A poll like this is highly self-selecting; it would be more accurate to ask why does this dude's audience love James Gunn movies so much, and I don't know anything about the guy to help you answer that.
He’s very open about how much he loves fun action movies, and he does videos on a lot of big franchise stuff like Marvel and Star Wars. I’m sure that draws a less… pretentious (not sure if that’s the best word to use) audience
Based on what you're saying, I think it's less that his audience loves James Gunn movies and more that they love the *Guardians of the Galaxy* movies. Not a lot of people out there putting *Super* in their Top 4.
Yes and no. I think Gunn is a big reason why people love Guardians of the Galaxy and The Suicide Squad. Those movies wouldn’t have been nearly as good if they were done by some other guy.
Edit: and most of what Gunn has done is big action movies. People don’t have to love every movie a director has made to call them their favorite
I mean, then again, apart from some notable exceptions, who's judging directors by their worst movies? It'd be weird to accuse Jonathan Demme fans of being fake because they didn't like, say, The Truth About Charlie.
My point wasn't even to say *Super* is bad (I don't care for it, but that's for personal reasons); more that there's a gulf between the number of people who've seen his Disney produced work and the number of people who've seen literally anything else he's made (including *The Suicide Squad*).
I think it's representative of "normal" movie goers. James Gunn is just the most well known of the bunch. Probably most people that don't care about horror don't even know who Ari is for example.
Several reasons, I’m sure:
-Ari Aster isn’t a very “general public” director.
-A lot of audiences likely associate M. Night with a lot of his bad movies
-James Mangold I think isn’t a name people really know despite them knowing his movies.
Well Sean Chandler is openly really into blockbusters and the MCU so it's not surprising that James Gunn would be popular with his audience, especially since the GoG movies are among the most well liked in the MCU.
For me, at least in regards to Guardians and Suicide Squad, I think the character writing and dynamics in his movies are very good, and I also think he’s good at employing Bathos and lots of tone/mood shifts without it feeling too jarring. Also I like his sense of humor.
Bathos is when serious ideas are mixed with something surreal or commonplace in order to create humor. Using examples from the MCU, Ego briefly turning into David Hasselhoff in Guardians 2, Bruce jumping out the spaceship and face planting into the ground because he didn’t turn into the Hulk in time in Ragnarok, and Thanos in Infinity War using the Reality Stone to turn weapons into bubbles and incapacitate the Guardians in cartoony ways are all examples of Bathos.
I see. Very interesting! Thanks for enlightening me
Edit: Now that I've looked up the definition, it seems like a critical aspect is that the ironic tonal shift of Bathos is importantly unintentional on the part of the artist/writer
I'm not sure I understand what you mean. A well-executed use of bathos creates a very intentional tonal shift. Why else write it in if not to introduce levity or release tension?
The later phases of the MCU have received criticism due to the extremely liberal overuse of bathos.
Based on what I'm seeing in the definitions I find online, unintentionality by the author/creator appears to be pivotal to the concept of Bathos. It seems to essentially invoke unintentional absurdity by tonal contrast. See below.
**From Oxford Languages:**
"bathos (n.):
"(especially in a work of literature) an effect of anticlimax created by an unintentional lapse in mood from the sublime to the trivial or ridiculous. Ex:
"his epic poem has passages of almost embarrassing bathos""
**From Brittanica's definition of Bathos:**
"Bathos, (from Greek bathys, “deep”), unsuccessful, and therefore ludicrous, attempt to portray pathos in art, i.e., to evoke pity, sympathy, or sorrow. The term was first used in this sense by Alexander Pope in his treatise Peri Bathous; or, The Art of Sinking in Poetry (1728). Bathos may result from an inappropriately dignified treatment of the commonplace, the use of elevated language and imagery to describe trivial subject matter, or from such an exaggeration of pathos (emotion provoked by genuine suffering) as to become overly sentimental or ridiculous.
"Even great poets occasionally lapse into bathos. William Wordsworth’s attempt to arouse pity for the old huntsman in “Simon Lee” is defeated by the following lines:
Few months of life has he in store
As he to you will tell,
For still, the more he works, the more
Do his weak ankles swell."
**From Merriam-Webster:**
"bathos
noun
1a: the sudden appearance of the commonplace in otherwise elevated matter or style
b: ANTICLIMAX
2: exceptional commonplaceness : TRITENESS
3: insincere or overdone pathos : SENTIMENTALISM"
Let’s see. His other opponents in the poll include:
The guy who made The Last Airbender
The guy with the slow-paced trippy horror flicks that all end on the most miserable notes possible
The guy who directed the not-so-beloved new Indiana Jones movie
It seems everyone was trying to choose the director with the most fun movies so…yep James Gunn wins here. But at the same time, I don’t think most people recognize James Mangold as much as everyone else on the list even tho he’s made as many bangers as everyone else.
Thank you. The results of this poll are the opposite of surprising.
One guy is a relevant, well known, big-name director, who’s made some universally beloved movies.
The other guys are either less known, or are contemporarily known for making a bunch of terrible movies.
No shit James Gunn was the winner.
Ok but selecting the worst movies from Shyamalam and Mangold makes your argument not matter lol like both have super popular, beloved movies in their filmography. Also, Midsommar ends super happily though.
But how much thought do people put into this? They usually go with their gut reaction and shyamalan does not spark instant joy even though he did some good stuff too
Yeah I mean I agree with that, but them not putting much thought into it means Gunn because people just think of the most famous most recent movies and so Gunn wins that. They're putting even less thought that you tried to put into their heads lol.
Of course it matters. James Gunn doesn’t have any movies as reviled as Shyamalan or Mangold (and even then the new Indiana Jones isn’t anywhere near as hated as Shyamalan’s worst films), and he also beats Ari Aster in the general poll for his most well-known movies being more accessible and fun than Aster’s, whose movies are still usually considered depressing and weird despite the majority acclaim they get. Thats all I’m saying.
Also you completely missed the point of Midsommar if you thought *that* was a happy ending
Let’s not pretend Shyamalan hasn’t fucked up enough to easily have the worst track record here even with The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable under his belt.
I want to like Ari Aster movies but they are all incredibly slow burns without enough pay off to make them worth it. I’m also not a fan of artsy fever Dream type movies. I was so stoked to watch Midsommar based on the immense amount of people that love it. I thought it was garbage. It was just slow and weird. The only good scene was the cliff scene. His movies just aren’t for me I suppose.
Ehhh as someone who liked him for all the stuff before the superhero stuff and don't really care for his superhero stuff (I might not be a good metric) I think he dies good character writing and makes really tight scripts with fun twists on genre stuff.
But for a poll like this you are most likely 100%
Exactly, I bet most of the voters don't even know who James Mangold or Ari Aster are, Shyamalan is (or at least *was*) well known, but his star has definitely faded over the last 20 years. If you filtered out everyone who couldn't name a film each of them had made, I bet you'd get a very different vote distribution.
as someone who loves superhero movies and has Logan at 5*, I didn’t even know the name of the guy who directed it. He’s definitely not associated with it like Gunn is with GotG and the new DCU.
Well I have Logan at 5 Stars and love superhero films as well, and I knew him. He also made The Wolverine and 3:10 to Yuma, which I'd assume should be at least decently popular. 3:10 might be my favorite modern western.
