My All Time Favorite Directors
by Rama_Andor1416 | created - 08 May 2018 | updated - 13 Feb 2023 | PublicAlong with their top three best films in my opinion. Also directors that I just love their work. Screw a top three through I might just list in order from best to least according to me.
1. Stanley Kubrick
Director | 2001: A Space Odyssey
Stanley Kubrick was born in Manhattan, New York City, to Sadie Gertrude (Perveler) and Jacob Leonard Kubrick, a physician. His family were Jewish immigrants (from Austria, Romania, and Russia). Stanley was considered intelligent, despite poor grades at school. Hoping that a change of scenery would ...
My number one all time favorite director. And had a huge influence on me becoming a director or at least just loving movies.
1.) A Clockwork Orange
2.) 2001: A Space Odyssey
3.) The Shining
4.) Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
5.) Full Metal Jacket
6.) The Killing
7.) Paths of Glory
8.) Eyes Wide Shut
9.) Barry Lyndon
10.) Spartacus
11.) Killer's Kiss
2. Quentin Tarantino
Writer | Reservoir Dogs
Quentin Jerome Tarantino was born in Knoxville, Tennessee. His father, Tony Tarantino, is an Italian-American actor and musician from New York, and his mother, Connie (McHugh), is a nurse from Tennessee. Quentin moved with his mother to Torrance, California, when he was four years old.
In January of...
1.) Inglourious Basterds
2.) Reservoir Dogs
3.) Pulp Fiction
4.) Jackie Brown
5.) Django Unchained
6.) Kill Bill Vol. 1
7.) Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
8.) The Hateful Eight
9.) Kill Bill Vol. 2
10.) Death Proof
and to me that is it. None of this special guest director stuff.
3. Christopher Nolan
Writer | Tenet
Best known for his cerebral, often nonlinear, storytelling, acclaimed Academy Award winner writer/director/producer Sir Christopher Nolan CBE was born in London, England. Over the course of more than 25 years of filmmaking, Nolan has gone from low-budget independent films to working on some of the ...
1.) Inception 2.) Memento 3.) Dunkirk 4.) Interstellar 5.) The Dark Knight 6.) Insomnia 7.) The Prestige 8.) The Dark Knight Rises 9.) Tenet 10.) Batman Begins 11.) Following
4. Martin Scorsese
Producer | Killers of the Flower Moon
Martin Charles Scorsese was born on November 17, 1942 in Queens, New York City, to Catherine Scorsese (née Cappa) and Charles Scorsese, who both worked in Manhattan's garment district, and whose families both came from Palermo, Sicily. He was raised in the neighborhood of Little Italy, which later ...
1.) Raging Bull 2.) Goodfellas 3.) The King of Comedy 4.) Casino 5.) Taxi Driver
5. Alfred Hitchcock
Director | Psycho
Alfred Joseph Hitchcock was born in Leytonstone, Essex, England. He was the son of Emma Jane (Whelan; 1863 - 1942) and East End greengrocer William Hitchcock (1862 - 1914). His parents were both of half English and half Irish ancestry. He had two older siblings, William Hitchcock (born 1890) and ...
1.) Rear Window 2.) Lifeboat 3.) Shadow of a Doubt 4.) Rebecca 5.) Psycho
6. Ridley Scott
Producer | The Martian
Described by film producer Michael Deeley as "the very best eye in the business", director Ridley Scott was born on November 30, 1937 in South Shields, Tyne and Wear. His father was an officer in the Royal Engineers and the family followed him as his career posted him throughout the United Kingdom ...
1.) Blade Runner 2.) Black Hawk Down 3.) Thelma & Louise 4.) Gladiator 5.) Alien
7. Denis Villeneuve
Director | Dune
Denis Villeneuve is a French Canadian film director and writer. He was born in 1967, in Trois-Rivières, Québec, Canada. He started his career as a filmmaker at the National Film Board of Canada. He is best known for his feature films Arrival (2016), Sicario (2015), Prisoners (2013), Enemy (2013), ...
1.) Sicario 2.) Incendies 3.) Blade Runner 2049 4.) Arrival 5.) Prisoners 6.) Polytechnique 7.) Enemy
8. Xavier Dolan
Actor | J'ai tué ma mère
Xavier Dolan was born on March 20, 1989 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He is an actor and producer, known for I Killed My Mother (2009), Tom at the Farm (2013) and Heartbeats (2010).
1.) Mommy 2.) I Killed My Mother 3.) Tom at the Farm 4.) Heartbeats 5.) Laurence Always 6.) It's Only the End of the World
9. Park Chan-wook
Director | Oldeuboi
Park Chan-wook was born on August 23, 1963 in Seoul, South Korea. He is a producer and director, known for Oldboy (2003), The Handmaiden (2016) and Decision to Leave (2022). He is married to Eun-hee Kim. They have one child.
1.) Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance 2.) Oldboy 3.) The Handmaiden 4.) Thirst 5.) Stoker 6.) Lady Vengence
10. Paul Thomas Anderson
Director | Punch-Drunk Love
Anderson was born in 1970. He was one of the first of the "video store" generation of film-makers. His father was the first man on his block to own a V.C.R., and from a very early age Anderson had an infinite number of titles available to him. While film-makers like Spielberg cut their teeth making...
1.) There Will Be Blood 2.) Magnolia 3.) Punch-Drunk Love 4.) The Master 5.) Boogie Nights 6.) Licorice Pizza 7.) Phantom Thread 8.) Hard Eight 9.) Inherent Vice
11. David Lynch
Writer | Twin Peaks
Born in precisely the kind of small-town American setting so familiar from his films, David Lynch spent his childhood being shunted from one state to another as his research scientist father kept getting relocated. He attended various art schools, married Peggy Lynch and then fathered future ...
