Movie-fan-101 stuff this week:
Who’s your favorite film director, and why?
This one is a no-brainer for me: Steven Spielberg. And that’s because his Raiders of the Lost Ark is the movie that made me fall in love with movies. I was 12 years old the summer the film was released, and it completely blew my geeky little mind, and I have been forever since chasing the feeling of enraptured escapism that movie created in me.
Your turn…
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Since I started doing Ribbon of Memes and watching films more critically (in a technical sense—I’m still enjoying them!) I’ve been paying more attention to directors’ style – and the guy I keep coming back to is John Carpenter. We’ve covered four of his films so far The Thing, Big Trouble in Little China, In the Mouth of Madness and Ghosts of Mars) and enjoyed them all in quite different ways.
It’s like the difference between a film star and an actor: with a film star, like Sean Connery, you’re basically always getting Connery (plus whatever role he’s playing). An actor, like Joel Grey or Tim Curry, completely becomes the part to the point that people say “whoa, was that them?”
John Carpenter basically doesn’t repeat his effects. Even when the plots are similar (e.g. Assault on Precinct 13 and the middle section of Ghosts of Mars) you’re never in any doubt at to which film you’re watching. OK, I’ve done my homage to Hong Kong action, on to the next thing.
In the same way that “Raiders” was your defining movie experience in your youth, “Jaws” was mine. Hearing how scary it was supposed to be, I was more enthralled by how the masterful filmmaking told the story (and of course provided the scares, thrills and humor).
My fave, however, is Akira Kurosawa. His classics like Seven Samurai tell stories that are simple on the surface, but have thematic depth that make them worthy of the “art house” moniker.
Right now, I would have to say Taika Waititi. I am 1000% into any project he’s involved in. Guaranteed faith in humanity, warmth, depth, oddball charm, humor, and zany energy.
And on a completely different level—for being challenged and unsettled more than delighted and comforted—I always find much to admire in the work of David Lynch and Stanley Kubrick.