Favorite Directors

[srowley75]

Oh, I just hate reading lists like these. They always remind me of all that I still have yet to see.

I refrained from posting my "personal best" list because I think virtually every director and film that I would list as a favorite has already been given a mention. Other than Ed Wood, however, I don't believe many of my favorite Grindhouse/Drive In/Cult directors have been listed. So, for what it's worth, here's a rundown:

Dario Argento: The Bird With the Crystal Plumage, Deep Red, The Cat O'Nine Tails
Dwain Esper: Maniac, Marihuana, Sex Madness
Jack Hill: Switchblade Sisters, The Big Doll House, Coffy
Mario Bava: Kill Baby Kill!, Black Sunday, Bay of Blood
John Waters: Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble, Desperate Living
Lucio Fulci: The Beyond, Don't Torture a Duckling, The New York Ripper
Sergio Martino: The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh, Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key, Torso
Stephanie Rothman: The Working Girls, The Student Nurses, Terminal Island
Ed Wood (sorry, just can't leave him out): Plan 9 From Outer Space, Glen or Glenda, The Violent Years, The Sinister Urge
Russ Meyer: Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, Faster Pussycat! Kill Kill!, Vixen

More later...back to work.

-Stephen

[Synnove]

A couple of forgotten 30's directors:

Mervyn LeRoy: Gold Diggers of 1933, Little Caesar, Big City Blues, Three on a Match, I am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang. I wouldn't call him an auteur, but he was very competent, and prolific.

Alfred E. Green: Baby Face, Union Depot. Same as LeRoy, although I find Green's direction a bit more ambitious, with more camera movement, and directorial flair.

And the more I think about Lumet is indeed fantastic. 12 Angry Men is among my favorite movies, and everything else I've seen (Network, The Verdict, and Dog Day Afternoon) by him is excellent. I should check out his lesser known work.

Mervyn LeRoy isn't as well known as he deserves to be, I didn't even think of him, even though he directed some of my favourite precodes. I am a Fugitive From the Chain Gang is a very good film.

Re. Bergman, I like him but I can see why people wouldn't. For me it was something I had to work to get into. I had to give him a second and a third chance. I was lukewarm about his movies at first. Then I saw Smiles of a Summer Night, and suddenly it just worked for me. Wild Strawberries is one of my favourite films.

As for the subtitles, it doesn't always help to speak the language either. Then you have to get used to the old-fashioned, somewhat theatrical style of talking in the earlier films! I know that puts a lot of people off.

Mike and Jdb1 make very good points about the devastating effects of some people wanting to feel superior. Another thing is that he gets labeled pretentious. That word always has a very damaging effect.

Another director I like is Jean-Pierre Jeunet. I have only seen the two films of his that are the most renowned here now: Amélie and A Very Long Engagement. The film of his that I would like to see next is Delicatessen. He has a very special style, and eye for detail and a wonderful sense of humour. A Very Long Engagement gives you a great idea of the time period and the horror of the great war. I watched it again recently though, and it didn't move me so much. I felt distanced from the characters. Perhaps it was because I was concentrating on the mystery, which is very confusing at times. Marion Cotillard is the most interesting character for me. I'll have to watch it again and see if it holds up.

[Mr. Arkadin]

Another director I like is Jean-Pierre Jeunet. I have only seen the two films of his that are the most renowned here now: Amélie and A Very Long Engagement. The film of his that I would like to see next is Delicatessen. He has a very special style, and eye for detail and a wonderful sense of humour. A Very Long Engagement gives you a great idea of the time period and the horror of the great war. I watched it again recently though, and it didn't move me so much. I felt distanced from the characters. Perhaps it was because I was concentrating on the mystery, which is very confusing at times. Marion Cotillard is the most interesting character for me. I'll have to watch it again and see if it holds up.

Delicatessen is a great film! I would say it's one of the best comedies I've seen. It's also wonderfully lit and shot. A modern classic in my opinion.

[ChiO]

Bryce: You're forcing me to go deeper into Lumet. He is -- for some inexplicable reason -- easy for me to forget, even though I love several of his movies (TWELVE ANGRY MEN, THE PAWNBROKER, SERPICO, DOG DAY AFTERNOON, PRINCE OF THE CITY) and like the others I've seen (FAIL-SAFE, NETWORK, EQUUS, THE VERDICT). William Holden, in NETWORK (I thought he should have been the Oscar winner), has one of my favorite, bittersweet, and frightening lines of all-time: I'm a man with primal doubts.

srowley says:

Oh, I just hate reading lists like these. They always remind me of all that I still have yet to see.

Ain't that the Truth! And I've never seen a Dario Argento movie -- another for my list.

No SPIDER BABY for Jack Hill? John Waters -- For me, he's better in conception than execution. Just too self-conscious at trying to be cute & clever for my taste, though I enjoy listening to him talk about movies (including his). As I mentioned a few posts back, I find some Doris Wishman and Joe Sarno movies to be fascinating. What about Larry Cohen (GOD TOLD ME TO, Q: THE WINGED SERPENT and, although he only wrote it, PHONE BOOTH)? Those are some of my favorite urban paranoia, with religious (or anti-religious) undertones, movies ever. And then there's Ray Dennis Steckler and the Arch Hall, Sr. & Jr. movies. THE SADIST may be my favorite grindhouse movie as a serious work of filmmaking.

