My Top Directors Ever
by rida13rock | created - 17 Sep 2019 | updated - 6 days ago | Public
1. Stanley Kubrick
Director | 2001: A Space Odyssey
Stanley Kubrick was born in Manhattan, New York City, to Sadie Gertrude (Perveler) and Jacob Leonard Kubrick, a physician. His family were Jewish immigrants (from Austria, Romania, and Russia). Stanley was considered intelligent, despite poor grades at school. Hoping that a change of scenery would ...
2001: A Space Odyssey : 10/10
A Clockwork Orange : 10/10
Paths of Glory : 10/10
Barry Lyndon : 10/9
Eyes Wide Shut : 10/9
Dr. Strangelove : 10/9
Full Metal Jacket : 10/9
The Shining : 10/8
The Killing : 10/8
Lolita : 10/7
2. Andrei Tarkovsky
Writer | Offret
The most famous Soviet film-maker since Sergei Eisenstein, Andrei Tarkovsky (the son of noted poet Arseniy Tarkovsky) studied music and Arabic in Moscow before enrolling in the Soviet film school VGIK. He shot to international attention with his first feature, Ivan's Childhood (1962), which won the...
Stalker : 10/10
The Mirror : 10/10
Solaris : 10/10
Andrei Rublev : 10/9
Nostalgia : 10/8
Ivan's Childhood : 10/8
The Sacrifice : 10/7
3. Kenji Mizoguchi
Director | Ugetsu monogatari
Coming from a lower class family Mizoguchi entered the production company Nikkatsu as an actor specialized in female roles. Later he became an assistant director and made his first film in 1922. Although he filmed almost 90 movies in the silent era, only his last 12 productions are really known ...
Ugetsu : 10/10
Sansho the Bailiff : 10/10
Street of Shame : 10/9
A Story from Chikamatsu : 10/9
The Life of Oharu : 10/9
The Woman of Rumour : 10/8
Sisters of the Gion : 10/8
Osaka Elegy : 10/7
4. Ingmar Bergman
Writer | Smultronstället
Ernst Ingmar Bergman was born July 14, 1918, the son of a priest. The film and T.V. series, The Best Intentions (1992) is biographical and shows the early marriage of his parents. The film Sunday's Children (1992) depicts a bicycle journey with his father. In the miniseries Private Confessions (...
The Seventh Seal : 10/10
Persona. : 10/10
Wild Strawberries : 10/9
Winter Light : 10/9
Fanny and Alexander : 10/9
The Virgin Spring : 10/8
Through a Glass Darkly : 10/8
Autumn Sonata : 10/8
The Silence : 10/8
Cries & Whispers : 10/7
5. Francis Ford Coppola
Producer | Apocalypse Now
Francis Ford Coppola was born in 1939 in Detroit, Michigan, but grew up in a New York suburb in a creative, supportive Italian-American family. His father, Carmine Coppola, was a composer and musician. His mother, Italia Coppola (née Pennino), had been an actress. Francis Ford Coppola graduated ...
The Godfather: Part II : 10/10
The Godfather : 10/10
Apocalypse Now : 10/9
The Conversation : 10/9
The Godfather Part III : 10/9
The Rainmaker : 10/8
Peggy Sue Got Married : 10/8
Bram Stoker's Dracula : 10/7
6. Krzysztof Kieslowski
Writer | Trois couleurs: Bleu
Krzysztof Kieslowski graduated from Lódz Film School in 1969, and became a documentary, TV and feature film director and scriptwriter. Before making his first film for TV, Przejscie podziemne (1974) (The Underground Passage), he made a number of short documentaries. His next TV title, Personnel (...
Dekalog : 10/10
Blind Chance : 10/10
A Short Film About Love : 10/9
A Short Film About Killing : 10/9
Trois couleurs: Bleu : 10/9
La Double Vie De Véronique : 10/8
Trois Couleurs: Rouge : 10/8
Trois Couleurs: Blanc : 10/8
Camera Buff : 10/7
7. Akira Kurosawa
Writer | Kakushi-toride no san-akunin
After training as a painter (he storyboards his films as full-scale paintings), Kurosawa entered the film industry in 1936 as an assistant director, eventually making his directorial debut with Sanshiro Sugata (1943). Within a few years, Kurosawa had achieved sufficient stature to allow him greater...
