Thursday, January 18, 2007

A very dissapointing list of movies i've seen by directors

I recently found that if you look at my list of movies by director (minimum is 4 films by any one director), i'm really somewhat dissapointed at my output of films that i've seen. I've prided myself and having a diverse background with a lot of different eras of film, and not necessarily having seen all the best movies (i haven't seen Saving Private Ryan or Apocolypse Now or even The Godfather. I haven't seen Sunset Boulevard but i've seen Double Indemnity for example and having a mix of the classics and some of the fringe films. Like one day i felt like watching a Scorsesee film. I'd seen Goodfellas and rather than go to the conventional choice of Raging Bull or Taxi Driver, his two next most famous films, I chose Color of Money becuase i wanted to see the performance from Paul Newman that won him an oscar and pool sounded fun). And when people call into question my credentials as a film person for not having seen enough films (they'll usually be like "you've never seen _____?!"), i don't really care, i don't feel pressure to see all the great movies at once. However, by these standards, i feel a little embarrassed. How can i call myself an expert on Clint Eastwood when i've only seen three of his films (Bronco Billy hehe, Unforgiven and Mystic River), or really anyone beyond Alfred Hitchkock, Stephen Spielberg and Woody Allen.

In my defense, however, I do have at least one or two films by pretty much every major director: Eastwood (3), Capra (3), Ford (2), Kubrick (3), Sidney Lumet (3), Fellini (1), Renoir (2), Bergman (1), Godard (1), Trouffant (1), Malick (2), etc.

And the guys i like like Sam Mendes, Rob Marshall, and Wes Anderson i've seen pertty much everything they've made. Someone suggested i do percentages and i've seen 100% of Mendes and Marshall and 75% of Wes Anderson (all except Bottle Rocket).

So i definitely feel encouraged to watch a little more. Right now i just checked out Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil so i can bump Eastwood up to 4 and i thought i might watch another Billy Wilder movie cause he's really my favorite and I just checked out this great movie "Conversations with Billy Wilder.

Also, if you can tell I'm a child of the 90s, based on all those bad and mediocre 90s films which i might otherwise not have watched.

Also, let me just say I never intended to watch more of Ivan Retiman than Rob Zemeckis, Vincente Minelli or Martin Scorsesee, or more Frank Oz than Rob Altman.

18 Alfred Hitchkock-Family Plot, Torn Curtain, Rebecca, 39 Steps, North by Northwest, Sabetour, The Wrong Man, Strangers on a Train, Shadow of a Doubt, Topaz, The Birds, Psycho, Lifeboat, Spellbound, Vertigo, The Man Who Knew Too Much (both versions), Rear Window
12 Stephen Spielberg-Color Purple, Raiders of the Last Ark, Jurassic Park, Temple of Doom, The Last Crusade, The Terminal, Catch Me If You Can, Schindler's List, Hook, ET, Jaws, War of the Worlds
12 Woody Allen-Hollywood Ending, Curse of the Jaded Scorpion, Manhattan, Annie Hall, Small Time Crooks, Sweet and Lowdown, Mighty Aphrodite, Manhattan Murder Mystery, Melinda and Melinda, Crimes and Misdemeanors, Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex, Bullets Over Broadway
7-Ivan Reitman: Ghostbusters, 6 Days 7 Days, Old School, Space Jam, Fathers Day, Beethoven, Beethoven’s 2nd

7 Rob Altman-Dr. T and the Women, McCabe and Mrs Miller, MASH, Prairie Home Companion, The Player, Buffalo Bill, California Split
7-Rob Zemeckis-Back to the Future I-III, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Romancing the Stone, Forrest Gump, Contact
7 Joel and Ethan Coen-Oh Brother Where Art Thou, Ladykillers, Man Who Knew Too Much, Intolerable Cruelty, Big Lebowski, Fargo, No Country for Old Men
7 Billy Wilder-Spirit of St. Louis, Some Like it Hot, The Apartment, Irma la Douce, Double Indemnity, Sabrina, Ace in the Hole

