The mission, should you choose to accept it, is to find directors who directed three or more of the GREATEST FILMS OF ALL TIME. We’re not talking about just simply great movies. We’re not talking about two great movies and then a pretty good, or bad movie. We’re talking about three or four or more consecutive films that altered the landscape of film and/or changed the language of film forever.
It all started with Kubrick. A friend and I were discussing whether anyone has ever matched this run:
Stanley Kubrick
Lolita
Dr Strangelove
2001: A Space Odyssey
A Clockwork Orange
You could add Barry Lyndon and take out Lolita out of it if you wanted to really be pure about GREATEST FILMS OF ALL TIME but I would keep in Lolita, myself. You could also add Spartacus, Paths of Glory and The Killing. It is, ultimately, a matter of preference.
Kubrick set the bar. No question about it. But could anyone equal that level of greatness? Here are the ones we came up with:
David Lean
The Bridge on the River Kwai
Lawrence of Arabia
Dr. Zhivago
Stanley Kubrick and David Lean. Got it. Now who else? How about Elia Kazan, whose absolutely brilliant A Face in the Crowd has the rare distinction of being one of the few films to get zero Oscar nominations – watch it and you will see what an Oscar fail that really was.
Elia Kazan, not even counting Streetcar:
On the Waterfront
East of Eden
Baby Doll
A Face in the Crowd
Kazan fits. Big time. But what about the Master of Suspense himself, the man who really did rewrite film language, Alfred Hitchcock? He had many pockets of greatness throughout, like a Notorious here, a Rope there, Strangers on a Train and I Confess together but Dial M for Murder follows next before Rear Window and that breaks the count. But you do have:
Alfred Hitchcock
Vertigo
North by Northwest
Psycho
That more than fits. Hitch gets to stay. Now, what about Francis Ford Coppola?
Francis Ford Coppola
The Godfather
The Conversation
The Godfather Part II
Apocalypse Now
Oh yeah. Coppola is in.
I don’t think you can talk about changing the language of film without the great Fellini — so you’d have:
Federico Fellini
La Dolce Vita
8 1/2
Juliet of the Spirits
Our top tier pantheon is: Kubrick, Coppola, Lean, Kazan, Hitchcock, Fellini.
Perhaps we can talk about Ingmar Bergman, with:
Ingmar Bergman
Smiles of a Summer Night
The Seventh Seal
Wild Strawberries
Or:
Through a Glass Darkly
Winter Light
The Silence
Then our pantheon becomes: Kubrick, Coppola, Lean, Kazan, Hitchcock, Fellini, Bergman.
Billy Wilder is a good contender but his films were paired in twos: Double Indemnity and the Lost Weekend; and Some Like it Hot and The Apartment.
These are the borderline picks:
Nicolas Roeg
Don’t Look Now
The Man Who Fell to Earth
Bad Timing: A Sensual Obsession
Mel Brooks
Blazing Saddles
Young Frankenstein
Silent Movie
High Anxiety
Hal Ashby
Harold and Maude
The Last Detail
Shampoo
(You could add Bound for Glory, Coming Home and Being There too if you wanted)
Robert Altman
MASH
Brewster McCloud
McCabe and Mrs. Miller
Images
The Long Goodbye
David Cronenberg
Scanners
Videodrome
The Dead Zone
The Fly
Dead Ringers
Roman Polanski
Chinatown
The Tenant
Tess
Howard Hawks
To Have and Have Not
The Big Sleep
Red River
Or you could go:
Bringing Up Baby
Only Angels Have Wings
His Girl Friday
Sergeant York
Ball of Fire
Sergio Leone
A Fistful of Dollars
For a Few Dollars More
The Good, The Bad and the Ugly
Once Upon a Time in the West
Orson Welles
Citizen Kane
The Magnificent Ambersons
The Stranger
Francois Truffaut
The 400 Blows
Shoot the Pianist
Jules and Jim
Martin Scorsese
Mean Streets
Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore
Taxi Driver
New York, New York (only one that doesn’t fit)
The Last Waltz
Raging Bull
Woody Allen
Annie Hall
Interiors
Manhattan
Pedro Almodovar
All About My Mother
Talk to Her
Bad Education
Joel and Ethan Coen
Blood Simple
Raising Arizona
Miller’s Crossing
or you could go:
No Country for Old Men
Burn After Reading
A Serious Man
David Fincher
Se7en
The Game
Fight Club
Panic Room
Zodiac
Or you could go:
Zodiac
Benjamin Button
Social Network
Steven Spielberg
Jaws
Close Encounters
1941
Raiders
E.T.
William Wyler
The Little Foxes
Mrs. Miniver
The Best Years of Our Lives
Jane Campion
Sweetie
An Angel at My Table
The Piano
Quentin Tarantino
Reservoir Dogs
Pulp Fiction
Jackie Brown
Paul Thomas Anderson
Boogie Nights
Magnolia
Punch-Drunk Love
There Will Be Blood
The Master
Alfonso Cuaron
Y Tu Mama También
Harry Potter Prisoner of Azkaban (doesn’t fit)
Children of Men
Gravity
Ang Lee
Eat Drink Man Woman
Sense and Sensibility
The Ice Storm
Peter Weir
Gallipoli
The Year of Living Dangerously
Witness
So, readers, whom did we leave off this fine list? Let us know in the comments.
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Alfonso Cuaron’s Harry Potter still stands high and above the rest, save maybe for Chris Columbus’s magic-infused yet poorly acted original. Just had to throw that out there. The final director was quite crap.
Late to this party, but I’m very surprised no one made a case for John Ford. I am not personally a fan of him, but in a two-year span, he directed:
Stagecoach
Young Mr. Lincoln
Drums Along the Mohawk
The Grapes of Wrath
The Long Voyage Home
Three Best Pic nominees, one up for Supporting Actress, and one of Henry Fonda’s best showcases. I wasn’t that impressed by Stagecoach or TLVH and haven’t seen Drums or Lincoln, but like I said, I’m surprised no one mentioned Ford. These films are all better reviewed than some of the films mentioned in comments above.
Perhaps these are a stretch, but…
Robert Benton
Bad Company (1972)
The Late Show (1977)
Kramer vs Kramer (1979)
Walter Hill
Harsh Times (1975)
The Driver (1978)
The Warriors (1979)
The Long Riders (1980)
Frank Perry
David and Lisa (1962)
Ladybug Ladybug (1963)
The Swimmer (1968)
Last Summer (1969)
Robert Aldrich – TWICE!
Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte (1964)
Flight of the Phoenix (1965)
The Dirty Dozen (1967)
and
Ulzana’s Raid (1972)
Emperor of the North (1973)
The Longest Yard (1974)
Richard Brooks (again)
Lord Jim (1965)
The Professionals (1966)
In Cold Blood (1967)
Michael Ritchie
Prime Cut (1972)
The Candidate (1972)
Smile (1975)
Someone mentioned Milos Forman, but forgot to include Taking Off (1971) – which is a hilarious look at parents trying to remain hip and relevant.
Although not technically the director, you could make an argument for Walt Disney with his first three animated films: Snow White, Pinocchio and Fantasia. He’s the producer, but they’re definitely his films.
(PS – obviously I’m biased, so I don’t blame y’all for overlooking Malick in the original post)
I’m with you Ryan Adams. I can’t believe Malick was left off the original post. If nothing else, Malick changed how Levi commercials were forever shot 😉
I’m joking there, but Badlands, Days of Heaven, The Thin Red Line (the score alone changed blockbuster film scores forever, something Steve McQueen and Chris Nolan likes to remind us of), The New World has proved more influential with age, and then of course The Tree Of Life. Though I disagree with the perception of To the Wonder, that is the only film in his filmography that hasn’t had an impact on film history.
John Ford?
D.W. Griffith?
Walt Disney?
I can’t believe only one other person has said Preston Sturges. In terms of a run of films all in a row, there’s really no one more impressive who burnt so bright for such a short period and then struggled forever after. Eight films in a row, seven of them in just two years, five of them masterpieces, three of them classics. I think we have a winner.
Frankenheimer:
Birdman of Alcatratz, The Manchurian Candidate, Seven Days in May. Maybe even All Fall Down. Unfortunately the Paranoia trilogy had The Train in between Seven Days and Seconds, or else I’d choose that as well. It seems like Frankenheimer is becoming forgotten, which is a shame.
Also, Elaine May’s first three films,
It’s taken me a while to go back a read the comments.
” The natural candlelit chiaroscuro of Barry Lyndon? McCabe and Mrs Miller had already pioneered the methods of “forcing” low-light filmstock 4 years earlier. ”
Not the same thing, but at any rate neither one had anything on Bergman/Nykvist demonstrating that a conversation could be lit by one single candle on 16mm(!!) in 1968. Same principle, they just expanded on it, Kubrick did anyways. Everything Kubrick did is next-level.
Because Altman had such a unique style and vision I’d list his entire filmography as influential and great. Even the less than perfect ones were made with his creative stamp.
SHORT CUTS and THE PLAYER. Sandwich them with Vincent & Theo and Pret-a-Porter and you have four movies better than the very best of many directors.
Hmmm, never knew you liked Watchmen, Ryan. Although it had flaws I felt it was handled about as best as it could’ve been, with a few scenes that stood among my favorite of that year. I never looked at Sight on Sound before so thanks for introducing me to another good site!
Thanks to all of you my Netflix queue has increased to maybe 60 movies! I’m shocked at how little of the classics I’ve seen, specifically the foreign films.
Wow, way too many directors have been mentioned here. It seems to have gotten out of hand now that people like John Hughes are being mentioned lol. Only a few directors here could actually be called great, let alone produced consecutive masterpieces. Much as I love David Lean I disagree. Bridge on the River Kwai and Dr. Zhivago are not great films, certainly not like Lawrence or Brief Encounter. The only American director I could put forward is Francis Ford Coppola, who had an extraordinary run in the 1970s, as we know. David Fincher does not belong. Neither does Scorsese, or Spielberg, or Paul Thomas Anderson, or Mike Nichols (please).
thanks, Kane. Fixed. Freudian typo.
