To be more fair to the thread originator, I've decided to covet only the more obscure, 'artsy' filmmakers for my list, with a few more accessible exceptions thrown into the mix. Links to each director's respective filmography are provided down below the list.


Terrence Malick -
Zhang Yimou -
Terry Zwigoff -
Kathryn Bigelow -
Krzysztof Kieslowski -
Sean Penn -
Shohei Imamura -
Federico Fellini -
Neil Jordan -
Hal Ashby -
Takashi Miike -
Milos Forman -
Kon Ichikawa -
Nagisa Oshima -
Philip Kaufman -
Pier Paolo Pasolini -
Stephen Frears -
Louis Malle -
Neil Labute -
Atom Egoyan -
François Ozon -
Gus Van Sant -
Michael Haneke -
John Sayles -
Alain Resnais -
John Boorman -
John Schlesinger -
Vittorio De Sica -


- http://allmovie.com/artist/terrence-mal ... ilmography
- http://allmovie.com/artist/zhang-yimou- ... ilmography
- http://allmovie.com/artist/terry-zwigof ... ilmography
- http://allmovie.com/artist/kathryn-bige ... ilmography
- http://allmovie.com/artist/krzysztof-ki ... ilmography
- http://allmovie.com/artist/sean-penn-106027/filmography
- http://allmovie.com/artist/shohei-imamu ... ilmography
- http://allmovie.com/artist/federico-fel ... ilmography
- http://allmovie.com/artist/neil-jordan- ... ilmography
- http://allmovie.com/artist/hal-ashby-80067/filmography
- http://allmovie.com/artist/takashi-miik ... ilmography
- http://allmovie.com/artist/milos-forman ... ilmography
- http://allmovie.com/artist/kon-ichikawa ... ilmography
- http://allmovie.com/artist/nagisa-oshim ... ilmography
- http://allmovie.com/artist/philip-kaufm ... ilmography
- http://allmovie.com/artist/pier-paolo-p ... ilmography
- http://allmovie.com/artist/stephen-frea ... ilmography
- http://allmovie.com/artist/louis-malle- ... ilmography
- http://allmovie.com/artist/neil-labute- ... ilmography
- http://allmovie.com/artist/atom-egoyan- ... ilmography
- http://allmovie.com/artist/franois-ozon ... ilmography
- http://allmovie.com/artist/gus-van-sant ... ilmography
- http://allmovie.com/artist/michael-hane ... ilmography
- http://allmovie.com/artist/john-sayles- ... ilmography
- http://allmovie.com/artist/alain-resnai ... ilmography
- http://allmovie.com/artist/john-boorman ... ilmography
- http://allmovie.com/artist/john-schlesi ... ilmography
- http://allmovie.com/artist/vittorio-de- ... ilmography

Terrence Malick - The Thin Red Line
Zhang Yimou - Raise The Red lantern
Terry Zwigoff - Ghost World
Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker
Krzysztof Kieslowski - The Decalogue
Sean Penn - Into The Wild
Shohei Imamura -
Federico Fellini - 8 1/2
Neil Jordan - The Crying Game
Hal Ashby - Being There
Takashi Miike - Audition
Milos Forman - Amadeus
Kon Ichikawa -
Nagisa Oshima -
Philip Kaufman - The Right Stuff
Pier Paolo Pasolini -
Stephen Frears - High Fidelity
Louis Malle - My Dinner with Andre
Neil Labute - Lakeview Terrace
Atom Egoyan - Exotica
François Ozon -
Gus Van Sant - Elephant
Michael Haneke - Cache
John Sayles - The Secret of Roan Inish
Alain Resnais -
John Boorman - The Tailor Of Panama
John Schlesinger - The Falcon and the Snowman
Vittorio De Sica - Umberto D

Now this one just makes me feel bad.

Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker
Sean Penn - Into the Wild
Takashi Miike - Ichi the Killer, Audition is okay but far too overrated.
Milos Forman - Between Hair and Amadeus, but I'd generally lean towards Amadeus.
Philip Kaufman - Quills
Pier Paolo Pasolini - Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom (sorry James)
Stephen Frears - The Queen
Louis Malle - My Dinner with Andre
Neil Labute - Lakeview Terrace, because its the only one I've seen though I really didn't like it.
Atom Egoyan - The Sweet Hereafter
Gus Van Sant - Between Elephant and Milk, depending on the mood.
Michael Haneke - Cache
John Sayles - Limbo
John Boorman - Deliverance

Terrence Malick - Badlands
Zhang Yimou - Raise The Red Lantern (if you know me, at all, this was pre-ordained) {Top 100 Selection}
Terry Zwigoff - Bad Santa
Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker
Krzysztof Kieslowski - The Decalogue (episode 5, especially) {Top 100 Selection}
Sean Penn - The Indian Runner
Shohei Imamura - Kuroi Ame (Black Rain)
Federico Fellini - La Strada
Neil Jordan - Mona Lisa
Hal Ashby - Harold And Maude
Takashi Miike - Audition (easily) {Top 100 Selection}
Milos Forman - One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest {Top 100 Selection}
Kon Ichikawa - 'Enjo' (brilliant film), with 'Fires On The Plain' and 'The Burmese Harp' each a step behind.
Nagisa Oshima - 'In The Realm Of The Senses'
Philip Kaufman - 'The Unbearable Lightness Of Being'
Pier Paolo Pasolini - 'The Gospel According to St. Matthew'
Stephen Frears - 'Prick Your Ears Up'
Louis Malle - 'Au Revoir Les Enfants'
Neil Labute - 'In The Company Of Men' {Top 100 Selection}
Atom Egoyan - 'The Sweet Hereafter' {Top 100 Selection}
François Ozon - 'See The Sea'
Gus Van Sant - 'Paranoid Park'
Michael Haneke - 'La Pianiste'
John Sayles - 'Lone Star'
Alain Resnais - 'Hiroshima Mon Amour'
John Boorman - 'Deliverance' {Top 100 Selection}
John Schlesinger - 'Midnight Cowboy' {Top 100 Selection}
Vittorio De Sica - 'Umberto D.'

This isn't a good list for me. I've heard of every director here (frequently, for some), but haven't actually seen any films (or have only seen one) from about half of them. I'm getting on it though, okay.

Terrence Malick - Only seen Days of Heaven, which was formally excellent but left me cold.
Zhang Yimou - N/A
Terry Zwigoff - Bad Santa is my favorite, Crumb is his best
Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker is her most mature and affecting by far. Haven't seen Strange Days, though.
Krzysztof Kieslowski - Three Colors: Blue
Sean Penn - Only seen Into the Wild which was okay.
Shohei Imamura - N/A
Federico Fellini - 8 1/2 and Juliet of the Spirits are two of the greatest films ever made, and I'd hate to chose between them.
Neil Jordan - Only seen The Crying Game which was good
Hal Ashby - Being There. Peter Sellers was some sort of genius.
Takashi Miike - Audition by far
Milos Forman - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Haven't seen any of his earlier Czech films though.
Kon Ichikawa - N/A
Nagisa Oshima - In the Realm of the Senses, though Cruel Story of Youth is very good too. I just purchased the Criterion eclipse set on him though, so this may change.
Philip Kaufman - N/A
Pier Paolo Pasolini - Oedipus Rex is fantastic
Stephen Frears - Only seen High Fidelity, which was amusing.
Louis Malle - N/A
Neil Labute - In the Company of Men. It was all downhill from there.
Atom Egoyan - N/A
François Ozon - Only seen Swimming Pool, which was mediocre
Gus Van Sant - Gerry, because yes, I am that guy.
Michael Haneke - Only seen Cache, which is excellent
John Sayles - N/A
Alain Resnais - Hiroshima mon amour cannot be denied
John Boorman - Point Blank
John Schlesinger - Only seen Marathon Man, which is good.
Vittorio De Sica - Only seen Bicycle Theives, which is good but not great.

