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Best director in Hollywood: Tarantino vs. Nolan vs Scorsese

I Believe in the Teesra

I Believe in the Teesra

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The debate rages on and I think the top 3 can be narrowed down to these guys. I personally like Nolan as the best because of the realism he begins and the neo-noir characteristics that his films have. He doesn't rely on CGI and goes for practical effects and one thing in particular he does really well is focus on the little things. His morally ambiguous characterization along with a neat interest in existentialism is what really separates him from the others.

My rankings:

1) Nolan
2) Tarantino
3) Scorsese
4) Eastwood
5) Speilberg
 
Nolan's notable films:

The Dark Knight, Inception, Memento, Batman Begins, The Prestige

Tarantino:

Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill Vol. 1, Kill Bill Vol. 2, Inglourious Basterds

Scorsese:

Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, Casino, Gangs Of New York, The Departed, Shutter Island, The Aviator
 
leatherface58 said:
Scorsese
Kubrick
Coppola
Spielberg
Tarantino
Nolan
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Never liked Coppola too much :))

Personally think he's a bit overrated. Rainmaker and Godfather were his peaks and after that, I don't know - a lot of his stuff didn't blow me away.

His Dracula wasn't that good imo.
 
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Nolan represents the Best of British, while P.T. Anderson is probably the best American director alive alongside Scorsese and Coppola.
 
Maybe these don't make the list but I really like movies from Wes Anderson, Mike Judge and the Coen Brothers.

Wes Anderson - Rushmore, The Royal Tennenbaums, Bottle Rocket
Mike Judge - Office Space, Idiocracy, Extract
Coen Brothers - The Big Lebowski, Fargo, No Country for Old Men, True Grit
 
Tarantino for me.

Scorsese is a legend as well. Nolan is a bit too one-dimensional, in my opinion.
 
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Nolan wrecked himself with TDKR. What the hell was this stupid crap after the masterpiece that was TDK?

Danny Boyle, Tarantino and Scorcese for me are the best directors alive at the moment. Even though Tarantino and Scorcese are very 1 dimensional too.

Tarantino = Scenes with heavy, long dialogues an explosion climax everytime (Django = Inglorious ********. Just replace Nazis with white people from 1800s)

Scorcese = An officer gets screwed by a mob boss gets screwed by an undercover cop gets screwed by a rogue gets screwed by another cop gets screwed by a another mob and so on to infinitude.


Danny Boyle is a legend. From 28 Days Later, Trainspotting, Slumdog, to Sunshine and The Beach. No movie is like another in his resume.
 
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If we could include Sergio Leone to this list , then he tops my list. :imran

I myself is a big fan of Tarantino and his later explored his musicals and started liking spaghetti westerns.
IMHO Sergio Leone > Tarantino and tarantino himself will agree.
 
Coen brothers are very good too. Each of their films is different from the previous one.

Spielberg is good when he is not making blatantly Oscar bait movies. *cough*Munich*cough*war horse*cough*.

Tarantino makes terrific movies but he steals from obscure places rather shamelessly. Atleast, he isn't as shamelessly pandering to the academy like Spielberg, Frears, Todd Field.
 
surprise no one mentioned Guy Ritchie, Matthew Vaughn, Ridley Scott and Tom Hooper
 
Leone! Good choice. Once upon a time in the West is a masterpiece. Oscars rarely recognize truly good films. Slumdog winning over Dark knight and Even wall e? :))

Scorsese winning for departed and not Goodfellas? :)))

I still think the greatest injustice done were Anthony Perkins for psycho and Dennis hopper for Blue Velvet.


Woody Allen anyone?
 
Kubrick for me. Took a typical run of the mill horror story like "The Shining" and turned it into a cinematic masterpiece. Only one of the few movies where the movie is better than the novel. Made a dark comedy like "Dr.Strangelove" and managed to capture the tension during the cold war/nuclear armageddon scenario like no other movie has so far. "2001 Space Odyssey" probably the most ambitious and daring movie ever made in the Sci-Fi genre, pretty much revolutionized new camera techniques. Other notable works include, "Paths of glory","Clockwork Orange" and"Full Metal Jacket"
 
No proper love for Ridley Scott? Blade Runner, Alien, Gladiator and Kingdom of Heaven some amazing movies he has done that have completely different genres. Granted he has been pretty weak as of late but still he deserved a nod IMO.
 
