Who do you feel is the most consistent director?

[America: Fuck Yea!]

I would have to say:

Ingmar Bergman
Stanley Kubrick
Akira Kurosawa

all three's work seems to be consistently great with only a few mediocre films (maybe a shitty one, too).

[StarskyMaxwell]

Currently? Eastwood.

All-time? Yeah, Kubrick's probably it.

[America: Fuck Yea!]

Eastwood might be the last director that comes to my mind. Dude has easily directed more shitty and mediocre films then good ones.

[Clark Westfall]

^ yeah but they are consistently shitty

[gheorghe]

nice

[America: Fuck Yea!]

^ yeah but they are consistently shitty

touche.

very true

[BeyondBeyond]

Ingmar Bergman
Stanley Kubrick
Akira Kurosawa


This is a very interesting topic to be discussed further, but you pretty much covered the base here.
I would add Sergio Leone to this list, but he made just few films.

It may be also interesting pointing out some streaks of consistetly brilliant films in the row.
A lot of artists have some period when they're downward genial but then something is lost and overall consistency is out.
For example, most of the bands/musicians which I consider awesome, managed to stay on the top of their game for the maximal span of seven years.
I think that something similar occurs to a degree in the case of filmmakers.
For example, Woody Allen's period between Sleeper and Manhattan is just unbelievable. Before or after that, it's hit or miss.
Or Fellini's period between La Strada and 8 1/2. Or...

Eh, sorry for broadening the topic a bit/ being almost off-topic, but I had nothing to add to your initial choice :).

[jase]

Hitchcock had a great streak going with Vertigo, North by Northwest and Psycho in a row though he was hardly consistent, but I still think he's one of the greatest directors of all time.

I think the obvious answer here has already been stated which is Kubrick. He hardly made a bad film, and I even like the more mediocre ones.

[America: Fuck Yea!]

feel free to list the stretches.

judging from what I have seen and what reviews of individual movies, it seems that Kurosawa might actually be the most consistent (save for his earlier films).

Seems like once he did the The Drunken Angel in 1948, he didn't make a terrible film until after Ran in 1985. That's almost 21 films.

Kubrick seems to have gone through something similar, though he didn't make as many films. Starting with the Killing->Paths of Glory->Lolita (might be his weakest along with Killer's Kiss, but hardly "bad")->Dr. Strangelove->2001->Clockwork Orange->Barry Lyndon->The Shining->Full Metal Jacket*->Eyes Wide Shut*

*Debatable by most people; I really dislike FMJ and love EWS.

[matt]

orson welles

[box elder]

danny leiner

[gheorghe]

jason reitman

[Eddie]

haha

i know he's only directed five movies so far, but the reason i really want to mention paul thomas anderson is that i feel, without a doubt, every single one of his films until he dies will be 100%, A+ perfect...at least in my own mind. our artistic tastes seem absolutely identical. i shouldn't have been that blown away by there will be blood simply based on the subject matter, but it didn't matter. that movie kicked my ass the same way all his movies do.

oh yeah and it's not one single director, but i definitely think pixar has got to be the most consistent studio or group of filmmakers like, ever. my biggest fear may just be the idea of there ever being a complete pixar shitfest.

[brentholomew]

yeah i was going to say PTA. i don't exactly think his movies are perfect (see all the endings besides there will be blood) but they are all quality

[Eddie]

yeah if anyone has any criticisms of his films, i think they're entirely valid and i completely understand why people don't like certain things about his movies. but on a completely personal level his movies know exactly what they're doing when i watch them.

[pearl]

i've never been too displeased with anything by tim burton i've seen. wes anderson, mostly, though the darjeeling limited left me bleh.

[brentholomew]

man i loved the darjeeling limited. i thought it was so much better than the life aquatic

[box elder]

i didn't like boogie nights at all really.

[ThaSimpsonz]

I would say Martin Scorsese, the acting and directing in his movies is usually superb (well, at least in his older movies).

[Run CMB]

coen's had a good stretch with fargo, the big lebowski, o brother and the man who wasn't there, imo.

if we're talking crap, uwe boll is on one hell of a streak.

[kuumuus]

woody allen and coen bros

[fritz]

i've never been too displeased with anything by tim burton i've seen. wes anderson, mostly, though the darjeeling limited left me bleh.
planet of the apes was atrocious no matter if you're an apologist

i liked darjeeling too, brent. i think it was forgotten a little since directors like pta and the coens were growing in their film making capabilities and this was kinda just text book anderson (broken family, "self-finding journey" etc.)

