Favourite Directors (and their best films)
by jimpemmas | created - 12 Jan 2021 | updated - 1 week ago | PublicDirectors with at least four 8+/10
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 ...
1. Eyes Wide Shut (1999) - 10 2. A Clockwork Orange (1971) - 10 3. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) - 10 4. The Shining (1980) - 9 5. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) - 9 6. Barry Lyndon (1975) - 9 7. Full Metal Jacket (1987) - 9 8. Paths of Glory (1957) - 9 9. Lolita (1962) - 8 10. The Killing (1956) - 7 11. Spartacus (1960) - 7
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. Pulp Fiction (1994) - 10 2. Reservoir Dogs (1992) - 9 3. Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004) - 9 4. Inglourious Basterds (2009) - 9 5. The Hateful Eight (2015) - 9 6. Django Unchained (2012) - 9 7. Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) - 8 8. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) - 8 9. Jackie Brown (1997) - 8 10. Death Proof (2007) - 7
3. Roman Polanski
Director | Chinatown
Roman Polanski is a Polish film director, producer, writer and actor. Having made films in Poland, Britain, France and the USA, he is considered one of the few truly international filmmakers. Roman Polanski was born in Paris in 1933.
His parents returned to Poland from France in 1936, three years ...
1. Chinatown (1974) - 10 2. Repulsion (1965) - 9 3. The Pianist (2002) - 9 4. Rosemary's Baby (1968) - 9 5. The Tenant (1976) - 9 6. Frantic (1988) - 9 7. Bitter Moon (1992) - 8 8. The Ninth Gate (1999) - 8 9. Tess (1979) - 7 10. Macbeth (1971) - 7 11. The Ghost Writer (2010) - 7 12. Death and the Maiden (1994) - 7 13. Carnage (2011) - 7
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. Taxi Driver (1976) - 10 2. Goodfellas (1990) - 10 3. Mean Streets (1973) - 9 4. Raging Bull (1980) - 9 5. Casino (1995) - 9 6. The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) - 8 7. The Departed (2006) - 8 8. The Irishman (2019) - 8 9. The King of Comedy (1982) - 8 10. Shutter Island (2010) - 8 11. Cape Fear (1991) - 8 12. After Hours (1985) - 8 13. The Aviator (2004) - 7 14. Killers of the Flower Moon (2023) - 7 15. The Age of Innocence (1993) - 7 16. The Color of Money (1986) - 7 17. Hugo (2011) - 7 18. No Direction Home: Bob Dylan (2005) - 7
5. 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. Fight Club (1999) - 10 2. Se7en (1995) - 10 3. The Social Network (2010) - 10 4. Zodiac (2007) - 9 5. The Game (1997) - 8 6. Gone Girl (2014) - 8 7. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) - 7 8. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) - 7 9. Panic Room (2002) - 7
6. 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 ...
& Ethan Coen
1. The Big Lebowski (1998) - 10
2. Fargo (1996) - 9
3. Barton Fink (1991) - 9
4. No Country for Old Men (2007) - 9
5. Inside Llewyn Davis (2013) - 9
6. Blood Simple (1984) - 8
7. Miller's Crossing (1990) - 8
8. A Serious Man (2009) - 8
9. True Grit (2010) - 7
10. Raising Arizona (1987) - 7
11. The Man Who Wasn't There (2001) - 7
12. Burn After Reading (2008) - 7
13. The Hudsucker Proxy (1994) - 7
7. 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. Blue Velvet (1986) - 10 2. Mulholland Drive (2001) - 9 3. Lost Highway (1997) - 9 4. Eraserhead (1977) - 8 5. Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992) - 7 6. The Straight Story (1999) - 7 7. The Elephant Man (1980) - 7 8. Wild at Heart (1990) - 7
8. 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 (2007) - 10 2. Magnolia (1999) - 9 3. Boogie Nights (1997) - 9 4. The Master (2012) - 8 5. Phantom Thread (2017) - 8 6. Licorice Pizza (2021) - 8 7. Punch-Drunk Love (2002) - 8 8. Inherent Vice (2014) - 7 9. Hard Eight (1996) - 7
9. 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. Psycho (1960) - 10 2. North by Northwest (1959) - 9 3. Rear Window (1954) - 9 4. Rebecca (1940) - 9 5. Notorious (1946) - 8 6. The Birds (1963) - 8 7. Vertigo (1958) - 8 8. Dial M for Murder (1954) - 8 9. The Lady Vanishes (1938) - 8 10. Rope (1948) - 7 11. Strangers on a Train (1951) - 7 12. The 39 Steps (1935) - 7 13. Shadow of a Doubt (1943) - 7 14. Frenzy (1972) - 7 15. To Catch a Thief (1955) - 7 16. The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) - 7 17. Spellbound (1945) - 7
10. 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. The Dark Knight (2008) - 9 2. Inception (2010) - 9 3. Memento (2000) - 9 4. The Dark Knight Rises (2012) - 9 5. Interstellar (2014) - 9 6. Dunkirk (2017) - 8 7. Oppenheimer (2023) - 8 8. Insomnia (2002) - 8 9. Tenet (2020) - 8 10. Batman Begins (2005) - 8 11. The Prestige (2006) - 7
11. 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. Schindler's List (1993) - 10 2. Jaws (1975) - 9 3. Saving Private Ryan (1998) - 9 4. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) - 9 5. Jurassic Park (1993) - 9 6. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) - 8 7. Minority Report (2002) - 8 8. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) - 8 9. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) - 8 10. Duel (1971) - 8 11. Bridge of Spies (2015) - 8 12. Catch Me If You Can (2002) - 8 13. Hook (1991) - 8 14. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) - 7 15. The Fabelmans (2022) - 7 16. Empire of the Sun (1987) - 7 17. Lincoln (2012) - 7 18. War Horse (2011) - 7 19. War of the Worlds (2005) - 7 20. Ready Player One (2018) - 7
12. Sergio Leone
Writer | Once Upon a Time in America
Sergio Leone was virtually born into the cinema - he was the son of Roberto Roberti (A.K.A. Vincenzo Leone), one of Italy's cinema pioneers, and actress Bice Valerian. Leone entered films in his late teens, working as an assistant director to both Italian directors and U.S. directors working in ...
