DA BEST Directors
by tyandpsy | created - 13 Oct 2013 | updated - 12 Nov 2022 | Public
1. Alfred Hitchcock
Director | Psycho
Alfred Joseph Hitchcock was born in Leytonstone, Essex, England. He was the son of Emma Jane (Whelan; 1863 - 1942) and East End greengrocer William Hitchcock (1862 - 1914). His parents were both of half English and half Irish ancestry. He had two older siblings, William Hitchcock (born 1890) and ...
North by Northwest- 10 Vertigo- 10 Rear Window- 10 Psycho- 10 The Man Who Knew Too Much 2- 9 Notorious- 9 The Birds- 9 Strangers on a Train- 9 The Lady Vanishes- 9 Foreign Correspondent- 9 The 39 Steps- 8 To Catch a Thief- 8 Rebecca- 7 Rope- 7 Shadow of a Doubt- 7 The Man Who Knew Too Much 1- 6
2. David Lynch
Writer | Twin Peaks
Born in precisely the kind of small-town American setting so familiar from his films, David Lynch spent his childhood being shunted from one state to another as his research scientist father kept getting relocated. He attended various art schools, married Peggy Lynch and then fathered future ...
Twin Peaks- 10 Blue Velvet- 10 Elephant Man- 10 Mullholland Dr.- 9 Eraserhead- 9 Lost Highway- 7 Inland Empire- 7
3. Stanley Kubrick
Director | 2001: A Space Odyssey
Stanley Kubrick was born in Manhattan, New York City, to Sadie Gertrude (Perveler) and Jacob Leonard Kubrick, a physician. His family were Jewish immigrants (from Austria, Romania, and Russia). Stanley was considered intelligent, despite poor grades at school. Hoping that a change of scenery would ...
Barry Lyndon- 10 2001: A Space Odyssey- 10 Paths of Glory- 10 Dr. Strangelove- 10 Spartacus- 10 The Shining- 9 Eyes Wide Shut- 9 A Clockwork Orange- 9 Full Metal Jacket- 8 Lolita- 8 The Killing- 8 Killer's Kiss- 7
4. Christopher Nolan
Writer | Tenet
Best known for his cerebral, often nonlinear, storytelling, acclaimed Academy Award winner writer/director/producer Sir Christopher Nolan CBE was born in London, England. Over the course of more than 25 years of filmmaking, Nolan has gone from low-budget independent films to working on some of the ...
Memento- 10 Inception- 10 The Dark Knight- 10 Interstellar- 10 The Prestige- 9 The Dark Knight Rises- 9 Batman Begins- 9 Insomnia- 8 The Following- 8
5. Hayao Miyazaki
Writer | Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi
Hayao Miyazaki is one of Japan's greatest animation directors. The entertaining plots, compelling characters, and breathtaking visuals in his films have earned him international renown from critics as well as public recognition within Japan.
Miyazaki started his career in 1963 as an animator at the ...
Princess Mononoke- 10 The Wind Rises- 10 Castle in the Sky- 10 Ponyo- 10 Nausica of the Valley of the Wind- 9 My Neighbor Totoro- 9 Kikis Delivery Service- 8 Porco Rosso- 8 The Castle of Cagliostro- 7
6. Wes Anderson
Director | Fantastic Mr. Fox
Wesley Wales Anderson was born in Houston, Texas. His mother, Texas Ann (Burroughs), is an archaeologist turned real estate agent, and his father, Melver Leonard Anderson, worked in advertising and PR. He has two brothers, Eric and Mel. Anderson's parents divorced when he was a young child, an ...
The Grand Budapest Hotel- 10 Fantastic Mr. Fox- 10 Rushmore- 10 Moonrise Kingdom- 10 Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou- 9 The Darjeeling Limited- 8 The Royal Tenenbaums- 8 Bottle Rocket- 8
7. Joel Coen
Producer | The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Joel Daniel Coen is an American filmmaker who regularly collaborates with his younger brother Ethan. They made Raising Arizona, Barton Fink, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, True Grit, O Brother Where Art Thou?, Burn After Reading, A Serious Man, Inside Llewyn Davis, Hail Caesar and other projects. Joel ...
The Big Lebowski- 10 Inside Llewyn Davis- 10 Fargo- 10 No Country for Old Men- 10 Blood Simple- 9 True Grit- 9 O' Brother Where Art Thou? - 9 Raising Arizona- 8 Millers Crossing- 8 Barton Fink- 8
8. Martin Scorsese
Producer | Killers of the Flower Moon
Martin Charles Scorsese was born on November 17, 1942 in Queens, New York City, to Catherine Scorsese (née Cappa) and Charles Scorsese, who both worked in Manhattan's garment district, and whose families both came from Palermo, Sicily. He was raised in the neighborhood of Little Italy, which later ...
