Which directors are long overdue to direct another movie?

[ProfeZZor X]

My choices would be David Cronenberg (Dead Ringers), John Carpenter (The Thing), Ridley Scott (Alien), Paul Verhoven (Starship Troopers) and David Finch (Fight Club).

Please be sure to include a movie your director has done in the past for reference to his or her work.

Also, feel free to elaborate on why you think they're overdue.

Begin...

EDIT: I guess what I referring to was the old school style each of them were famous for.

[DWEarhart]

Christopher McQuarrie. I love Way of the Gun; just love that movie. He's a great screenwriter, and I was very impressed with his directorial debut.

I'm checking - - looks like he's got something coming up in 2009. Excelente'.

[GRANT!]

My choices would be David Cronenberg (Dead Ringers), John Carpenter (The Thing), Ridley Scott (Alien), Paul Verhoven (Starship Troopers) and David Finch (Fight Club).



David Croneberg, Ridley Scott, Paul Verhoven and David Fincher all had movies out last year and working on other projects right now. Ridley Scott also has directed a movie that's been released almost every year since Gladiator.

[StoneGold]

James Cameron is probably the patron saint of MIA directors.

[DWEarhart]

I really want Neil Labute to go back to his In the Company of Men and Friends and Lovers days. Those flicks were quirky and brutal.

I enjoyed Nurse Betty and Possession, but I stayed far away from the Wicker Man remake. He's recently finished something called Lakeview Terrace. And it's starring Samuel L. Jackson no less. I'm intrigued.

[GRANT!]

I really want Neil Labute to go back to his In the Company of Men and Friends and Lovers days. Those flicks were quirky and brutal.

I enjoyed Nurse Betty and Possession, but I stayed far away from the Wicker Man remake. He's recently finished something called Lakeview Terrace. And it's starring Samuel L. Jackson no less. I'm intrigued.

Is this thread about directors who are long overdue to direct another movie? Or just a movie I'd like?

Cause Woody Allen has been long over due in my book.

-Grant

[ultramandingo]

My choices would be David Cronenberg (Dead Ringers), John Carpenter (The Thing), Ridley Scott (Alien), Paul Verhoven (Starship Troopers) and David Finch (Fight Club).

Begin...
........... depend on how you mean "overdue " - eastern promises , american gangster , black book , zodiac - xcept for carpenter they all work regularly -
i want an old school john woo/ chow yong fat type hong kong shoot em up

[ProfeZZor X]

........... depend on how you mean "overdue " - eastern promises , american gangster , black book , zodiac - xcept for carpenter they all work regularly -
i want an old school john woo/ chow yong fat type hong kong shoot em up

I guess you're right... Maybe I need to modify that list.

[hugh45]

Spike Lee and John Landis (Coming to America,1988) in doing The Black Panther movie.

[Jared]

John McTiernan. Die Hard, Predator, The Hunt for Red October. He made them consecutively. Has any other director had a streak like that of action flicks?

I think his last movie was the Rollerball remake, which looked awful. And he's in all sorts of legal trouble, something about him illegally taping people he was dealing with. A shame.

[Ontir]

Shane Carruth ~ Primer

Zach Braff ~ Garden State

Ryan Little ~ Saints & Soldiers

[meethraa]

Michael effin Cimino!!!

[Agent Helix]

My choices would be David Cronenberg (Dead Ringers), John Carpenter (The Thing), Ridley Scott (Alien), Paul Verhoven (Starship Troopers) and David Finch (Fight Club).

Please be sure to include a movie your director has done in the past for reference to his or her work.

Also, feel free to elaborate on why you think they're overdue.

Begin...

All of these people have been directing regularly. Carpenter should give up, since he's long since lost his touch.

[Davideaux]

I want to see Alexander Payne do something again. I know he was involved in "Chuck and Larry", but I refuse to believe that was the same guy.

[Ilash]

I want to see Alexander Payne do something again. I know he was involved in "Chuck and Larry", but I refuse to believe that was the same guy.

