An Outsider's Opinion: Top Ten Working American Directors

Sorry for the delay, here is the newest Outsider’s Opinion. Enjoy!

10. David Lynch- The most experimental, and probably most divisive, filmmaker on the list, David Lynch has created a career out of making confounding, brilliant works that are visual and aural delights as well as furious brainteasers. Beginning with Eraserhead in 1979, Lynch's films are often times simultaneously humorous and terrifying. While many of his critics label him as pretentious and confusing, a director incapable of making a cohesive, narrative film. To his admirers, those are his finest qualities and his creation of fluid, dreamlike pictures separate him from the stagnant mainstream American culture of film. His continued refusal to stay the course has allowed him to create such varied works as The Elephant Man (1984), Blue Velvet (1986), The Straight Story (1999), Mulholland Dr. (2001) and most recently Inland Empire (2006), which has almost unanimously been hailed as his strangest and least accessible work. To those willing to give themselves to Lynch's imagination, they will be amply rewarding with endlessly rewarding films that challenge both mainstream thought and emotion. Lynch's next film has yet to be announced and seeing how methodically he works, it may be sometime before we see another from him.9. Alexander Payne- Perhaps the most classical director on the list, Payne has spent the first part of the new century crafting films that strike a delicate balance between drama and outright humor. His films are never flashy, but rather, restrained examinations of the everyman struggling to cope with life. In Election, it was a high school teacher engaged in a heated, vicious student council election. In About Schmidt, it was the story of aging widower traveling cross country for his daughter's wedding. Finally, in Sideways, it is another high school teacher/struggling writer, one who brings his best friend on a week long bachelor's party, tasting wine, through the Napa Valley. Payne's films work so well because of their accessibility. The emotions are basic and human, the characters carefully considered. His use of humor is lifelike and effective. Never relying on outrageous gags, the situations smack of realism. Of the prominent American filmmakers of today, few have as much promise to become one of the best as Payne. His next film is not yet known.
8. Sofia Coppola- The only woman on the list is also the only woman in Hollywood continually making innovative and intelligent films with every effort. Starting with her wonderful adaptation of The Virgin Suicide, Coppola has furiously worked to extradite herself from her father's shadow, eagerly attempting to prove that she is as every bit worthy as Francis. While it has been difficult for Coppola to replicate her father's 70's successes in which he made 4 of the greatest films ever (The Godfather, The Conversation, The Godfather Part II, Apocalypse Now), she has certainly began to carve her own niche, creating 3 interesting movies that have enjoyed great critical success. Lost in Translation is her one definite classic in the making, an amazing exploration of two people's struggles to adapt to a foreign culture and finding solace in each other's company. Marie Antoinette was her most divisive, with its revisionist history and use of 80's pop songs. Its influence has yet to be determined but its originality is undeniable. It takes a story over 200 years old and re-invigorates it with a modern, punk sensibility that Gen-X’ers can relate to. Its a true visual and aural feast, a visionary look at a time gone by. Coppola's next film has not yet been announced.
7. Wes Anderson- Where Lynch is experimental, Anderson is wonderfully eccentric, his best films displaying a gleeful chaos. Ask anyone and there are bound to be differing opinions about which of Anderson's films is their favorite. For me, its his most recent and most divisive, 2004's incredibly funny The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. It is a perfect combination of his deadpan conversation, physical humor and perfectly suited visuals. It is a wonderful satire of Jacques Cousteau while remaining humane and endearing. It never feels cruel or hurtful but always good hearted. Of all the comedies being made today, Anderson's take the longest to reveal themselves. The Royal Tennebaums (2001), his most accessible film by far, is the least rewarding but is immensely enjoyable. It still provides great laughs and an impressive emotional impact. Rushmore (1999) is more like The Life Aquatic with its offbeat humor that slowly reveals itself with each viewing. Anderson can be credited with Bill Murray's comedic rebirth, as it was under his careful guidance in the three films mentioned above that Murray rediscovered his comic touch and tempered it with a careful humanism. Anderson's next project is a collaboration with Roman Coppola and Jason Schwartzman entitled The Darjeeling Limited that is currently filming now. It is scheduled for release sometime in 2008.
