Furious on Film 08.23.07: Issue 102 - Top 100 Directors #50 - #26 Part 2

Posted by Arnold Furious on 08.23.2007

I guess if you direct a sequel to Alien you’re in...again!

38. DAVID FINCHER (USA)



HONOURS – His latest Zodiac was nominated for the Palm D'Or at Cannes. Nothing else he's done has attracted major awards buzz.

RT FRESHNESS RATING – 66%

TOP FILMS - Fight Club, Se7en, The Game, Panic Room, Alien 3, Zodiac.

OPINION – Much is made of the whole "music video director" stigma that's attached to the likes of Michael Bay. It seems that directors immediately become crap because they used to direct music videos. Well, that's not entirely true. Eternal Sunshine's Michel Gondry directed music videos. So did Adaptation's Spike Jonze. Some of the more obvious ones would be Gore Verbinski, Alex Proyas and Antoine Fuqua. David Fincher started out in the music video market. He worked with some of the biggest names in music including Madonna (Vogue was one of his), George Michael, Michael Jackson, Aerosmith, Paula Abdul and the Rolling Stones (remember Love is Strong? Yep). He had a reputation as one of the best. This reputation in music videos alone got him the gig of directing Alien 3. I think where Fincher went wrong on Alien 3 was taking it too seriously. I think his aim was to show that he wasn't just a music video guy and was capable of so much more. But Alien 3 suffers from the drab approach. While the dog-alien is fun it's not utilised enough and while Charles Dance is a great actor he's not used right. Of all the Alien films Alien 3 was probably the worst received. Not exactly a great way to start your career as a movie director. I still look at it as an entertaining failure rather than just a failure. Good news for Fincher was that despite poor reviews it still made money. This gave him the opportunity to redeem himself with his serial killer movie; Se7en. The camera moves were a part of the dark mood of the film. It was an immediate hit that made Brad Pitt and Kevin Spacey famous and took home $100M. Everything about the film was a success and it set Fincher up as a man to be contended with. His next feature, The Game, was an interesting concept about a guy getting into heaps of trouble on account of a special ‘game' bought for him by his brother. Starring Michael Douglas the central character found his life spiralling out of control thanks to the mysterious game. The studio probably put too much money into the feature and it lost money despite a box office of $48M. I saw it at the cinema and quite enjoyed it. Although it worried me that I saw it with three film students and none of them understood it. Fincher would swiflty redeem himself with his next film; Fight Club. A brilliant film, despite it's shortcomings at the box office, it became a massive cult hit. I think just about everyone I know owns the film in some format or another. I mentioned the IMDB Top Movies earlier and Fight Club is way up at #28 on that list. He's been quiet since then only making Panic Room before 2007's Zodiac. I certainly think Fincher has proved himself to be more than just a music video guy and in time he might even make a film from scratch. To date he's never written a film.

37. RIDLEY SCOTT (UK)



HONOURS – Oscar nominated three times. For Thelma and Louise, Gladiator and Black Hawk Down. While Gladiator won best picture it wasn't produced by Scott only directed. His debut flick the Duellists was up for the Palm D'Or at Cannes and won him an award for best first time director.

RT FRESHNESS RATING – 68%

TOP FILMS - Alien, Blade Runner, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, Thelma and Louise, Matchstick Men, 1492: Conquest of Paradise.