Terrence Malick - I've only seen The Thin Red Line, which I Liked but didn't love. Nonetheless, I'm very much looking forward to The Tree of Life.
Zhang Yimou - Raise the Red Lantern. i want to see To Live, though.
Terry Zwigoff - Ghost World. I haven't seen Crumb.
Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker.
Krzysztof Kieslowski - The Decalogue. It's hard to choose anything else, except for maybe Red.
Sean Penn - Into the Wild.
Shohei Imamura - Outside of Ballad of Narayama (haven't seen), I have no interest in his filmography.
Federico Fellini - La Strada.
Neil Jordan - The Crying Game.
Hal Ashby - Ugh, haven't seen anything of his. I need to, though.
Takashi Miike - Honestly, I don't have much interest in his filmography, either.
Milos Forman - I suppose One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, eh?
Kon Ichikawa - I got nothing here. Unlike the previous Japanese directors, I do have an interest in his filmography. Just not now.
Nagisa Oshima - I've seen bits and pieces of In the Realm of the Senses. It's not my thing.
Philip Kaufman - Invasion of the Body Snatchers. This film inspired my backwards scream.
Pier Paolo Pasolini - I've seen bits and pieces of Salo, but I'm interested in the rest of his filmography.
Stephen Frears - High Fidelity! I want to cuddles with it.
Louis Malle - Elevator to the Gallows.
Neil Labute - I've seen the first ten minutes of both Lakeview Terrace and In the Company of Men. I start watching them because they're about to expire on Netflix, then pause to do something else, then lose them forever.
Atom Egoyan - The Sweet Hereafter.
François Ozon - I only want to see Swimming Pool for the boobs.
Gus Van Sant - Oooh, tough one. I really like Good Will Hunting, despite it being easy to make fun of. I also really like Elephant and Gerry. I can't pick here. Maybe Good Will Hunting, though.
Michael Haneke - Cache, obviously.
John Sayles - Damn, been meaning to watch his shit, too.
Alain Resnais - Night and Fog. Going to see Wild Grass next weekend.
John Boorman - This was in Kunz's first topic of series, right? Deliverance, in any case.
John Schlesinger - Midnight Cowboy.
Vittorio De Sica - Umberto D. I know my signature says otherwise.

Alright! I've seen at least two movies by everyone on the list!

Terrence Malick - Badlands, easy. In terms of story and form-meeting-function it's Malick's greatest achievement that is also a great film. Days of Heaven, while every bit the cinematroghic wonder it's made out to be, is a little too slow for my tastes. A nod to The New World as runner-up.

Zhang Yimou - I've loved everything I've seen but rank To Live as one of the greatest movies of the 1990s.

Terry Zwigoff - Ghost World, of course. In my top ten of the 'naughts'.

Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker is her best work but Point Break is worlds more entertaining.

Krzysztof Kieslowski - Three Colours: Red. The second-greatest movie of the 1990s is unparelleled in depth and pure, visceral romance with characters. This is a movie that is so well-written, from the floor up, that it is frequently my standard of excellence in thinking about the merits of other films.

Sean Penn - Into The Wild was terrific but The Pledge, with a slow burn performance by Jack Nicholson, was the greatest surprise of 2001.

Shohei Imamura - The chilling character study of The Eel is another one that should be put down on paper as a standard of excellent writing.

Federico Fellini - I only just watched Nights of Cabiria and found that, out of all the Fellini I've seen, it's the only one that I thought was genuinely great. The last shot, in particular, is outstanding.

Neil Jordan - A good filmography with both The Butcher Boy and the maybe slightly superior Mona Lisa rising to the surface.

Hal Ashby - The Last Detail is a fantastic, fantastic movie. Funny and heartbreaking and all the rest. Ashby was awesome.

Takashi Miike - Not that awesome. His movies look great but all the rest is careless, at least when there's any form to speak of. One Missed Call is the sole exception.

Milos Forman - One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest is a very, very rare example of a movie being completely successfully translated from the author's vision. Some movies are better than the book, some are worse, but this is a perfect translation.

Kon Ichikawa - Actress was very good and features some intriguing behind-the-scenes 'footage' of Kenji Mizoguchi's process.

Nagisa Oshima - Boy did I dislike Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence. In The Realm of the Senses by default.

Philip Kaufman - I still love The Unbearable Lightness of Being. Very entertaining and a nice shot at filming a book that doesn't really work perfectly as anything else. It's still great.

Pier Paolo Pasolini - No big fans? Nobody? The Gospel According to St. Matthew is the one you need to see in order to re-evaluate. But, for the favorite, Teorema is SO F*CKING GREAT. Hardly ever dialogue, Terence Stamp commands the movie without a single sign of effort. It. Is. GREAT. Check it out.

