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borntohula

Underappreciated Directors

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david fincher is an anomaly. gee i hope i spelled that right.

 

one one hand, he's directed fight club, se7en, the video for "judith" ... on the other hand, he's directed paula abdul videos, madonna videos, george michael videos. they may or may not be great videos. i havent seen them. but the idea scares me.

 

i think this topic needs to be discussed further. good call primetime.

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Assholery and calling people on idiocy are two entirely different things. And you make a good point with Fincher. I think that his movies are all very well and uniquely directed. Although Alien3 did not stand up to the test of time in my opinion, it still has a really cool feel to it that makes it stand out from the others.

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no reason to attact my musc. i just like to write. and about snorting coke? whats the relevance...i guess you get a lot of satisfaction attacking people you know so little about. aside, the reason i pointed out the incorrect spelling is because that makes him even more underappreciated. i hope you can relax now, i didnt mean to have such a huge effect on your life that you create fiction about me.

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so i was thinking about it some more on the bus..

 

I also really liked The Game by David Fincher. Sure, it had a stupid ending, and sure it was completely ridiculous at parts, but the pacing made it really entertaining.

 

others that i don't think have been mentioned:

 

-danny boyle (28 days later, trainspotting) ought to be at least considered.

-j.j. abrams (Lost, MI:3, upcoming star trek movie).. certainly not in the same company yet as many of the people mentioned, but i always look forward his stuff.

-peter weir (master and commander, truman show, dead poets)

-marc forster (stay, finding neverland, monster's ball)

 

and of course, the best director in the history of movies

M NIGHT SHMAMMILAMMAN

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I think Sixth Sense and Unbreakable were very good, and I really liked Signs, but that got the same treatment The Village got where people just turned on him, ignoring the fact that his stories are still some of the most unique ones you can find in a Hollywood film, and he has an incredible eye for direction.

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I also really liked The Game by David Fincher.  Sure, it had a stupid ending, and sure it was completely ridiculous at parts, but the pacing made it really entertaining.

i totally forgot David Fincher. he is an incredible director.

 

 

and i'd have to disagree with you on the ending of The Game...simply an incredible film. just after you know the ending, watch it again, and watch Michael Douglas' character, his actions, knowing the meaning behind all the things that are happening to him

 

SPOILER (Highlight to View)
take his orders to the waitress about how he only wants water with the lid sealed on. watch it from the waitress' point of view, he's a crazy man. take his point of view, and how he has been lead to believe that people are trying to control him, and this would make sense, and they are trying to control not only him so much, as the things around him

 

Fight Club will become a future classic, as will The Game.

 

damn, i have to go watch it now.

Edited by sodamntired
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I agree about David Fincher, he's done some really great movies. I can't wait to see his new one Zodiac. It's another crime thriller, so if it's half as good as Seven, it will be great.

(here's a cool link for a short about the film) - http://www.worstpreviews.com/trailer.php?id=169&item=0

 

 

Also just throwing some more names out there -

Andrew Niccol,Luc Besson,Tim Burton

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i would argue niccol is a better writer than he is director. theres nothing about his films that really shouts "THIS IS A NICCOL" you know? as opposed to a gondry or a fincher.

 

as far as besson is concerned, ive only ever seen the fifth element, so i cant really argue one way or the other.

 

and with burton, i think he's one of those names that gets tossed around. like a spielberg or a scorcese. i also think he's somewhat overrated, and not underrated. he certainly brings an element of style to film which has been largely original and influential... but his films are more about look than substance. to me at least. i dont mean all of his films either. but i mean,the main thing that sets his stuff apart is that it looks bizarre. i think his actual direction and ability to tell a story and make that bizarre quality work for him came with films like edward scissorhands and big fish. mainly the latter, which i think is his best work to date. that film would be the only reason why id add him to the list. but frankly, i dont think he's underrated.

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I agree that Niccol is a better writer than a director, but you gotta love the opening sequence of Lord of War. I would also agree that Burton is kind of a fanboy superhero, but man he's done some great stuff - Beetle Juice, the original Batman, and Pee Wee's Big Adventure, to name just a few more(Tell me the nightmare sequences of evil clowns destroying Pee Wee's bike didn't freak you out as a kid!)

