaker has edited every Scorsese

film from Raging Bull on, and has won 3 Oscars®,

for Raging Bull, The Departed, and The Aviator.

She is one of the best editors ever

Martin almost went into the priesthood in 1956, but thankfully decided to get a film degree from NYU instead. A dedicated New Yorker (who never wanted any part of L.A.), many believe this is why he was shunned at the Oscars® for so many years. Backing up that argument, another die-hard New Yorker was the recently deceased Sydney Lumet, who never won an Oscar® after directing these classics: Network, 12 Angry Men, The Verdict, Equus, Dog Day Afternoon, Serpico, The Pawnbroker, Murder on the Orient Express. [He'll be the subject of a later Best 10 Films post..]

An interesting early film of Marty's is Boxcar Bertha.. starring Barbara Hershey, apparently it's based on a true story. "America in the 30's was a free country" - that's because nobody had any money left anyway.

Top Ranked Directors on the Net

© 2009-11, William L. Sinclair

All Directors in the top 1011 list that we compiled from all the internet surveys we could find, ranked by total points for all films on our spreadsheet. Alfred Hitchcock led the list [photo above with fellow director, artist Andy Warhol]. John Ford and Jean-Luc Godard had the most films listed at 16 each. Charles Laughton made the list highest with only one film at #100; unfortunately for this consummate actor, it was the only film he directed, Night of the Hunter. Count, Director, Top Ranked Film, Total Points

