rank a director

[Fergenaprido]

Seen 0, but he's been on my radar forever. Largely avoided because of my aversion to horror

Watch his musical?
There a ninja kids flick that's pretty damn funny. Fantasy with yokai, lots of crime flicks (though I'm sure that's not really for you either). A lawyer game adaptation maybe?

I picked Zebraman simply because it was readily available, and it fit with the scifi poll for next month.

Isn't his musical Tokyo Tribe? Bit violent for me

What is a lawyer game?

[Onderhond]

Isn't his musical Tokyo Tribe? Bit violent for me

Nopes, For Love's Sake. Still a little violence there, but the musical bits are very jolly.

What is a lawyer game?

Ace Attorney. Never played the games, so couldn't really say. Might be an odd place to start, then again, so is Zebraman

[Fergenaprido]

I'll stick with Zebraman. Looks weird, but my kind of weird.

Also, I can't believe there's a video game about being a lawyer, lol.

[Onderhond]

Also, I can't believe there's a video game about being a lawyer, lol.

Why wouldn't there be. There's even a cross-over with Layton
Zebraman is a decent film to get acquainted with Miike's weird I guess, though it's far from his best work.

[AB537]

I've seen two: Audition and 13 Assassins. Liked both, but not the point that I've been prompted to prioritize seeking out his other films. Relatively low availability on the streaming services I subscribe to, but looks like there's a bit of content on Prime and Kanopy that might work for me (e.g. Hara-Kiri and First Love).

[beavis]

He had some great movies, but I've been burned on his bad ones so often that I have a hard time catching/keeping up, just not a priority for me... but when he's good, he's great fun, a true cult director!

1. Gokudô kyôfu dai-gekijô: Gozu (2003) 4 Gozu
2. 46-okunen no koi (2006) 4 Big Bang Love, Juvenile A
3. Jûsan-nin no shikaku (2010) 4 13 Assassins
4. Bijitâ Q (2001) 4 Visitor Q
5. Sukiyaki Western Django (2007) 4 Sukiyaki Western Django
6. Dead or Alive: Hanzaisha (1999) 3,5 Dead or Alive
7. Yôkai daisensô (2005) 3,5 The Great Yokai War
8. Izo (2004) 3,5 Izo
9. Ôdishon (1999) 3,5 Audition
10. Kamisama no iu tôri (2014) 3,5 As the Gods Will
11. Hatsukoi (2019) 3,5 First Love
12. Chûgoku no chôjin (1998) 3,5 The Bird People in China
13. Koroshiya 1 (2001) 3 Ichi the Killer
14. Gokudô sengokushi: Fudô (1996) 3 Fudoh: The New Generation
15. Araburu tamashii-tachi (2001) 3 Agitator
16. Dead or Alive 2: Tôbôsha (2000) 2,5 Dead or Alive 2: Birds
17. Dead or Alive: Final (2002) 2,5 Dead or Alive: Final
18. Jitsuroku Andô Noboru kyôdô-den: Rekka (2002) 2,5 Deadly Outlaw: Rekka
19. Hyôryû-gai (2000) 2 The City of Lost Souls
20. Gokudô daisenso (2015) 1,5 Yakuza Apocalypse
21. Wara no tate (2013) 1,5 Shield of Straw
22. Taiyô no kizu (2006) 1,5 Sun Scarred

[Lakigigar]

Not seen any, but it's a goal to explore him somewhat this year. If he's anything like Sono, i'll like a lot of movies. I'll start with Audition and Visitor Q.

Seen 0, but he's been on my radar forever. Largely avoided because of my aversion to horror

Watch his musical?
There a ninja kids flick that's pretty damn funny. Fantasy with yokai, lots of crime flicks (though I'm sure that's not really for you either). A lawyer game adaptation maybe?

I picked Zebraman simply because it was readily available, and it fit with the scifi poll for next month.

Isn't his musical Tokyo Tribe? Bit violent for me

What is a lawyer game?

Tokyo Tribe is directed by Sono. But that's a great musical too. Is it violent... i don't know, maybe. There is some action, but i like tokyo tribe for mostly other reasons, visually exceptionally strong, original, great that it's hip hop, fun & weird. A great musical for people who think all musicals are the same.

[flavo5000]

Seen 0, but he's been on my radar forever. Largely avoided because of my aversion to horror

Watch his musical?
There a ninja kids flick that's pretty damn funny. Fantasy with yokai, lots of crime flicks (though I'm sure that's not really for you either). A lawyer game adaptation maybe?