BLADE RUNNER



OPINION – With Tony Scott this makes the Scott Brothers the first to appear on this list and the only brothers to appear on here…seperately. I'm sure you can work out who the others are. Ridley is the elder brother and the first to make a breakthough into America with his 1977 film; the Duellists. The reward for succeeding; Alien. A modern classic Alien featured a blend of sci-fi and horror set against the bleak backdrop of a futuristic and unknown world. The film went on to make $60M at the box office before also becoming a cult favourite and transforming the world of sci-fi. It was the adult version of Star Wars. The technology was there so now was the time to add another layer to the world of space. Alien spawned so much merchandise as well as three stand alone sequels before the Versus Predator flick came out that it's hard to know exactly how much money it made. One thing is for sure and that's Scott was a young and hungry director who made Alien like his life depended on making a killer film right out of the box. Oddly enough when his director's cut was released (on the Alien box set) the added footage ruined the tension at the end of the film and added at least one scene that just completely sucked. I persist that Ridley Scott has somewhat lost his way even if he did comment on the additions being superfluous at the time. But back in the day he knew how to make a movie. After Alien he moved on to another sci-fi classic; Blade Runner. This is a film that benefitted from a directors cut dropping a poor narrative and removing a tacked on ending. Blade Runner, like Alien, has so much quality and was so far ahead of it's time that's it's hard to interpret the film from a modern perspective. Back in the early 80's it was way ahead of it's time. Ridley Scott was too. It wasn't until the late 90's when average directors could make films that looked that good on a reasonable budget. I'm thinking Alex Proyas and Luc Besson. After Blade Runner came Legend, starring a young Tom Cruise. It wasn't until the early 90's that Ridley created something truly iconic again though when he made Thelma and Louise. The iconic ending and storyline thread of two girls on the run from the law captured the imagination. Into the early 00's Ridley made his most critically acclaimed film; Gladiator. Starring an on-form Russell Crowe the film detailed ancient Rome in CGI and created a visual masterpiece to back up the powerful portrayals from the central characters. Despite the recent success of a smaller scale picture in Matchstick Men it's been Ridley's MO since Thelma & Louise to make big, set piece, loud, action films. Like GI Jane, 1492 and Black Hawk Down. It seems he's most happy in that genre and several of his action movies have done very well. Black Hawk Down is the most intense war film that's ever been made that didn't involve Nazis or Vietnam. It really feels like you're in a battle as guns fire almost constantly for two hours. Before the year ends he'll debut American Gangster, which could well be another great film from the chair of Ridley Scott. If he carries on this way he'll climb the list for Furious on Film #200!

36. CECIL B DEMILLE (USA)



HONOURS – Won an honorary Oscar in 1950. He was also given the Irving G. Thalberg award three years later when he picked up best picture for Greatest Show on Earth. Union Pacific won the Palm D'Or at Cannes in 1939. He has a star on the Hollywood walk of fame and the Golden Globes named an award after him.

RT FRESHNESS RATING – 80%

TOP FILMS - The Ten Commandments(twice), the first interpretation of War of the Worlds, The Greatest Show on Earth,When Worlds Collide, Samson and Delilah

TEN COMMANDMENTS (1923)



OPINION – Nothing says "old school" in film making than Cecil B DeMille. When people talk about how films "used to be" they're probably talking about a Cecil B DeMille film. Born in 1881 DeMille began his career in the early days of Hollywood film making completing his first film in 1914; the Squaw Man, which incidentally was the first film ever made by Paramount Pictures. His second film; Brewsters Millions has been re-made FIVE times. The latest encarnation being the 1985 film starring Richard Pryor. As was the fashion at the time he made 11 films in 1914 and 14 more in 1915. He started a Hollywood trend when he re-made his first film in 1918 improving upon the original. His first real success was 1919's Don't Change Your Husband. The cute little comedy about a girl married a glue mogul with slovenly habits including a passion for eating onions. However cute little films weren't DeMille's true calling. He was put upon the Earth to make epics. His first was 1923's the Ten Commandments. Bringing such visuals to the screen as the parting of the Red Sea and the pillar of fire. The film established him as one of the premier directors in Hollywood and he followed it with a string of successes before another epic; the King of Kings. It wasn't the first film about Jesus as he'd already appeared as a character in four films including DW Griffith's Intolerance. It was a success nontheless. To celebrate DeMille re-made the Squaw Man again. He continued to make epic films like Cleopatra, Madame Satan, the Crusades and Union Pacific. The latter featured a massive train wreck while Madame Satan featured a destroyed zeppelin. DeMille was one of the first celebrity directors becoming famous in his own right and hosting a radio show from 1936. DeMille was forever immortalised in Sunset Boulevard when he appeared as himself and was on the other end of the infamous "All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up" line from Gloria Swanson. I think I missed the additional importance of that line considering Gloria appeared in several of DeMille's early films including Don't Change Your Husband and Sunset Boulevard was her own big comeback film. The epics continued towards the end of his career with Samson & Delilah and the Greatest Show on Earth before his final, and most famous, film the re-make of his 1923 hit the Ten Commandments. This time starring a larger than life Charlton Heston as Moses. They don't make ‘em like that anymore. And they don't make directors like DeMille anymore. No matter how hard they try.