1. 14 - Hitchcock, Alfred [Vertigo (1958) #6 ] ..55352
2. 10 - Kubrick, Stanley [2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) #2 ] ..42161
3. 12 - Scorsese, Martin [Taxi Driver (1976) #12 ] ..37474
4. 11 - Kurosawa, Akira [Seven Samurai, The (1954) #7 ] ..33022
5. 16 - Ford, John [Searchers, The (1956) #46 ] ..32142
6. 8 - Chaplin, Charles [City Lights (1931) #21 ] ..31835
7. 16 - Godard, Jean-Luc [Contempt (1963) 74 ] ..31243
8. 15 - Buñuel, Luis [Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, The (1972) #88 ] ..29977
9. 7 - Spielberg, Steven [Schindler's List (1993) #27 ] ..28694
10. 11 - Fellini, Federico [8½ (1963) #37 ] ..27722
11. 8 - Wilder, Billy [Sunset Boulevard (1950) #14 ] ..27448
12. 12 - Bergman, Ingmar [Seventh Seal, The (1956) 29 ] ..27032
13. 4 - Coppola, Francis [Godfather, The (1972) #1 ] ..26334
14. 11 - Hawks, Howard [Bringing Up Baby (1938) #118 ] ..25560
15. 7 - Welles, Orson [Citizen Kane (1941) #5 ] ..24090
16. 6 - Lean, David [Lawrence of Arabia (1962) #50 ] ..22668
17. 10 - Lang, Fritz [M (1931) 11 ] ..22392
18. 10 - Renoir, Jean [Rules of the Game, The (1939) #44 ] ..21204
19. 8 - Bresson, Robert [Au Hasard Balthazar (1966) 93 ] ..20832
20. 8 - Huston, John [Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The (1948) #62 ] ..20190
21. 7 - Keaton, Buster [Sherlock Jr. (1924) #89 ] ..19724
22. 4 - Capra, Frank [It's a Wonderful Life (1946) 10 ] ..17564
23. 8 - Powell, Michael [Peeping Tom (1960) #360 ] ..17464
24. 5 - Polanski, Roman [Chinatown (1974) #3 ] ..17376
25. 7 - Truffaut, François [Jules et Jim (1961) #59 ] ..17238
26. 7 - Eisenstein, Sergei [Battleship Potemkin (1925) 100 ] ..17070
27. 4 - Scott, Ridley [Blade Runner (1982) 13 ] ..16179
28. 5 - Murnau, F.W. [Sunrise (1928) #38 ] ..16168
29. 5 - Dreyer, Carl Theodor [Passion of Joan of Arc, The (1928) 51 ] ..16068
30. 10 - Rossellini, Roberto [Paisan (1946) #166 ] ..16058
31. 8 - Eastwood, Clint [Unforgiven (1992) #91 ] ..15976
32. 4 - De Sica, Vittorio [Bicycle Thief, The (1949) 16 ] ..15656
33. 7 - Cassavetes, John [Woman Under the Influence, A (1974) #176 ] ..15564
34. 9 - Visconti, Luchino [Rocco and His Brothers (1964) #237 ] ..15186
35. 6 - Allen, Woody [Annie Hall (1977) #77 ] ..15039
36. 5 - Ray, Satyajit [Pather Panchali / Apu Trilogy I (1955) #32 ] ..14988
37. 6 - Antonioni, Michelangelo [L'Avventura (1960) #187 ] ..14434
38. 4 - Leone, Sergio [Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) #70 ] ..14418
39. 7 - Altman, Robert [Nashville (1975) #192 ] ..13854
40. 3 - Lucas, George [Star Wars (1978) #4 ] ..13743
41. 8 - Ophuls, Max [Earrings of Madame de..., The (1953) 264 ] ..13588
42. 6 - Mizoguchi, Kenji [Ugetsu (1953) 58 ] ..13300
43. 7 - Tarkovsky, Andrei [Solaris (1972) #263 ] ..13200
44. 3 - Griffith, D.W. [Intolerance (1916) 64 ] ..13198
45. 6 - Coen Ethan and Joel [No Country for Old Men (2007) #165 ] ..13163
46. 5 - Sturges, Preston [Lady Eve, The (1941) 92 ] ..13162
47. 3 - Jackson, Peter [Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The (2001) #84 ] ..12603
48. 4 - Forman, Milos [One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) #54 ] ..12314
49. 4 - Cameron, James [Aliens (1986) #159 ] ..12253
50. 4 - Tarantino, Quentin [Pulp Fiction (1995) #20 ] ..12172
51. 4 - Lumet, Sidney [12 Angry Men (1957) #124 ] ..11976
52. 5 - Kazan, Elia [On the Waterfront (1954) #67 ] ..11952
53. 6 - Lubitsch, Ernst [Trouble in Paradise (1932) #234 ] ..11804
54. 4 - Wyler, William [Best Years of Our Lives, The (1946) #102 ] ..11786
55. 6 - Resnais, Alain [Last Year at Marienbad (1961) #215 ] ..11250
56. 2 - Fleming, Victor [Wizard of Oz, The (1938) #18 ] ..11132
57. 7 - Fassbinder, Rainer Werner [Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980) 196 ] ..11128
58. 4 - McCarey, Leo [Duck Soup (1933) #41 ] ..10924
59. 7 - Kiarostami, Abbas [Close-Up (1990) 189 ] ..10769
60. 5 - Pasolini, Pier Paolo [Gospel According to St. Matthew, The (1964) #103 ] ..10760
61. 3 - Curtiz, Michael [Casablanca (1942) #47 ] ..10506
62. 5 - Lynch, David [Elephant Man, The (1980) #193 ] ..10266
63. 5 - Ozu, Yasujiro [Tokyo Story (1953) #57 ] ..10218
64. 6 - Minnelli, Vincente [Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) #288 ] ..10068
65. 6 - Ray, Nicholas [Rebel Without a Cause (1955) #280 ] ..10052
66. 4 - Bertolucci, Bernardo [Conformist, The (1970) 76 ] ..9788
67. 5 - Cukor, George [Philadelphia Story, The (1940) #148 ] ..9614
68. 5 - Sirk, Douglas [All That Heaven Allows (1955) #233 ] ..9604
69. 4 - Donen, Stanley [Funny Face (1957) #735 ] ..9452
70. 3 - Reed, Carol [Third Man, The (1948) #15 ] ..9246
71. 4 - Mankiewicz, Joseph L. [All About Eve (1950) #33 ] ..9238
72. 5 - Peckinpah, Sam [Wild Bunch, The (1969) #87 ] ..8998
73. 6 - Kieslowski, Krszystof [Dekalog (1988) #235 ] ..8974
74. 5 - Roeg, Nicolas [Don't Look Now (1973) #301 ] ..8966
75. 4 - Gilliam, Terry [Brazil (1985) #188 ] ..8783
76. 4 - Carné, Marcel [Enfants du paradis, Les (1945) #183 ] ..8728
77. 4 - Herzog, Werner [Aguirre: The Wrath of God (1972) #72 ] ..8534
78. 4 - von Stroheim, Erich [Greed (1924) 79 ] ..8234
79. 6 - von Sternberg, Josef [Blue Angel, The (1930) #269 ] ..8170
80. 4 - Wenders, Wim [Wings of Desire (1987) #245 ] ..7908
81. 2 - Vigo, Jean [L'Atalante (1934) 49 ] ..7874
82. 2 - Donen, Stanley/Gene Kelly [Singin' in the Rain (1952) #26 ] ..7604
83. 4 - Nolan, Christopher [Memento (2000) #354 ] ..7406
84. 2 - Clouzot, Henri-Georges [Wages of Fear, The (1952) #134 ] ..7390
85. 4 - Miyazaki, Hayao [Spirited Away (2001) #255 ] ..7366
86. 3 - Tati, Jacques [Playtime (1967) #209 ] ..7362
87. 3 - Anderson, Paul Thomas [There Will Be Blood (2007) #180 ] ..7326
88. 3 - Wise, Robert [Day the Earth Stood Still, The (1951) #318 ] ..7272
89. 2 - Whale, James [Bride of Frankenstein (1935) #140 ] ..7204
90. 4 - Almodóvar, Pedro [All About My Mother (1999) #283 ] ..6825
91. 5 - Vidor, King [Crowd, The (1928) #355 ] ..6759
92. 3 - Zinnemann, Fred [High Noon (1952) #106 ] ..6560
93. 4 - Tourneur, Jacques [Out of the Past (1947) #236 ] ..6446
94. 2 - Zemeckis, Robert [Back to the Future (1985) #175 ] ..6434
95. 4 - Reiner, Rob [Princess Bride, The (1987) #371 ] ..6426
96. 3 - Malick, Terrence [Days of Heaven (1978) #260 ] ..6402
97. 3 - Carpenter, John [Halloween (1978) #317 ] ..6355
98. 3 - Stevens, George [Shane (1953) #282 ] ..6214
99. 3 - Cocteau, Jean [Belle et la bête, La (Beauty/Beast, 1946) #240 ] ..6196
100. 1 - Laughton, Charles [Night of The Hunter, The (1955) 35 ] ..6100
101. 4 - Melville, Jean-Pierre [Army of Shadows (1969) #291 ] ..6086
102. 2 - Nichols, Mike [Graduate, The (1967) #107 ] ..6016
103. 4 - Demy, Jacques [Umbrellas of Cherbourg, The (1964) #284 ] ..5954
104. 2 - Preminger, Otto [Laura (1944) #168 ] ..5952
105. 3 - De Palma, Brian [Scarface (1982) #210 ] ..5943
106. 1 - Cooper, Merian C./Ernest B. Schoedsack [King Kong (1933) 40 ] ..5838
107. 5 - Hou Hsiao-Hsien [Time to Live and the Time to Die, The (1985) #500 ] ..5802
108. 2 - Stanton, Andrew [WALL-E (2008) #181 ] ..5795
109. 3 - Fincher, David [Fight Club (1999) #271 ] ..5768
