Someone like Cameron demands mention of Villeneuve, in my book. To me, Villeneuve manages every bit as much visual awe (actually more, as far as I'm concerned) while being an auteur as well and maintaining reasonable commercial success. I put Cameron more in the category of McTiernan, though much more prolific. They both are (or were) exceptional at what they do, but what they do is a bit limited.Cameron fits the criteria of "working director" because he has for some time had ongoing projects on the books. He certainly takes his time but I'd say he is very much a working director as he has been "working" on this series of sequels for some time. I do wish he would have focused on doing new projects/stories rather than Avatar for the rest of his career but I think he is going for the big cash grab here. His problem is that these Avatar pictures were meant to be big events you would see in the cinema and now post pandemic and the long wait in general probably increases the chances that these will be failures financially.
On Avatar not being listed as a favorite, people that like the picture always tell me it is a picture you had to see in a cinema to appreciate because it was so immersive. Even these fans of it tell me it just is not the same experience at home because you can't replicate that.
I did not see Avatar in a cinema and my attempts to watch it at home, not in 3D, have been failures as I just did not get into the film. So, I love the idea that he made a picture that you HAD TO go to a cinema to see but I missed that aspect of it. I'm mostly a fan of his run of Aliens, Terminator, and The Abyss. Everything else, I seem able to do without.
I always look at him as a guy that puts technological accomplishments over things like story, characters, acting, dialogue...these seem to be far less important to him than the idea that you sit in your chair and say "Holy cow, look at that!" which I admit can be thrilling. The drawback to me is his pictures just tend not to stick with me at all. I don't ponder them later or think about them even for a bit when they end. I think pictures that make favorites lists, for me anyway, tend to stick in your mind and keep popping up in your thoughts.