1.) Mulholland Drive 2.) Lost Highway 3.) The Elephant Man 4.) Blue Velvet 5.) Eraserhead 6.) Inland Empire 7.) The Straight Story 8.) Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me 9.) Dune 10.) Twin Peaks both series
12. Lars von Trier
Writer | Dancer in the Dark
Probably the most ambitious and visually distinctive filmmaker to emerge from Denmark since Carl Theodor Dreyer over 60 years earlier, Lars von Trier studied film at the Danish Film School and attracted international attention with his very first feature, The Element of Crime (1984). A highly ...
1.) Europa 2.) Melancholia 3.) Dogville 4.) Antichrist 5.) Breaking the Waves 6.) Dancer in the Dark 7.) Nymphomaniac: Vol 1 8.) The Idiots 9.) The Boss of it All 10.) Nymphomaniac: Vol. 2 11.) Manderlay 12.) Epidemic
13. Alejandro G. Iñárritu
Director | Biutiful
Alejandro González Iñárritu (ih-nyar-ee-too), born August 15th, 1963, is a Mexican film director.
González Iñárritu is the first Mexican director to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director and by the Directors Guild of America for Best Director. He is also the first Mexican-born ...
1.) Amores Perros 2.)Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) 3.) The Revenant 4.) Babel 5.) 21 Grams 6.) Biutiful
14. Alfonso Cuarón
Producer | Gravity
Alfonso Cuarón Orozco was born on November 28th 1961 in Mexico City, Mexico. From an early age, he yearned to be either a film director or an astronaut. However, he did not want to enter the army, so he settled for directing. He didn't receive his first camera until his twelfth birthday, and then ...
1.) Children of Men 2.) Y Tu Mama Tambien 3.) Roma 4.) Solo con tu pareja 5.) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban 6.) Gravity 7.) A Little Princess 8.) Paris, je t'aime 9.) Great Expectations
15. Guillermo del Toro
Writer | El laberinto del fauno
Guillermo del Toro was born October 9, 1964 in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Raised by his Catholic grandmother, del Toro developed an interest in filmmaking in his early teens. Later, he learned about makeup and effects from the legendary Dick Smith (The Exorcist (1973)) and worked on making his ...
1.) Pan's Labyrinth 2.) The Devil's Backbone 3.) Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio 4.) The Shape of Water 5.)Cronos 6.) Blade 2 7.) Hellboy 2: The Golden Army 8.) Hellboy 9.) Crimson Peak 10.) Pacific Rim 11.) Mimic
16. David Fincher
Director | Se7en
David Fincher was born in 1962 in Denver, Colorado, and was raised in Marin County, California. When he was 18 years old he went to work for John Korty at Korty Films in Mill Valley. He subsequently worked at ILM (Industrial Light and Magic) from 1981-1983. Fincher left ILM to direct TV commercials...
1.) Se7en 2.) Fight Club 3.) Zodiac 4.) Gone Girl 5.) Panic Room 6.)The Curious Case of Benjamin Button 7.) The Game 8.) The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo 9.) The Social Network 10.) Mank
17. Darren Aronofsky
Writer | Pi
Darren Aronofsky was born February 12, 1969, in Brooklyn, New York. Growing up, Darren was always artistic: he loved classic movies and, as a teenager, he even spent time doing graffiti art. After high school, Darren went to Harvard University to study film (both live-action and animation). He won ...
1.) Requiem for a Dream 2.) The Wrestler 3.) Pi 4.) Noah 5.) mother! 6.) The Fountain 7.) Black Swan
18. Sidney Lumet
Director | 12 Angry Men
Sidney Lumet was a master of cinema, best known for his technical knowledge and his skill at getting first-rate performances from his actors -- and for shooting most of his films in his beloved New York. He made over 40 movies, often complex and emotional, but seldom overly sentimental. Although ...
1.) 12 Angry Men 2.) Dog Day Afternoon 3.) Serpico 4.) Murder on the Orient Express 5.) Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
19. James Cameron
Writer | Avatar: The Way of Water
James Francis Cameron was born on August 16, 1954 in Kapuskasing, Ontario, Canada. He moved to the United States in 1971. The son of an engineer, he majored in physics at California State University before switching to English, and eventually dropping out. He then drove a truck to support his ...
1.) The Terminator 2.) Aliens 3.) The Abyss 4.) Terminator 2 5.) True Lies
20. Steven Spielberg
Producer | Schindler's List
One of the most influential personalities in the history of cinema, Steven Spielberg is Hollywood's best known director and one of the wealthiest filmmakers in the world. He has an extraordinary number of commercially successful and critically acclaimed credits to his name, either as a director, ...
1.) Saving Private Ryan 2.) Schindler's List 3.) Minority Report 4.) Jaws 5.) Raiders of the Lost Ark
21. Jeff Nichols
Writer | Take Shelter
Jeff Nichols was born on December 7, 1978 in Little Rock, Arkansas, USA. He is a writer and director, known for Take Shelter (2011), Mud (2012) and Midnight Special (2016).
1.) Take Shelter 2.) Midnight Special 3.) Mud 4.) Loving 5.) Shotgun Stories
22. Clint Eastwood
Actor | Million Dollar Baby
Clint Eastwood was born May 31, 1930 in San Francisco, to Clinton Eastwood Sr., a bond salesman and later manufacturing executive for Georgia-Pacific Corporation, and Ruth Wood (née Margret Ruth Runner), a housewife turned IBM clerk. He grew up in nearby Piedmont. At school Clint took interest in ...