110. 2 - Campion, Jane [Piano, The (1993) #81 ] ..5697
111. 3 - Sharpsteen, Ben [Fantasia (1940) #358 ] ..5690
112. 2 - Lasseter, John [Toy Story (1995) #82 ] ..5588
113. 2 - Friedkin, William [Exorcist, The (1973) #143 ] ..5562
114. 1 - Frankenheimer, John [Manchurian Candidate, The (1962) #43 ] ..5559
115. 3 - Rivette, Jacques [Celine and Julie Go Boating (1974) 141 ] ..5542
116. 2 - Lee, Ang [Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) #152 ] ..5452
117. 3 - Clair, René [Le Million (1931) #313 ] ..5410
118. 2 - Lee, Spike [Do The Right Thing (1989) #112 ] ..5377
119. 1 - Hanson, Curtis [L.A. Confidential (1997) #45 ] ..5348
120. 2 - Bird, Brad [Incredibles, The (2004) #295 ] ..5333
121. 2 - Darabont, Frank [Shawshank Redemption, The (1994) #155 ] ..5234
122. 2 - Demme, Jonathan [Silence of the Lambs, The (1991) #90 ] ..5234
123. 4 - Zhang Yimou [Raise the Red Lantern (1991) #298 ] ..5219
124. 2 - Cimino, Michael [Deer Hunter, The (1978) #110 ] ..5202
125. 2 - Hill, George Roy [Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) #149 ] ..5088
126. 2 - Boyle, Danny [Slumdog Millionaire (2008) #232 ] ..5051
127. 2 - Marker, Chris [La Jetee (1961) 184 ] ..4972
128. 3 - Greengrass, Paul [Bourne Ultimatum, The (2007) #362 ] ..4640
129. 1 - Vertov, Dziga [Man With a Movie Camera, The (1929) 78 ] ..4602
130. 3 - Pabst, G.W. [Pandora's Box (1928) #249 ] ..4430
131. 2 - Gilliam, Terry/Terry Jones [Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) #222 ] ..4330
132. 1 - Mulligan, Robert [To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) #96 ] ..4324
133. 2 - Fosse, Bob [Cabaret (1972) #276 ] ..4302
134. 2 - Angelopoulos, Theo [Landscape in the Mist (1988) 316 ] ..4282
135. 1 - Penn, Arthur [Bonnie and Clyde (1967) #105 ] ..4240
136. 2 - Wong Kar-Wai [In the Mood for Love (2001) #268 ] ..4205
137. 3 - Leigh, Mike [Secrets & Lies (1996) #376 ] ..4195
138. 4 - Weir, Peter [Truman Show, The (1998) #689 ] ..4172
139. 3 - Rocha, Glauber [Black God, White Devil (1964) #528 ] ..4166
140. 2 - Hand, David [Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) #256 ] ..4136
141. 2 - Boorman, John [Deliverance (1972) #309 ] ..4134
142. 1 - Wajda, Andrzej [Ashes and Diamonds (1958) 114 ] ..4132
143. 1 - Hamer, Robert [Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) #117 ] ..4122
144. 2 - Yang, Edward [Yi yi (2000) #221 ] ..4101
145. 1 - Lanzmann, Claude [Shoah (1985) #119 ] ..4078
146. 3 - Cronenberg, David [Dead Ringers (1988) #349 ] ..4076
147. 1 - Pontecorvo, Gillo [Battle of Algiers, The (1966) #132 ] ..3936
148. 1 - Mackendrick, Alexander [Sweet Smell of Success (1957) #133 ] ..3896
149. 2 - Romero, George A. [Night of the Living Dead (1968) #326 ] ..3856
150. 2 - Lester, Richard [Hard Day's Night, A (1964) #327 ] ..3849
151. 2 - Snow, Michael [Wavelength (1967) #259 ] ..3842
152. 1 - Mendes, Sam [American Beauty (1999) #139 ] ..3799
153. 2 - Siegel, Don [Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) #342 ] ..3780
154. 1 - Akerman, Chantal [Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975) #146 ] ..3740
155. 1 - Rossen, Robert [Hustler, The (1961) #153 ] ..3686
156. 1 - del Toro, Guillermo [Pan's Labyrinth (2006) #154 ] ..3681
157. 1 - Tornatore, Giuseppe [Cinema Paradiso (1988) #158 ] ..3632
158. 3 - Rohmer, Eric [My Night at Maud's (1969) #497 ] ..3630
159. 1 - von Donnersmarck, Florian Henckel [Lives of Others, The (2006) #162 ] ..3537
160. 3 - Frears, Stephen [Queen, The (2006) #479 ] ..3515
161. 1 - Milestone, Lewis [All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) #164 ] ..3514
162. 2 - Straub, Jean-Marie [Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach, The (1968) #850 ] ..3466
163. 3 - Jarmusch, Jim [Stranger Than Paradise (1984) #628 ] ..3426
164. 3 - Sembene, Ousmane [Moolaadé (2004) #617 ] ..3419
165. 1 - Singer, Bryan [Usual Suspects, The (1995) #169 ] ..3410
166. 2 - Sturges, John [Great Escape, The (1963) #294 ] ..3398
167. 1 - Burnett, Charles [Killer of Sheep (1977) #173 ] ..3367
168. 2 - Flaherty, Robert [Nanook of the North (1922) #443 ] ..3362
169. 2 - Aronofsky, Darren [Requiem for a Dream (2000) #459 ] ..3340
170. 2 - Meyer, Russ [Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970) 315 ] ..3322
171. 2 - Ashby, Hal [Harold and Maude (1971) #346 ] ..3310
172. 2 - Riefenstahl, Leni [Triumph of the Will (1935) #453 ] ..3310
173. 3 - Malle, Louis [Atlantic City (1980) #489 ] ..3290
174. 1 - Ramis, Harold [Groundhog Day (1993) #182 ] ..3262
175. 1 - Hopper, Dennis [Easy Rider (1969) #190 ] ..3190
176. 3 - Burton, Tim [Ed Wood (1994) #724 ] ..3188
177. 1 - Meirelles, Fernando [City of God(2002) #191 ] ..3188
178. 2 - Walsh, Raoul [White Heat (1949) #322 ] ..3152
179. 1 - Shaffner, Frank [Patton (1970) #202 ] ..3105
180. 1 - Pollack, Sydney [Tootsie (1982) #212 ] ..3049
181. 2 - Parajanov, Sergei [Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (1964) #510 ] ..3030
182. 1 - Avildsen, John G. [Rocky (1976) #223 ] ..2938
183. 1 - Wachowski, Andy & Larry Wachowski [Matrix, The (1999) #224 ] ..2932
184. 2 - Stone, Oliver [Platoon (1986) #390 ] ..2920
185. 1 - Gondry, Michael [Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) #225 ] ..2915
186. 1 - Kelly, Richard [Donnie Darko (2001) #226 ] ..2908
187. 1 - Mann, Michael [Heat (1995) #227 ] ..2904
188. 1 - Gance, Abel [Napoléon (1927) #230 ] ..2888
189. 2 - Tarr, Béla [Sátántangó (1994) #547 ] ..2886
190. 1 - McTiernan, John [Die Hard (1988) #241 ] ..2802
191. 1 - Peterson, Wolfgang [Das Boot (1981) #243 ] ..2798
192. 1 - Hooper, Tobe [Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The (1974) #246 ] ..2780
193. 1 - Dovzhenko, Alexander [Earth (1930) #247 ] ..2774
194. 1 - Wise, Robert/Jerome Robbins [West Side Story (1961) #251 ] ..2742
195. 1 - Erice, Victor [Spirit of the Beehive, The (1973) #257 ] ..2688
196. 2 - Chen Kaige [Farewell, My Concubine (1993) #452 ] ..2678
197. 1 - Feuillade, Louis [Les Vampires (1915-16) #262 ] ..2666
198. 2 - Ritchie, Guy [Snatch (2000) #607 ] ..2624
199. 1 - Bogdanovich, Peter [Last Picture Show, The (1971) #278 ] ..2612
200. 1 - Attenborough, Richard [Gandhi (1982) #281 ] ..2598
201. 1 - Sandrich, Mark [Top Hat (1935) #285 ] ..2572
202. 2 - Edwards, Blake [Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) #596 ] ..2560
203. 1 - Schlesinger, John [Midnight Cowboy (1969) #289 ] ..2558
204. 2 - von Trier, Lars [Breaking the Waves (1996) #445 ] ..2548
205. 2 - Schnabel, Julian [Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The (2008) #439 ] ..2541
206. 2 - Jennings, Humphrey [Listen to Britain (1941) #563 ] ..2500
207. 1 - Clément, René [Forbidden Games (1951) #302 ] ..2488
208. 2 - Zwigoff, Terry [Crumb (1994) #611 ] ..2482
209. 2 - Wellman, William A. [Ox-Bow Incident, The (1943) #461 ] ..2478
210. 2 - Cantet, Laurent [Class, The (2008) #598 ] ..2475
211. 1 - Rafelson, Bob [Five Easy Pieces (1970) #305 ] ..2474
212. 2 - Sjöström, Victor [Wind, The (1928) #512 ] ..2466
213. 2 - Dutt, Guru [Pyaasa (1957) #561 ] ..2416
214. 1 - Egoyan, Atom [Sweet Hereafter, The (1997) #314 ] ..2398
