The single greatest director of the past 10 years?

[Black Narcissus]

Apparently you need AT LEAST four in the past six years, it's in the fine print

PTA only has two in the last ten years.

 

[Mrs. Sawyer]

To be fair, that wasn't the only reason I took it out. I took him out also because I didn't care for the Master and I realized Punch Drunk Love was made in 2002.

 

[DarkSovereignty]

PTA only has two in the last ten years.

He's clearly inelligible.

 

[BatLobster]

I don't mean this with hostility, but how is he not in that elite group after Children of Men and Gravity?

Just my opinion. I like both of those movies a fair amount, but I'd be lying if I said I loved them. I say this as someone who wrote a rave review of Children of Men for my college paper back in '06. It just didn't have a ton of staying power with me, and I really enjoyed Gravity...but also don't really have a desire to see it again. I think both of those films show tremendous potential and he's definitely a director to watch. I'd love to see him get a crack at Star Wars if JJ doesn't do all three.

 

[DA_Champion]

The Cuaron movie that most affected me is A Little Princess.

But I was 12 at the time, I wonder if I'd like it now.

 

[Mrs. Sawyer]

Fair enough. I hope he gets a shot Star Wars also. I know some people dislike that he's close to directing the Harry Potter Spinoff, but I'd be excited for him to return to that universe.

 

[flickchick85]

The Cuaron movie that most affected me is A Little Princess.

But I was 12 at the time, I wonder if I'd like it now.

I didn't see it for the first time until I was an adult, but I still found it to be a truly beautiful film.

 

[-Arya-]

As much as I love Nolan, Fincher, Scorsese, Cuaron, and PTA, I'm going to go with someone unconventional that has swayed my opinion recently.

Wes Anderson

Between Fantastic Mr. Fox, Moonrise Kingdom and The Grand Budapest Hotel, I believe he is one of the sharpest and most imaginative directors out there right now. Is being creative the best criteria to use in this instance? Probably not, but it along with being pleasantly surprised must have some value right?

 

[Mrs. Sawyer]

I was tempted to add Anderson, but I held Darljing Limited and Life Aquatic against him.

 

[-Arya-]

Haven't seen Darjeeng Limited, but I didn't like The Life Aquatic at all. After I saw that, I pretty much neglected his work for years. I don't hold that against him though; he has impressed me far too much.

 

[Mrs. Sawyer]

I knew I butchered Darjeeng Limited.

But yeah, I enjoyed his other movies too, especially Moonrise Kingdom.

 

[flickchick85]

Moonrise Kingdom was awesome.

 

[CGHulk]

Here's an honorable mention!

Alejandro González Iñárritu

 

[weezerspider]

Nolan's the only one in the past ten year range to make the same career leaps and bounds as people like Spielberg and Scorsese did in the 70s. He may not be the greatest director of all time, or even in the top 5, but the only other directors that have had the same critical and financial success are the directors that came into their own back into the 70s. That's saying a lot. He's only at the beginning of his career and he's already considered as good as industry icons, and has crossed over to the mainstream while still maintaining his own critical acclaim. Based on those accomplishments alone I would say he's not only the greatest director of the past 10 years, but the director who has progressed his career the most. He has yet to make a film I dislike, while some of Scorsese's work in the past 10 years has not quite lived up to its hype for me. The only director I can think of off the top of my head that mirror's Nolan's journey in recent years is darren Aronofsky, but he really isn't a household name yet like Nolan.

Nolan wins.

I don't know if you realize this, but Martin Scorsese's films didn't make much money in the 1970's. Goodfellas got him much more 'cooler' in the mainstream, but he's never been a big box office draw until recently, which is all thanks to Leonardo DiCaprio. During his peak, he was much like PTA and some of the other directors mentioned. He was loved among cinephiles and was big in the industry and did well for himself, but he wasn't someone the GA really was that aware of.

As much as I love Nolan, Fincher, Scorsese, Cuaron, and PTA, I'm going to go with someone unconventional that has swayed my opinion recently.

Wes Anderson

Between Fantastic Mr. Fox, Moonrise Kingdom and The Grand Budapest Hotel, I believe he is one of the sharpest and most imaginative directors out there right now. Is being creative the best criteria to use in this instance? Probably not, but it along with being pleasantly surprised must have some value right?

I'm actually surprised it took this long for Wes to be mentioned. He's a solid choice. I didn't care much for Moonrise, but Fantastic Mr. Fox and Budapest are both excellent.

 

[scatterax]

How do you define success? What aren't guys like Michael (I assume you mean Haneke) aren't the best but Nolan is?

Obviously I'm talking about financial success when I use Michael BAYas an example. He's obviously not the best director but he makes money. While your other Michael may be good I've never even heard of him so he must not do big movies. So we have to opposite ends of the spectrum and Nolan excels in both. Ask yourself who will be remembered most 50 years from now. The making big movies, the one making well liked movies, or the onerous makes big AND well liked movies.

Ps I never said Nolan was the greatest director of all time so that list you mentioned is moot. Why don't you examine how many lists in the past 10 years feature Nolan and get back to me. You seem to be having trouble grasping the specifics of this thread.

 

[DA_Champion]

I vote for Nolan.

He's given me the most entertainment and food for thought, but I feel kind of bad voting as I only watched ~15 movies a year for most of the decade.

