Steven Norrington and Alex Proyas.
Norrington is not someone who will ever win an Oscar, but what he does he does better than anyone else (except James Cameron) - badass, exciting action. It's a real shame that the comicbook movie explosion has only seen him work on one movie, the somewhat underrated LXG. Just imagine how great Deredevil, or Catwoman, could have been under his no-nonsense style. There are so many directors today who make action moies but cannot make exciting action scenes. Norrington is the real deal.
Alex Proyas was behind The Crow and Dark City, you might liken him to a cross between Tim Burton and the Wachowskis. But unlike Burton, he can tell a story, and unlike the Wachowskis, he can engage the emotions of the audience.
Agreed on these two. I enjoyed both of Norringtons Blade and LXG and while I didn't much care for Knowing I enjoyed Proyas's other films - The Crow, Dark City and I, Robot.
Others I'd like to see more by are..
Hughes Brothers
I haven't seen From Hell but I loved Book of Eli. I thought it was slick and looked great and the action was handled really well. I think we would get a good result if these guys took a stab at a Terminator film..
Alfonso Cuaron
Unfortunately I haven't got round to seeing Children of Men yet but his Prisoner of Azkaban remains the best Potter film yet IMO. Although I have enjoyed OOTP and HBP, I would have liked to see Cuaron stay on the films.
Duncan Jones
Moon is one of my favourite films of last year. It's great what he did with such a small budget. The practical effects rather than overuse of CGI look good and he got 2 great performances out of Sam Rockwell. I know he's got a couple films lined up but I'm looking forward to them.
Francis Lawrence
I know people are often dubious over music video directors but I think this guy has a really good visual style. While I didn't think I Am Legend was that great, I did enjoy the look and feel of it and I thought Constantine was fantastic (although I've never read the comics so I'm viewing it as a film and not adaptation). I'd like to keep seeing him do big action/blockbuster type films.. I'm probably gonna get shot down for this but I think he could do something interesting with Superman or Thundercats (if it got made live action) or perhaps something game based..
John McTiernan
Die Hard and Die Hard with A Vengeance are easily the best in the series and Last Action Hero is an underrated gem IMO. I would like to see McTiernan back at the helm of a Die Hard film... while I enjoyed Live Free or Die Hard, Wisemans style was too slick and 'modern' for a Die Hard film. Aside from having John McClane, it didn't really feel like a Die Hard film to me (16 Blocks felt more Die Hard IMO) Anyway.. get McTiernans '80's action' style back.
Chuck Russell
The Mask... Scorpion King... Ok, sure they're not the biggest and best films out there but I think he made two perfectly competant and enjoyable films (and I think the CGI in the Mask still holds up today although that is maybe due to it's cartoony nature as opposed to a realistic nature).
Don Bluth
An American Tale... Land Before Time... All Dogs Go To Heaven... These were some of my favourite childhood films and are easily better than what kids get today.. (Dreamworks I'm looking at you). Like Brad Birds Iron Giant, it's a shame Titan A.E came along in the declining 2D market because both were good films... I think Bluth has good storytelling ability... so even if he transitions to CGI animation, I'd like to see more from him. Personally though, I'd like to see him make another great 2D animated film and show people how it's really done.
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