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[Goldenroad]

Christoper Guest

GOD TIER

Waiting for Guffman
Best in Show
A Mighty Wind
(plus Spinal Tap, which he didn't direct...so whatever)

COMPLETE DRIVEL

For Your Consideration

WORST MOVIE EVER

Almost Heroes

 

[see5harp]

Woody's films of the past 10 years or so have been hot and cold, but nobody's questioning his record before that.

Yea but a cold Woody Allen is like 10x better than Rollerball. Are we really going to try and go out on a limb and say Curse of the Jade Scorpion was terrible? Come on son.

 

[linsivvi]

Yea but a cold Woody Allen is like 10x better than Rollerball. Are we really going to try and go out on a limb and say Curse of the Jade Scorpion was terrible? Come on son.

I always wondered where he found the energy to write and direct a film every year, especially at his age. I would've retired long ago.

 

[DataStream]

Spike Lee is worth mentioning.

Made some greats and also made Girl 6

 

[JaseC]

I can't believe Andrew Niccol didn't instantly come to mind.

Wrote/directed Gattaca.

Wrote The Truman Show.

Wrote/directed In Time and The Host.

What the fuck.

I came in here to mention Niccol. Gattaca is one of the most impressive directorial debuts I've ever seen, but even Saoirse Ronan couldn't save the utterly abysmal trainwreck of filmmaking that is The Host.

 

[MikeMyers]

For me it's got to be John Carpenter.

Ridley Scott is also up there where his best films are spectacular, and the worst films are slow and pointless.

It's more of a case that he just lose his way after In the Mouth of Madness.

Ridley Scott I agree with.

Coppola has made some really bad ones I think. I definitely agree with the 2 above.

Coppola just had a lot of financial issues, and did a lot of director-for-hire work. His heart probably just wasn't in those other films.

 

[PsihoPerihelion]

Oliver Stone went from Platoon, JFK and Born on the 4th of July to crap like Savages, W. and that 9/11 movie with Nic Cage.

Another example would be Billy Wilder. He made some masterpieces like The Apartment, Sunset Boullevard and Some Like it Hot but ended his career with the terrible, terrible Buddy Buddy. I can't believe his last film was some piece of shit 'compadres' comedy. Makes me sad.

Edit: Ron Howard is another great example. Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind and Frost/Nixon are godtier imo, but DaVinci Code, Angels and Demons, EdTV and The Dilemma are some of the worst movies I've ever seen.

 

[Nappuccino]

I know John McTiernan has been mentioned a couple times, but the gap between his highs and lows are huge.

Highs: Predator, Die Hard, The Hunt for Red October

Lows: Rollerball, Basic, being in federal prison

My soda went everywhere.

Damn you, sir. Damn you.

 

[Bobby Roberts]

Yeah, Geek basically just took the thread.

 

[Trakdown]

Irvin Kershner: From Empire Strikes Back to Robocop 2.

 

[Net_Wrecker]

Carpenter has some crap, but even his lesser efforts still have heart. Aside from The Ward. And even then, he has, IMO, at least 10 movies that range from fun nonsense to classic. Carpenter's cool with me.

Michael Mann for me

Last of the mohicans, heat, collateral vs. ali, Miami vice, public enemies (decent)

Mann only has one outright bad movie: The Keep. it's low, but "lowest low?" IDK about that. Miami Vice is great IMO, and PE + Ali are mediocre with some great moments.

Zemeckis, as much as I love his great movies, is a good answer for this thread. The gap between BttF, or Romancing The Stone, or Roger Rabbit, or Contact, or even Forrest Gump and Cast Away, to The Polar Express and Beowulf is immense. Luckily, Flight was a step in the right direction.

Argento as well, after recently going through much of his cinematography. Fell off hard after making absolutely amazing movies in the 70s and 80s.

Andrew Niccol is a very good pick too. I dunno what happened to him. Gattaca is so damn good, as is The Truman Show but then his recent work.....

 

[soundtrack]

Sofia Coppola, hands down. Lost in Translation is my favorite movie of all time, but every other work she's done is tragically underwhelming. I still have a soft spot for her though, so I give a lot of lenience towards her films.

 

[Arkos]

OP destroys it.

Carpenter has some amazing stuff and some horrible shit.