Oh yeah, About Schmidt, Sideways and Election are all excellent films and I really wish he'd get around to giving us something new. And yeah, I was shocked when I saw his name attached to the credits of one of the most awful films I saw last year - and I saw a lot of really bad movies last year. There is nothing in Chuck and Larry that even hints towards him having any involvement in it whatsoever.

Oh and another filmmaker we need something new from post-haste is Cameron Crowe. Sure, Elizabethtown was a bit of a misfire but he generally does excellent work and Almost Famous (specifically his director's cut) is one of my all time favourite films.

[jesse_custer]

All of these people have been directing regularly. Carpenter should give up, since he's long since lost his touch.

Amen.

Also, it's David Fincher not Finch.

I would like to see more Alexander Payne as well, although he's not long overdue necessarily.

[jessecuster3]

I haven't seen anything recent from Hal Hartley or Gregg Araki, I enjoy both of their styles of movies.

[Ontir]

Hal Hartley released Fay Grim (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0444628/), the sequel to "Henry Fool" last summer.

Gregg Araki just had ":smile:" or High (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780608/) last summer, as well.

Both are quite good, and at least Fay Grim is available on DVD now.

[Ontir]

Michael effin Cimino!!!

Last I heard, Michael was becoming Michelle. I don't know if that's true, and if so what stage Cimino is in. I know "the director was unable to attend" the screening of the Deer Hunter at the Academy a few summers back.

[jesse_custer]

Just clear up the thing about Payne being involved in Chuck and Larry, he was only the screenwriter for the first draft of the script, supposedly.

[Omega Alpha]

Ridley Scott? Really? He's not only filming frequently, but is actually making too much films. And nearly all the others have been working regularly too.

Better choices would be:

Terence Malick (though he's working in one right now- but still, 35 years and only 4 films is too few by anyone's standards)

Alexander Payne (4 years since his last)

Bernardo Bertolucci (5 years already, and that from a guy that made his first feature film at 21)

And I would say Steven Sodenbergh has the opposite problem: too much movies, and there has been a long time since he has done anything really interesting.

[Ontir]

Alexander Payne's been working on one for several months. The WGA strike, not to mention Sandrah Oh divorcing him have taken their toll.

[ForeverTaskmaster]

Steve Wang deserves a shot.
It's unbelievable that such a talented martial arts director made one of the best martial arts movies ever called Drive and never got a job afterwards. Steve Wang knows action. Give him a big budget he will blow the roof off.

[jessecuster3]

Hal Hartley released Fay Grim (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0444628/), the sequel to "Henry Fool" last summer.

Gregg Araki just had ":smile:" or High (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780608/) last summer, as well.

Both are quite good, and at least Fay Grim is available on DVD now.

Nice, thanks! I haven't seen any of Araki's since Splendor and Hartley's since No Such Thing.

[BoosterBronze]

Orson Welles needs to hustle and make "Citizen Kane 2" ASAP.

[the goddamn batman]

James Cameron. Period.

I can't think of another director who's made the impact that Cameron has, who's been without a movie in as long.

What was his last, Titanic...?

[GRANT!]

James Cameron. Period.

I can't think of another director who's made the impact that Cameron has, who's been without a movie in as long.

What was his last, Titanic...?

He's got Avatar coming out next year. And another movie after that. That one is a drama shot in 3D. And hopefully Battle Angel Alita sometime after that.

[ultramandingo]

.....plus that aquaman movie with vinnie chase

[the goddamn batman]

He's got Avatar coming out next year. And another movie after that. That one is a drama shot in 3D. And hopefully Battle Angel Alita sometime after that.

I'll believe it when I see it.

[The Xenos]

M. Night Shyamalan hasn't done a movie in a while. I'm sure he hasn't done a movie since Signs. Yup. Nope. Nothing since that film that wasn't that bad. Nope. nothing coming out soon either. Nope.