[charliechaplinfan]

Each time I click onto this thread I think 'oh no some more names I forgot'

My husband tells me that he talks to his form class about films, they even get to talking about films by older directors like Stanley Kubrik, now he's quite modern for my taste and a smite overrated too

[srowley75]

As I mentioned a few posts back, I find some Doris Wishman and Joe Sarno movies to be fascinating. What about Larry Cohen (GOD TOLD ME TO, Q: THE WINGED SERPENT and, although he only wrote it, PHONE BOOTH)? Those are some of my favorite urban paranoia, with religious (or anti-religious) undertones, movies ever. And then there's Ray Dennis Steckler and the Arch Hall, Sr. & Jr. movies. THE SADIST may be my favorite grindhouse movie as a serious work of filmmaking.

I have a couple friends that enjoy Wishman and Sarno, but I don't really care for either (director, that is). I prefer Radley Metzger, but I haven't yet seen three of his, so I didn't feel I could legitimately include him as yet.

Larry Cohen: same thing, I need to see more. I have a copy of God Told Me To and will hopefully get to it this week. I'm eager to see it because, among other things, I'm a fan of Sandy Dennis.

Ray Dennis Steckler: I agree with you regarding The Sadist, but right now I'm struggling to think of two more of his films that I really liked. I'm told I need to see more, but most of what I've seen so far has been pretty dull: Rat Pfink a Boo Boo, Incredibly Strange Creatures.... I'd much rather watch a Roger Corman or (even better) a whacked out Mexican horror picture, like Wrestling Women vs. the Aztec Mummy.

-Stephen

[Mr. Arkadin]

And I've never seen a Dario Argento movie -- another for my list.

What?!

I've lost all respect for you!

Get thee to the store and pick up the essentials:

The Bird With the Crystal Plumage (1970)
Deep Red (1975)
Suspira (1977)

Trailer for Bird:
[youtube][/youtube]

P.S. You also might pick up a copy of Jesus Franco's Venus in Furs (1970).

[srowley75]

A word of warning:

If you're interested in giallo films (i.e., Italian horror pictures), by all means, DON'T view the trailers before watching the films! Many give away the best scenes and spoil endings yet still don't give any real clue as to what said film is about. I haven't seen Bird's trailer, but if you're interested in the other pictures, it's better to just view the movies first.

-Stephen

[ChiO]

Stephen: For the record (scratched though it may be), James Landis directed THE SADIST. The incredible part of the movie (okay, other than Arch Hall, Jr. turning in a nice twisted performance) is the cinematography by Vilmos Zsigmond. Just marvelous. Ray Dennis Steckler's supreme achieve with Arch is WILD GUITAR.

As for Metzger, if you haven't seen THERESA AND ISABELLE, you should. Despite his rep, it truly transcends the category. THE LICKERISH QUARTET is interesting...one of those films that's OK, then when you get to the end you want to say, "Wait a minute. This has been better than I thought."

And speaking of FASTER, PUSSYCAT! KILL! KILL!, have you seen Ted V. Mikels' THE DOLL SQUAD? The producers of Charlie's Angels should be forced to pay him royalties.

If Mr. Esper is your cup of tea, read David Friedman's autobiography/memoirs/history of exploitation. Hilarious and eye-opening.

Mr. Ark: I know, I know. THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE has been on my to-see list for quite some time. I haven't seen any Herschell Gordon Lewis movies either (and he's a former English professor from Chicago -- he even owned a theater for a few months in Chicago called, ready, "The Blood Shed".)

Now, back to watching a Bresson film.

[srowley75]

Stephen: For the record (scratched though it may be), James Landis directed THE SADIST. [...] Ray Dennis Steckler's supreme achieve with Arch is WILD GUITAR.

Thank you...I had gotten the films mixed up (as you could tell).

As for Metzger, if you haven't seen THERESA AND ISABELLE, you should. Despite his rep, it truly transcends the category. THE LICKERISH QUARTET is interesting...one of those films that's OK, then when you get to the end you want to say, "Wait a minute. This has been better than I thought."

I saw The Lickerish Quartet and thought it quite good (though strange) - it had a Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf quality. I still need to see Therese and Isabelle.

And speaking of FASTER, PUSSYCAT! KILL! KILL!, have you seen Ted V. Mikels' THE DOLL SQUAD? The producers of Charlie's Angels should be forced to pay him royalties.
If Mr. Esper is your cup of tea, read David Friedman's autobiography/memoirs/history of exploitation. Hilarious and eye-opening.
I haven't seen any Herschell Gordon Lewis movies either (and he's a former English professor from Chicago -- he even owned a theater for a few months in Chicago called, ready, "The Blood Shed".)

I started watching The Doll Squad one night and didn't finish it. I should probably give it a second chance.

I'll have to check out that book. I do like exploitation, especially from the 1930s and 40s.

Regarding H. G. Lewis, however, he really isn't my cup of tea - and I love horror and giallo films. I really can't name three of his I like. (2000 Maniacs almost drove me crazy with its awful music, which was more horrifying than any disembowelment or amputation could ever be.) Leaving aside the gore scenes, most of his movies are pretty boring - along the lines of Andy Milligan's god-awful pictures.

[myrnaloyisdope]

I've been on a Wellman kick lately and can recommend Heroes For Sale, Frisco Jenny, and Midnight Mary as absolutely essential pre-codes. None are on DVD, but if you can find them, you should check them out, because they are among the finest pre-codes I have ever seen.

[MikeBSG]

Regarding Dario Argento: I like "Bird With Crystal Plumage," "Inferno" and "Tenebrae." "Deep Red" and "Suspira" don't impress me as much, but Argento's post-"Tenebrae" stuff really leaves me cold. "Opera" just seemed ludicrous, and "Phantom of the Opera" just got so stupid I stopped the movie and mailed it back to Netflix.

What do you think of post-1984 Argento?