Joe Wright, Director.
Films (of note):
Pride and Prejudice
Atonement
Hanna
For those who don't know, Atonement is my favorite film, and it breaks my heart every time I watch it. Pride and Prejudice is my go-to feel-good girl movie. At the end of it, I'm so happy that I'm squealing and probably glowing pink. Hanna was a good action film, though not great. Saoirse Ronan's acting was top-notch, and the concept behind the story was good, but I think it could have used a little more tweaking before going into production. It did, however, have a great character arch for the character of Hanna that you see especially when she turns to her father and says "you didn't prepare me for this." It's actually from filming Hanna that the above picture is from. The thing I really love about Joe Wright is that yes, he gets good performances out of his actors, and yes, he picks good stories, but what he visually does is stunning. The five minute steadicam shot in Atonement is one of the strongest points of the film. But there are so many strong points. He composes the shots, from staging to lighting, from hair/makeup/wardrobe to camera placement that the entire thing looks like a painting when done. Every shot. He juxtaposes wideshots with closeups, he chooses to show things other than the face for emotion. He balances things in such a way that a good story somehow looks and feels like a great story. He also is a master when it comes to working with a score composer. He picks great composers, and works with them to do what needs to be done. He dreams big and beautiful and emotional and real. He shows life in such a way that I am reminded how beautiful it is.Darren Aronofsky, Director
Films (of note):
Requiem for a Dream
The Fountain
Black Swan
Sick, twisted SOB. And so good at directing it's unfair. The performances that he can pull out of actors are beyond insane. His stories are always twisted and uncomfortable and push boundaries that they shouldn't always push, but at the same time, it always says something. What the character of Marion in Requiem for a Dream does in the end is grotesque, but shows the lengths she will go for an end result because her character is so twisted. The Fountain is the least uncomfortable, the main story being a man so deeply in love with his wife/queen, that he would go to the ends of the earth and beyond to try to save her. Aronofsky may not pick the best stories, the stories that must be told, but the stories he tells are told so well that it more than makes up for it.Tarsem, Director
Films (of note):
The Fall
Immortals
Visual genius. The Fall is also an incredible story with deeper philosophical and theological meanings in layer upon layer within the film. The acting in that film is fantastic, and no part of any performance leaves me wanting more or thinking it didn't feel right. It's somewhat of a lesser known film, although it shouldn't be. But the visuals of The Fall are really the strong point, and with as strong as the story and acting are (and directing overall) that's saying something. Haven't seen Immortals yet, but I want to mainly because he directed it. If I want to see something just because a particular director did it, they're good at what they do.Peter Jackson, Director
Films (of note):
The Fellowship of the Ring
The Two Towers
The Return of the King
King Kong
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Okay, granted the first three are basically all one film (and were pretty much shot as such), but that's like and 11 hour film, and it's one of the best films of our time. Directing wise, it's marvelous. To helm a movie like that, you have to be an incredible director. It was actually watching those three movies in the extended editions, and then watching the hours and hours worth of how they made it that caused me to want to go into film. I saw it and just knew that was where I needed to be. Jackson has done more, including a long list of B horror films, and a ton of producing and writing. The actors in LOTR tell stories about Jackson, and you can hear such a deep fondness in their voices, and you suddenly understand how good of a director he is. Actors don't bond to every director (although from a director's stand point we hope they bond to us) and to hear how much they adored him is telling.Steven Spielberg, Director
Films (only a few of the many):
E.T.
Schindler's List
Saving Private Ryan
Hook
Jurassic Park
Jaws
Catch Me If You Can
Indiana Jones
The guy has done everything. And he writes, produces, directs, pretty much everything. He's one of those people. Everyone knows his name, everyone can name some of his films, everyone has seen at least one of his films. He's incredibly entertaining, or at least his work is, and you have to bet that if his films are that fun and entertaining, the guy probably is too. I'd say out of all his strengths, probably his strongest point is picking really good stories and telling them well. They're stories that you can't help but really like, and most of all, the masses can understand the stories and get into it. He hasn't lost his touch, he doesn't do weird things (well, he did AI, but every great director will miss the mark at some point), and he's also proven that he can do incredibly moving films as well. The guy can tell a story and tell it well.There are more directors I like...
Kathryn Bigelow
David Yates
Mark Romanek
My next entry might have blurbs about them. Who knows.
