Directors Checklist series recommendations (1 Viewer)

[SteveGon]

Just to help ol' Jimbo out:

Monte Hellman
Bertrand Tavernier
Andrzej Wajda

 

[Jim_K]

I'll add Hellman & Tavernier to my list.

Wajda was already on it.

 

[Brook K]

If you're adding Hellman, we need Jack Hill as well.

 

[Jim_K]

Well I had to do an IMDB search on that one.

Jack Hill

Sorceress (1982) (as Brian Stuart)
Switchblade Sisters (1975)
The Swinging Cheerleaders (1974)
Foxy Brown (1974)
Coffy (1973)
The Big Bird Cage (1972)
The Big Doll House (1971)
The Incredible Invasion (1971) (US scenes)
Isle of the Snake People (1971) (US scenes)
Higher and Higher (1970)
The Winner (1969)
The Fear Chamber (1968) (US scenes)
House of Evil (1968) (US scenes)
Spider Baby, or The Maddest Story Ever Told (1968)
Blood Bath (1966)
Mondo Keyhole (1966)
Portrait in Terror (1965)
The Terror (1963) (uncredited)
The Playgirls and the Bellboy (1962) (new footage)
The Wasp Woman (1960) (uncredited)
The Host (1960)


If you're serious I'll incorporate 'em.

If you're pulling my chain then...... where's that middle finger smiley

 

[george kaplan]

I'm pretty sure Brook is serious. After all, The Wasp Woman is pretty much on par with films like Cries & Whispers (although the Wasp Woman is certainly the better film).

 

[Arman]

Jim,

Would you mind posting the complete list/line-up so we could make the necessary recommendations? (- to stop these can't wait requests madness!)

 

[Jim_K]

Arman,

Not gonna post the list, sorry.

I figured part of the fun of this would be not knowing what Director will show up next.

I think I have a very broad view of what constitutes a great director so rest assured I'll get to (whichever) director eventually.


Besides, anticipation piques the interest level.

 

[SteveGon]

Add Alejandro Jodorowsky to the list as well. Definitely a visionary director.

 

[Jim_K]

Already on it.

 

[Brook K]

Yes, I was serious, but I've never seen the Wasp Woman. It's his women-in-prison and women revenge films that he's recognized for.

 

[Steve Christou]

Jim I see you've done Preston Sturges, but what about John Sturges? Or have you done him already, my memories like a sieve. Lets see who's left, Vincent Minnelli? Did some great films. We've had Jim Cameron, how about Bob Zemeckis? Tim Burton?



Never heard of him, and looking at his output you may have to drop the 'great' from the thread title if you do him Jim, I have a couple of 4-letter words you can substitute instead, let me know if you're interested.

 

[Jim_K]

Steve

John Sturges, Vincent Minnelli, Bob Zemeckis & Tim Burton are already on my list.

 

[Steve Christou]

Hey! (that was my Fonz imitation btw)

 

[Brook K]

Sounds like an awfully snooty, not to mention extremely insulting, comment to me Steve. Maybe you should try watching his films before you put Jack Hill down.

 

[Steve Christou]

Jack who? Honestly Brook never heard of him until I looked at this thread. But I'm pretty sure I saw Wasp Woman on me dads super 8 projector back in the 70's, can't remember it much, let me check Halliwells Film Guide... bloody hell he doesn't have it here and there's over 20,000 films listed, that tells me all I need to know.
Even Halliwell hasn't heard of Jack Hill.



Oh come of it Brook, this whole Jack Hill thing is a joke right? Wasp Women? Snake People? I can't believe for a second you're interested in him, I mean you turn up your nose at most of my 4-5 star rated films and I'm the snooty one? You're the biggest film snob here, i have more affinity with Bill McA than you, at least he tries to see every film out there and doesn't yawn out comments like "I'm becoming an old fogey who would rather watch 2 French people in a room sipping tea and having a conversation for 80 minutes than see a bunch of stuff blow up"

 

[george kaplan]

Brook,

Did he really make some great films? I'm seriously curious, since I think the only film of his I've seen is the Wasp Woman, which is the type of really bad B-movie that makes Ed Wood flinch.

 

[Brook K]

Again, I've never seen The Wasp Woman (and again, this was maybe his 1st feature, his 2nd film at any rate, many, many great directors had lousy films early in their career) or any of his 60's films other than Spider Baby, which is a pretty good micro-budget horror flick with very good performances by Lon Chaney Jr. and Sid Haig. My experience is generally with his 70's films - The Big Doll House, which at first glance probably looks like USA Up All Night schlock, but is actually a very good film. Yes the villain's are appropriately over the top but it allows its characters a certain amount of introspection, they experience the same kinds of problems and interactions as more famous and larger budgeted men's prison films. It deals with addiction and sexual exploitation (and not in a way simply meant to have the actresses bare some flesh). But is also quite entertaining, in large part due to Pam Grier's screen presence and Sid Haig's comedic supporting work(you might know him from House of 1,000 Corpses or various 70's TV shows, but he was in a bunch of Hill's films), but also in large part due to Hill's direction.

Tarantino has cited Hill as an influence, and you can hear him speak about Hill and his view of Hill's Switchblade Sisters as the best film version of MacBeth on his Rolling Thunder intro. Coffy, his best film IMO, is certainly one of the influences on Kill Bill and of course without Coffy and Foxy Brown (an inferior, but more popular sequel in which studio interference prevented Hill from making the film he really wanted to), there would be no Jackie Brown. Although unlike The Bride, Coffy is given a touching scene in which she feels remorse and mental anguish for her killings after taking revenge on the pimps and dealers who strung out her sister. Coffy is a real human character rather than a single-minded superhuman killing machine. (not that I don't enjoy the KB movies)

Remember, Demme, Scorsese, DePalma, Coppola, Ron Howard, John Sayles, etc, all came out of this no-budget melting pot. Just because Hill never moved out of the genre doesn't mean he wasn't a good director. (I don't know if he was never given the opportunity or simply made some bad personal choices, or both. He sounds pretty bitter on his Coffy and Foxy Brown commentaries.)

Now "Great" is pretty subjective, I don't know if I would even describe Coffy as "Great". But I do think that Coffy and The Big Doll House and Switchblade Sisters are better than the films of some of the directors who have already made the list who I definitely would not describe as great. Heck, Bob Zemeckis has made some good films, but until today I have never once seem him described anywhere as a "great" director.

I admit to a degree of snobbishness, but I watch films from virtually every genre and time period. I watch well over 100 new released films every year from so-called "art" films like Notre Musique and Dogville to Dodgeball and Soul Plane (which I liked). If one of you came over to watch a movie, I'd be just as willing to watch Superfly or Phenomena as A Tale Of Springtime (one of my beloved tea sippin' conversation flicks). I love musicals, I like Kevin Smith films and zombie movies, and all sorts of decidely un-snobby pictures.

 

[Bill McA]

Don't go there, Brook...it will only end in tears!

 

[SteveGon]

That's me. :b

 

[george kaplan]

I'm not sure what age has do with it. I'm a lot older than Brook, but I'm an old fogey who'd rather watch a film with any number of people of any nationality do something interesting. Now, that might include sipping tea, or it might include blowing something up. But if it's just some artsy-fartsy talking that's not interesting, count me out.