Jeff Nichols (Shotgun Stories, Take Shelter) I haven't watched Shotgun Stories yet (but I will very soon), but Take Shelter was one the most remarkable movies I have ever seen. I can tell you why it's a great movie, but I can't explain exactly why it reduced me to a sobbing mess who fell to his knees whilst clutching at his wife's waist. I cried so hard, for so long, that my wife was actually worried about me. This movie shook something loose. It was a most singular experience and I can't wait to see what Nichols does next. He made a film about apocalyptic visions and fears that never once falls back on Hollywood cliches or spectacle. It's a film about characters above all else. It never plays too big or tips its hand. It's a film for grownups who don't mind having to actually chew on something before digesting it.
Shane Carruth (Primer). He's finally ending his 8 year hiatus in a manner of speaking: he was special effects supervisor for the time travel sequences in the upcoming Looper, but his $6,000 Primer is one of the most remarkable science fiction films ever made and one of the best films of this century. Here's a film for a very specific, mature audience. It's not for everyone and it doesn't pretend to be. It absolutely demands that you pay attention. It expects you to think as hard as its characters do. It's made completely on its own terms, and tells exactly the story it wants to tell, and it doesn't ever hold your hand to make it easier. You're on your own. I admire the balls it takes to make a film that can't ever have mainstream cross over appeal. It's too esoteric, too mind bending. He has yet to make another movie. I finally tracked down his 200+ page screenplay for A Topiary, which was supposed to be his follow up, but apparently the funding never came together. Since it's hit the back burner, I feel comfortable in giving it a read. He has a new project in the works, Upstream Color, which at least seems to have made it to preproduction. However he makes it happen, this man needs to make more movies. His voice as a filmmaker is too smart, too unique, too passionate, to just vanish into the ether.
