Movie Directors' Top Films

[pauldrach]

I did move "Twin Peaks" to #1 since that seems to have been consensus. Hadn't noticed that I didn't change that on the previous page.

[pauldrach]

Updates for page 23:

Steve McQueen
1. 12 Years a Slave (2012)
2. Hunger (2008)
3. Shame (2011)
4. Widows (2018)
5. Mangrove [Small Axe] (2020)
6. Lovers Rock [Small Axe] (2020)
7. Blitz (2024)
8. Red, White and Blue [Small Axe] (2020)
9. Education [Small Axe] (2020)
10. Occupied City (2023)

Fernando Meirelles
1. City of God [with Kátia Lund] (2002)
2. The Constant Gardener (2005)
3. The Two Popes (2019)
4. Sugar [with Adam Arkin] (2024-)
5. Blindness (2008)
6. 360 (2011)
7. Maids [with Nando Olival] (2001)
8. Rá-Tim-Bum (1990-1994)
9. Felizes para Sempre? (2015)
10. Menino Maluquinho 2: A Aventura [with Fabrizia Pinto] (1998)

George Melford
1. The Sheik (1921)
2. Drácula (1931)
3. Moran of the Lady Letty (1922)
4, The Round-Up (1920)
5. Young Romance (1915)
6. To Have and to Hold (1916)
7. The Viking [with Varick Frissell] (1931)
8. The Immigrant (1915)
9. Jungle Menace [with Harry L. Fraser] (1937)
10. East of Borneo (1931)

Georges Méliès
1. A Trip to the Moon (1902)
2. The Impossible Voyage (1904)
3. Cinderella (1899)
4. The Dreyfus Affair (1899)
5. The House of the Devil (1896)
6. The Man with the Rubber Head (1901)
7. The Vanishing Lady (1896)
8. The Four Troublesome Heads (1898)
9. Bluebeard (1901)
10. The Kingdom of the Fairies (1903)

Jean-Pierre Melville
1. Le samouraï (1967)
2. Army of Shadows (1969)
3. Le cercle rouge (1970)
4. Bob le flambeur (1956)
5. Le silence de la mer (1949)
6. Le doulos (1962)
7. Le deuxième souffle (1966)
8. Les enfants terribles (1949)
9. Léon Morin, Priest (1961)
10. Un flic (1972)

Sam Mendes
1. American Beauty (1999)
2. Skyfall (2012)
3. 1917 (2019)
4. Road to Perdition (2002)
5. Revolutionary Road (2008)
6. Jarhead (2005)
7. Spectre (2015)
8. Away We Go (2009)
9. Empire of Light (2022)
10. What They Found (2025)

Jiří Menzel
RIP 1938-2020

Russ Meyer
1. Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965)
2. Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970)
3. Supervixens (1975)
4. Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens (1979)
5. Vixen! (1968)
6. Up! (1976)
7. Lorna (1964)
8. Mudhoney (1965)
9. Motorpsycho (1965)
10. Mondo Topless (1966)

Nikita Mikhalkov
1. Burnt by the Sun (1994)
2. Close to Eden (1991)
3. Dark Eyes (1987)
4. An Unfinished Piece for Mechanical Piano (1977)
5. 12 (2007)
6. At Home Among Strangers, Stranger at Home (1974)
7. A Slave of Love (1976)
8. Oblomov (1980)
9. The Barber of Siberia (1998)
10. Five Evenings (1979)

Lewis Milestone
1. All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
2. The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)
3. Of Mice and Men (1939)
4. A Walk in the Sun (1945)
5. The Front Page (1931)
6. The Racket (1928)
7. Two Arabian Knights (1927)
8. Edge of Darkness (1943)
9. Mutiny on the Bounty (1962)
10. Ocean's 11 (1960)

John Milius
1. Conan the Barbarian (1982)
2. Big Wednesday (1978)
3. The Wind and the Lion (1975)
4. Red Dawn (1984)
5. Dillinger (1973)
6. Rough Riders (1997)
7. Flight of the Intruder (1991)
8. Farewell to the King (1989)
9. Motorcycle Gang (1994)
10. Marcello, I'm So Bored [with John Strawbridge] (1970)

David Miller
1. Lonely Are the Brave (1962)
2. Sudden Fear (1952)
3. Flying Tigers (1942)
4. Captain Newman, M.D. (1963)
5. Midnight Lace (1960)
6. Seeds of Destiny (1946)
7. The Story of Esther Costello (1957)
8. Our Very Own (1950)
9. Billy the Kid (1941)
10. Back Street (1961)

George Miller
1. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
2. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)
3. Mad Max (1979)
4. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024)
5. Happy Feet (2006)
6. The Witches of Eastwick (1987)
7. Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome [with George Ogilvie] (1985)
8. Babe: Pig in the City (1998)
9. Lorenzo's Oil (1992)
10. Three Thousand Years of Longing (2022)

New list:

Segundo de Chomón (1871-1929)
1. The House of Ghosts (1906)
2. El hotel eléctrico (1908)
3. Le spectre rouge [with Ferdinand Zecca] (1907)
4. Ah! La barbe! (1905)
5. Le scarabée d'or [with Ferdinand Zecca] (1907)
6. Les Kiriki, acrobates japonais (1907)
7. Satan s'amuse (1907)
8. Andalusian Superstition (1912)
9. Barcelone, parc au crepuscule (1904)
10. Une excursion incohérente (1909)

I won't send the page 22 updates yet as ManPerson seems to have been on vacation over the last week and hasn't had a chance to look at them. Also, lew hasn't posted the Epstein/Friedman list yet.