Stephen Frears - Liam is my pick but I haven't gone crazy over anything in his resume. The Grifters was ambitious but too uneven for me to love.

Louis Malle - My Dinner With Andre is a personal favorite of mine.

Neil Labute - For writing it's Nurse Betty. The filmed version of the script is far from great. The only great movie he's done, script to screen, is In The Company of Men. Listen to me! Listen to me! Listen! Listen! Listen! I still feel sad about it.

Atom Egoyan - Chloe. My defense is here: viewtopic.php?p=59044#p59044. Yes, I think it's superior to The Sweet Hereafter and Exotica.

François Ozon - See The Sea which, if you haven't checked it out (clocks in at ~45 minutes), you should. He's a great visual director but the scripts never seem to be perfect. Less is more.

Gus Van Sant - Under-appreciated on the forum. To Die For is his best mainstream film and Gerry is his best experimental one.

Michael Haneke - Ha! You thought I'd say Cache but I'm gonna say The Time of the Wolf! Because Haneke dares to find hope in a final shot so breathtaking you'll be pausing the disc for 10 minutes just to work through the movie once again.

John Sayles - is a genius. A real genius. A genius of scripting and getting the performances of actor's careers. Lone Star is my pick for 1996's Great Movies, ahead of Fargo.

Alain Resnais - Last Year at Marienbad is probably the leader but I thought the unpopular-on-forum Hiroshima mon amour was every bit its equal.

John Boorman - Mix it up with The Emerald Forest why not?

John Schlesinger - This old relic? What a career implosion this guy had from the 70s onward. The Day of the Locus is tolerable grotesque but thanks no thanks.

Vittorio De Sica - Umberto D. is the master achievement no matter what anyone says about the good-but-not-great Bicycle Thieves.

Check out Loves of a Blonde if you have the time (and/or interest). Available on DVD.

Damn, Philip. Your lists are tough. I need to look this stuff up.

Terrence Malick - The New World. Can't wait for Tree of Life. Critics are going to have to dust off "elegiac" again.

Zhang Yimou - Apart from that last scene, Raise the Red Lantern is more or less perfect.

Terry Zwigoff - Ghost World.

Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker

Sean Penn - Into the Wild

Neil Jordan - I've had my share of The Crying Game

Hal Ashby - Being There

Takashi Miike - Audition, baby.

Milos Forman - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, I suppose. Truth be told, I don't think it's all that great. The People vs. Larry Flynt isn't all that much worse.

Philip Kaufman - Quills.

Stephen Frears - Tough. I don't adore a lot of his films. Let's go with Dirty Pretty Things

Neil Labute - In Good Company. By far.

Atom Egoyan - Exotica

François Ozon - Swimming Pool is all I've seen.

Gus Van Sant - I'm going to get shit for this, but I like his studio efforts like Good Will Hunting

Michael Haneke - I'm tempted by Cache and Funny Games, but I'll go with the very recent White Ribbon

John Boorman - Deliverance. Didn't we have him already?

John Schlesinger - Midnight Cowboy

Vittorio De Sica - Bicycle Thieves is all I got. It's great though.

Nah, it's perfectly reasonable. Quality film (and nowhere near the mainstream hodge-podge that was 'Finding Forrester'). However, you might very well get shit for this:





Although, to be fair, that film is probably altogether better than anything Labute has put out since the late 90's.

Zuh? I liked In Good Company. Topher Grace looks a bit like an insect. Paul Weitz made it happen while Neil Labute was off doing something else. Probably the re-tooled script for The Wicker Man.

I actually liked this film, at least a bit. It is somewhat cloying, and it definitely overplays some of its contrivances , but it was well-acted (Dennis Quaid has rarely been given a role so strongly attuned to his acting strengths - or limitations) and balanced at just the right level that it felt less like a hassle to enjoy and more of a delightful, if passing, breeze.

Your new avatar is freaking me out. The eyes follow me around the room... GAH!

But, yes, In Good Company is a nice movie and an altogether polite commentary on American bureaucracy.

On a lighter note, I don't mean to beat up on sir Eduard. At least one of you has the wherewithal to acknowledge Miike's trippy descent into hell as the gemstone of his career. I will give 'Ichi The Killer' a plaudit here or there, but when all is said and done, 'Audition' is where Miike's insane side was filled up with a heavy, dramatic core. It is his most complete effort, and is easily the most viscerally unsettling film of the 90's.