215. 1 - Jewison, Norman [In the Heat of the Night (1967) #320 ] ..2376
216. 1 - Takahata, Isao [Hotaru no Hakaa (Grave/Fireflies, 1988) #319 ] ..2376
217. 1 - Wiene, Robert [Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, The (1919) #321 ] ..2372
218. 2 - Forsyth, Bill [Local Hero (1983) #535 ] ..2362
219. 1 - Méliès, Georges [Voyage dans la lune, Le (Trip to the Moon, 1902) #330 ] ..2348
220. 2 - Loach, Ken [Kes (1969) #526 ] ..2344
221. 1 - Aldrich, Robert [Kiss Me Deadly (1955) #336 ] ..2312
222. 1 - Wood, Sam [Night at the Opera, A (1935) #337 ] ..2312
223. 2 - Becker, Jacques [Casque d'or (1952) #543 ] ..2282
224. 2 - Soderbergh, Steve [sex, lies, and videotape (1989) #666 ] ..2280
225. 2 - Ichikawa, Kon [An Actor's Revenge (1963) 601 ] ..2278
226. 1 - Levinson, Barry [Diner (1982) #341 ] ..2276
227. 2 - Anderson, Lindsay [If… (1968) #534 ] ..2244
228. 1 - Argento, Dario [Suspiria (1977) #345 ] ..2234
229. 2 - Kalatozishvili, Mikheil [I Am Cuba (1964) #639 ] ..2186
230. 2 - Kusturica, Emir [Underground (1995) #760 ] ..2184
231. 1 - Payne, Alexander [Sideways (2004) #352 ] ..2182
232. 2 - Crowe, Cameron [Almost Famous (2000) #677 ] ..2140
233. 1 - Bacon, Lloyd [42nd Street (1933) #368 ] ..2098
234. 1 - Park Chan-Wook [Oldboy (2003) #370 ] ..2094
235. 2 - Park, Nick & Box, Steve [Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005) #821 ] ..2050
236. 2 - Pudovkin, Vsevolod [Storm Over Asia (1928) #757 ] ..2026
237. 2 - Anderson, Wes [Rushmore (1998) #539 ] ..1987
238. 1 - Coppola, Sofia [Lost in Translation (2003) #389 ] ..1981
239. 1 - Rosenberg, Stuart [Cool Hand Luke (1967) #392 ] ..1974
240. 1 - Franju, Georges [Eyes Without a Face (1959) #393 ] ..1972
241. 1 - Denis, Claire [Beau Travail (1998) #395 ] ..1964
242. 2 - Van Sant, Gus [Good Will Hunting (1997) #796 ] ..1956
243. 1 - Olmi, Ermanno [Tree of Wooden Clogs, The (1978) #398 ] ..1956
244. 1 - Brooks, Mel [Producers, The (1968) #400 ] ..1952
245. 1 - Jonze, Spike [Being John Malkovich (1999) #402 ] ..1950
246. 1 - Olivier, Laurence [Henry V (1944) #403 ] ..1946
247. 2 - Linklater, Richard [Before Sunset (2004) #669 ] ..1936
248. 1 - Jordan, Neil [Crying Game, The (1992) #408 ] ..1912
249. 1 - Besson, Luc [Léon (1994) #416 ] ..1864
250. 1 - Eustache, Jean [Mother and the Whore, The (1973) #419 ] ..1858
251. 1 - Menzel, Jirí [Closely Watched Trains (1966) #422 ] ..1850
252. 2 - Varda, Agnès [Cleo from 5 to 7 (1962) #822 ] ..1848
253. 1 - Beatty, Warren [Reds (1981) #424 ] ..1848
254. 1 - Kaye, Tony [American History X (1998) #423 ] ..1848
255. 1 - Mungiu, Cristian [4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007) #425 ] ..1846
256. 1 - Pakula, Alan J. [All the President's Men (1972) #427 ] ..1840
257. 1 - Jeunet, Jean-Pierre [Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain, Le (2001) #431 ] ..#824
258. 2 - Dardenne, Jean-Pierre & Luc [L'Enfant (The Child, 2005) #800 ] ..1815
259. 1 - Browning, Tod [Freaks (1932) #440 ] ..1788
260. 2 - Mann, Anthony [Man of the West (1958) #805 ] ..1780
261. 1 - Rapper, Irving [Now, Voyager (1942) #448 ] ..1764
262. 1 - Merielles, Ferdinand [Children of Men (2006) #455 ] ..1755
263. 1 - Cuarón, Alfonso [Y Tu Mamá También (2001) #467 ] ..1725
264. 2 - Maysles, Albert/David Maysles/Charlotte Zwerin [Salesman (1968) #792 ] ..1708
265. 2 - Morris, Errol [Fog of War, The (2003) #814 ] ..1702
266. 1 - Deren, Maya [Meshes of the Afternoon (1943) #474 ] ..1694
267. 1 - Oshima, Nagisa [In the Realm of the Senses (1976) #477 ] ..1688
268. 1 - Naruse, Mikio [Floating Clouds (1955) #481 ] ..1684
269. 1 - Hirschbiegel, Oliver [Downfall (2004) #482 ] ..1680
270. 1 - Reisz, Karel [Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960) #483 ] ..1676
271. 1 - Inarritu, Alejandro Gonzalez [Amores perros (2000) #488 ] ..1668
272. 1 - Ulmer, Edgar G. [Detour (1945) #492 ] ..1660
273. 1 - Begnini, Roberto [Life is Beautiful (1997) #493 ] ..1656
274. 1 - Rosi, Francesco [Salvatore Giuliano (1961) #494 ] ..1656
275. 1 - Berlanga, Luis García [Verdugo, El (1963) #496 ] ..1648
276. 1 - Minghella, Anthony [English Patient, The (1996) #501 ] ..1624
277. 2 - Ghobadi, Bahman [Marooned in Iraq (2002) #854 ] ..1620
278. 1 - Rodgriguez, Robert [Sin City (2005) #502 ] ..1608
279. 1 - Gibson, Mel [Braveheart (1995) #508 ] ..1592
280. 1 - George, Terry [Hotel Rwanda (2004) #514 ] ..1584
281. 1 - McLeod, Norman Z. [It's a Gift (1934) #525 ] ..1566
282. 1 - Marquand, Richard [Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) #531 ] ..1552
283. 1 - Pennebaker, D.A. [Don't Look Back (1967) #545 ] ..1518
284. 1 - Kaufman, Philip [Right Stuff, The (1983) #550 ] ..1510
285. 1 - La Cava, Gregory [My Man Godfrey (1936) #552 ] ..1504
286. 1 - Kuchar, George [Hold Me While I'm Naked (1966) 557 ] ..1490
287. 1 - Klimov, Elem [Come and See (1985) #558 ] ..1488
288. 1 - Losey, Joseph [Servant, The (1963) #560 ] ..1484
289. 1 - Madden, John [Shakespeare in Love (1998) #564 ] ..1478
290. 1 - Warhol, Andy [Chelsea Girls (1967) #565 ] ..1474
291. 1 - Anger, Kenneth [Scorpio Rising (1964) #567 ] ..1470
292. 1 - Alea, Tomás Gutiérrez [Memories of Underdevelopment (1968) #574 ] ..1450
293. 1 - Hicks, Scott [Shine (1996) #575 ] ..1447
294. 1 - Shyamalan, M. Knight [Sixth Sense, The (1999) #578 ] ..1444
295. 1 - Kramer, Stanley [Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) #584 ] ..1432
296. 1 - Lewis, Joseph H. [Gun Crazy (Deadly is the Female, 1950) #583 ] ..1432
297. 1 - Richardson, Tony [Tom Jones (1963) #585 ] ..1432
298. 1 - Schroeder, Barbet [Reversal of Fortune (1990) #588 ] ..1425
299. 1 - Penn, Sean [Into the Wild (2007) #589 ] ..1424
300. 1 - Miller, George [Mad Max 2 (1981) #591 ] ..1420
301. 1 - Ghatak, Ritwik [Cloud-Capped Star, The (1960) #595 ] ..1402
302. 1 - Mamoulian, Rouben [Love Me Tonight (1932) #600 ] ..1392
303. 1 - Makhmalbaf, Mohsen [Moment of Innocence, A (1996) #608 ] ..1378
304. 1 - Chabrol, Claude [Le Boucher (1970) #612 ] ..1372
305. 1 - Tarr, Bela & Hranitzky, Agnes [Werckmeister Harmonies (2000) #614 ] ..1370
306. 1 - Hallström, Lasse [My Life as a Dog (1985) #621 ] ..1360
307. 1 - Kunuk, Zacharias [Fast Runner, The (2001) #620 ] ..1360
308. 1 - Chomet, Sylvain [Triplets of Belleville, The (2003) #626 ] ..1350
309. 1 - Hellman, Monte [Two-Lane Blacktop (1971) #630 ] ..1332
310. 1 - Allers, Roger & Minkoff, Robert [Lion King, The (1994) #632 ] ..1324
311. 1 - Folman, Ari [Waltz with Bashir (2008) #635 ] ..1320
312. 1 - Raimi, Sam [Evil Dead II (1987) #641 ] ..1306
313. 1 - Duras, Marguerite [India Song (1975) #643 ] ..1304
314. 1 - McTeigue, James [V for Vendetta (2005) #644 ] ..1304
315. 1 - Davies, Terence [Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988) #649 ] ..1290
316. 1 - Coster, Henry [Harvey (1950) #650 ] ..1288
317. 1 - Hu, King [Touch of Zen, A (1969) #662 ] ..1266
318. 1 - Fei Mu [Spring in a Small Town (1948) #676 ] ..1242
319. 1 - Jones, Terry [Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979) #678 ] ..1240
320. 1 - Alfredson, Tomas [Let the Right One In (2008) #680 ] ..1236
321. 1 - Berman, Shari, and Pulcini, Robert [American Splendor (2003) #681 ] ..1235
