Top 10 Directors in the Past 25 Years

A challenge has been laid!

BY COLIN ENQUIST

Emil decided that I was not worthy of writing a top 10 article in one night. This insane idea could have started because I slapped him in the face and “challenged him to a duel” but I forget! So without even thinking I accepted, I accepted his retaliatory insult to my writing abilities. Now a topic was needed: I was thinking best animated films, maybe book adaptations or even best Australian actors. Emil wanted something else. “Top 10 directors in the past 25 years” spews Emil. The contest is now accepted, the setting chosen and the weapon chosen is still touted as being mightier than the average sword (though they still do hurt).. Can it be completed? I am off to wonder, what my top 10 list would look like…

The director of any film must have a compelling vision plus a unique style that helps define not only himself as a director but the film as well. Each director is different, some make the entire cast and crew follow strict guidelines while others are very receptive towards new ideas, like letting an actor (or actress) improvise the dialogue in such a way as to enhance the scene, character development or even the movie itself. A director must also show the chops to jump from genre to genre, proving he (or she) can use their own style for different types of projects.

It was difficult leaving out many of the directors like Alfred Hitchcock, D.W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Francis Ford Coppola, Frank Capra, Fritz Lang, Stanley Kubrick and many others that made such a significant (and influential) contribution to the history of film. Even though most of them have not made a film in the last 25 years it is still hard to think of list without them.

My thoughts finally came back to me, after enjoying a nice hallucination session (due to dehydration!) in the desert my thoughts finally stumbled back into civilization and then enjoyed the trip of being shipped home via UPS on a camel that is probably smarter than me…

1. Steven Spielberg
When I started this list I was trying to think who number one was. Spielberg instantly jumped to the top half of the list but I couldn’t think of why I would put him number one. I mean, I can’t include Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind or E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial into my thoughts because they debuted before 1984. Those are my three favourite Spielberg films! So as I sift through my almost endless movie collection I come across some other movies I thoroughly enjoy. How could I forget Saving Private Ryan, Catch Me If You Can, Munich and Jurassic Park?! And those are only his films that I own. Empire of the Sun (why the hell I don’t own this movie is beyond me!), Schindler’s List and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (Last Crusade as well). I am forgiving (or forgetting) him for the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Spielberg has been nominated 6 (2 nominations before 1984) times for an Academy Award and won twice (Saving Private Ryan, Schindler’s List). Having an eye for helping create some amazing shots with special effects is probably one of Spielberg’s many strong points. His ability to jump from war films to futuristic sci-fi to romantic comedies to adventure films and back again easily makes him number one on my list.

2. Michael Mann
William Petersen who worked with Mann on his 1986 film Manhunter (the first film with Hannibal Lector on screen!) commented “that because Mann is so focused on his creations, it takes several years for Mann to complete a film,” this could be one of the reasons that Mann only directs a film every three years or so. That also means his new film Public Enemies (that I just saw) will cause another three years of agonizing wait for more splendid filmaking. Mann’s success started to rise with the 1995 film Heat. This showcased his unique shooting style superbly. The complex storyline that some people dislike about Heat should really take a backseat to the enjoyment that one can get from just watching the gorgeous shots throughout the film. I can pop in any Mann film and just watch the detail of the camera work; then again I am also a fervent follower of the national "Watching paint dry league. Miami Vice and Collateral (Public Enemies could be added here as well) may not be the greatest films and have flaws but they are some of the most stylish films to look at. Mann was nominated for an Oscar with his direction of The Insider.

3. Martin Scorsese
Many of his films are considered for “the best of all time” lists thrown on every blog, magazine or newspaper. Too bad I can’t include more then half of them! We still have Goodfellas, The Last Temptation of Christ, Cape Fear, Casino, The Color of Money, Gangs of New York, The Aviator and The Departed. These are only the ones from the last 25 years! Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro both love working for the director who only makes good movies. In 2007 Scorsese won the Best Director Award at the Oscars for The Departed. A trademark of Scorsese’s is the taking of the middle of the story (sometimes the ending) and beginning the film with it. He also likes to use slow motion for certain sequences. Great films seem to follow Scorsese around and I hope this trend continues with his new film Shutter Island (also starring DiCaprio!).

4. Ang Lee
This Taiwanese born director debut in Hollywood was with the 1995 drama Sense and Sensibility which garnered many Oscar nominations but did not get him a nod for Best Director. His next two films (The Ice Storm and Ride with the Devil) did not impress with unpopular box office receptions. So Lee decided to reunite with his old partner Li-Kong Hsu in Taiwan for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Surprisingly the film was a worldwide success and has become the most successful foreign film in many countries. This film also got Lee his first Best Director nod by the Academy. Hollywood beckoned him back to shoot the new comic book adaptation titled Hulk, however it received mixed reviews. The film may not have been a great film but Lee used some distinctive choices that made the film one of a kind. With the completion of that movie, Lee had tested the waters of the big budget film world and quickly chartered a course for a nice, small budget and low profile independent film. Brokeback Mountain not only won Lee his first Best Director award, but also made him the very first person of Asian heritage to even win the award.

