Rank Good Director's Films in Order of Goodness

some random good directors....(I haven't seen all the movies by these guys)

Atom Egoyan
1. The Sweet Hereafter
2. Exotica
3. Calender
4. Next of Kin

Werner Herzog
1. Aguirre: The Wrath of God
2. Stroszek
3. Fitzcarraldo
4. The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser
5. Nosferatu
6. Invincible
7.Cobra Verde

Scorsese
1. Raging Bull
2. Taxi Driver
3. Mean Streets
4. Goodfellas
5. The King of Comedy
6. The Age of Innocence
7. Casino
8. Bringing Out the Dead
9. Gangs of New York

I'm really looking forward to the upcoming scorsese boxset, as i haven't even seen a few of the movies in there.

Andrei Tarkovsky

1. Stalker
2.Mirror
3. Andrei Rublev
4. Nostalghia
5. Solyaris
6. the Sacrifice
7. My Name Is Ivan

Werner Herzog

1. Aguirre
2. Even Dwarves Started Small
3. Woyzeck
4. the Enigma of Kaspar Hauser
5. Fitzcarraldo
6. Nosferatu
7. Stroszek

Alain Resnais

1. Last Year in Marienbad
2. Hiroshima, Mon Amour
3. Muriel

Ingmar Bergman

1. the Silence
2. Persona
3. Wild Strawberries
4. the Seventh Seal
5. the Magician
6. Winter Light
7. Through a Glass Darkly
8. Hour of the Wolf
9. The Virgin Spring
10. other stuff...

Sergei Parajanov

1. Shadows of Our Forgotten Ancestors
2. The Colour of Pomegranites
3. the Legend of Tsurami Fortress

Andrzej Wajda

1. Kanal
2. Ashes and Diamonds
3. A Generation

Jean-Luc Godard

1. Band of Outsiders
2. Pierrot Le Fou
3. Breathless
4. Alphaville

Carl Theodor Dreyer

1. Vampyr
2. Day of Wrath
3. Ordet

Atom Egoyan

1. Exotica
2. the Sweet Hereafter
3. the Adjuster
4. Felecia's Journey
5. Calendar
6. Speaking Parts

David Cronenberg

1. Videodrome
2. Naked Lunch
3. Crash
4. Spider
5. eXistenZ
6. Scanners

Wes Anderson

1. Royal Tenenbaums
2. Rushmore
3. Bottle Rocket

Stanley Kubrick

1. Full Metal Jacket
2. Clockwork Organge
3. Doctor Strangelove
4. Eyes Wide Shut
5. 2001
6. the Shining
7. Barry Lyndon
8. Lolita

well there are tonnes of other, but for a lot of them, i can only speak for one or two films... here are some of my other favourites:

Francois Truffaut
Robert Bresson
Agnes Varda
Hiroshi Teshigahara
Shohei Imamura
Yasujiro Ozu
Suzuki Seijun
Masahiro Shinoda
David Gordon Green
Buster Keaton
Dziga Vertov
Federico Fellini
Carlos Saura
Victor Erice
Stan Brakhage
Nicolas Roeg
Chris Marker
Gus Van Sant
Guy Maddin
Denis Villeneuve
Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Mikhail Kalatozov

and others who i can't recall right now... etc, etc... i know the minute i post this i'll remember someone really cool, who i love...

todd solondz
1. happiness
2. welcome to the dollhouse
3. storytelling (not too great, but it's more than watchable)

terry zwigoff
1. ghost world
2. crumb

tim burton
1. beetlejuice
2. batman
3. big fish
4. edward scissorhands

good calls

Tarkovsky
1. Andrei rublev
2. The Mirror
3. Stalker
4. solyaris
5. Nostalghia

Bergman
1. The Seventh Seal
2. Winter Light
3. Persona
4. The Silence
5. Through a glass Darkly
6. Wild Strawberries
7. Cries and whispers

Kubrick
1. 2001
2. a Clockwork orange
3. Dr. Strangelove
4. the Shining
5. Full Metal Jacket
6. Paths of Glory
7. Barry Lyndon

fellini
1. 8 1/2
2. Nights of cabria
3. La Dolce Vita
4. La Strada
5. Amarcord
6. Satyricon

cronenberg
1. dead Ringers
2. Videodrome
3. eXistenZ
4. Naked Lunch
5. Crash
6. Spider
7. The Fly
8. m Butterfly
9. early work...which still rocks