6. Quentin Tarantino- The most original filmmaker of the 1990's, Tarantino created a post-modernist film vocabulary with Reservoir Dogs (1992), Pulp Fiction (1994) and Jackie Brown (1997) that is still unrivaled by any American filmmaker. These films are wheeling pop culture free for all's, darkly hilarious and brimming with excellent dialogue. Jackie Brown, his most underrated film, is an intelligent and exciting manipulation of the exploitation (more specifically Blaxploitation) films of the 1970's, critique and deconstructing many of those films' clichés and hallmarks. Pulp Fiction is his unparalleled masterpiece, giddy with film history and theory while remaining wildly entertaining and technically astounding. It is certainly one of the finest American films in the past 20 years. His most recent work, the Kill Bill films are wonderful genre mash-ups, with the first installment relying on Japanese and Chinese cinemas to create a modern mash up of the classic Samurai and Kung Fu flicks of the 1950's, 60's and 70's. The second chapter adds the Italian spaghetti western into the mix and is a more substantial emotional film, where the first subsides on carefully orchestrated chaos. Tarantino's next film is the double feature Grindhouse, scheduled for release in April 2007 and is co-directed by Robert Rodriguez. It returns Tarantino 1970's exploitation cinema, this time the Horror films of the time, and promises to be an interesting and entertaining watch. The long rumored and delay Inglorious Bastards has been announced and should begin production sometime this year.
5. Steven Spielberg- The creator of the summer blockbuster is the still the only one who hasn't caved to the terrible nature of the summer months. Spielberg has produced consistently good work throughout his over 30 year career and most recently, has created one of his most mature and exciting works, Munich (2005). With age, his work has begun to vary in form and tone, relying on humor in Catch Me If You Can (2003), realistic depictions of warfare in Saving Private Ryan (1998) or dystopic visions of the future in Minority Report (2002). His first big splash (No pun intended), Jaws (1975) still stands as his finest work, an exciting and intelligent blockbuster that begins as a story about a huge fish and ends as a thoughtful examination of human fear of the unknown. He has produced countless classics (E.T., Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Indiana Jones Trilogy, Schindler's List) but is not higher on the list due to some of his more recent work. While Munich was excellent, War of the Worlds (2005) was uneven and The Terminal (2004) a minor work at best. His next film, Lincoln, is a biopic of the sixteenth president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln and is scheduled for release in 2008. He also begins shooting on the fourth installment of the Indiana Jones series this summer, for release in 2008 as well.

4. Martin Scorsese- With The Departed (2006), Scorsese has continued a run of fantastic filmmaking, starting with Gangs of New York (2002) and continuing with The Aviator (2004) and Bob Dylan: No Direction Home (2005). The three most recent are legitimate classics and he doesn't appear to be stopping. This year will see the release of Shine a Light (2007), his documentary about the entire career of the Rolling Stones. He will then move onto a biopic of Teddy Roosevelt, which has Leonardo DiCaprio attached to it. His back catalog is as impressive as they come with Mean Streets (1974), Taxi Driver (1976), Raging Bull (1980) and Goodfellas (1989) leading the way. He has long been considered the best director of his generation by many critics and with his recent work only adding to his legacy, Scorsese could be working on cementing his reputation as the greatest of all time. He is an avowed film fanatic and he almost single handedly attempts to teach younger generations about the films of the past. His examinations are thorough and responsible, showing a great deal of research and passion for his subjects.