Raging Bull- 10 Taxi Driver- 10 Goodfellas- 10 The Departed- 9 Shutter Island- 9 Wolf of Wallstreet- 8 The Aviator- 7
9. Francis Ford Coppola
Producer | Apocalypse Now
Francis Ford Coppola was born in 1939 in Detroit, Michigan, but grew up in a New York suburb in a creative, supportive Italian-American family. His father, Carmine Coppola, was a composer and musician. His mother, Italia Coppola (née Pennino), had been an actress. Francis Ford Coppola graduated ...
Apocalypse Now- 10 God Father pt 1- 10 The Conversation- 10
10. Denis Villeneuve
Director | Dune
Denis Villeneuve is a French Canadian film director and writer. He was born in 1967, in Trois-Rivières, Québec, Canada. He started his career as a filmmaker at the National Film Board of Canada. He is best known for his feature films Arrival (2016), Sicario (2015), Prisoners (2013), Enemy (2013), ...
Sicario- 10 The Prisoner- 9
11. Sergio Leone
Writer | Once Upon a Time in America
Sergio Leone was virtually born into the cinema - he was the son of Roberto Roberti (A.K.A. Vincenzo Leone), one of Italy's cinema pioneers, and actress Bice Valerian. Leone entered films in his late teens, working as an assistant director to both Italian directors and U.S. directors working in ...
Once Upon a Time in the West- 10 The Good The Bad and The Ugly- 10 A Fistfull of Dollars- 9 For a Few Dollars More- 9
12. Richard Linklater
Director | Waking Life
Self-taught writer-director Richard Stuart Linklater was born in Houston, Texas, to Diane Margaret (Krieger), who taught at a university, and Charles W. Linklater III. Richard was among the first and most successful talents to emerge during the American independent film renaissance of the 1990s. ...
Boyhood- 10 Before Midnight- 10 Before Sunset- 10 Before Sunrise- 9 Waking Life- 9 Dazed and Confused- 8 School of Rock- 8 Slacker- 7
13. Ridley Scott
Producer | The Martian
Described by film producer Michael Deeley as "the very best eye in the business", director Ridley Scott was born on November 30, 1937 in South Shields, Tyne and Wear. His father was an officer in the Royal Engineers and the family followed him as his career posted him throughout the United Kingdom ...
Blade Runner- 10 Alien- 10 Gladiator- 7 Prometheus- 6
14. Michael Mann
Producer | The Insider
As a director, screenwriter, and producer, four-time Academy Award nominee Michael Mann has established himself as one of the most innovative and influential filmmakers in American cinema. After writing and directing the Primetime Emmy Award-winning television movie The Jericho Mile (1979), Mann ...
15. Kar-Wai Wong
Director | Yi dai zong shi
Wong Kar-wai (born 17 July 1956) is a Hong Kong Second Wave filmmaker, internationally renowned as an auteur for his visually unique, highly stylised, emotionally resonant work, including Ah fei zing zyun (1990), Dung che sai duk (1994), Chung Hing sam lam (1994), Do lok tin si (1995), Chun gwong ...
In the Mood for Love- 10 Days of Being Wild- 10 Fallen Angels- 9 The Grandmaster- 7
16. Bernardo Bertolucci
Writer | Il conformista
Bernardo Bertolucci, the Italian director whose films were known for their colorful visual style, was born in Parma, Italy. He attended Rome University and became famous as a poet. He served as assistant director for Pier Paolo Pasolini in the film Accattone (1961) and directed The Grim Reaper (...
The Conformist- 10
17. Billy Wilder
Writer | The Apartment
Originally planning to become a lawyer, Billy Wilder abandoned that career in favor of working as a reporter for a Viennese newspaper, using this experience to move to Berlin, where he worked for the city's largest tabloid. He broke into films as a screenwriter in 1929 and wrote scripts for many ...
The Apartment- 10 Double Indemnity- 10 Witness to the Prosecution- 8
18. Paul Thomas Anderson
Director | Punch-Drunk Love
Anderson was born in 1970. He was one of the first of the "video store" generation of film-makers. His father was the first man on his block to own a V.C.R., and from a very early age Anderson had an infinite number of titles available to him. While film-makers like Spielberg cut their teeth making...