Trust me, while scouring around to look for a Kubrick piece that I could cast aspersions on, I would not have chosen to pick a fight with the esteemed Sight & Sound. 🙂
(although Sight on Sound articles are usually more sound that this one, I was glad to find some sketchy stretching going on to help make my point — namely, Six Degrees of Stanley Kubrick is not a game I like to play).
And I like Watchmen too.
Jacques Tati:
Mr. Hulot’s Holiday
Mon Oncle
Playtime
Tony Richardson
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962)
Tom Jones (1963)
The Loved One (1965)
Ryan, the site you listed is Site on Sound, not Sight & Sound. Didn’t think Sight & Sound would list Watchmen (which I love) alongside Kubrick 😉
@Ryan
Just reading that Sound On Sight article {which is actually 40 films} that you linked someway up there. And as interesting as it is, the references to “Kubrickian” is really starting to piss me off. And I have only read 40 through 28. There are some very valid mentions there – Compliance and Little Children are quite shrewd picks – but if you word anything well enough you can make Finding Nemo and Betty Blue seem “Kubrickian”. It is, at times while reading it, like these directors don’t have minds or styles of their own.
I will finish reading it, though, as it has its merits as an article, and I am something of a movie whore…
Steve McQueen’s directorial career start is pretty impressive to say the least:
HUNGER
SHAME
12 YEARS A SLAVE
I now feel the urge to revise my all-time top 10 movies, which changes slightly probably every six months or so, but feel Modern Times is one of those that never leaves the list.
Hou Hsiao-Hsien
A Summer at Grandpas all the way through to Flowers of Shanghai
It’s a pity Ang Lee made Ride with the Devil before Crouching Tiger or that would be quite a lineup for him.
It feels like David Lynch should be here, but there’s always one film out of place. If you can take Dune seriously, Eraserhead, The Elephant Man, Dune and Blue Velvet make a pretty provocative foursome, but Lost Highway, The Straight Story and Mulholland Drive are perhaps a more convincing bet.
Also – Akira Kurosawa. Kagemusha, Ran & Dreams should count for something.
You could also make a strong argument for Sergei Eisenstein with Strike, Battleship Potemkin and October
Charlie Chaplin for everything.
And Woody Allen should be extended: Sleeper, Love and Death, Annie Hall, (Interiors), Manhattan
Lastly, although the rest of his filmography is all over the place, what a mind blowing run for Francis Ford Coppola!!
“These comments make me think to add:
I think the filmmakers / directors who are so “like no-other”, so “they are 1 of 1″ are:
Charles Chaplin
Stanley Kubrick
Joel and Ethan Coen
Ang Lee
Terrence Malick
David Lynch”
I feel like I should add Spike Lee as well.
Cool, thanks Bryce! Yeah, I will check them out on Netflix. I really like the slapstick method of humor, unless it’s Adam Sandler and Jim Carrey.
These comments make me think to add:
I think the filmmakers / directors who are so “like no-other”, so “they are 1 of 1” are:
Charles Chaplin
Stanley Kubrick
Joel and Ethan Coen
Ang Lee
Terrence Malick
David Lynch
Al, I have seen a few. There’re a couple available on Netflix instant. I think they have DUCK SOUP too, but I’d give priority to Keaton. You’ll laugh *much* more and his movies are just better.
Ryan, fully agree that is tiring so many “young” directors who can’t name anyone beyond Kubrick. I suppose we have to depend on Scorsese to recue us from their substandard talking points. Also, why not beat them to the punch and ask Jeff Nichols on his next interview what his favorite Lubitsch is. I reckon your average interviewer is at as much fault. Now you have to admit, Kubrick’s films are very “hip/cool” so credit to him 🙂 –and as you’ve pointed out before on similar/related matters, AD’s readership knows better as demonstrated by the thread.
“and what movie is that from anyways?”
Which one?
“And anyways why doesn’t spell check tell me that goinf is not a word?”
I ges yur comptr isntt vere smrt
Bryce, I have yet to see a Buster Keaton movie. I’m bad, but I somehow have missed his stuff thus far. I should probably start with The General (1926). And then there’s the Marx brothers. Haven’t seen Duck Soup (1933) yet either.
I have new assignments. Plus, I have already been thinking of re-watching 2001.
Ha no problem, Al. I didn’t mean you; though my head would explode if I have incorporate Chaplin into this. But yeah CITY LIGHTS is my fave. Are you team Chaplin or team Keaton and what movie is that from anyways?
And anyways why doesn’t spell check tell me that goinf is not a word?
When I think influential films, I think of:
Psycho (1960)
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
Star Wars (1977)
Blade Runner (1982)
The Matrix (1999)
Black Hawk Down (2001)
Bryce, steve50. I’m not arguing! I’m only trying to honestly confess that I don’t see how Lolita, Dr Strangelove, 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange had much influence on movies that followed. (I wish they had!)
But you’ve convinced me now that 2001 created a serious intellectual niche for sci-fi that set a new standard for generations of directors who followed.
Now I wish some of the same people who praise Kubrick for breaking that ground would have more tolerance for today’s directors who make honorable efforts to seed the ground Kubrick broke. Because it sometimes seems as if some people automatically dismiss “effects films” as factory-made junk. So it’s like, “Yay Kubrick for inventing a new language!” and “Fuck anybody else who tries to speak that language.”
And then there’s the ending of Modern Times, where they just end up destitute again, walking down that dirt road, off to who-know’s-where, to do who-know’s what….
But then again, I guess that might be the point of Chaplin’s “The Tramp” character. He’s not supposed to succeed.
Heck, I guess you could say that City Lights is open-ended. Does the girl think he’s cute now that she has sight? Will they end up together afterall, or will he just go back to being a troublemaker??
Ha ha! Sorry Bryce, didn’t mean to change the topic of the conversation. 😉
Wait nvm I can’t keep up with all the angles the convo is coming from…
Well the boy running to the beach and then facing the camera. Open-ended? Yes. Do we know what will be of him? No. What’s gonna happen to him?!?! Where’s he’s going to head next?!?! Why is this Truffaut person reassuring us that he’s goinf to be OK?!?! Yes I want to know for many many reasons all of which arose because the movie is masterpiece (of course). But I think there’s much more to 2001’s “ending” than OMG will they find what they’re looking for? But they did find it, right? Was that it? What’s gonna happen next and what’s that giant luminous baby? Also are we only talking about the whole shenanigans after the “lights” or ONLY about the “star child”? Either way I think it’s a simplification to say that Clever Ol’ Kubrick just took the ending of such and such open-ended films of which there were several before 2001. I guess Steve50 is saying Kubrick took “open-ended” to the next level, metaphysical, symbolical, surreal, philosophical and all that’s been said and argued before, but for now I’ll avoid going into the “interpretations” because I’m not a fanboy*
*I am
You know, I mentioned Charles Chaplin and his run of:
The Gold Rush (1925) – The Circus (1928) – City Lights (1931) – Modern Times (1936) – The Great Dictator (1940)
I think they’re great. In fact, I just watched City Lights and Modern Times the last few nights. (BTW, I think Modern Times is a Masterpiece), so it’s just coincidental that Sasha thought of this topic. But, my point is that as great as they are, I’m wondering what their impact was / has been on films that came after them. Just how influential were they?
No you are making sense. I do see what you mean. I’m kidding around using Gone With the Wind as an example.
You’re right that ambiguity in movies wasn’t familiar to audiences. But it wasn’t unheard of.
I wonder how audiences felt in 1951. Leaving the theatre after hearing these words: “Watch the skies everywhere. Keep looking. Keep watching the skies.”
(UFO sightings surged in 1951, and they’ve been a thing ever since.)
But in the 400 Blows (and GWTW) you understood what went before – and my point was sci-fi specific and not just the ending. Guess I’m not making sense.
It’s not explained away in the last few minutes of the film so everyone feels better when they leave the theatre. That was a first, to my knowledge.
I absolutely agree, almost. But it could also be argued that Kubrick took the ending of The 400 Blows and attached it to a sci-f movie. That was incredibly clever, and it certainly did blow people’s minds. Especially people who had never seen an open-ended movie that left people hanging and wondering what happens next. Like Gone With the Wind, for instance.
I wasn’t using Kubrick (or Altman) as originators, only as two directors who went to the extreme to create a different experience. Of course Kubrick learned from those who came before him – he didn’t hatch from a pod and say “I think I’ll make a ballpoint pen appear to float in space”.
Kubrick made Sci-fi serious and beyond comprehension. It’s not explained away in the last few minutes of the film so everyone feels better when they leave the theatre. That was a first, to my knowledge. That makes it a benchmark.
Nearly every director listed by AD commentors did something to them to knock them off their guard, to make them notice something they hadn’t before. When this happens on a grand scale, the language is enhanced (“change” is a bad word; language doesn’t change, it evolves). Directors learn from those who came before. Without Ingmar Bergman, there’d be no Woody Allen; without John Ford, no Spielberg; no Kurosawa – no Scorsese. They all admit this.
I agree with Bryce that we really all agree. The rest is nuance.
For one thing now thanks to you I have the urgent need to visit an old friend, Lolita Montez.
Maybe what’s missing is the “before ___ was a thing”, but then I’d say the film did away with all the infantile conventions that took over the genre long before its arrival
ok, yes, I will concede that Kubrick legitimized a genre that was previously just a notch above horror on the film study Scale of Scorn. I would have liked to see more directors grab that baton and run with it, but even if a only handful ever tried in the 70s and 80s then that’s better than nothing.
After all, it’s not as if every film noir was a masterpiece. Only just the ones we remember and talk about.