Ikiru : 10/10
Rashomon : 10/10
Seven Samurai : 10/9
High and Low : 10/9
Yojimbo : 10/9
Ran : 10/9
Stray Dog : 10/8
Sanjuro : 10/8
Drunken Angel : 10/7
The Hidden Fortress : 10/7
Throne of Blood : 10/7
8. Sidney Lumet
Director | 12 Angry Men
Sidney Lumet was a master of cinema, best known for his technical knowledge and his skill at getting first-rate performances from his actors -- and for shooting most of his films in his beloved New York. He made over 40 movies, often complex and emotional, but seldom overly sentimental. Although ...
Network : 10/10
12 Angry Men : 10/10
Dog Day Afternoon : 10/9
The Pawnbroker : 10/9
Running on Empty : 10/9
Serpico : 10/9
Fail-Safe : 10/8
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead : 10/8
The Verdict : 10/8
Murder on the Orient Express : 10/7
9. Federico Fellini
Writer | Le notti di Cabiria
The women who both attracted and frightened him and an Italy dominated in his youth by Mussolini and Pope Pius XII - inspired the dreams that Fellini started recording in notebooks in the 1960s. Life and dreams were raw material for his films. His native Rimini and characters like Saraghina (the ...
La Dolce Vita : 10/10
8½ : 10/10
The Nights of Cabiria : 10/9
La Strada : 10/9
Juliet of the Spirits : 10/8
Amarcord : 10/8
Il Bidone : 10/8
I Vitelloni : 10/8
10. Billy Wilder
Writer | The Apartment
Originally planning to become a lawyer, Billy Wilder abandoned that career in favor of working as a reporter for a Viennese newspaper, using this experience to move to Berlin, where he worked for the city's largest tabloid. He broke into films as a screenwriter in 1929 and wrote scripts for many ...
The Apartment : 10/10
Sunset Blvd. : 10/10
Witness for the Prosecution : 10/9
Some Like It Hot : 10/9
Double Indemnity : 10/8
Stalag 17 : 10/8
Sabrina : 10/8
The Lost Weekend : 10/7
11. Martin Scorsese
Producer | Killers of the Flower Moon
Martin Charles Scorsese was born on November 17, 1942 in Queens, New York City, to Catherine Scorsese (née Cappa) and Charles Scorsese, who both worked in Manhattan's garment district, and whose families both came from Palermo, Sicily. He was raised in the neighborhood of Little Italy, which later ...
Goodfellas : 10/9
Raging Bull : 10/9
Taxi Driver : 10/9
The Departed : 10/9
The Aviator : 10/9
Casino : 10/8
The Irishman : 10/8
The King of Comedy : 10/8
The Wolf of Wall Street : 10/8
Hugo : 10/8
Shutter Island : 10/8
Gangs of New York : 10/8
After Hours : 10/7
Mean Streets : 10/7
12. Darren Aronofsky
Writer | Pi
Darren Aronofsky was born February 12, 1969, in Brooklyn, New York. Growing up, Darren was always artistic: he loved classic movies and, as a teenager, he even spent time doing graffiti art. After high school, Darren went to Harvard University to study film (both live-action and animation). He won ...
The Fountain : 10/10
Pi : 10/10
The Wrestler : 9/10
Black Swan : 9/10
Mother! : 9/10
Requiem for a Dream : 8.5/10
13. Park Chan-wook
Director | Oldeuboi
Park Chan-wook was born on August 23, 1963 in Seoul, South Korea. He is a producer and director, known for Oldboy (2003), The Handmaiden (2016) and Decision to Leave (2022). He is married to Eun-hee Kim. They have one child.