322. 1 - Genet, Jean [Chant d'amour, Un (1950) #682 ] ..1232
323. 1 - Russell, Ken [Devils, The (aka ..of Loudun, 1971) #685 ] ..1228
324. 1 - Jarecki, Andrew [Capturing the Friedmans (2003) #691 ] ..1215
325. 1 - Paronnaud, Vincent & Satrapi, Marjane [Persepolis (2007) #695 ] ..1210
326. 1 - Giordana, Marco Tullio [Best of Youth, The (2003) #701 ] ..1200
327. 1 - McDonagh, Martin [In Bruges (2008) #709 ] ..1188
328. 1 - Woo, John [Killer, The (1989) #710 ] ..1186
329. 1 - Chambers, Jack [Hart of London, The (1970) #712 ] ..1180
330. 1 - Marsh, James [Man on Wire (2008) #713 ] ..1180
331. 1 - Charles, Larry [Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006) #714 ] ..1175
332. 1 - Bahrani, Ramin [Goodbye Solo (2008) #717 ] ..1170
333. 1 - Duvivier, Julien [Pépé le Moko (1937) #720 ] ..1168
334. 1 - Getino, Octavio & Fernando E. Solanas [Hour of the Furnaces, The (1968) #722 ] ..1164
335. 1 - Bigelow, Kathryn [Hurt Locker, The (2008) #725 ] ..1160
336. 1 - Ferguson, Charles [No End in Sight (2007) #732 ] ..1150
337. 1 - Clayton, Jack [Innocents, The (1961) #745 ] ..1128
338. 1 - Carney, John [Once (2006) #747 ] ..1125
339. 1 - Donner, Richard [Superman: The Movie (1978) #751 ] ..1120
340. 1 - Newmeyer, Fred C. & Taylor, Sam [Safety Last! (1923) #750 ] ..1120
341. 1 - Haggis, Paul [Crash (2004/I) #753 ] ..1116
342. 1 - Rouch, Jean [Maîtres fous, Les (1955) #754 ] ..1116
343. 1 - Dos Santos, Nelson Pereira [Barren Lives (1963) #755 ] ..1112
344. 1 - Chytilová, Vera [Daisies (1966) #759 ] ..1106
345. 1 - Dvortsevoy, Sergei [Tulpan (2008) #761 ] ..1100
346. 1 - Ophüls, Marcel [Hôtel Terminus (1988) #762 ] ..1098
347. 1 - Miller, Bennett [Capote (2005) #763 ] ..1095
348. 1 - Cooper, Stuart [Overlord (1975) #765 ] ..1090
349. 1 - Hughes, John [Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) #768 ] ..1086
350. 1 - Pialat, Maurice [Van Gogh (1991) #771 ] ..1082
351. 1 - Polley, Sarah [Away from Her (2006) #777 ] ..1070
352. 1 - Hodges, Mike [Get Carter (1971) #781 ] ..1062
353. 1 - Potter, H.C. [Hellzapoppin' (1941) #784 ] ..1058
354. 1 - Dayton, Jonathan & Faris, Valerie [Little Miss Sunshine (2006) #788 ] ..1048
355. 1 - Vidor, Charles [Gilda (1946) #790 ] ..1046
356. 1 - Zwick, Edward [Glory (1989) #791 ] ..1044
357. 1 - Nyby, Christian/Howard Hawks [Thing from Another World, The (1951) #793 ] ..1040
358. 1 - Koreeda, Hirokazu [Nobody Knows (2004) #797 ] ..1035
359. 1 - Armstrong, Gillian [Little Women (1994) #803 ] ..1025
360. 1 - Barnet, Boris [Outskirts (Okraina, 1933) #809 ] ..1020
361. 1 - Taviani, Paolo & Vittorio Taviani [Night of the Shooting Stars, The (1982) #808 ] ..1020
362. 1 - Garrone, Matteo [Gomorra (2008) #811 ] ..1015
363. 1 - Redford, Robert [Quiz Show (1994) #816 ] ..1005
364. 1 - Ivory, James [Howards End (1992) #818 ] ..1000
365. 1 - Kitano, Takeshi [Hana-Bi (1997) #825 ] ..986
366. 1 - Marston, Joshua [Maria Full of Grace (2004) #826 ] ..985
367. 1 - Fuller, Sam [Pickup on South Street (1953) #828 ] ..984
368. 1 - Reitz, Edgar [Heimat (Homeland: A German Chronicle, 1984) #829 ] ..982
369. 1 - Koltai, Lajos [Fateless (2005) #830 ] ..980
370. 1 - Brest, Martin [Midnight Run (1988) #833 ] ..972
371. 1 - LeRoy, Mervyn [I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932) #836 ] ..966
372. 1 - Jacobs, Ken [Tom, Tom the Piper's Son (1969) #838 ] ..964
373. 1 - Caouette, Jonathan [Tarnation (2003) #841 ] ..960
374. 1 - Rubin, Henry Alex & Shapiro, Dana Adam [Murderball (2005) #844 ] ..955
375. 1 - Carax, Lèos [Amants du Pont-Neuf, Les (1991) #858 ] ..926
376. 1 - Schlöndorff, Volker [Tin Drum, The (1979) #859 ] ..920
377. 2 - Van Dyke II, W.S. [Thin Man, The (1934) #995 ] ..912
378. 1 - Syberberg, Hans-Jürgen [Hitler: A Film from Germany (1977) #864 ] ..910
379. 1 - Teshigahara, Hiroshi [Woman in the Dunes (1964) #865 ] ..908
380. 1 - Apted, Michael [42 UP (1998) #867 ] ..905
381. 1 - Solondz, Todd [Happiness (1998) #871 ] ..900
382. 1 - Philibert, Nicolas [To Be and to Have (2002) #879 ] ..885
383. 1 - Pierce, Kimberly [Boys Don't Cry (1999) #883 ] ..875
384. 1 - de Oliveira, Manoel [I'm Going Home (2001) #890 ] ..865
385. 1 - Haynes, Todd [Safe (1995) #891 ] ..864
386. 1 - Amrohi, Kamal [Pakeezah (1972) #892 ] ..862
387. 1 - Field, Todd [In the Bedroom (2001) #894 ] ..860
388. 1 - Jancsó, Miklós [Round-Up, The (Szegénylegények, 1966) #896 ] ..856
389. 1 - Palcy, Euzhan [Sugar Cane Alley (Rue case negres, 1983) #901 ] ..846
390. 1 - Provost, Martin [Seraphine (2008) #902 ] ..845
391. 1 - Peixoto, Mario [Limite (1931) #906 ] ..836
392. 1 - Sokurov, Aleksandr [Russian Ark (2002) #907 ] ..835
393. 1 - Costa-Gavras, Constantin [Z (1969) #910 ] ..832
394. 1 - Berg, Amy [Deliver Us from Evil (2006) #911 ] ..830
395. 1 - Hamilton, Guy [Goldfinger (1964) #912 ] ..830
396. 1 - Potter, Sally [Orlando (1992) #917 ] ..822
397. 1 - Monicelli, Mario [Big Deal on Madonna Street (1958) #918 ] ..818
398. 1 - Ozon, Francois [Under the Sand (2000) #921 ] ..815
399. 1 - Hathaway, Henry [Peter Ibbetson (1935) #923 ] ..812
400. 1 - Brakhage, Stan [Art of Vision, The (1965) #926 ] ..808
401. 1 - Meadows, Shane [This Is England (2006) #930 ] ..795
402. 1 - Hudson, Hugh [Chariots of Fire (1981) #935 ] ..784
403. 1 - Suzuki, Seijun [Branded to Kill (1967) #941 ] ..768
404. 1 - Davis, Andrew [Fugitive, The (1993) #944 ] ..760
405. 1 - Workman, Chuck [Andy Warhol: A Documentary Film (1991) #949 ] ..755
406. 1 - Cissé, Souleymane [Yeelen (1987) #952 ] ..752
407. 1 - Lerner, Irving [Murder by Contract (1958) #954 ] ..750
408. 1 - Bava, Mario [Black Sunday (1977) #958 ] ..744
409. 1 - Lonergan, Kenneth [You Can Count On Me (2000) #963 ] ..735
410. 1 - Badham, John [Saturday Night Fever (1977) #965 ] ..734
411. 1 - Belzberg, Edet [Children Underground (2001) #971 ] ..720
412. 1 - Akin, Fatih [Edge of Heaven, The (2007) #974 ] ..715
413. 1 - Leisen, Mitchell [Midnight (1939) #976 ] ..712
414. 1 - Cline, Edward F. [Bank Dick, The (1940) #977 ] ..710
415. 1 - Jenkins, Tamara [Savages, The (2007) #978 ] ..710
416. 1 - Feyder, Jacques [Carnival in Flanders (1935) #979 ] ..706
417. 1 - Butler, George [Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition, The (2000) #980 ] ..705
418. 1 - Crichton, Charles [Fish Called Wanda, A (1988) #981 ] ..702
419. 1 - Panahi, Jafar [Offside (2006) #983 ] ..700
420. 1 - Andersen, Thom [Los Angeles Plays Itself (2003) #986 ] ..695
421. 1 - Apatow, Judd [Knocked Up (2007) #990 ] ..690
422. 1 - Smith, Jack [Flaming Creatures (1963) #989 ] ..690
423. 1 - Smeaton & Cvitanovich [Festival Express (2003) #997 ] ..680
424. 1 - Ki-duk Kim [Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring (2003) #1001 ] ..675
425. 1 - Benton, Robert [Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) #1003 ] ..672
426. 1 - Fleck, Ryan [Half Nelson (2006) #1006 ] ..670
427. 1 - Sautet, Claude [Coeur en hiver, Un (1992) #1005 ] ..670
428. 1 - Szabó, István [Mephisto (1981) #1008 ] ..666
429. 1 - Curry, Marshall [Street Fight (2005) #1010 ] ..665
430. 1 - Gannon, Russell [Last Letter, The (2004) #1011 ] ..655