Yea, I mean Miike has done a really wide variety of stuff. If I had thought about it more, I would've gifted you Big Bang Juvenile A for Secret Santa. Bird People of China or Sabu may also be up your alley.

[Fergenaprido]

Seen 0, but he's been on my radar forever. Largely avoided because of my aversion to horror

Watch his musical?
There a ninja kids flick that's pretty damn funny. Fantasy with yokai, lots of crime flicks (though I'm sure that's not really for you either). A lawyer game adaptation maybe?

Yea, I mean Miike has done a really wide variety of stuff. If I had thought about it more, I would've gifted you Big Bang Juvenile A for Secret Santa. Bird People of China or Sabu may also be up your alley.

I've got Big Bang laying around (as well as Audition), and I remember being intrigued by the premise. If I like Zebraman enough, I'll prioritize BBJA and make it my next Miike.

[Good_Will_Harding]

Still a few blindspots for me, and I'm probably forgetting some as well.

Decided to start filling in some of those Spielberg blind spots of mine, at long last. Starting with Always tonight, and then will get around to at least 1941 sometime after, and maybe The Sugarland Express as well. A rewatch of Empire of the Sun also might be in the cards. Any tips? Pointers? Thoughts and prayers?

[Lonewolf2003]

Miike; I agree with others before that he rarely is boring and almost all his movie have some moment that are worth watching the movie for alone, I guess I'm a bit less forgiving for the movies overall not working all the time

Excellent
1. The Bird People in China (1998): 9.0
2. Zebraman (2004): 9.0

Good
3. Visitor Q (2001): 8.5
4. Izo (2004): 8.5
5. 13 Assassins (2010): 8.2
6. Audition (1999): 8.0
7. Ichi the Killer (2001): 8.0
8. Big Bang Love, Juvenile A (2006): 8.0
9. Sukiyaki Western Django (2008): 7.8

Fine
10. First Love (2019): 7.5
11. Terraformars (2016): 7.0
12. Dead or Alive 2: Birds (2000): 7.0

Okay
13. The Happiness of the Katakuris (2001): 6.5
14. Dead or Alive (1999): 6.5
15. Zebraman 2: Attack on Zebra City (2010): 6.5
16. Deadly Outlaw: Rekka (2002): 6.0

Mediocre
17. Dead or Alive: Final (2002): 5.5

Poor
18. Blade of the Immortal (2017): 4.0

[Fergenaprido]

Watch his musical?
There a ninja kids flick that's pretty damn funny. Fantasy with yokai, lots of crime flicks (though I'm sure that's not really for you either). A lawyer game adaptation maybe?

Yea, I mean Miike has done a really wide variety of stuff. If I had thought about it more, I would've gifted you Big Bang Juvenile A for Secret Santa. Bird People of China or Sabu may also be up your alley.

I've got Big Bang laying around (as well as Audition), and I remember being intrigued by the premise. If I like Zebraman enough, I'll prioritize BBJA and make it my next Miike.

So I watched Zebraman last night. I expected weird, and I got weird, though it was more confusing than weird at times. Surprisingly low budget, but it didn't really detract from the experience, thankfully. I liked it, but didn't love it, and I expect it won't remain my #1 Miike I think it the storyline had been clearer I would have enjoyed it more. I also see a number of people rated the sequel higher than the original, so I may give it a shot.

For now, though, Big Bang Love, Juvenile A will be my next Miike, maybe some time later this year.

[beavis]

next up, Olivier Assayas!
(ratings out of 5)

1. Irma Vep (1996) - 4,5
2. Clouds of Sils Maria (2014) - 4,5
3. L'eau froide (1994) - 4,5
4. Après mai (2012) - 4,5
5. Personal Shopper (2016) - 4
6. Fin août, début septembre (1998) - 4
7. Doubles vies (2018) - 4
8. Chacun son cinéma (2007) - 4
9. Les destinées sentimentales (2000) - 3,5
10. Demonlover (2002) - 3,5
11. Boarding Gate (2007) - 3,5
12. Paris, je t'aime (2006) - 3,5
13. Clean (2004) - 3
14. L'heure d'été (2008) - 3
15. Noise (2006) - 3
16. L'enfant de l'hiver (1989) - 3
17. Désordre (1986) - 3

His last movie went straight to Netflix overhere, haven't heard much (good) about it... but it is on top of my watchlist for Assayas at the moment

[Onderhond]

01. 3.0* - Paris, je t'aime (2006)
02. 3.0* - To Each His Own Cinema (2007)
03. 2.0* - Clouds of Sils Maria (2014)

Guess I wouldn't mind trying Personal Shopper, so far not too impressed.