5. Steven Soderbergh
A wide variety of films have come from the mind of Soderbergh. Two underrated films -- sex, lies and videotape and Solaris -- are both worth a watch. After that we can only go into the Ocean’s Eleven trilogy in which he manages a stellar cast perfectly. In 2000 Soderbergh managed to get not one but two Oscar nominations in the Best Director category for Erin Brockovich and Traffic. Traffic ended up taking 4 awards including Best Director. Soderbergh is also the cinematographer on many of his own films. His incorporation of the films score over many sequences in his movies help create his unique story-telling methods. Another aspect of his repertoire is the way he creates a montage of images to tell multiple angles of the story at once. Soderbergh is one of the most versatile directors in the business.

6. James Cameron
I am honestly shocked myself that I placed Cameron so low on my list. Maybe it is my inability to fully comprehend The Terminator mythos but I have never fully respected those films for some odd reason. Don’t get me wrong, they are way ahead of their time in numerous aspects and we have Cameron to thank for that. The Abyss is a film that I stumbled across sometime in the late 90’s (or early 2000’s) and watched. I was completely blown away when I found out the movie was made in 1989 (I was thinking it was made around 1997 or so)! This proves that Cameron deserves to be on the list. Not to mention Titanic and the truckloads of money, nominations and praise it received. This film also got Cameron his statue from the Academy for Best Director.

7. Hayao Miyazaki
Yes I am putting a director who does animated films on this list. Why? Not only has he directed the first anime film to win an Academy Award (Howl’s Moving Castle for Best Animated Film) but this film also holds the box office record over Titanic! Well, in Japan at least. His choice for using powerful and independent women is a reoccurring theme in his films. As well as incorporating humanity’s relationship to nature and technology. Princess Mononoke was the film that brought him his initial Western acclaim and since that day we have seen the release of Spirited Away (another Best Animated Picture win!), Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea as well as some of his earlier films that were dubbed in English finally!

8. Ridley Scott
I can’t mention Blade Runner, even though it has been redone twice (or three times) for DVD release since 1982. So let us start with Legend, which stars a young Tom Cruise, the film that in my opinion shows why Scott deserves to be on this list. Balancing the dark tones in the film wonderfully and creating a surreal experience that makes you laugh and cry. Scott is versatile as well with his period films like Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven, war films like Black Hawk Down, G.I. Jane, and his use of terror in Hannibal. Three nominations have been thrown his way by the Academy for Best Director but he has yet to win one. Known as a demanding director Scott has a striking style that uses atmospheric lighting that has matured throughout his film career. The classic idea of using music or sound to build tension in the film is usually employed by Scott and this is one of the reasons he managed to get on this list.

9. Sofia Coppola
Being daughter to Francis Ford Coppola must have some advantages. Although she does not have a large film resume like most directors on my list, but I think she deserves to be on the list. As you may know she is the first American woman to be nominated for Best Director at the Oscars. Lost in Translation was the film that got her the prestigious nomination. This sweet but sad story told through subtle comedy is rare and should be enjoyed immensely when watched. Coppopla’s only other two feature films have both starred Kirsten Dunst. The first of these movies is The Virgin Suicides, which debuted her ability to pull off the subtleties that were layered into Lost in Translation. She once again reunited with Dunst in Marie Antoinette and was booed at Cannes when it debuted. I felt it was worthwhile even though Coppola took many liberties over the source material.

10. Christopher Nolan
I love Following and Memento. Following and Memento are tricky films to watch but the second viewing is fantastic. The non-linear style that his used in those two movies, and others that he has directed, has always intrigued me because of the way it made me consider what was going on at the surface of the film and the deeper plots that were going on. The only film he has directed and not had a hand in scripting has been Insomnia which is a very good film that flies under the radar. Nolan’s take on Batman in Batman Begins and The Dark Knight have redefined the character (at least in film and TV) probably more than Tim Burton’s take did in the late 80’s. Using as little CGI effects in his movies as possible also helps create a realism that shows on the screen providing him with the last spot on my list.

That is my 10 but I had to leave some off this list. Tim Burton and Ron Howard were my glaring omissions. I loved Apollo 13, Frost/Nixon and A Beautiful Mind but really despised a few of Howard’s movies. Howard’s pacing in some of his films has always driven me batty (The Da Vinci Code is probably the worst of his films for this) and that is probably the main reason as to why I cut him. Burton on the other hand really hasn’t made a bad movie (except for Mars Attacks!) and I really like his style but sometimes it becomes too much of the same for me. On that note, I would like to nominate Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street to be given a Criterion Collection on DVD! Woody Allen and Clint Eastwood were two of the other big directors that I left off and to be honest it is more to do with the fact that I haven’t seen an Eastwood film since Mystic River (I know, I know...). I have also missed Allen’s Vicky Christy Barcelona and Match Point. A few of my directors I really like are also sitting on the sidelines but I don’t feel they have enough great directorial efforts to make the list. Hell 25th Hour is my favourite film and Spike Lee probably would squeak in somewhere in the 15-20 range. David Fincher is another preferred director of mine but I seem find myself second guessing some certain choices he makes and applauding others. Hopefully some people agree with my list, or understand my justifications for my choices, but I know there are plenty of you who may believe that my thoughts are still hallucinations. Also, note the time of the post...not quite the next day yet, so I guess I win!