[Tim]

I'd prolly go with Skyfall > 1917.

[Dubrow555]

I won't send the page 22 updates yet as ManPerson seems to have been on vacation over the last week and hasn't had a chance to look at them. Also, lew hasn't posted the Epstein/Friedman list yet.

Don't you think we've heard enough about "Epstein" this week already?????

[Dubrow555]

Lovers Rock was at one point on the 2020 list at one point, but I don't think "Widows" was anywhere near making the 2010's decade list.

[pauldrach]

I'd prolly go with Skyfall > 1917.

Swapped. Sorry, I didn't look at the ongoing revision.

[pauldrach]

Lovers Rock was at one point on the 2020 list at one point, but I don't think "Widows" was anywhere near making the 2010's decade list.

OK, but it's not on there anymore and 2020 was a particularly weak year due to COVID. "Widows" has nineteen times the number of IMDb ratings "Lovers Rock" has. Of course, LR wins acclaim but I'd say Widows takes popularity more easily.

[Dubrow555]

Okay, that's true. I guess there's a reason why we took it off. By that same logic, Widows should probably be ahead of "Mangrove" - yes?

[pauldrach]

Okay, that's true. I guess there's a reason why we took it off. By that same logic, Widows should probably be ahead of "Mangrove" - yes?

"Widows" has only seventeen times the number of IMDb ratings "Mangrove" has, which is nothing compared to nineteen.

Well, I don't know. What do others think?

[ManPerson]

Girl, Interrupted looks low on Mangold's list, very strong lasting popularity. I'd move it up to #6.

Step Brothers seems to take lasting critical acclaim quite easily over Vice and clearly takes popularity as well.

I'd say Widows should be above each part of Small Axe.

[pauldrach]

Girl, Interrupted looks low on Mangold's list, very strong lasting popularity. I'd move it up to #6.

Step Brothers seems to take lasting critical acclaim quite easily over Vice and clearly takes popularity as well.

I'd say Widows should be above each part of Small Axe.

Made the changes on the Mangold and McQueen lists. On McKay, would you have "Step Brothers" kick off "Vice" or "Talladega Nights"?

[ManPerson]

Probably Vice.

[pauldrach]

Probably Vice.

Done.

[pauldrach]

Updates for page 24:

Vincente Minnelli
1. Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
2. An American in Paris (1951)
3. The Band Wagon (1953)
4. The Bad and the Beautiful (1952)
5. Gigi (1958)
6. Some Came Running (1958)
7. Cabin in the Sky (1943)
8. Father of the Bride (1950)
9. The Clock (1945)
10. Lust for Life (1956)

Hayao Miyazaki
1. Spirited Away (2001)
2. My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
3. Princess Mononoke (1997)
4. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)
5. Howl's Moving Castle (2004)
6. Castle in the Sky (1986)
7. The Castle of Cagliostro (1979)
8. The Boy and the Heron (2023)
9. The Wind Rises (2013)
10. Kiki's Delivery Service (1989)

Kenji Mizoguchi
1. Ugetsu (1953)
2. Sanshō the Bailiff (1954)
3. The Life of Oharu (1952)
4. The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums (1939)
5. The Crucified Lovers (1954)
6. Street of Shame (1956)
7. Sisters of the Gion (1936)
8. The 47 Ronin (1941/1942)
9. Osaka Elegy (1936)
10. Princess Yang Kwei Fei (1955)

Mario Monicelli
1. Big Deal on Madonna Street (1958)
2. The Great War (1959)
3. My Friends (1975)
4. The Organizer (1963)
5. Cops and Robbers [with Steno] (1951)
6. For Love and Gold (1966)
7. An Average Little Man (1977)
8. Il marchese del Grillo (1981)
9. All My Friends Part 2 (1982)
10. Parenti serpenti (1992)

Lukas Moodysson
1. Show Me Love (1998)
2. Together (2000)
3. Lilya-4-Ever (2002)
4. We Are the Best! (2013)
5. Mammoth (2009)
6. Together 99 (2023)
7. A Hole in My Heart (2004)
8. Gösta (2019-)
9. Container (2006)
10. Talk (1997)