Oldboy : 10/10
Decision to Leave : 10/10
The Handmaiden : 10/9
Lady Vengeance : 10/9
Stoker : 10/8
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance : 10/8
Thirst : 10/8
Joint Security Area : 10/7
14. Yasujirô Ozu
Writer | Tôkyô monogatari
Tokyo-born Yasujiro Ozu was a movie buff from childhood, often playing hooky from school in order to see Hollywood movies in his local theatre. In 1923 he landed a job as a camera assistant at Shochiku Studios in Tokyo. Three years later, he was made an assistant director and directed his first ...
Late Spring : 10/10
Tokyo Story : 10/9
Tokyo Twilight : 10/9
I Was Born, But... : 10/8
Good Morning : 10/8
Early Summer : 10/8
Late Autumn : 10/7
What Did the Lady Forget? : 10/7
15. Lee Chang-dong
Writer | Beoning
Lee Chang-Dong was born in 1954 in Daegu, which some consider the most right-wing city in South Korea. Lee is a former high-school teacher and an acclaimed novelist. He turned to cinema when he was over 40 years old. His debut film "Green Fish" (1997) brought immediate success and critical acclaim....
Peppermint Candy : 10/10
Burning : 10/9
Oasis : 10/9
Secret Sunshine : 10/9
Poetry : 10/8
Green Fish : 10/7
16. Denis Villeneuve
Director | Dune
Denis Villeneuve is a French Canadian film director and writer. He was born in 1967, in Trois-Rivières, Québec, Canada. He started his career as a filmmaker at the National Film Board of Canada. He is best known for his feature films Arrival (2016), Sicario (2015), Prisoners (2013), Enemy (2013), ...
Incendies : 10/10
Arrival : 9/10
Blade Runner 2049 : 9/10
Dune: Part Two : 9/10
Sicario : 9/10
Prisoners : 9/10
Dune : 8/10
Enemy : 7/10
17. 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 ...
Vertigo : 10/10
Psycho : 10/9
Rear Window : 10/9
North by Northwest : 10/8
Rebecca : 10/8
Dial M for Murder : 10/8
Rope : 10/8
Strangers on a Train : 10/8
Notorious : 10/8
The Man Who Knew Too Much : 10/7
The Birds : 10/7
18. Kore-eda Hirokazu
Director | Manbiki kazoku
Born in Tokyo in 1962. Originally intended to be a novelist, but after graduating from Waseda University in 1987 went on to become an assistant director at T.V. Man Union. Snuck off set to film Mou hitotsu no kyouiku - Ina shogakkou haru gumi no kiroku (1991). His first feature, Maborosi (1995), ...
Shoplifters : 10/10
After Life : 10/9
Maborosi : 10/9
Our Little Sister : 10/9
Nobody Knows : 10/8
Broker : 10/8
Still Walking : 10/8
Like Father, Like Son : 10/8
After the Storm : 10/7
The Third Murder : 10/7
19. Alejandro G. Iñárritu
Director | Biutiful
Alejandro González Iñárritu (ih-nyar-ee-too), born August 15th, 1963, is a Mexican film director.
González Iñárritu is the first Mexican director to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director and by the Directors Guild of America for Best Director. He is also the first Mexican-born ...
Birdman : 10/10
Amores Perros : 10/10
The Revenant : 10/9
21 Grams : 10/8
Babel : 10/8
Biutiful : 10/8
20. 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...
Se7en : 10/10
Fight Club : 9/10
Mindhunter : 9/10
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button : 9/10
The Social Network : 8/10
Zodiac : 8/10
The Killer : 8/10
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo : 8/10
Gone Girl : 8/10
The Game : 8/10
Panic Room : 7/10
21. 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...
Pulp Fiction : 10/10
Inglourious Basterds : 10/9
Reservoir Dogs : 10/9
Django Unchained : 10/9
Kill Bill: Vol. 2 : 10/8
The Hateful Eight : 10/8
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood : 10/8
Death Proof : 10/8
Kill Bill: Vol. 1 : 10/8
Jackie Brown : 10/7
22. Woody Allen
Writer | Annie Hall
Woody Allen was born on November 30, 1935, as Allen Konigsberg, in The Bronx, NY, the son of Martin Konigsberg and Nettie Konigsberg. He has one younger sister, Letty Aronson. As a young boy, he became intrigued with magic tricks and playing the clarinet, two hobbies that he continues today.