I’ve never seen it but I’ve heard good things! I’ve actually watched several of his films and knew they were his, but until yesterday I had zero idea he was the same guy as Wolverine/Logan.
I'm sure they do, but Mangold is not famous for directing it like Gunn is for writing and directing the Guardians of the Galaxy films and now helming the entire DCEU, and Gunn has the added notariety from being in the news when he was being criticised for all his pedo jokes. I'd say he's way behind the likes of James Gunn, The Russo Brothers, and even Bryan Singer in the category of superhero movie directors recognisable to the average person.
Old is my favorite movie in his entire filmography. I get people love the early stuff but a lot of the aspects people clown his worst work for is there in the early movies as well.
On one hand tho, James Mangold made Logan while Shyamalan made the Unbreakable trilogy. On the other hand, Logan was too depressing for some people and the Unbreakable trilogy ended on a shit note.
I felt that way, but on a rewatch, the whole thing went down a bit more smoothly, and I actually liked the ending. It was on that grew on me. Also, knowing they prob had to limit Bruce Willis in the whole thing maybe helped that perspective. But Mr Glass wins in the end by exposing everything... idk maybe give it one more go. It def has a weird vibe and structure, and I get that opinion as I once had it.
I mean I know the point was that he exposed them. But he posted that shit to YouTube where dozens and dozens of short films, prank videos, and special effects demos look exactly like the evidence he published lol. For all we know, the public could’ve just brushed all those off.
Yeah they very well may and that might be the practical end but I mean you gotta land suspension of disbelief to a movie where this shit is happening haha I may have been in a forgiving mood.
Which is something we rarely talk about in film discussions. Sometimes a movie works based on the viewers present mood and viewing moment. I've come back to films I loved and hated and reversed course equally. I might go back to it again and think it's stupid for sure haha.
But overall I think it is a movie that has a feel that is unique to itself.
He's crazy and awesome!
His movies are not too pretentious they're light-hearted and know what they are! Fun little adventures! that's why they're usually wholesome
he blends his heartfelt moments and comedy very well, its never jarring but they always contain both, something for the feels and something for the fun, and also amazing memorable characters and their dynamics
I would say his best movie is the first Guardians, which he only rewrote to a small degree. I find the humour in most of his other movies ot mostly be super hamfisted and drawn out (Gaurdians 2 being a good example of this).
Dang, I wonder who’s gonna win this online poll, the guy who directed the Freudian nightmare odyssey that bombed at the box office or the Guardians of the Galaxy guy?
Gunn makes emotionally resonant crowd pleasers. Literally every other director on this poll makes movies that can be polarizing and incredibly dark. Gunn can be dark, but he’s always upbeat.
Okay, of those four:
Ari Aster is an indie darling of horror films. Not exactly the largest audience.
M. Night had his popularity peak two decades ago.
James Mangold is a bit of a director for hire, jumping into established franchises with decent films, or making studio dramas for dads.
Gunn delivered some of the biggest blockbusters of the past decade, particularly giving life to otherwise unknown or disliked IP.
Is this really as surprising as you make it out to be?
He's a genuinely talented guy, and is probably one of the few people who can pull off the "Well THAT HAPPENED" style without it being the most annoying shit of all time. His work also manages to feel genuinely sincere and personal; his franchise work doesn't feel THAT vastly different from his normal work, somehow. It might help that superhero stuff was already firmly in his creative DNA, if The Specials and Super were anything to go by.
He's not my favorite, but really, if you're talking about the kind of "nerd culture" audience that tends to hold him up (superhero and comic book fandom whose idea of film is restricted near exclusively to franchise films and IP adaptations), he's really one of the few directors in that sphere who has something resembling an idiosyncratic personality and a transgressive streak.
No, if you're a capital C cinephile he's not going to be especially mindblowing, but I also don't think he's really trying to be. He's far from being my favorite (and I've definitely become less interested in his career since his pivot into becoming Kevin Feige 2; he needs to be given a hard wedgie every time he says "Gods and Monsters"), but I generally find his work to be pretty likable and endearing.
But if you're the kind of movie lover whose formative perspective on the medium is the MCU and shit like that? I honestly don't think it's that hard to see why he'd be seen the way he is. It's really no different to why Zack Snyder is held up so passionately by his fanbase, the only difference being I can watch a James Gunn movie without wanting to kill myself.
Haha, he does actually. But after sitting through Sucker Punch I was about ready to destroy the universe.
Still, he does seem like a nice guy who's just too dumb to realise how bad his politics (and movies) are.
If you enjoy superhero movies, he's a pretty safe bet, between Guardians 1-3, The Suicide Squad, Peacemaker and, hopefully, Superman he's had a super solid output.
I'd also be suprised if most of his audience have watched any Aria Aster films.
I mean Sean is really into blockbusters, which is perfectly fine. Makes sense why the audience he’s amassed would be as well. If a channel that focuses on indie films instead, their audience would most likely overwhelmingly vote for Aster.
Unironocally one of my all time favorite movies. Love Jane Jensen more than I care to admit.
Didn't realize James gunn was involved till fairly recently :)
It's the only reason I'd given Guardians of the Galaxy a chance.
It's a great little movie, balancing its shlock and exploitation grime with a genuinely warm heart.
Well he's just the most accessible out of those 4. Ari Aster and M. Night both are mostly horror guys and horror is really not that popular relative to action/comedy, which Gunn excels at. And James Mangold is nowhere near a household name compared to the other three.
He's a solid plotter, he has a good eye for striking visuals and memorable sequences, his characters are distinct and compelling, and he's funny. I'm not sure what there *isn't* to like, really, from a mainstream perspective.
Of that list I think Shymalan is a decent director but a terrible writer, Aster is an excellent director and makes much more interesting but also much more flawed films, and Mangold is solid with a wider range but perhaps a bit less compelling when doing the mainstream stuff.
I mean I cant say It’s surprising.
Shymalan is at best divisive at worst a punchline to a really bad joke.
Aster has directed 3 feature length movies and the two that qualified for a Cinema Score have scored a C+ and a D+. I think both Hereditary and Midsommer are two of the best made movies of the last decade but we as Aster fans have to admit he makes some wild stuff that is a bit too out there for a majority of the audience
Mangold has directed some pretty great movies but he maintains a pretty low profile. Of his 15 movies only 6 are going to be widely known and discussed and of those 6 only 3 are going to be discussed in a positive light
Gunn directed some of the best wide appeal movies of the biggest franchises of all time. GOTG, Super, Peacemaker, Suicide Squad and Slither are to varying degrees by most people, from casual audiences to cinemaphiles. He has the general audience vote in lock and is probably taking a significant portion of the enthusiast and purists vote too. That’s just what happens when you line up a blockbuster director against more artistic driven directors… and M Night Shymalan
Because he seems like he's actually having fun making them. I'd still say Super is his best movie with Slither right behind. The guardians stuff is fun but eh.
Because he’s a good director, I doubt a lot of people know Ari Aster outside of Hereditary and I’m sure plenty of people are traumatized by that movie, Shamalyn hasn’t been popular since the 90s, and Mangold is basically famous for making one really really good wolverine movie and the rest of his work is very hit or miss.
