Incidentally, if I can find some time in my insane schedule next week, I’m gonna try to catch 3 Panahi movies!
@Z.Bart no, not nicolas. I don’t know with you, do you think so?
Alfonso Cuarón
Definitely one of today’s best.
Peabody, you’re a dense block if you think I think Michael Bay is any good, my statement was that Bay is at the top of his skills, as the thread name asks, I didn’t say his skills are much good, and he cannot get any better.
Alfredson, Refn and Aronofsky.
Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Kelly Reichert, Fred Wiseman, Oren Moverman, Abbas Kiarostami, Bong Joon-ho, Takashi Miike
Unfortunately, I think Kevin Smith’s creative output potential peaked last year with Red State. I don’t have a very good feeing about Hit Somebody.
Two more: Pablo Larraín and Paolo Sorrentino.
Tsai Ming-liang
Apichatpong
Ratanaruang
Chan-wook Park
Ji-woon Kim
Joon-ho Bong
Hirokazu Kore-eda
@Nathan – Even Death Proof, while disappointing, was impressive in the sense that he not only wrote/directed it, but was also the cinematographer – and he’d never filmed a car chase before. And before that, in the Kill Bill films, he’d never done action scenes/setpieces like that. So yeah, that’s kinda what I meant when I said he challenges himself and from at the very least a technical standpoint, succeeds brilliantly.
One more: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Roman Polanski After a rather uneven career, since 1994’s Death and the Maiden he has just been killing it.
(except The Ninth Gate)
Also Alfonso Cuaron. This guy is unstoppable.
Wow… this topic has sparked some passionate debate, with wildly contrasting opinions. Excellent result.
I’ve been pondering adding more filmmakers, so here we are:
Mike Leigh
Pedro Almodovar
Gasper Noe
And, I have to say Martin Scorsese! He may not be making the raw, humanistic cinema of the 70s (nor the masterpieces of Goodfellas and Casino), but he is undoubtedly working at the top of his skills.
Filmmakers that are coming through that interest me (one, maybe two good films showing lots of promise)…
Steve McQueen
Yorgos Lanthimos
Pablo Giorgelli
Simon Rumley (I know he’s been making films for over a decade, but ‘Red, White and Blue’ is something special)…
Let me think…
I can buy Mike Leigh, Another Year is VERY close to Naked level all-time sublime. PTA for sure.
Not sure about Pedro, I don’t think he’s made anything even close to Talk to Her lately… but I haven’t seen “The Skin” yet so fingers crossed?!
Uli Cain makes the case that “top of their skills” may not necessarily be something you like, or even a really good form. I think Gasper Noe is a good example because, damn, is Enter the Void well made and damn, did that not make that film one bit compelling for me.
“Darren Aronofsky”
I’ve expended much digital ink on the defense of this guy, but Black Swan is the only movie of his that I find just okay, not really “good” (or better). I don’t really think it happens often that a filmmaker just gets better with each and every release, but the one-two punch of The Wrestler and Black Swan leave you wondering if we’ll see anything like The Fountain or Requiem for a Dream again.
Sort of like how the Coen brothers are never at the top of their form. They go in and out and around and through and generally seem to just do whatever they please whether you like it or not. You get these pockets of moments when critics want to jump all over themselves with, “This is the Coen’s at their best!” and they release a Burn after Reading or Intolerable Cruelty and everyone quiets down for a while until the next No Country for Old Men.
“Quentin Tarantino”
I honestly think Inglourious Basterds gives us a taste of what this guy could do, if he didn’t do what he did. He at top of his style and skills is Pulp Fiction and Jackie Brown, with some love for Kill Bill mainly because that’s when he made clear that he’ll geek-fuck you to the edges of your entertainment center-points, but Inglourious Basterds contained moments that showed he could do something really powerful and very, I don’t know, “real”, if he wasn’t so busy gallantly shooting Hitler and throwing giallo titles in the mix.
“Chan-Wook Park”
I think Thirst doesn’t necessarily disprove this opinion, but gives us means to wait to see where he takes us next. His stuff is good ’cause he tends to do whatever he likes for the story, fuck classic structure and hit points, but Thirst kind of shows he may no longer be interested that other people are watching and want to care, too.
Or, like before, it may just be a small and rather insignificant dip in his otherwise trustworthy output.
“Martin Scorsese”
Like the Coen brothers, if this guy were the stock market nobody’d get on board ‘cause it’s just too up and down.
—PolarisDiB
I agree with Polaris on what he said about the Coens and QT. Every ten years or so they deliver a masterpiece and in the meantime, go all over the place with shit that they may be interested in, even if we’re not.
I believe Hirokazu Kore-Eda recently directed some of his worst efforts ; especially with Air Doll , which I found to be completely exasperating. I also believe Lars von Trier has been accomplishing his best work in a long time – It’s true that Michael Haneke’s recent work has been pretty much amazing , but his entire body of work , I think , has showed consistency in it’s particular quality. Also , Andrea Arnold !
Here are director whom I believe have seriously lost their touch (or directed weak films over the lat couple of years)
Philippe Garrel
Wong Kar-Wai (And I don’t think ‘Grandmasters’ will make it any better , judging by the stills and title)
Pedro Almodovar
The Dardennes brothers
Olivier Assayas (Carlos and Summer Hours are both pretty overrated)
Hou Hsiao-Hsien
id say gaspar noe. enter the void was probably his best film to date, still as gut-punching as his previous films, but he was challenging more through form than trying to shock with ETV. easily one of the most immersive experiences ive had in the cinema in the last few years. ditto lars von trier and melancholia. i think hes still at the top of his game. jeff nichols also. i have high hopes for the new PTA film. almodovar i thought was losing it a bit but he made up for it with the skin i live in – basically all his usual concerns but more powerful and still uncomfortable. haneke is still on top form too.
i think scorcese might be working at the top of his game, techniques-wise, but in terms of saying/doing something new, the last few have seemed quite hollow and left me cold. theyre just well made shells, but there doesnt seem to be much happening beyond that.
This is a fun thread – one could pretty much put up Edgar Allan Poe and everyone would abide by it.
It reminds how facile it all is when people say Godard hasn’t done anything worthwhile since the sixties.
I’m guessing Robert saw Film Socialisme recently and really liked it…
Two more from me…
Jacques Audiard
The Dardenne Brothers
Come on, let’s be fair, besides Haneke, the Dardennes have been the most consistent filmmakers of the last 10 years!
And, by consistent, I do not mean predictable and boring, resting on their laurels and well-deserved award status! They have honed a collective vision that binds their cinema and gives it strength, depth and integrity.
I echo Mr Peadbody’s sentiments on this being a fun thread. But, let’s remember, preference and inclination are totally subjective, so it’s enjoyable just to see what filmmakers are connecting with a globally diverse audience.
Let it run and run people…
Assayas, HHH, Martel, everyone Alan Ongaro said
and particularly Lee Chang Dong.
I think I’m pretty much done Martin Scorsese, lars von trier, Danny Boyle, Terrance Malick and Woody allen. I expect a lot more than the bullshit they’ve been up to lately. On a positive note i think Nicolas Winding Refn is at his peak right now and hope he keeps going up.
Ursulino
I agree about Panahi (hopefully “something” will happen in Iran and he will be able to make movies earlier than he thinks, and will present us with great stuff).
I would say Sokurov, too. “Faust” is huge.