Just because the Academy gave him an Oscar doesn't mean he will do well on these lists.

So what is this?  This is the start of the in-depth look at every director who has ever been nominated by the Academy Awards for Best Director, ranked.  I already gave the bare bones version of the final list, though, as with all my lists, as I see more movies, they can fluctuate.  Here I will explain how all my points systems are derived (which I already did once here, for My Top 100 2.0 Intro, but I am doing again because there are lists here specific to these directors) and I will give various lists of the best and worst directors in the various categories.

Soon, this will be followed by various in-depth looks at each director, probably in groups of 25 or so, which will be interspersed between all my other posts, because they take a while to do.  So, here we go.

Here is how my points system is derived:

There are 10 categories.  There are a maximum of 100 points in any one category.  In some categories, it is not possible to earn all 100 points.  In others, you can earn much more, but I cut you off at 100.  Below, I list all 10 categories, with a brief description of how I derive the points and the Top and Bottom 10 for each category for the Academy Award nominated directors.  A brief note: I have mathematical value I apply to all films, and to the quality of various aspects of the film (direction being one).  Without it, there is no good way to do this list, other than the last category.  So, if you don’t like that, abandon all hope ye who enter here. (more…)

George Lucas and Steven Spielberg present a special Oscar to their hero: Akira Kurosawa

So, does this supersede my original list?  Well, lists are always organic – they grow and evolve over time.  I’ve fiddled with some of the categories and new films have come out and I’ve seen more films from some directors.  So, my original list was what it was in October of 2009.  This is where I am now, two years later, and one year overdue.  The list will continue to evolve over time.  The list never quite stops.  But here’s where I put it up.

I will remind people again that if you don’t see a director and you’re wondering why, please check the Introduction first.  It became clear on the original list that people didn’t read that instruction.  Please don’t repeat that.  And don’t ask about Godard.  See the Intro.

Also, we’ll again find out who reads this part, the film in parenthesis is not necessarily their best film (hell, with Mankiewicz, it’s his worst).  But it is the film I chose to write about, for whatever reason. (more…)

Roberto Benigni is not the worst director ever nominated for an Oscar - but he's close

210 directors.  That’s how many directors, over the course of the Academy Awards, have been nominated for Best Director.  And I’ve gone through and ranked them all.

Now, I will do a much longer piece and go into much greater detail on each director.  But, since this is the bare bones edition, I have only listed rank, name, points and what they earned Oscar nominations for (bold is for winners).

I have spent much of the past year watching as many films from these directors as possible.  I have seen over 80% of all the films directed by them – which is difficult, given a lot of the films from the older directors.  But all of that, as well as a detailed description of the scoring will come later this fall, as will the updated list of Top 100 Directors (it was waiting for this project to be finished).  At the moment, if all you care about is my ranking, feel free to start griping.  But remember – Godard was never nominated for an Oscar, so I don’t want to hear anything about him.  If you want to worship him, your beef is with the Academy this time, not with me.

One caveat I should note.  I have not seen Tree of Life.  And because Malick has made so few films, if I find it to be truly great, it has the potential to raise him 20 spots on the list.  If I hate it, which I suppose is possible, he could drop about 10.  That is the range available. (more…)

A nice family dinner in GoodFellas (1990) - never mind the guy dying in the trunk

My Top 20:

  1. GoodFellas
  2. Dances with Wolves
  3. Miller’s Crossing
  4. The Grifters
  5. Presumed Innocent
  6. Cinema Paradiso
  7. The Hunt for Red October
  8. Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams
  9. May Fools
  10. The Killer
  11. Longtime Companion
  12. Reversal of Fortune
  13. Avalon
  14. Jesus of Montreal
  15. Edward Scissorhands
  16. White Hunter, Black Heart
  17. Total Recall
  18. The Nasty Girl
  19. Misery
  20. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (more…)

Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) - the best film of 1988 and the best animated film of the 80's