1.) Unforgiven 2.) Play Misty for Me 3.) American Sniper 4.) Letters from Iwo Jima 5.) The Outlaw Josey Wales
23. Tony Scott
Producer | Domino
Tony Scott was a British-born film director and producer. He was the youngest of three brothers, one of whom is fellow film director Ridley Scott. He was born in North Shields, Northumberland, England to parents Jean and Colonel Francis Percy Scott. As a result of his father's career in the British...
1.) True Romance 2.) Man on Fire 3.) Top Gun 4.) The Last Boy Scout 5.) Crimson Tide
24. Kathryn Bigelow
Director | Zero Dark Thirty
A very talented painter, Kathryn spent two years at the San Francisco Art Institute. At 20, she won a scholarship to the Whitney Museum's Independent Study Program. She was given a studio in a former Offtrack Betting building, literally in an old bank vault, where she made art and waited to be ...
1.) Zero Dark Thirty 2.) Near Dark 3.) The Hurt Locker 4.) Point Break 5.) Detroit 6.) Strange Days 7.) Blue Steel 8.) The Loveless 9.) K-19: The Widowmaker 10.) The Weight of Water
25. Céline Sciamma
Writer | Portrait de la jeune fille en feu
Céline Sciamma was born on November 12, 1978 in Pontoise, Val-d'Oise, France. She is a writer and director, known for Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019), Petite Maman (2021) and Tomboy (2011).
1.) Portrait of a Lady on Fire 2.) Water Lillies 3.) Girlhood 4.) Tomboy
26. Lukas Moodysson
Director | Fucking Åmål
Lukas Moodysson was born on January 17, 1969 in Malmö, Skåne län, Sweden. He is a director and writer, known for Show Me Love (1998), Lilya 4-Ever (2002) and Together (2000). He has been married to Coco Moodysson since 1994. They have three children.
1.) Show Me Love 2.) Lilya 4-Ever 3.) Together 4.) We Are the Best! 5.) Mmmoth 6.) Container 7.) A Hole in My Heart
27. Danny Boyle
Director | 127 Hours
Daniel Francis Boyle is a British filmmaker, producer and writer from Radcliffe, Greater Manchester. He is known for directing 28 Days Later, 127 Hours, Trainspotting, T2 Trainspotting, Slumdog Millionaire, Millions, Shallow Grave, The Beach, Yesterday, and Steve Jobs. He won many awards for ...
1.) Trainspotting 2.) Slumdog Millionaire 3.) Sunshine 4.) Steve Jobs 5.) Trainspotting 2 6.) 28 Days Later 7.) Trance 8.) 127 Hours 9.) Shallow Grave 10.) The Beach 11.) A Life Less Ordinary
28. Jon Favreau
Producer | Chef
Initially an indie film favorite, actor Jon Favreau has progressed to strong mainstream visibility into the millennium and, after nearly two decades in the business, is still enjoying character stardom as well as earning notice as a writer/producer/director.
The amiable, husky-framed actor with the ...
1.) The Jungle Book 2.) Chef 3.) Iron Man 4.) Made 5.) Elf 6.) Iron Man 2 7.) Cowboys & Aliens 8.) Zathura: A Space Adventure 9.) The Lion King (2019)
29. Adam McKay
Producer | The Other Guys
Adam McKay (born April 17, 1968) is an American screenwriter, director, comedian, and actor. McKay has a comedy partnership with Will Ferrell, with whom he co-wrote the films Anchorman, Talladega Nights, and The Other Guys. Ferrell and McKay also founded their comedy website Funny or Die through ...
1.) The Big Short 2.) Vice 3.) The Other Guys 4.) Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
30. Tom Tykwer
Writer | Lola rennt
Director, writer, producer and composer Tom Tykwer was born in 1965 in Wuppertal, Germany. He showed an interest in film-making from childhood, making super 8 films from the age of 11. Among his first jobs was working at a local art-house cinema. Tykwer eventually relocated to Berlin, first working...
1.) Run Lola Run 2.) Cloud Atlas 3.) The Princess and the Warrior 4.) Heaven 5.) Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
31. Ben Affleck
Producer | Argo
Benjamin Géza "Ben" Affleck-Boldt was born on August 15, 1972 in Berkeley, California and raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to mother Chris Anne (Boldt), a school teacher, and father Timothy Byers "Tim" Affleck, a social worker. Ben has a younger brother, actor Casey Affleck, who was born in 1975...
1.) Gone Baby Gone 2.) The Town 3.) Argo 4.) Live by Night
32. Wes Anderson
Director | Fantastic Mr. Fox
Wesley Wales Anderson was born in Houston, Texas. His mother, Texas Ann (Burroughs), is an archaeologist turned real estate agent, and his father, Melver Leonard Anderson, worked in advertising and PR. He has two brothers, Eric and Mel. Anderson's parents divorced when he was a young child, an ...
1.) Rushmore 2.) The Royal Tenenbaums 3.) The Grand Budapest Hotel 4.) Moonrise Kingdom 5.) The Darjeeling Limited 6.) Fantastic Mr. Fox 7.) The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou 8.) Isle of Dogs
33. Sean Baker
Writer | Red Rocket
Sean Baker is a graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. He is an award-winning writer/director/producer known for Take Out (2004), Prince of Broadway (2008), Starlet (2012), Tangerine (2015), and The Florida Project (2017). Sean's latest feature, Red Rocket, premiered at Cannes on July 14, 2021...
1.) Starlet 2.) The Florida Project 3.) Tangerine 4.) Red Rocket 5.) Prince of Broadway 6.) Take out
34. Steve McQueen
Director | 12 Years a Slave
Steve McQueen was born on October 9, 1969 in London, England, UK. He is a director and producer, known for 12 Years a Slave (2013), Shame (2011) and Hunger (2008). He is married to Bianca Stigter. They have two children.
