Recently it occurred to me that David Cronenberg may be the world's greatest working director

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The first time I saw Naked Lunch, I said Cronenberg had outdone himself and would never top it or even equal it. Since then, he's released Crash, Spider, and A History of Violence. Plus, there's Shivers, The Brood, Scanners, Videodrome, The Dead Zone, The Fly, Dead Ringers, and eXistenZ. How many other (relatively young) directors working today can boast of a body of work of this caliber?

― Anthony (Anthony F), Sunday, 15 January 2006 17:09 (nineteen years ago)

I really like Neil Jordan, every movie of his I've watched I've really enjoyed. Yet, for some reason, I don't think of him when people ask me for my favourite director, apart from now -- obviously.

― Navek Rednam (Navek Rednam), Sunday, 15 January 2006 22:10 (nineteen years ago)

Cronenberg will be sixty-three this year, not exacly relatively young. I like almost al his movies, but for me they're always a (small) step below "masterpieces." There are lots of directors around his age I'd rate higher - for instance David Lynch, Hou Hsaio-Hsien or Wong Kar-Wai spring immediately to mind.

― Jeff LeVine (Jeff LeVine), Sunday, 15 January 2006 23:51 (nineteen years ago)

Wow! For some reason, I thought Cronenberg was only in his early 50's.

I think you're right about there not being one Cronenberg "masterpiece." The same can be said of Fuller, Fassbinder, and Pasolini. Cronenberg will most likely be remembered as a similar kind of cult icon.

― Anthony (Anthony F), Monday, 16 January 2006 13:12 (nineteen years ago)

I dunno if Fassbinder is a 'cult icon'; I'd think the academic and critical consensus might be that he's the best filmmaker of the last 35 years.

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Monday, 16 January 2006 14:36 (nineteen years ago)

A History of Violence, Crash, Spider, and Videodrome, are masterpieces for my money. There aren't too many English language filmmakers making consistantly great movies (for non E.L, you'd have to look at Kar Wai, Hsien, Tsia-ming Liang,Jia-Jenke and several others. Gus Van Sant's recent comeback puts him in the running, but thats about all I can think of. And Ill always see Jim Jarmusch as being a master director, who seldomly makes great movies.

― Kifah Foutah, Tuesday, 17 January 2006 06:00 (nineteen years ago)

A History of Violence, Crash, Spider, and Videodrome, are masterpieces for my money. There aren't too many English language filmmakers making consistantly great movies (for non E.L,you'd have to look at Kar Wai, Hsien, Tsia-ming Liang,Jia-Jenke and several others. Gus Van Sant's recent comeback puts him in the running, but thats about all I can think of. And Ill always see Jim Jarmusch as being a master director, who seldomly makes great movies.

― Kifah Foutah, Tuesday, 17 January 2006 06:01 (nineteen years ago)

The last Cronenberg movie I really enjoyed was Dead Ringers, so I'm going to disagree with this thread as a concept.

― polyphonic (polyphonic), Tuesday, 17 January 2006 07:42 (nineteen years ago)

four months pass...

Kifah said most of what I had intended. let me add:

Michel Gondry?
Terry Gilliam?

― davelus (davelus), Monday, 22 May 2006 20:58 (nineteen years ago)

Pedro Almodovar probably has the largest, most consistently good body of work of the directors working today.

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Monday, 22 May 2006 23:09 (nineteen years ago)

Gondry's had one good film, I don't think we need to start that bandwagon yet.

The idea/conceit of a Terry Gilliam movie is almost always better than sitting through one.

― milo z (mlp), Monday, 22 May 2006 23:56 (nineteen years ago)

i wouldn't disagree with cronenberg, though i'd probably go with wong kar-wai.

― gear (gear), Tuesday, 23 May 2006 00:43 (nineteen years ago)

The idea/conceit of a Terry Gilliam movie is almost always better than sitting through one.

-- milo z (wooderso...), May 23rd, 2006.

otm

― latebloomer (latebloomer), Thursday, 25 May 2006 05:09 (nineteen years ago)

and some have pretty lame idea/conceit's as it is.

― jed_ (jed), Friday, 26 May 2006 22:35 (nineteen years ago)

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