Good point, Bryce. (I do think there were serious attempts to make serious sci-fi films prior to Space odyssey, but most of them haven’t held up very well).
Perhaps you’d argue that Sci-Fi foundations are not as legit as Film Noir foundations.
I’d never argue that sci-fi foundations lack legitimacy, but we can probably all agree most of the sci-fi precedents lacked technical finesse. Kubrick showed everybody how to do it with elegance and timeless good taste.
“All I’m saying is that I don’t think it diminishes Wyler or Wilder or Wajda if they don’t invent a language that changes everything.”
BUT WE ALL AGREE WITH YOU ON THOSE POINTS TOO 🙂 so what are we talking about??
Just for kicks let me expand on another point you made that I appreciated.
“1922 – Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler
1924 – Die Nibelungen
1927 – Metropolis
1928 – Spione
1929 – Frau im Mond
1931 – M
1933 – Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse
Who refined the aesthetic of Film Noir 20 years before Film Noir was a thing? Fritz fucking Lang, that’s who.”
In the same way though, 2001 revolutionized the Sci-Fi aesthetic, manipulation, and the complete approach to the genre, not only by filmmakers, but by audiences. Perhaps you’d argue that Sci-Fi foundations are not as legit as Film Noir foundations. Maybe what’s missing is the “before ___ was a thing”, but then I’d say the film did away with all the infantile conventions that took over the genre long before its arrival — because METROPOLIS, as great as it was, wasn’t nearly as influential to the genre; by this I mean whatever came out between 1927 and 1968. 2001 “triggered” SOLARIS for Pete’s sake, which was a response to it from Andrei because he thought it was too cold or something. It paved the way for ALIEN, BLADE RUNNER, STAR WARS. It is the reason why the unabashedly-serious and adult THE THING (1982) is so unlike THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD(1951) but just as -if not more- crucial than Hawkes’ classic. The reason why THE FLY (1986) thank God is not THE FLY (1958). CGI is just the new way they go about to creating “stuff” in movies, but all the serious CGI-heavy sci-fi efforts of recent times (THE MATRIX, SUNSHINE, GRAVITY) are made to look the way they do because of 2001, regardless if what we’re seeing is an practical lit model/set or computer generated. I suppose this is a way in which I see film before and after 2001.
Bryce, steve50, and anyone else who’s not sick of me already… Here’s a very fine collection of 10 films gathered by
Sight & SoundSight on Sound that they have labeled as Kubrickian.Notice something cute? One of those Kubrickian movies (La Ronde) was made before Kubrick himself made any movie. Another Kubrickian movie (Metropolis) was made a year before Kubrick was born.
It’s this kind of thing that makes me want to remind myself (and anyone else who will listen) that Terrence Malick learned as much film language from Max Ophuls as he did from Kubrick. I understand that it’s hip and cool for directors to say they owe everything to Kubrick, but to me that’s an insult to all the directors who came before Kubrick and to whom Kubrick himself owes so much.
Bresson
Diary of a country priest
A man escaped
Pickpocket
###
Au hasard balthazar
Mouchette
You’ve made me break my 2014: resolution: no Tom Hooper snipes. Happy?
I’m tingling. Thanks.
That’s essentially what I said before, Bryce:
These directors we’ve all been naming all threw their own hooks into the stream of film history.
Film history before __X__ and film history after __X__ felt the impact of __X__ existing where __X__ previously didn’t exist.
But that’s not unique to Kubrick, right? That can be said of 3 dozen directors or more.
I can honestly say that I do feel a seismic shift in the way movies look and feel pre-Citizen Kane and post-Citizen Kane (although I’m not sure whether that might be a result of Kane riding the crest of the new wave that might have already been evolving).
Likewise I feel a distinct dividing line in the style of film acting, pre-Streetcar Named Desire and post-Streetcar named Desire.
But I have to say, I don’t feel movie history dividing into pre-Space Odyssey and post-Space Odyssey. I don’t feel a change in the landscape.
See? It’s the insistence that these directors had to “change the course of film language” before they qualify as significant. That’s where I balk. Because I do not see how 2001: A Space Odyssey changed anything.
It’s its own thing, it’s its own independent pinnacle. In a few short years CGI would establish the Certified Look of sci-fi, and I’m hard pressed to think of any movie between Space Odyssey and the advent CGI that managed to use the same language as 2001: Space Odyssey.
For me that makes 2001 even more of a singular monumental milestone. I don’t see its language being used by any other director (aside from quoting, or homage, or even parody) — but that’s ok with me.
All I’m saying is that I don’t think it diminishes Wyler or Wilder or Wajda if they don’t invent a language that changes everything.
Wong Kar Wai
Days of Being Wild
Chungking Express
***
In the Mood for Love
2046
Bergman
The Seventh Seal
Wild Strawberries
***
Winter Light
The Silence
***
Cries and Whispers
Scenes from a Marriage
Rohmer
Claire’s Knee
Chloe in the Afternoon
***
Tales of the Four Seasons
By “ordinary”, I don’t mean what we would call ordinary. It’s a feeling matter-of-factness created by the filmmaker that takes our attention away from sometrhing unusual and makes us more interested in how the character is interacting with it. The zero-gravity stewardess in 2001: watching her steps is more interesting than the fact that she’s soon going to be walking upside down (it’s not ordinary to us, but we assume that it’s going to happen). Clockwork Orange had tons of ordinary events – it was the precise, almost obsessive portrayal of them. I think it took about 50+ takes to get the spit to land just right on McDowall’s face. Eating and/or sleeping, truly the most ordinary things humans do, are portrayed in every (pretty sure) Kubrick film, almost fetishistically.
“But isn’t it unfair to deny these directors didn’t compose their frames with meticulous artistry and pack them corner-to-corner with expressive details: Chaplin, Stevens, Wyler, Cukor, Minnelli, Lubitsch, Ophuls, Sirk, Ford, Renoir, Kurosawa, Bergman, Dreyer, Ozu, Bresson, Lean, Antonioni, Visconti, Satyajit Ray, Resnais, Carné, von Stroheim, von Sternberg, Lang, Hitchcock, Kazan, Pasolini, Rohmer, Cocteau, Melville, Powell?”
Ryan, you know me better than that. I’m talking about similar style and approach. You make it sound as if I’m equating these directors with Tom Hooper, fergodsake. There. You’ve made me break my 2014: resolution: no Tom Hooper snipes. Happy?
Kurosawa
Ikiru
Seven Samurai
I Live in Fear
Throne of Blood
…
Hidden Fortress
The Bad Sleep Well
Yojimbo
Sanjuro
High and Low
Red Beard
Yo Kubrick invented Kubrick and that is it*, it’s that way of telling a story that won’t let you for a second turn away because it’s so constantly delicious from the first second to the last — it’s almost antithetical. It’s why I’m sure I will see again BARRY LYNDON and THE SHINING half a dozen times each in the next few years. And then again. Nobody else can do it**.
*not really but you know what I’m saying
**to me
You practically have to go back to Murnau prior to Kubrick where the look of a film was so reliant on the beauty of the very ordinary
Not to hammer on this, steve50. (I hate to butt heads with you 🙁 ) But I don’t remember a whole lot of “very ordinary” in 2001: A Space Odyssey.
And I don’t remember Full Metal Jacket or Strangelove or A Clockwork Orange being very reliant on “hypnotic beauty.”
You practically have to go back to Murnau prior to Kubrick where the look of a film was so reliant on the beauty of the very ordinary
The right temperament and sensibility to capture hypnotic beauty is a rare enough commodity that it might seem as if nobody but Murnau or Kubrick had ever previously nailed it.
But isn’t it unfair to deny these directors didn’t compose their frames with meticulous artistry and pack them corner-to-corner with expressive details: Chaplin, Stevens, Wyler, Cukor, Minnelli, Lubitsch, Ophuls, Sirk, Ford, Renoir, Kurosawa, Bergman, Dreyer, Ozu, Bresson, Lean, Antonioni, Visconti, Satyajit Ray, Resnais, Carné, von Stroheim, von Sternberg, Lang, Hitchcock, Kazan, Pasolini, Rohmer, Cocteau, Melville, Powell?
None of these guys paid any attention to details? None of them created hypnotic sensations? I guess I’m easily hypnotized because I can name 400 exquisitely detailed movies that have hypnotized me that were made long before 2001: A Space Odyssey came along. And then what? It took Malick 10 years to follow up and say, “hey, I can do that too” — and nobody else tried to utilize this neat new Kubrick trick between 1968-1978?
I hear what you’re saying about Altman’s use of sound and Kubrick’s languid moments of meditation — but then if we can only name 5 other filmmakers since 1968 who have exploited or achieved the same effect (and if I can name 25 directors who came before Kubrick who did it too) then I can’t see how we give Kubrick and Kubrick alone all the credit for inventing it — much less alter the landscape of film narrative ever after.
Victor Erice
The Spirit of the Beehive
The South
Kieslowski
The Double Life of Veronique
Three Colors Blue
Three Colors White
Three Colors Red
Hawks
To Have and Have Not
The Big Sleep
Red River
The one film of Kubrick’s that did altered the form for the better is 2001. Yes, like BREATHLESS and like BIRTH OF A NATION — so yeah I’m not talking about mere technical innovations of which it had many of course. Lately I haven’t got much motivation left for obvious reasons plus I’m no expert on these matters, but I know where to find a good explanation. I’ll see if I can transcribe and cite.
I wish 1941 didnt exist, because that Spielberg quartet of Jaws/Close Encounters/Raiders/ET is unmatched by any living director in my mind, much less all in the span of less than a decade
One thing that Kubrick did that DID change film language was his almost meditative attention to detail. Malick and Fincher each use this approach, as did both films leading the race for BP last year. Both McQueen and Cuaron used it to hypnotize audiences in 12 Years a Slave and Gravity. You practically have to go back to Murnau prior to Kubrick where the look of a film was so reliant on the beauty of the very ordinary, yet both of these guys nailed it in the same year in very different ways.