[the goddamn batman]

M. Night Shyamalan hasn't done a movie in a while. I'm sure he hasn't done a movie since Signs. Yup. Nope. Nothing since that film that wasn't that bad. Nope. nothing coming out soon either. Nope.

Oh man, I read a spoiler review of The Happening today... it's the worst 'twist' yet. I think it's worse than The Village.

[Omega Alpha]

M. Night Shyamalan hasn't done a movie in a while. I'm sure he hasn't done a movie since Signs. Yup. Nope. Nothing since that film that wasn't that bad. Nope. nothing coming out soon either. Nope.

The Village is by far the greatest movie he ever made (and all others were pretty good).

[DWEarhart]

Lawrence Kasdan and Bonnie Hunt.

Dreamcatcher wasn't all that, but that's my only fault against him.

Bonnie Hunt because I'm a big fan of Return to Me.

FTW.

[Omega Alpha]

Yeah, now that you mentioned, has been a while since Kazdan has done anything...

[GRANT!]

I'll believe it when I see it.

What's not to believe? They finished principal photography on Avatar.

[the goddamn batman]

Oh really? I dunno... I thought all of his stuff had been in production hell for an eternity. maybe I'm thinking of someone else...?

[Omega Alpha]

Oh really? I dunno... I thought all of his stuff had been in production hell for an eternity. maybe I'm thinking of someone else...?

Well, they did say shooting was over. But then again, they said Chinese Democracy was finished too....

[The Xenos]

Originally Posted by The Xenos
M. Night Shyamalan hasn't done a movie in a while. I'm sure he hasn't done a movie since Signs. Yup. Nope. Nothing since that film that wasn't that bad. Nope. nothing coming out soon either. Nope.Oh man, I read a spoiler review of The Happening today... it's the worst 'twist' yet. I think it's worse than The Village.

Bah. I don't believe it. I bet that was a fake spoiler was leaked by a studio plant. :rolleyes:

[the goddamn batman]

I doubt it... it sounded EXACTLY like what he would do... and it fits DEAD ON with the original title of the script. Also, the reviewer knew too much about the film in general for it to be made up.

I admit there's a chance that it isn't real, but I've no reason to believe it's not. Still, I think I'll go see it just for the audience reaction to the twist.

[Toku King]

I read it too, and it's really, really bad. I don't think it's worse than "The Village" twist, though, but it's on the same level.
Like, the source idea isn't bad, but the rest of the twist is horrid.

[the goddamn batman]

I kind of like the concept, but I would have no idea how to move it beyond the concept. It just becomes ridiculous any way that I look at it.

[Omega Alpha]

...And you have the problem with most of the audience of Shyamalan's films right there: they don't go to see a movie, they go to see the twist, and spend the entire film not following the story or the characters, nor trying to see what he has to say, just to guess what the surprise at end will be, if there's any. And all that because of that Sixth Sense ending. Like I said before, I think Shyamalan's career would probably be better of if Sixth Sense had been a commercial failure.

The criticism about the one of The Village is the best example: the movie is about society's manipulation through fear, and that revelation is a natural extention of it, and of the movie's allegory for American society post 9/11. But of course doing it in in allegory form, working as much as a criticism for it's times as an universal one is not good: you have to make it as manipulative propaganda, like Michael Moore, then you become a critical and box office hit :rolleyes:

[jesse_custer]

I have another problem: I pay attention to the characters and stories in M. Night's films, and it hurts. It hurts real bad.

[Agent Helix]

I have another problem: I pay attention to the characters and stories in M. Night's films, and it hurts. It hurts real bad.

Bingo.

That's the reason people started going just for the twist, because everything else is actually pretty bad.

