My Favorite Directors
by Uberkills | created - 10 Apr 2015 | updated - 31 Aug 2015 | PublicThese are a list of my favorite film directors.
1. James Cameron
Writer | Avatar: The Way of Water
James Francis Cameron was born on August 16, 1954 in Kapuskasing, Ontario, Canada. He moved to the United States in 1971. The son of an engineer, he majored in physics at California State University before switching to English, and eventually dropping out. He then drove a truck to support his ...
I first discovered his movies by watching the first two Terminators on VHS, then being able to witness the spectacle Avatar on the silver screen and later checking out Aliens. James Cameron's work made me acquire my love for science fiction movies.
2. David Fincher
Director | Se7en
David Fincher was born in 1962 in Denver, Colorado, and was raised in Marin County, California. When he was 18 years old he went to work for John Korty at Korty Films in Mill Valley. He subsequently worked at ILM (Industrial Light and Magic) from 1981-1983. Fincher left ILM to direct TV commercials...
3. Frank Darabont
Writer | The Shawshank Redemption
Three-time Oscar nominee Frank Darabont was born in a refugee camp in 1959 in Montbeliard, France, the son of Hungarian parents who had fled Budapest during the failed 1956 Hungarian revolution. Brought to America as an infant, he settled with his family in Los Angeles and attended Hollywood High ...
I loved his directing work on The Mist and his vision for the first season of The Walking Dead. The Green Mile was great too. Darabont is excellent for his quality and respect for storytelling.
4. George A. Romero
Writer | Land of the Dead
George A. Romero never set out to become a Hollywood figure; by all indications, though, he was very successful. The director of the groundbreaking "Living Dead" films was born February 4, 1940 ,in New York City to Ann (Dvorsky) and Jorge Romero. His father was born in Spain and raised in Cuba, and...
George A Romero is one of the few directors that I have personally studied in my free time. I never really was interested in the films he made outside of the "Dead" series. But I tell you, Night, Dawn and Day of the Dead are three of his best films. I've seen them all so many times. I loved them all too. He just proved that horror movies can be intelligent and thought-provoking. Sadly now at days, he hasn't made anything good.
5. Quentin Tarantino
Writer | Reservoir Dogs
Quentin Jerome Tarantino was born in Knoxville, Tennessee. His father, Tony Tarantino, is an Italian-American actor and musician from New York, and his mother, Connie (McHugh), is a nurse from Tennessee. Quentin moved with his mother to Torrance, California, when he was four years old.
In January of...
The instant I finished up Reservoir Dogs, I knew there is just something unique about this guy. Almost everything film he made is completely entertaining. He's also inspired me to focus on writing great dialogue. Since he's also a film buff, Tarantino made me watch more movies and expanded my tastes in cinema.
6. Ridley Scott
Producer | The Martian
Described by film producer Michael Deeley as "the very best eye in the business", director Ridley Scott was born on November 30, 1937 in South Shields, Tyne and Wear. His father was an officer in the Royal Engineers and the family followed him as his career posted him throughout the United Kingdom ...
Like James Cameron, Ridley Scott introduced me Alien and Blade Runner. Two of my favorite science fiction films. He also gave us the great war movie, Black Hawk Down.
7. Paul Verhoeven
Director | RoboCop
Paul Verhoeven graduated from the University of Leiden, with a degree in math and physics. He entered the Royal Netherlands Navy, where he began his film career by making documentaries for the Navy and later for TV. In 1969, he directed the popular Dutch TV series, Floris (1969), about a medieval ...
Another great director known for Robocop, Total Recall and Starship Troopers. Two of those are my favorite sci-fi films.
8. Alfred Hitchcock
Director | Psycho
Alfred Joseph Hitchcock was born in Leytonstone, Essex, England. He was the son of Emma Jane (Whelan; 1863 - 1942) and East End greengrocer William Hitchcock (1862 - 1914). His parents were both of half English and half Irish ancestry. He had two older siblings, William Hitchcock (born 1890) and ...
There's a lot to learn from the Master of Suspense. Psycho and North by Northwest are two of his great works.
9. Danny Boyle
Director | 127 Hours
Daniel Francis Boyle is a British filmmaker, producer and writer from Radcliffe, Greater Manchester. He is known for directing 28 Days Later, 127 Hours, Trainspotting, T2 Trainspotting, Slumdog Millionaire, Millions, Shallow Grave, The Beach, Yesterday, and Steve Jobs. He won many awards for ...
I think Danny Boyle is a director that has never really made a bad film. I did think that Slumdog Millionaire was oscar-bait but 28 Days Later and Sunshine are really great movies from him. I have yet to see Trainspotting though.
10. Steven Spielberg
Producer | Schindler's List
One of the most influential personalities in the history of cinema, Steven Spielberg is Hollywood's best known director and one of the wealthiest filmmakers in the world. He has an extraordinary number of commercially successful and critically acclaimed credits to his name, either as a director, ...
It's Spielberg for crying out loud!
11. Joel Coen
Producer | The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Joel Daniel Coen is an American filmmaker who regularly collaborates with his younger brother Ethan. They made Raising Arizona, Barton Fink, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, True Grit, O Brother Where Art Thou?, Burn After Reading, A Serious Man, Inside Llewyn Davis, Hail Caesar and other projects. Joel ...
Fargo, O Brother Where Art Thou!, No Country for Old Men. Excellent films. Joel and his brother have brought out some great movies for the past three decades.
12. Michael Mann
Producer | The Insider
As a director, screenwriter, and producer, four-time Academy Award nominee Michael Mann has established himself as one of the most innovative and influential filmmakers in American cinema. After writing and directing the Primetime Emmy Award-winning television movie The Jericho Mile (1979), Mann ...
13. Ethan Coen
Producer | The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
The younger brother of Joel, Ethan Coen is an Academy Award and Golden Globe winning writer, producer and director coming from small independent films to big profile Hollywood films. He was born on September 21, 1957 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In some films of the brothers- Ethan & Joel wrote, Joel...
See Joel Coen's description above.
14. George Lucas
Writer | Star Wars
George Walton Lucas, Jr. was raised on a walnut ranch in Modesto, California. His father was a stationery store owner and he had three siblings. During his late teen years, he went to Thomas Downey High School and was very much interested in drag racing. He planned to become a professional racecar ...
Eh. This guy was great for his business methods. Not so much for his writing/directing.
Tell Your Friends