Wes Anderson. Wes’ strength for the purposes of this list is that a film as good as moonrise, rushmore or fantastic (all of which I have in my top 5 of their year) could be his 5th best film. That’s remarkable. It
It is a key film in the history of film noir Also well-known and often cited as one of the best film debuts of all-time Begins Ray’s exploration and medication on youth (specifically troubled youth)
Ridley Scott. It’s weird because sir ridley is still working adding films to his archives like the martian from 2015. As I said the martian was very admirable but I’m not sure it had much effect on
Certainly well known in circles as cult classic. Cox is/was a huge fan of spaghetti westerns and there’s a lot of the western touch here. Many of the car chases feel very much like western
Herzog. Herzog has almost equal importance in the documentary community but of course that’s not counted here. I’m a much bigger fan of his Kinski collaborations than TSPDT and not as sure on his work
WKW. For the purposes of this list his strengths are his two giant masterpieces and the fact that he is certainly a “style-plus” director. It’s hard to match his 1-2 punch of in the mood
It’s a fantastic film. The reputation of the film suffers for two reasons. For one, there have been countless regrettable sequels. Secondly, the film rights were bought in the US and the film added a
Nolan. Christopher Nolan is the best director to have his first archiveable film in the 21st century. I think for the purposes of this list Nolan’s weakness is that 4 of his best 5 films have
Fassbinder. Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Fassbinder made 40 films in 13 years and died at the tragically young age of 36 of a drug overdose/suicide. He certainly burnt the candle on both ends- he seemed to exist only to
Renoir’s first sound film There is some really nice work with some of what would come to be known as the Renoir trademarks- he does a great job doing a shot, tracking the action, reframing,
Quick disclaimer: This is an ever-evolving list. Some of these films I've seen recently and some I haven't seen in years and am way overdue. I'm the first to acknowledge that this will be different
Von Sternberg. Von Sternberg’s strength is his top three films and his overall aesthetic approach and innovation. Also, as I work my way down from 50 on this list it’s hard to ignore someone so
