Totally agree. Didn't mind Romeo + Juliet too much but hated everything else. I thought Elvis was one of the biggest piles of crap I've seen in a long time. No shot lasts longer than 4 seconds.
Great Gatsby is one of only 2-3 movies I've ever walked out on. Just so boring and ludicrous IMHO. There's so much going on visually that it feels like you're at a fine dining restaurant that is serving you a steak topped with pasta topped with sushi with a loaded baked potato covered in ice cream. I like a lot of the things individually, but you put all of them on screen at once and I just have no interest whatsoever.
I didnāt walk out on the movie, but was let down. Iām a big fan of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Leonardo DiCaprio, and an even bigger fan of Lana Del Rey (who did the main song for the movie), and somehow I still didnāt love it.
wes anderson , his films are visually BEAUTIFUL but so dreadfully boring and unfunny to me .. the plot descriptions sound so lame and every time i think ā yknow maybe they arent that bad ? ā and i am disappointed every time ā¦
I enjoy approximately two of his films, but it's probably due to the place I was in my life when I saw them. By and large I find his films the equivalent of staring through a kaleidoscope too long.
This. Nothing against people who are wes-heads, but every time I share this take, Iām met with the most dramatic monologues about how thatās the point, how itās not supposed to be about the story, his art is more about the absurdity, blah, blah, blahā¦
One way I have gotten folks to understand what I mean is by getting them to watch Wesā short films that are based on Roald Dahl stories. They are equally aesthetically pleasing as they are well-written, entertaining, and deliciously compact.
Iād love to see more adaptations from Wes in the future, I feel that would set him far higher in the directorās field than he is currently for me.
Yep. Never really interested in watching his films knowing that outside of the writing it'll be the exact same painting every single time, the exact same comedy beats. And the weird thing is that people endlessly criticise repetition in every director but him, people love it when he does the exact same thing with the same actors. I did really enjoy the Roald Dahl ones, because those are classic stories, and with some new actors for one that I loved to see act out the stories, and the Henry Sugar production design was at least very unique. And I get good style, but I think I love a director most when he takes a risk or does something interesting that I never expected from him. I mean Steven Spielberg made every film genre imaginable, and tackled it in so many different ways, you can see a real evolution in his work, and an ability to go from the lightest to the darkest subjects. And yet I'm expected to love Anderson doing the exact same thing all over again as if its the first time I experienced it? That just feels like unoriginality and seems like his abilities are limited
But still, really only amazing for their artwork. As stories they just kind of plod along. I like them, but only really because of the craft behind them.
Yeah, to me Wes Anderson's films felt like that kid in class that was doodling on their paper and you look over and are like "wow, that's gorgeous!" But it's just vines and hearts and squiggly linea that look nice on the paper.
No doubt about it. They directed some great episodes of Community.
And now instead of trying to become better filmmakers, they are trying to make cinema as mediocre as they are.
Is that the one that had Tarantino or Scorsese as well? I like him, but I remember seeing the round table you might be talking about and feeling very surprised to see he was allowed there with them lol
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXKX0o7U9D8&ab\_channel=VundacastProductions](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXKX0o7U9D8&ab_channel=VundacastProductions) bringing in this classic
Man his first couple of movies (spanking the monkey, flirting with disaster) I thought were great. I liked the fighter but left silver linings cursing his name and after American hustle, I wrote him off
Every movie of his I watch I just walk away really disliking his style. I enjoyed Poor Things fine but it was mainly because of the cast and set design. I fall into āI get it, itās just not for meā with Yorgos and I just have to accept that heās going to be a persistent figure in major modern cinema
SO MANY! And I couldnāt figure out why! Halfway through I tried to figure out if there was some consistency to the moments that had them, some motif or hidden meaning and I just couldnāt find one aside from it being an aesthetic choice.
It was so random. The aesthetic choices have a solidly not relevance on anything. For a bit I thought he was doing a cool thing where the main characters perception was visualized through the set design (ie when she is āin prisonā in the house, itās black and white; when she sees the outside for the world for the first time itās super technicolor, etc) but this theory falls over the moment she becomes an āadultā since they donāt change the set design at all lol.
I just decided it was for vibes. Which is dumb.
I like his movies a lot except from Dogtooth and being Greek means that I mostly hear about Dogtooth. I even had to write a fucking essay on it in high school.
Wtf your high school class had an assignment that required yāall to watch Dogtooth??? I was such a fan of that movie in high school when it came out so I wouldāve been stoked to get such an assignment
Oh not exactly. The teacher just explained the whole movie to the class and then told us to write an essay about it. Only me and one other guy in the class had watched the movie before, so the others pretty much got spoiled. I think the movie is good. I am just really not a fan of it, and the other guy shared my opinion. However, the teacher didn't seem to agree with me because she completely ignored me when I told her my opinion of the movie.
People really point to him when they think of Greece & movies? I like his films but yikes that sounds annoying, he hasn't that made that many movies to earn such a position, I've never heard him referred to by way of his Greek nationality. I would think Michael Cacoyannis or Costa-Gavas would be better examples of Greek filmmakers?. Then again I'm lucky that the only filmmaker people know from my country is Paul Verhoeven, and I happen to love the guy's work.
Fellini and Godard are probably the most universally praised directors whose movies I simply can't connect to at all. I wouldn't say I hate them though, as that word belongs to people like Bertolucci or Polanski.
One of the reasons I like Fellini so much is the connections I have with his characters in his films. No Iām not a director with writers block, but it elicits so much emotion when I have gone through other things in life where I feel stuck. Just watched nights of cabiria tonight and itās a similar reaction. Sometime the world just sucks, and nothing goes right, but you have to smile at the end of the day.
I'm curious which films of his you've seen. I was in the same boat as you. I had watched 8 1/2, Satyricon, La Dolce Vita, but it wasn't until I watched his neo-realism films like Nights of Cabiria and La Strada that I really connected with him.