Sound-wise, Robert Altman’s impressionistic sound style was probably the most major change in the last 50 years with regards to what we hear. He really pushed the limits in McCabe & Mrs. Miller by giving equal volume to the main dialog and background chatter, then clouding it with Leonard Cohen optiatic songs.
Basically, any director that had three in a row that are now considered classics did impact film language. Maybe not yet, but someone in the future is going to rediscover their look or sound or narrative style and use it again.
“Mistakes” can often become the mode decades later, too. Bursts of sun spots and reflections were considered sloppy errors and then came Easy Rider and countless 70s dramas. All of a sudden, these became stylish – like a burp becoming part of the language. Wonder what Greg Toland would have thought of Easy Rider’s cinematography.
I would add David Lynch with Eraserhead and The Elephant Man
“…create a new language? I don’t think so. Or else more filmmakers could speak that language and more movies would be better.”
There are isolated successful exceptions. It’s well-known (and obvious) that Ridley Scott looked to Barry Lyndon for inspiration when he made The Duellists.
And the Cannes jury was, like, “ISWYDT, good job, here’s your special prize.” (and a year later the Camera d’Or prize became an annual Cannes fixture).
But there again, Kubrick only inspired Scott. Scott benefited from that inspiration but then he translated it into his own language. No need to mimic someone else’s language.
The natural candlelit chiaroscuro of Barry Lyndon? McCabe and Mrs Miller had already pioneered the methods of “forcing” low-light filmstock 4 years earlier.
Several of us have been hesitant about naming some great films because — great as they may be — we wonder if they truly “changed the language of film forever.” But honestly when I first read this headline, I took it to mean “Great Directors Who Changed Film Forever.”
Because I think it would be hard to argue that Lolita, Dr Strangelove, A Clockwork Orange changed film language — since no films remotely like those Kubrick milestones has ever since been produced. Those movies loom large in our conscientiousness precisely because Kubrick’s language and syntax is exclusively his own — it’s impossible to duplicate or even to imitate.
[Maybe]
So instead I took this task as a challenge to name directors who helped expand the horizons of film — not just by pushing their own boundaries but by inspiring other generations of directors who followed to push new boundaries in different ways. I honestly can’t think how Clockwork Orange invented a language or started any new film movements or a new genre of films or a new way of using film that any other director has come close replicating. It’s a language all its own, and nobody but Kubrick speaks it. A Clockwork Orange changed the landscape of film only to the extent that nobody else dared to venture into that minefield landscape ever again.
There were black comedies for centuries before Dr Strangelove, and even the subtitle: “How to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb” was just a playful variation of a standard pop-psychology book subtitles of the 1950s — beginning with “How to Win Friends and Influence People.” That was nothing new. It was just a wild exuberant riff on something that already existed.
Not to diminish Kubrick’s achievements which were monumental. But create a new language? I don’t think so. Or else more filmmakers could speak that language and more movies would be better.
All I’m saying is that we shouldn’t feel like any of these lists of 3 great movies in a row is invalidated just because our lists of movies didn’t create a new language.
When I think of creators of new film grammar I think of directors like Eisenstein. That’s why (for me) directors like Jean Renoir and William Wyler had more widespread influence on the grammatical landscape of film narrative and style. Because, after they pioneered depth of field and mise-en-scene, thousands and thousands of movies were made that employed the same techniques those directors of the 1930s and ’40s developed and refined.
[Maybe]
Steven Spielberg
Jaws
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
1941
Raiders of the Lost Ark
E.T., the Extra Terrestrial
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
The Color Purple
Empire of the Sun
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Hook
Jurassic Park
Schindler’s List
The Lost World: Jurassic Park
Amistad
Saving Private Ryan
A.I., Artificial Intelligence
Minority Report
Catch Me If You Can
Given that we’re including “Bad Timing,” “High Anxiety,” “Shampoo,” and “Panic Room,” I think this is justified!
Changed film forever? Gotta include Cameron.
In regards to cinematic influence I’d have to say one of the pioneers of American cinema has not been mentioned,
D.W Griffith
The Birth of a Nation (1915)
Despite the film’s controversial content, Griffith’s innovative film techniques make it one of the most influential films in the commercial film industry, and it is often ranked as one of the greatest American films of all time.
Intolerance (1916)
Considered one of the great masterpieces of the Silent Era, Intolerance and its unorthodox editing were enormously influential, particularly among European and Soviet filmmakers. Many of the numerous assistant directors Griffith employed in making the film, such as Erich von Stroheim and Tod Browning, went on to become important and noted Hollywood directors . In 1989, Intolerance was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.
Broken Blossoms (1919)
In 1996, Broken Blossoms was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.
Are we doing “good years” next? Like in 2002 when John C Reilly was in every movie nominated for an Oscar. 😀
I would just say that Hitchcock did have 4 in a row. Vertigo and Psycho are in my all time Top 10. Even though North By Northwest isn’t in my Hitchcock Top 10, it’s still a great film with a massive influence on Hollywood film. Any time you see a film which shows nature fighting back against humanity, Jaws included, it owes a debt to The Birds, so I would include it.
Movies that have influenced cinema
Two-in-a-row:
Ridley Scott – Alien / Blade Runner
The Wachowski Brothers – Bound / The Matrix
Anthony Minghella – The English Patient/ The Talented Mr Ripley
James Cameron – The Terminator/ Aliens
Paul Thomas Anderson – Boogie Nights/ Magnolia
Lars von Trier – Dancer in the dark / Dogville
Richard Linklater – Dazed and Confused/ Before Sunset + Before Midnight/ Boyhood
Quentin Tarantino – Reservoir Dogs/ Pulp Fiction + Kill Bill Volume I/ Kill Bill Volume II
Ingmar Bergman – Cries and Whispers/ Scenes from a marriage
David Lynch – Blue Velvet / Wild at Heart
William Friedkin – The French Connection/ The Exorcist
Michael Haneke – The White Ribbon / Amour
Michael Mann – Heat / The Insider
Kathryn Bigelow – The Hurt Locker / Zero Dark Thirty
Spike Jonze – Being John Malkovich/ Adaptation
Jonathan Glazer – Birth/ Under the Skin
Robert Zemeckis – Back to the Future / Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
Hayao Miyazaki – Princess Monoke / Spirited Away
Jonathan Demme – The Silence of the Lambs / Phildelphia
Tarsem Singh – The Cell/ The Fall
Akira Kurosawa – Ikiru / Seven Samurai
Three-in-a-row
Pedro Almodovar – Live Flesh/ All About My Mother/ Talk to Her
Krzysztof Kieslowski – Three Colors: Blue/ White/ Red
Ingmar Bergman – Persona/ Hour of the Wolf/ Shame
Alfred Hitchcock – Vertigo / North by Northwest / Psycho
Luc Besson – The Big Blue / La Femme Nikita/ Leon: The Professional
Chan-wook Park – Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance/ Oldboy / Lady Vengeance
Tod Haynes – Far From Heaven/ I’m Not There
David Fincher – Zodiac / The Curios Case of Benjamin Button/ The Social Network
Peter Jackson – Lord of the Rings trilogy
Four-in-a-row
Francis Ford Coppola – The Godfather/ The Godfather II/ The Conversation/ Apocalypse Now
Sergio Leone – A Fistful of Dollars/ For A Few Dollars More/ The Good, The Bad and The Ugly/ Once Upon a Time In The West
Two-films-in-1-year
Alfred Hitchcock 1954 – Dial M For Murder/ Rear Window
Steven Spielberg 1993 – Jurassic Park / Schindler’s List
The Stanley Kubrick league:
Lolita/ Spartacus/ Dr. Strangelove/ 2001: A Space Odyssey/ A Clockwork Orange/ Barry Lyndon The Shining/ Full Metal Jacket
^ very true.
Robin – how could we forget Todd Haynes!?
One thing I did notice reading these posts – it’s easier to agree on directors who worked 30+ years ago. They made more films, more often, and had more say into what they did or put into their films. While it may not be drying up, the source is diminishing.
I am glad that steve50 mentioned Minghella. I absolutely cherish the trifecta of The English Patient, TheTalented Mr. Ripley, and Cold Mountain.
I think the best of the best include:
Victor Fleming (late1930s/early 40s).
Billy Wilder, in general.
Elia Kazan.
William Wyler, starting with Ben-Hur.
And yes, Burton for Beetlejuice, Batman, Edward Scissorhands, and Batman Returns.
We are talking about movies that have influenced cinema, right? To me the 3-in-a-row would have to be very different types of films – in genre and style to be even considered. Most of these listed above are not influential at all. Kubrick seems to be the only one that has unquestionably done that (and no one can disagree really), and probably some of the very early directors, but I have not seen all of their films to be an adequate critic for that. To me, Hitchcock and Bergman have done that also.
For the partially-influential, but all true masterpieces, Coppola is in (and Godfather films and Apocalypse did that, but Conversation meant very little for future filmmakers). Lean – to me – is questionable, but comes close. I think Dr. Zhivago really drags, but he really invented modern epic that many (incl. Spielberg) followed.
Btw, Spielberg would have had a great 4-in-a-row if 1941 (a trainwreck I love to hate) didn’t exist. Jaws+Close Encounters+Raiders+E.T. would have been unbelievable in modern era cinema.
Wow. I was really late to this party. So, as a result, I have gone for a kind of indie take on the list with “consecutive films that altered the landscape of {indie} film and/or changed the language of {indie} film forever”. A lot of these are not exactly Gone With The Wind, but still…
Hal Hartley
The Unbelievable Truth
Trust
Surviving Desire
Simple Men
Amateur
Flirt
Henry Fool
Whit Stillman
Metropolitan
Barcelona
The Last Days Of Disco
Todd Haynes
Safe
Velvet Goldmine
Far from Heaven
I’m Not There
And then there is:
Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Delicatessen
The City of Lost Children
Alien Resurrection {excuse this, please}
Amelie
A Very Long Engagement
Also, Mamoru Oshii:
GHOST IN THE SHELL
AVALON
GHOST IN THE SHELL 2: INNOCENCE
Satoshi Kon sadly only had time to make 4 films, but they’re all excellent.