Among the Britons, I like Ridley (The Duellists, Alien, Blade Runner, Thelma & Louise, Gladiator, Prometheus) and I really rate Danny Boyle (Shallow Grave, 28 Days Later, Trainspotting, The Beach, Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours).
 
How could I forget Danny Boyle? How embarrassing.

Leatherface I always felt Goodfellas was a strong film but a bit overrated, while The Departed was an absolute barnstormer and a bit underrated. Interesting how minds work differently to one another.
 
What about the Wachowski brothers. Maybe, a very light resume to be included in these names.

Nolan for me. Love his movies.
 
My personal favourites:

Danny Boyle
Quentin Tarantino
Wes Anderson
Chris Nolan
Speilberg
James Cameron
 
sa88 said:
One good film between two people is a very light resume indeed.
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Lols.

To be fair The Matrix is better than a good film. But they don't really have anything else to their name(s) - do they? Hideo Kojima is arguably a better film director having never directed a film.

How about -
Fincher.
 
The Departed was a great film no doubt. But I personally feel Goodfellas is a terrific movie and on another level in terms of pacing, acting and sudden bursts of violence. Casino pretty much was a thematic copy.

Fincher's a great option. Zodiac, Se7en, Panic Room(underrated), Social Network. Didn't watch Benjamin Button and Girl with dragon tattoo. Although Alien 3 sucked :p
Fight Club is a masterpiece.

JAMES CAMERON????

One thing I like is Tarantino makes entertaining movies which are accessible to the audience. He has that "I want Oscar" trait in his movies but it isn't as blatant as in the horrible costume dramas and "epic films".

An underrated director would be John Carpenter.

Halloween(overrated but better than crap today), The Thing, The Fog, They Live, Assault on Precinct 13 and his TV episode Cigarette burns (For masters of horror) deserved an emmy.
 
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Wasn't The Departed a remake of a Korean movie or something? I doubt if it was original
 
James Cameron's best film is still The Terminator. Absolutely brilliant. And quite scary too.
 
I love Tarantino films for their artistic violence and dialogues. However its usually individual scenes that stand out rather than the movie itself. They are pretty much movies for men and unbelievably stylish and cool

Nolan is fantastic too but Scorcesse is the winner for me. Real gritty films and he puts out classic after classic.
 
Brian de Palma is underrated. Forget Scarface, other Hitchcockian thrillers of his are equally entertaining and well-crafted.
 
I never thought Scarface was that good really. Has some great moments and lines but so it bloody should, it's a three-hour film. Tacky, gratuitous, bloated, overlong, and no class.

Hardly looks a great film of the 80s when you put it next to genuine classics like Raging Bull, Amadeus and Platoon. If Pacino didn't put in such a shift in the lead role it'd be close to unwatchable.
 
Ang Lee? I think he's a pretty good one as well

Hidden Dragon Crouching Tiger
Brokeback Mountain
 
Someone mentioned Wes Anderson. I like his films. The Royal Tenenbaums is my favourite of his.

William Friedkin is inconsistent but The Exorcist, The French Connection, Killer Joe are undeniably good films. The Exorcist is overrated though.

Robert Zemeckis anyone? Sure his films are too commercialized but they are classics. Back to the Future, Forrest Gump, The Polar Express, Contact.
 
how can you miss PETER JACKSON in that list???

Anyways, for me it is always NOLAN, and then the rest.
 
David Lynch, though he has been quiet lately.

Canada's finest: David Cronenberg.
 
leatherface58 said:
Someone mentioned Wes Anderson. I like his films. The Royal Tenenbaums is my favourite of his.

William Friedkin is inconsistent but The Exorcist, The French Connection, Killer Joe are undeniably good films. The Exorcist is overrated though.

Robert Zemeckis anyone? Sure his films are too commercialized but they are classics. Back to the Future, Forrest Gump, The Polar Express, Contact.
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Contact is one of my favourite sci fi movies ever.
 
James said:
I never thought Scarface was that good really. Has some great moments and lines but so it bloody should, it's a three-hour film. Tacky, gratuitous, bloated, overlong, and no class.