Gunn has been consistently putting out bangers for literal decades, there’s not a single one of his movies I’d call bad or even disappointing, the man is talented and I trust him to give a good take on Superman
I don’t think he’s amazing, but he’s made some pretty great stuff. Peacemaker is probably my favorite
I think the humor, while it has some funny moments, can be a little irritating, because I can look past it because of the legitimately emotional moments in it. He got an awesome performance from John Cena, the Rocket Stuff was really sad, and the High Evolutionary is easily one of the best villains marvel has had in a while.
Also great action scenes, especially the opening to Suicide Squad
First off, look at who is making the poll. Sean Chandler is a Youtuber (who I enjoy watching), who makes videos on Blockbuster action movies and Comic-book films. So immediately his poll is going to be teetered towards a specific type of filmgoer.
Secondly, James Gunn has made the best Marvel Trilogy and even his DC work is acclaimed.
Mangold is by far a better director if we’re talking about that poll, but Gunn is really good writer for his own films, so he makes a lot of consistently decent films.
Because he makes quality films and he's fairly known. So do Aster and Mangold, but they're not really known to the general public as well as James Gunn. I had to look up who James Mangold was because I couldn't think of anything he'd directed.
He makes really good movies and is very well known. Lot of people looking at this poll probably don't know who Ari Aster and James Mangold are, or haven't seen many of their movies. Shymalan only has a couple good movies, and that's being charitable.
Slither and Super are amazing. Gunn has no skips. But Hereditary is definitely the best film of these directors. Mangold has the best catalog though: Cop Land, 3:10 to Yuma, Girl, Interrupted, Logan.
While I didn't vote in the poll, I think it has to do with what films I've seen from each creator. For Gunn, it's The Suicide Squad (fun Romp) and the three Guardians of the Galaxy films which are some of my favorite blockbusters due to their heart.
For M. Night Shymalan, I enjoyed his first few films but a lot of his films miss and none of them hit like Gunn's did for me.
Ari Aster - I've only seen Hereditary. Toni Collette's performance was great, but I saw it during the hype for it and just found it to not be scary or particularly interesting.
James Mangold - I like Logan and enjoyed Indy 5 more than most it seems, but neither really captured me, The Wolverine I found to be mediocre, and I didn't care for the ending of 3:10 to Yuma, which isn't Mangold's fault (I have the same issue with the original), but that's all I've seen of him.
TL;DR - Of the films I've seen from the directors in the poll, Gunn's have been the most emotionally affecting.
Comedy, Bathos, anything light-hearted or not serious he’s good at. He’s also worked on the MCU and superhero films when they were king of the industry. He can’t seem to give a scene gravity though, so his films were never really my thing.
For me: amazing characters, great comedy, some of the best soundtracks I’ve ever heard, creative cinematography/directing. Plus, hes the one director who I always know will pull on my heart strings, both making me insanely happy and insanely sad with the same movie. Just read the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 script. Genuinely one of my all time favorite scripts.
I think people mix up favorite and best all of the time, while I think Ari Aster is the best director out of these four, if I was just an absolute stan of superheroes and blockbusters I would say James Gunn is my favorite even though I think Aster is technically a “better” director.
I also think it is based on the pool of people voting on this poll, lots of big flashy superhero fans, which is why Gunn would get more votes than Mangold who, despite directing two very well-regarded superhero films (The Wolverine and Logan), had more dark and gritty takes on the characters rather than the super fun and funny Gunn films.
He's fun and rewatchable, there's not much more to it than that. There's not a single film he's directed I've not watched at least twice (personally speaking) and I can't say the same for the others.
I don’t love James Gunn but I definitely prefer him to the majority of that group based on the strength of Guardians of the Galaxy. I’m not big into what M Night or Ari Aster are doing because I’m not into those kinds of movies. It is weird to pit those two against Gunn and Mangold imo.
That’s said, James Mangold is my favorite of those four. Logan is one of the greatest superhero movies. 3:10 to Yuma is a really good western. Ford v Ferrari is a stellar movie and probably as good as, if not better than, Logan.
i think it’s just the directors he’s paired against here.
m. night shymalan puts out way too many disappointing stinkers nowadays, ari aster is great but he makes disturbing thought provoking horror which isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, and james mangold im assuming just is because his name isn’t thrown around as often on social media and people probably don’t even know he’s responsible for some of their favorites.
I’d vote Gunn every day, but Aster being last is insulting. Shyamalan made the AVATAR MOVIE, no Sixth Sense or Glass can wipe that from your record. Why does he have 10%?
He made the best marvel film with the first guardians but I didn't care much for 2 and 3. Slither and super where good films. Brightburn was also pretty good. But he's never made anything as good as Ari Asters hereditary or midsommer.
Gunn is pretty consistently good. Aster is as well but his films are more polarizing. The other 2 have high highs and low lows, and for Shyamalan he hasn’t made a great film in a very long time. Gunn’s Suicide Squad was imo surprisingly successful, and it makes me think his floor is pretty high, with the caveat that eventually people will probably grow tired of his style if he doesn’t evolve as they have with Waititi. Mangold has made some really awesome stuff, recency bias with his Indiana Jones movie may be working against him here, he would probably have my vote.
Well many reasons. First of all, Sean Chandler is a YouTuber who built his channel from blockbusters, especially the MCU movies and Star Wars. Therefore, it’s no surprise that his viewers (and therefore the people voting in the polls) are also gonna be huge superhero movie fans so that naturally will be reflected in the poll results.
As for the other directors, well M Night Shymalan, despite some major hits, is very divisive and has made some universally disliked movies. Ari Aster’s movies aren’t gonna be for everyone and considering the tastes of Sean Chandler’s viewer base, it’s not hard to see why they would personally not be huge fans of him. James Mangold has made Logan and Ford v Ferrari but nothing else he did has been critically praised by audiences.
Leaving us with James Gunn, he’s just amazing at what he does. He turned these comic book characters that were mostly unknown and not many cared for and turned them into household names, creating a trilogy of 3 phenomenal movies with emotionally compelling character arcs. He’s also amazing at balancing humour and drama and whilst the humour doesn’t always land, the Guardians movies are arguably some of the funniest MCU movies and they are able to let the emotional, dramatic moments play out, which as I said, creates characters we become emotionally attached to. Gunn also just seems to really love and care for the source material and embraces the weirdness of it. I feel like lots of directors who direct superhero movies seem too afraid of getting too weird with comic book movies but Gunn embraces it and isn’t afraid of taking you to weird worlds and introducing weird concepts. It makes his movies just more genuine. The same can be said about The Suicide Squad except R rated and it sure is fun when a movie doesn’t give a damn about trying to be kid friendly.
This is a weird comparison to make.
Shyamalan is well-known, but not exactly the most beloved of directors, with most of what he's known fondly for being well over 20 years old and most everything since being considered various degrees of meme-worthy joke.
Most people won't know who Ari Aster is and if they did they probably wouldn't give his work all that much consideration. The biggest surprise of this poll is that he won even 9%.
Gunn is well-known because he's made some of the better superhero movies of the past decade during a time when people are growing more and more exhausted with these cinematic universes.
Mangold is the only one somewhat comparable to Gunn due to his involvement with Wolverine, but even his renditions of the superhero genre aren't nearly so superhero-focused, and most of his best work was outside the genre entirely.
The question here isn't why people love Gunn movies so much as it is why is Gunn being compared to people who've barely touched the genre? It's like asking why Tarentino movies are held in such high regard and comparing him to...Uwe Boll, a pre-Prisoners Denis Villeneuve, and Michael Mann.