[AB537]

Actually thought I'd seen more of Assayas' work. Definitely a director I'd want to explore more.

Great

Very Good

1. Clouds of Sils Maria (2014)

Good

2. Carlos (2010) ... miniseries version
3. Doubles vies - Non-Fiction (2018) ... been voting for this one in 500<400 for a couple years now
4. Personal Shopper (2016)

Above Average

5. Irma Vep (1996)

Okay

6. Wasp Network (2019)
7. L'eau froide - Cold Water (1994)

Not Good

[OldAle1]

Like everything I've seen, but have not really made an effort with him. Except for Clean all of these were seen new in the cinema, and all seen just once.

PLATINUM
1. Irma Vep

GOLD
2. Clouds of Sils Maria

SILVER
3. Clean
4. Personal Shopper
5. Fin août, début septembre
6. L'eau froide

Don't really remember the last two much, and really dying to re-watch Irma Vep.

[Lonewolf2003]

An interesting director, I like to seek out even if his movies don't always work for me completely.

Good
1. Clouds of Sils Maria (2014): 8.5
2. Irma Vep (1996): 8.0
3. Fin août, début septembre [Late August, Early September] (1998): 8.0
4. L'heure d'été [Summer Hours] (2008): 7.8

Fine
5. Personal Shopper (2016): 7.2
6. Doubles vies [Non Fiction] (2018): 7.2
7. Demonlover (2002): 7.0
8. Après mai [Something in the Air] (2012): 6.8
9. Désordre [Disorder] (1986): 6.8

Okay
10. L'enfant de l'hiver [Winter's Child] (1989): 6.2

Mediocre
11. Noise (2006): 5.5
12. L'eau froide [Cold Water] (1994): 5.2
13. Wasp Network (2019): 5.0

Poor
14.Boarding Gate (2007): 4.5

[GruesomeTwosome]

Assayas is a director that I want to get into more, my highest priority being Irma Vep.

Very good/borderline favorites:

1. Demonlover
2. Clouds of Sils Maria

Good:

3. L’eau froide / Cold Water
4. Personal Shopper

[Torgo]

I was kind of surprised to realize last year that the only Assayas films I've seen are ..

01. 3.0* - Paris, je t'aime (2006)
02. 3.0* - To Each His Own Cinema (2007)

.. so actually none. He's one I strongly expect to not like, seems to check exactly the arthouse boxes I find artificial / overrated.
I can only win this: I'll be "There, told you so" when I dislike these films or be pleasantly surprised when I do like them (like with two other works of Binoche's, High Life and Copie Conforme, that both attracted the wrong kind of praise and top lists for me but which I then enjoyed ).

[Silga]

Great director! I need to watch more of his films.

1. Carlos (full mini-series, watched in cinema) One of my favorites of 2010s.
2. Clouds of Sils Maria
3. Something in the Air
4. Non-Fiction
5. Wasp Network
6. Personal Shopper

[beavis]

one I strongly expect to not like, seems to check exactly the arthouse boxes I find artificial / overrated.

does this check some other boxes for you? (I don't know your taste well enough...)

[Caracortada]

1. Clouds of Sils Maria 7/10
2. Irma Vep 6
3. Clean 5
4. Après mai
5. Personal Shopper

I'm not including Chacun and Paris anymore, because I didn't rate the segments separately and they show up way too often.

[Onderhond]

Interesting results. When I watched Clouds of Sils Maria I had no clue who Assayas was and I didn't think much of it at the time. Just a bit of random euro-filler on Prime. Surprised to see it doing so well here.

[Fergenaprido]

Haven't seen any, but my friend Fazil is a huge fan so I've got a bunch of his films laying around but just haven't bothered to watch one yet. He's on my list of "directors I still need to see something by", though, so I'll try and get around to one of them this year. Maybe this month before the French mini-poll.

[tobias]

I was kind of surprised to realize last year that the only Assayas films I've seen are ..

01. 3.0* - Paris, je t'aime (2006)
02. 3.0* - To Each His Own Cinema (2007)

.. so actually none. He's one I strongly expect to not like, seems to check exactly the arthouse boxes I find artificial / overrated.
I can only win this: I'll be "There, told you so" when I dislike these films or be pleasantly surprised when I do like them (like with two other works of Binoche's, High Life and Copie Conforme, that both attracted the wrong kind of praise and top lists for me but which I then enjoyed ).