Hardly looks a great film of the 80s when you put it next to genuine classics like Raging Bull, Amadeus and Platoon. If Pacino didn't put in such a shift in the lead role it'd be close to unwatchable.
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+1

hasnt aged well - "test of time"

:akhtar
 
leatherface58 said:
Someone mentioned Wes Anderson. I like his films. The Royal Tenenbaums is my favourite of his.

William Friedkin is inconsistent but The Exorcist, The French Connection, Killer Joe are undeniably good films. The Exorcist is overrated though.

Robert Zemeckis anyone? Sure his films are too commercialized but they are classics. Back to the Future, Forrest Gump, The Polar Express, Contact.
Click to expand...

Probably the most entertaining fun movie series I have ever seen.
 
Kwremb said:
Contact is one of my favourite sci fi movies ever.
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Underrated! I liked it.


saadibaba said:
A History of violence - One of my all time favorite movie.
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Eastern Promises shot in London is not as good, but solid as well. Viggo is a ninja.


Cricketismylife said:
+1

hasnt aged well - "test of time"

:akhtar
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Not even the ageing aspect; I can deal with that. It's more the the film isn't that good aspect. Grand Theft Auto VC via ripoff did that storyline better to be honest.


leatherface58 said:
Not to mention Cronenberg's The Fly-one of the saddest films I have seen.
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Crash, mate. Not the more recent Crash, but the one based on Ballard. Superb.
 
Scorsese cos of Goodfellas, probably my favourite film.

Giuseppe Tornatore directed both Malèna and Cinema Paradiso, both brilliant films.
 
leatherface58 said:
Brian de Palma is underrated. Forget Scarface, other Hitchcockian thrillers of his are equally entertaining and well-crafted.
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Over-rated IMO. Rips Hitchcock. I mean every modern director is inspired by Hitchcock but he literally copies him, although the opening no cut scene of "Snake eyes" that 12.5 mins of absolutely brilliant camera work is worth praising.
 
Love Nolan but have to say "The Dark Knight Rises" was dissapointing. Too many social issues crammed into one movie plus a very silly demise of the villain who was probably the only redeeming feature of the whole movie.
 
saadibaba said:
Over-rated IMO. Rips Hitchcock. I mean every modern director is inspired by Hitchcock but he literally copies him, although the opening no cut scene of "Snake eyes" that 12.5 mins of absolutely brilliant camera work is worth praising.
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Tarantino rips off the B-movies from 70s and 80s. Hell he ripped off the name Inglorious Bs(changed the spelling :)) ). That's a homage. So is de Palma's work a homage to Hitchcock.

Dressed to Kill is as much an homage to Hitchcock as it is to the Giallo movies of Argento, Bava and Sergio Martino from Italy.
 
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DeadlyVenom said:
Has anybody understood inception lol?
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Me.

Takes a few attempts and a lot of hours of hard grind, but it's possible.

In the end, as always with Nolan, the plot is relatively straightforward and he has been toying with you all along. He is clever: he immerses the viewer because he constructs his narratives so you get as confused as the characters. They are nothing but levels of a dream, and inception is achieved within Fischer while Cobb achieves catharsis from his personal trauma. That's it.

Memento is told out of order and fragmented; the lead character has no short-term memory. Inception is told across different levels of a dream; the characters are displaced and lost in the dreamworld.

The only remaining question is whether or not Cobb wakes up from Limbo in the real world, the dream world - or the Afterlife. Notice how the immigration gates are lighted like the gates to Heaven, and everything that happens after he passes through the turnstile is beyond his wildest dreams. Plus the team recognise and acknowledge each other on the ground, but not explicitly; this is ascribed to many Christian ideas of Heaven where the participants will not indulge in so passionate a discourse because they have been released from the insecure prison of life.

Anyway. Thoughts on a Wednesday night.
 
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Rises is still a good film but on reflection got to say it's the weakest of the trilogy.

Batman Begins is centred on fear; wonderfully straightforward and moody. The Dark Knight is centred on morality, heroism, evil and chance; beautifully ambiguous and layered. And...Rises is centred on personal redemption, the global financial crisis, and the renewable energy problem. Bit gluey!
 