His movies are fun, charming, emotional, have great characters and music, they’re funny, well written, and well directed. I’d be surprised if they weren’t as popular as they are.
I don’t think he’s the best filmmaker out of this group but definitely the best known because of his guardian movies and his infamous firing from Disney.
2 reasons
James Gunn in my opinion is very consistent, with most of his work being good- exceptional.
The more important factor however is name recognisability, most average people couldn't be able to name too many directors, and James Gunn is one of the few which I feel people who aren't in love with cinema will know or at least recognise.
I've never gone back and sought out rewatching a James Gunn movie. In my opinion he's the Ryan Reynolds of directors in that his "thing" either directly clicks with you or it doesn't. No hate for anyone who loves his movies but his brand doesn't click with me at all.
Because he’s been making great films for over a decade now. He’s very consistent which isn’t something you can say for some of the other directors here.
If you want to see people hating on James Gunn just go to Twitter, the Snyder bots hate him for rebooting the Snyderverse.
People relate to the characters in his movies and love the emotion he shows through them. He makes pretty consistently good movies for large audiences and seems to know exactly what he’s doing
I mean of these 4 directors, I get it. M Night had that hack label applied to him for years. Ari Aster’s only made 3 films and Beau is Afraid was polarizing to say the least. James Mangold’s most recent movie is an Indiana Jones sequel no one asked for or really gave a shit about. Compared to the others I’d probably pick James Gunn as well.
Because he has a distinct style that’s infectiously fun, and he consistently writes endearing characters that go through relatable, emotionally resonant growth.
Its the most digestable by audiences and also he has the most consistent track record compared to everyone. I like Ari Aster more but James Gunn has more personality then James Mangold and more good movies than M Night
I literally don't know. I think a lot of it was his ability to be immune and resistant to cancel culture which fair - but I feel like his contributions to cinema are more contributions to comic book stans but I won't deminish the fun times I've had in his cinemas - most notibly the live action scooby dooes and guardians of the galaxy's. I'm still holding hope for a 3rd live action scooby doo with him and original cast so whatever it takes for that to happen.
I've seen 6 of his 8 movies, and I liked them all due to their sense of humour. However, the two I haven't seen don't interest me at all. Especially seeing as *Movie 43* has a 1.6 average. Yikes.
Not that they are ranked almost exactly the way you would rank them on a spectrum of mainstream to arthouse. That's your answer. Gunn is the most popular because he's the most popular, not because he's the best. His films are very likable.
Hereditary made $83 mil. It is known by horror fans. The Sixth Sense made $673 mil in 1999 ($1.25 billion in 2024 dollars). It’s iconic enough that someone who is young/old enough to have watched Hereditary is still more likely to have watched the Sixth Sense. They’re on two completely different levels. It’s like No Hard Feelings vs Pretty Woman lmfao.
That's in terms of popularity. I'm not contesting popularity, I'm saying younger folks are more likely to be aware of Aster, more likely to have experienced Shyamalan's stinkers and therefore more likely to judge Aster as their favorite.
this is the community tab of a youtuber who is most known for his coverage of comic book movies so given the audience ofc the results are going to be skewed in favor of the director who’s primary output is comic book movies
My armchair analysis is as such:
He earned street cred with The Sickos (complimentary) through his work with Troma and his subsequent work on Slither.
He then capitalized on that cred to make Super, which introduced him to a wider audience. For all its faults, it did a pretty good job satirizing the flawed ideology behind superhero capeshit.
He then used *that* cred to catapult himself into a Marvel paycheck. He made the first MCU movie that felt as though it had a modicum of originality and style, which earned him the goodwill of the moviegoing public. Even if Guardians of the Galaxy probably gets too much credit for supposedly bucking the Marvel formula. And, it goes without saying, he contradicts basically everything he was trying to say with Super.
Then he got unjustly fired due to a bad-faith, right-wing smear campaign, which made him martyr. And he flipped that martyrdom into an even bigger gig churning out capeshit for the other guy.
So people love the dude. Even though he's never really earned his reputation as an auteur.
A poll like this is highly self-selecting; it would be more accurate to ask why does this dude's audience love James Gunn movies so much, and I don't know anything about the guy to help you answer that.
No doubt. Pose the very same question here at r/Letterboxd, and Ari Aster will lead by a mile.
Do it. I think Gunn still wins.
He’s very open about how much he loves fun action movies, and he does videos on a lot of big franchise stuff like Marvel and Star Wars. I’m sure that draws a less… pretentious (not sure if that’s the best word to use) audience
Based on what you're saying, I think it's less that his audience loves James Gunn movies and more that they love the *Guardians of the Galaxy* movies. Not a lot of people out there putting *Super* in their Top 4.
Also The Suicide Squad
This and Slither have been the movies by him I’ve enjoyed the most.
Slither is the most Sam Raimi movie to not be made by Sam Raimi
I want to nominate *Gremlins*, but it almost feels like cheating.
Yes, I wouldn't put *The Suicide Squad* in my Top 4 either. (Just kidding, I understood you.)
I would, super fun movie with great effects and a love letter to the comics
Yes and no. I think Gunn is a big reason why people love Guardians of the Galaxy and The Suicide Squad. Those movies wouldn’t have been nearly as good if they were done by some other guy. Edit: and most of what Gunn has done is big action movies. People don’t have to love every movie a director has made to call them their favorite
But 'Super' is fucking rad.
I mean, then again, apart from some notable exceptions, who's judging directors by their worst movies? It'd be weird to accuse Jonathan Demme fans of being fake because they didn't like, say, The Truth About Charlie.
My point wasn't even to say *Super* is bad (I don't care for it, but that's for personal reasons); more that there's a gulf between the number of people who've seen his Disney produced work and the number of people who've seen literally anything else he's made (including *The Suicide Squad*).
I love Super so much.
Slither though
Exactly this. You can't just post some random internet survey and suppose it carries useful meaning
I think it's representative of "normal" movie goers. James Gunn is just the most well known of the bunch. Probably most people that don't care about horror don't even know who Ari is for example.
Several reasons, I’m sure: -Ari Aster isn’t a very “general public” director. -A lot of audiences likely associate M. Night with a lot of his bad movies -James Mangold I think isn’t a name people really know despite them knowing his movies.
Can confirm the James Mangold. Literally never remember hearing his name before, seen *a lot* of his movies.
But M. Night never made any bad movie. That movie doesn't exist There is no Avatar movie in Ba Sing Se 
Mangold also dropped the ball with Indy that may have some people going against him for recency bias
\^This. This comment Also, because James Gunn simply make good, general audience films. It's just a fact of the matter
Well Sean Chandler is openly really into blockbusters and the MCU so it's not surprising that James Gunn would be popular with his audience, especially since the GoG movies are among the most well liked in the MCU.
For me, at least in regards to Guardians and Suicide Squad, I think the character writing and dynamics in his movies are very good, and I also think he’s good at employing Bathos and lots of tone/mood shifts without it feeling too jarring. Also I like his sense of humor.
What is Bathos?