1980  -  1989

Total Films I’ve Seen:  942

Films That Make the Top 5 in Any Category:  43

Best Film Not to Make the Top 5 in Any Category:  Platoon

Film of the Decade:  Raiders of the Lost Ark

Worst Film of the Decade:  Human Highway

Worst Best Picture Nominee of the Decade:  Fatal Attraction

Worst Film of the Decade Made by a Top 100 Director:  Phobia

(more…)

The hairwashing scene in Out of Africa (1985)

The 58th annual Academy Awards, for the film year 1985.  The nominations were announced on February 5, 1986 and the awards were held on March 24, 1986.

Best Picture:  Out of Africa

  • Kiss of the Spider Woman
  • Witness
  • The Color Purple
  • Prizzi’s Honor

Most Surprising Omission:  Ran

Best Eligible Film Not Nominated:  Ran

Best Eligible English Language Film Not Nominated:  Blood Simple

Rank (out of 82) Among Best Picture Years:  #43 (more…)

the land is unwisely divided among the sons in Akira Kurosawa's Ran (1985)

My Top 20:

  1. Ran
  2. Blood Simple
  3. The Purple Rose of Cairo
  4. Kiss of the Spider Woman
  5. Brazil
  6. Back to the Future
  7. Witness
  8. The Color Purple
  9. Prizzi’s Honor
  10. After Hours
  11. A Private Function
  12. Queen Kelly
  13. The Official Story
  14. The Breakfast Club
  15. Silverado
  16. Plenty
  17. The Sure Thing
  18. Cocoon
  19. Dance with a Stranger
  20. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (more…)

Martin Scorsese directing Robert De Niro on the set of Raging Bull (1980)

My Top 20:

  1. Raging Bull
  2. Breaker Morant
  3. The Elephant Man
  4. Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
  5. Ordinary People
  6. The Shining
  7. Kagemusha
  8. Tess
  9. Stardust Memories
  10. Airplane!
  11. The Stunt Man
  12. My Brilliant Career
  13. Melvin and Howard
  14. The Last Metro
  15. No Regrets for Our Youth
  16. Return of the Secaucus Seven
  17. Mon Oncle D’Amerique
  18. Vengeance is Mine
  19. The Master and Margaret
  20. Christ Stopped at Eboli (more…)

The Modern Library Giant dust jacket of Dostoyevsky’s The Idiot

The Idiot (Идиот)

  • Author:  Fyodor Dostoevsky  (1821  -  1881)
  • Rank:  #54
  • Published:  1869
  • Publisher:  Russkiy Vestnik
  • Pages:  597
  • First Line:  “At nine o’clock in the morning, towards the end of November, the Warsaw train was approaching Petersburg at full speed.”
  • Last Line:  ” ‘And all of this, all this life abroad, and this Europe of yours is all a fantasy, and all of us abroad are only a fantasy . . . remember my words, you’ll see it for yourself!’ she concluded almost wrathfully, as she parted from Yevgeny Pavlovitch.”
  • ML Version:  MLG #60  (1952)
  • Film:  1946  (dir. Georges Lampin), 1951  -  ***.5  (dir. Akira Kurosawa), 1958  (dir. Ivan Pyryev)
  • First Read:  Fall, 1997 (more…)

the three demented stars of M*A*S*H: Elliot Gould, Tom Skerritt and Donald Sutherland

My Top 20:

  1. M*A*S*H
  2. Five Easy Pieces
  3. Patton
  4. Women in Love
  5. The Twelve Chairs
  6. Mississippi Mermaid
  7. Lovers and Other Strangers
  8. Floating Weeds
  9. The Passion of Anna
  10. The Milky Way
  11. The Human Condition Part III
  12. The Joke
  13. Big Dig
  14. The Aristocats
  15. The Ballad of Cable Hogue
  16. Catch-22
  17. Tristana
  18. My Night at Maud’s
  19. Au Hasard Balthazar
  20. The Wild Child (more…)
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