Michael Moore
1. Bowling for Columbine (2002)
2. Roger & Me (1989)
3. Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)
4. Sicko (2007)
5. TV Nation (1994-1995)
6. Capitalism: A Love Story (2009)
7. The Awful Truth (1999-2000)
8. Where to Invade Next (2015)
9. Fahrenheit 11/9 (2018)
10. The Big One (1997)

Nanni Moretti
1. Caro diario (1993)
2. The Son's Room (2001)
3. Red Wood Pigeon (1989)
4. Mia madre (2015)
5. The Mass Is Ended (1985)
6. We Have a Pope (2011)
7. Ecce bombo (1978)
8. Sweet Dreams (1981)
9. Sweet Body of Bianca (1984)
10. A Brighter Tomorrow (2023)

Errol Morris
1. The Thin Blue Line (1988)
2. The Fog of War (2003)
3. Gates of Heaven (1978)
4. A Brief History of Time (1991)
5. Fast, Cheap & Out of Control (1997)
6. Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr. (1999)
7. Vernon, Florida (1981)
8. Tabloid (2010)
9. Standard Operating Procedure (2008)
10. The Pigeon Tunnel (2023)

Paul Morrissey (1938-2024)
1. Chelsea Girls [with Andy Warhol] (1967)
2. Trash (1970)
3. Flesh (1968)
4. Flesh for Frankenstein (1973)
5. Blood for Dracula (1974)
6. Heat (1972)
7. Mixed Blood (1984)
8. Women in Revolt (1971)
9. Spike of Bensonhurst (1988)
10. Forty Deuce (1982)

Robert Mulligan
1. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
2. Summer of '42 (1971)
3. The Other (1972)
4. Same Time, Next Year (1978)
5. The Man in the Moon (1991)
6. Love with the Proper Stranger (1963)
7. Come September (1961)
8. Up the Down Staircase (1967)
9. Fear Strikes Out (1957)
10. Inside Daisy Clover (1965)

Cristian Mungiu
1. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007)
2. Beyond the Hills (2012)
3. Graduation (2016)
4. R.M.N. (2022)
5. Occident (2002)

F. W. Murnau
1. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)
2. Nosferatu (1922)
3. The Last Laugh (1924)
4. Faust (1926)
5. Tabu: A Story of the South Seas (1931)
6. City Girl (1930)
7. Phantom (1922)
8. Tartuffe (1925)
9. The Head of Janus (1920)
10. The Burning Soil (1922)

Mira Nair
1. Salaam Bombay! (1988)
2. Monsoon Wedding (2001)
3. The Namesake (2006)
4. Queen of Katwe (2016)
5. Mississippi Masala (1991)
6. The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2012)
7. Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love (1996)
8. Hysterical Blindness (2002)
9. Vanity Fair (2004)
10. A Suitable Boy [with Shimit Amin] (2020)

Mikio Naruse
1. Floating Clouds (1955)
2. When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (1960)
3. Yearning (1964)
4. Scattered Clouds (1967)
5. Late Chrysanthemums (1954)
6. Flowing (1956)
7. Sound of the Mountain (1954)
8. Wife! Be Like a Rose! (1935)
9. Repast (1951)
10. Lightning (1952)

Ronald Neame
1. The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
2. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969)
3. Scrooge (1970)
4. Tunes of Glory (1960)
5. The Man Who Never Was (1956)
6. Hopscotch (1980)
7. The Horse's Mouth (1958)
8. The Million Pound Note (1954)
9. The Card (1952)
10. The Odessa File (1974)

Jean Negulesco
1. Johnny Belinda (1948)
2. How to Marry a Millionaire (1953)
3. Humoresque (1946)
4. The Mask of Dimitrios (1944)
5. Road House (1948)
6. Three Came Home (1950)
7. Three Coins in the Fountain (1954)
8. Titanic (1953)
9. Three Strangers (1946)
10. Phone Call from a Stranger (1952)

Fred Niblo
1. Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925)
2. The Mark of Zorro (1920)
3. Blood and Sand (1922)
4. The Three Musketeers (1921)
5. The Temptress (1926)
6. Sex (1920)
7. The Mysterious Lady (1928)
8. The Red Lily (1924)
9. The Devil Dancer (1927)
10. Camille (1926)

And the new list:

David Butler (1894-1979)
1. The Little Colonel (1935)
2. Road to Morocco (1942)
3. Bright Eyes (1934)
4. Calamity Jane (1953)
5. The Littlest Rebel (1935)
6. Just Imagine (1930)
7. Sunny Side Up (1929)
8. Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943)
9. The Princess and the Pirate (1944)
10. Captain January (1936)

I'll send the page 22 updates to lew.

[ManPerson]

I'd say Lightning does a better in acclaim than Mother while popularity seems close.

[pauldrach]

I'd say Lightning does a better in acclaim than Mother while popularity seems close.

It definitely was between these two for the last spot and I would have liked to put both. They're pretty close, back to back for Naruse almost everywhere but as "Lightning" did make the TSPDT top 2,500 while "Mother" is decisively further down and it also won the Blue Ribbon for best film of the year, I'm fine with swapping.