Great Directors: Stanley Kubrick

Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures
Jan Harlan, 2001 (9*)

TCM recently showed this documentary on master director Stanley Kubrick which was appropriately released in 2001, by his brother-in-law Jan Harlan. It's also available on dvd.

Using home movies, interviews with his ex-wife, other relatives, film stars, other directors, collaborators, writers, composers, and clips from his movies, we get a look at one of the few directors that could equally be labeled genius and artist. For me, this was a real treat, as I’ve always thought Kubrick was among the absolute best of directors, at least his best five films anyway, all legitimate all-time top 100 contenders:

• 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), ranked #2 on the all-time top ranked 1000 list; about the next step in evolution from a material to a spiritual being, illustrated by one astronaut but in Arthur C. Clarke’s novel Childhood’s End, it happens to an entire generation at once
• Dr. Strangelove (1964) bw (#17), perhaps the best comedy ever; brilliant satire, perfect acting from Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, Slim Pickens
• A Clockwork Orange (1971) (#63), a spellbinding trip into a violent future; Malcolm McDowell was never again to approach such greatness; from Anthony Burgess' brilliant autobiographical novel (he was the author, victim of the home invasion)
• Paths of Glory (#83), a powerful anti-war film shot in black and white, Kirk Douglas’ best role, as a heroic officer fighting for the underdogs
• Spartacus (#177), an underrated epic and homage to freedom, Kirk Douglas again

Other Kubrick films also make the all-time polls:

• Barry Lyndon (#101), shot in natural candlelight on old cameras fitted with Leica lenses made for the low light of space by NASA; perhaps a better choice than American Ryan O'Neal would have made this British novel more authentic
• The Shining (#109), a lengthy excursion into the madness of the Stephen King horror novel and the over-acting of Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall
• Full Metal Jacket (#206), a war film in two parts, one half covers boot camp, the other the same infantry squad now fighting in Vietnam, with some great war action in a city
• The Killing (#324), his first serious feature, his only film noir/pulp fiction film
• Lolita (#652), an early bw filming of the controversial Nabakov novel, with James Mason
• Eyes Wide Shut (#806 on the critics poll only, 1058th on ours), his final film which took years to film. This last film was a slow and disappointing excursion into infidelity to most, but Kubrick thought it his finest film. Its star Tom Cruise narrates this documentary, and Nicole Kidman is also interviewed. Some say the lengthy filming broke apart their marriage.

This is really all of Kubrick's major features. He only made one before The Killing, Killer's Kiss in 1955, and he himself bought and destroyed all the prints of that one, so his filmography begins in 1956 with The Killing.

No other director has all his feature films ranked, at least none with this many. (Charles Laughton's only film is of course an exception) My favorite interviews, besides my favorite author Arthur C. Clarke, (2001 novel and screenplay, about 50 other books), are the other directors, who include Steven Spielberg and Woody Allen.

This is a very rewarding look at a director who made far too few films, but had such standards of perfection that he often made totally original classics. The look of science fiction films were changed forever thanks to 2001, they now have to look realistic at a minimum, and all fans of this genre owe Kubrick a big thank you. Has anyone else since Stanley made us laugh at nuclear annihilation?

Stanley Kubrick at Internet Movie Database (IMDB)

