Overrated Directors

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diane72112

New member
Hello Stu, I see you are just up the road from me.

I agree with Cameron. In fact I don't much rate Aliens not because of the set pieces but because of his handling of the Marines. All bloody macho but a big bunch of incompetants who whine and moan "Game over man, game over" and disobey direct orders to remove ammunition from weapons. Why had they not studied in great detail the plans for the colony learning every nook and cranny and alleway and crawlspace? Bunch of bloody amateurs.:D

Nobody does it better than Ripley anyhow!!! :D
 
I was reading the thread that Chris Nolan may be doing in some capacity the next Superman film/reboot. The first thing that entered my head is who cares?

This then got mne thinking about how good is he and is he overrated as a Director?

I looked him up on IDMB to see what he directed and got this.


The Dark Knight (2008)
... aka Batman: The Dark Knight (USA: informal title)
... aka The Dark Knight: The IMAX Experience (USA: IMAX version)
The Prestige (2006)
Batman Begins (2005) ... aka Batman Begins: The IMAX Experience (USA: IMAX version)
Cinema16: British Short Films (2003) (V)
Insomnia (2002/I) ... aka Insomnie (Canada: French title)
Memento (2000)
Following (1998)
Doodlebug (1997) (as Chris Nolan)


Now I know that people have orgasms thinking about TDK but looking at his body of work, does he deserve the hero worship he seems to get?

Another Director who's appeal I just don't get is Quentin Tarrantino, although I can see that he has an extensive list of films that people seem to love. They do nothing for me but that's just my personal taste.

So this again got me thinking about various other Directors. So many of them get praised and hero worshipped but when you read or listen to what people say about them it seems to be based on one or two films in their catalogue of work.

If you were to compare them to someone like Spielberg they don't have the diversity he has. He has covered sci-fi to action films to Schindlers List and Munich.

They also don't appear to have an distinctive style like Tim Burton. You can walk in midway through a film and straight away get the feeling it's probably Burton, with maybe the exception of Planet of the Apes.

So there you have it. This isn't specifically about Chris Nolan or Quinten Tarrentino but Directors in general. Are there some you think they're overrated and seem to be living off the back of one or two films in an catalogues of "average" and less than outstanding other films?
 
Tarantino without doubt. Every film he serves up has the same ingredients just in a different setting. Long winded dialogue and ridiculously OTT cartoon violence. Isn't he getting a bit old for this now?
 
I don't know about that. I am having trouble seeing how Jackie Brown (film not character) goes any way in performing the job of illustrating how things have changed in the United states in the last 40 odd years, purely because the Graduate was hardly a commentary on late 1960's United States which can be directly compared to the situation in which Jackie Brown finRAB itself. It was very much grounded in the rich, pampered, perhaps idle, almost immoral WASP culture. I see it more of Tarantino wanting a "cool" opening merely because the title character happens to be a stewardess and he had a iconic scene all gift wrapped and ready for his so called unique signature, which in this case happended to be the audio soundtrack. It is very easy to use homage to excuse a lack of originality. For instance, can any director get away with using a side tracking shot of a tired, fed up person on an electric walkway just because the scene is based at an airport. Would that be a rip-off or a homage?

I know you'll disagree but that is the nature of a discussion. :D
 
McG - great at action, can't do anything else. Same with George Lucas.

I do think Tarantino has flaws also - he's almost completely useless at both writing female characters and then directing them, and his dialogue can often take on an identikit feeling that's the same in every movie.

Kubrick and Scorsese can be incredibly pompous, Rob Zombie is just dire at everything, and I often find the 2000s directors of action/CGI/superhero movies (Nolan, Singer etc) have little to differentiate them from each other.

Oh and Tim Burton's movies all look and sound the same.
 
The one film maker that always comes to mind is Kevin Smith, incredibly overrated and don't know why people go on about his films like they do. Got around to seeing Clerks a few years ago for the first time, pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeee, indie classic my arse.
 
