Good directors, where have you gone (aka Then and Now)

[Monotreme]

I made a similar thread about actors, but I actually think this is an even BIGGER epidemic, and far more unfortunate. It seems to be the case that there is a large group of living and very much alive and active directors who used to be awesome and now are just... nothing. The following is a plea. My filmmaking friends, I'm down on my knees - get your act together! Just look at Spike Lee, with Inside Man having thrown him even further into public conscousness since his earlier work like Do the Right Thing and Malcolm X. All of you can do it too!


Rob Reiner

THEN: This is Spinal Tap, Stand By Me, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally..., Misery, A Few Good Men.

NOW: Alex & Emma? What was that even about? Rumour Has it? Are you fucking kidding me? Since when did you deal with the mediocre, Rob?

WE STILL HAVE HOPE: His upcoming project, currently filming, sounds very interesting: It's called "The Bucket List" and tells of two terminally ill men escape from a cancer ward and head off on a road trip with a wish list of to-dos before they die, with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman starring.


Robert Zemeckis

THEN: Back to the Future trilogy, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Forrest Gump, Contact, Cast Away.

NOW: He's only done one movie since Cast Away, and that was The Polar Express, which was a nice experiment in animation. But now his next movie is also such an animated feature, Beowulf. Please, Bob - don't tell me you're ONLY going to make animated movies now, PLEASE!

WE STILL HAVE HOPE: Who knows, perhaps Beowulf will blow my mind. But for now, all I want is the old Robert Zemeckis back, the one who made poignant, fascinating, brilliant live-action masterpieces.


Terry Gilliam

THEN: Brazil, The Adventures of Baron Munchhausen, The Fisher King, Twelve Monkeys, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

NOW: 7 years since Fear and Loathing and until his next movie is not cool - especially when it's an underwhelming pile of mediocrity and just plain badness called The Brothers Grimm. Twelve Monkeys was a blockbuster; now, Gilliam can't even get his movies a theatrical release.

WE STILL HAVE HOPE: No future projects scheduled for this guy. But he has so much potential still in him - he just needs something actually good, and it'll put him back on track! The next Harry Potter movie, perhaps...?


Frank Darabont

THEN: The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile.

NOW: Nothing! How can you make two masterpieces, follow it up with a mediocre but nice try, and then just disappear!

WE STILL HAVE HOPE: He has two projects that have been announced for years but nothing seems to be happening with them - Farenheit 451 and The Mist, but honestly - neither of these are even in the same league as Shawshank and Green Mile in terms of story or potential. Make another high-profile drama with an A-list cast, or be damned!


Anthony Minghella

THEN: The English Patient, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Cold Mountain.

NOW: This guy used to make critical and box office gold. All three of the films mentioned above are wonderful pieces of work that were extremely successful and high-profile. Now, Minghella is releasing a movie nobody even knows is out (Breaking and Entering) and that is getting picked apart by critics. From the spotlight to the sidelines, as they say - and it's unfortunate, as he's a very talented guy.

WE STILL HAVE HOPE: He has another project in the making, The Ninth Life of Louis Drax (based on the novel of the same name), and I can only hope that it will bring him back the prestige and success he deserved when Talented Mr. Ripley or Cold Mountain came out.


The Coen Brothers

THEN: Every single movie they made, and I mean their ENTIRE filmography.

NOW: Throughout the 90's they were the most consistently good directors working, with great movie after great movie after masterpiece. They were popular, people anticipated their movies, they'd release one every year or two. The new millenium started out alright, with O Brother Where Art Thou? and The Man who Wasn't There. And then they did Intolerable Cruelty. And THEN they did The Ladykillers. And we were all wondering what happened to the two young talented brothers who made Barton Fink and Fargo.

WE STILL HAVE HOPE: Their upcoming 2007 release, No Country for Old Men, at least upon first glance seems like potential for a return to form for the Coens. One can only cross one's fingers and hope it will thrist them back into the spotlight they most definitely deserve.


James Cameron

THEN: The Terminator, Aliens, The Abyss, T2, True Lies.