[brentholomew]

yeah i definitely understand that, and in some ways i hope that wes expands his style in the future. but it was still great

[pearl]

the colors in darjeeling were so overwhelming, he placed a lot of emphasis on style, maybe too much. the luggage was really cute though, i want it.

i haven't seen planet of the apes, so yeah.

[jase]

Tim Burton has had a couple of shit movies, namely Planet of the Apes and The Corpse Bride. He's still one of my favourite directors though

[My Little Needle]

michael bay

[anthony]

man i loved the darjeeling limited. i thought it was so much better than the life aquatic

fucking yes

also: christopher nolan, jim jarmusch

[Rebekah]

Jerry Bruckheimer,
his movies are consistently being planned and made,
they never fail to impress =)

[SubSane]

So, I haven't seen all his flicks, but Del Toro's always puttin' out good works. Plus, look at his upcoming:

# Doctor Strange (2010) (announced)
# At the Mountains of Madness (2010) (announced)
# The Hobbit (2010) (announced)
# 3993 (2009) (announced)
# The Hobbit 2 (2011) (pre-production)
# Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008) (post-production)

# Laberinto del fauno, El (2006)
... aka Pan's Labyrinth (International: English title)
... aka The Labyrinth of the Faun (International: English title: informal literal title)
# Hellboy (2004)
... aka Super Sapiens (Malaysia: English title)
# Blade II (2002)
... aka Blade II (Germany)
# Espinazo del diablo, El (2001)
... aka The Devil's Backbone (Europe: English title) (USA)

# Mimic (1997)
# Cronos (1993)
... aka Chronos
... aka Invención de Cronos, La

# "Hora Marcada" (4 episodes, 1988-1989)
- Hamburguesas (1989) TV episode
- Caminos de Ayer (1988) TV episode
- Con todo para llevar (1988) TV episode
- Invasión (1988) TV episode
# Geometria (1987)
# Doña Lupe (1985)

At the Mountains of Madness!

[Slug]

tarantino. or is that just a given?.



edit: john hughes. some shitty movies, yeah, but i still thinks he's good

[aoife]

So, I haven't seen all his flicks, but Del Toro's always puttin' out good works. Plus, look at his upcoming:

# At the Mountains of Madness (2010) (announced)
At the Mountains of Madness!

Wowwww. That's going to be fabulous, I bet.

[Ignignot]

John Landis had a solid run at a couple of what I felt to be good movies.

[gheorghe]

christopher nolan
insomnia sucked

[The Southern Zombie]

John Landis had a solid run at a couple of what I felt to be good movies.

I would say the same about Rob Reiner...look how he started - "This Is Spinal Tap", "The Sure Thing" (underrated gem), "Stand By Me", "The Princess Bride", and "When Harry Met Sally". Then he made "North" and he hasn't recovered since (although "The American President" was okay). And "Insomnia" didn't suck, it was just a disappointment after how original and captivating "Memento" was. "Insomnia" is a solid movie, it just isn't very exciting or memorable.

Woody Allen is my favourite director, but there's no way he's consistent. He's way too prolific. There's no way you can maintain quality in your output where you're practically making a movie every year for 20 years and writing almost all of the movies by yourself (even if you're a genius). I really can't think of a single director I like who hasn't made something mediocre or terrible. I have to agree about Kubrick, though...I've seen just about all of his movies besides "The Killing" and "Barry Lyndon" and I've enjoyed them all. Scorsese is pretty awesome too. I didn't like "Mean Streets" much, but "Raging Bull", "Taxi Driver", and "Goodfellas" are top notch filmmaking and even some of his "lesser" movies like, "Casino", "The Aviator", "Cape Fear", and "The Departed" were very enjoyable to watch.

[nathaniel]

tim burton has made a half dozen terrible movies at the very least

PTA is the only current director that came to mind. fincher is close, but he'll always have aliens 3

[America: Fuck Yea!]

fincher is close, but he'll always have aliens 3


In my opinion, you can't hold that against him (like Kubrick and Spartacus). Plus it was his first movie.

I would say after the incredible Seven, Game and Fight Club, Panic Room might be his only blemish. Zodiac could go either way.

[gheorghe]

yep. i've always ignored the fact that aliens 3 is a fincher movie. i enjoyed panic room, though not as much as his others. have yet to see zodiac. getting drunk anf watching the game tonight, holler

[Eddie]

are any tim burton movies really all that bad? i mean planet of the apes wasn't great, but hey, at least it had interesting visuals and nice art direction and costuming, and all those things. which is kind of how i feel about the majority of his work, anyways.

but yeah it's still hard to claim he's consistently great, especially since he almost always works with previously created materials, and that's always going to make things more complicated. for example, i've never seen the original apes movies, so my analysis can't even be compared to the analysis of someone who's an expert.

but i would say he's quite consistent in that each of his movies is definitely "a tim burton movie".