200 Great Directors' Best Films

These are the top rated films of each director listed by a consensus of critics polls, I’ve included my choices below those if they differ. I included some directors who only had one great picture, such as Laughton, Beatty, Attenborough, if I considered that one film important enough. [Updated: 8.28.09*] Allen, Woody: Manhattan (1979) US (photo rt) – I prefer Hannah and Her Sisters Almodóvar, Pedro: All About My Mother (1999) Spain-France Altman, Robert: Nashville (1975) US – My pick: McCabe and Mrs. Miller Anderson, Paul Thomas: Boogie Nights (1997)* Angelopoulos, Theo: The Travelling Players (1975) Greece Antonioni, Michelangelo: L’Avventura (1960) Italy-France Aronofsky, Darren: Requiem for a Dream (2000) US - many prefer Pi, not me Ashby, Hal: Harold and Maude (1972)US Attenborough, Richard: Gandhi (1982) UK - worth the two decades he spent Beatty, Warren: Reds (1981) US Beresford, Bruce: Driving Miss Daisy (1989) US - many prefer Breaker Morant Bergman, Ingmar: Persona (1966) Sweden Bertolucci, Bernardo: The Conformist (1969) Italy-France-Germany Bogdanovich, Peter: The Last Picture Show (1971) US Bondarchuk, Sergei: War and Peace (1968) Russia Boyle, Danny: Trainspotting (1995) UK – mine: Slumdog Millionaire Bresson, Robert: Au hasard Balthazar (1966) France Brest, Martin: Midnight Run (1988) US – good, but I like Going in Style Brooks, Mel: The Producers (1968) US Buñuel, Luis: Viridiana (1961) Spain – I prefer The Discrete Charm of the Bourgeousie Burton, Tim: Edward Scissorhands (1990) - I like Big Fish better Cameron, James: The Terminator (1984) US – I like Aliens and Terminator 2 Camus, Marcel: Black Orpheus (1959) Brazil-France Capra, Frank: It's a Wonderful Life (1946) US – I prefer Mr. Smith Goes to Washington Carné, Marcel: Les Enfants du paradis (1945) France Cassavetes, John: A Woman Under the Influence (1974) US Cavani, Liliana: The Night Porter (1973) Italy Chaplin, Charles: City Lights (1931) US – I guess I’d pick Modern Times Chen Kaige: Farewell, My Concubine (1993) Hong Kong-China Cimino, Michael: The Deer Hunter (1978) US – he did another film? Clément, René: Forbidden Games (1951) France Clouzot, Henri-Georges: The Wages of Fear (1952) France-Italy Cocteau, Jean: La Belle et la bête (1946) France Cooper, Merian C./Ernest B. Schoedsack: King Kong (1933) US - admirable effects, stupid story Coen, Joel and Ethan Coen: Fargo (1995) US – close, I’ll go with Raising Arizona Coppola, Francis: The Godfather (1972) US – I like Godfather II best (photo rt) Cukor, George: The Philadelphia Story (1940) US – close, I’ll take My Fair Lady Curtiz, Michael: Casablanca (1942) US Darabont, Frank: The Shawshank Redemption (1994) US De Palma, Brian: Carrie (1976) US De Sica, Vittorio: Bicycle Thieves (1948) Italy Demme, Jonathan: The Silence of the Lambs (1991) Deren, Maya: Meshes of the Afternoon (1943) US Dieterle, William: Portrait of Jennie (1948) US Donen, Stanley/Gene Kelly: Singin' in the Rain (1952) US Dovzhenko, Alexander: Earth (1930) Russia Dreyer, Carl: The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) France Eastwood, Clint: Unforgiven (1992) US – Good, but I prefer Mystic River Egoyan, Atom: The Sweet Hereafter (1997) Canada Eisenstein, Sergei: Battleship Potemkin (1925) Russia Fassbinder, Rainer Werner: Ali - Fear Eats the Soul (1974) Germany Fellini, Federico: 8½ (1963) Italy Fincher, David: Fight Club (1997) US - I still prefer The Game Flaherty, Robert: Nanook of the North (1922) US Fleming, Victor: Gone with the Wind (1939) US – gimme the giant girl in Wizard of Oz Ford, John: The Searchers (1956) US – argh, I’ll take Mister Roberts Forman, Milos: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) US – I like Amadeus Fosse, Bob: Cabaret (1972) US – I think All That Jazz was more interesting Frankenheimer, John: The Manchurian Candidate (1962) - my pick: The Train Frears, Stephen: Dangerious Liaisons (1988) US Friedkin, William: The Exorcist (1973) US – yuck, French Connection is far better Gance, Abel: Napoléon (silent, 1927) France Gilliam, Terry: Brazil (1985) UK (photo rt) Godard, Jean-Luc: Breathless (1959) France Griffith, D.W.: Intolerance (1916) US Hallström, Lasse: My Life as a Dog (1985) Sweden Hamer, Robert: Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) UK Hawks, Howard: Rio Bravo (1959) US – r.u. kidding? His Girl Friday Herzog, Werner: Aguirre - The Wrath of God (1972) Germany – I like Fitzcarraldo Hitchcock, Alfred: Vertigo (1958) US Howard, Ron: A Beautiful Mind (2003) US - my pick: Parenthood Hughes, John: Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) US Huston, John: The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) US - mine: The Maltese Falcon (42)* (photo bottom) Ivory, James: A Room With a View (1986) US Jackson, Peter: The Lord of the Rings (trilogy, 2001) US-New Zealand Jewison, Norman: In the Heat of the Night (1967) US Kaufman, Philip: The Right Stuff (1983) US Kazan, Elia: On the Waterfront (1954) US (photo rt) Keaton, Buster/Clyde Bruckman: The General (1926) US Kiarostami, Abbas: Close-Up (1989) Iran Kieslowski, Krszystof: Dekalog (Decalogue, 1988) Poland Kubrick, Stanley: 2001 - A Space Odyssey (1968) UK Kurosawa, Akira: The Seven Samurai (1954) Japan Lang, Fritz: M (1931) Germany Laughton, Charles: Night of the Hunter (1955) UK - his only film as director Lean, David: Lawrence of Arabia (1962) UK Lee, Ang: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2002) China-Taiwan-US - he's underrated Lee, Spike: Do the Right Thing (1989) US Leone, Sergio: Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) Italy-US – I much prefer Once Upon a Time in America, the long version LeRoy, Mervyn: Goldiggers of 1933 (1933) Lester, Richard: A Hard Day's Night (1964) UK Levinson, Barry: Diner (1982) US Losey, Joseph: The Servant (1963) UK Lubitsch, Ernst: To Be or Not to Be (1942) US – give me Trouble in Paradise Lucas, George: Star Wars (1977) US Lumet, Sidney: Network (1976) US Lynch, David: Blue Velvet (1986) US Mackendrick, Alexander: The Sweet Smell of Success (1957) US (photo rt) Malick, Terrence: Days of Heaven (1978) US Malle, Louis: Lacombe, Lucien (1974) France – my pick: Atlantic City Mankiewicz, Joseph L.: All About Eve (1950) US Marker, Chris: La Jetée (1962) France Mazursky, Paul: Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969) US - never liked this, loved Enemies-A Love Story McCarey, Leo: Duck Soup (1933) US McLeod, Norman Z.: It's a Gift (1934) US Meirelles, Fernando: City of God (2002) Brazil-Germany-France Mendes, Sam: An American Beauty (1999) I like 2008's Revolutionary Road Milestone, Lewis: All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) US Miller, George: The Road Warrior (aka Mad Max 2) (1981) Australia Minghella, Anthony: The English Patient (1996) US Minnelli, Vincente: The Band Wagon (1953) US – I like Meet Me in St. Louis Mizoguchi, Kenji: Ugetsu monogatari (1953) Japan Morris, Errol: The Thin Blue Line (1988) US - I prefer the pure documentary Fast, Cheap and Out of Control Mulligan, Robert: To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) US Murnau, F.W.: Sunrise (silent, 1927) US *Best Silent* Nair, Mira: Salaam Bombay! (1988) India Nichols, Mike: The Graduate (1967) US (photo rt) Nolan, Christopher: Memento (2000) US Ophüls, Max: Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948) US Ozu, Yasujiro: Tokyo Story (1953) Japan Pabst, G.W.: Pandora's Box (silent, 1928) Germany Pakula, Alan J.: All the President's Men (1976) US Pasolini, Pier Paolo: The Gospel According to St. Matthew (1964) France-Italy Peckinpah, Sam: The Wild Bunch (1969) US Penn, Arthur: Bonnie and Clyde (1967) US Pennebaker, D.A.: Don't Look Back (1967) US Polanski, Roman: Chinatown (1974) US Pollack, Sydney: Tootsie (1982) US Pontecorvo, Gillo: The Battle of Algiers (1965) Algeria-Italy (photo rt) Powell, Michael/Emeric Pressburger: A Matter of Life and Death (1946) UK – I think I prefer The Red Shoes, and A Canterbury Tale Rafelson, Bob: Five Easy Pieces (1970) US Ramis, Harold: Groundhog Day (1993) US Ray, Nicholas: Johnny Guitar (1954) US – easily In a Lonely Place Ray, Satyajit: Pather Panchali (1955) India Reed, Carol: The Third Man (1949) UK – I actually prefer Outcast of the Islands Reiner, Rob: This Is Spinal Tap (1984) – my pick: When Harry Met Sally Reisz, Karel: Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960) - I love Morgan! Renoir, Jean: The Rules of the Game (1939) France – like many others, I prefer La Grande Illusion; they’re close in the poll Resnais, Alain: Last Year at Marienbad (1961) France-Italy – not a big fan, but Hiroshima, Mon Amour over this Richardson, Tony: Tom Jones (1963) UK Riefenstahl, Leni: Triumph of the Will (1935) Germany (Nazi) Ritt, Martin: Hud (1963) US - although Norma Rae is more inspirational Rivette, Jacques: Celine and Julie Go Boating (1974) France Roeg, Nicolas: Don't Look Now (1973) UK – I vastly prefer Walkabout, even Performance Roehmer, Eric: My Night at Maud's (1969) France Rossellini, Roberto: Voyage in Italy (1953) Italy Rossen, Robert: The Hustler (1961) US Salles, Walter: Central Station (1998) Brazil-France - a tossup, or: The Motorcycle Diaries Sandrich, Mark: Top Hat (1935) US - I prefer the hilarious The Gay Divorcee Sayles, John: Lone Star (1995) US Schlesinger, John: Midnight Cowboy (1969) US Scorsese, Martin: Raging Bull (1980) US – right, but Taxi Driver is close Scott, Ridley: Blade Runner (1982) US – yes, but Gladiator is close Sharpsteen, Ben: Fantasia (1940) US Siegel, Don: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) US Singer, Bryan: The Usual Suspects (1995) US Sirk, Douglas: Written on the Wind (1956) US Sjöström, Victor: The Wind (1928) US Spielberg, Steven: Jaws (1975) US – over E.T., Close Encounters, Schindler’s List? I even liked Minority Report, Raiders/Lost Ark, Pvt. Ryan more.. Stanton, Andrew: Wall-E (2008) US - not listed yet, I added him for this and Finding Nemo Stevens, George: Shane (1953) US Stone, Oliver: JFK (1991) US - me and Oscar prefer Platoon Sturges, John: The Magnificent Seven (1960) US Sturges, Preston: The Lady Eve (1941) US Szabó, István: Mephisto (1981) Hungary Tarantino, Quentin: Pulp Fiction (1994) US – inspired by Wong Kar-Wai Tarkovsky, Andrei: Andrei Rublev (1966) Russia (photo rt) Tati, Jacques: Playtime (1967) France Tornatore, Giuseppe: Cinema Paradiso (1988) Italy-France Tourneur, Jacques: Out of the Past (1947) US Truffaut, François: Jules et Jim (1961) France Vidor, King: The Crowd (1928) US Vigo, Jean: L’Atalante (1934) France Visconti, Luchino: The Leopard (1963) Italy – not a fan of this, give me Death in Venice von Sternberg, Josef: The Blue Angel (1930) Germany von Stroheim, Erich: Greed (1924) US von Trier, Lars: Breaking the Waves (1996) Denmark-Sweden Wajda, Andrzej: Ashes and Diamonds (1958) Poland Washowski Brothers, Andy and Larry: The Matrix (1999)* Weir, Peter: Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) Australia – I like Fearless, many like Witness Welles, Orson: Citizen Kane (1941) US Wertmuller, Lina: Seven Beauties (1976) Italy - first woman director nominated for best directing Oscar® Wilder, Billy: Some Like it Hot (1959) US – good but mine: Sunset Boulevard (photo rt) Wise, Robert: West Side Story (1960) US - co-dir w Jerome Robbins Wong Kar-Wai: Chungking Express (1994) Hong Kong – and the sequel Fallen Angels Wyler, William: The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) US Zemeckis, Robert: Back to the Future (1985) US Zhang Yimou: Raise the Red Lantern (1991) Hong Kong – my pick: Hero, one of my favorite films, China’s top grossing Zinnemann, Fred: High Noon (1952)US Note: Currently at 182, I intend to add to this list until I have at least 200 directors The Maltese Falcon (Huston, 42)