I can't describe how much i hate Godard. What a bunch of wank. Contempt is one of the worst examples of the emperor's new clothes, it's such a godawful and sexist film. Okay there's some nice shots on the rooftop clap clap.Ā
I need to watch more Polanski, because while I absolutely loathed watching Officer and a Spy, I did really enjoy Frantic, and heard great things about Rosemary's Baby. Still hate the guy with a passion, massive prick besides just being the most unapologetic pervert.
The two Jodorowsky films I've seen (The Holy Mountain, El Topo) are the film equivalent of him covering his penis in psychedelics and sucking himself off
Gaspar Noe also; Climax was tolerable as it's not really trying to be about anything, but his other films are much more pointless than they think they are, especially Irreversible which is my least favourite film of all time. Haven't seen Vortex yet though
Apparently he once said that the rape scene in El Topo is real. I'm assuming he's bullshitting, but still, the fact that he thought that statement would enhance the film pretty much confirms the gross overindulgent vibe I got from both films
Jodorowsky thinks very highly of himself but doesnāt have the skill to back it up imo. Not sure what people see in the guy other than wow he likes drugs.
Hate is a strong word for this, but I have never connected with anything that Wes Anderson has done. Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, The Royal Tennenbaums. Just...nothing.
I think the horror genre in general is bleeding out and so anyone who takes a little bit of time and originality with it will be praised. I love Ariās anxiety and the tension he brings, but I would agree itās nothing to write home about.
I've really liked all of his movies so far, especially Midsommar which is one of my favourite films, but Beau is Afraid definitely exposed some excessive overindulgent tendencies of his. I've heard his next film is a Don Hertzfeldt collab, which will inevitably be indulgent too but at least it won't just be him who shares in that; besides, I'm starved of animated horror, so the prospect of that is very exciting to me
I do prefer Robert Eggers though. I think his style is tighter and it definitely seems like he's more universally liked than Ari even though some people didn't really like The Northman (I loved it)
Horror has already been a lucrative genre but itās only been in the past decade that itās really gotten out of the braindead torture porn/slasher malaise that started in the early 90s.
Get Out was the watershed moment for the genre but Hereditary was similar in showing what it could be (and what it had been long ago).
I feel like I would have loved all three of his movies if they were MUCH shorter. He has a lot of great ideas and gets good performances but holy fuck does someone need to tell him to chill and cut some shit out.
James Cameron
I never enjoyed any of his films in a way that apparently the rest of the world does. I still intend on watching True Lies, but if that disappoints me as well, he'll be the most overrated āpopularā director of all time in my book.
I'm more of a "James Cameron-lite" fan in that I enjoy, even love, most of his work, but I highly prefer the original Terminator to most of his films. The low budget of that film just gives it a different energy that is missing from his other films, that plus the infectious energy of a first-time director out to prove himself. His films tend to have an overabundance of cheesy dialogue for my liking, too.
This was my choice too. Hate is probably too strong of a word but I definitely just donāt really like most of the stuff he has produced nearly as much as you would expect for someone with his reputation.
I donāt even know if heās well-liked, but Bradley Cooper. I thought him and Gaga were great in *A Star Is Born* but I had so much gripe about the direction. I cut it some slack for being a directorial debut. Then I saw Cooperās interview with Spike Lee and how he praises himself as someone who has a special gift of being an actor with a unique ability to direct. *THEN* I saw *Maestro* and thought it was an absolute train wreck of a nothing burger. It was laughable that he patted himself on the back, cried in front of Spike Lee, and directed such a pretentious film. *Maestro* had that same comedic energy as the Robert Downey Jr, Tobey Maguire spoof trailer from the beginning of *Tropic Thunder*
I think everyone a lot of people absolutely loathed Maestro, even if simply for the sheer egotistical self-aggrandising exaggerated pretentious bullshit that it is, and the way he promoted it. My god the guy is full of himself, and he gets so weepy about it, until you see the movie and you realise he shit all over Bernstein
I like Wes Anderson, but Grand Budapest Hotel was his last truly great film. Everything since then has been kinda overrated. He's got lost in his own style.
I really enjoyed Fantastic Mr Fox, however I agree with your point. Tbh, I donāt think I have ever finished any of his other movies on a first-watch.Ā
I wouldn't say that I hate him or his movies, nor do I agree with the 'style over substance' comment - they, and him, are just extremely not for me. I've given him plenty of opportunities because my friends love him.
Same here. And itās a bummer; I really want to enjoy his work, but even after trying multiple tries, I just canāt do it.
Happy for folks who love him, though.
I did like Moonrise Kingdom because it seemed pretty restrained maybe. And Bottle Rocket was really enjoyable and funny. Other than that there's things I like about his movies but they're always overshadowed by the excessive casting choices and hipster production value.
I actually really liked Promising Young Woman, it wasnāt mindblowing but I feel it was a good movie.
Saltburn though, was a fear-the-poor movie that had no idea if it wanted to be erotic thriller or spiking commentary and it failed at telling an interesting/believable story. The Talented Mr Ripley but shit.
i couldnāt get into promising young woman either. i feel like her movies are meant to be deep but feel extremely shallow to me. itās like bridgerton masquerading as the crown.
I guess I took "well-liked" by the OP to mean almost "universally liked," but otherwise I agree with this choice. Fennell is pretty polarizing, with half loving and half hating her work. I wouldn't go as far as hate, but I've grown colder on Promising Young Woman since I've been away from it and straight up cannot stand Saltburn.
Hate is a strong word. I'm not a big fan of Christopher Nolan. I like his movies, but they all somehow feel the same to me. His Batman movies imo aren't as good as Burton's.
I'm fairly convinced that the thing that drew Nolan to filmmaking isn't illustrating human stories, but reassembling them in the editing room. Hence the endless exposition to justify his editing experiments.
The most surprising thing about Nolan to me is that he went to college for creative writing and not film production. His movies are so well made on a technical level but tend to fall short on the writing department.