I agree with Ridley Scott, but I say Alien and Blade Runner are his only good films, and most people would probably include others. But those films are so good that it totally counts

 

[Count of Monte Sawed-Off]

Mann only has one outright bad movie: The Keep. it's low, but "lowest low?" IDK about that. Miami Vice is great IMO, and PE + Ali are mediocre with some great moments.

Definitely. Although I still haven't seen the Keep, but by all accounts it is pretty bad.

 

[The perfect Dark]

Joe Dante

Good: Piranhas, Gremlins 1+2

Looney Tunes: BiA, The Hole

 

[Illithid Dude]

Paul Schrader. He's gone from making the GOAT biopic (Mishima) to The Canyons.

 

[DrSlek]

For me it's got to be John Carpenter.

On one side he made The Thing, Halloween, Escape from New York and They Live, and on the other side you've got Ghosts of Mars.

I haven't seen all of his movies, but with something like The Thing, you can really see the sort of genius he can be, but then with the stuff he's done bad, it just comes off like he doesn't care, at all.

Ridley Scott is also up there where his best films are spectacular, and the worst films are slow and pointless.

You haven't lived if you haven't seen Big Trouble in Little China.

 

[Arkos]

You haven't lived if you haven't seen Big Trouble in Little China.

This deserves quoting

 

[breakfuss]

Yeah, Prometheus really wasn't that bad. Not good, but certainly not bad enough to negatively counter his other work.

 

[D.Lo]

Eh, John Carpenter is pretty consistent. He has a couple of duds, many decent B-flicks, and a few absolute classics.

Classics
The Thing
Escape from New York
Assault on Precinct 13
Halloween

Great movies
Starman
They Live
Big Trouble in Little China
Christine

Decent B movies
Ghosts of Mars
Village of the Damned
Escape from LA
The Fog
The Ward
In the Mouth of Madness

Actually bad:
Prince of Darkness
That Chevy Chase one

What a career. He's no Peter Weir for consistency, but better than most!

I'll vote for Ridley Scott however. Alien and Blade Runner, and to a lesser extent Gladiator, now look like accidents.

 

[Dead Man]

Michael Cimino.

He went from Deer Hunter, which catapulted his status, straight to Heaven's Gate, one of the biggest flops that ruined his name

Came to post this.

From

to

 

[breakfuss]

Came to post this.

Ah, that sucks!! I only saw Deer Hunter last year, but it's one of the most brilliant films I've had the pleasure of watching. Just bloody brilliant.

 

[Dead Man]

Ah, that sucks!! I only saw Deer Hunter last year, but it's one of the most brilliant films I've had the pleasure of watching. Just bloody brilliant.

Yeah, it is such an amazing film, the whole cast is just perfect. Even the parts that I feel are a bit long pay off in the end. And then he went and made in dollar to quality ratio what is probably the worst film ever made.

 

[Sojgat]

Eh, John Carpenter is pretty consistent. He has a couple of duds, many decent B-flicks, and a few absolute classics.

Classics
The Thing
Escape from New York
Assault on Precinct 13
Halloween

Great movies
Starman
They Live
Big Trouble in Little China
Christine

Decent B movies
Ghosts of Mars
Village of the Damned
Escape from LA
The Fog
The Ward
In the Mouth of Madness

Actually bad:
Prince of Darkness
That Chevy Chase one

What a career. He's no Peter Weir for consistency, but better than most!

I'll vote for Ridley Scott however. Alien and Blade Runner, and to a lesser extent Gladiator, now look like accidents.

Are you trying to say something about Vampires?

Also, Ridley has a few other good movies; Kingdom of Heaven (director's cut), The Duellists, Black Rain, even Black Hawk Down. Most of his failures I put down to bad scripts.

 

[Screaming Meat]

Holy crap, when going through the filmography of Coppola, Godfather 1&2 and Apocalypse Now comes off as a broken clock being right twice a day.

Actually bad:
Prince of Darkness

Uh, no. Terrible acting? By the bucket load, but that film is one of the most horribly claustrophobic experiences.

I think Ridley Scott is the answer here.

 

[Femmeworth]

I can't believe Andrew Niccol didn't instantly come to mind.

Wrote/directed Gattaca.

Wrote The Truman Show.