[nathaniel]

i thought zodiac and panic room were both b+ movies at the least

thats about where all his movies come in for me. consistency!

[Slack Motherfucker]

mars attacks by burton sucks alot.

my answer to the thread: ozu. also never seen a bad renoir but I've heard he's got some crappy ones.

[Reservoir Dog]

Aronofsky has only made three movies, but in my opinion, has already established himself as one of the greatest creative geniuses of our time. I guess only time will tell if he stays consistent, but I have no doubt every one of his movies will be an original masterpiece.

[bmac]

i like mars attacks

i don't think panic room is very good though

[box elder]

this is way off topic, but i caught the very beginning of the method man movie how high on comedy central today and it said "directed by jesse dylan." i thought to myself, "heh, that's funny i think bob dylan had a son named jesse."

yep, same dude. what the fuck

edit: he also looks more like jonah hill than bob dylan:

http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/3367/jesseua3.jpg



ok, sorry about the disturbance. back to discussing the merits of the shitty planet of the apes remake

[Eddie]

looks as though this jesse dylan fellow is also a consistent director: he directed will ferrell's kicking and screaming, and american wedding.

[nathaniel]

the apple doesnt fall far from the tree in the dylan family

[America: Fuck Yea!]

the apple doesnt fall far from the tree in the dylan family

I don't know. I kind of think those movies suck, but to each his own.

[raheem]

guys, you are forgetting that he directed will.i.am's YES WE CAN video

[Eddie]

haha it's funny we're talking about dylan's kids because the other day i found out that his other son--that dude from the wallflowers--is playing solo at this music festival here in july.

i'm going for the flaming lips, andrew bird, etc., but i still feel sorta embarrassed to have tickets knowing he's going to be there, too.

[pearl]

hey at least he's hot right? right?

[Eddie]

oh yeah he's hot

http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/3367/jesseua3.jpg















oh you probably meant this guy

http://leahmw.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/jakob_dylan.jpg

[lolpenis_taco]

i've loved every farrelly brothers movie :-X

[ZQFMGB]

Jonathan Demme....

Eh, just kidding, I just love Stop Making Sense. Still, there's been some solid flicks out of this guy.

[Paul Butts]

mel gibson

[Moose of Doom!]

terry gilliam. took him 30 years and 8 movies to make one that was awful.

[James L. Brookes]

Sergio Leone, Danny Boyle, and Phillip Kaufman.

The last two make different genres yet their film making stays consistent

[Clark Westfall]

i've loved every farrelly brothers movie :-X

I haven't enjoyed any of their movies since Me, Myself, and Irene. Although I still haven't seen the heartbreak kid.

I think Judd Apatow has been pretty consistent

[Reservoir Dog]

Danny Boyle

Sunshine was horrible.

[Run CMB]

nah, it was cool. pretty intense too.

[James L. Brookes]

Sunshine was horrible.

I enjoyed it...the slasher aspect at the end was a bit unnecessary, cool, but a different tone from the rest of the film and the only thing I could see wrong with it.

[SilverEagle]

I won't be going against the grain here: I vote Kubrick. Haven't seen a film I haven't liked by him. He was brilliant.


Tim Burton is the wrong answer, BTW. He's made some fantastic films in his time, but his work has really dipped in quality over the past 5 years or so.

[Reservoir Dog]

nah, it was cool. pretty intense too.

Nah. It overused CG (bad CG), it was one of the most scientifically inaccurate movies I've ever seen yet take itself so scientifically seriously, and the plot went completely downhill halfway through the movie when they realized there was no conflict or anything interesting going on and had to invent a crazy russian killer to take out the crew for no reason at all and they really wasted the entire admittedly interesting first half of buildup to something that had the philosophical poignancy and plot resolve of a bad slasher film. Nothing like the great sci-fi films it completely ripped off.

[jase]

I quite liked Sunshine. I really don't care about any scientific inaccuracies, it doesn't effect my enjoyment of the film whatsoever. And I thought the CGI was quite good, I found the last few scenes awe-inspiring. It was quite an intense movie and it was done well.

[nathaniel]

even if that were true he still has 'the beach'

[Son of Bomber]

oceans 12 was genuinely horrible but i've always admired soderbergh whoring himself out every couple of years to finance remakes of russian brainmelters and 4 hour che guevara biopics. guy plays the game, wins most of the time too