 

[scatterax]

Yeah, Nolan is a little too dry, a little too...British
I think I prefer Danny Boyle honestly.

I agree, Nolan is pretty good, but restrains himself way too much in "realism", Inception is a good example, while that wasn't what he was aiming at, dreams are much crazier than that.

Anyone else mentioned Quentin Tarantino? Now there's a very good filmmaker that is doing what he loves, but has the potencial to "mature", not that i'm complaining.

These are two examples of directors that I would say are good parallel choices for Nolan if you only look at their work from the past 10 years. For guys like Scorsese and Spielberg I'm ignoring all films released prior to 2004. The two above directors have released enough iconic films in the past 10 years that if that's all they were known for in their entire career they would still be iconic.

I'm looking at what makes a director an icon for my pic. Part of that is being a household name. Not just among cinephiles. That's why I'm including having made at least one blockbuster, or large scale film that made a lot of money as a requirement for my pic. And again, I'm not only counting filmography from 2004 on. So Nolan, though not the only choice, is one of the clearest options for me.

 

[scatterax]

I vote for Nolan.

He's given me the most entertainment and food for thought, but I feel kind of bad voting as I only watched ~15 movies a year for most of the decade.

You are probably in the majority of people posting here. Which means you have as much right to vote as anybody here.

 

[weezerspider]

Obviously I'm talking about financial success when I use Michael BAYas an example. He's obviously not the best director but he makes money. While your other Michael may be good I've never even heard of him so he must not do big movies. So we have to opposite ends of the spectrum and Nolan excels in both. Ask yourself who will be remembered most 50 years from now. The making big movies, the one making well liked movies, or the onerous makes big AND well liked movies.

Ps I never said Nolan was the greatest director of all time so that list you mentioned is moot. Why don't you examine how many lists in the past 10 years feature Nolan and get back to me. You seem to be having trouble grasping the specifics of this thread.

1976 is a great year to use as an example. Rocky made the most money that year and won best picture. Rocky is still remembered today....yet Taxi Driver, which made 25% what Rocky did, is now much more highly respected, more studied and more iconic in film history. Martin Scorsese is a legend while John G Avildsen...not so much. Nolan will be remembered and remembered fondly. However, his popularity now doesn't necessarily mean he'll be more remembered then these other guys.

 

[Black Narcissus]

Oh Lawd! Hanecke needs to do big budget movies to be remembered. Sweet baby Kal-El.

 

[weezerspider]

Oh Lawd! Hanecke needs to do big budget movies to be remembered. Sweet baby Kal-El.

Paul Thomas Anderson does big budget films incognito. He drops the 'Thomas' and adds 'W.S'.

 

[Black Narcissus]

Paul Thomas Anderson does big budget films incognito. He drops the 'Thomas' and adds 'W.S'.

I laughed way too much at this. I will pm you, Cobie Smulder's number.

 

[scatterax]

1976 is a great year to use as an example. Rocky made the most money that year and won best picture. Rocky is still remembered today....yet Taxi Driver, which made 25% what Rocky did, is now much more highly respected, more studied and more iconic in film history. Martin Scorsese is a legend while John G Avildsen...not so much. Nolan will be remembered and remembered fondly. However, his popularity now doesn't necessarily mean he'll be more remembered then these other guys.

In my experience rocky is remembered more fondly and referenced more in the film class I've taken then taxi driver. But both are iconic classics. Its the fact that Scorsese continued to make classics that broke into the mainstream in terms of box office success that he's remembered more today. I mean he just made wolf of wall street for crying out loud. He's actually the best example of critical acclaim meets box office success, so he embodies what I've been talking about with Nolan the best. Nolan, career wise is at the point in his career where he could either continue to make iconic movies like momento, TDK, and the prestige (3movies iconic in different ways) or switch to mindless cgi action flicks as his career norm, like those hobbit movies for Peter Jackson. Interstellar is where he will have to prove his relevance beyond his batman years. Honestly I keep forgetting it's even coming out, but we'll see. Hopefully it's good. Hopefully it's thought provoking.

 

[scatterax]

Oh Lawd! Hanecke needs to do big budget movies to be remembered. Sweet baby Kal-El.

He might be in text books one day. But he won't be in most people's collections. That's what I'm getting at. You can be important to the history of film and be mostly forgotten. For instance, how many people outside of cinephiles know who D.W. Griffith is? Nobody outside of cinephiles.

 

[weezerspider]

I laughed way too much at this. I will pm you, Cobie Smulder's number.

Noice!!!

In my experience rocky is remembered more fondly and referenced more in the film class I've taken then taxi driver. But both are iconic classics. Its the fact that Scorsese continued to make classics that broke into the mainstream in terms of box office success that he's remembered more today. I mean he just made wolf of wall street for crying out loud. He's actually the best example of critical acclaim meets box office success, so he embodies what I've been talking about with Nolan the best. Nolan, career wise is at the point in his career where he could either continue to make iconic movies like momento, TDK, and the prestige (3movies iconic in different ways) or switch to mindless cgi action flicks as his career norm, like those hobbit movies for Peter Jackson. Interstellar is where he will have to prove his relevance beyond his batman years. Honestly I keep forgetting it's even coming out, but we'll see. Hopefully it's good. Hopefully it's thought provoking.

You lost me there. The Sight & Sound Directors Poll in 2012 had Taxi Driver ranked as the #5 greatest film ever. Rocky wasn't even on the list.