Allen ...
Crimes And Misdemeanors : 10/10
Match Point : 10/9
Blue Jasmine : 10/9
Irrational Man : 10/8
Hannah and Her Sisters : 10 /8
Annie Hall : 10 /8
Vicky Cristina Barcelona : 10/7
Manhattan : 10/7
Midnight in Paris : 10/7
23. Christopher Nolan
Writer | Tenet
Best known for his cerebral, often nonlinear, storytelling, acclaimed Academy Award winner writer/director/producer Sir Christopher Nolan CBE was born in London, England. Over the course of more than 25 years of filmmaking, Nolan has gone from low-budget independent films to working on some of the ...
Oppenheimer 10/10
Memento : 9/10
Inception : 9/10
Interstellar : 9/10
The Dark Knight : 9/10
Dunkirk : 9/10
Batman Begins : 8/10
Tenet : 8/10
Insomnia : 8/10
The Prestige : 8/10
Following : 7/10
The Dark Knight Rises : 7/10
24. 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 ...
Blade Runner : 10/10
Thelma & Louise : 10/9
The Martian : 10/9
Gladiator : 10/9
Alien : 10/8
Black Hawk Down : 10/8
Matchstick Men : 10/8
Body of Lies : 10/7
Prometheus : 10/7
25. Bong Joon Ho
Writer | Snowpiercer
Bong Joon-ho is a South Korean filmmaker. The recipient of three Academy Awards, his filmography is characterized by emphasis on social themes, genre-mixing, black humor, and sudden tone shifts. He first became known to audiences and achieved a cult following with his directorial debut film, the ...
Memories of Murder : 10/0
Snowpiercer : 10/9
Parasite : 10/9
Mother : 10/8
Okja : 10/8
The Host : 10/7
Tokyo! : 10/6
26. Alfonso Cuarón
Producer | Gravity
Alfonso Cuarón Orozco was born on November 28th 1961 in Mexico City, Mexico. From an early age, he yearned to be either a film director or an astronaut. However, he did not want to enter the army, so he settled for directing. He didn't receive his first camera until his twelfth birthday, and then ...
Children of Men : 10/10
Gravity : 10/9
Roma : 10/8
Y Tu Mamá También : 10/8
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban : 10/8
27. Kar-Wai Wong
Director | Yi dai zong shi
Wong Kar-wai (born 17 July 1956) is a Hong Kong Second Wave filmmaker, internationally renowned as an auteur for his visually unique, highly stylised, emotionally resonant work, including Ah fei zing zyun (1990), Dung che sai duk (1994), Chung Hing sam lam (1994), Do lok tin si (1995), Chun gwong ...
In the Mood for Love : 10/10
Chungking Express : 10/9
2046 : 10/8
Days of Being Wild : 10/8
Happy Together : 10/8
Fallen Angels : 10/8
The Grandmaster : 10/6
28. Andrey Zvyagintsev
Director | Nelyubov
Director and screenwriter Andrey Zvyagintsev is the winner of the Venice Film Festival (2003) and the Cannes Film Festival (2011, 2014, 2017). Two-time the Academy Awards and the BAFTA Awards nominee. Winner or the Golden Globe Awards (2015) for his film "Leviathan". In 2018, his latest work "...
The Banishment : 10/9
Loveless : 10/9
The Return : 10/9
Leviathan : 10/9
Elena : 10/8
29. Masaki Kobayashi
Director | Seppuku
Masaki Kobayashi was born on February 14, 1916 in Hokkaido, Japan. He was a director and writer, known for Harakiri (1962), Samurai Rebellion (1967) and The Human Condition III: A Soldier's Prayer (1961). He died on October 4, 1996 in Tokyo, Japan.