1. Once Upon a Time in America (1984) - 10 2. Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) - 10 3. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) - 9 4. For a Few Dollars More (1965) - 8 5. A Fistful of Dollars (1964) - 8 6. A Fistful of Dynamite (1971) - 7
13. Brian De Palma
Director | Body Double
Brian De Palma is one of the well-known directors who spear-headed the new movement in Hollywood during the 1970s. He is known for his many films that go from violent pictures, to Hitchcock-like thrillers. Born on September 11, 1940, De Palma was born in Newark, New Jersey in an Italian-American ...
1. Scarface (1983) - 9 2. The Untouchables (1987) - 9 3. Carlito's Way (1993) - 9 4. Blow Out (1981) - 8 5. Carrie (1976) - 8 6. Dressed to Kill (1980) - 8 7. Body Double (1984) - 7 8. Femme Fatale (2002) - 7 9. Mission: Impossible (1996) - 7 10. Casualties of War (1989) - 7 11. Sisters (1972) - 7 12. Obsession (1976) - 7 13. Snake Eyes (1998) - 7
14. Francis Ford Coppola
Producer | Apocalypse Now
Francis Ford Coppola was born in 1939 in Detroit, Michigan, but grew up in a New York suburb in a creative, supportive Italian-American family. His father, Carmine Coppola, was a composer and musician. His mother, Italia Coppola (née Pennino), had been an actress. Francis Ford Coppola graduated ...
1. The Godfather (1972) - 10 2. Apocalypse Now (1979) - 10 3. The Godfather: Part II (1974) - 10 4. The Conversation (1974) - 9 5. Rumble Fish (1983) - 9 6. Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) - 9 7. The Godfather: Part III (1990) - 8 8. The Outsiders (1983) - 7
15. Michael Mann
Producer | The Insider
As a director, screenwriter, and producer, four-time Academy Award nominee Michael Mann has established himself as one of the most innovative and influential filmmakers in American cinema. After writing and directing the Primetime Emmy Award-winning television movie The Jericho Mile (1979), Mann ...
1. Heat (1995) - 10 2. The Insider (1999) - 9 3. The Last of the Mohicans (1992) - 9 4. Manhunter (1986) - 8 5. Collateral (2004) - 8 6. Thief (1981) - 7
16. 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. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) - 9 2. The Terminator (1984) - 9 3. Titanic (1997) - 9 4. Aliens (1986) - 9 5. The Abyss (1989) - 8 6. Avatar (2009) - 7
17. 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. The Thin Red Line (1998) - 9 2. Badlands (1973) - 9 3. The New World (2005) - 9 4. Days of Heaven (1978) - 8 5. The Tree of Life (2011) - 8
18. Richard Linklater
Director | Waking Life
Self-taught writer-director Richard Stuart Linklater was born in Houston, Texas, to Diane Margaret (Krieger), who taught at a university, and Charles W. Linklater III. Richard was among the first and most successful talents to emerge during the American independent film renaissance of the 1990s. ...
1. Before Sunrise (1995) - 9 2. Dazed and Confused (1992) - 9 3. Before Sunset (2004) - 9 4. Before Midnight (2013) - 9 5. Boyhood (2014) - 8 6. Everybody Wants Some!! (2016) - 8 7. Tape (2001) - 7 8. Last Flag Flying (2017) - 7 9. SubUrbia (1996) - 7
19. Billy Wilder
Writer | The Apartment
Originally planning to become a lawyer, Billy Wilder abandoned that career in favor of working as a reporter for a Viennese newspaper, using this experience to move to Berlin, where he worked for the city's largest tabloid. He broke into films as a screenwriter in 1929 and wrote scripts for many ...
1. Sunset Blvd. (1950) - 9 2. The Apartment (1960) - 8 3. Double Indemnity (1944) - 8 4. Witness for the Prosecution (1957) - 8 5. Some Like It Hot (1959) - 8 6. Ace in the Hole (1951) - 8 7. The Lost Weekend (1945) - 7 8. Stalag 17 (1953) - 7
20. Oliver Stone
Director | JFK
Oliver Stone has become known as a master of controversial subjects and a legendary film maker. His films are filled with a variety of film angles and styles, he pushes his actors to give Oscar-worthy performances, and despite his failures, has always returned to success.
William Oliver Stone was ...
1. The Doors (1991) - 10 2. JFK (1991) - 9 3. Platoon (1986) - 9 4. Born on the Fourth of July (1989) - 8 5. Nixon (1995) - 7 6. Salvador (1986) - 7 7. U Turn (1997) - 7
21. 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 (1957) - 10 2. Dog Day Afternoon (1975) - 9 3. The Verdict (1982) - 8 4. Network (1976) - 8 5. Murder on the Orient Express (1974) - 8 6. Serpico (1973) - 8 7. The Hill (1965) - 7 8. The Pawnbroker (1964) - 7
22. 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. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) - 9 2. Twelve Monkeys (1995) - 9 3. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) - 9 4. Brazil (1985) - 8
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