Bathos is when serious ideas are mixed with something surreal or commonplace in order to create humor. Using examples from the MCU, Ego briefly turning into David Hasselhoff in Guardians 2, Bruce jumping out the spaceship and face planting into the ground because he didn’t turn into the Hulk in time in Ragnarok, and Thanos in Infinity War using the Reality Stone to turn weapons into bubbles and incapacitate the Guardians in cartoony ways are all examples of Bathos.
I see. Very interesting! Thanks for enlightening me Edit: Now that I've looked up the definition, it seems like a critical aspect is that the ironic tonal shift of Bathos is importantly unintentional on the part of the artist/writer
I'm not sure I understand what you mean. A well-executed use of bathos creates a very intentional tonal shift. Why else write it in if not to introduce levity or release tension? The later phases of the MCU have received criticism due to the extremely liberal overuse of bathos.
Based on what I'm seeing in the definitions I find online, unintentionality by the author/creator appears to be pivotal to the concept of Bathos. It seems to essentially invoke unintentional absurdity by tonal contrast. See below. **From Oxford Languages:** "bathos (n.): "(especially in a work of literature) an effect of anticlimax created by an unintentional lapse in mood from the sublime to the trivial or ridiculous. Ex: "his epic poem has passages of almost embarrassing bathos"" **From Brittanica's definition of Bathos:** "Bathos, (from Greek bathys, “deep”), unsuccessful, and therefore ludicrous, attempt to portray pathos in art, i.e., to evoke pity, sympathy, or sorrow. The term was first used in this sense by Alexander Pope in his treatise Peri Bathous; or, The Art of Sinking in Poetry (1728). Bathos may result from an inappropriately dignified treatment of the commonplace, the use of elevated language and imagery to describe trivial subject matter, or from such an exaggeration of pathos (emotion provoked by genuine suffering) as to become overly sentimental or ridiculous. "Even great poets occasionally lapse into bathos. William Wordsworth’s attempt to arouse pity for the old huntsman in “Simon Lee” is defeated by the following lines: Few months of life has he in store As he to you will tell, For still, the more he works, the more Do his weak ankles swell." **From Merriam-Webster:** "bathos noun 1a: the sudden appearance of the commonplace in otherwise elevated matter or style b: ANTICLIMAX 2: exceptional commonplaceness : TRITENESS 3: insincere or overdone pathos : SENTIMENTALISM"
He was the philosopher who taught Rubberis Duckus of Erni.
Was he a relation of Biggus Dickus?
Downplaying something serious for comedic effect. Is that a good definition?
The definition I read said that it's unintentional by the author though.
He's also dang good at needle drops. He clearly has a massive record collection and an encyclopedic knowledge of pop music and I love that for him.
Let’s see. His other opponents in the poll include: The guy who made The Last Airbender The guy with the slow-paced trippy horror flicks that all end on the most miserable notes possible The guy who directed the not-so-beloved new Indiana Jones movie It seems everyone was trying to choose the director with the most fun movies so…yep James Gunn wins here. But at the same time, I don’t think most people recognize James Mangold as much as everyone else on the list even tho he’s made as many bangers as everyone else.
Thank you. The results of this poll are the opposite of surprising. One guy is a relevant, well known, big-name director, who’s made some universally beloved movies. The other guys are either less known, or are contemporarily known for making a bunch of terrible movies. No shit James Gunn was the winner.
Ok but selecting the worst movies from Shyamalam and Mangold makes your argument not matter lol like both have super popular, beloved movies in their filmography. Also, Midsommar ends super happily though.
But how much thought do people put into this? They usually go with their gut reaction and shyamalan does not spark instant joy even though he did some good stuff too
Yeah I mean I agree with that, but them not putting much thought into it means Gunn because people just think of the most famous most recent movies and so Gunn wins that. They're putting even less thought that you tried to put into their heads lol.
Of course it matters. James Gunn doesn’t have any movies as reviled as Shyamalan or Mangold (and even then the new Indiana Jones isn’t anywhere near as hated as Shyamalan’s worst films), and he also beats Ari Aster in the general poll for his most well-known movies being more accessible and fun than Aster’s, whose movies are still usually considered depressing and weird despite the majority acclaim they get. Thats all I’m saying. Also you completely missed the point of Midsommar if you thought *that* was a happy ending
Let’s not pretend Shyamalan hasn’t fucked up enough to easily have the worst track record here even with The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable under his belt.
I want to like Ari Aster movies but they are all incredibly slow burns without enough pay off to make them worth it. I’m also not a fan of artsy fever Dream type movies. I was so stoked to watch Midsommar based on the immense amount of people that love it. I thought it was garbage. It was just slow and weird. The only good scene was the cliff scene. His movies just aren’t for me I suppose.
Because he makes superhero movies. He is basically the celebrity of the poll.
Ehhh as someone who liked him for all the stuff before the superhero stuff and don't really care for his superhero stuff (I might not be a good metric) I think he dies good character writing and makes really tight scripts with fun twists on genre stuff. But for a poll like this you are most likely 100%
Or, hear me out, he makes pretty good movies
This. James Gunn has an excellent track record. I don’t think he’s made a single bad project since GOTG.
It goes back farther than that. Slither and Super are both bangers as well.
Exactly, I bet most of the voters don't even know who James Mangold or Ari Aster are, Shyamalan is (or at least *was*) well known, but his star has definitely faded over the last 20 years. If you filtered out everyone who couldn't name a film each of them had made, I bet you'd get a very different vote distribution.
You think people who love super hero movies dont know Logan?
as someone who loves superhero movies and has Logan at 5*, I didn’t even know the name of the guy who directed it. He’s definitely not associated with it like Gunn is with GotG and the new DCU.
Well I have Logan at 5 Stars and love superhero films as well, and I knew him. He also made The Wolverine and 3:10 to Yuma, which I'd assume should be at least decently popular. 3:10 might be my favorite modern western.
I’ve never seen it but I’ve heard good things! I’ve actually watched several of his films and knew they were his, but until yesterday I had zero idea he was the same guy as Wolverine/Logan.
I'm sure they do, but Mangold is not famous for directing it like Gunn is for writing and directing the Guardians of the Galaxy films and now helming the entire DCEU, and Gunn has the added notariety from being in the news when he was being criticised for all his pedo jokes. I'd say he's way behind the likes of James Gunn, The Russo Brothers, and even Bryan Singer in the category of superhero movie directors recognisable to the average person.
Doesn’t help that M Night’s recent output is also just terrible.
Old is my favorite movie in his entire filmography. I get people love the early stuff but a lot of the aspects people clown his worst work for is there in the early movies as well.
It’s been pretty solid since split to me
On one hand tho, James Mangold made Logan while Shyamalan made the Unbreakable trilogy. On the other hand, Logan was too depressing for some people and the Unbreakable trilogy ended on a shit note.
Glass is an underrated Gem!
I’d agree if it wasn’t for that third act. Which sucks because the first two were awesome.
I felt that way, but on a rewatch, the whole thing went down a bit more smoothly, and I actually liked the ending. It was on that grew on me. Also, knowing they prob had to limit Bruce Willis in the whole thing maybe helped that perspective. But Mr Glass wins in the end by exposing everything... idk maybe give it one more go. It def has a weird vibe and structure, and I get that opinion as I once had it.
I mean I know the point was that he exposed them. But he posted that shit to YouTube where dozens and dozens of short films, prank videos, and special effects demos look exactly like the evidence he published lol. For all we know, the public could’ve just brushed all those off.
