Topic Question
Added 2021-12-29 03:45:06 +0000 UTCName your most overrated director and why. This is part II!
Comments
Yeah, definitely unfair of me to judge based just on the last two movies, but they left me very underwhelmed. I’ll see Pan’s Labyrinth at some point.
Jim Barnes
2021-12-29 20:10:34 +0000 UTCSpike Lee! It just feels the classic case of a filmmaker who’s ego has stilted their growth and ability to make anything introspective or challenging. He’s never been subtle, but the period in his career pre 2000s in my opinion where his films worked he leaned into the mood and expressionism, but at some point he became more commercial filmmaker and all his flaws are more exposed. His films have become navel gazing, didactic, muddled chores. It’s like someone’s uncle giving me a pound cake speech. The critics reward him because they don’t wanna be the non “woke” who doesn’t “get” the Spike Lee film. As a black person I find it patronizing, and it’s even more annoying that they expect me to like it just because it’s Spike. It’s a shame there aren’t any black filmmaker with his prolific legend, I definitely appreciate his impact in general, but you can only make so many duds and be considered great in my eyes.
jared Clarke
2021-12-29 19:59:42 +0000 UTCNobody is for everyone, but as a GDT fan, I would say these last two are my least favorite of his.
Matt G
2021-12-29 19:49:53 +0000 UTCHas there ever been a celebrated director with a more checkered career than Ridley Scott? True, he has Alien, Blade Runner, Thelma and Louise, and Gladiator under his belt, as well as one or two underrated films that are different for everybody (for me, it’s Kingdom of Heaven). And no one can deny the spellbinding, innovative vision he brought to those first two films. But man, his resume is clogged with more bad to mediocre failures than most hacks can ever hope to make. Does anyone remember Black Rain, with its cheesy 1980s macho stylings? Or Hannibal, which turned the elegant horror of its predecessor into campy Grand Guignol theatrics? Or Body of Lies, which reduced the War on Terror to a generic, conventional spy thriller? You’re much better off if you don’t. And don’t get me started on Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, two films I would gladly wipe out of existence. Basically, I would say that Scott is a director with a gift for visual flair who is only as good as the script he’s given. Yes, you could make that assessment for a lot of directors like, say, David Fincher. But Fincher has a knack for choosing better material suited for his talents, as well as sharper instincts for what works in any given film and what doesn’t. Even when I don’t like it, I’m getting a consistent, fully realized film from Fincher. I can’t say the same for Ridley Scott. He’s too uneven a director to have the status that he has. All that is needed for a reminder of how bad he can get is that stupid space cobra scene from Prometheus.
Bennett Oliver
2021-12-29 17:16:12 +0000 UTCI’ll probably get cinephile hate for this, but Andrei Tarkovsky. All his films feel the same, they are long-winded, full of dull, forgettable characters, boring, and unnecessarily obtuse. Anatoliy Solonitsyn’s marvelous acting is usually the one saving grace in his films for me…
Matt G
2021-12-29 15:25:02 +0000 UTCWell, having just seen Nightmare Alley last night, I’ll say Guillermo del Toro, with the big caveat that I’ve only seen this one and Shape of Water. So much style and craft for very little substance or true feeling. I suppose I should see Pan’s Labyrinth. That seems to be his most praised.
Jim Barnes
2021-12-29 05:20:38 +0000 UTCDenis Villeneuve. While I do generally enjoy his films, I find the overwhelming praise for his work to be a bit much. Yes, visually all of his films look amazing, but they tend to lose me due to them being overlong and lacking compelling characters, his recent adaptation of Dune perhaps being the best example. Additionally, as a big fan of the original Blade Runner, I will never understand the cult of fans who think 2049 is a better film given how much it is indebted to the original.
Stephen
2021-12-29 04:26:15 +0000 UTCI hate to say this but Akira Kurosawa. He clearly has amazing visionary and directorial skill and he always pushed the envelope in storytelling and atmosphere. Unfortunately, I find his films have uneven pacing with scenes that seem to drag on way too long without much interesting substance to justify their length. They would be amazing to me if 30-45 minutes were cut out. As is, every time I watch one of his films, I'm always thinking at several points "Is this scene ever going to end?"
Wolfman Brandon
2021-12-29 04:14:10 +0000 UTCThere is no directed more overrated than Christopher Nolan! He sucks at legitimate storytelling and character arcs. Every "character" are just exposition vessels which really drags his movies down. Although I do like Nolan's action sequences as
Tony Moro
2021-12-29 03:51:30 +0000 UTC
