Friday, July 4, 2014

The Ten Most Influential Directors of All Time


John at Hitchcock's World has been a very busy blogger, lately. Just the other day, I participated in his relay for The Ten Biggest Stars of Classical Hollywood and he's got blogathons going, left and right. I've also been handed the baton to another relay John has started. This one for The Ten Most Influential Directors of All Time. The amazing Alex at And So it Begins... did the honors.

The rules are simple, but in case you don't know them, they go like this: From a pre-existing list, remove one person and replace them with another, explaining why on both counts. Then pass the list on to another blogger.

Ready on the Set...

Action!


Making the Cut

Francis Ford Coppola


D.W. Griffith


Howard Hawks


Alfred Hitchcock


Stanley Kubrick


Sergio Leone


Georges Méliès


Steven Spielberg


Martin Scorsese


Edited Out:

David Lynch
When I think of David Lynch, I think odd, quirky, unique, and maybe misunderstood. He is a man of vision with an unmistakable style. More of his cinematic flourishes seem purely of his own imagination than probably any other director I can think of. He doesn't merely make films, he experiments with the medium. However, I don't think of him as hugely influential. When it's all said and done, he will leave us a body of work that deserves to be studied for the rest of time. I just don't think there are a line of would be auteurs trying to follow in his footsteps.

Spliced In:

Quentin Tarantino
Whether or not Tarantino is one of the greatest directors of all time is open to debate. What is not debatable is the fact that he is highly influential. He's so much so that cinematic history can be split into two sections: Before and After Pulp Fiction. Until that movie came out, QT had been gaining recognition as a force to be reckoned with, a hot new commodity. After PF hit the screen, lots and lots of movies came out aping his style. He himself transparently ripped off paid homage to movies he loved as a youth and now directors everywhere do the same. The ultra-violent crime comedy is a genre he practically invented. Characters in every genre were suddenly more self-aware and more easily identifiable as part of the same universe as us viewers. They made references to all the pop culture things we know and love. They spoke with the same kind of snark and sarcasm as many of us, with at least as many four-letter words. That's as much a testament to his ability as a writer as it is to what he does from the director's chair, but it's all part of the package. A number of directors owe him their entire careers. More importantly, he single-handedly changed the cinematic landscape.


With that, I'm passing the baton to m. brown at Two Dollar Cinema


The  Relay So Far...




Wendell from Dell on Movies

8 comments:

  1. Okay, I'll confess that is a surprise. If anything I expected that if Lynch were taken off he'd get replaced by Fellini or Bergman, or one of the other big art film directors. I did not see this one coming. I'll also confess it is a bit saddening to see one of my favorite directors go.

    Tarantino is an interesting choice for a replacement. I don't think it really occurred to me how influential he's been. I'm not sure how much of his work I would call "comedy" but he certainly has a distinct style that has made an impact.

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    1. I know none of his movies are classified as comedies, but I generally laugh a lot while watching them. I'm sure someone will come along and plop Fellini or Bergman onto the list, but honestly I would've went at least three other ways before getting to either.

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  2. That is a tough choice as I often go back and forth between Lynch and Tarantino as they're just 2 very different filmmakers but masters in their craft. Tarantino for his violence and dialogue and Lynch for his surrealism.

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    1. They couldn't be more different. I respect Lynch for what he does. I just think QT has made too big an impact to ignore.

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  3. Incredible list! All of the greats on this one. Amazing work!

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    1. Thanks but I can't take the credit for this one. All I did was add QT (glaring omission in my opinion).

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