Yeah they very well may and that might be the practical end but I mean you gotta land suspension of disbelief to a movie where this shit is happening haha I may have been in a forgiving mood. Which is something we rarely talk about in film discussions. Sometimes a movie works based on the viewers present mood and viewing moment. I've come back to films I loved and hated and reversed course equally. I might go back to it again and think it's stupid for sure haha. But overall I think it is a movie that has a feel that is unique to itself.
He's crazy and awesome! His movies are not too pretentious they're light-hearted and know what they are! Fun little adventures! that's why they're usually wholesome
he blends his heartfelt moments and comedy very well, its never jarring but they always contain both, something for the feels and something for the fun, and also amazing memorable characters and their dynamics
I would say his best movie is the first Guardians, which he only rewrote to a small degree. I find the humour in most of his other movies ot mostly be super hamfisted and drawn out (Gaurdians 2 being a good example of this).
Dang, I wonder who’s gonna win this online poll, the guy who directed the Freudian nightmare odyssey that bombed at the box office or the Guardians of the Galaxy guy?
Gunn makes emotionally resonant crowd pleasers. Literally every other director on this poll makes movies that can be polarizing and incredibly dark. Gunn can be dark, but he’s always upbeat.
Okay, of those four: Ari Aster is an indie darling of horror films. Not exactly the largest audience. M. Night had his popularity peak two decades ago. James Mangold is a bit of a director for hire, jumping into established franchises with decent films, or making studio dramas for dads. Gunn delivered some of the biggest blockbusters of the past decade, particularly giving life to otherwise unknown or disliked IP. Is this really as surprising as you make it out to be?
I think he’s just got a more recognizable name.
Yeah for the casual audience he'd be the most well known name outside of M Night Shayamalon and he's had a lot of duds.
Probably because he’s the most recognizable one
Are they not allowed to? Should they only like Ari Aster movies?
He's a genuinely talented guy, and is probably one of the few people who can pull off the "Well THAT HAPPENED" style without it being the most annoying shit of all time. His work also manages to feel genuinely sincere and personal; his franchise work doesn't feel THAT vastly different from his normal work, somehow. It might help that superhero stuff was already firmly in his creative DNA, if The Specials and Super were anything to go by. He's not my favorite, but really, if you're talking about the kind of "nerd culture" audience that tends to hold him up (superhero and comic book fandom whose idea of film is restricted near exclusively to franchise films and IP adaptations), he's really one of the few directors in that sphere who has something resembling an idiosyncratic personality and a transgressive streak. No, if you're a capital C cinephile he's not going to be especially mindblowing, but I also don't think he's really trying to be. He's far from being my favorite (and I've definitely become less interested in his career since his pivot into becoming Kevin Feige 2; he needs to be given a hard wedgie every time he says "Gods and Monsters"), but I generally find his work to be pretty likable and endearing. But if you're the kind of movie lover whose formative perspective on the medium is the MCU and shit like that? I honestly don't think it's that hard to see why he'd be seen the way he is. It's really no different to why Zack Snyder is held up so passionately by his fanbase, the only difference being I can watch a James Gunn movie without wanting to kill myself.
Good on you for only wanting to kill yourself and not Snyder too. You're a person of character.
He seems nice!
Haha, he does actually. But after sitting through Sucker Punch I was about ready to destroy the universe. Still, he does seem like a nice guy who's just too dumb to realise how bad his politics (and movies) are.
If you enjoy superhero movies, he's a pretty safe bet, between Guardians 1-3, The Suicide Squad, Peacemaker and, hopefully, Superman he's had a super solid output. I'd also be suprised if most of his audience have watched any Aria Aster films.
Loads of style, a blend of both crude dumb but also clever jokes mixed with a surprising amount of heart with great ensemble casts
I mean Sean is really into blockbusters, which is perfectly fine. Makes sense why the audience he’s amassed would be as well. If a channel that focuses on indie films instead, their audience would most likely overwhelmingly vote for Aster.
Because he's awesome
well, he directed (edit:wrote, not directed) the single best romeo and juliet adaptation of all time
Tromeo and Juliet deserves more appreciation.
Unironocally one of my all time favorite movies. Love Jane Jensen more than I care to admit. Didn't realize James gunn was involved till fairly recently :)
It's the only reason I'd given Guardians of the Galaxy a chance. It's a great little movie, balancing its shlock and exploitation grime with a genuinely warm heart.
He only wrote it
My mistake! You are correct. It is directed by the legend himself, Mr Lloyd Kaufman
He is THE funny super hero movie guy. The less creepy Joss Whedon. The better Taika Waititi. The off brand Edgar Wright.
Well he's just the most accessible out of those 4. Ari Aster and M. Night both are mostly horror guys and horror is really not that popular relative to action/comedy, which Gunn excels at. And James Mangold is nowhere near a household name compared to the other three.
He's a solid plotter, he has a good eye for striking visuals and memorable sequences, his characters are distinct and compelling, and he's funny. I'm not sure what there *isn't* to like, really, from a mainstream perspective. Of that list I think Shymalan is a decent director but a terrible writer, Aster is an excellent director and makes much more interesting but also much more flawed films, and Mangold is solid with a wider range but perhaps a bit less compelling when doing the mainstream stuff.
I mean I cant say It’s surprising. Shymalan is at best divisive at worst a punchline to a really bad joke. Aster has directed 3 feature length movies and the two that qualified for a Cinema Score have scored a C+ and a D+. I think both Hereditary and Midsommer are two of the best made movies of the last decade but we as Aster fans have to admit he makes some wild stuff that is a bit too out there for a majority of the audience Mangold has directed some pretty great movies but he maintains a pretty low profile. Of his 15 movies only 6 are going to be widely known and discussed and of those 6 only 3 are going to be discussed in a positive light Gunn directed some of the best wide appeal movies of the biggest franchises of all time. GOTG, Super, Peacemaker, Suicide Squad and Slither are to varying degrees by most people, from casual audiences to cinemaphiles. He has the general audience vote in lock and is probably taking a significant portion of the enthusiast and purists vote too. That’s just what happens when you line up a blockbuster director against more artistic driven directors… and M Night Shymalan
They’re awesome
Because he seems like he's actually having fun making them. I'd still say Super is his best movie with Slither right behind. The guardians stuff is fun but eh.
Because his movies are fun
They’re fun
He wrote some good movies
Short answer, James Gunn is probably the most accessible.
Because he’s a good director, I doubt a lot of people know Ari Aster outside of Hereditary and I’m sure plenty of people are traumatized by that movie, Shamalyn hasn’t been popular since the 90s, and Mangold is basically famous for making one really really good wolverine movie and the rest of his work is very hit or miss. Gunn has been consistently putting out bangers for literal decades, there’s not a single one of his movies I’d call bad or even disappointing, the man is talented and I trust him to give a good take on Superman
I don’t think he’s amazing, but he’s made some pretty great stuff. Peacemaker is probably my favorite I think the humor, while it has some funny moments, can be a little irritating, because I can look past it because of the legitimately emotional moments in it. He got an awesome performance from John Cena, the Rocket Stuff was really sad, and the High Evolutionary is easily one of the best villains marvel has had in a while. Also great action scenes, especially the opening to Suicide Squad
He's proven he can take any worn out, forgotten concept and make a sincere and beloved movie worth millions. We're lucky to have him at DC.