Wrote/directed In Time and The Host.

What the fuck.

Gattaca isn't much of a high.

 

[D.Lo]

How about a thread for the most consistently brilliant? I'd go with Terry Gilliam, as well as my earlier call of Peter Weir. Vast majority of their catalogues are near-perfect films.

Are you trying to say something about Vampires?

Haven't seen it, I'd expect somewhere in the middle? This wasn't a complete list, I was just painting a picture.

Uh, no. Terrible acting? By the bucket load, but that film is one of the most horribly claustrophobic experiences.

Fair enough, I'll give it another chance. I love Carpenter basically, even at his blandest.

Also, Ridley has a few other good movies; Kingdom of Heaven (director's cut), The Duellists, Black Rain, even Black Hawk Down. Most of his failures I put down to bad scripts.

Eh, I guess he can place the camera well. And pick good art directors. Even the pure turn Prometheus looked nice.
But I think someone else needs some vision for his pictures to shine. He needs an editor who can shape his stuff at every level or something, Black Rain is just imagery with little point for example.

 

[digoutyoursoul]

irvin kershner

From Empire Strikes Back to Robocop 2

 

[Vintage_Creep]

Eh, John Carpenter is pretty consistent. He has a couple of duds, many decent B-flicks, and a few absolute classics.

Classics
The Thing
Escape from New York
Assault on Precinct 13
Halloween

Great movies
Starman
They Live
Big Trouble in Little China
Christine

Decent B movies
Ghosts of Mars
Village of the Damned
Escape from LA
The Fog
The Ward
In the Mouth of Madness

Actually bad:
Prince of Darkness
That Chevy Chase one

What a career. He's no Peter Weir for consistency, but better than most!

I'll vote for Ridley Scott however. Alien and Blade Runner, and to a lesser extent Gladiator, now look like accidents.

WHAT? Prince Of Darkness is bad and worse than Village Of The Damned?
In The Mouth Of Madness a "decent B movie"?
This is a joke, right?

Carpenter is one of the best horror directors of all time, he slipped only once, maybe two times. It's incredible how is badly recognized.

 

[Screaming Meat]

irvin kershner

From Empire Strikes Back to Robocop 2

Woah there, pickle! Robocop 2 was alright. Robocop 3, though...

Fair enough, I'll give it another chance. I love Carpenter basically, even at his blandest.

I'll tell you this: you ever played Space Invaders? You remember the horrible feeling as the aliens got closer and the music got faster? John Carpenter turned that unbearable tension into a film. Not his best by a long shot, but equally not his worst.

 

[DjRoomba]

Well obviously gotta be from this:

to this:

no?

 

[vio]

Ridley Scott He made Alien! and...Prometheus :S
Martin Campbell from Casino Royale to Green Lantern.

 

[Joni]

James Cameron:
The Good: The Terminator, Aliens, The Abyss, ...
The Bad: The Exodus Decoded, Piranha II: The Spawning

 

[cchum]

WHAT? Prince Of Darkness is bad and worse than Village Of The Damned?
In The Mouth Of Madness a "decent B movie"?
This is a joke, right?

Carpenter is one of the best horror directors of all time, he slipped only once, maybe two times. It's incredible how is badly recognized.

Memoirs from an Invisible Man is an enjoyable movie. Come at me GAF! Truth be told, I think he stopped giving a crap at around the time Escape from LA came out. I love carpenter too; can we kickstart him?

 

[GrotesqueBeauty]

John Carpenter and Ridley Scott are both good choices. OP totally anticipated my first reaction. Wes Craven also comes to mind, although his best movies aren't quite as exceptional as some of the other directors that come to mind. Dario Argento is another good example. Huge drop off in quality there. I would also say Werner Herzog. His movies seriously range from masterpieces to boring pieces of shit.

 

[JaseC]

Memoirs from an Invisible Man is an enjoyable movie. Come at me GAF! Truth be told, I think he stopped giving a crap at around the time Escape from LA came out. I love carpenter too; can we kickstart him?

Considering the man is 65 and there were 9 years between Ghost of Mars and The Ward, both of which failed to make a profit, I wouldn't be surprised if he's done.

 

[Sojgat]

WHAT? Prince Of Darkness is bad and worse than Village Of The Damned?
In The Mouth Of Madness a "decent B movie"?
This is a joke, right?