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i think it is the formula now..if you want to make a great movie..leave the ending ambiguous (obviously you have to do other things well too)..and then fans and critics will try to derive deep meanings and interpretations that even the director wouldnt have thought of.. because there is a section of intelligent movie watchers and they want something to tease their intellect...leave them with a question mark and you have got a classic.
 
Lost Highway had the whole movie as a question mark :)) . Like how on earth did Bill Pullman call himself from both ends? :yk
 
leatherface58 said:
Tarantino rips off the B-movies from 70s and 80s. Hell he ripped off the name Inglorious Bs(changed the spelling :)) ). That's a homage. So is de Palma's work a homage to Hitchcock.

Dressed to Kill is as much an homage to Hitchcock as it is to the Giallo movies of Argento, Bava and Sergio Martino from Italy.
Click to expand...

Totally agree with you about Tarantino but that's his genius, ripping all the B movies and turning them into a modern work of art.

Homage is when you make one movie or one scene, when you start making the majority of your movies inspired by one director, plus, lot of it is not even good, you risk being labeled as a rip off artist.
 
Cracket said:
Nolan wrecked himself with TDKR. What the hell was this stupid crap after the masterpiece that was TDK?
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A masterpiece? The film is riddled with plot holes, too many sub-plots. Heath Ledger held the movie together. Hardly a masterpiece.
 
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James said:
Me.

Takes a few attempts and a lot of hours of hard grind, but it's possible.

In the end, as always with Nolan, the plot is relatively straightforward and he has been toying with you all along. He is clever: he immerses the viewer because he constructs his narratives so you get as confused as the characters. They are nothing but levels of a dream, and inception is achieved within Fischer while Cobb achieves catharsis from his personal trauma. That's it.

Memento is told out of order and fragmented; the lead character has no short-term memory. Inception is told across different levels of a dream; the characters are displaced and lost in the dreamworld.

The only remaining question is whether or not Cobb wakes up from Limbo in the real world, the dream world - or the Afterlife. Notice how the immigration gates are lighted like the gates to Heaven, and everything that happens after he passes through the turnstile is beyond his wildest dreams. Plus the team recognise and acknowledge each other on the ground, but not explicitly; this is ascribed to many Christian ideas of Heaven where the participants will not indulge in so passionate a discourse because they have been released from the insecure prison of life.

Anyway. Thoughts on a Wednesday night.
Click to expand...

Makes sense, I need to watch it again. But one thing about great movies is that you want to watch it over and over again and every time you do, you take something new from it. Nolan has that rare quality, like Kubrick.
 
Pulp Fiction's narrative is ingenious and QT blagged a great cast for it - but I still say his tightest film is Reservoir Dogs. Just 85 minutes of hard-boiled dialogue, underlying chaos, paranoia and sudden violence. All of the acting is fantastic and it takes real auteurship to get you to care about the characters and their relationships in such a short work.
 
Jackie Brown is underrated too. Reservoir Dogs is awesome. Tim Roth squirming in his blood while in the car was really disturbing. And I have watched some seriously messed up stuff.
 
Someone mentioned Woody Allen. Hit and miss for me but his good ones are really fun to watch. Notable works for me are

Manhattan
Annie Hall
Crimes and Misdemeanors
Husbands and wives
Everyone says I love you
Match point
Vicky, Christina Barcelona
Midnight in Paris
 
in_cutter said:
A masterpiece? The film is riddled with plot holes, too many sub-plots. Heath Ledger held the movie together. Hardly a masterpiece.
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IMO it's the closest to a masterpiece out of the three. I hold that it is a beautiful film which has a serious go at defining the times. Eckhart is good, and Ledger is magnificent. But I know plenty of people who hate the whole thing. Confusing.
 
speaking of inception, shutter island was a masterpiece

as for the batman films, the second one was easily the most meaningful. The use of harvey dent as a posterboy for 'good/evil' was beautifully done.
 
chacha kashmiri said:
The use of harvey dent as a posterboy for 'good/evil' was beautifully done.
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See this is how I took it as well. And the closing obituary really gives meaning to having a 'dark knight' and a 'white knight'. Stunning.
 
saadibaba said:
Someone mentioned Woody Allen. Hit and miss for me but his good ones are really fun to watch. Notable works for me are

Manhattan
Annie Hall
Crimes and Misdemeanors
Husbands and wives
Everyone says I love you
Match point
Vicky, Christina Barcelona
Midnight in Paris
Click to expand...