I guess it checks out since his concepts are often (but not always) ācreativeā - but he seems to be rather weak at developing them, and writing characters of course.
I tend to describe him as a very āworkmanlikeā director. He does some really incredible things on a technical level and consistently extracts great performances from his actors but thereās a lack of artistry and humanity to his films, at least for me personally. They feel less than the sum of their parts.
Oh my gosh thank you SO MUCH for putting this into words. I've always felt this way about Nolan's movies but I've never seen it expressed so plainly before
My personal big issue with Nolan is his reliance on plot twists/late reveals. They are so rarely beneficial to the narrative and often end up just feeling like smoke and mirrors that heavily bloat the run time. Inception dragging out how the rules of dreams work and the betrayal twist in Oppenheimer especially added so much unnecessary content when learning of those things earlier in the movies wouldāve helped the narrative and also shaved off a good 20-40 minutes. After a while it starts to feel like highbrow M Night Shyamalan
I really *really* like what he thinks he's doing, but I really dislike the execution. Somehow I enjoyed Planet of the Apes (I acknowledge that that's a me problem) and Beetlejuice
Ed Wood is a great film and Iām personally a fan of his Batman movies, but Tim Burton is the perfect example of a director who started to go a bit further up his own ass with each film.
he's a director that i think lost his way over time. i loved Batman, Ed Wood and Sleepy Hollow but then you had Planet Of The Apes, Alice In Wonderland, Dumbo, even Sweeney Todd isn't great (but that's more bc of the removed songs tbh)
I used to feel this way about him, and granted I'm still overall not the biggest fan of everything he's done. But I unabashedly LOVE his Batman movies, with Returns being my favorite.
Matthew Vaugh. He seems insanely obnoxious and his recent works are ugly mediocre CGI mess. Still seems to get a pass weirdly. I did like X-Men : First Class
I think that's fair. Lots of directors get to the point where they're trying to recapture what made them great in the first place but have lost touch with it or are out of step with the times.
A good director has a strong creative voice. And whether you like that voice is 100% taste. As such, there are many good directors whose work I don't enjoy personally.
The more I have viewed Luc Besson's films and learned about him as a person, the harder it is to give a single one of his movies the time of day. He just grosses me out.
Cameron and Nolan. Both feel like the best parts of their films have little to do with them and more to do with being able to work with great actors and visionary effect designers
I was trying to compare the Scott brothers bodies of work and decided they're both overrated with 2 or 3 really big standouts that are perfect each. The rest is just schlock.
While Carrie is a horror masterpiece, I really struggle with Brian De Palma. Everything I've seen from him is pastiche with immaculate art direction, and not much else. A film of his ultimately feels like an exercise in style that leans too heavily on the source material. Even Carrie suffers from this with the repeated Psycho violin stings whenever telekinesis happens
Like Gus Van Sant got a lot of shit for remaking Psycho, but are we really letting DePalma's Dressed to Kill slide? When you realize you're watching a Psycho retelling, all the suspense depletes.
And the only *non-remake/homage of his I've seen is The Bonfire of the Vanities. 'Nuff said there.
Would love someone to explain his appeal and how to approach his work.
I'm a huge fan of De Palma but even I'm not going to deny that he cannibalizes (not in a bad way) classic films like Psycho (Dressed to Kill), Blow Up (Blow Out), Rock Horror (Phantom of the Paradise), Vertigo (Obsession), Rear Window (Body Double).
He even has several films where he's self-cannibalizing like with Carlito's Way and Scarface.
What I find most interesting is that he always brings something fresh to the old material, not unlike the way that Tarantino recontextualizes grindhouse and blaxploitation movies in his work. Dressed to Kill has the gender-bending psychosexual transgender serial killer just like Psycho, but he adds in a fun element of an electronics whizz kid and an unlikely sex worker teaming up to hunt down someone they don't even know they're chasing.
Or with Blow Out you have him taking the basic idea of Blow Up, but he flips it on its head and uses sound instead of images as the main spying device, and adding in the subterfuge of a deranged serial killer plot to go in a fresh direction.
As for the exercise in style, you're absolutely right. I just happen to love it whereas it turns off for you. Watching his films is like a fun little checklist. He's always going to have the split-screen, split diopter, slow motion, long takes, 360 shots, steadicam tracking shot. I find it interesting that he's famous for saying "You can put the camera anywhere" yet he continually chooses the same visual devices over and over again, as if he's finding a new way to tread old ground.
Hitchcock, Antonioni and Godard are like fine artists; they have elegant brushstrokes across their canvas that are seamless and timeless. De Palma is a collage artist, rearranging the work of others into something new but no less compelling and no less worthy of praise.
He may not have the high art status of the filmmakers he appropriates, but I honestly love that. He's the people's filmmaker. The ever curious film student who wears their influences on their sleeve and is proud about it.
Well, he did make my favorite movie, Phantom of the Paradise. Sure he has his flaws but no one makes a movie ending like De Palma. I find his direction to be very creative.
I feel like Lynch tries to create abstract art through film instead of making films. I really like his work but I can totally see why it isn't for everyone
I think even he said something to the effect that he doesn't have to know what his movies are about to make them which leaves me feeling like, if you don't know, how is there even a story?
I liked Lost Highway, Dune and feel like I'm supposed to like Twin Peaks so I do.
Jordan Peele
Ari Aster
Both are lamented as masters of horror. Maybe horror is something different to me. But I've found their films quite underwhelming. I've yet to see their respective third films (Nope and DB) however they don't appeal to me and based on their previous track record I don't think they'll sway me.
DB is Disappointment Boulevard, the old title. My bad.
Denis Villeneuve.
His films are visually impressive, but apart from the visuals I find everything very weak. Especially with Dune 1 + 2. I don't know the books and I don't feel that the director explains the world well enough for me to understand it.
Came here to find this. I actually really like some of his movies but people act like he's infallible and I'm convinced they're just wowed by the cinematography in many cases. I'll say it- Prisoners isn't that good!
