Top 10 Modern Movie Directors

Welcome back, dear reader!

Today I shall be looking at the art of directing, and more specifically my favorite movie directors of the modern era. I have no exact line to what time period is considered "modern" - basically this is a list of my all-time favorites, but I haven't seen enough films from the likes of Charlie Chaplin, Frank Capra etc. to compare them to these directors, and it wouldn't have felt fair to call this a list of the all-time greatest directors without any filmmakers from the 1920-1960 era or so being included. This is a list on directing and not overall filmmaking, so the ranking doesn't quite add up to whose films I enjoy the most, but there is an obvious correlation between the two as skillful directors tend to make good movies.

Here are my honorable mentions: Denis Villeneuve, Francis Ford Coppola, J.J. Abrams, Spike Lee, Wes Craven

10. David Fincher

Fincher is one of those directors who doesn't so much have a signature style but rather has multiple different styles he can switch between, so that his directing fits many different kinds of scripts. Take the down-to-earth biographical drama of The Social Network, where Fincher tells a very intimate human story, and compare it to his work on Fight Club, where everything is surreal and up for interpretation. With movies like Se7en falling somewhere in between these styles, the range of Fincher's directing is quite impressive and all the films I've seen from him are meticulously built and unique.

9. James Cameron

With 1984's The Terminator, he created one of the best action movies of all time. With 1986's Aliens, he transformed a horror-based franchise into a successful action blockbuster without jumping the shark. And with 1991's Terminator: Judgement Day, he somehow managed to outdo the first Terminator film by doing an even better job at directing the action and also making it a better piece of conventional cinema with its sharp dialogue and well-built story. Then, in 1997, James Cameron took a hard turn from his renowned action work to make the ambitious pseudo-historical drama Titanic, which resulted in a film deserving of the 11 Academy Awards it won. While Cameron's action work is enough to put him on this list, it's the extremely impressive directing he performed with Titanic that truly cements his position as one of my favorites.

8. Alfonso Cuarón

This Mexican mastermind first caught my attention with his work on Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban; I was way too young to really understand what good directing in a movie means when I saw it, yet I noticed that the film had a unique style and atmosphere compared to the other Harry Potter movies and that it was made by a different guy - might these two facts be related? Re-watching the Potter movies in more recent years has made it clear that it is indeed Cuarón's genius way of directing that makes the third installment of that franchise so special. Every Cuarón film I've seen afterwards has only cemented his position as one of my top 10 favorites; his two Best Director Oscar wins for the meticulously crafted Gravity and the aesthetically stunning Roma were very much deserved.

7. Steven Spielberg

If there's one director whose filmography one could grow up with, it's Steven Spielberg. As a child you can immerse yourself in his magical family-friendly productions like E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, during your youth you would then move on to adventurous flicks like Jurassic Park and the Indiana Jones series, and upon reaching a mature enough age, immerse yourself in serious films such as Saving Private Ryan and Schindler's List. If you hadn't realized that this spectrum of films are all from the same director, just let that sink in for a moment. Oh, and throw the horror classic Jaws in the mix just to prove that Spielberg can truly do anything.

6. Peter Jackson

Most of the people on this list are here due to having such a wide range of different kind of movies in their filmography. Peter Jackson is here, in all honesty, because of the Lord Of The Rings trilogy. Of course his thoroughly decent work in films like 2005's King Kong helps, but mainly it's The Lord Of The Rings - quite possibly the most impressive directorial feat in cinematic history. His near-impossible job of bringing Tolkien's Middle Earth to life with massive set pieces, groundbreaking visuals, amazing set design and other parts is nothing short of mesmerizing - of course the end product is thanks to a lot of different departments, but Jackson was the man with the vision who put it all together.

5. Martin Scorsese

Martin Scorsese does have a type: slick-looking, charismatic and foul-mouthed mafia movies such as Goodfellas, Casino and The Irishman are the kind of movies he is best known for. The camera work and overall look of these films make them quite unique, and among the best in the genre. He also has a knack for biopics outside the mafia genre: films like Raging Bull, The Aviator and The Wolf Of Wall Street are compelling looks at some remarkable real-life people. While many of Scorsese's works fall into one of these categories, he has also proved to be capable outside them in a wide variety of settings: just look at the family-friendly style in Hugo or the psychological horror in Shutter Island for proof. Then there's the masterfully crafted The Departed for which he finally won the Oscar for best directing!

4. Christopher Nolan

If this list were called "Top 10 modern movie filmmakers", Nolan would definitely be in first place; no other director has such a track record with making films that I like. However, when looking specifically at how good the directing in one's films are, there are three who narrowly beat him out (keep in mind that Nolan still is in the fourth-highest place out of all modern directors, so his directing is by no means bad even if it isn't the #1 strongest element in his movies).