1.) Hunger
2.) 12 Years of Slave
Shame
Widows
35. Edgar Wright
Director | Shaun of the Dead
Edgar Howard Wright (born 18 April 1974) is an English director, screenwriter, producer, and actor. He is best known for his comedic Three Flavours Cornetto film trilogy consisting of Shaun of the Dead (2004), Hot Fuzz (2007), and The World's End (2013), made with recurrent collaborators Simon Pegg...
1.) The World's End 2.) Hot Fuzz 3.) Shaun of the Dead 4.) Scott Pilgrim vs. the World 5.) Baby Driver
36. Hayao Miyazaki
Writer | Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi
Hayao Miyazaki is one of Japan's greatest animation directors. The entertaining plots, compelling characters, and breathtaking visuals in his films have earned him international renown from critics as well as public recognition within Japan.
Miyazaki started his career in 1963 as an animator at the ...
1.) Spirited Away 2.) Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind' 3.) The Wind Rises 4.) Princess Mononoke 5.) Castle in the Sky 6.) My Neighbor Totoror 7.) Howl's Moving Castle 8.) Kiki's Delivery Service 9.) Porco Rosso 10.) Ponyo
37. Pedro Almodóvar
Writer | Hable con ella
The most internationally acclaimed Spanish filmmaker since Luis Buñuel was born in a small town (Calzada de Calatrava) in the impoverished Spanish region of La Mancha. He arrived in Madrid in 1968, and survived by selling used items in the flea-market called El Rastro. Almodóvar couldn't study ...
1.) Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown 2.) All About My Mother 3.) Juileta 4.) Talk To Her 5.) Volver
38. Wes Craven
Writer | A Nightmare on Elm Street
Wes Craven has become synonymous with genre bending and innovative horror, challenging audiences with his bold vision.
Wesley Earl Craven was born in Cleveland, Ohio, to Caroline (Miller) and Paul Eugene Craven. He had a midwestern suburban upbringing. His first feature film was The Last House on ...
1.) Scream 2.) A Nightmare on Elm Street 3.) Red Eye 4.) The Hills Have Eyes 5.) New Nightmare
39. Sam Raimi
Director | Spider-Man
Highly inventive U.S. film director/producer/writer/actor Sam Raimi first came to the attention of film fans with the savage, yet darkly humorous, low-budget horror film, The Evil Dead (1981). From his childhood, Raimi was a fan of the cinema and, before he was ten-years-old, he was out making ...
1.) A Simple Plan 2.) The Evil Dead 3.) Spider-Man 4.) The Gift 5.) Drag Me to Hell
40. Robert Zemeckis
Writer | Back to the Future
A whiz-kid with special effects, Robert is from the Spielberg camp of film-making (Steven Spielberg produced many of his films). Usually working with writing partner Bob Gale, Robert's earlier films show he has a talent for zany comedy (Romancing the Stone (1984), 1941 (1979)) and special effect ...
1.) Back to the Future 2.) Contact 3.) Cast Away 4.) Who Framed Roger Rabbit 5.) Romancing the Stone
41. Ron Howard
Producer | Arrested Development
Academy Award-winning filmmaker Ron Howard is one of this generation's most popular directors. From the critically acclaimed dramas A Beautiful Mind (2001) and Apollo 13 (1995) to the hit comedies Parenthood (1989) and Splash (1983), he has created some of Hollywood's most memorable films.
Howard ...
1.) Apollo 13 2.) Splash 3.) A Beautiful Mind 4.) Cinderella Man 5.) Rush 6.) Thirteen Lives
42. Matthew Vaughn
Producer | Kick-Ass
Matthew Vaughn is an English film producer and director. He is known for producing such films as Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) and Snatch (2000) and for directing the crime thriller, Layer Cake (2004), the fantasy epic, Stardust (2007), the superhero comedy, Kick-Ass (2010), and the ...
1.) Kick-Ass 2.) Kingsman: The Secret Service 3.) Stardust 4.) Layer Cake 5.) Kingsman: The Golden Service
43. James Wan
Writer | Saw
James Wan (born 26 February 1977) is an Australian film producer, screenwriter and film director of Malaysian Chinese descent. He is widely known for directing the horror film Saw (2004) and creating Billy the puppet. Wan has also directed Dead Silence (2007), Death Sentence (2007), Insidious (2010)...
1.) Saw 2.) The Conjuring 2 3.) Death Sentence 4.) Insidious 5.) Furious 7
44. Sam Mendes
Producer | 1917
Samuel Alexander Mendes was born on August 1, 1965 in Reading, England, UK to parents James Peter Mendes, a retired university lecturer, and Valerie Helene Mendes, an author who writes children's books. Their marriage didn't last long, James divorced Sam's mother in 1970 when Sam was just 5-...
1.) American Beauty 2.) Road to Perdition 3.) Skyfall 4.) Revolutionary Road 5.) Jarhead
45. Paul Greengrass
Director | United 93
Paul Greengrass started his filmmaking career with a super 8 camera he found in his art room in secondary school. Those short movies were animation horror films he made using old dolls, artist dummies, and the general art room clutter.
After studying in Cambridge University he got into Granada ...
1.) The Bourne Ultimatum 2.) United 93 3.) Captain Phillips 4.) Bloody Sunday 5.) The Bourne Supremacy 6.) Green Zone 7.) Jason Bourne
46. Mike Leigh
Director | Secrets & Lies
Mike Leigh is an English film and theatre director, screenwriter and playwright. He studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and further at the Camberwell School of Art, the Central School of Art and Design and the London School of Film Technique. He began his career as a theatre ...