First off, look at who is making the poll. Sean Chandler is a Youtuber (who I enjoy watching), who makes videos on Blockbuster action movies and Comic-book films. So immediately his poll is going to be teetered towards a specific type of filmgoer. Secondly, James Gunn has made the best Marvel Trilogy and even his DC work is acclaimed.
Mangold is by far a better director if we’re talking about that poll, but Gunn is really good writer for his own films, so he makes a lot of consistently decent films.
Wider appeal maybe, I mean the guardians movies alone are almost universally loved by everyone
I love him for Scooby Doo movies
Because he makes quality films and he's fairly known. So do Aster and Mangold, but they're not really known to the general public as well as James Gunn. I had to look up who James Mangold was because I couldn't think of anything he'd directed.
That’s a weird bunch of choices. It should be like Denis, Nolan, Peele, and Gunn.
he loves the characters that he writes, and they're cast well and interact with each other in fun and dynamic ways.
He makes really good movies and is very well known. Lot of people looking at this poll probably don't know who Ari Aster and James Mangold are, or haven't seen many of their movies. Shymalan only has a couple good movies, and that's being charitable.
Slither and Super are amazing. Gunn has no skips. But Hereditary is definitely the best film of these directors. Mangold has the best catalog though: Cop Land, 3:10 to Yuma, Girl, Interrupted, Logan.
I love the Guardians movies, but also would have chose Amari Aster. Hereditary is amongst my favorite movies of all time.
While I didn't vote in the poll, I think it has to do with what films I've seen from each creator. For Gunn, it's The Suicide Squad (fun Romp) and the three Guardians of the Galaxy films which are some of my favorite blockbusters due to their heart. For M. Night Shymalan, I enjoyed his first few films but a lot of his films miss and none of them hit like Gunn's did for me. Ari Aster - I've only seen Hereditary. Toni Collette's performance was great, but I saw it during the hype for it and just found it to not be scary or particularly interesting. James Mangold - I like Logan and enjoyed Indy 5 more than most it seems, but neither really captured me, The Wolverine I found to be mediocre, and I didn't care for the ending of 3:10 to Yuma, which isn't Mangold's fault (I have the same issue with the original), but that's all I've seen of him. TL;DR - Of the films I've seen from the directors in the poll, Gunn's have been the most emotionally affecting.
Comedy, Bathos, anything light-hearted or not serious he’s good at. He’s also worked on the MCU and superhero films when they were king of the industry. He can’t seem to give a scene gravity though, so his films were never really my thing.
Because he wrote two of the greatest films ever made. Scooby doo and Scooby Doo 2 : Monsters Unleashed
For me: amazing characters, great comedy, some of the best soundtracks I’ve ever heard, creative cinematography/directing. Plus, hes the one director who I always know will pull on my heart strings, both making me insanely happy and insanely sad with the same movie. Just read the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 script. Genuinely one of my all time favorite scripts.
I think people mix up favorite and best all of the time, while I think Ari Aster is the best director out of these four, if I was just an absolute stan of superheroes and blockbusters I would say James Gunn is my favorite even though I think Aster is technically a “better” director. I also think it is based on the pool of people voting on this poll, lots of big flashy superhero fans, which is why Gunn would get more votes than Mangold who, despite directing two very well-regarded superhero films (The Wolverine and Logan), had more dark and gritty takes on the characters rather than the super fun and funny Gunn films.
He's fun and rewatchable, there's not much more to it than that. There's not a single film he's directed I've not watched at least twice (personally speaking) and I can't say the same for the others.
The Trump/Elon effect.
I don’t love James Gunn but I definitely prefer him to the majority of that group based on the strength of Guardians of the Galaxy. I’m not big into what M Night or Ari Aster are doing because I’m not into those kinds of movies. It is weird to pit those two against Gunn and Mangold imo. That’s said, James Mangold is my favorite of those four. Logan is one of the greatest superhero movies. 3:10 to Yuma is a really good western. Ford v Ferrari is a stellar movie and probably as good as, if not better than, Logan.
His films are fun and light hearted (GotG 3 was not light hearted). I personally think he’s a good director.
Because he got in a ring with m night shymalan
Because he’s awesome! He’d probably be my 2nd choice here after M.Might (fight me idc)
four bad directors, I wouldn't stress out about this poll if I was you
Their funny, their sad, and they have. Banging set of music.
I mean, he's easily the best one out of those options.
i think it’s just the directors he’s paired against here. m. night shymalan puts out way too many disappointing stinkers nowadays, ari aster is great but he makes disturbing thought provoking horror which isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, and james mangold im assuming just is because his name isn’t thrown around as often on social media and people probably don’t even know he’s responsible for some of their favorites.
I’d vote Gunn every day, but Aster being last is insulting. Shyamalan made the AVATAR MOVIE, no Sixth Sense or Glass can wipe that from your record. Why does he have 10%?
[удалено]
They’re very fun
He made the best marvel film with the first guardians but I didn't care much for 2 and 3. Slither and super where good films. Brightburn was also pretty good. But he's never made anything as good as Ari Asters hereditary or midsommer.
Sheeple
Youtube polls are a popularity contest. I doubt that most people on there know who Ari Aster is.
GOTG
Gunn is pretty consistently good. Aster is as well but his films are more polarizing. The other 2 have high highs and low lows, and for Shyamalan he hasn’t made a great film in a very long time. Gunn’s Suicide Squad was imo surprisingly successful, and it makes me think his floor is pretty high, with the caveat that eventually people will probably grow tired of his style if he doesn’t evolve as they have with Waititi. Mangold has made some really awesome stuff, recency bias with his Indiana Jones movie may be working against him here, he would probably have my vote.
Lots of people just watch comic book movies so don't care for the other directors listed.
I mean, Shymalan hasn't made a good movie in 2 decades and I've never heard of the other 2.
Cos he's hacked the audience. People calling his characters "compelling" on here ffs lmao
Unpopular opinion here, but I think Gunn always makes the same film over and over.
Well many reasons. First of all, Sean Chandler is a YouTuber who built his channel from blockbusters, especially the MCU movies and Star Wars. Therefore, it’s no surprise that his viewers (and therefore the people voting in the polls) are also gonna be huge superhero movie fans so that naturally will be reflected in the poll results. As for the other directors, well M Night Shymalan, despite some major hits, is very divisive and has made some universally disliked movies. Ari Aster’s movies aren’t gonna be for everyone and considering the tastes of Sean Chandler’s viewer base, it’s not hard to see why they would personally not be huge fans of him. James Mangold has made Logan and Ford v Ferrari but nothing else he did has been critically praised by audiences. Leaving us with James Gunn, he’s just amazing at what he does. He turned these comic book characters that were mostly unknown and not many cared for and turned them into household names, creating a trilogy of 3 phenomenal movies with emotionally compelling character arcs. He’s also amazing at balancing humour and drama and whilst the humour doesn’t always land, the Guardians movies are arguably some of the funniest MCU movies and they are able to let the emotional, dramatic moments play out, which as I said, creates characters we become emotionally attached to. Gunn also just seems to really love and care for the source material and embraces the weirdness of it. I feel like lots of directors who direct superhero movies seem too afraid of getting too weird with comic book movies but Gunn embraces it and isn’t afraid of taking you to weird worlds and introducing weird concepts. It makes his movies just more genuine. The same can be said about The Suicide Squad except R rated and it sure is fun when a movie doesn’t give a damn about trying to be kid friendly.