NOW: So he got to Titanic. Arguably his most ambitious project and different than his other almost all sci-fi and all action ventures. Certainly a flawed film, particularly in its screenplay, but visually engaging and well made and acted. Still, it seemed like the blood got to his head way too much, what with the whole "I'm the king of the world" shouting and such. And after Titanic, the guy just stopped and hasn't done anything since. Soon he'll be rivaling Stanley Kubrick and his huge hiatus between Full Metal Jacket and Eyes Wide Shut - it's been almost 10 years, and until his next movie comes out it may be another 2 or 3, which would bring it to something like a 13 year hiatus. Unheard of! So he filmed a bunch of underwater documentaries and was working on technology for his upcoming movie, Avatar. But still, you could squeeze in a feature or two in between all that, don't you think?

WE STILL HAVE HOPE: Some hope, but much skepticism. On the one hand, it's great to see James finally working on something new, the long-announced Avatar feature. And it's an epic sci-fi piece no less. But one can't help but worry about Cameron's obsession with finding this new technology to get the movie done. I don't know about you guys, but until I start seeing something from the movie, I can't help but worry that Cameron has entirely turned into George Lucas - a special effects and technology whore who will neglect such elements as story, character and acting in favour of flashy effects that will populate something like 90% of the film. So we'll have to wait and see.

I may add more directors later on, but for now, these are just a few examples. Now it's your turn - what directors that you used to LOVE simply disappoint you as of late by either making bad/mediocre movies or not making movies at ALL? Post yours here!

[Tuukka]

Agreed on Reiner.

Agreed on Zemeckis. He's a great director, and I hope he would go back to live action and do movies more often than once every 3-4 years. BTW, he also made What Lies Beneath after Castaway. But I really liked WLB despite script problems. It was a beutifully directed movie with great performance by Pfeiffer.

Not sure of Gilliam. Haven't seen Tideland yet, but apparently it's a brave, love-it-or-hate-it kind of film.

Disagreed on Darabont. Everything about his next announced project, Mist, sounds awesome. I'm really looking forward to that. It was time for him to re-invent himself, and that's what he's doing.

Disagreed on Minghella. One sloppy movie is not enough to discount a director, you need two to do that. Everyone has the occasionaly misstept every once in a while.

Agreed on Coen Brothers. Maybe they should try to again make a movie which is NOT primarily a comedy. They have gotten stuck.

Disagreed on Cameron. I could have agreed 1 month ago, but Avatar is coming now, and sounds very interesting and ambitious.

[Cronos]

Rob Reiner - agreed on him

Robert Zemeckis - i have yet to see Polar Express but the promotional material never looked very good to me....i'm rather looking forward to Beowulf since i recently became more interested in the story.....i'd love to see him return to a story like Contact

Terry Gilliam - this guy made some amazing movies but the last 2 films were dire in comparison to his previous ones....the story and direction of Tideland were excellent and had so much potential but the acting was terrible and too distracting to allow me to enjoy the film

Frank Darabont - I loved the Majestic and also the pilot for Raines was great...also i cannot wait for The Mist

Anthony Minghella - cant say ive ever been that impressed with his films

The Coen Brothers - aside from O Brother and Big Lebowski, see above (i still have a couple of their films to watch though)

James Cameron - aside from the abomination that is Piranha 2 (), this guy made masterpiece after masterpiece, until Titanic that is (which is on my list of films to re-watch).....but Avatar will be his triumphant return, i have no doubt about that, when i read the scriptment of this around 9 years ago i was blown away and to hear he'll actually be doing it, to say im excited is a huge understatement

[inglourious basterd]

Originally posted by Monotreme
WE STILL HAVE HOPE: Some hope, but much skepticism. On the one hand, it's great to see James finally working on something new, the long-announced Avatar feature. And it's an epic sci-fi piece no less. But one can't help but worry about Cameron's obsession with finding this new technology to get the movie done. I don't know about you guys, but until I start seeing something from the movie, I can't help but worry that Cameron has entirely turned into George Lucas - a special effects and technology whore who will neglect such elements as story, character and acting in favour of flashy effects that will populate something like 90% of the film. So we'll have to wait and see.

I may add more directors later on, but for now, these are just a few examples. Now it's your turn - what directors that you used to LOVE simply disappoint you as of late by either making bad/mediocre movies or not making movies at ALL? Post yours here!

