Who is/are your favorite film director(s)?

Ridley Scott because he did the original Alien. I like sci-fi films the best, so I won't even consider any other directors no matter how good they might be.

Coens

Hitchcock

Tarrantino (only for PULP FICTION )

Rosborne? Then what do you think of Darren Aronofsky? He directed two works of science fiction: Pi and The Fountain.

Spielberg has a couple of dozen sci-fi works under his name as well.

They're all crap. Including Spielberg. Total crap.

a top 12 list of directors and not a single woman??? What a jerk. Kindly reformulate your list to acceptable standards.

*sarcasm*

I'll have to think on that, so these few are just a start

Akiru Kurasawa
John Sayles (now those are two diff directors)
considering Carol Reed but I don't know about body of work
Bernado Bertolucci
Ettore Scola
Francesco Rosi
Paolo and Vittorio Taviani
Luchino Visconti
for one film, Ariane Minouchkine (would need to see that again to confirm)
Gillo Pontecorvo (manipulative but very good at it)
sentimental fav, Bill Forsyth (for the one movie, Local Hero)
more later

This is a weighty question you're asking, tsar ... which requires much serious thought before responding.
I will return later after much deliberation!

I will be waiting MsOlga. I'll be keeping my eye on my Great Grandfather clock until your answer (though I still can't figure how to read the time on it).

You could say ... but why not just tell the time off the massive clock outside the window? (((sigh))) You just don't get art then.

Your grandfather clock is a genuine antique, a collectors item for sure, tsar!
Trouble is, I can't tell the time by it, either!
Best stick with Big Ben, I think!

OK, here goes!

It is extremely hard to come up with a comprehensive list, like you have, tsar. The are a number of individual films I've loved, but I haven't necessarily felt the same about all the films by the same directors. Or else I'm not familiar with all the films they've made, though I've admired one or two ....
So I guess I'll stick with the tried & true ... directors who have been around for quite a while & have an established record of successful films. Well, in my eyes, anyway!

Off the top of my head, here are four directors whose work I really respect & have enjoyed a great deal, for very different reasons:

Australian director Ray Lawrence.
I could rave on about a number of other Australian directors, but most of you wouldn't be familiar with them, so I'll stick to my number 1 choice, Ray Lawrence.
He's made only a handful of films, but each one has been an absolute gem & well worth waiting for!
Here's a promo for Lantana, my very favourite Oz film.
The promo makes it look like a soap, or something, but it isn't at all.
It's a very serious & considered adult drama.
He also directed Jindabyne, which I also liked a lot, though not nearly as much as Lantana.



Early Bernardo Bertolucci.
Sumptuous visuals, brilliant acting, challenging storylines.
I can't fault any of his earliest (mostly political) films. Just brilliant!
Here's a sort of patchwork clip of my all-time favourite film, The Conformist.
I could find a decent clip with sub-titles (& I hate dubbed films!) & most of the rest were in Italian ... so this will have to suffice.:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zv4o6dDPt2s&feature=related



A number of Roman Polanski films (Rosemary's Baby, etc, etc), including this one, Chinatown. I've lost track of the number of times I've seen it, but it packs a major punch every single time! I know that Polanski is on the nose with many people because of personal/legal issues, but there's no denying he was/is a brilliant director. A master of suspense, brilliant creation of atmosphere & great performances from his acting casts. I can't think of a bad film he's made.



Early Woody Allen.
Wonderful, funny & thoughtful films.
I fell in love with NYC while watching his early films. Wonderfully affectionate sense of place! (Manhattan. Sigh. )
Great scripts, terrific performances from his cast of regulars & a great insight into neurosis, which afflicts all of us!

I love this scene from Annie Hall:



Now that I've completed this lot, I've thought of more!
But I'm going to stop for now or else I'll be here all day.

My list was primarily ... arbitrary rather then comprehensive.

Other then The Dreamers, I must confess I know very little about the Italian director, Bernardo Bertolucci. So I just placed The Conformist to the top of my Netflix queue and I will summarily send back in the 2 DVD's I've been holding onto for quite awhile, A Taste of Cherry and Paris, Texas. Both gathering dust as I can't bring myself to be in the mood for watching either film.

Yeah, my list was rather arbitrary, too, tsar.
Once I'd started I kept thinking of more & more!
It seemed a good idea to stop after 4!

I think you'll like The Conformist. Or I really hope you do!
Aw, how could you not like it? It's a wonderful film.
(Paris, Texas is pretty good, btw.)

I still haven't watched Paris, Texas. I've been sitting on the disc since 11 May.

Ah well ....
If the thought of watching it doesn't interest you, perhaps some other time in the future, tsar?

Some day... over the rainbow perhaps.

I like your list. I'd probably add Darren Aranofsky just because of The Fountain (a fave) and Requiem.

For a slightly different Bertolucci, I am fond, very fond, of his relatively recent movie, Besieged.
I suggest not reading wiki about it, what a spoiler. Well, that's me, I strongly prefer not to be told what is going to happen in a movie before I see it. In this case, it would have taken all the air out of the development.

Anyway, it's one movie I wish I owned a dvd of.

Msolga, I agree on The Conformist.

Aaack, even the Imdb thing annoys me.

a few faves

Jacques Tati (Mr Hulot's Holiday, Playtime)
Stanley Kubrick ( A Clockwork Orange, 2001, Dr. Strangelove, Full Metal Jacket)
Lindsay Anderson (If, O Lucky Man, Look Back In Anger, Britannia Hospital)
Rainer Werner Fassbinder (The Marriage of Maria Braun, Berlin Alexanderplatz)
Woody Allen (all of them, but Stardust Memories might be my fave, the Bloor Cinema used to show it in a great double bill with Fellini's 8 1/2)
Terry Gilliam (everything he's ever done, but Brazil might be my fave)
Peter Weir (Gallipoli, The Year of Living Dangerously, Dead Poets Society, The Truman Show)

Terry Gilliam is a highly overlooked director. Too weird and complicated for the mainstream taste.

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009) is my favorite of his films. I hope that someone trusts him enough to let him retry and direct Don Quixote again.