 

If you were wondering about Luc Besson check out The Professional - one of my absolute favorites

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and with burton, i think he's one of those names that gets tossed around. like a spielberg or a scorcese. i also think he's somewhat overrated, and not underrated. he certainly brings an element of style to film which has been largely original and influential...

You should take a look at some german expressionist films. That is where Burton gets his style from, he's not very original at all.

 

Take a gander at this: http://sopranosfamily.tripod.com/caligari/

 

it's pretty cool.

 

Edit: and ya, I agree...He is very overrated.

 

 

 

 

And for shits and giggles I'd like to add Kubrick and Hitchcock to the list. These guys can't be appreciated enough.

Edited by shade
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Cool, that thing on Zodiac says they are using Final Cut Pro, which is I think what Roger Avery used to edit Rules of Attraction. I will pay someone in blood if they can get me that program. NOW!

damn, i forgot that, Zodiac should be awesome.

 

imagine if Fincher + Avery + Final Cut Pro somehow got together.

 

that would result in the greatest film ever (for me)

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I wouldn't have any clean pants that day.

 

I like some Burton films, but I don't really like him. Take something like Willy Wonka, any art school drop out could take that story and make it dark and weird. In fact I'm sure most people who gre up with that movie thought about it before Burton actually did it. I remember pulling an all nighter with my friends in grade 8, and one of the things we talked about were different ways of adapting that movie. I think too many people like his stuff just because it fits so well with that cool/not-quite-cool aesthetic that's not always relevant to the film, but appeals to the pseudo-transgressive tastes of a large portion of the audience. The reason he ever got such a following was because in his prime, it was cool to be dark and weird, wear black, listen to strange music, and like Witkin.

 

I should also point out that if you've ever watched An Evening With Kevin Smith, it's hard to take Burton seriously.

 

But good call on the German expressionist stuff. I remember watching The Cabinet of Dr Caligari in class, and people loved it just because it reminded them of Burton. I liked it, but it just made me annoyed at Burton because they did it so much better than he did with wooden sets before they even had sound in film. So he's not hot shit. But damn can he make a good movie. How confusing.

 

I love The Professional, so I'm going to set out to see his other stuff so he can pfficially be added to The List.

 

But Kubrick and Hitchcock aren't contemporary, mainly because they are dead, and they aren't underappreciated, in certain crowds anyway. BUT! since they rock so much face, you get points if you can trace their influence to a contemporary director.

 

Big, self-fellating post. I'm the coolest.

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and with burton, i think he's one of those names that gets tossed around. like a spielberg or a scorcese. i also think he's somewhat overrated, and not underrated. he certainly brings an element of style to film which has been largely original and influential...

You should take a look at some german expressionist films. That is where Burton gets his style from, he's not very original at all.

 

Take a gander at this: http://sopranosfamily.tripod.com/caligari/

 

it's pretty cool.

 

Edit: and ya, I agree...He is very overrated.

 

 

 

 

And for shits and giggles I'd like to add Kubrick and Hitchcock to the list. These guys can't be appreciated enough.

well there you go. i know very little about film at this point in time so im likely to say more things like that in the future. just so you know. my film class and i were supposed to watch this on halloween but my prof opted for the piano instead because it related more to what we were learning. i really want to see caligari. that and whathisface's metropolis.

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I don't remember if anyone has said him yet, but I'd like to add Richard Linklater. Of the films that he's both written and directed (which is what I think really matters and sets auteurs apart from plain old directors), I just saw Waking Life for the first time and thought it was amazing. Dazed and Confused was a very entertaining movie. The other films that he's written and directed look good from what I can tell (A Scanner Darkly) and fom what I've heard (Fast Food Nation, Slacker, which I recall being a very influencial independant film, which seems to have been forgotten after the 90s). AD HIM!

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For Movies:

 

Danny Boyle, (28 Days Later was just awesome)

Jonathan Frakes (His Star Trek Movie/TV Series Direction was Outstanding)

 

For TV:

 

Every Director who has worked on an episode of Battlestar Galactica...

It just keeps getting better!!!

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