A masterpiece of staggering beauty and cinematic aweOpens with a dream montage – incredible imagery, and then we’re off and running with the hunting scene starting with the camera aimed down at the stream and
A stylistic break for Visconti for the most part— there is some nice blocking and framing in the dining sequences (flowers galore), beach sequences (see below) but here- Visconti mostly uses the slow zoom as
A very strong opening frame from Villeneuve and DP “Roget Deakins—gorgeous picture of the woods and then the Lord’s prayer from Hugh Jackman’s Keller Dover A very strong opening frame from Villeneuve and DP “Roget
McQueen. McQueen has the latest debut of any auteur on this list thus far (2008). He burst on the scene with Hunger- a film that landed solidly in the top 500 of all-time on my
Clouzot. We’re at position #159 here so an auteur with a top 500 film of all-time (Diabolique) and another great film not far behind (Wages of Fear) and in the top 100 of its respective
Made at the height of the era for the epic genre—Visconti’s masterpiece stakes a legitimate claim to be named one of cinema’s most beautiful films It opens with a series of sumptuous establishing shots of
Jeunet. Jeunet isn’t here without Amelie (less and less top 500 all-time films remaining as we’re at the #158th best director of all-time) but that 1-4 below is very solid. The films are imaginative, handsomely
Anthony Mann. Mann has 14 archiveable films—unreal—that’s the most at this point with the auteurs remaining who I haven’t yet mentioned as the best 156 directors of all-time. Still- it’s not just about quantity- he
Luhrmann. Baz is the Australian expressionist auteur who is a style-plus director with a abbreviated filmography. Finding a style-plus director outside of my top 150 directors is rare- so that’s the main case for Baz
Alan Rudolph’s third film and the first of eight films in the archives Certainly Rudolph is the most Altman-like of all the Altman acolytes—he worked with him and on projects like Nashville and The Long
Cocteau. Cocteau may be the most inventive mind in an arftorm filled with geniuses-- some of the 20th and 21st century’s greatest artists. His case is those top two films—both on the top 100 of
Three viewings- two in theater in 2014 and again February 2020Utterly astonishing cinematography in the Bordwell definition of cinematography—the camerawork—audacious--- Iñárritu is a virtuoso--- it is Rope, Russian Ark, The Shining, I Am Cuba- Iñárritu