I would say that PERFECT BLUE and PAPRIKA had a big influence, not just in the animation world, but also for live-action directors like Darren Aronofsky and Christopher Nolan (for “Black Swan” & “Inception”, respectively)
Satoshi Kon:
PERFECT BLUE
MILLENNIUM ACTRESS
TOKYO GODFATHERS
PAPRIKA
How on earth did you forget the already mentioned Alexander Payne and not include William Friedkin who arguably has the best 1-2 punch in film history with The French Connection AND The Exorcist. You can extend it to include The Boys In The Band (prior to French Connection) and Sorcerer (which I think is a masterpiece). Come on AD Crew I figure that one was an easy layup.
Also let’s give credit to Tim Burton:
Peewee’s Big Adventure
Beetlejuice
Batman
Edward Scissorhands
Batman Returns (better than Nolan’s Batman Begins and The Dark Knight Rises imho)
Ed Wood
Two of the greatest Asian directors, LINO BROCKA:
Tinimbang Ka Ngunit Kulang (Weighed But Found Wanting) – 1974
Maynila: Sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag (Manila in the Claws of Light) – 1975
Insiang – 1976 *Cannes Director’s Fortnight?
Ina, Kapatid, Anak (Mother, Sister, Daughter)
Jaguar *competed for Palm D’Or
Ina Ka ng Anak Mo (Whore of a Mother)
*all in 1979
Not to mention his other films that were also released in 1974 and 1976
Tatlo, Dalawa, Isa (Three, Two, One)
Lunes, Martes, Miyerkules, Huwebes, Biyernes, Sabado, Linggo (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday)
MIKE DE LEON
Itim (The Rites of May) – 1977
Kung Mangarap Ka’t Magising (Moments in a Stolen Dream) – 1977
Kakabakaba ka ba? (Will Your Heart Beat Faster?) – 1980
Kisapmata (In the Wink of an Eye) – 1981 *Cannes Director’s Fortnight
Batch ’81 – 1982 *Cannes Director’s Fortnight
Sister Stella L. – 1984 *Venice Film Festival nominated for a Golden Lion
Nice idea, John.
Bette Davis
1938: Won for Jezebel
1939: Nominated for Dark Victory
1940: Nominated for The Letter
1941: Nominated for The Little Foxes
1942: Nominated for Now, Voyager
Which reminds me, in addition to the set of 4 William Wyler films in a row that Sasha already listed
The Letter
The Little Foxes
Mrs Miniver
(oops, gap)
The Best Years of Our Lives
Roman Holiday
The Desperate Hours
Friendly Persuasion
Ben-Hur
The Children’s Hour
The Collector
Sasha and Ryan, let’s do the same with actors and actresses. This was fun and educating!
John Oliver, you and S read my mind.
There should be special dispensation for entry into the Pantheon, not only for 3 masterworks in a row, but also for directors with 6 or more movies in row where there’s not a bad one in the bunch.
I really think Chaplin and Myazaki need to be on this list! Especially Chaplin, no question.
I would add Stardust memories onto your Woody Allen list to make a list of 4 instead of 3, I think together Annie Hall, Interiors, Manhattan, Stardust Memories is a four punch that rivals the lists from Kubrick, Fellini, etc. While I wouldn’t say this is a list of films that changed film history, I am also a huge fan of this five-long run from Allen:
Zelig
Broadway Danny Rose
The Purple Rose of Cairo
Hannah and Her Sisters
Radio Days
Also, while I don’t by any means think all of these are among the best of all time, I think think all the films on this list from Tim Burton have in some way had a pretty big impact on the cinema landscape:
Beetlejuice
Batman
Edward Scissorhands
Batman Returns
Ed Wood
Jean Vigo
(1930) À propos de Nice
(1933) Zero de Conduit
(1934) L’Atlanta
“A propos de what? Nope, can’t count that one. So that’s only two masterpieces in a row,” some will say.
Jean Vigo died in 1934 at the age of 31, so go ahead and complain. Jerks.
Otto Preminger
1953-The Moon is Blue
1954-River of No Return
1954-Carmen Jones
1955-The Man With the Golden Arm
1955-The Court Martial of Billy Mitchell
1957-St.Joan
1958-Bonjour Tristesse
1959-Porgy and Bess
1959-Anatomy of a Murder
1960-Exodus
1962-Advise & Consent
1963-The Cardinal
1965-In Harm’s Way
1965-Bunny Lake is Missing
1967-Hurry Sundown
1970-Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon
1922 – Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler
1924 – Die Nibelungen
1927 – Metropolis
1928 – Spione
1929 – Frau im Mond
1931 – M
1933 – Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse
Who refined the aesthetic of Film Noir 20 years before Film Noir was a thing? Fritz fucking Lang, that’s who.
And while he was in the middle of doing that he invented the dystopian science fiction film.
Carl Th. Dreyer
The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928 )
Vampyr (1932 )
Day of Wrath (1943 )
Yasujiro Ozu
Late Spring (1949 ) #15 on the Sight and Sound list of greatest movies of all time
Early Summer (1951)
The Flavor of Green Tea over Rice (1952)
Tokyo Story (1953) #3 on the Sight and Sound list of greatest movies of all time
Accidentally erased the R on John Schslinger
John Schlsinge
1963-Billy Liar
1965-Darling
1967-Far From the Madding Crowd
1969-Midnight Cowboy
1971-Sunday Bloody Sunday
Ridley Scott. There, I said it.
The Duellists (1977) Best First Feature at Cannes — “Unanimously”
Alien (1979)
Blade Runner (1982)
” films that altered the landscape of film and/or changed the language of film forever.”
Yes. Yes indeed.
It’s fun, but maybe we try to include to much as I did with Audiard. Rust and Bone, I have to admit, is not so outstanding to be in this club. The task is to find directors who gave us ” three or four or more consecutive films that altered the landscape of film and/or changed the language of film forever.”
And Sasha, I saw that you had Ang Lee on your list, I just wanted to mention two other of his films.
Peter Weir
1981-Gallipoli
1982-The Year of Living Dangerously
1985-Witness
1986-The Mosquito Coast
1989-Dead Poets Society
1993-Fearless
1998-The Truman Show
2003-Master and Commander
John Cassavetes
1968-Faces
1970-HUSBANDS
1971-Minnie and Moskowitz
1974-Woman Under the Influence
Jerry Schatberg
1970-Puzzle of a Downfall Child
1971-The Panic in Needle Park
1973-Scarecrow
sorry to take up space here, but if
someone can cite John Hughes, we
can pause for minute and reflect on
the humongous contributions of Michael
Curtiz during his reign of amazement…
from 1938 to 1944 we were given
The Adventures of Robin Hood
Angels with Dirty Faces
Four Daughters
The Sea Hawk
Yankee Doodle Dandy
Casablanca
Mildred Pierce
Amen to John Oliver’s list
for Robert Wise.
And Ryan’s assessment of the
phenomenal record of Billy Wilder.
I agree with anyone that loved Kazan’s America, America!
Robert Wise
1958-I Want to Live!
1959-Odds Against Tomorrow
1961-West Side Story
1962-Two for the Seesaw
1963-The Haunting
1965-The Sound of Music
1966-The Sand Pebbles
Richard Brooks
1958-Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
1960-Elmer Gantry
1962-Sweet Bird of Youth
Pedro Almadovar:
Matador
Law of Desire
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
Jonathan Demme
Silence of the Lambs
Cousin Bobby (an unusual follow up)
Philadelphia
Irvin Kershner
Eyes of Laura Mars (I loved it)
The Empire Strikes Back
Never Say Never Again
George Lucas
THX 1138
American Graffiti
Star Wars
Terry Gilliam
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Jabberwocky
Time Bandits
Brazil
Adventures of Baron Munchausen
Fisher King
Twelve Monkeys
James Ivory
Mr. & Mrs. Bridge
Howard’s End
Remains of the Day
Jefferson in Paris
Robert Redford
Ordinary People
The Milagro Beanfield War
A River Runs Through It
Quiz Show
Oliver Stone
Salvador
Platoon
Wall Street
Talk Radio
Born on the Fourth of July
The Doors
JFK
Frank Capra
Lady for a Day
It Happened One Night
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
Lost Horizon
You Can’t Take It with You
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Meet John Doe
Various WWII Documentaries
Arsenic and Old Lace
Laurence Olivier
Henry V
Hamlet
Richard III
The Prince and the Showgirl
Ed Wood
Glen or Glenda
Jail Bait
Bride of the Monster
Plan 9 from Outer Space
John Waters
Mondo Trasho
The Diane Linkletter Story
Multiple Maniacs
Pink Flamingos
Desperate Living
Polyester
Hairspray
Cry-Baby
Serial Mom
Peter Greenaway
Draughtsman’s Contract
A Zed & Two Noughts
Belly of an Architecht
Drowning by Numbers
The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover
Prospero’s Books
Coppola may have the strongest 4-in-a-row.