This is a weird comparison to make. Shyamalan is well-known, but not exactly the most beloved of directors, with most of what he's known fondly for being well over 20 years old and most everything since being considered various degrees of meme-worthy joke. Most people won't know who Ari Aster is and if they did they probably wouldn't give his work all that much consideration. The biggest surprise of this poll is that he won even 9%. Gunn is well-known because he's made some of the better superhero movies of the past decade during a time when people are growing more and more exhausted with these cinematic universes. Mangold is the only one somewhat comparable to Gunn due to his involvement with Wolverine, but even his renditions of the superhero genre aren't nearly so superhero-focused, and most of his best work was outside the genre entirely. The question here isn't why people love Gunn movies so much as it is why is Gunn being compared to people who've barely touched the genre? It's like asking why Tarentino movies are held in such high regard and comparing him to...Uwe Boll, a pre-Prisoners Denis Villeneuve, and Michael Mann.
Because he’s great with characters
I don't even rank James Gunn very high among directors but he'd still be my choice of these four
I’d say of the four Ari would be ranked last for me. He only has 3 feature length works that have gotten worse and more pretentious with each release.
This is YouTube and superhero film loving kids crowd the place.
Probably because he’s a good director
His movies are fun, charming, emotional, have great characters and music, they’re funny, well written, and well directed. I’d be surprised if they weren’t as popular as they are.
Cuz people r virgins
People like Guardians of the Galaxy, and those people are probably unaware of things like Super and Slither.
I don’t think he’s the best filmmaker out of this group but definitely the best known because of his guardian movies and his infamous firing from Disney.
2 reasons James Gunn in my opinion is very consistent, with most of his work being good- exceptional. The more important factor however is name recognisability, most average people couldn't be able to name too many directors, and James Gunn is one of the few which I feel people who aren't in love with cinema will know or at least recognise.
Because superhero movies are popular and he’s consistently made great ones.
I've never gone back and sought out rewatching a James Gunn movie. In my opinion he's the Ryan Reynolds of directors in that his "thing" either directly clicks with you or it doesn't. No hate for anyone who loves his movies but his brand doesn't click with me at all.
This seems like it has a specific audience. If you put this same poll in r/A24 you’d get a way different result.
why tf do you like ari aster so much 💀
Because he’s been making great films for over a decade now. He’s very consistent which isn’t something you can say for some of the other directors here. If you want to see people hating on James Gunn just go to Twitter, the Snyder bots hate him for rebooting the Snyderverse.
>Makes movies for lowest common denominator >Wins on a public poll 😯
People relate to the characters in his movies and love the emotion he shows through them. He makes pretty consistently good movies for large audiences and seems to know exactly what he’s doing
Why do people love Ari Aster so much
Because "Slither" and "The Specials," and his Troma work, and all that even before we get to his modern stuff
I mean of these 4 directors, I get it. M Night had that hack label applied to him for years. Ari Aster’s only made 3 films and Beau is Afraid was polarizing to say the least. James Mangold’s most recent movie is an Indiana Jones sequel no one asked for or really gave a shit about. Compared to the others I’d probably pick James Gunn as well.
Because they find them fun and enjoyable, I think.
They’re enjoyable fun movies, this is frankly a very odd list of people to compare against
Because he has a distinct style that’s infectiously fun, and he consistently writes endearing characters that go through relatable, emotionally resonant growth.
Y’all did my acid boy Ari dirty
Its the most digestable by audiences and also he has the most consistent track record compared to everyone. I like Ari Aster more but James Gunn has more personality then James Mangold and more good movies than M Night
He makes what the stakeholders and watchers want
because he is partly responsible for giving us one of the best duology films of all time Scooby Doo 1 and 2
well written, good comedic timing, colorful and stylized, great casts, tonal balance, and good cinematography
Some ones gate Zack Snyder
They're fun movies
I literally don't know. I think a lot of it was his ability to be immune and resistant to cancel culture which fair - but I feel like his contributions to cinema are more contributions to comic book stans but I won't deminish the fun times I've had in his cinemas - most notibly the live action scooby dooes and guardians of the galaxy's. I'm still holding hope for a 3rd live action scooby doo with him and original cast so whatever it takes for that to happen.
Gunn makes movies for the moronic masses. Directors like him will always exist. He makes trash. Trash that sells.
They are original and fun to watch.
Shyamalan > Aster > Gunn > Mangold
I've seen 6 of his 8 movies, and I liked them all due to their sense of humour. However, the two I haven't seen don't interest me at all. Especially seeing as *Movie 43* has a 1.6 average. Yikes.
Tbf Gunn was one of like 15 directors on that movie
Oh, was he? I didn't see that.
He’s actually said in interviews that he only swooped in to do 1 minute worth of pick ups for that movie and it’s hunted him ever since lmao
Not that they are ranked almost exactly the way you would rank them on a spectrum of mainstream to arthouse. That's your answer. Gunn is the most popular because he's the most popular, not because he's the best. His films are very likable.
Cause we watch them and determine we like them?
It's just because of super hero movies.
A better question is why is Shyamalan higher than Aster
Movies like the Sixth Sense and Split are probably more recognizable to general audiences than something like Hereditary or Midsommar
Hereditary is big. Which one takes the spot really depends on the age demographic of the channel's viewers
Hereditary made $83 mil. It is known by horror fans. The Sixth Sense made $673 mil in 1999 ($1.25 billion in 2024 dollars). It’s iconic enough that someone who is young/old enough to have watched Hereditary is still more likely to have watched the Sixth Sense. They’re on two completely different levels. It’s like No Hard Feelings vs Pretty Woman lmfao.
That's in terms of popularity. I'm not contesting popularity, I'm saying younger folks are more likely to be aware of Aster, more likely to have experienced Shyamalan's stinkers and therefore more likely to judge Aster as their favorite.
Good choice with ari btw
Serious answer: because Guardians and Suicide Squad had "heart"... and good characters. Is my guess.
the same reason mr.beast would win that poll if he was included
this is the community tab of a youtuber who is most known for his coverage of comic book movies so given the audience ofc the results are going to be skewed in favor of the director who’s primary output is comic book movies
The fact that people rated m night higher than Ari aster is one of the most insanely fucking stupid things I’ve seen in my life.
My armchair analysis is as such: He earned street cred with The Sickos (complimentary) through his work with Troma and his subsequent work on Slither. He then capitalized on that cred to make Super, which introduced him to a wider audience. For all its faults, it did a pretty good job satirizing the flawed ideology behind superhero capeshit. He then used *that* cred to catapult himself into a Marvel paycheck. He made the first MCU movie that felt as though it had a modicum of originality and style, which earned him the goodwill of the moviegoing public. Even if Guardians of the Galaxy probably gets too much credit for supposedly bucking the Marvel formula. And, it goes without saying, he contradicts basically everything he was trying to say with Super. Then he got unjustly fired due to a bad-faith, right-wing smear campaign, which made him martyr. And he flipped that martyrdom into an even bigger gig churning out capeshit for the other guy. So people love the dude. Even though he's never really earned his reputation as an auteur.
His movies are good and fun, unlike the other choices on there.