Hara-Kiri : 10/10
Samurai Rebellion : 10/9
The Inheritance : 10/8
Black River : 10/8
30. Asghar Farhadi
Writer | Forooshande
Asghar Farhadi was born in 1972 in Iran. He became interested in cinema in his teenage years and started his filmmaking education by joining the Youth Cinema Society of Esfahan in 1986 where he made 8mm and 16mm short films. He received his Bachelors in Theater from University of Tehran's School of...
About Elly : 10/10
A Separation : 10/9
A Hero : 10/8
The Past : 10/8
The Salesman : 10/8
Fireworks Wednesday : 10/8
Everybody Knows : 10/7
31. Richard Linklater
Director | Waking Life
Self-taught writer-director Richard Stuart Linklater was born in Houston, Texas, to Diane Margaret (Krieger), who taught at a university, and Charles W. Linklater III. Richard was among the first and most successful talents to emerge during the American independent film renaissance of the 1990s. ...
Before Sunset : 10/9
Boyhood : 10/9
Before Midnight : 10/9
Before Sunrise : 10/9
Everybody Wants Some!! : 10/8
Dazed and Confused : 10/7
32. 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 ...
No Country for Old Men : 10/9
A Serious Man : 10/9
Inside Llewyn Davis : 10/9
Barton Fink : 10/8
Fargo : 10/8
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs : 10/8
True Grit : 10/8
The Big Lebowski : 10/8
Burn After Reading : 10/7
Raising Arizona : 10/7
33. Sam Mendes
Producer | 1917
Samuel Alexander Mendes was born on August 1, 1965 in Reading, England, UK to parents James Peter Mendes, a retired university lecturer, and Valerie Helene Mendes, an author who writes children's books. Their marriage didn't last long, James divorced Sam's mother in 1970 when Sam was just 5-...
Revolutionary Road : 10/9
American Beauty : 10/9
1917 : 10/9
Road to Perdition : 10/8
Skyfall : 10/8
Spectre : 10/7
Away We Go : 10/7
34. John Ford
Director | The Quiet Man
John Ford came to Hollywood following one of his brothers, an actor. Asked what brought him to Hollywood, he replied "the train". He became one of the most respected directors in the business, in spite of being known for his westerns, which were not considered "serious" film. He won six Oscars, ...
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance : 10/9
The Grapes of Wrath : 10/9
Stagecoach : 10/8
The Searchers : 10/8
How Green Was My Valley : 10/8
The Quiet Man : 10/8
My Darling Clementine : 10/8
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon : 10/7
35. Sergio Leone
Writer | Once Upon a Time in America
Sergio Leone was virtually born into the cinema - he was the son of Roberto Roberti (A.K.A. Vincenzo Leone), one of Italy's cinema pioneers, and actress Bice Valerian. Leone entered films in his late teens, working as an assistant director to both Italian directors and U.S. directors working in ...
Once Upon a Time in America : 10/9
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly : 10/9
Duck, You Sucker : 10/8
Once Upon a Time in the West : 10/8
For a Few Dollars More : 10/8
A Fistful of Dollars : 10/7
36. Takeshi Kitano
Actor | Zatôichi
Takeshi Kitano originally studied to become an engineer, but was thrown out of school for rebellious behavior. He learned comedy, singing and dancing from famed comedian Senzaburô Fukami. Working as a lift boy on a nightclub with such features as comic sketches and striptease dancing, Kitano saw ...
Fireworks : 10/9
Sonatine : 10/9
The Outrage : 10/8
Kikujiro : 10/8
Beyond Outrage : 10/8
Outrage Coda : 10/8
The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi : 10/8
A Scene at the Sea : 10/7
37. Ruben Östlund
Director | Triangle of Sadness
Ruben Östlund was born on April 13, 1974 in Styrsö, Västra Götalands län, Sweden. He is a director and editor, known for Triangle of Sadness (2022), Force Majeure (2014) and The Square (2017). He was previously married to Andrea Östlund.