1.) Happy-Go-Lucky 2.) All or Nothing 3.) Secrets & Lies 4.) Life is Sweet 5.) High Hopes 6.) Another Year 7.) Topsy- Turvy 8.) Vera Drake
47. Yorgos Lanthimos
Director | The Lobster
Yorgos Lanthimos was born in Athens, Greece. He studied directing for Film and Television at the Stavrakos Film School in Athens. He has directed a number of dance videos in collaboration with Greek choreographers, in addition to TV commercials, music videos, short films and theater plays. Kinetta,...
1.) Dogtooth 2.) The Lobster 3.) The Killing of a Scared Deer 4.) Alphs
48. Nicolas Winding Refn
Writer | The Neon Demon
Writer, director, and producer Nicolas Winding Refn was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1970, to Anders Refn, a film director and editor, and Vibeke Winding (née Tuxen), a cinematographer. Just before he turned 11, in 1981, he moved to New York with his parents, where he lived out his teen years. ...
1.) Drive 2.) Valhalla Rising 3.) Broson 4.) To Old to Die Young 5.) Pusher
49. Jee-woon Kim
Writer | Joheunnom nabbeunnom isanghannom
Kim Ji-woon was born in Seoul, South Korea. He began his career as an actor before becoming a stage director with productions such as "Hot Sea" in 1994 and "Movie, Movie" in 1995. He then began scripting for films, his first work, 97's "Wonderful Seasons" won Best Screenplay award at Korea's ...
1.) I Saw the Devil 2.) The Good the Bad the Weird 3.) A Bittersweet Life 4.) A Tale of Two Sisters 5.) The Last Stand
50. Bong Joon Ho
Writer | Snowpiercer
Bong Joon-ho is a South Korean filmmaker. The recipient of three Academy Awards, his filmography is characterized by emphasis on social themes, genre-mixing, black humor, and sudden tone shifts. He first became known to audiences and achieved a cult following with his directorial debut film, the ...
1.) Parasite 2.) Memories of Murder 3.) Mother 4.) The Host 5.) Okja 6.) Snowpiercer
51. James Mangold
Producer | Logan
James Mangold is an American film and television director, screenwriter and producer. Films he has directed include Girl, Interrupted (1999), Walk the Line (2005), which he also co-wrote, the 2007 remake 3:10 to Yuma (2007), The Wolverine (2013), and Logan (2017).
Mangold also wrote and directed Cop...
1.) 3:10 to Yuma 2.) Walk the Line 3.) Logan 4.) Cop Land 5.) Girl, Interrupted 6.) Identity 7.) Heavy 8.) Kate & Leopold 9.) The Wolverine 10.) Knight and Day
52. Jason Reitman
Producer | Up in the Air
Jason Reitman is a Canadian filmmaker and producer who notably directed Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Juno, Thank You for Smoking, Up in the Air, Young Adult and Tully. He produced Chloe and Jennifer's Body, two films that advanced Amanda Seyfried's career for adult oriented roles. He is the son of Ivan...
1.) Up in the Air 2.) Juno 3.) Thank You for Smoking
53. Tim Burton
Producer | Edward Scissorhands
Timothy Walter Burton was born in Burbank, California, to Jean Rae (Erickson), who owned a cat-themed gift shop, and William Reed Burton, who worked for the Burbank Park and Recreation Department. He spent most of his childhood as a recluse, drawing cartoons, and watching old movies (he was ...
1.) Ed Wood 2.) Beetlejuice 3.) Edward Scissorhands
54. Guy Ritchie
Director | Sherlock Holmes
Guy Ritchie was born in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, UK on September 10, 1968. After watching Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) as a child, Guy realized that what he wanted to do was make films. He never attended film school, saying that the work of film school graduates was boring and ...
1.) Snatch 2.) Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels 3.) Sherlock Holmes
55. Zack Snyder
Director | 300
Zachary Edward "Zack" Snyder (born March 1, 1966) is an American film director, film producer, and screenwriter, best known for action and science fiction films. Snyder made his feature film debut with the 2004 remake Dawn of the Dead and has gone on to be known for his comic book movies and ...
1.) Dawn of the Dead 2.) 300 3.) Man of Steel
56. Doug Liman
Producer | Edge of Tomorrow
Douglas Eric Liman is a Jewish-American filmmaker and producer who directed Swingers, The Bourne Identity, Chaos Walking, Jumper, Go, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Fair Game, Locked Down, Edge of Tomorrow, The Wall and American Made. He executive produced the Bourne sequels except The Bourne Legacy, The ...
1.) Go 2.) Swingers 3.) Edge of Tomorrow
57. Lynne Ramsay
Director | You Were Never Really Here
Lynne Ramsay was born on December 5, 1969 in Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland, UK. She is a director and writer, known for You Were Never Really Here (2017), We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011) and Ratcatcher (1999). She was previously married to Rory Stewart Kinnear.
1.) Morvern Caller 2.) We Need To Talk About Kevin 3.) You Were Never Really Here 4.) Ratcatcher
58. Andrea Arnold
Director | American Honey
Andrea Arnold was born on April 5, 1961 in Dartford, Kent, England, UK. She is an actress and director, known for American Honey (2016), Fish Tank (2009) and Red Road (2006).
1.) Fish Tank 2.) American Honey 3.) Red Road
59. Terrence Malick
Writer | Days of Heaven
Terrence Malick was born in Ottawa, Illinois. His family subsequently lived in Oklahoma and he went to school in Austin, Texas. He did his undergraduate work at Harvard, graduating summa cum laude with a degree in philosophy in 1965.
A member of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society, he attended Magdalen ...
1.) Badlands 2.) Days of Heaven 3.) The Tree of Life
60. Antoine Fuqua
Producer | The Magnificent Seven
Antoine Fuqua is an American film director, known for his work in the film Training Day as well as The Replacement Killers, Tears of the Sun, King Arthur, Shooter, Brooklyn's Finest, Olympus Has Fallen and The Equalizer.