I don't know your taste in detail but in my mind Assayas is a guy who rips most contemporary American genre directors to shreds. A couple of years back (actually quite a while, maybe 7) there was a double feature of Clouds of Sils Maria and Irma Vep on Arte. Clouds of Sils Maria was largely what you probably allude to when you mention modern Binoche films and I almost wanted to turn it off afterwards (for the love of god Binoche is so annoying in that film - and I actually like her) but then I thankfully did watch Irma Vep and this is just completely none of that, really a wild ride and one of the best films of the 90's. So if I had turned off after Sils Maria I could perhaps sit here today and dislike Assayas but watching Irma Vep led me to explore his other films and now he's one of my favourite working directors.

Not all of his films are equally good. Non-Fiction (2018) for instance falls into a similar pithole as Clouds of Sils Maria for me but this is not reflective of Assayas as a whole at all. I think something like Carlos (2010) proves that he's a better director than Spielberg even on Spielbergs own premises - however as it seems the only recommendable version is the 5,5h TV version (I have not seen the short version but only heard bad things about it). I would recommend to try and start with Irma Vep or Summer Hours which are both short and the most consistent in their approach. Granted the later is a drama but it's extremely to the point (actually my 2nd favourite film of his). He kinda reminds me of Dominik Graf.

Edit: But seemingly everyone here loves Clouds of Sils Maria, so what do I know? I'll give you there are good bits in there, like the sci-fi film mockery with those body suits is hillarious. Thought about giving it another shot sometime but I'm almost positive it'll never be a favourite. So maybe the takeaway is to give at least 2 of his films a shot. He really does like to go in all kinds of different directions.

[tobias]

1. Demonlover
2. Summer Hours
3. Irma Vep
4. Carlos
5. Personal Shopper
6. Non-Fiction
7. Clouds of Sils Maria

First 2 are in my personal top 100 and both among my 10 favourite films of the century. 3 and 4 are amazing. Personal Shopper is good but doesn't quite reach the same heights. The bottom 2 I didn't like too much. Clouds of Sils Maria is maybe better than Non-Fiction but I watched the later when I liked Assayas a lot more. Really excited to see some of his earlier stuff but I'd watch almost anything with his name on it.

[pitchorneirda]

"Clouds of Sils Maria" is one of the two movies my wife and I agreed upon walking out on (the other one being Hubert Sauper's We Come as Friends) in almost 9 years living together. It's my first and only attempt with Assayas to date.

[Y U M E]

Although I encountered almost all of his output through the years (and Wasp Network will follow on Netflix somwhere this year) I’m not really a fan of his work. Two films that are worth watching, Also two movies with the great Maggie Cheung (one hit, one miss), who sadly retired from the silver screen after her last work with Assayas. I’m afraid the most positive thing I have to say about Assayas is that he worked a lot with John Cale, who is – to date – one of the greatest musicians out there (amongst other ‘giants’ like Sonic 'Noise' Youth).


Olivier Assayas

★★★★ | 8.4
01. L’Heure d’Été

★★★¾ | 8.0
02. Clean

★★★¼ | 7.2
03. Doubles Vies
04. Carlos

★★★ | 6.8
05. Après Mai
06. L’Eau Froide
07. Fin Août, Début Septembre

★★¾ | 6.4
08. The Clouds of Sils Maria
09. Noise

★★½ | 6.0
10. Paris S’Éveille
11. Personal Shopper

★★¼ | 5.5
12. Les Destinées Sentimentales
13. Désordre

★★ | 5.0
14. Demonlover

★¾ | 4.5
15. Boarding Gate

★½ | 4.0
16. Irma Vep
17. L'Enfant de l’Hiver


N/R
Quartier des Enfants Rouges, segment from Paris Je T’Aime
Recrudescence, segment from Chacun son Cinéma

[tobias]

I recently had to think about King Vidor again, one of the old Hollywood directors I've greatly admire but have sadly seen far too little by. I've just watched the Fountainhead and wondered what people think about his other films and which I should bookmark. Ranking him is very hard because so far I've given all his films the same rating it seems. I'll give it a try:

1. The Great Parade
2. The Crowd
3. The Fountainhead
4. Duel in the Sun (aka. Lust in the Dust)
5. Truth and Illusion: An Introduction to Metaphysics
6. Show People

Though as I've said, they are all roughly equally good in my eyes.

[OldAle1]

Seen a fair number over the years, more than I remembered actually. I think I've seen each of these just once, and none in the cinema, and over a period of 30+ years, so my sense of Vidor's talents isn't as strong as it could be. Ones I'd particularly need to see again for a better evaluation are 4,5,8,14,16,17.