Triangle of Sadness : 10/10
The Square : 10/9
Force Majeure : 10/8
38. Lana Wachowski
Writer | The Matrix
Lana Wachowski and her sister Lilly Wachowski, also known as the Wachowskis, are the duo behind such ground-breaking movies as The Matrix (1999) and Cloud Atlas (2012). Born to mother Lynne, a nurse, and father Ron, a businessman of Polish descent, Wachowski grew up in Chicago and formed a tight ...
The Matrix : 10/9
The Matrix Revolutions : 10/9
Sense8 : 10/9
The Matrix Reloaded : 10/8
The Matrix Resurrections : 10/7
39. Pedro Almodóvar
Writer | Hable con ella
The most internationally acclaimed Spanish filmmaker since Luis Buñuel was born in a small town (Calzada de Calatrava) in the impoverished Spanish region of La Mancha. He arrived in Madrid in 1968, and survived by selling used items in the flea-market called El Rastro. Almodóvar couldn't study ...
Volver : 10/9
All About My Mother : 10/9
Bad Education : 10/8
Madres paralelas : 10/8
Pain and Glory : 10/8
The Skin I Live In : 10/8
Julieta : 10/8
Talk to Her : 10/7
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown : 10/7
40. Paul Thomas Anderson
Director | Punch-Drunk Love
Anderson was born in 1970. He was one of the first of the "video store" generation of film-makers. His father was the first man on his block to own a V.C.R., and from a very early age Anderson had an infinite number of titles available to him. While film-makers like Spielberg cut their teeth making...
The Master : 10/9
There Will Be Blood : 10/9
Phantom Thread : 10/8
Boogie Nights : 10/8
Licorice Pizza : 10/8
Magnolia : 10/7
Hard Eight : 10/7
Punch-Drunk Love : 10/7
Inherent Vice : 10/5
41. 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, ...
Schindler's List : 10/10
Saving Private Ryan : 10/9
Catch Me If You Can : 10/8
War Horse : 10/8
Ready Player One : 10/7
The Terminal : 10/7
Jaws : 10/7
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial : 10/7
Raiders of the Lost Ark : 10/6
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade : 10/6
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skul : 10/6
War of the Worlds : 10/6
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom : 10/5
42. Bahman Ghobadi
Director | Lakposhtha parvaz mikonand
Bahman Ghobadi was born in 1969 in Baneh, in the province of Iranian Kurdistan, near the Iran-Iraq border. Shortly after graduating from the National Audiovisual School, he made his first short, immediately acclaimed by the local critics. One of these short films, "Life in Fog" (1999) is even ...
Turtles Can Fly : 10/10
Half Moon : 10/9
No One Knows About Persian Cats : 10/8
43. Damien Chazelle
Writer | La La Land
Damien Sayre Chazelle is an American director and screenwriter. He was born in Providence, Rhode Island. His mother, Celia Sayre (Martin) Chazelle, is an American-Canadian writer and professor of history at The College of New Jersey. His father, Bernard Chazelle, is a French-American Eugene Higgins...
La La Land : 10/10
First Man : 10/9
Whiplash : 10/8
44. Alexander Payne
Director | Nebraska
Director, producer and screenwriter Alexander Payne was born in Omaha, Nebraska. His parents, Peggy (Constantine) and George Payne, ran a Greek restaurant. His father is of Greek and German ancestry, and his mother is of Greek descent; the family name was originally Papadopoulos. He is the youngest...
About Schmidt : 10/9
Nebraska : 10/9
The Holdovers : 10/8
Sideways : 10/8
The Descendants : 10/7
45. 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 ...
The Green Mile : 10/9
The Shawshank Redemption : 10/9
The Mist : 10/8
46. Kaneto Shindô
Writer | Ichimai no hagaki
Kaneto Shindô was born on April 22, 1912 in Hiroshima, Japan. He was a writer and director, known for Postcard (2010), The Naked Island (1960) and A Last Note (1995). He was married to Nobuko Otowa and Miyo Shindo. He died on May 29, 2012 in Hiroshima, Japan.