35. ALEJANDRO GONZALEZ INARRITU (MEXICO)



HONOURS – Oscar nominated for Babel. Won a BAFTA for Amores Perros. Both films also won minor awards at Cannes. His other film 21 Grams was up for the Golden Lion at Venice, which was won by himself and other directors for the September 11 film. Not the Golden Lion but the UNESCO award. Close enough.

RT FRESHNESS RATING – 80%

TOP FILMS – Amores Perros, 21 Grams, September 11, Babel.

AMORES PERROS



A car chase is the same in any language.

OPINION – I was totally blown away by Amores Perros. It was a very moving experience combining three storylines into one big story not unlike Quentin Tarantino and Pulp Fiction. While it probably doesn't have the quality of actors that Pulp Fiction does it has a lot of emotion and as you can tell from the clip a lot of excitement. When I found out that Inarritu was basically moving to Los Angeles to make a career out of film making I was thrilled. Another great director in Hollywood. Good news! His first picture Stateside was the critically acclaimed 21 Grams. Again he interweaved a multitude of storylines to create an intriguing film. This time he had a stronger cast starring Sean Penn, Benicio del Toro and Naomi Watts. While it was critically acclaimed it was very different so it was hard to get people in to watch it and the film didn't make money. It lost about $4M, which is why it took Inarritu time to follow up on this vision with his third film Babel. Again there was critical acclaim for another story of interwoven happenings, albeit it less than for the previous two films, but again the film lost money. You get the feeling the studio's aren't happy with the box office input from Inarritu and yet they enjoy the Academy Award nominations. I'm torn really because Inarritu has shown time and time again that he's capable of incredible films. Never was this more evident than when he took footage from the 9/11 disaster and edited it together to form an unbelievably powerful and shocking film for the September 11 film showcase. It's available on You Tube if you're interested in checking it out. Just be prepared for a shocking experience. I contemplated using that as the example clip but I feel Amores Perros deserves more attention than it received so the clip is from that. Inarritu seems slow to follow up on each film. It takes him three years between films to get suitably motivated. Based on this we can expect his next film in 2009. Here's hoping for his sake that it makes money. Although I think it's likely to be a smaller budget affair. Perhaps with a more feelgood vibe about it than his previous films. The downside is he's had a falling out with his co-writer Guillermo Arriaga over credits for 21 Grams. It's unlikely they'll work together again.

34. PETER JACKSON (NEW ZEALAND)



HONOURS – Won three Oscars for Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. He was also nominated for both Fellowship of the Ring and the Two Towers.

RT FRESHNESS RATING – 86%

TOP FILMS – the Lord of the Rings trilogy, the Frighteners, King Kong (2005), Braindead, Heavenly Creatures, Bad Taste, Meet the Feebles.

LORD OF THE RINGS – opening scene



OPINION – Peter Jackson is best known to the world as the director of the Lord of the Rings and then to some as the director of the big King Kong remake. But the Peter Jackson I know has been around for a lot longer. He started out shooting films in his spare time starting out with Bad Taste in the early 1980's. The splatstick horror-comedy proved popular and even got him a spot at the Cannes film festival. Bad Taste was embraced by the world and provided Jackson with the opportunity to make more films. His second feature was the cult classic Meet the Feebles. I love this film. It's just so ridiculous it has to be seen to be believed. Cast entirely with puppets it's like watching the sleazy distant cousins of the Muppet Show. With heroin, sex and machine guns. And Vietnam flashbacks ("Lyndon Johnson is very bad egg", "I can't see you bastards!") Brilliant. It ends with a bloodbath of epic proportions. If you've not seen it then it's well worth checking out. I never imagined that Peter Jackson would go on from these humble beginnings to get where he is now but some of his early work is startling in it's crudeness. His third film Braindead is a comedy zombie movie with an equal amount of crudity. After these opening three films he obviously felt he needed to challenge himself and made the arthouse flick Heavenly Creatures. I don't think many directors have made this big a jump from crude and cheap films to something almost Merchant-Ivory in it's contruction. Indeed the screenplay garnered an Academy Award nomination. Lofty territory for the ambitious young director. He always wanted to make a huge film. A monsterous epic. His love of JRR Tolkien had already been established and he longed to make the Lord of the Rings a reality. First he had to break into Hollywood, which he did with Michael J Fox movie the Frighteners. I always thought this was really underrated. It has an odd approach of being both a comedy and a serious drama without really falling into the stereotypes of either. It was unique. So obviously it didn't sell. It's hard to pitch unique to an audience. Jackson had two dreams in Hollywood; remake King Kong and do LOTR. The original aim of King Kong was derailed by CGI gorilla crapfest Mighty Joe Young. The feeling being that two big monkey movies so close together would burn the public out and King Kong wouldn't be profitable. LOTR wasn't any easier to get off the ground and it took years of convincing the studio that he could make three films profitable. Looking back this seems foolish on the part of the studio but they wanted the story condensed into one film. Jackson stuck to his guns and the rest is history. Including his eventual remake of King Kong.

