Entertainment Weekly has listed who it considers to be the 25 Greatest Active Directors. Of course the Coen brothers made the grade coming in at number 10. Of Joel and Ethan they had this to say;
“Like two smart-alecs in the back of a classroom, the Coens are occasionally too clever for their own good. But they’ve been astute students, co-opting old-school film noir and incorporating their own twisted brand of wit and irony. A Coen hero is a bumbler, so tracking down the money in a Coen film always makes for a bumpy, and often deadly, ride.”
Here’s the full list-
1. Steven Spielberg
2. Peter Jackson
3. Martin Scorsese
4. Christopher Nolan
5. Steven Soderbergh
6. Ridley Scott
7. Quentin Tarantino
8. Michael Mann
9. James Cameron
10. Joel and Ethan Coen
11. Guillermo del Toro
12. David Fincher
13. Tim Burton
14. Judd Apatow
15. Sam Raimi
16. Zack Snyder
17. Darren Aronofsky
18. Danny Boyle
19. Clint Eastwood
20. Ron Howard
21. Ang Lee
22. Paul Thomas Anderson
23. Paul Greengrass
24. Pedro Almodóvar
25. Jon Favreau
I’m sure you’ll agree that is pretty much spot-on list of the best working directors. For me, the world would be a better place if these guys, and only these guys, made movies. Other than the omission of Wes Anderson, I really can’t think of anyone else I think should have made the list, can you?
February 23rd, 2009 at 9:01 pm
Eh. Not the best list. Coens should be higher, Spielberg should be lower (if at all included, along with some those other monkeys).
Where’s Wes Anderson?! Where’s Woody Allen?! Where’s Roman Polanski?! Where’s Alexander Payne?! This list is kinda epic fail.
February 23rd, 2009 at 9:34 pm
Ah, come on. It ain’t THAT bad. These things are just fluff. Everyone cannot agree on who should/shouldn’t be on the list. I’m happy to see the Coens, Fincher, PT Anderson, Boyle and Sodergergh on there. Missing Wes Anderson was a bit of a fail though…
February 24th, 2009 at 4:33 am
Yeah I know. And I am glad that the Coens, Pt Anderson, Eastwood and Mann were on the list. I’m surprised they included Mann, and in the top 10.
February 25th, 2009 at 12:50 am
25 greatest ACTIVE directors…? What the fuck is Tarantino doing there?!
February 25th, 2009 at 10:12 am
What an awful list, where is Wong Kar Wai? Where is Herzog? Gus Van Sant? Cauron? What on earth is Zack Snyder doing on that list? How in the world is James Cameron an “active” director, he hasn’t made a movie in a decade.
March 13th, 2009 at 11:08 pm
reimi, snyder and ron howard shouldn’t be here. pta should be number 1, coens number 2…
March 19th, 2009 at 10:19 pm
Roman Polanski is active… so is Kar-Wai, and what the hell is with Almodovar being at the bottom?