3. Michael Mann- Perhaps the most unheralded director on this list, Mann has compiled a list of quiet masterpieces that are largely overlooked or forgotten merely because they lie in genre filmmaking. In reality, his films have grown increasingly complex and assured, and in recent years, technically groundbreaking. Starting with 1992's The Last of the Mohicans, bypassing his early films Manhunter and Thief (both underrated), Mann has hit a streak of gold, creating film after film with breathtaking virtuosity. The string of films (Heat (1995), The Insider (1999), Ali (2001), Collateral (2004), Miami Vice (2006)), is remarkable, each adding something different to Mann's canon. Heat is his undisputed masterpiece centered on a bank robber and the police officer chasing him. It is Mann's touch and direction that makes it into more than typical cops and robbers film, elevating it to a level of complex emotional and thematic explorations of masculinity and loyalty. The Insider features one of the best performances of all time (Russell Crowe's turn as a Big Tobacco whistle blower) and Ali, his most disrespected film, shows flashes of brilliance. When the viewer reaches Collateral and Miami Vice, Mann's technical abilities become evident as he pushes high definition, digital filmmaking farther than anyone before him. The films are visual miracles, capturing both night and day, urban and tropical areas with ease and filling the screen with a color palette virtually unmatched since the glorious days of Technicolor's bursting reds. Mann currently has two films in development, 2007's Arms and the Man and 2008's The Few. It is not yet known if he will using digital video or move back to film but what can be assured is that Mann's confident and cinematic touch will continue to change the ways genre pictures are viewed in the 21st century.
2. Spike Lee- The most racially aware American filmmaker of all time, Spike Lee's body of work is a staggering achievement filled with films that examine almost every aspect of American life. Poverty, race, ethnicity, drugs, terrorism, war: all are looked at and deconstructed in entertaining and enlightening fashions, illuminating many subjects that Americans might not feel comfortable discussing. Lee has been and will always be a controversial filmmaker due to his refusal to sit quietly and allow for the injustices he sees in society go unnoticed. His films are bracing, realistic and incredibly moving. Starting with 1989's Do The Right Thing, still the best film ever about racial issues, and moving through the 1990's and 2000's, Lee has created such classics as Malcolm X (1992), 4 Little Girls (1997), Bamboozled (2000), 25th Hour (2002) and recently his searing look at Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, When The Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Parts (2006). Even his "lesser" works are intelligent looks at potent issues: Jungle Fever (1991), Crooklyn (1994), Clockers (1995), He Got Game (1998) and 2006's The Inside Man, which is as entertaining and clever a heist movie as there has ever been. Lee has long been the most prominant African American filmmaker working in Hollywood and has miraculously been able to continue to make unwavering films that have strong beliefs that are presented with anger, intelligence and class. He is in talks for his next film to be Selling Time with Tom Cruise, scheduled for release in late 2007.
1. Clint Eastwood- There is no finer American director working today than Eastwood, who has created a restrained yet endlessly effective body of work that contains 5 legitimate masterpieces. 1992's Unforgiven was the best American western in more than 20 years and nothing has come close since. 2003's Mystic River features a spectacular ensemble cast and is a riveting look at the chilling effects of pedophilia. 2004's Million Dollar Baby is a devastating political statement masquerading as a boxing film and 2006's Flags of our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima are the two best war films to be released since 1998's Saving Private Ryan. They both stand along with ease but when combined, they are an amazing achievement, a bracing and humane look at the Battle of Iwo Jima from both sides. The two films are emotionally effective and thematically they work to subvert many of the archetypes created by the Hollywood war epics of the past. To a common viewer, Flags and Letters might seem typical. To those who have an understanding of what came before them, they are a towering accomplishment that would be foolish to demean. For those counting at home, that’s four classic films in 4 years, an accomplishment unrivaled by any director working today. Eastwood's works are mature films, not for the weak of heart or mind. They require careful thought and consideration but for those willing to give themselves to his work, they are endlessly rewarding movies that will be fondly remembered in the years to come. This does not even mention Eastwood's earlier directorial work in westerns such as High Plains Drifter (1973) or The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976), widely considered to be some of the best American westerns of the 1970's. Eastwood's next film has yet to be announced but he generally works quickly so look for something in late 2007, sometime in 2008.