6 Mel Brooks-Spaceballs, High Anxiety, Young Frankenstein, The Producers, Blazing Saddles, History of the World Part I
6 Vincente Minelli-Meet me in St Louis, American in Paris, The Pirate, Brigadoon, The Band Wagon, Kismet
6 Frank Oz-Bowfinger, In and Out, Stepford Wives, The Score, What About Bob, Housesitter
6 Frank Capra-Meet John Doe, Mr Smith Goes to Washington, Arsenic andOld Lace, It Happened One Night, It's a Wonderful Life, Mr Deeds Goes to Town
6 Mike Nicholls-Primary Colors, The Birdcage, The Graduate, Working Girl, What Planet Are You From, Charlie Wilson's War
5 Martin Scorsesee-Color of Money, Age of Innocence, Goodfellas, Aviator, The Departed
5 George Lucas-Star Wars I-IV, American Graffiti

5 Stanley Donen-Take Me Out to the Ballgame (most sources insist that he really was the director, not Bugsy Berkley), On the Town, Singing in the Rain, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Charade
5 Joel Schumaker-Time to Kill, 8 MM, Batman and Robin, Batman Forever, The Client
5 Orson Welles-Citizen Kane, Lady of Shanghai, Othello, Magnificent Ambersons, Touch of Evil
5 John Glenn-5 Bonds

5 Sidney Pollack-Slender Thread, Sabrina, Out of Africa, Interpreter, Tootsie
5 John Huston-Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Key Largo, Beat the Devil, Man Who Would be King, African Queen
5 Robert Rodriguez-El Mariachi Trilogy, Spy Kids and Lava Girl, Sin City
5 Barry Levinson-Man of the Year, Sleepers, Rain Man, Tin Men, Good Morning Vietnam
5 Terry Gilliam-Adventures of Baron Muchenhassen, Time Bandits, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Brothers Grimm, Fisher King
5 Jay Roach-Austin Powers I-III, Meet the Parents , Mystery Alaska
5 Gore Verbinski-Pirates of the Carribean 1, 2, 3, Weatherman, The Mexican

5 Howard Hawks-Sgt. York, Bringing Up Baby, Big Sleep, Ball of Fire, Rio Bravo
4 Harold Lloyd-Safety Last, Feet First, The Freshman, Kid Brother
4 Guy Hamilton-4 Bond movies

4 Peter Weir-Witness, Dead Poet’s Society, The Truman Show, Master and Commander
4 Peter and Bobby Farrelly-Can't remember anymore
4 Kevin Smith-Chasing Amy, Mallrats, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Dogma (pretty much everything except Clerks)
4 Steven Herek-Mr. Holland’s Opus, Three Musketeers, Mighty Ducks, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventures
4 Steve Sodebergh-Erin Brockovitch, Ocean’s 11, Ocean’s 12, Full Frontal

4 Brett Ratner-After the Sunset, Rush Hour 2, Family Man, X-Men 3
4 Peter Segal-Naked Gun 33 1/3, Tommy Boy, My Fellow Americans, 50 First Dates
4 Chris Columbis-Mrs. Doubtfire, Home Alone, Home Alone 2, Stepmom
4 John Lynn-Whole Nine Yards, Trial and Error, Sgt Bilko, Trial and Error, Ball of Fire
4 Tony Scott-Enemy of the State, Déjà Vu, Crimson Tide, Top Gun
4 Sydney Pollack-Sabrina, Out of Africa, Tootsie, The Interpreter
4 Barry Sonnenfeld-Men in Black I, II, Wild Wild West, Big Trouble

4 Bryan Singer-Usual Suspects, X-Men, X2, Superman Returns
4 Clint Eastwood-Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, Unforgiven, Bronco Billy, Mystic River
4 Christopher Guest-Best in Show, Waiting for Guffman, A Mighty Wind, For Your Consideration 4 John Lasseter-Lady and the Tramp, Toy Story, Toy Story 2, Cars

4 Wes Anderson-Darjeerling Limited, Rushmore, Royal Tannenbaums, Life Aquatic
4 Ernst Lubuitsch-Trouble in Paradise, Merry Widow, Ninotchka, Shop Around the Corner
4 Johnothan Demme-Married to the Mob, Silence of the Lambs, Melvin and Howard, Manchurian Candidate
4 Tim Burton-Ed Wood, Batman Returns, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Batman
4 Roland Emmerich-Stargate, ID4, The Patriot, Day After Tomorrow

2 comments:

Daniel Cook Johnson said...

I know this is a post from a year ago but has it been updated lately? If so you should make a notation like "updated xx/xx/08" with the movies you've seen highlighted since you originally posted. Otherwise it's a cool scorecard idea.

sophomorecritic said...

yes, i actually have been updating this post continually over the last year, and that is a good suggestion. In fact, i have to make 3 updates from this past week alone.