Tarantino - first film I saw of his was Reservoir Dogs. Waste of however long it was. Didn't care about anyone or anything in the film. All of his I've seen since I've felt the same.

Guy Ritchie - awful populist pap. Luckily I watched Lock Stock on video - well watched the first half. Unfortunately I was in the cinema with frienRAB who wanted to see Snatch and it would have been difficult to walk out half way through.

Speilberg - always far too much sugar.
 
I have to disagree about Chris Nolan as 'The Prestige' is one of my favorite films of all time and the only film that compelled me to join the imdb forums.

Totally agree about Tarrantino. I'm not a big fan of any of his movies which I guess makes me uncool.
 
Completely agree with this re: The Coen Brothers - I'm a massive fan of their earlier stuff (hence my username!) and think they were actually underrated to start with; but I think most of their more recent films have been fairly mediocre and yet seem to have been attracting much more attention.
 
Of the Nolan films I've only seen Insomnia which I thought was a great film and Batman Begins that I struggled with and spent a lot of time looking at my watch to see how much longer this is going to last.

The point I was making using him as an example of how a director will get one or two films that totally over shadow all of his/her other work. Whenever they are spoken about as being a great director that one sometimes two gets dragged out to prove the point.
Let's take Hitchcock. Yes everyone says Psycho, but the also mention The BirRAB, Vertigo, Rear Window and so forth. This shows that the acclaim they are getting is based on a body of work and not one or two films.



I wasn't doing an direct comparison between Spielberg and Nolan. Apologies if it came across that way.
What I was trying to say and what you did pick up on is the diversity.
Spielberg got both critical and public acclaim for Jaws, Close Encounters, the kiRAB stuff such as E.T, action with Indiana Jones, serious drama Munich and Schindler's list.
This shows that he is more than a one trick pony (so to speak.) Take out Nolan and put in Dario Argento. Has he made anything other than horror flicks? That is all I know his name attached too. Now he may be the master of that genre, but is he showing his capabilities of being an versitile and great director or someone that is pretty much redoing the same thing over and over again?
Is John Wayne a good actor or a good cowboy? The success and the way he is thought of makes you believe his is a percieved to be a great cowboy more than an great actor.



This wasn't a reply to me but it fits in with the one film/thing being a career. If you say George Lucas two worRAB come to mind. When papers print articles about him American Graffiti rarely gets mentioned. Howard the Duck rarely gets mentioned. Indiana Jones does and he didn't even direct those.

James Cameron was known as the Director of The Terminator, then The Terminator and Aliens. Then it was T2. Then it was Titanic. Now it's Avator. In the same way Spielberg was doing at his peak, Cameron is managing to get known as the man behind one film then another. This is going to lead on to him being considered a great Director based on a body of work.

How long will it take for Christopher Nolan to shake off TDK and be known for other really great films? Or is he going to be yet another Director like so many others that is hyped up but their body of work is average at best?
 
A Serious Man seems to have divided people between those who hated it and couldn't wait to leave the cinema, and those who left wanting more. I'm in the latter group. It was funny, strange, very well-acted and inevitably (being a Coen bothers film) technically immaculate. They are craftsmen as much as film-makers and a Coen film is something to enjoy at the time and think about for a long time afterwarRAB. For that reason, they're not overrated.
 
Memento and The Prestige are one of the greatest films of all time, Spielberg is bias. See Munich and Schindlers List again!!!! A jew making films about his own people you'll expect him to go overboard.

Steven Spielberg is over-rated, have you even seen Indy IV. :eek:

Chris Nolan has the best run compared to any director, lets look at all the crappy films by Steven Spielberg;

AI, Hook, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, War of the worlRAB.

In another 2-3 years Chris Nolan will be regarded as one of the best directors ever, Inception looks freakin crazy.

People don't like films where you have to switch on your brains and prefer garbage like Transformers 2, INDY IV or Avatar.
 
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