As to what to see - well, 3 of my top 7 are silent and all of the top two groups date from the 20s and 30s. I think I'm not alone in believing that his best work was for the most part pre-war.

PLATINUM
1. The Crowd
2. Hallelujah
3. Bardelys the Magnificent

GOLD
4. Our Daily Bread
5. Stella Dallas
6. The Big Parade
7. Show People

SILVER
8. 'Northwest Passage' (Book I -- Rogers' Rangers)
9. The Fountainhead
10. The Metaphor
11. Cynara
12. The Texas Rangers
13. Bird of Paradise
14. Beyond the Forest

BRONZE
-

COPPER
15. Man Without a Star
16. Duel in the Sun
17. The Champ

ALUMINUM
18. Solomon and Sheba

[AB537]

Unfortunately I wouldn't be much help here. Apparently I've seen 8 of King Vidor's films, but most were a while ago and none really left a strong enough impression - positive or negative - for me to be able to rank with any confidence years later.

[RolandKirkSunglasses]

A director I've managed to see a few films from without actively soughting out his work. My top 2 were the first I've seen from him and it's been downhill ever since, seems I prefer his silent work over sound. Top 2 I'd call good, 8-10 are awful and the rest are OK/watchable if slightly flawed.

1. The Crowd
2. The Big Parade
3. The Patsy
4. Show People
5. Stella Dallas
6. Street Scene
7. Hallelujah
8. War & Peace
9. The Fountainhead
10. Duel in the Sun

[St. Gloede]

Neither Assayas nor Vidor are among my very favourite directors, but each of them has created films I consider favourites.

Olivier Assayas

Masterpiece

Irma Vep (1996)

Other excellent films:

L'eau froide (1994)

Great:

Personal Shopper (2016)
Demonlover (2002)
Clouds of Sils Maria (2014)
L'enfant de l'hiver (1989)
Doubles vies (2018)
Désordre (1986)

Very good

L'heure d'été (2008)
Après mai (2012)



King Vidor

Favourites:

The Crowd (1928)
Street Scene (1931)

Other excellent films:

The Fountainhead (1949)
The Champ (1931)

Great:

Souls for Sale (1923)
Duel in the Sun (1946)
Show People (1928)

Very good

'Northwest Passage' (Book I -- Rogers' Rangers) (1940)
Bardelys the Magnificent (1926)
The Patsy (1928)
The Big Parade (1925)
Stella Dallas (1937)
La Bohème (1926)

Good enough

Love Never Dies (1921)
Wine of Youth (1924)
Our Daily Bread (1934)
Wild Oranges (1924)
Beyond the Forest (1949)
The Jack-Knife Man (1920)

Decent

The Citadel (1938)
Not So Dumb (1930)

Poor

The Sky Pilot (1921)

Bad

Hallelujah (1929)

[blocho]

I don't have a distinct impression of Vidor's work as a director, unfortunately.

Superlative

Very Good

Good
The Big Parade
The Citadel
Man without a Star

OK
Northwest Passage
Duel in the sun

Misfires

[Lonewolf2003]

King Vidor is one of those big old names I have seen almost nothing of yet. Only seen Bird of Paradise (1932), which I liked a lot (8.0).

[Fergenaprido]

1. 8.0 - Our Daily Bread (1934)
2. 7.8 - The Champ (1931)
3. 7.8 - The Big Parade (1925)

Nothing bad so far.

[Torgo]

Seen hardly a handful, and I had a soft spot for The Patsy back then.

[Onderhond]

Great name.

01. 1.5* - The Wizard of Oz (1939) (going by IMDb here)
02. 1.0* - The Crowd (1928)

[prodigalgodson]

Pretty stellar director, even with subpar material. Should see more from him.

Duel in the Sun 9/10
The Crowd
Lightning Strikes Twice
The Fountainhead 7/10
Beyond the Forest 6/10
The Big Parade

I had The Crowd down as an 8, but that doesn't seem right, it's made a more lasting impression on me than almost any other silent. The Big Parade is very impressive cinematically but pretty much beat a dead literary horse (shoot me if I ever have to sit through his take on War and Peace). Duel in the Sun is bananas but its appeal is hard to attribute to any one person (I have to imagine Sternberg was responsible for that banquet dolly shot, which I still remember what, 12 years down the line).

[beavis]

only 4 for me (rankings out of 5):

1 . Show People (1928) 4
2 . The Patsy (1928) 3,5
3 . The Big Parade (1925) 3,5
4 . The Crowd (1928) 3

His silents somehow looked appealing to me, none of his other work really does, but I'm sure I might like some...