Lynch
1. the Elephant Man
2. Eraserhead
3. The Straight Story
4. Blue Velvet
5. Mullholand Dr.
6. Lost Highway
7. Wild at Heart

FW Murnau

1. Sunrise
2. faust
3. Nosferatu.

BERGMAN
Wild Strawberries
The Seventh Seal
Persona
Shame
Through a Glass Darkly
Winter's Light
Cries and Whispers
The Silence
The Passion of Anna
The Magic Flute
The Hour of the Wolf
Smiles of a Summer's Night
Autumn Sonata

CRONENBERG
Dead Ringers
eXistenZ
Videodrome
Shivers
Naked Lunch
The Fly
Spider
The Brood
The Dead Zone
Scanners

TARKOVSKY
The Sacrifice
Andrei Rublev
Nostalghia
Stalker
Solaris
The Mirror

KUBRICK
2001: A Space Odyssey
Dr. Strangelove
A Clockwork Orange
The Shining
Paths of Glory
Full Metal Jacket
Lolita
Barry Lyndon
Eyes Wide Shut
Spartacus

FELLINI
8 1/2
Nights of Cabiria
La Strada
Amarcord
La Dolce Vita
Juliet of the Spirits

Unfortunately, with most directors, I watch two or three of their movies and then move on to a different auteur. Hopefully, I'll find time and resources later to be more of a completist.

Victor Erice

Erice is unfortunately far too little known. About a year ago, I saw everything at BAM, aside from a short, and they're all gorgeously photographed, crucial in theater watching. "Sprirt of the Beehive" is amongst my favorite films about youth, while "Dream of Light" is a lovely film about artistic process. It's frank and un-mystificatory, but gets at something very profound: the sense of time in a still image. Despite seeming so, it's a very complex film, and deals with a lot of interesting ideas.

people don't give Through a Glass Darkly nearly enough credit. I was psyched when Jason Lescalleet agreed with me a couple of days ago that it's Bergman's best (not that I've come close to seeing everything yet). it's a perfect movie, like an impeccably composed string quartet (four characters), maybe the most musical movie in terms of composition that I've ever seen.

people don't give Through a Glass Darkly nearly enough credit. I was psyched when Jason Lescalleet agreed with me a couple of days ago that it's Bergman's best (not that I've come close to seeing everything yet). it's a perfect movie, like an impeccably composed string quartet (four characters), maybe the most musical movie in terms of composition that I've ever seen.

Damn, I've had that Bergman box sitting in my room for like months now. I suppose this will give me the kick in the ass I need to go watch it, or Through a Glass, at least.

people don't give Through a Glass Darkly nearly enough credit. I was psyched when Jason Lescalleet agreed with me a couple of days ago that it's Bergman's best (not that I've come close to seeing everything yet). it's a perfect movie, like an impeccably composed string quartet (four characters), maybe the most musical movie in terms of composition that I've ever seen.

it's not that i don't like it, i just happen to think that it isn't quite as impeccable as the films i listed above it... Bergman is easily one of my favourite filmmakers ever... the way you described Through A Glass Darkly, is how i would decribe the Silence (i actually wrote an essay on the sound of that film for a class not long ago)

in any case, i would recommend to Mr. Mile (Prenom Texas) that he watch the ENTIRE Trilogy, because altogether it is very sweet... and definitely benefits from being seen in this context (not that any of the films is incomplete without the others)

I haven't seen the Magician, but I prefer Through a Glass Darkly to all of the others you listed ahead of it. I know I'm in the minority, which is why I was psyched that Mr. Lescalleet agreed with me the other day.

I haven't seen the Magician, but I prefer Through a Glass Darkly to all of the others you listed ahead of it. I know I'm in the minority, which is why I was psyched that Mr. Lescalleet agreed with me the other day.

out of curiosity, what would you say is most important to you about a film... i know for me personally, the visual--how it's lit, how it's framed, how it moves--is by far the most important factor... which is a large part of why i prefer Persona and the Silence to a film like Through a Glass... not that pretty much all of Bergman's films aren't gorgeous (and really, i'd like to mention that i feel like i'm quibbling over decimal points here as far as quality goes)...

out of curiosity, what would you say is most important to you about a film... i know for me personally, the visual--how it's lit, how it's framed, how it moves--is by far the most important factor... which is a large part of why i prefer Persona and the Silence to a film like Through a Glass... not that pretty much all of Bergman's films aren't gorgeous (and really, i'd like to mention that i feel like i'm quibbling over decimal points here as far as quality goes)...

it depends on the movie, but as you said, I don't think there's too much of a difference between any of these Bergmans in terms of visuals, they're all pretty beautiful.