He has directed music videos for such artists as Arrested Development, Prince, ...
1.) Training Day 2.) The Equalizer 3.) Brooklyn's Finest
61. Martin McDonagh
Writer | In Bruges
Martin McDonagh was born on March 26, 1970 in Camberwell, London, England, UK. He is a writer and director, known for In Bruges (2008), Seven Psychopaths (2012) and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017).
1.) Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri 2.) Seven Psychopaths 3.) In Bruges
62. Cristian Mungiu
Producer | 4 luni, 3 saptamâni si 2 zile
Cristian Mungiu was born on April 27, 1968 in Iasi, Romania. He is a producer and writer, known for 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007), Graduation (2016) and Beyond the Hills (2012).
1.) 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days 2.) Graduation 3.) Beyond the Hills
63. Jeremy Saulnier
Cinematographer | Blue Ruin
Jeremy Saulnier has slyly defined a unique cinematic aesthetic that complements his idiosyncratic narrative premises. His sophomore feature, Blue Ruin (2013) a quirky, crime drama set in a pretty, but grimier part of suburban America was a festival darling and supplanted his name within the ...
1.) Green Room 2.) Blue Ruin
64. Gareth Edwards
Visual_effects | Monsters
Gareth James Edwards was born on June 1, 1975 in the English town of Nuneaton, Warwickshire. Growing up, he admired movies such as the 1977 classic "Star Wars", and went on to pursue a film career. He even cites George Lucas and Steven Spielberg as his biggest influences. Edwards studied BA (Hons) ...
1.) Rogue One: A Star Wars Story 2.) Godzilla
65. Gareth Evans
Writer | Serbuan maut
Welsh born writer/director, in 2003 directed a short film "Samurai Monogatari" telling the tale of a Samurai waiting to be executed. The short was in Japanese language and starred students from Tokyo who were studying at Cardiff University at the time.
In 2003 he also graduated with an MA in ...
1.) The Raid 2 2.) The Raid: Redemption 3.) Merantau
66. Peter Berg
Actor | Chicago Hope
Peter Berg is an American actor, director, writer, and producer. His first role was in the Adam Rifkin road movie Never on Tuesday (1988). He went on to star in the World War 2 film A Midnight Clear (1992). Roles in Fire in the Sky (1993) and Cop Land (1997) followed, and the Tom Cruise films ...
1.) Lone Survivor 2.) Patriots Day 3.) Deepwater Horizon 4.) Friday Night Lights 5.) The Kingdom
67. Mike Flanagan
Writer | The Fall of the House of Usher
Mike Flanagan is a prolific writer, director, and editor. He entered into an exclusive overall deal with Amazon Studios in 2023 for television projects (after a similar exclusive deal with Netflix from 2018-2022), and has made feature films for Warner Bros., Universal Pictures, Netflix and more. ...
1.) Gerald's Game 2.) Midnight Mass 3.) Doctor Sleep 4.) The Haunting of Hill House 5.) Oculus 6.) Hush 7.) Absentia
68. Terry Gilliam
Writer | Brazil
Terry Gilliam was born near Medicine Lake, Minnesota. When he was 12 his family moved to Los Angeles where he became a fan of MAD magazine. In his early twenties he was often stopped by the police who suspected him of being a drug addict and Gilliam had to explain that he worked in advertising. In ...
1.) Brazil 2.) Twelve Monkeys 3.) Time Bandits 4.) Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas 5.) The Fisher King
69. Steven Soderbergh
Director | Sex, Lies, and Videotape
Steven Andrew Soderbergh was born on January 14, 1963 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, the second of six children of Mary Ann (Bernard) and Peter Soderbergh. His father was of Swedish and Irish descent, and his mother was of Italian ancestry. While he was still at a very young age, his family moved to ...
1.) Ocean's 11 2.) Traffic 3.) Out of Sight 4.) Sex, Lies, and Videotapes 5.) Erin Brockovich 6.) The Girlfriend Experience 7.) The Laundromat
70. Noah Baumbach
Writer | The Squid and the Whale
Born in Brooklyn in 1969 Noah Baumbach is the son of two film critics, Georgia Brown and Jonathan Baumbach (also a writer). His studies at Vassar College were the subject of his first film (made as he was 26 years old), Kicking and Screaming (1995). His second major picture, made ten years later, ...
1.) The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) 2.) Mistress America 3.) While We're Young 4.) Margot at the Wedding 5.) Frances Ha
71. Ethan Coen
Producer | The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
The younger brother of Joel, Ethan Coen is an Academy Award and Golden Globe winning writer, producer and director coming from small independent films to big profile Hollywood films. He was born on September 21, 1957 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In some films of the brothers- Ethan & Joel wrote, Joel...
1.) No Country For Old Men 2.) Blood Simple 3.) Barton Flink 4.) Fargo 5.) True Grit
72. Joel Coen
Producer | The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Joel Daniel Coen is an American filmmaker who regularly collaborates with his younger brother Ethan. They made Raising Arizona, Barton Fink, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, True Grit, O Brother Where Art Thou?, Burn After Reading, A Serious Man, Inside Llewyn Davis, Hail Caesar and other projects. Joel ...
1.) Miller's Crossing 2.) Raising Arizona 3.) Inside Llewyn Davis 4.) The Man Who Wasn't There 5.) The Big Lebowski
73. Taika Waititi
Producer | What We Do in the Shadows
Taika Waititi, also known as Taika Cohen, hails from the Raukokore region of the East Coast of the North Island of New Zealand, and is the son of Robin (Cohen), a teacher, and Taika Waititi, an artist and farmer. His father is Maori (Te-Whanau-a-Apanui), and his mother is of Ashkenazi Jewish, Irish...