This is an issue that I'm immensely interested about. For those of you who don't know, Cameron is intending that his next project will be filmed in 3D.

Cameron has made two great documentaries with a raw version of the technology that he wishes to use for Avatar and he directed a great 3D Terminator short fifteen years ago that plays in Universal Studios. He believes in the technology passionately, and is a master of the epic sci fi. I believe that if any one can pull it off, it will be him.

To be fair, the call for 3D as the "future" is something that is met with a lot of skepticism. And I believe that the skepticism is fair. I think that because 3D is so obscure, many directors don't really know how to take advantage of the benefits of the technology. The best example would be with Singer's Superman. I saw that with certain scenes in 3D at the IMAX, and they weren't very good. On the other hand, if you see one of Cameron's 3D pictures, or you see Zemeckis' Polar Express in 3D, then you'd believe in the fact that Cameron will be able to pull it off (yes...I'm aware that Polar Express is animated and fundamentally different than a live action film). In any case, Cameron has done his homework on this for a long, long time and I'm hopeful for his projects. 3D may not be the future, but I hope that this will be something that will breathe fresh air into the film industry.

[BubbaStrangelove]

I liked The Ladykillers, but honestly, I feel that the 1980s Coens are on par with the 2000s Coens - nothing touches the 90s Coens as you said. I don't think Comedy is their problem - I think they need to slow down on projects. A lot of their best movies have interesting stories behind them, but now it seems like they are just content on making films - whereas before it seemed like they lusted to make films.

[Monotreme]

I wonder if anyone has some other directors they personally are disappointed with in recent years, as opposed to simply responding to my own selections?

And Cronos, your comment about The Coens... blasphemy!

[Tuukka]

Luc Besson - Made interesting movies early on and Leon is one of my all time favourites, but he never lived up to it's promise. His two new movies after a 6-year break are apparently both crappy.

[Cronos]

Originally posted by Monotreme
And Cronos, your comment about The Coens... blasphemy!

what can i say, i hate Raising Arizona...The Man Who Wasnt There and Intolerable Cruelty weren't very funny and largely boring films and while i liked Fargo and Blood Simple they hold very little replay value


ive been trying to think of some other directors i think should go in here but have yet to come up with any

[Tuukka]

Oh yeah - FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA, for obvious reasons.

[Derek237]

Oh, JOHN LANDIS, where have you gone!?!?



THEN: Animal House, The Blues Brothers, An American Werewolf in London, Trading Places. He also directed the classic Michael Jackson video, Thriller.

NOW: The Stupids, Blues Brothers 2000, nothing much else worth mentioning. I remember seeing him on Leno over the summer, he's doing some projects with internet sketch comics or something...eh.

Sorry, I do not see much hope for him.

[inglourious basterd]

Originally posted by Derek237
[B]Oh, JOHN LANDIS, where have you gone!?!?

THEN: Animal House, The Blues Brothers, An American Werewolf in London, Trading Places. He also directed the classic Michael Jackson video, Thriller.

You forgot Coming to America. That was comic brilliance. =)

[BubbaStrangelove]

Originally posted by psudoazn
You forgot Coming to America. That was comic brilliance. =)

As well as Kentucky Fried Movie, Spies Like Us, and ¡Three Amigos!




What about Frank Oz?

THEN: The Dark Crystal, Muppets Take Manhattan, Little Shop of Horrors, What About Bob?


NOW: Bowfinger, The Stepford Wives


Go back to working with muppets, Frank. What About Bob? is the last nonpuppet movie he made that I thought was above average. In & Out was a stupid shaggy dog joke done better in the 70s & 80s, Bowfinger was okay, and Stepford Wives was atrocious. This guy used to make some very innovative films, working with jim Henson's team, but now he turns actors into muppets.

[echo_bravo]

Ditto on all of those directors except for Rob Reiner. He can eat himself to death for all I care.

