Entertainment Weekly's 25 Greatest Working Directors

The list seems alright, though the omission of Michael Mann, Ridley Scott and Paul Greengrass over some of the other choices is questionable. Not to mention the exclusion of some top foreign movie directors as well.

https://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20311937_20346922,00.html



25. Wes Anderson
24. Mike Leigh
23. Brad Bird
22. J.J. Abrams
21. Spike Lee
20. Edgar Wright
19. Peter Jackson
18. James Cameron
17. David Lynch
16. David O. Russell
15. Kathryn Bigelow
14. Danny Boyle
13. Roman Polanski
12. Guillermo del Toro
11. Paul Thomas Anderson
10. Pedro Almodóvar
9. Clint Eastwood
8. Terrence Malick
7. Quentin Tarantino
6. Joel & Ethan Coen
5. Darren Aronofsky
4. Martin Scorsese
3. Steven Spielberg
2. Christopher Nolan
1. David Fincher

All obvious choices. Not exactly a daring or substantive list. Could've filled a top 50 easily.

David Fincher over Spielberg, Scorsese, and the Coens? LOL

Danny Boyle should also be higher.

I love David Lynch's work, but he hasn't done anything but shorts in 4 years. They could've given his spot to someone else for the time being.

The names on the list i agree with... the order? PFFF!

Cameron at 18?! Bigelow at 14? WHAT?!?! What about the Hurt Locker and K-19 qualify her above the guy who directed Terminator, Terminator 2, Aliens, Avatar and Titanic?!?!

That is the biggest crock of bull____ especially since the list is DIRECTOR. Cameron's done more for capturing a story in effective means in one shot of Avatar than bigelow's done her whole career.

Spielberg at 3?! Sandwhiched between Aronofsky and Fincher?! Don't get me wrong... fincher and arronofsky are DEFINITELY worthy of the list... but you're talking about the single greatest director of ALL TIME.

Really it's agonizing how badly ordered this is.

plasmid303 said:

All obvious choices. Not exactly a daring or substantive list. Could've filled a top 50 easily.

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QFT

No one will agree with the arrangements for obvious reasons...although I'm pretty annoyed to see Eastwood on there, and I'm a huge fan of The Man.


But he's a dreadful director.

I think Mystic River is overrated in many ways, but in my mind, there's no disputing that Unforgiven is one of the greatest movies of the last 20-30 years. And Million Dollar Baby was extremely well made. He's no Spielberg, but he's damn good IMO.

My revised list...

On the WAY OUT...
25. David Lynch
24. Michael Mann
23. Ron Howard
22. The Wachowski Brothers

Up & Commers
21. Paul Greengrass
20. Edgar Wright
19. Spike Jonze
18. Brad Bird
17. David O. Russell
16. J.J. Abrams

Proven Talent
15. Ridley Scott
14. Guillermo del Toro
13. Danny Boyle
12. Roman Polanski
11. Steven Soderbergh

The Constant Ones
10. Clint Eastwood
9. Joel & Ethan Coen
8. Quentin Tarantino

The NEW masters
8. Paul Thomas Anderson
7. Darren Aronofsky
6. Peter Jackson
5. David Fincher
4. Christopher Nolan

The BEST of the BEST
3. James Cameron
2. Martin Scorsese
1. Steven Spielberg

karamazov80 said:

I think Mystic River is overrated in many ways, but in my mind, there's no disputing that Unforgiven is one of the greatest movies of the last 20-30 years. And Million Dollar Baby was extremely well made. He's no Spielberg, but he's damn good IMO.

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I agree with Unforgiven. And I while loved Gran Torino, his work as a director wasn't spectacular.

The rest of his stuff I either "don't like very much" or "absolutely can't stand". To work as frequently as he does, he really needs more +'s and less -'s to be on any short list.

But hey....it's Clint ____ing Eastwood.

I agree with most names, but not the order. I'd take James Cameron and Bigelow out all together and replace them with Mann and Scott. The Coens, PTA, Nolan, Aronofsky, and Fincher are consistently the best in the business right now so without resting on laurels that would be my top 5.

I'm pretty sure Bigalow is only there because of the hype of Hurt Locker. Look at her damn IMDB page:

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000941/

Episode of Karen Sisco, K-19: the Widowmaker, Point Break,

I love me some Near Dark as much as the next guy, but. . .c'mon now.

She's also a female and therefore you must include one. It's science.

What the hell did Spike Lee make??? And Del Toro is over-rated, PJ should be lower then him on the list.

NASEDO said:

What the hell did Spike Lee make??? And Del Toro is over-rated, PJ should be lower then him on the list.

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Lee falls into that same category as Bigalow....

"You pretty much have to put them on there".

As long as they didnt include Michael Gay, i'm cool with the list

But i don't get how Bigelow and Abrams can get on the list but not Ridley Scott and Paul Greengrass?

I mostly agree with Wakes list.

I think Peter Jackson should be higher on the list. Maybe not top to but top 12.

White, Black, Spanish, European, Jewish, Female

I'm shocked Ang Lee isn't on the list.

Seems like this list was thrown together in about 10 min. There are notable names left off the list.

Why is Spielburg so high on that list? What was the last good movie he's made?

NASEDO said:

What the hell did Spike Lee make??? And Del Toro is over-rated, PJ should be lower then him on the list.

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I won't play the card that others have, but I do think that Spike Lee is there based on reputation. His individual films aren't all that great, IMO.

As for Spielberg, his last good movie was probably Munich IMO, though his lesser works are usually not lesser because of his directing ability. And even those are, in general, better than what 95% of all other directors could do on their best day.