Match Point was good because he didn't act in it. Really can't stand his acting.
 
James said:
Pulp Fiction's narrative is ingenious and QT blagged a great cast for it - but I still say his tightest film is Reservoir Dogs. Just 85 minutes of hard-boiled dialogue, underlying chaos, paranoia and sudden violence. All of the acting is fantastic and it takes real auteurship to get you to care about the characters and their relationships in such a short work.
Click to expand...

Tim Roth and Harvey Keitel execute one of the most powerful scenes at the end of the film. I was shocked at how brilliantly Tarantino pulled that off. Absolutely phenomenal.

The scene with Michael Madsen and the cop is arguably one of the most profound and yet sadistic scenes I've ever seen.
 
James said:
Pulp Fiction's narrative is ingenious and QT blagged a great cast for it - but I still say his tightest film is Reservoir Dogs. Just 85 minutes of hard-boiled dialogue, underlying chaos, paranoia and sudden violence. All of the acting is fantastic and it takes real auteurship to get you to care about the characters and their relationships in such a short work.
Click to expand...

Both have non linear narratives and classics on their own. Obviously
Pulp became a much bigger movie as it shocked the bloated, lethargic and traditional movie industry of that time, jolted everyone out of their slumber and take notice of what "real" movies can be and what people have been missing after being fed the same old sterile stuff for so long.

leatherface58 said:
Jackie Brown is underrated too. Reservoir Dogs is awesome. Tim Roth squirming in his blood while in the car was really disturbing. And I have watched some seriously messed up stuff.
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I agree, Jackie obviously suffered because it was aimed at a middle age audience. But Samuel Jackson is terrifyingly good, remember that scene when he drives Chris Tucker is his car trunk and then shoots him, while funky 70's music playing on the stereo.
 
I'm also a fan of The Wachowskis. Massively underrated I think.

If anyone has the chance, I would highly recommend Cloud Atlas. One of the more ambitious films I have seen to this date.
 
I Believe in the Teesra said:
Tim Roth and Harvey Keitel execute one of the most powerful scenes at the end of the film. I was shocked at how brilliantly Tarantino pulled that off. Absolutely phenomenal.

The scene with Michael Madsen and the cop is arguably one of the most profound and yet sadistic scenes I've ever seen.
Click to expand...

Every time "Stuck in the middle" comes on radio, I get goosebumps just thinking about that scene. Pretty gruesome.
 
I Believe in the Teesra said:
Tim Roth and Harvey Keitel execute one of the most powerful scenes at the end of the film. I was shocked at how brilliantly Tarantino pulled that off. Absolutely phenomenal.
Click to expand...

It's like White sacrifices everything for his friend and then suddenly the platform of trust is completely displaced when Orange reveals himself. All that is left is incredulousness and hatred; Tarantino reminds us of the fragility and absurdity of human relationships. Amazing filmmaking.
 
James said:
See this is how I took it as well. And the closing obituary really gives meaning to having a 'dark knight' and a 'white knight'. Stunning.
Click to expand...

Batman lost the battle with the joker over harvey dent though, he was too preoccupied with rachel
 
dell79 said:
Match Point was good because he didn't act in it. Really can't stand his acting.
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:)) I like his acting but mostly in his early movies but I agree, he can surely ruin a good movie by being in it.
 
chacha kashmiri said:
Batman lost the battle with the joker over harvey dent though, he was too preoccupied with rachel
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Taking the fall was his self-inflicted punishment for Rachel maybe?

Also I didn't think til recently, that he breaks his rule: he kills Harvey Dent. Arguable whether it was murder or an accident, but Batman would also see that as worthy of exile.
 
Talking of Coppola, he unwittingly gave birth to Twilight. He kickstarted the "Vampires are troubled souls and should be pitied" theme from Dracula. Of course, he didnt water it down to the degree Stephanie Meyer did.
 
Both Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction have some extremely hilarious scenes too. Just amazing how Tarantino can treat us with humor in movies of such morbid and nihilistic character.
 
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