33. GEORGE ROY HILL (USA)



HONOURS – Won an Oscar for The Sting in 1973. He was also nominated for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Also Slaughterhouse Five won a Jury Prize at the Cannes festival.

RT FRESHNESS RATING – 81%

TOP FILMS – The Sting, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Slap Shot, the World According to Garp, Funny Farm, Slaughterhouse Five.

SLAP SHOT



"Old time hockey"

OPINION – George Roy Hill really doesn't get the kind of recognition he probably deserves. As soon as I knew I was doing this list there were a few names that immediately popped into my mind to go at the top. You'll know them when we get into the top 10 but the one guy who popped in there who isn't that high up is George Roy Hill. I knew I wanted him on this list somewhere as a tribute to a great director who's never gotten the stardom or appreciation he really deserves. Hill worked in TV in the 1950's having particular success on Playhouse 90 where he was twice nominated for Emmys. After learning the ropes on a Period of Adjustment in 1962 he hit the big time directing Dean Martin in the Academy Award nominated Toys in the Attic. That was followed by Peter Sellers vehicle the World of Henry Orient. His next film Hawaii was nominated for seven Oscars and starred Julie Andrews and Max Von Sydow. He followed that with another Julie Andrews collaboration; Throughly Modern Millie. This won an Oscar for Elmer Bernstein. Having worked his way up he got the chance to direct the fun Western Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. His first chance at working with Paul Newman created one of the most fondly remembered Westerns of all time with one of the great endings. His further collaborations with Newman bore gold as well with The Sting winning Hill his Oscar and Slap Shot becoming one of the great sports movies. He kept going into the 80's making Robin Williams a serious actor in the World According to Garp before ending his career with Chevy Chase comedy Funny Farm. Hill is a great director and I'm pleased to have the opportunity to get him mentioned on this list.

32. OLIVER STONE (USA)



HONOURS – Winner of three Oscars. Two for directing; Platoon and Born on the Fourth of July. His first Oscar came for writing Midnight Express. He was also Oscar nominated for JFK. He's also won an Emmy and four Golden Globes. In contrast he's also been nominated for three Razzies for Alexander, U-Turn and Year of the Dragon, which he co-wrote with Michael Cimino. Venice handed a special prize to Natural Born Killers and Stone won a lifetime achievement award at Stockholm in 2004. He also has a star on the Hollywood walk of fame.

RT FRESHNESS RATING – 68%

TOP FILMS – Platoon, Natural Born Killers, JFK, Alexander, Any Given Sunday, Wall Street, Born on the Fourth of July, World Trade Center, The Doors