I wanna also add Sam Mendes. I thought Jarhead was alright but nothing spectacular. What really sucks is that Mendes doesnt have anything in the works except for this Rufus Wainwright documentary

[yorrick brown]

i miss the directors from the 80`s that now find themselves in tv hell.

robert harmon

did the hitcher now jess stone movies

george p cosmatos

did rambo 2 and corba now Shadow Conspiracy

William Friedkin

still brings a tear to my eye everytime a new movie of his comes out and they have to remind us of his 2 best movies from all those years ago.

kind of like andrew davis how all his movies always say from the director of the fugitive i mean that was 1993 he hasn`t done anything good since?,i actually liked holes.

[Beenthere]

Originally posted by Derek237
Oh, JOHN LANDIS, where have you gone!?!?


THEN: Animal House, The Blues Brothers, An American Werewolf in London, Trading Places. He also directed the classic Michael Jackson video, Thriller.

NOW:[/B] The Stupids, Blues Brothers 2000, nothing much else worth mentioning. I remember seeing him on Leno over the summer, he's doing some projects with internet sketch comics or something...eh.

Sorry, I do not see much hope for him.[/B] [/B]

He made two episodes of Masters of Horror.

Don't forget those unfortunate deaths that took Vic Morrow from the world kinda fucked up his career.

[Beenthere]

John Badham

[EvilHenchman]

In no particulah ordah:

John McTiernan
- Cool action director of the '80s (Die Hard, Predator)
- Flashes of past achievements in the '90s (The Hunt for Red October - not one of my favorites, but better than his more recent work - Die Hard With A Vengeance, The Thomas Crown Affair)
- Flaccid stuff in the current decade (Rollerball, Basic);
- Upcoming projects aren't very enticing. At. All.

Woody Allen
- Cemented directing credentials in the 70's(Sleeper, Annie Hall, Manhattan)
- Continued evolving in the 80's with complex, character-driven film dramas (Another Woman, Crimes and Misdemeanors) as well as highly inventive, ambitious comedies (Zelig, Broadway Danny Rose, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Hannah and Her Sisters)
- Maintained in the '90's by offering a dizzying mix of works(Husbands and Wives, Bullets Over Broadway, Mighty Aphrodite, Sweet and Lowdown)
- Seemed to be treading water in the current decade (Small Town Crooks, The Curse of the Jade Scorpion and the most egregious of all, Hollywood Ending)
-Maybe needs to be less prolific in his later years - Match Point proves his creative juices haven't dried up (Yeah, I know: Woody and juices = "Eww.").

Barry Levinson
- Directed some of the sharpest comedies of the '80's (Diner, Tin Men, Good Morning, Vietnam), as well as helming Dustin Hoffman in one of his most iconic performances (Rain Man).
- Had award-worthy high points in '90's (Bugsy, Wag the Dog, the TV series "Homicide") and universally dismissed lows (Jimmy Hollywood, Toys, Sphere - sci-fi, Barry? WTF?)
- Seeming to be losing touch in current decade (Envy is dreck, however Bandits, I do like.)
- The upcoming What Just Happened? with De Niro and Penn looks good on paper...but so did We're No Angels; Boone's Lick could be a return to form (Larry McMurtry screenplay - adapted from his own novel - is a plus), but who will star?

[EvilHenchman]

Originally posted by Beenthere
Don't forget those unfortunate deaths that took Vic Morrow from the world kinda fucked up his career.

I think he was personally affected by that more than anything else; that is, I don't think that he became a Hollywood pariah or anything (though Eddie Murphy once vowed that he would never work with him again after Coming to America - for reasons I can't remember - but obviously he reneged or forgot long enough to do BHC III - which we're all so thankful for, of course.).

Another Landis goodie: Into The Night with Jeff Goldblum and Michelle Pfieffer. One of my favorites.

EDIT: There's a cover story on Eddie Murphy in the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly, and in it there's a reference to one of his last print interviews (with Playboy) where he talked about supposedly grabbing Landis by the neck on the set of Coming to America because the director wasn't giving Murphy proper respect or something like that. So that incident MAY have something to do with why Murphy once swore off working with Landis again.

[Monotreme]

Wow - excellent observations, all. TOTALLY agree with John Landis, the poor guy. Coppola, of course, and also Woody and Levinson. Great choices, and may all these directors get their fucking acts together soon!