[HomerJay]

Up until THE VILLAGE, I was totally drinking the "Shyamalan is the next Spielberg" kool-aid. THE SIXTH SENSE completely blindsided me, I loved UNBREAKABLE (clumsy epilogue and all), and I passionately defend SIGNS.
THE VILLAGE could have been much better with a re-edit, and I don't think it was necessarily the crapfest a lot of folks made it out to be (although I've never had the urge to watch it more than once). Another Shyamalan fan like me told me to skip LADY IN THE WATER so I haven't even seen it.
I think what he needs is a VERY strong producer that he respects that can level criticism and reign him in a bit (Spielberg?).

[Agent Helix]

He lost me completely with Unbreakable. I can't stomach two hours of nothing but exposition.

[jesse_custer]

Hmmm ... I guess I never got any Spielberg vibes from him.

As for what he needs, maybe a script from someone else.

[HomerJay]

He lost me completely with Unbreakable. I can't stomach two hours of nothing but exposition.
Not a David Mamet fan either then I take it?

[Agent Helix]

Not a David Mamet fan either then I take it?

David Mamet is the most anti-exposition screenwriter in Hollywood.

[jesse_custer]

^Yep. Glengarry Glen Ross, The Untouchables, and State and Main all jump into the characters and story without much warning.

[HomerJay]

David Mamet is the most anti-exposition screenwriter in Hollywood.
I was guessing you were one of those "All Dialogue - Carchases = Crap" folks.

[Agent Helix]

Unbreakable is basically a two hour film that ends at the exact point it starts. We know he has superpowers, and then the movie spends two hours telling us that he has superpowers. It's entirely expository. The plot never actually goes anywhere. It doesn't show or speak to anything about the character having superpowers, and what that means, it just spends two hours telling us he's really strong and his weakness is swimming pools.

[Agent Helix]

I was guessing you were one of those "All Dialogue - Carchases = Crap" folks.

You guessed wrong.

[HomerJay]

Unbreakable is basically a two hour film that ends at the exact point it starts. We know he has superpowers, and then the movie spends two hours telling us that he has superpowers. It's entirely expository. The plot never actually goes anywhere. It doesn't show or speak to anything about the character having superpowers, and what that means, it just spends two hours telling us he's really strong and his weakness is swimming pools.
I couldn't disagree more.
The theme of the entire film is that for some people, one of the scariest things in life is not having a purpose or knowing what your purpose is.
David Dunn starts the film as an unsatisfied, melancholy man working a dead-end job basically floating through life. He survives the trainwreck and is contacted by a possibly crazy man (also trying to find his purpose in the world through him) telling him he has superpowers. The rest of the movie is spent answering the question "Does he or doesn't he" until the end. When he takes down the home invader in the orange jumpsuit there's a swell of music signifying that he has finally found his place in this world. And now that David has found his place, so has Mr. Glass.

P.S. I also loved the subplot with his son. A lot of kids grow up thinking their Dad is Superman. What if you're right?

[Davideaux]

^Yep. Glengarry Glen Ross, The Untouchables, and State and Main all jump into the characters and story without much warning.

Don't forget "Spartan". A little exposition would have helped there.

[Davideaux]

dobule post

[kalorama]

Don't forget "Spartan". A little exposition would have helped there.

I disagree. I thought Spartan worked just fine as it was. Probably my favorite Mamet-based movie.

[Agent Helix]

I disagree. I thought Spartan worked just fine as it was. Probably my favorite Mamet-based movie.

Agree that it worked fine as is. Not my favorite, though I did like it a great deal.

[Toku King]

Unbreakable is basically a two hour film that ends at the exact point it starts. We know he has superpowers, and then the movie spends two hours telling us that he has superpowers. It's entirely expository. The plot never actually goes anywhere. It doesn't show or speak to anything about the character having superpowers, and what that means, it just spends two hours telling us he's really strong and his weakness is swimming pools.

No. It's two hours of going through the harsh reality that would bestow someone that somehow had incredible powers. His powers weren't the center of the movie. What was the center was Bruce Willis trying to cope with these abilities, and trying to figure out who he can and can't trust, not to mention what he is to do with these powers.