Linklater:
– Tape
– Waking Life
– The School of Rock
– Before Sunset
oops,
FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS wasn’t Woody’s.
that epic was Sam Wood’s
no one has ever beaten the one-two punch of Victor Fleming
with GONE WITH THE WIND and WIZARD OF OZ in one year.
another director of skill and intelligence was Sam Wood.
now HE had a track record of brilliant hits within a short period:
A Night at the Opera
A Day at the Races
Goodbye Mr. Chips
Our Town
King’s Row
The Pride of the Yankees
However, Woody Allen’s 80s list is a modern marvel…
Zelig
The Purple Rose of Cairo
Radio Days
Hannah and her Sisters
For Whom the Bell Tolls
Also, Milos Forman’s great 3some:
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Hair
Amadeus
I would definitely add “Brokeback Mountain” for Ang Lee…
Also for Scorsese
RAGING BULL (1980)
THE KING OF COMEDY (1983)
AFTER HOURS (1985)
For comedy fans,
The Zucker Brothers and Jim Abrahams
AIRPLANE! (1980)
TOP SECRET (1984)
RUTHLESS PEOPLE (1986)
THE NAKED GUN (1988)
Rob Reiner
THIS IS SPINAL TAP (1984)
THE SURE THING (1985)
STAND BY ME (1986)
THE PRINCESS BRIDE (1987)
WHEN HARRY MET SALLY (1989)
The Farrelly Brothers
DUMB AND DUMBER (1994)
KINGPIN (1996)
THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY (1998)
Albert Brooks
REAL LIFE (1979)
MODERN ROMANCE (1981)
LOST IN AMERICA (1985)
DEFENDING YOUR LIFE (1991)
Jacques Tati:
Jour de Fête
Les Vacances de M. Hulot
Mon Oncle
Playtime
Tomas Alfredson:
Four Shades of Brown
Let The Right One In
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Krzysztof Kieslowski:
The Decalogue
The Double Life of Veronique
Three Colors: Blue
Three Colors: White
Three Colors: Red
Lars von Trier:
Breaking the waves
The Kingdom
The Idiots
Darren Aronofsky:
Pi
Requiem for a dream
The Fountain
The Wrestler
Black Swan
Terrence Malick:
Badlands
Days of Heaven
The Thin Red Line
The New World
The Tree of Life
David Fincher:
Zodiac
Benjamin Button
The Social Network
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Gone Girl (hopefully)
Jim Sheridan:
My Left Foot
The Field
In The Name of The Father
Jonathan Glazer:
Sex Beast
Birth
Under The Skin
Michael Haneke:
Cache
Funny Games
The White Ribbon
Amour
David Cronenberg:
Spider
A History of Violence
Eastern Promises
Steven Soderberg: ??
Out of Sight
The Limey
Erin Brockovich
Traffic
Ocean’s Eleven
Andrei Tarkovsky:
Ivan’s Childhood
Andrei Rublev
Solaris
The Mirror
Stalker
Steve McQueen:
Hunger
Shame
12 Years a Slave
Chan-wook Park:
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
Oldboy
Lady Vengeance
I fully agree with whoever extended Kazan’s run to 1963 with the very interesting WILD RIVER, the brilliant Sirkian melodrama SPLENDOR IN THE GRASS, and his beautiful, tragically underrated immigrant epic AMERICA AMERICA (which really should’ve won Best Picture over TOM JONES).
Also worth noting:
Sergei Eisenstein: ALEXANDER NEVSKY, IVAN THE TERRIBLE PART I, IVAN THE TERRIBLE PART II
Lars von Trier: EUROPA-NYMPHOMANIAC (I submit he has not made a film in this entire span that was below an 80 on my 100 point scale)
Guy Ritchie: LOCK, STOCK and SNATCH (two of my favorite films of all time)
Powell & Pressburger: A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH, BLACK NARCISSUS, THE RED SHOES
Satyajit Ray’s Apu Trilogy, humanity at its most resonant
Jean Renoir’s five films fromThe Lower Depths to Rules of the Game, which includes two films that make many best-movies-in-history.
As much as I love JULIET OF THE SPIRITS, the great trio of Fellini should be NIGHTS OF CABIRIA, LA DOLCE VITA and 8 1/2. CABIRIA won the Foreign Language Oscar and holds up slightly better than SPIRITS. As a great friend of mine (and former Film critic) once told me, “I could watch Cabiria every night and be happy.”
UBourgeois, I didn’t much care for Bad Education, or Volver. Live Flesh on the other hand is a great, great film.
My favorite director Krzysztof Kieslowski:
– A Short film about killing
– A Short film about love
– The Double Life of Veronique
– Blue
– White
– Red
Fabio: or you can go the other direction from AAMM and TTH into Bad Education and Volver
Almodovar definitely fits the bill, since his movie Live Flesh (Carne Tremula) is also a masterpiece, and was made just before All About My Mother and Talk to Her.
Christopher Nolan though with The Dark Knight and Inception
OK, one last one for the road. Often we talk of “importance” of certain features. Dear to my heart, and deeply influential beyond the realm of cinematic considerations in a time of furor. The most timely streak…and Kubrick was a fan.
LA PRIMA ANGELIA
CRIA CUERVOS
ELISA, VIDA MIA
LOS OJOS VENDADOS
MAMA CUMPLE CIEN AÑOS
DEPRISA, DEPRISA
No animation directors?
Hayao Miyazaki
NAUSICAÄ OF THE VALLEY OF THE WIND
LAPUTA: CASTLE IN THE SKY
MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO
then
PRINCESS MONONOKE
SPIRITED AWAY
Brad Bird
THE IRON GIANT
THE INCREDIBLES
RATATOUILLE
Forgot to put Zodiac for Fincher.
Oh, yes! Brad Bird! Can’t believe I didn’t think of him.
Mine is more of a consecutive “good films” list than a “great films” one. But whatever.
Bennett Miller
Capote
Moneyball
possibly Foxcatcher
Mike Leigh
Vera Drake
Happy-Go-Lucky
Another Year
possibly Mr. Turner
Tom Hooper
The Damned United
The King’s Speech
Les Miserables (if we’re counting Burn After Reading and Ben Button we are certainly counting this)
David O. Russell
The Fighter
Silver Linings Playbook
American Hustle
Clint Eastwood
Mystic River
Million Dollar Baby
Flags of Our Fathers
Letters from Iwo Jima
Ben Affleck
Gone Baby Gone
The Town
Argo
Christopher Nolan
The Dark Knight
Inception
The Dark Knight Rises
Alexander Payne
Election
About Schmidt
Sideways
The Descendants
Nebraska
James Cameron
Titanic
Avatar
Kathryn Bigelow
The Hurt Locker
Zero Dark Thirty
Asghar Farhadi
A Separation
The Past
Danny Boyle
Slumdog Millionaire
127 Hours
Joe Wright
Pride & Prejudice
Atonement
Hanna
Wes Anderson
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Moonrise Kingdom
Joel & Ethan Coen
A Serious Man
True Grit
Inside Llewyn Davis
David Fincher
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Social Network
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Darren Aronofsky
The Wrestler
Black Swan
Steven Soderbergh
Contagion
Magic Mike
Side Effects
Paul Thomas Anderson
Punch-Drunk Love
There Will Be Blood
The Master
Tony Gilroy
Michael Clayton
Duplicity (always found this one a little underrated)
Alfonso Cuaron
Y Tu Mama Tambien
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Children of Men
Gravity
Great list! I would easily add: Brad Bird- ‘The Iron Giant’, ‘The Incredibles’, ‘Ratatouille’, with the latter being one of my all-time favorite films.
SHAUN OF THE DEAD
HOT FUZZ
SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD
THE WORLD’S END
“Brad Bird for The Iron Giant, The Incredibles and Ratatouille”
Ooh Nice. Truly.
MURMUR OF THE HEART
LACOMBE, LUCIEN
BLACK MOON
Too shaky?
Bong Joon-ho for Memories Of Murder, The Host, Mother and Snowpiercer
Alan J. Pakula for Klute, The Parallax View and All The President’s Men
Brad Bird for The Iron Giant, The Incredibles and Ratatouille
Tim Burton for Beetlejuice, Batman, Edward Scissorhands, Batman Returns and Ed Wood
Quentin tarantino
Reservoir dogs
Pulp fiction
Django unchained
Kill bill volume 1_and 2
Paul verveheon
RoboCop
Total recall
Clint Eastwood
Unforgiven
Million dollar baby
Letters from Iwo jima
Jersey boys
J. Edgar
Peter Jackson
Heavenly creatures
The lord of the rings trilogy
The frighteners
Bad taste
Forgotten silver
King kong
There are other directors I prefer and there are other films I prefer but when it comes to changing the landscape and language of cinema, aren’t we forgetting someone?
Select any sequence you want. 15 films in 7 years. No one else comes near this list.
1960 À bout de souffle
1961 Une femme est une femme
1962 Vivre sa vie
1963 Le Petit soldat
1963 Les Carabiniers
1963 Le Mépris
1964 Bande à part
1964 Une femme mariée
1965 Alphaville
1965 Pierrot le fou
1966 Masculin Féminin
1966 Made in U.S.A.
1966 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her
1967 La Chinoise
1967 Week End
Mike Leigh? The Dardennes? I don’t want to type that much but you get the idea.
or…
Michael Haneke
CACHE
FUNNY GAMES
WHITE RIBBON
AMOUR
Dunno if they’re the best ever…but they’re definitely of a moment and “Silence” is still amazing…
Jonathan Demme
STOP MAKING SENSE
SOMETHING WILD
SWIMMING TO CAMBODIA
MARRIED TO THE MOB
THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS
VIRIDIANA
THE EXTERMINATING ANGEL
THE DIARY OF A CHAMBERMAID
SIMON OF THE DESERT
BELLE DE JOUR
THE MILKY WAY
TRISTANA
THE DISCREET CHARM OF THE BOURGEOISIE
THE PHANTOM OF LIBERTY
THAT OBSCURE OBJECT OF DESIRE
Linklater now has two really great runs of 3 in a row. First it was Slacker, Dazed And Confused and Before Sunrise. Now it’s Bernie, Before Midnight and Boyhood
I was trying to crack Peckinpah. I’m glad I wasn’t the one who broke the ice with CABLE HOGUE
Lynch?
PROFONDO ROSSO
SUSPIRIA
INFERNO
TENEBRE
THE DUELISTS
ALIEN
BLADE RUNNER
FUCK!! How can we forget?!