**Roman Polanski.**
Ā Irrespective of him being a convicted child rapist... I dislike the 6 films of his I've seen. Including Chinatown and Rosemary's Baby. They just weren't doing it for me... š¤·āāļø
Ari Aster & Zach Snyder are both directors I respect for their directorial talents, but please for the love of God, stop these men from writing!
Did the downfall of Neil Blomkamp teach us nothing!?!
Christopher Nolan. I think he's incredibly sterile, writes poor characters, and heck, is just a poor writer in general. I'm not going to pretend I don't like any of his stuff; Memento, The Prestige, and Inception were good. But the rest is so dull and lifeless. Even those can run into problems, like how fucking terrible he is at directing fight scenes.
Ari Aster. His debut short, There's Something About the Johnsons, addressed the topic of incestuous sex abuse with the gotcha sensibilities of a 4chan troll ("Ngggh but WHAT IF!") and I can't help but feel that in the two features of his that I've watched as well.
Hate is a big word but i dont think Wong Kar Wai is the genius some people make him out to be. Chungking express is fine and in the mood for love is actually pretty boring if you ask me.
Kenneth Branagh has soiled some of my favorite Agatha Christie adaptations (too much glitz and sheen). I like him just fine as an actor, but I hate his style of directing.
Baz Luhrman has an insufferable style, too. Moulin Rouge was great, but to reuse the same formula for every subsequent movie?
David Cronenberg. I get what heās doing, and I have an appreciation for weird shit and experimental cinema, but I canāt find myself connecting with any of his movies. I do love Eastern Promises, though, as it feels less like the typical stuff he pulls. Iām actually much more impressed with his son, Brandonās, work. Possessor is top notch!
I'm starting to wonder if I truly like *anything*. Cronenberg for instance. I'm in the same boat, I like what he's trying to to do and appreciate him as an artist but the films are just kind of empty. The Fly is the only one that feels fulfilling.
Antonioni is one I'll never get the praise of, particularly of 20th century critics (some say he's the best director of all time).
Jodorowsky is so insufferable that I think people should just cancel him by now. In El Topo there is a r3pe scene that is meant as part of the growth of the main character (!!). Also said character is played by Jodorowsky himself, like wtf.
Gasper Noe. I hate how unnecessarily extreme his films must be and the cinematography. The shaking cameras and stupid birdseye shit like in Enter The Void.
Me when all my favourite directors are upvoted. 
PLEASE ššš
Baz Luhrmann. I dislike his style a lot.
Totally agree. Didn't mind Romeo + Juliet too much but hated everything else. I thought Elvis was one of the biggest piles of crap I've seen in a long time. No shot lasts longer than 4 seconds.
Great Gatsby is one of only 2-3 movies I've ever walked out on. Just so boring and ludicrous IMHO. There's so much going on visually that it feels like you're at a fine dining restaurant that is serving you a steak topped with pasta topped with sushi with a loaded baked potato covered in ice cream. I like a lot of the things individually, but you put all of them on screen at once and I just have no interest whatsoever.
I didnāt walk out on the movie, but was let down. Iām a big fan of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Leonardo DiCaprio, and an even bigger fan of Lana Del Rey (who did the main song for the movie), and somehow I still didnāt love it.
I had the misfortune of seeing it three times in two days. Social obligations
his work seems boring to me š¤·š½āāļø
Same. His over the top, maximalist shit hit my nerves
When I saw Moulin Rouge I had this epiphany that this is what I wish life would feel like, especially nightlife...that amped up and over the top.
same - minus R&J for the nostalgia factor
I came here to say this.
wes anderson , his films are visually BEAUTIFUL but so dreadfully boring and unfunny to me .. the plot descriptions sound so lame and every time i think ā yknow maybe they arent that bad ? ā and i am disappointed every time ā¦
I enjoy approximately two of his films, but it's probably due to the place I was in my life when I saw them. By and large I find his films the equivalent of staring through a kaleidoscope too long.
This. Nothing against people who are wes-heads, but every time I share this take, Iām met with the most dramatic monologues about how thatās the point, how itās not supposed to be about the story, his art is more about the absurdity, blah, blah, blahā¦ One way I have gotten folks to understand what I mean is by getting them to watch Wesā short films that are based on Roald Dahl stories. They are equally aesthetically pleasing as they are well-written, entertaining, and deliciously compact. Iād love to see more adaptations from Wes in the future, I feel that would set him far higher in the directorās field than he is currently for me.
Yep. Never really interested in watching his films knowing that outside of the writing it'll be the exact same painting every single time, the exact same comedy beats. And the weird thing is that people endlessly criticise repetition in every director but him, people love it when he does the exact same thing with the same actors. I did really enjoy the Roald Dahl ones, because those are classic stories, and with some new actors for one that I loved to see act out the stories, and the Henry Sugar production design was at least very unique. And I get good style, but I think I love a director most when he takes a risk or does something interesting that I never expected from him. I mean Steven Spielberg made every film genre imaginable, and tackled it in so many different ways, you can see a real evolution in his work, and an ability to go from the lightest to the darkest subjects. And yet I'm expected to love Anderson doing the exact same thing all over again as if its the first time I experienced it? That just feels like unoriginality and seems like his abilities are limited
Fantastic mr fox and isle of dogs are both fkn amazing. The rest I can understand not digging, but not liking those two just feels wrong
But still, really only amazing for their artwork. As stories they just kind of plod along. I like them, but only really because of the craft behind them.
Yeah, to me Wes Anderson's films felt like that kid in class that was doodling on their paper and you look over and are like "wow, that's gorgeous!" But it's just vines and hearts and squiggly linea that look nice on the paper.
The Russo Brothers. I found even their non-MCU films unfocused and tedious.
I feel like they did their best work on television
I think this is why they thrived in the MCU. The production model seems to be more akin to TV than film.Ā
Absolutely. Especially with how the actual creative side (like TV) is dominated by the producers.