PLATOON



OPINION – Having served in the Vietnam war (spending 18 months out there, he was wounded in action twice) Stone was in a unique position as a film maker. He had experienced front line combat and had the medals to show for it (including the Purple Heart). On returning to America he started into film making as a student and shot his one college film, Last Year in Vietnam, on a shoestring. He was originally picked up by Hollywood as a writer penning Midnight Express, Conan the Barbarian, Scarface and Year of the Dragon before being given his own films to make. He started with Salvador with James Woods as a journalist detailing the revolution in El Salvador. It went down well enough that Stone was allowed to make a more personal film; Platoon. The results were spectacular. Basing events on his own experiences in Vietnam he made a vivid and action packed war movie with a great cast. Tom Berenger has never been better and it's arguably the best performance of Willem Dafoe's career as well. A young Charlie Sheen starred as a youthful soldier sent into battle without any experience. Platoon began a trend of making war movies harsh and realistic that remains to this very day. There had been a glorification of them during the 60's, 70's and 80's. An upbeat fallout from winning World War II (with the exception of Robert Altman movies). Stone went on to complete a trilogy of films based on Vietnam. Platoon, Born on the Fourth of July and Heaven and Earth make up the trilogy. Stone isn't just known for his war films though. Far from it. He's never been one to shy away from controversy and an array of controversial subjects. He took on Wall Street in the late 80's both glorifying and breaking down the Yuppie. He also brought out the Doors biography in 1991 using Val Kilmer's wacky antics to make a hero of Jim Morrison. His really controversial work was later though in particular with JFK, which is about the investigation into the assassination of the former US president. Stone was accused of creating convenient stories to fit characters into. Stone himself claims all his sources were real and that the JFK film was based on reality. He even showed the film to Congress in 1991. He created just as large a stir with 1994's Natural Born Killers. At a time when every cool looking film was written by Quentin Tarantino this was from his story concept. Stone took it in a direction all of his own. Showing horrific violence in an attempt to spoof the media's fascination with it Stone created one of the most talked about films of the decade. Natural Born Killers was loaded with gun shots and carnage and quickly became a cult favourite. Especially in the UK where it was banned on VHS for several years after the cinematic release because of the Dunblaine school massacre. Since the mid-90's Stone has been quite quiet. His 1997 film U-Turn flopped. Any Given Sunday wasn't well received although I personally like it a great deal. It's a big loud mess, which is perfect for a movie about American football. His chat with Fidel Castro has never been released in America due to controversy surrounding the dictator. His next feature film Alexander was a disaster area. A dull and drab trek through history only occassionally hitting the high points you'd expect from Stone. His 9/11 movie World Trade Center was much the same. Nowhere near the genius of Paul Greengrass' United 93. That said Stone remains a relevant director and you never know what he'll come up with next.

31. DAVID LEAN (UK)



HONOURS – Won two Oscars for Lawrence of Arabia and Bridge On the River Kwai. Lean was also nominated for Doctor Zhivago, Summertime, Great Expectations, Brief Encounter and A Passage to India.

RT FRESHNESS RATING – 92%

TOP FILMS – Lawrence of Arabia, Bridge on the River Kwai, Doctor Zhivago, Brief Encounter, Great Expectations, A Passage to India, Oliver Twist, The Greatest Story Ever Told

LAWRENCE OF ARABIA



OPINION – David Lean made it into movies the traditional way. He started out as a clapperboard operator and worked his way up spending five years editing newsreels in the 1930's before getting his chance to direct alongside Noel Coward on Coward's own film In Which We Serve in 1942. It was nominated for two Oscars and Coward himself received an honorary award. This began a relationship between the two where Coward would create films and Lean would direct them. They produced several hit films together before 1946's Brief Encounter made such a huge splash that Lean moved away from converting Coward's plays into films and instead adapted two Charles Dickens novels; Great Expectations and Oliver Twist. Lean was on a roll and after making another adaptation; Hobson's Choice he shot Summertime with Katherine Hepburn in Venice. Backed by American money Summertime was another big hit for Lean and he was off to make his patented blockbusters shortly afterwards. The first of these being 1957's Bridge on the River Kwai. Starring William Holden and Alec Guinness the war movie bagged seven Oscars including one for Lean's directing. Lean was at the peak of his powers but felt burned out by making such an epic film and wanted to take time over his next choice. He was gone for five years but when he came back it was with his defining work; Lawrence of Arabia. The sweeping epic war film set in the Middle Eastern deserts featured the near perfect combination of visuals and score. It was almost like watching a moving painting. While the film is somewhat excessive and extremely overblown at 4 hours it's still a joy to behold as shown by the short clip above of the raid on the train. The use of music is brilliant and Lean rightfully won the Academy Award. It won seven Oscars altogether. His next film was Doctor Zhivago, which remains seated on my rental list so I can't really comment on it. Ryan's Daughter followed although it didn't do very well despite two Oscar wins. Lean effectively retired only returning on the year of his knighthood, 1984, to bring forth his final film; A Passage to India. Despite many collaborations in the past Alec Guinness and David Lean had a falling out during the making of Lean's final film and they never spoke again. Seven years later Lean was dead of throat cancer. He left behind an impressive body of work.