Nolan's strength as a director lies especially in worldbuilding; whether it's the dark and vibrant depiction of Gotham City in the Dark Knight trilogy, the fantastic dream-worlds in Inception or the mesmerizing planets and dimensions of Interstellar, the places in his films have an incredibly one-of-a-kind atmosphere to them. The dark-ish-blue color theme in most of his films makes for somewhat of a signature look, yet his directorial skills have a wide range to them depending on the genre of the movie. While primarily known as a sci-fi and/or crime director, he also proved to have a handle on period pieces with The Prestige, before also bringing World War II to life in a mesmerizing fashion with Dunkirk.

3. Stanley Kubrick

While filmmakers like Fincher and Nolan have made awesome films in multiple genres, Kubrick might be the only director to have been among the world's absolute best in so many genres; this one person has made my favorite sci-fi movie of all time, my favorite horror movie of all time, and one of my top 5 favorite war movies of all time. But it's not just the fact that he makes great films belonging to these genres: Kubrick's true genius is in how his films are never typical members of a genre but rather a whole new way of making certain kinds of films. 2001: A Space Odyssey is a sci-fi film unlike any other, with its classical soundtrack, artistic cinematography and unconventional narrative. The Shining creates horror in a very unusual way, as I described in last week's post of my favorite horror movies. And Full Metal Jacket does the same to war films, focusing very much on the dark psychological consequences of war on the soldiers.

In addition, Kubrick is simply one of the most skillful people to work behind a camera and create a unique look to a film. Works like Dr. Strangelove and A Clockwork Orange have so many memorable and iconic shots, with the camera angles often being very unconventional and wonderful, making Kubrick's films true works of art. His vision was often extremely thorough and perfectionist, leading to many actors saying afterwards that he was a very unpleasant man to work with - but damn it if his films aren't among the best-looking ones ever made.

2. Quentin Tarantino

Watching any Tarantino interview, one gets the impression that he has probably seen more movies in his life than anyone else and also has an absolutely unmatched passion for cinema. And oh boy, does it show in his movies. While there are many things that make Tarantino's films great - his impeccable technical skill with stunt coordination, sharply crafted dialogue and having a hand in the soundtrack and production design departments in order to make the films thoroughly feel like his vision, to name a few - my favorite thing about his films is the ridiculous amount of entertainment and lack of seriousness. As he himself has described, the audience never forgets that they're watching "just a movie" no matter how serious or realistic it is, so why bother trying? Tarantino's way of making things entertaining and self-aware even when the setting is World War II in Inglorious Basterds or post-slavery America in Django Unchained, is quite amazing.

The thing most associated with Tarantino is probably violence, and that is also a part of his charm - he is one of the greatest action directors of all time. Just look at the incredibly choreographed final fight sequence of Kill Bill: Vol. 1 or the car chase scene in Death Proof for evidence. If you're more interested in my thoughts on Tarantino, here is my ranking of his films!

1. David Lynch

I can hardly find the words for the larger-than-life feeling I often get from the films of this strange, strange man. Lynch directs (and also writes) a movie like absolutely no one else, with his visionary style often drawing inspiration from the strangest places. A good example is Lost Highway, a movie that tries to feel as much as it can like an actual dream - something another director might do through strange visuals and fantasy elements, but he does by actually changing the characters and narrative elements in inexplicable ways so that the story doesn't make logical sense in a fashion similar to dreams. Then there are mystery films like Mulholland Drive, where he hides layers upon layers of secret meanings and symbols everywhere while not handing any answers to the viewer on a silver platter.

While Lynch colors his films with darkness like Nolan, violence like Tarantino and disturbing elements like Kubrick, there is also an incredible element of underlying beauty always present. Most of his films feature themes of many different worlds and realities within (or beyond) our own, and there is always a ray of hope in these ideas, beneath all the levels of darkness. This is especially present in the gripping yet ultimately uplifting Blue Velvet, as well as Lynch's iconic TV series Twin Peaks. The balance of darkness and light is often visible in the color schemes, camera angles and visual settings in his films. But if you want to get the true meaning of a David Lynch film, a lot of interpretation and analysis is required - nothing is quite as it first seems at first glance, and this complexity is one of his greatest assets, in addition to the visual artistry and unmatched creativity of his films. No other director has had such an impact on my life or broadened my horizons as a movie buff as much as Lynch.

Two paragraphs is not nearly enough to profess my love for David Lynch's work, so I'll follow up next week with a ranking of his 10 feature films! Stay tuned and subscribe by email via the text box below if you please! :)