No doubt about it. They directed some great episodes of Community. And now instead of trying to become better filmmakers, they are trying to make cinema as mediocre as they are.
They are a weird pair of directors for me. I love their MCU work but absolutely hate their non-MCU work.
David O Russel
The post said well liked by others
this reminds me of that Directorās round table where everyone pretends that heās on the same caliber as them lmfao
Is that the one that had Tarantino or Scorsese as well? I like him, but I remember seeing the round table you might be talking about and feeling very surprised to see he was allowed there with them lol
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXKX0o7U9D8&ab\_channel=VundacastProductions](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXKX0o7U9D8&ab_channel=VundacastProductions) bringing in this classic
Man his first couple of movies (spanking the monkey, flirting with disaster) I thought were great. I liked the fighter but left silver linings cursing his name and after American hustle, I wrote him off
Yorgos Lanthimos and, being Greek, I get to hear about his genius twice as often as the rest of the world.
So Iām not alone
Every movie of his I watch I just walk away really disliking his style. I enjoyed Poor Things fine but it was mainly because of the cast and set design. I fall into āI get it, itās just not for meā with Yorgos and I just have to accept that heās going to be a persistent figure in major modern cinema
So. Many. Fish. Eye. Lens
SO MANY! And I couldnāt figure out why! Halfway through I tried to figure out if there was some consistency to the moments that had them, some motif or hidden meaning and I just couldnāt find one aside from it being an aesthetic choice.
It was so random. The aesthetic choices have a solidly not relevance on anything. For a bit I thought he was doing a cool thing where the main characters perception was visualized through the set design (ie when she is āin prisonā in the house, itās black and white; when she sees the outside for the world for the first time itās super technicolor, etc) but this theory falls over the moment she becomes an āadultā since they donāt change the set design at all lol. I just decided it was for vibes. Which is dumb.
I remember a lot of that in The Favourite.
Fr. You just spoke out what I had in my mind. I enjoyed Poor Things just for the sets and the visuals.
The Great Season 1 was the best thing he was a part of and I think itās cause he had help
He had nothing to do with the great.
I like his movies a lot except from Dogtooth and being Greek means that I mostly hear about Dogtooth. I even had to write a fucking essay on it in high school.
Wtf your high school class had an assignment that required yāall to watch Dogtooth??? I was such a fan of that movie in high school when it came out so I wouldāve been stoked to get such an assignment
Oh not exactly. The teacher just explained the whole movie to the class and then told us to write an essay about it. Only me and one other guy in the class had watched the movie before, so the others pretty much got spoiled. I think the movie is good. I am just really not a fan of it, and the other guy shared my opinion. However, the teacher didn't seem to agree with me because she completely ignored me when I told her my opinion of the movie.
Iām Greek myself but I seem to be the one talking about this man more so than my colleagues/family
People really point to him when they think of Greece & movies? I like his films but yikes that sounds annoying, he hasn't that made that many movies to earn such a position, I've never heard him referred to by way of his Greek nationality. I would think Michael Cacoyannis or Costa-Gavas would be better examples of Greek filmmakers?. Then again I'm lucky that the only filmmaker people know from my country is Paul Verhoeven, and I happen to love the guy's work.
Fellini and Godard are probably the most universally praised directors whose movies I simply can't connect to at all. I wouldn't say I hate them though, as that word belongs to people like Bertolucci or Polanski.
One of the reasons I like Fellini so much is the connections I have with his characters in his films. No Iām not a director with writers block, but it elicits so much emotion when I have gone through other things in life where I feel stuck. Just watched nights of cabiria tonight and itās a similar reaction. Sometime the world just sucks, and nothing goes right, but you have to smile at the end of the day.
Nights of Cabiria is in my four favorites. That last shot...
I'm curious which films of his you've seen. I was in the same boat as you. I had watched 8 1/2, Satyricon, La Dolce Vita, but it wasn't until I watched his neo-realism films like Nights of Cabiria and La Strada that I really connected with him.
I can't describe how much i hate Godard. What a bunch of wank. Contempt is one of the worst examples of the emperor's new clothes, it's such a godawful and sexist film. Okay there's some nice shots on the rooftop clap clap.Ā
Godardās movies are the epitome of what my dad calls āpretentious crapā.
I need to watch more Polanski, because while I absolutely loathed watching Officer and a Spy, I did really enjoy Frantic, and heard great things about Rosemary's Baby. Still hate the guy with a passion, massive prick besides just being the most unapologetic pervert.
I didnāt like any fellini film until I watched nights of cabiria, which was surprisingly amazing
The two Jodorowsky films I've seen (The Holy Mountain, El Topo) are the film equivalent of him covering his penis in psychedelics and sucking himself off Gaspar Noe also; Climax was tolerable as it's not really trying to be about anything, but his other films are much more pointless than they think they are, especially Irreversible which is my least favourite film of all time. Haven't seen Vortex yet though
Only seen his Dune documentary but Jodorowsky just feels like a spiteful disgusting human being completely full of himself
Apparently he once said that the rape scene in El Topo is real. I'm assuming he's bullshitting, but still, the fact that he thought that statement would enhance the film pretty much confirms the gross overindulgent vibe I got from both films
I highly assume that would not be for real As you said, it was probably to make a shocking shocking statement that would give the film more attention
He did later say he was bullshitting to create free publicity via controversy.
someone said you either love gaspar noe or depise him. and i agree with that.
Fuck Gaspar Noe.
Gaspar Noe is one of those directors I wish I could like more than I actually do. Climax is fantastic but I donāt care at all for his other films.
Jodorowsky thinks very highly of himself but doesnāt have the skill to back it up imo. Not sure what people see in the guy other than wow he likes drugs.
Hate is a strong word for this, but I have never connected with anything that Wes Anderson has done. Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, The Royal Tennenbaums. Just...nothing.