Great Directors: James Ivory

American director (as I was corrected!) James Ivory, most often worked with Indian producer Ishmael Merchant, who died in 2005, concentrating their work primarily on adaptations of classic and modern literature. I've never seen an Ivory film that wasn't worth watching. My favorites are Heat and Dust, and A Room With a View, a BAFTA winner for Best Film: Complete Filmography The Householder (1963) Shakespeare Wallah (1965) Bombay Talkie (1970) Savages (1972) The Wild Party (1975) Roseland (1977) Georgie and Bonnie’s Pictures (1978) The Europeans (1979) Jane Austen in Manhattan (1980) Quartet (1981) Heat and Dust (1983) The Bostonians (1984) A Room With a View (1986) Maurice (1987) Slaves of New York (1989) Mr. And Mrs. Bridge (1990) Howard’s End (1992) Lumiere and Company (1995) Jefferson in Paris (1995) The Golden Bowl (2000) The Five Forty-Eight (2002) Le Divorce (2003) The White Countess (2005)

Great Directors: Billy Wilder

Billy Wilder was born in Austria-Hungary, in what is now Malopolski, Poland. As a newswriter, he emigrated from Austria to Berlin writing for their biggest tabloid. By the time Hitler came to power in 1933, he had written some screenplays for the Berlin film industry, starting in 1929. With Jewish ancestry, Wilder had to flee the Nazis, first to Paris (directing Mauvaise Graine there in 1934, starring Danielle Darrieux), then to the U.S. when invasion of France seemed likely.

He went to Hollywood and started as a screen writer for Ernst Lubisch and others, the most famous being Ninotchka (39). He then began directing himself in the U.S. with The Major and the Minor (42) with Ray Milland and Ginger Rogers posing as a 12-yr old. He made his stylistic breakthrough in his third film with the crime classic, Double Indemnity in 1944, which "invented" film noir and garnered 7 Oscar nominations. Wilder then began to direct a plethora of film classics, including:

Dramas:
• The Apartment (bw, Best Picture winner, 5/10 Oscars)
• Ace in the Hole (bw, 1 nom)
• Lost Weekend (bw, Best Picture, 4/7 Oscars)
• The Spirit of St. Louis (bw, 1 nom)
• Stalag 17 (bw, 1/3 Oscars, Willam Holden, best actor)
• Sunset Boulevard (bw, Pic nominee, 3 Oscars, 11 noms)
• Witness for the Prosecution (bw, BPic nominee, 6 noms) Comedies:
• The Fortune Cookie (bw, 1/4 Oscars)
• The Front Page (bw, 3 Oscar noms)
• Irma la Douce
• One Two Three (bw)
• Sabrina
• The Seven Year Itch
• Some Like It Hot (bw, 6 Oscar noms)

Wilder was nominated for 21 Oscars, 12 in writing, 8 in directing, and won six. He won for directing Lost Weekend and The Apartment (and got another for Apt for Best Picture), and won for writing Lost Weekend, Sunset Boulevard, and The Apartment. He personally picked up three for The Apartment. It could easily be argued that Billy Wilder is the greatest American film director.

He died in 2005 at the age of 95.