30. ROB REINER (USA)



HONOURS – Oscar nominated for his work on A Few Good Men. Also When Harry Met Sally was up for a BAFTA. He won two Emmys and was nominated nine times for a Golden Globe. In 1999 he was given a star on the Hollywood walk of fame.

RT FRESHNESS RATING – 63%

TOP FILMS - The Princess Bride, Stand By Me, A Few Good Men, When Harry Met Sally, This Is Spinal Tap, Misery, The American President

THIS IS SPINAL TAP



And a rare appearance by the director in his own film clip!

OPINION – Rob Reiner has directed some of my favourite films. This is Spinal Tap is a genius piece of work. The mockumentary has had several fine films made in it over the years since Tap but it remains the original and the best. Christopher Guest has made a career out of Tap-esque films since appearing in it as guitarist Nigel. The Tap were so popular that they even became a legitimate musical group and went out touring even playing the Freddie Mercury tribute at Wembley in front of a massive global audience. Many people cite the Monty Python films as the funniest ever made. I'd suggest that Spinal Tap is up there on a par with those films. Which is a testament to the ad-libbing ability of those involved and also of Reiner's skills behind the camera. Probably helped along by Reiner being a second generation director. His father Carl directed The Jerk and the Man with Two Brains. Despite the comedic genius of these two films and Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid it has to be said that Rob exceeded his father's abilities and achievements very quickly. If Spinal Tap didn't do it then his follow up film would take him above and beyond his father's films with ease. Well, actually his next film was a John Cusack rom-com called the Sure Thing. But the one after that, which I was building up forgetting about the Sure Thing, was Stand By Me. Four kids in search of a dead body told in flashback by Richard Dreyfuss. Four child prodigies (Wil "Wes Crusher" Wheaton, Jerry O'Connell, River Phoenix and Corey Feldman) trying their best to impress. It starts out as a harmless comedy and then part way through starts to get more and more serious with some of the best child performances ever committed to celluloid. Better still Stand By Me has stood the test of time. Reiner's next film would be even better. The bizarre take on the classic fairy tale that was the Princess Bride. Behold the Cliffs of Insanity! Behold Rodents of Unusual Size! Behold the Pit of Despair! Behold Andre the Giant! And best of all, behold revenge and love on a remarkable scale. It should be daft. It should be cheesy but it's just brilliant. And if that doesn't do it for you then check this line out; "my name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die". Inconceivable! Reiner has made some other fine films including the Oscar nominated A Few Good Men and the classic rom-com When Harry Met Sally. After 1993 though he's made a string of absolute crap. Starting with the dismal North in 1994 featuring Bruce Willis in a rabbit suit. Since then only the American President has received good reviews. Regardless he's made several of my favourite films of all time and for that he deserves his spot.

29. ANG LEE (TAIWAN)



HONOURS – Won an Oscar for Brokeback Mountain a few years back but was nominated as well for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in 2000. He's won three BAFTA's the other for Sense and Sensibility. His 1997 flick The Ice Storm was up for the Palm D'Or at Cannes.

RT FRESHNESS RATING – 85%

TOP FILMS – Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Brokeback Mountain, Hulk, Sense and Sensibility, Ice Storm, Eat Drink Man Woman.

CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON



OPINION – Lee made a trio of low budget films in Taiwan before debuting on the International scene with the critically acclaimed English film Sense and Sensibility. His earlier work on Eat Drink Man Woman and the Wedding Banquet had already made him a name as an accomplished director. His first work in America was on the Ice Storm. It was somewhat disappointing that Lee chose the subject matter that he tackled in the Ice Storm as it really didn't suit him as a director. His familiarity with America wasn't really strong enough to provide insight but despite this it's a good film. I guess most matters of the heart and mind are universal. He was somewhat disappointed with the results of his trip to America and jumped at the chance to fulfill his childhood dream of helming a wuxia film. He selected a strong cast and went about creating Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. The film was a phenomenal success exploding wuxia into every corner of the world. It ended up taking more money than any other foreign film ever at the US box office with a whopping $128M. That's completely unheard of. Then it continued to do the unthinkable by winning four Oscars. Ang Lee re-wrote Hollywood laws with Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and it gained him so much hype that he could pretty much do anything he pleased. The result was the entertaining failure that was the Hulk movie. It was remarkably close to the comic book that spawned it and the CGI effects were very well done. Also Eric Bana did a fine job in the title role but there were some very silly bits and pieces in there and the ending was terrible thus causing Marvel to get cold feet and stop the series with one film and re-boot the franchise later. Despite the supposed unpopularity of the film it still took $132M. Which shows you how easy it is to make money at the US Box Office. You just need a film that appeals to children and adults and boom. Money comes pouring in. More than Crouching Tiger made. Lee wasn't put off by this apparent failure, despite considering early retirement, and went on to make an incredible film called Brokeback Mountain. It won three Oscars and for an arthouse film pulled down an astonishing $82M at the box office. Most folks are put off by the idea of the homosexual aspects but Brokeback Mountain is a terrific film.