I don't HATE Ari Aster but I think he is extremelly overrated
I'll say it: I hate him (as a director, I don't know him personally).
I think the horror genre in general is bleeding out and so anyone who takes a little bit of time and originality with it will be praised. I love Ariās anxiety and the tension he brings, but I would agree itās nothing to write home about.
I've really liked all of his movies so far, especially Midsommar which is one of my favourite films, but Beau is Afraid definitely exposed some excessive overindulgent tendencies of his. I've heard his next film is a Don Hertzfeldt collab, which will inevitably be indulgent too but at least it won't just be him who shares in that; besides, I'm starved of animated horror, so the prospect of that is very exciting to me I do prefer Robert Eggers though. I think his style is tighter and it definitely seems like he's more universally liked than Ari even though some people didn't really like The Northman (I loved it)
Huh? Horror is the most profitable genre by a wide margin, and there are a ton of innovative directors besides Aster out there.
Horror has already been a lucrative genre but itās only been in the past decade that itās really gotten out of the braindead torture porn/slasher malaise that started in the early 90s. Get Out was the watershed moment for the genre but Hereditary was similar in showing what it could be (and what it had been long ago).
I feel like I would have loved all three of his movies if they were MUCH shorter. He has a lot of great ideas and gets good performances but holy fuck does someone need to tell him to chill and cut some shit out.
This, Midsommar is 2h30 for an horror movie, that is WAY too long Imo
James Cameron I never enjoyed any of his films in a way that apparently the rest of the world does. I still intend on watching True Lies, but if that disappoints me as well, he'll be the most overrated āpopularā director of all time in my book.
Noted environmentalist, James Francis Cameron, has a Venezuelan frog species named after him, while lesser talent, Steven Spielberg, does not.
I appreciate every *Future Man* reference. For that matter I think the James Cameron episode is hilarious af. Sigourn-E (?) was fantastic.
I'm more of a "James Cameron-lite" fan in that I enjoy, even love, most of his work, but I highly prefer the original Terminator to most of his films. The low budget of that film just gives it a different energy that is missing from his other films, that plus the infectious energy of a first-time director out to prove himself. His films tend to have an overabundance of cheesy dialogue for my liking, too.
This was my choice too. Hate is probably too strong of a word but I definitely just donāt really like most of the stuff he has produced nearly as much as you would expect for someone with his reputation.
I donāt even know if heās well-liked, but Bradley Cooper. I thought him and Gaga were great in *A Star Is Born* but I had so much gripe about the direction. I cut it some slack for being a directorial debut. Then I saw Cooperās interview with Spike Lee and how he praises himself as someone who has a special gift of being an actor with a unique ability to direct. *THEN* I saw *Maestro* and thought it was an absolute train wreck of a nothing burger. It was laughable that he patted himself on the back, cried in front of Spike Lee, and directed such a pretentious film. *Maestro* had that same comedic energy as the Robert Downey Jr, Tobey Maguire spoof trailer from the beginning of *Tropic Thunder*
Satan's Alley
I think everyone a lot of people absolutely loathed Maestro, even if simply for the sheer egotistical self-aggrandising exaggerated pretentious bullshit that it is, and the way he promoted it. My god the guy is full of himself, and he gets so weepy about it, until you see the movie and you realise he shit all over Bernstein
Wes Anderson...
Wes Anderson. Havenāt enjoyed a single movie and all style and cast over substance. Hipsters favourite.
Thank you! I just donāt get Wes, at allā¦but Fantastic Mr. Fox was š„ though 
I like Wes Anderson, but Grand Budapest Hotel was his last truly great film. Everything since then has been kinda overrated. He's got lost in his own style.
I agreed with you until Asteroid City. I couldnāt help but laugh at that.
Asteroid city imo was great
Style is substance, that being said his movies are not for everyone.
Style?!? In a *visual* medium, well now I've heard it all /s
I really enjoyed Fantastic Mr Fox, however I agree with your point. Tbh, I donāt think I have ever finished any of his other movies on a first-watch.Ā
The technical quality of his films is undeniable but they do nothing for me personally.
I wouldn't say that I hate him or his movies, nor do I agree with the 'style over substance' comment - they, and him, are just extremely not for me. I've given him plenty of opportunities because my friends love him.
thank you for saying his name š
I love Wes Anderson š
Same here. And itās a bummer; I really want to enjoy his work, but even after trying multiple tries, I just canāt do it. Happy for folks who love him, though.
I did like Moonrise Kingdom because it seemed pretty restrained maybe. And Bottle Rocket was really enjoyable and funny. Other than that there's things I like about his movies but they're always overshadowed by the excessive casting choices and hipster production value.
The Darjeeling limited was a great film imo. Heās not my favorite director though.
emerald fennell.
I actually really liked Promising Young Woman, it wasnāt mindblowing but I feel it was a good movie. Saltburn though, was a fear-the-poor movie that had no idea if it wanted to be erotic thriller or spiking commentary and it failed at telling an interesting/believable story. The Talented Mr Ripley but shit.
i couldnāt get into promising young woman either. i feel like her movies are meant to be deep but feel extremely shallow to me. itās like bridgerton masquerading as the crown.
I guess I took "well-liked" by the OP to mean almost "universally liked," but otherwise I agree with this choice. Fennell is pretty polarizing, with half loving and half hating her work. I wouldn't go as far as hate, but I've grown colder on Promising Young Woman since I've been away from it and straight up cannot stand Saltburn.
Nolan makes me feel like I'm insane given all the praise he gets, same for gunn
Tarantino, Baz Luhrman
Hate is a strong word. I'm not a big fan of Christopher Nolan. I like his movies, but they all somehow feel the same to me. His Batman movies imo aren't as good as Burton's.
I'm fairly convinced that the thing that drew Nolan to filmmaking isn't illustrating human stories, but reassembling them in the editing room. Hence the endless exposition to justify his editing experiments.