1.) Thor: Ragnarok 2.) Hunt for the Wilderpeople 3.) What We Do in the Shadows
74. Charles Chaplin
Writer | The Great Dictator
Considered to be one of the most pivotal stars of the early days of Hollywood, Charlie Chaplin lived an interesting life both in his films and behind the camera. He is most recognized as an icon of the silent film era, often associated with his popular character, the Little Tramp; the man with the ...
1.) The Kid 2.) Modern Times 3.) City Lights 4.) The Gold Rush 5.) The Great Dictator
75. Ingmar Bergman
Writer | Smultronstället
Ernst Ingmar Bergman was born July 14, 1918, the son of a priest. The film and T.V. series, The Best Intentions (1992) is biographical and shows the early marriage of his parents. The film Sunday's Children (1992) depicts a bicycle journey with his father. In the miniseries Private Confessions (...
1.) The Seventh Seal 2.) The Virgin Spring 3.) Persona 4.) Cries & Whispers 5.) Wild Strawberries
76. John Ford
Director | The Quiet Man
John Ford came to Hollywood following one of his brothers, an actor. Asked what brought him to Hollywood, he replied "the train". He became one of the most respected directors in the business, in spite of being known for his westerns, which were not considered "serious" film. He won six Oscars, ...
1.) The Searchers 2.) Stagecoach 3.) The Quiet Man 4.) The Grapes of Wrath 5.) The Informer
77. Akira Kurosawa
Writer | Kakushi-toride no san-akunin
After training as a painter (he storyboards his films as full-scale paintings), Kurosawa entered the film industry in 1936 as an assistant director, eventually making his directorial debut with Sanshiro Sugata (1943). Within a few years, Kurosawa had achieved sufficient stature to allow him greater...
1.) Seven Samurai 2.) Rashomon 3.) The Hidden Fortress 4.) Drunken Angel 5.) To Live
78. Pascal Laugier
Director | Ghostland
Pascal Laugier was born on October 16, 1971 in France. He is a director and writer, known for Incident in a Ghostland (2018), Martyrs (2008) and The Tall Man (2012).
1.) Martyrs 2.) House of Voices 3.) Ghostland 4.) The Tall Man
79. Na Hong-jin
Writer | Chugyeokja
Na Hong-jin born in 1974 is a South Korean film director and screenwriter. His debut film The Chaser (2008) won Best Director at the 45th Grand Bell Awards in 2008. The film also won the award for Best Film. His follow up film, The Yellow Sea, was released in South Korea on December 15, 2010. It is...
1.) The Wailing 2.) The Chaser 3.) The Yellow Sea
80. Ben Wheatley
Director | Free Fire
Ben Wheatley was born in May 1972 in Billericay, Essex, England, UK. He is a director and writer, known for Free Fire (2016), Kill List (2011) and Sightseers (2012).
1.) Kill List 2.) Sightseers 3.) Down Terrance 4.) Free Fire 5.) A field in England
81. Jean-Marc Vallée
Director | C.R.A.Z.Y.
Jean-Marc Vallée was a Canadian filmmaker, editor and screenwriter from Montreal. He directed Black List, C.R.A.Z.Y., The Young Victoria, Wild, Dallas Buyers Club, Los Locos, Loser Love and Café de Flore. He also created the HBO shows Big Little Lies and Sharp Objects. He was married to Chantal ...
1.) C.R.A.Z.Y. 2.) Wild 3.) Big Little Lies 4.) Dallas Buyers Club 5.) Demolition 6.) Sharp Objects
82. Todd Haynes
Director | Far from Heaven
Todd Haynes was always interested in art, and made amateur movies and painted while he was still a child. He attended Brown university and majored in art and semiotics. After he graduated he moved to New York City and made the controversial short film Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story (1987). ...
1.) Safe 2.) Far From Heaven 3.) Poison 4.) Carol 5.) I'm Not There 6.) Wonderstruck 7.) Velvet Goldmine
83. David Cronenberg
Actor | The Fly
David Cronenberg, also known as the King of Venereal Horror or the Baron of Blood, was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in 1943. His father, Milton Cronenberg, was a journalist and editor, and his mother, Esther (Sumberg), was a piano player. After showing an inclination for literature at an early...
1.) Eastern Promises 2.) eXistenZ 3.) The Fly 4.) Crash 5.) The Dead Zone 6.) Videodrome 7.) Maps to the Stars 8.) Dead Ringers 9.) The Brood 10.) Scanners 11.) Spider 12.) A History of Violence 13.) M. Butterfly 14.) A Dangerous Method 15.) Naked Lunch 16.) Shrivers
84. Christopher McQuarrie
Writer | The Usual Suspects
Christopher McQuarrie is an acclaimed producer, director and an Academy Award® winning writer. McQuarrie grew up in Princeton Junction, New Jersey and in lieu of college, he spent the first five years out of school traveling and working at a detective agency. He later moved to Los Angeles to pursue...
Director:
1.) Mission Impossible: Fallout
2.) Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation
3.) The Way of the Gun
4.) Jack Reacher
Writer:
1.) Mission Impossible: Fallout
2.) Edge of Tomorrow
3.) Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation
4.) The Usual Suspects
5.) The Way of the Gun
85. J.C. Chandor
Producer | A Most Violent Year
J.C. Chandor is known for A Most Violent Year (2014), Margin Call (2011) and All Is Lost (2013). He has been married to Mary Cameron Goodyear since 2004. They have two children.