Bob Fosse: Cabaret, Lenny, All That Jazz, Star80
I’ll stop now.
DBibby: I didn’t realize The Volunteer was just a short. Yes! An excellent streak!
Here’s two possibilities from Sam Peckinpah:
1. The Wild Bunch, The Ballad Of Cable Hogue, Straw Dogs
2. The Getaway, Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid, Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia
Sorry, I’m on a roll:
Mike Nichols (Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, The Graduate, Catch-22, Carnal Knowledge)
Costa-Gavras (Z, State of Siege, The Confession) defined the political film
Philip Kaufman (The Right Stuff, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Henry & June)
John Huston (Treasure of Sierra Madre, Key Largo, Asphalt Jungle, African Queen)
-and people will boo me for this but go ahead:
Anthony Minghella (The English Patient, The Talented Mr Ripley, Cold Mountain)
If you count those two then you can easily add the magnificent Life and Death of Colonel Blimp for a 6-film streak
Consecutive
THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC
VAMPYR
DAY OF WRATHT
TWO PEOPLE (haven’t seen)
GERTRUD
ORDET
Also Bergman had this other in the late 60’s
PERSONA
HOUR OF THE WOLF
SHAME
THE PASSION OF ANNA
but I think there’s a for-TV film in between those so maybe I’m cheating with a title. Still ridiculous.
Charles Chaplin:
City Lights
Modern Times
The Great Dictator
No question.
Actually, thinking about it more, you can throw A Canterbury Tale and I Know Where I’m Going on top of the Powell/Pressburger trio I mentioned.
FW Murnau (Last Laugh, Tartuffe, Faust, Sunrise)
— and City Girl.
which makes The Artist look like Mabel’s Awful Mistakes
“music videos should bow really low to this man.”
Also many renowned directors who came and are still coming after him who are now acclaimed by those who belittled him in his time!
More directors with 4 masterpieces in a row:
Barry Levinson: Good Morning Vietnam, Rain Man, Avalon, Bugsy
More with 3 in a row:
Victor Fleming: Gone with the Wind, The Wizard of Oz, & Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Joseph L. Mankiewicz: A Letter to Three Wives, All about Eve, No Way Out
Preston Sturges: The Palm Beach Story, The Miracle at Morgan’s Creek, Hail the Conquering Hero
Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger: A Matter of Life and Death, Black Narcissus, The Red Shoes
Jacque Demy: Lola, Bay of Angels, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
I wouldn’t call the Welles trio you listed a “borderline pick” since it beats out both the Kazan and Fellini trios you listed. Like, Juliet of the Spirits and Baby Doll over The Magnificent Ambersons? Come on. I also have to agree with the Charlie Chaplin comment here. Hard to beat the City Lights-Modern Times-Great Dictator combo. Other notables
AKira Kurosawa: it’s hard to grab three in a row that are all indisputably great because he puts comparatively minor picks in between his masterpieces (Like Rashomon-The Idiot-Ikiru-Seven Samurai, for example), but you can make a strong case for:
Dersu Uzala
Kagemusha
Ran
Kenji Mizoguvhi:
Ugetsu
Sansho the Bailiff
The Crucified Lovers
It’s a shame Life of Oharu is separated from the latter two by the forgettable The Geisha, but I suppose that would be too heavy a three-hit combo.
Bela Tarr:
Damnation
Satantango
Werckmeister Harmonies
I know not everyone admires Tarr (I struggle with him, myself), but it’s hard to argue this setup.
Wong Kar-wai:
Happy Together
In the Mood for Love
2046
Simply wonderful. I wish I could get Chungking Express in there too, but alas.
Nagisa Oshima:
In the Realm of the Senses
Empire of Passion
Merry Christimas, Mr. Lawrence
This may seem like overstating, but Oshima is a woefully undervalued director, so I don’t mind at all. Three of his very best films, one right after the other. Pop these in for a great marathon.
David Cronenberg:
Videodrome
The Dead Zone
The Fly
Dead Ringers
Naked Lunch
Body Horror at its finest. You could also make a case for Spider-A History of Violence-Eastern Promises, but I think this one sticks best.
Wes Anderson:
Rushmore
The Royal Tenenbaums
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
I don’t much care for Life Aquatic, but I know other people do, and it’s so quintessentially Wes. The other two are his two greatest works, I feel, and the product of his most-productive Owen Wilson script phase.
Paul Thomas Anderson:
Boogie Nights
Magnolia
Punch-Drunk Love
There Will Be Blood
PDL’s a little weaker than the other, but no less worthy of attention. One of my very favorite directors.
Hou Hsiao-Hsien:
A City of Sadness
The Puppetmaster
Good Men, Good Women
Goodbye South, Goodbye
Flowers of Shanghai
Unf. I can’t think of a better five-film run. GMGW is the weak link, but the other four are unbelievable.
Apichatpong Weerasethakul:
Tropical Malady
Syndromes and a Century
Uncle Boonmee (etc)
You could also slap Blissfully Yours there at the beginning, but I don’t know if we ought to count The Adventure of Iron Pussy between them, which Weerasethakul only co-directed.
Hayao Miyazaki:
My Neighbor Totoro
Kiki’s Delivery Service
Porco Rosso
Princess Mononoke
Spirited Away
I know this is like half his films, but… come on. Not a minor work in here.
Andrei Tarkovsky:
Andrei Rublev
Solaris
The Mirror
Stalker
You can practically put his entire filmography in here as a big winning streak, but I’ll limit it to these.
Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger:
A Matter of Life and Death
The Red Shoes
Black Narcissus
John Cassavetes:
A Woman Under the Influence
The Killing of a Chinese Bookie
Opening Night
Steve McQueen (Hunger, Shame, 12 Years a Slave) (hullo?)
FW Murnau (Last Laugh, Tartuffe, Faust, Sunrise)
Arthur Penn (Bonnie & Clyde, Alice’s Restaurant, Little Big Man)
John Schlesinger ( Billy Liar, Darling, Far..Madding Crowd, Midnight Cowboy, Sunday Bloody Sunday)
Ken Russell (Women In Love, The Music Lovers, The Devils, The Boyfriend) speaking of changing film language, music videos should bow really low to this man.
Elia Kazan is for my taste the most underappreciated director of his time and still today.
We forget then he had consecutively
WILD RIVER
SPLENDOR IN THE GRASS
AMERICA, AMERICA
All three essential classics. Yes, you heard that right.
Underappreciated? Kazan?! Yes for my money. Two reasons. The one everyone knows, and the second because in his day, unlike his contemporaries *and equals*, Hitchcock, Ford, Hawkes, Ray, even Fuller, he was not anointed by the almighty, omniscient Cashiers du Cinema and those boys.
A somewhat less obvious one I guess but just as influential spell
DARKSTAR
ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13
HALLOWEEN
THE FOG (perhaps doesn’t fit)
ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK
THE THING
Can’t ignore the boogeyman, I’ll say
THE TERMINATOR
ALIENS
THE ABBYSS
THE TERMINATOR 2
and gasp
TITANIC!
Jean-Pierre Melville
1967 – Le Samouraï
1969 – Army of Shadows (the highest-rated movie of 2009 on Metacritic — with a score of 99)*
1970 – Le Cercle Rouge
*(Army of Shadows was never released in the US until 2009)
Wow! That is pretty damn amazing. Win the BAFTA 3 years in a row!!
We can do this all day, can’t we? And it’s fun.
Robert Bresson
PICKPOCKET
AU HASARD BALTHAZAR
MOUCHETTE
Kurosawa, like everything between ’50 and ’65 but I guess there’re a few most people won’t accept.
RASHOMON
THE IDIOT
IKIRU
SEVEN SAMURAI
I LIVE IN FEAR (fit?)
THRONE OF BLOOD
THE LOWER DEPTHS (fit?)
THE HIDDEN FORTRESS
THE BAD SLEEP WELL (haven’t seen)
YOJIMBO
SANJURO
RED BEARD
HIGH AND LOW
Melville
LEON MORIN, PRIEST
LE DUOLOS
then
THE SAMURAI
ARMY OF SHADOWS
LE CERCLE ROUGE
and early he made consecutively
THE SILENCE OF THE SEA
LES ENFANTS TERRIBLES
Visconti
ROCCO AND HIS BROTHERS
THE LEOPARD
SANDRA
Tarkovsky
IVAN’S CHILDHOOD
RUBLEV
SOLARIS
MIRROR
STALKER
NOSTHALGIA (ehh??)
For Polanski I kind of prefer this phenomenal streak:
REPULSION
CUL-DE-SAC
THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLER OR PARDON ME MADAM BUT YOUR TEETH ARE ON MY NECK
ROSEMARY’S BABY
MACBETH
Werner Herzog
AGUIRRE, THE WRATH OF GOD
THE ENIGMA OF KASPAR HOUSER
HEART OF GLASS
and then consecutively
NOSFERATU THE VAMPYRE
WOYZECK
FITZCARRALDO
Speaking of whom, it looks like QUEEN OF THE DESERT is in the can, will hit the festival and it could even make it out this year in America. Report/Excerpts from interview:
“Why this year and not next as many indies often do? Well, according to Werner Herzog itself it’s potentially because Nicole Kidman may have some awards-season fire in it. Playlist contributor James Rocchi spoke to Herzog last week and during a conversation about the acting powers of Klaus Kinski and Nicolas Cage, Herzog veered off to discuss how impressed he was with Kidman. “I think in all my films, the actors are at their best — and it includes Nicolas Cage in ‘Bad Lieutenant.’ I believe he is better than even in the part that won him an Academy Award,” Herzog said of Cage’s Best Actor win for “Leaving Las Vegas.”