28. CHRISTOPHER NOLAN (UK)



HONOURS – Oscar nominated for Memento. Won an award at Sundance and another a few years beforehand at Slamdance for Following.

RT FRESHNESS RATING – 85%

TOP FILMS – Memento, Batman Begins, The Prestige, Insomnia, Following

MEMENTO



OPINION – After watching Nolan's debut film Following it was clear that he had a great deal of talent. He was a really creative writer with an imagination that went beyond that of a normal writer and explored different concepts. He took these talents and made the cracking memory loss thriller Memento. It was an instant hit easily recouping it's $5M budget and going on to take $25M. It became a cult favourite shortly afterwards and raked in more cash on the DVD market. It presently ranks at #27 on the IMDB's top 250 movies. The strangest of concepts, an original thriller, the film ran backwards and we found out things as the central character Lenny forgot them. The film was such a success that Nolan's next film starred Al Pacino and Robin Williams. He was also given a whopping budget that pushed it's way towards $50M but the big names brought in the audiences and he had another hit movie. Sometimes the right director comes along for the right film. Being a complete and utter nerd I was thrilled to hear that Nolan was attached to Batman Begins. Although my expectations had been high for a re-boot of the Batman franchise for quite some time. Tim Burton's version of Batman was not great and Joel Schumacher's was awful. Nolan's Batman film was superb. I've heard criticism of the length of time it takes to get from the start to the actual Batman part of the film but that's like complaining about how long it takes to get to Mount Doom in Lord of the Rings. Sometimes it bugs me that people don't have any kind of attention span and it's ruining movies. Because if you go nitpicking at great films then Hollywood will just make more simplistic films for your viewing enjoyment. And while I appreciate the odd Snakes on a Plane I generally like my blockbusters to have a bit more substance than that. Batman Begins was a truly epic superhero movie that captured the spirit of several writers work on Batman. Now Nolan gets the chance to invisage the greatest Batman bad guy of all time; the Joker. If he succeeds with that then this Batman encarnation could become the greatest comic book movie series ever. Unfortunately Nolan's most recent film, the predictable magician flick the Prestige, was a real let down and if I'd seen it before I decided who was going where on the list Nolan would probably find himself a little lower. I have generally enjoyed his films though and he's the most promising mind of his generation.

27. HAYAO MIYAZAKI (JAPAN)



HONOURS – Won an Oscar for best animated film with Spirited Away. He was nominated again for Howl's Moving Castle. He's won scores of awards in his native Japan and was in 2005 given the career Golden Lion at Venice.

RT FRESHNESS RATING – 94%

TOP FILMS – Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, Nausicaa: Valley of the Wind, Castle of Cagliostro, Castle in the Sky, My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service, Porco Rosso, Howl's Moving Castle.

PORCO ROSSO



First 10 minutes.