1.) Margin Call 2.) Triple Frontier 3.) A Most Violent Year 4.) All is Lost
86. Chad Stahelski
Producer | John Wick: Chapter 4
He came from a kick-boxing background; he entered the film field as a stunt performer at the age of 24. Before that, he worked as an instructor at the Inosanto Martial Arts Academy in California, teaching Jeet Kune Do/Jun Fan. After doing numerous roles in low budget martial art movies like Mission...
1.) John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum 2.) John Wick: Chapter 2 3.) John WIck
87. Ang Lee
Director | Wo hu cang long
Born in 1954 in Pingtung, Taiwan, Ang Lee has become one of today's greatest contemporary filmmakers. Ang graduated from the National Taiwan College of Arts in 1975 and then came to the U.S. to receive a B.F.A. Degree in Theatre/Theater Direction at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, ...
1.) Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 2.) Lust, Caution 3.) The Ice Storm 4.) Brokeback Mountain 5.) Sense and Sensibility 6.) Eat Drink Man Woman
88. Benny Safdie
Actor | Good Time
Born and raised in New York City: in both Queens & Manhattan. He attended the school of Communication at Boston University. He often collaborates with his brother Josh Safdie. He is a director, writer, editor and actor known for Daddy Longlegs(2009),Heaven Knows What(2014), Good Time (2017), Uncut ...
1.) Uncut Gems 2.) Good Times 3.) Heaven Knows What 4.) Daddy Longlegs
89. Josh Safdie
Director | Uncut Gems
Born and raised in New York City: in both Queens & Manhattan. He attended the school of Communication at Boston University. He often collaborates with his brother Benny Safdie. The brothers have both cited early experiences in front of their father's camera as the reasons for their pursing ...
1.) Uncut Gems 2.) Good Times 3.) Heaven Knows What 4.) Daddy Longlegs
90. Trey Edward Shults
Director | Waves
Trey Edward Shults was born on October 6, 1988 in Montgomery, Texas, USA. He is a director and writer, known for Waves (2019), It Comes at Night (2017) and Krisha (2015).
1.) Waves 2.) Keisha 3.) It Comes at Night
91. Leigh Whannell
Actor | Saw
Leigh Whannell grew up in Melbourne, Australia, where, at the age of four, he developed an obsession with telling stories. Whether it be through acting, writing or filmmaking, his primary love was getting a reaction from an audience. In 1995, at the age of 18, he was accepted into the Royal ...
1.) Upgrade 2.) The Invisible Man 3.) Insidious Chapter 3
92. Takashi Miike
Director | Jûsan-nin no shikaku
Takashi Miike was born in the small town of Yao on the outskirts of Osaka, Japan. His main interest growing up was motorbikes, and for a while he harbored ambitions to race professionally. At the age of 18 he went to study at the film school in Yokohama founded by renowned director Shôhei Imamura, ...
93. Fatih Akin
Director | Aus dem Nichts
Fatih Akin was born in 1973 in Hamburg of Turkish parentage. He began studying Visual Communications at Hamburg's College of Fine Arts in 1994. His collaboration with Wueste Film also dates from this time. In 1995, he wrote and directed his first short feature, "Sensin - You're The One!" ("Sensin -...
94. Eliza Hittman
Director | Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Eliza Hittman was born on January 1, 1979 in Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. She is a director and producer, known for Never Rarely Sometimes Always (2020), Beach Rats (2017) and It Felt Like Love (2013).
1.) Never Rarely Sometimes Always 2.) Beach Rats 3.) It Felt Like Love
95. Rian Johnson
Producer | Knives Out
Rian Johnson was born in Maryland and at a young age his family moved to San Clemente, California, where he was raised. After graduating from high school, he went on to attend the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts. His first feature film, Brick (2005), was released in 2005 ...
1.) Brick 2.) Knives Out 3.) Looper 4.) The Last Jedi 5.) Glass Onion 6.) The Brothers Bloom
96. M. Night Shyamalan
Producer | Lady in the Water
Born in Puducherry, India, and raised in the posh suburban Penn Valley area of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, M. Night Shyamalan is a film director, screenwriter, producer, and occasional actor, known for making movies with contemporary supernatural plots.
He is the son of Jayalakshmi, a Tamil ...
1.) Unbreakable 2.) The Sixth Sense 3.) Signs 4.) Knock at the Cabin 5.) The Village 6.) Split 7.) Glass 8.) Old 9.) The Visit
97. Jordan Peele
Writer | Nope
Jordan Peele is an Oscar- and Emmy-winning director, writer, actor, producer, and founder of Monkeypaw Productions. Peele's first feature film, "Get Out," was a critically acclaimed blockbuster, recognized with four Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture. The film would earn Peele the ...
1.) Nope 2.) Get Out 3.) Us
98. Jackie Chan
Actor | Ngo si seoi
Hong Kong's cheeky, lovable and best-known film star, Jackie Chan endured many years of long, hard work and multiple injuries to establish international success after his start in Hong Kong's manic martial arts cinema industry.
Jackie was born Kong-sang Chan on April 7, 1954, on Hong Kong's famous ...
1.) Police Story 2 2.) The Legend of Drunken Master 3.) Who Am I 4.) Police Story 5.) Project A
99. Peter Jackson
Producer | The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Sir Peter Jackson made history with The Lord of the Rings trilogy, becoming the first person to direct three major feature films simultaneously. The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King were nominated for and collected a slew of awards from around the globe, with The ...
1.) Heavenly Creatures 2.) Return of the King 3.) Dead Alive 4.) The Frighteners 5.) King Kong 6.) Bad Taste
100. George Miller
Producer | Mad Max: Fury Road
George Miller is an Australian film director, screenwriter, producer, and former medical doctor. He is best known for his Mad Max franchise, with Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981) and Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) being hailed as amongst the greatest action films of all time. Aside from the Mad Max ...
1.) Mad Max Fury Road
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