The Naked Island : 10/9
Onibaba : 10/8
Children of Hiroshima : 10/8
Black Cat : 10/8
47. Na Hong-jin
Writer | Chugyeokja
Na Hong-jin born in 1974 is a South Korean film director and screenwriter. His debut film The Chaser (2008) won Best Director at the 45th Grand Bell Awards in 2008. The film also won the award for Best Film. His follow up film, The Yellow Sea, was released in South Korea on December 15, 2010. It is...
The Chaser : 10/9
The Wailing : 10/8
The Yellow Sea : 10/8
48. Kim Ki-duk
Writer | Bin-jip
He studied fine arts in Paris in 1990-1992. In 1993 he won the award for Best Screenplay from the Educational Institute of Screenwriting with "A Painter and A Criminal Condemned to Death". After two more screenplay awards, he made his directorial debut with Crocodile (1996) ("Crocodile"). Then he ...
3-Iron : 10/10
Pieta : 10/9
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring : 10/8
Moebius : 10/8
The Isle : 10/6
The Bow : 10/6
49. Martin McDonagh
Writer | In Bruges
Martin McDonagh was born on March 26, 1970 in Camberwell, London, England, UK. He is a writer and director, known for In Bruges (2008), Seven Psychopaths (2012) and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017).
In Bruges : 10/9
The Banshees of Inisherin : 10/8
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri : 10/8
Seven Psychopaths : 10/8
Six Shooter : 10/7
50. Peter Jackson
Producer | The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Sir Peter Jackson made history with The Lord of the Rings trilogy, becoming the first person to direct three major feature films simultaneously. The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King were nominated for and collected a slew of awards from around the globe, with The ...
The Two Towers : 10/9
The Fellowship of the Ring : 10/8
The Return of the King : 10/8
King Kong : 10/7
51. Jee-woon Kim
Director | Joheunnom nabbeunnom isanghannom
Kim Ji-woon was born in Seoul, South Korea. He began his career as an actor before becoming a stage director with productions such as "Hot Sea" in 1994 and "Movie, Movie" in 1995. He then began scripting for films, his first work, 97's "Wonderful Seasons" won Best Screenplay award at Korea's ...
I Saw the Devil : 10/9
A Tale of Two Sisters : 10/8
A Bittersweet Life : 10/8
The Good the Bad the Weird : 10/7
The Age of Shadows : 10/7
The Last Stand : 10/6
52. Hiroshi Teshigahara
Director | Suna no onna
Hiroshi Teshigahara was born the son of Sofu Teshigahara who was the founder of the Sogetsu School of Ikebana (flower arrangement). In 1950, he graduated from the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music in oil painting. In 1958, he became the director of Sogetsu Art Centre and took a ...
The Face of Another : 10/9
Woman in the Dunes : 10/8
Pitfall : 10/8
53. Baran bo Odar
Writer | Who Am I - Kein System ist sicher
Baran bo Odar was born on April 18, 1978 in Olten, Switzerland. He is a writer and director, known for Who Am I (2014), Dark (2017) and The Silence (2010).
Dark : 10/9
Who Am I : 10/8
54. Edgar Wright
Director | Shaun of the Dead
Edgar Howard Wright (born 18 April 1974) is an English director, screenwriter, producer, and actor. He is best known for his comedic Three Flavours Cornetto film trilogy consisting of Shaun of the Dead (2004), Hot Fuzz (2007), and The World's End (2013), made with recurrent collaborators Simon Pegg...
Spaced : 10/9
Shaun of the Dead : 10/8
Hot Fuz : 10/8
Last Night in Soho : 10/7
Baby Driver : 10/7
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World : 10/7
The World's End : 10/6
55. Sean Baker
Writer | Red Rocket
Sean Baker is a graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. He is an award-winning writer/director/producer known for Take Out (2004), Prince of Broadway (2008), Starlet (2012), Tangerine (2015), and The Florida Project (2017). Sean's latest feature, Red Rocket, premiered at Cannes on July 14, 2021...