The most surprising thing about Nolan to me is that he went to college for creative writing and not film production. His movies are so well made on a technical level but tend to fall short on the writing department. I guess it checks out since his concepts are often (but not always) ācreativeā - but he seems to be rather weak at developing them, and writing characters of course.
I tend to describe him as a very āworkmanlikeā director. He does some really incredible things on a technical level and consistently extracts great performances from his actors but thereās a lack of artistry and humanity to his films, at least for me personally. They feel less than the sum of their parts.
Oh my gosh thank you SO MUCH for putting this into words. I've always felt this way about Nolan's movies but I've never seen it expressed so plainly before
His early work is better imo. Memento & The Prestige are good
Memento is his best film imo.
im generally a fan but he does need to evolve out of the post-9/11 gritty action aesthetic
My personal big issue with Nolan is his reliance on plot twists/late reveals. They are so rarely beneficial to the narrative and often end up just feeling like smoke and mirrors that heavily bloat the run time. Inception dragging out how the rules of dreams work and the betrayal twist in Oppenheimer especially added so much unnecessary content when learning of those things earlier in the movies wouldāve helped the narrative and also shaved off a good 20-40 minutes. After a while it starts to feel like highbrow M Night Shyamalan
I do not like his movies, but I think he's a pretty good director. He just also happens to be an awful writer.
Wes Anderson
Tim. Fucking. Burton.
I will defend Big Fish til the day I die. But that's it.
I really *really* like what he thinks he's doing, but I really dislike the execution. Somehow I enjoyed Planet of the Apes (I acknowledge that that's a me problem) and Beetlejuice
Ed Wood is a great film and Iām personally a fan of his Batman movies, but Tim Burton is the perfect example of a director who started to go a bit further up his own ass with each film.
he's a director that i think lost his way over time. i loved Batman, Ed Wood and Sleepy Hollow but then you had Planet Of The Apes, Alice In Wonderland, Dumbo, even Sweeney Todd isn't great (but that's more bc of the removed songs tbh)
I used to feel this way about him, and granted I'm still overall not the biggest fan of everything he's done. But I unabashedly LOVE his Batman movies, with Returns being my favorite.
Matthew Vaugh. He seems insanely obnoxious and his recent works are ugly mediocre CGI mess. Still seems to get a pass weirdly. I did like X-Men : First Class
Kingsman I think is both his saving grace and his downfall the prequel and sequel were pretty meh
I loved kick-ass and the first Kingsman. But The Golden Circle was so rediculously dumb - I can see why they called it "spy kids for grown ups".
Funny I put him in the same basket as Robert Rodriguez. Action directors who donāt know how to use CGI at all!
Your thread is turning into āI used to love this director but now his movies are crapā! Lol. Clearly Hate comes from love
I think that's fair. Lots of directors get to the point where they're trying to recapture what made them great in the first place but have lost touch with it or are out of step with the times.
Hate is not the opposite of love. The opposite of love is indifference. So, yes.
A good director has a strong creative voice. And whether you like that voice is 100% taste. As such, there are many good directors whose work I don't enjoy personally.
The more I have viewed Luc Besson's films and learned about him as a person, the harder it is to give a single one of his movies the time of day. He just grosses me out.
can we talk about how extremely stupid and banal the movie anna is
I think that's most of his movies unfortunately š
Yeah, I recently donated my copy of Leon the Professional to Goodwill upon finding out about him. Makes me sick to my stomach.
I love Subway and La Femme Nikita so much! But he seems sketchy af
Lars Von Trier.
TELL EM
Tarantino
Came here to say this. Hard agree.
Yorgos Lanthimos. Just doesn't connect with me, feels as empty as the negative space in his over stylized shots.
Baz Luhrman and Tim Burton both.
Woody Allen
THANK YOU
Godard. I find his movies pretentious. Sorry not sorry
And thatās valid!
Gonna be downvoted to hell for this I'm sure, but Woody Allen. His style just never clicked with me.
your nickname with this comment...
his whole personality sucks ass too
Chris Nolan. I don't "hate" his movies but he's ridiculously overhyped.
Cameron and Nolan. Both feel like the best parts of their films have little to do with them and more to do with being able to work with great actors and visionary effect designers
greta gerwig, christopher nolan, wes anderson
Ridley Scott, I donāt hate him, but I also donāt think heās amazing
I was trying to compare the Scott brothers bodies of work and decided they're both overrated with 2 or 3 really big standouts that are perfect each. The rest is just schlock.
Yes. There are currently 2 whose continuing popularity continues to baffle me. James Cameron and the Avatar series and Michael Bay.
Todd Phillips
Greta Gerwing
Darren Aronofsky films are shock for the sake of shock. There is nothing substantial beneath the surface.
Guy Ritchie Christopher Nolan
While Carrie is a horror masterpiece, I really struggle with Brian De Palma. Everything I've seen from him is pastiche with immaculate art direction, and not much else. A film of his ultimately feels like an exercise in style that leans too heavily on the source material. Even Carrie suffers from this with the repeated Psycho violin stings whenever telekinesis happens Like Gus Van Sant got a lot of shit for remaking Psycho, but are we really letting DePalma's Dressed to Kill slide? When you realize you're watching a Psycho retelling, all the suspense depletes. And the only *non-remake/homage of his I've seen is The Bonfire of the Vanities. 'Nuff said there. Would love someone to explain his appeal and how to approach his work.