***>>>>”Now, Nicole Kidman,” Herzog said of her lead performance in “Queen Of The Desert.” “Wait for that one. Wait for it. I make an ominous prediction: How good she is.” “***<<< OMG OMG <3 <3 <3 !!!!!!!! [greatest actress alive in the English language]
http://bit.ly/1mPx35P
Carol Reed
Odd Man Out (1947) BAFTA Award for Best British Film
The Fallen Idol (1948) BAFTA Award for Best British Film, New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director
The Third Man (1949) BAFTA Award for Best British Film, Grand Prize of the Cannes Film Festival
Boom!
Hitchcock had 4 distinct peak streak plateaus
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)
The 39 Steps (1935)
Secret Agent (1936)
Sabotage (1936)
Suspicion (1941)
Saboteur (1942)
Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
Rear Window (1954)
To Catch a Thief (1955)
The Trouble with Harry (1955)
Vertigo (1958)
North by Northwest (1959)
Psycho (1960)
The Birds (1963)
Try Altman like this – The Long Goodbye, Thieves Like Us, California Split and Nashville. Nobody in film history in film history had a more productive run than Altman between 1970 and 75. Eight films, at least four of them upended their genres ever after – Mash, McCabe and Mrs Miller, The Long Goodbye & Nashville. California Split may still be the best film ever made about gambling. He belongs in the pantheon.
Michelangelo Antonioni
L’Avventura (1960)
La Notte (1961)
L’Eclisse (1962)
Red Desert (1964)
Blowup (1966)
If we include The Tenant then we can use it for a litmus test. “Is _____ as good or better than The Tenant?” — and all 5 of these movies are.
Yeah, Kubrick easily tops the list. Dr. Strangelove, 2001, A Clockwork Orange, Barry Lyndon, and The Shining is a streak that has never been topped in the history of cinema.
Terrence Malick
Badlands
Days of Heaven
The Thin Red Line
Badlands changed film history by introducing film history to Terrence Malick.
Movies hadn’t seen anything like Malick’s triple-play knockout introduction to movie history since John Huston’s triple-play.
The Maltese Falcon
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Key Largo
and then Huston did it again:
The Asphalt Jungle
The Red Badge of Courage
The African Queen
Yes Mileshigh. It was. I agree. The Birds is very underrated.
Wasn’t THE BIRDS released after PSYCHO? Thats an exceptional Hitchcock movie. It might be his most underrated (imho). Love that movie.
I agree with Phillip. Lars Von Trier should definitely be included. Breaking the Waves, The Idiots, and Dancer in the Dark is one hell of a slam dunk. But no one beats Kubrick, IMO.
For someone recently, I think Jason Reitman is strong. Juno, Up in the Air, and Young Adult are all great movies, and some may include Thank You For Smoking which has its fans although I’m not too crazy about it.
I’m also thinking about Linklater — haven’t seen Boyhood, but from what I’ve been reading he should be considered for Bernie, Before Midnight… and Boyhood.
Also, Wes Anderson: Fantastic Mr. Fox, Moonrise Kingdom, The Grand Budapest Hotel.
Akira Kurosawa:
– Yojimbo (1961)
– Sanjuro (1962)
– High and Low (1963)
You can’t go past Powell and Pressburger. You could argue other consecutive lists amongst their filmography but for me the obvious one is:
-A Matter of Life and Death
-Black Narcissus
-The Red Shoes
Kane, yes, your question about The Lord of the Rings trilogy is a great one. I don’t know if it counts as 3 or 1 either.
Although, I know the studio would consider them 3 seperate movies.
John Landis:
– Animal House (1978)
– The Blues Brothers (1980)
– An American Warewolf in London (1981)
I just keep thinking of more:
John Hughes
– Sixteen Candles (1984)
– The Breakfast Club (1985)
– Weird Science (1985)
– Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)
I like Kazan’s Baby Doll and Polanski’s The Tenant. I won’t argue against their inclusion as part of these director’s peak streaks.
But if we’re going to name films like those as “canon” then I have to speak out strongly in defense of Billy Wilder.
14 films in a row that are mostly all masterful and even the “weakest” ones are incredibly entertaining.
Double Indemnity (1944) Best Screenplay, Best Director
The Lost Weekend (1945) Best Screenplay, Best Director
The Emperor Waltz (1948)
A Foreign Affair (1948) Best Screenplay
Sunset Blvd. (1950) Best Screenplay, Best Director
Ace in the Hole (1951) Best Screenplay
Stalag 17 (1953) Best Director
Sabrina (1954) Best Screenplay, Best Director
The Seven Year Itch (1955)
The Spirit of St. Louis (1957)
Love in the Afternoon (1957)
Witness for the Prosecution (1957) Best Director
Some Like It Hot (1959) Best Screenplay, Best Director
The Apartment (1960) Best Screenplay, Best Director
Billy Wilder was Oscar-nominated for all those movies noted, and he won for the ones in bold.
Ace in the Hole is amazing. It won the international prize at the Venice Film Festival and Jan Sterling won Best Actress from the National Board of Review. Also, it’s Criterion Blu-ray Edition certified.
Stalag 17 won the Oscar for Best Actor for William Holden.
Sabrina got 7 Oscar nominations, including 2 nominations for Wilder, and Audrey Hepburn for Best Actress. Edith Head won her 6th Oscar for Sabrina. It won the Golden Globe and Writers Guild award for Best Screenplay.
Witness for the Prosecution has a rating of 8.5 on IMDb and it’s on the IMDb Top 250 at #83 — no small feat for a movie that age to score that high with the IMDb users. If we don’t want to trust IMDb then let’s please consider that Witness for the Prosecution got 6 Oscar nominations and won a Golden Globe for Elsa Lanchester. The AFI ranks it as the #6 courtroom drama of all time.
Any one of the movies in bold on this list are better and “more historically important” than The Tenant or Baby Doll.
Like I said, I like The Tenant and Baby Doll but I like them because they’re both kinky oddities.
I rest my case.
Philipp, Ang Lee is on there. I like the Audiard but does anyone really think Rust and Bone is one of the greatest films of all time and/or movies that changed film language?
Here’s how I would rank the All-Time Top 3 (Consecutive 3):
1. Alfred Hitchcock
– Vertigo (1958)
– North By Northwest (1959)
– Psycho (1960)
2. Stanley Kubrick
– Dr. Strangelove (1964)
– 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
– A Clockwork Orange (1971)
3. David Fincher
– Zodiac (2007)
– The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
– The Social Network (2010)
Bonus:
Christopher Nolan
– The Prestige (2006)
– The Dark Knight (2008)
– Inception (2010)
Nope, turns out I’ve got 1 more, plus a question.
Alexander Payne:
Election (1999)
About Schmidt (2002)
Sideways (2004)
The Descendants (2011)
Nebraska (2013)
Would ANYONE include David O. Russell’s last 3 ?? :
The Fighter (2010)
Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
American Hustle (2013)
Lars von Trier should be in the list, too.
Shit, ignore that Dark Knight Rises, add vanilla Dark Knight instead. Got it mixed with The Wind Rises, it seems !
Chris Nolan:
Memento
Insomnia
Batman Begins
The Prestige
The Dark Knight Rises
Inception
Hayao Miyazaki:
Princess Mononoke
Spirited Away
Howl’s Moving Castle
Ponyo
The Wind Rises
Uh lord…Panic Room? I get why others may like The Game but I couldn’t get into it. But I like the Zodiac, Ben Button and Social Network trilogy. Can we include Peter Jackson and the LotR trilogy? Or should that be considered one big movie? Christopher Nolan with Following, Memento and Insomnia (which I considered amazing) or Dark Knight, Inception and Dark Knight Rises (not a classic but close to amazing in my mind). Spike Jonze and all of his narrative features changed the way I view movies. Maybe some Oliver Stone in there for Salvador, Platoon and Wall Street.
What about these:
Wong Kar Wai: Happy Together, In the Mood for Love, 2046
Ang Lee: Sense and Sensibility, The Ice Storm, Ride With the Devil, Tiger&Dragon
Jacques Audiard: The Beat That My Heart Skipped, A Prophet, Rust and Bone
Michael Haneke: The Piano Teacher, Time of The Wolf, Caché
Mike Leigh: All or Nothing, Vera Drake, Happy-Go-Lucky, Another Year
Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne: Rosetta, The Son, The Child
Terrence Malick: The Thin Red Line, The New World, The Tree of Life
I’ve got 1 more:
Martin Scorsese:
Gangs of New York (2002)
The Aviator (2004)
The Departed (2006)
I don’t know if others will / would agree but for me,
Ben Affleck:
Gone Baby Gone (2007)
The Town (2010)
Argo (2012)
Now, did they make movies better? Probably not, but I think they are 3 consecutive good / great movies.
i think if you remove michael haneke’s u.s. remake of funny games, his entire filmography holds up.
i’d also include:
agnes varda
andrew stanton
brad bird
gus van sant
terrance malick
richard linklater
spike lee
michael moore
hayao miyazaki
Sorry, this joke is too good to pass up:
You mean Michael Bay’s Transformers trilogy isn’t good enough?
Transformers (2007)
Transformers: Revenge of the Crap (2009)
Transformers: Dark of the Crap (2011)
🙂
Thanks Ryan. 🙂
Sidney Lumet
Murder on the Orient Express (1974)
Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
Network (1976)
Murder maybe, but hey….
Thanks, Al. Fixed.
How about Luis Buñuel. I don’t know all of his filmography, but he has some great, great films, including: Él, Los olvidados, El perro andaluz, El discreto encanto de la burguesia, Ensayo de un crimen, Ese obscuro objeto del deseo, Nazarin. Viridiana and El angel exterminador were made consecutively.
I really feel like Charlie Chaplin should make this list. Consecutively he did:
The Gold Rush (1925)
The Circus (1928)
City Lights (1931)
Modern Times (1936)
The Great Dictator (1940)
I don’t know if they “changed” filmmaking and such, but I think they have been influential. Plus, I think they’re thought of as classics.
Sasha, I hate to point this out, but under David Fincher, you forgot Fight Club in between The Game and Panic Room.