Starlet : 10/9
The Florida Project : 10/8
Tangerine : 10/8
Red Rocket : 10/7
56. Robert Bresson
Writer | Au hasard Balthazar
Robert Bresson trained as a painter before moving into films as a screenwriter, making a short film (atypically a comedy), Public Affairs (1934) in 1934. After spending more than a year as a German POW during World War II, he made his debut with Angels of Sin (1943) in 1943. His next film, The ...
Au Hasard Balthazar : 10/8
A Man Escaped : 10/8
The Devil, Probably : 10/7
Pickpocket : 10/7
57. Stephen Chbosky
Writer | The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Stephen Chbosky was born on January 25, 1970 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012), Wonder (2017) and Rent (2005). He has been married to Liz Maccie since September 18, 2010. They have two children.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower : 10/9
Wonder : 10/8
58. Charlie Kaufman
Writer | I'm Thinking of Ending Things
Avid reader Charlie Kaufman wrote plays and made short films as a young student. He moved from Massapequa, New York to West Hartford, Connecticut in 1972 where he attended high school. As a comedic actor, he performed in school plays and, after graduation, he enrolled at Boston University but soon ...
I'm Thinking of Ending Things : 10/8
Synecdoche, New York : 10/8
59. John Carney
Director | Sing Street
John Carney was born in 1972 in Dublin, Ireland. He is a director and producer, known for Sing Street (2016), Once (2007) and Flora and Son (2023).
Sing Street : 10/8
Begin Again : 10/8
60. Alex Garland
Writer | Ex Machina
Alex Garland is an English novelist, screenwriter, film producer and director. He is best known for the films Ex Machina (2015) and Annihilation (2018).
Garland's others works as a writer includes The Beach (2000), 28 Days Later (2002), Sunshine (2007), Never Let Me Go (2011) and Dredd (2012).
He is ...
Ex Machina : 10/8
Annihilation : 10/7
61. Zack Snyder
Director | 300
Zachary Edward "Zack" Snyder (born March 1, 1966) is an American film director, film producer, and screenwriter, best known for action and science fiction films. Snyder made his feature film debut with the 2004 remake Dawn of the Dead and has gone on to be known for his comic book movies and ...
Zack Snyder's Justice League : 10/8
300 : 10/7
Dawn of the Dead : 10/7
Man of Steel : 10/7
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice : 10/7
Justice League : 10/6
62. Adam McKay
Producer | The Other Guys
Adam McKay (born April 17, 1968) is an American screenwriter, director, comedian, and actor. McKay has a comedy partnership with Will Ferrell, with whom he co-wrote the films Anchorman, Talladega Nights, and The Other Guys. Ferrell and McKay also founded their comedy website Funny or Die through ...
Don't Look Up : 10/8
Step Brothers : 10/7
The Other Guys : 10/7
63. Sofia Coppola
Actress | The Godfather Part III
Sofia Coppola was born on May 14, 1971 in New York City, New York, USA as Sofia Carmina Coppola. She is a director, known for Somewhere (2010), Lost in Translation (2003), and Marie Antoinette (2006). She has been married to Thomas Mars since August 27, 2011. They have two daughters, Romy and ...
Lost in Translation : 10/9
64. 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 ...
Avatar : 10/8
Titanic : 10/8
Avatar: The Way of Water : 10/7
65. Kihachi Okamoto
Director | Nikudan
Okamoto belonged to what one colleague called "the generation where most of them got killed": the leagues of university graduates who were drafted into and sacrificed to the last years of Japan's war in the South Pacific. Okamoto was drafted during the very worst of it, in 1943, but almost alone ...
The Sword of Doom : 10/9
Kill! : 10/8
66. Yorgos Lanthimos
Director | The Lobster
Yorgos Lanthimos was born in Athens, Greece. He studied directing for Film and Television at the Stavrakos Film School in Athens. He has directed a number of dance videos in collaboration with Greek choreographers, in addition to TV commercials, music videos, short films and theater plays. Kinetta,...
Dogtooth: 10/10
The Lobster : 9/10
The Favourite : 9/10
Poor Things : 8/10
Nimic : 8/10
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