I just saw Persona this past week, and it felt a bit muddled to me in terms of content, overambitious. maybe Through a Glass Darkly isn't as ambitious, but it's perfectly achieved. the interplay and balance between the characters is impeccable, and it moved me in a way that other Bergman movies haven't really (Scenes from a Marriage is an exception, that one might be second for me), they often leave me impressed but a bit cold.

I somehow managed to not mention not only Friedrich Murnau... who is definitely one of my favourite silent filmmakers... but also Abbas Kiarostami, who is definitely one of the coolest current filmmakers... his films are like ambient field recordings... so gorgeous and simultaneously restful and restless... amazing stuff

Billy Wilder

Sunset Blvd
The Apartment
Double Ideminity
Stalag 17
Love In The Afternoon
Some Like It Hot
Irma La Doce
Ace In The Hole
Sabrina
Witness For The Prosecution
Seven Year Itch
Spirit of St. Louis
(his other stuff)
fortune cookie.

Howard Hawks

The Big Sleep
His Girl Friday
Bringing Up Baby
Red River
Gentleman Prefer Blondes
To Have and To Have Not
Scarface
Rio Bravo

John Ford

The Searchers
Grapes of Wrath
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Stagecoach
They Were Expandable
My Darling Clemintine
Quiet Man
She Wore a Yellow Ribbion
Young Mr. Lincoln\

Robert Aldrich

Kiss Me Deadly
What Happened To Baby Jane?
Dirty Dozen
The Big Knife
The Longest Yard
Apache

John Huston

Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Asphalt Jungle
Maltese Falcon
The Unforgiven
African Queen
Beat the Devil
Key Largo
The Man Who Would Be King
The Misfits
Mackintosh Man
Red Badge Of Courage

Spike Lee

Do The Right Thing
Malcolm X
Bamboozled
Four Little Girls
She's Gotta Have It
Mo Better Blues
25th Hour
Jungle Fever
Clockers
Crooklyn
Kings Of Comedy
School Daze
Get On The Bus
He Got Game
Girl 6

[grisha]

Alexei German:

1. Checkpoint
1. Twenty Days Without War
1. My Friend Ivan Lapshin

haven't seen Khrustaliov, My Car!

and i hate lists, mostly

Just Italians, why not. Truly precipitous declines with ellipses.

Fellini (fiddled with this considerably 6/11/05):
8 1/2
I, Vitelloni
La Dolce Vita
Juliet of the Spirits
White Sheik
Nights of Cabiria
And The Ship Sails On
Roma
La Strada
Amarcord
Il Bidone
Intervista
Satyricon
...
City of Women

Visconti:
The Leopard
Rocco & His Brothers
White Nights
La Terra Trema
Death In Venice
Ossessione
...
Senso

Antonioni, who I don't really like past the first two anyway:
L'Avventura
Blow-Up
L'Eclisse
La Notte
...
The Passenger
Red Desert
...
Beyond The Clouds

Bertolucci:
The Conformist
The Spider's Strategem
...
Before The Revolution / Last Tango In Paris
Last Emperor
Dreamers


Pasolini:
The Passion According to Matthew
Accattone
Mamma Roma
...
Teorema
Medea

Anyone wanna do Fassbinder for me?

what i have seen of Fassbinder:

1-Satansbraten
2-Fox and His Friends
3-I Only Want You to Love Me
4-The Merchant of Four Seasons


i'd be really hard-pressed to tell you why i like the guy... but i find myself liking all four of these films... Je ne sais quoi...

Anyone wanna do Fassbinder for me?

of what I've seen, here you go. there's really not too much difference between first and last on this list, though:

Ali: Fear Eats The Soul
In A Year of 13 Moons
Marriage of Maria Braun
Fox and His Friends
Bitter Tears of Petra Van Kant
Veronika Voss
Lola
Effi Briest

Interesting Kubrick lists.

I say that mainly as mine would look much differernt...

1 -- Barry Lyndon
2 -- Paths Of Glory
3 -- 2001
4 -- Dr. Strangelove
5 -- The Killing
6 -- Lolita
7 -- Eyes Wide Shut
8 -- A Clockwork Orange
9 -- Spartacus
10 -- Full Metal Jacket
11 -- The Shining