OPINION – I've heard Miyazaki called the best Japanese animator, ever. I'll do you one better. I think he's the best animator. Full stop. The only thing that holds other people back from doing the same is that Miyazaki's films all take place in a weird fantasy world. This isn't for everyone. Although if you got the chance to see his 2001 fantasy film Spirited Away and enjoyed the visuals then chances are you'll enjoy the rest of his films too. I've seen them all, barring shorts, and they're all very good. Princess Mononoke would be your next stop off point as it's the most similar film to Spirited Away with crazy visuals and bizarre creatures. Most film buffs tend to have seen Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke. Your next port of call would be Porco Rosso. Which is why I've provided the opening ten minutes in clip form above. For starters it translates better as it's effectively set in Europe. The wacky visuals of the pirates make it such a fun ride and it has real depth and soul behind the beautiful visuals. One reviewer mentioned similiarities to Casablanca. Imagine Casablanca with epic flying sequences that you need to pause on DVD to see what's going on in detail and obviously Humphrey Bogart's head is that of a pig. Otherwise it's very similar. Visually all of Miyazaki's films are stunning. Take the flying scenes in Nausicaa: Valley of the Wind or the huge fall out of a plane that kickstarts Castle in the Sky or any of the bizarre creature spots in My Neighbor Totoro. If you've never even seen one Miyazaki film then don't start with Spirited Away, start with Porco Rosso. It's far more accessible. My Neighbor Totoro would be another good choice. It's like Pan's Labyrinth…only good. For an idea of the standard that Miyazaki produces from one film to another check out the ratings on Rotten Tomatoes; the lowest is for his debut film Castle of Cagliostrio. That clocks in at 83% fresh. Three of his films are at 100%. If you can take the subtitles his films are better in Japanese but every film he's done is available with a dub and some of the dubs are quite good like Phil Hartman's cat in Kiki's Delivery Service. Miyazaki has retired once but thankfully he continues to make films and his next film, Ponyo on a Cliff, is due sometime in 2008. Apparently Miyazaki wanted to go back to his roots and make a film with no CGI. At sea. With big waves. I'm betting it'll look fantastic as everything he does ends up that way.

26. ROBERT ALTMAN (USA)



HONOURS – Nominated for seven Oscars before receiving an honorary one in 2006. As per usual with such things he passed away the same year. His seven nominations were; MASH, Nashville (2), The Player, Short Cuts, andGosford Park (2). He also nominated for seven Palm D'Or at Cannes winning twice for the Player and MASH. He's won Emmy's, Golden Globes and BAFTA's and was even nominated for a Grammy.

RT FRESHNESS RATING – 71%

TOP FILMS – MASH, Gosford Park, The Player, Short Cuts, A Prairie Home Companion,Nashville, the Long Goodbye.

MASH



OPINION – When he was given an honorary Oscar the reasoning was "for a career that has repeatedly reinvented the art form and inspired filmmakers and audiences alike". I can't argue with that. Altman has had his failings over the years but starting with MASH he's always looked to make challenging and different films. No one makes a war movie that's part serious, part comedy and ends with a massive football game, which in itself is better than most sports movies. It was MASH, and it's improvisational nature, that gave Altman the reputation as an actor's director. He always saw the script as a blueprint rather than cast in stone. He allowed his actors to work around it and as a result frequently got casts that most directors can only dream of because so many actors enjoyed working with him. He also had a strong relationship with the critics who loved his work. He had a string of critical successes in the 1970's including McCabe and Mrs Miller, the Long Goodbye and Nashville. The latter is the only film I've not seen because of my dislike of country music. McCabe and Mrs Miller does suffer from one of Altman's more irritating traits. Sometimes, when dialogue isn't that important, he'll create a lot of noise around the actors so you can't hear what they're saying. To say this was frustrating during McCabe and Mrs Miller would be an understatement. With audiences finding it hard to connect to Altman he founded his own production company, which still exists today, Lionsgate. The company has been known for taking risks producing films like Pi, Kids, Dogma, American Psycho, Requiem for a Dream, House of 1000 Corpses, Fahrenheit 9/11, Saw, Hard Candy and Crash. It's Altman's gift to the movie going world. During the 80's Altman had a rough time. In particular thanks to the critical failure of his Popeye musical, which had bad idea written all over it and nearly tanked the career of Robin Williams before it had really begun. He made a spectacular return to form with 1992's the Player. It won universal acclaim and allowed Altman to spread his creative wings with the epic Short Cuts a year later. For some unthinkable reason he ended up making Pret a Porter in 1994 and that was a disaster in every respect of the word. Who decided that fashion films would be a good idea? He had time for another classic with 2001's very English film Gosford Park. It was very successful and amazingly Altman's second most successful film financially after MASH. He kept directing right until the bitter end making a Prairie Home Companion while on his last legs. He died shortly afterwards leaving a body of work that's both creative and versatile.

NEXT – #25 - #11. That's right. Yet another week to wait for the #1 spot. I really didn't anticipate just how large this project was going to be! Next week we work our way up to the top ten and the week after all will be revealed. Then it's back to normal with FoF #105. There will be no lists in that column.