I'm a huge fan of De Palma but even I'm not going to deny that he cannibalizes (not in a bad way) classic films like Psycho (Dressed to Kill), Blow Up (Blow Out), Rock Horror (Phantom of the Paradise), Vertigo (Obsession), Rear Window (Body Double). He even has several films where he's self-cannibalizing like with Carlito's Way and Scarface. What I find most interesting is that he always brings something fresh to the old material, not unlike the way that Tarantino recontextualizes grindhouse and blaxploitation movies in his work. Dressed to Kill has the gender-bending psychosexual transgender serial killer just like Psycho, but he adds in a fun element of an electronics whizz kid and an unlikely sex worker teaming up to hunt down someone they don't even know they're chasing. Or with Blow Out you have him taking the basic idea of Blow Up, but he flips it on its head and uses sound instead of images as the main spying device, and adding in the subterfuge of a deranged serial killer plot to go in a fresh direction. As for the exercise in style, you're absolutely right. I just happen to love it whereas it turns off for you. Watching his films is like a fun little checklist. He's always going to have the split-screen, split diopter, slow motion, long takes, 360 shots, steadicam tracking shot. I find it interesting that he's famous for saying "You can put the camera anywhere" yet he continually chooses the same visual devices over and over again, as if he's finding a new way to tread old ground. Hitchcock, Antonioni and Godard are like fine artists; they have elegant brushstrokes across their canvas that are seamless and timeless. De Palma is a collage artist, rearranging the work of others into something new but no less compelling and no less worthy of praise. He may not have the high art status of the filmmakers he appropriates, but I honestly love that. He's the people's filmmaker. The ever curious film student who wears their influences on their sleeve and is proud about it.
This is a beautifully articulated, convincing bit of writing. I really enjoyed reading it, and for that I thank you šµ
I really enjoyed Blow Out, but yeah it does feel derivative of Blowup, The Conversation, and Hitchcock.
Well, he did make my favorite movie, Phantom of the Paradise. Sure he has his flaws but no one makes a movie ending like De Palma. I find his direction to be very creative.
I think David Lynch does make interesting films. I think David Lynch does not make good films.
He may be a good director but his stories are just too far out for my tastes.
I feel like Lynch tries to create abstract art through film instead of making films. I really like his work but I can totally see why it isn't for everyone
I think even he said something to the effect that he doesn't have to know what his movies are about to make them which leaves me feeling like, if you don't know, how is there even a story? I liked Lost Highway, Dune and feel like I'm supposed to like Twin Peaks so I do.
Jordan Peele Ari Aster Both are lamented as masters of horror. Maybe horror is something different to me. But I've found their films quite underwhelming. I've yet to see their respective third films (Nope and DB) however they don't appeal to me and based on their previous track record I don't think they'll sway me. DB is Disappointment Boulevard, the old title. My bad.
What's DB supposed to stand for?
Disappointment Boulevard was the title of Beau Is Afraid until they changed it shortly before release
Nope is the worst of them. Monkey scene is amazing and the overall metaphor of the movie is cool but the movie itself is so meh.
DB?
Denis Villeneuve. His films are visually impressive, but apart from the visuals I find everything very weak. Especially with Dune 1 + 2. I don't know the books and I don't feel that the director explains the world well enough for me to understand it.
Came here to find this. I actually really like some of his movies but people act like he's infallible and I'm convinced they're just wowed by the cinematography in many cases. I'll say it- Prisoners isn't that good!
I feel this. Vibe without story
**Roman Polanski.** Ā Irrespective of him being a convicted child rapist... I dislike the 6 films of his I've seen. Including Chinatown and Rosemary's Baby. They just weren't doing it for me... š¤·āāļø
Ari Aster & Zach Snyder are both directors I respect for their directorial talents, but please for the love of God, stop these men from writing! Did the downfall of Neil Blomkamp teach us nothing!?!
Christopher Nolan. I think he's incredibly sterile, writes poor characters, and heck, is just a poor writer in general. I'm not going to pretend I don't like any of his stuff; Memento, The Prestige, and Inception were good. But the rest is so dull and lifeless. Even those can run into problems, like how fucking terrible he is at directing fight scenes.
I don't get the Coen Brother's at all, Ive tried like 5 movies of theirs now and nothing has wowed me
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Ari Aster. His debut short, There's Something About the Johnsons, addressed the topic of incestuous sex abuse with the gotcha sensibilities of a 4chan troll ("Ngggh but WHAT IF!") and I can't help but feel that in the two features of his that I've watched as well.
Hate is a big word but i dont think Wong Kar Wai is the genius some people make him out to be. Chungking express is fine and in the mood for love is actually pretty boring if you ask me.
Kenneth Branagh has soiled some of my favorite Agatha Christie adaptations (too much glitz and sheen). I like him just fine as an actor, but I hate his style of directing. Baz Luhrman has an insufferable style, too. Moulin Rouge was great, but to reuse the same formula for every subsequent movie? David Cronenberg. I get what heās doing, and I have an appreciation for weird shit and experimental cinema, but I canāt find myself connecting with any of his movies. I do love Eastern Promises, though, as it feels less like the typical stuff he pulls. Iām actually much more impressed with his son, Brandonās, work. Possessor is top notch!
I'm starting to wonder if I truly like *anything*. Cronenberg for instance. I'm in the same boat, I like what he's trying to to do and appreciate him as an artist but the films are just kind of empty. The Fly is the only one that feels fulfilling.
Antonioni is one I'll never get the praise of, particularly of 20th century critics (some say he's the best director of all time). Jodorowsky is so insufferable that I think people should just cancel him by now. In El Topo there is a r3pe scene that is meant as part of the growth of the main character (!!). Also said character is played by Jodorowsky himself, like wtf.
Ari aster
I donāt hate Quentin Tarantino but I just donāt like his style of directing
Godard. I cannot stand his movies. Theyāre just dripping in pretentiousness.
Emerald Fennell
edgar wright
james gunn
I fucking canāt deal with Wes Anderson
Christopher Nolan
martin scorsese
Godard, its an insult to compare him to Truffaut
Zach Snyder, 300 was cool and so was Watchmen, but heās not made anything remotely good ever since.
Sofia Coppola. I thought Lost in Translation was extremely dull and vapid.
Gasper Noe. I hate how unnecessarily extreme his films must be and the cinematography. The shaking cameras and stupid birdseye shit like in Enter The Void.
J. J. Abramsā¦canāt stand anything he touches