P.S. - Having never seen 'The White Ribbon' before, I would dearly like to know whether or not the film is 'to my taste' - 'to my taste' meaning whether it is "good" Haneke ('La Pianiste', 'Cache') or "bad" Haneke ('Funny Games', 'Funny Games Again') - before I put down a good chunk of change for it. Hell, if it's even three-fourths as good as 'Time Of The Wolf' I'll be semi-intrigued.

If Ichi the Killer is Miike at his most unrestrained, then Audition is his most controlled. The final fifteen minutes of Audition are about as unsettling as anything your bound to see in a movie (Ryu Murakami's material generally seems to have that effect), but you have to wait a long ass time before something happens and everything finally starts to pull together. It has the slow build up of Paranormal Activity without as much of the interest (or nearly as much going on). Those needles are goddamn painful though.

Terrence Malick - Badlands
Zhang Yimou - Hero
Terry Zwigoff - Bad Santa
Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker
Krzysztof Kieslowski - Trois Couleurs: Blanc
Sean Penn - Into the Wild
Shohei Imamura -
Federico Fellini - Amarcord
Neil Jordan - Interview with the Vampire (only one I've seen)
Hal Ashby - Harold and Maude
Takashi Miike - Audition
Milos Forman - The People vs. Larry Flynt
Kon Ichikawa -
Nagisa Oshima -
Philip Kaufman - Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Pier Paolo Pasolini -
Stephen Frears - The Queen or the not dissimilar The Deal (the latter being made for TV)
Louis Malle - Ascenseur pour L'Échafaud (close call: Aur revoir, les enfants is brilliant, too)
Neil Labute -
Atom Egoyan -
François Ozon -
Gus Van Sant - Elephant
Michael Haneke - The White Ribon
John Sayles -
Alain Resnais - Last Year at Marienbad (by default, only one I've seen)
John Boorman - Point Blank
John Schlesinger - Marathon Man
Vittorio De Sica -

Terrence Malick - Badlands, probably. But all of his stuff is pretty good.
Zhang Yimou - To Live
Terry Zwigoff - Bad Santa. My all time favorite Christmas movie.
Kathryn Bigelow - Near Dark
Krzysztof Kieslowski - The Decalogue
Sean Penn - Into The Wild
Shohei Imamura - Vengeance Is Mine...or perhaps Black Rain.
Federico Fellini - La Dolce Vita...one of my all-time favorite films.
Neil Jordan - The Crying Game was excellent. I also liked Mona Lisa a lot.
Hal Ashby - His entire 70s output is spectacular. But I always liked Being There.
Takashi Miike - Audition
Milos Forman - One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
Kon Ichikawa - His works The Burmese Harp and Fires on the Plain are very good. But I need to see more of his films.
Nagisa Oshima - In The Realm Of The Senses
Philip Kaufman - The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Pier Paolo Pasolini - Salo: 120 Days of Sodom. It's not the easiest film to watch, but it's one of the greatest films ever made.
Stephen Frears - Probably The Queen.
Louis Malle - Hard to say; he's made a lot of great films. But I always liked Atlantic City a lot.
Neil Labute - In The Company of Men
Atom Egoyan - I've only seen The Sweet Hereafter.
François Ozon - I've only seen Swimming Pool.
Gus Van Sant - Elephant
Michael Haneke - I've only seen Funny Games.
John Sayles - He's made many good films. One of my favorites was Silver City.
Alain Resnais - Night And Fog
John Boorman - Deliverance
John Schlesinger - Midnight Cowboy
Vittorio De Sica - The Bicycle Thief

This one could stand for a complete re-evaluation. White never gets the proper respect for all the (in my opinion, undue) respect Blue receives. It must be that the tone of the film isn't quite the same as the others, maybe more of a comedy with the hangdog Karol Karol not quite as radiant as the leads of the other two.

I may be the only person on God's green earth who thinks White is easily the best of the trilogy.

Really?! That's cool with me as it's a great movie. I'm always disappointed to see Blue make the top of the list. A former poster named Tuco made the only good case I've read for the movie being the best.