Carpenter is one of the best horror directors of all time, he slipped only once, maybe two times. It's incredible how is badly recognized.

This.

In The Mouth Of Madness fucked me up. First time I watched it was at a friends house, who lived in a rural area far out of town. Drove home that night, and of course, out in the middle of nowhere, there was some bogan riding his pushbike in the middle of the road. I almost had a panic attack.

 

[Mgoblue201]

Holy crap, when going through the filmography of Coppola, Godfather 1&2 and Apocalypse Now comes off as a broken clock being right twice a day.

Coppola's output in the 70s represents possibly the best decade any filmmaker has ever had and can't really be explained as a fluke. Apocalypse Now, The Conversation, and The Godfather I and II are all masterpieces, and in addition he also co-wrote the script of Patton, for which he earned an Oscar. However, in the 80s he started doing these weird sentimental films that lacked much of the vision of his earlier movies. He definitely has one of the strangest careers in the history of film.

 

[digoutyoursoul]

Woah there, pickle! Robocop 2 was alright. Robocop 3, though...



I'll tell you this: you ever played Space Invaders? You remember the horrible feeling as the aliens got closer and the music got faster? John Carpenter turned that unbearable tension into a film. Not his best by a long shot, but equally not his worst.

It's all opinion. I thought Robo 2 was disappointing compared to the brilliant original

 

[Dead Man]

Coppola's output in the 70s represents possibly the best decade any filmmaker has ever had and can't really be explained as a fluke. Apocalypse Now, The Conversation, and The Godfather I and II are all masterpieces, and in addition he also co-wrote the script of Patton, for which he earned an Oscar. However, in the 80s he started doing these weird sentimental films that lacked much of the vision of his earlier movies. He definitely has one of the strangest careers in the history of film.

Yeah. It's cliched, but I think Apocalypse Now broke him.

 

[Blader]

Ridley was the first one that came to mind, but Coppola's a good pick too. I don't think I've even seen any of his post-70s film though, except Jack.

DePalma is the wrong choice for this thread

Spoiler

because he was never good

I always wondered where he found the energy to write and direct a film every year, especially at his age. I would've retired long ago.

An intense fear of death.

 

[Zen_Arcade]

Tim Burton.

 

[Vintage_Creep]

Also Sam Raimi.

Evil Dead trilogy, Darkman, Drag Me To Hell and then SPIDERMAN 3.
A Simple Plan and then OZ: THE GREAT AND POWERFUL.

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

M. Night Shyamalan the thread.

Eh, I never thought his highs were all that high.

 

[mxgt]

Cronenberg

You have The Fly and Dead Ringers and then you have Cosmopolis

 

[linsivvi]

Ridley was the first one that came to mind, but Coppola's a good pick too. I don't think I've even seen any of his post-70s film though, except Jack.

DePalma is the wrong choice for this thread

Spoiler

because he was never good

An intense fear of death.

Well then I hope he stays alive. Even if only one of out three of his new movies are good, it's still amazing given his age.

 

[Screaming Meat]

It's all opinion. I thought Robo 2 was disappointing compared to the brilliant original

Of course. Disappointing? Sure, but you really think it was that bad, especially when taking RC3 into consideration? Now, that was truly appalling.

I thought RC2 managed to improve on the satirical TV stuff from the original (dat suntan)! It also brought us Cain. How can you not love the design work here:

 

[Sinatar]

Paul Verhoeven

Highs:

Lows:

 

[EliCash]

American Graffiti to The Phantom Menace / Attack of the Clones is the biggest disparity in quality I can think of.

Michael Cimino.

He went from Deer Hunter, which catapulted his status, straight to Heaven's Gate, one of the biggest flops that ruined his name

Heaven's Gate was a low for a number of reasons but I don't necessarily think it's a bad film.

 

[DonasaurusRex]

I know John McTiernan has been mentioned a couple times, but the gap between his highs and lows are huge.

Highs: Predator, Die Hard, The Hunt for Red October

Lows: Rollerball, Basic, being in federal prison

when you describe the lows as HUGE i dont know if you should take Basic and put it next to rollerball and being in prison...some movies are forgettable but they arent rollerball..or prison...or being in prison watching roller ball.