There Will Be Blood- 10 The Master- 9 Boogie Nights- 8 Punch-drunk Love- 8 Inherent Vice- 7
19. Terrence Malick
Writer | Days of Heaven
Terrence Malick was born in Ottawa, Illinois. His family subsequently lived in Oklahoma and he went to school in Austin, Texas. He did his undergraduate work at Harvard, graduating summa cum laude with a degree in philosophy in 1965.
A member of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society, he attended Magdalen ...
Days of Heaven- 10 Tree of Life- 7 To the Wonder- 6
20. Guillermo del Toro
Writer | El laberinto del fauno
Guillermo del Toro was born October 9, 1964 in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Raised by his Catholic grandmother, del Toro developed an interest in filmmaking in his early teens. Later, he learned about makeup and effects from the legendary Dick Smith (The Exorcist (1973)) and worked on making his ...
Pan's Labyrinth- 10 Hellboy 2- 8 Hell Boy 1- 7
21. Derek Cianfrance
Writer | Blue Valentine
Derek Cianfrance began making movies at age 13. He later attended The University of Colorado where he studied under avant-garde film legends Stan Brakhage and Phil Solomon. His first three films, 'Five O'clock Shadow', 'Raw Footage', and Brother Tied (1998), won consecutive Goldfarb Awards for best...
Blue Valentine- 9 Place Beyond the Pines- 8
22. Darren Aronofsky
Writer | Pi
Darren Aronofsky was born February 12, 1969, in Brooklyn, New York. Growing up, Darren was always artistic: he loved classic movies and, as a teenager, he even spent time doing graffiti art. After high school, Darren went to Harvard University to study film (both live-action and animation). He won ...
Black Swan- 10 Requiem for a Dream- 9 Pi- 8
23. Spike Jonze
Producer | Her
Spike Jonze made up one-third (along with Andy Jenkins and Mark Lewman) of the triumvirate of genius minds behind Dirt Magazine, the brother publication of the much lamented ground-breaking Sassy Magazine. These three uncommon characters were all editors for Grand Royal Magazine as well, under the ...
Her- 10 Being John Malkovich- 10 Adaptation- 10
24. Quentin Tarantino
Writer | Reservoir Dogs
Quentin Jerome Tarantino was born in Knoxville, Tennessee. His father, Tony Tarantino, is an Italian-American actor and musician from New York, and his mother, Connie (McHugh), is a nurse from Tennessee. Quentin moved with his mother to Torrance, California, when he was four years old.
In January of...
Pulp Fiction- 10 Django Unchained- 10 Inglorious Basterds- 9 Reservoir Dogs- 9 The Hateful Eight- 8 Kill Bill 2- 8 Kill Bill 1- 8 Jackie Brown- 7
25. Peter Jackson
Producer | The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Sir Peter Jackson made history with The Lord of the Rings trilogy, becoming the first person to direct three major feature films simultaneously. The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King were nominated for and collected a slew of awards from around the globe, with The ...
Lord of the Rings: Return of the King- 10 Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of Ring- 10 Lord of the Rings: The Twin Towers- 10 The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug- 8 The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies- 7 The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey- 7
26. Clint Eastwood
Actor | Million Dollar Baby
Clint Eastwood was born May 31, 1930 in San Francisco, to Clinton Eastwood Sr., a bond salesman and later manufacturing executive for Georgia-Pacific Corporation, and Ruth Wood (née Margret Ruth Runner), a housewife turned IBM clerk. He grew up in nearby Piedmont. At school Clint took interest in ...
Unforgiven- 10 Changeling- 8
27. Alfonso Cuarón
Producer | Gravity
Alfonso Cuarón Orozco was born on November 28th 1961 in Mexico City, Mexico. From an early age, he yearned to be either a film director or an astronaut. However, he did not want to enter the army, so he settled for directing. He didn't receive his first camera until his twelfth birthday, and then ...
Children of Men- 10 Harry Potter: The Prisoner of Azkaban- 9 Gravity- 8
28. Nicolas Winding Refn
Writer | The Neon Demon
Writer, director, and producer Nicolas Winding Refn was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1970, to Anders Refn, a film director and editor, and Vibeke Winding (née Tuxen), a cinematographer. Just before he turned 11, in 1981, he moved to New York with his parents, where he lived out his teen years. ...
Drive- 10 Bronson- 8 Vahalla Rising- 7 Only God Forgives- 5
29. John Ford
Director | The Quiet Man
John Ford came to Hollywood following one of his brothers, an actor. Asked what brought him to Hollywood, he replied "the train". He became one of the most respected directors in the business, in spite of being known for his westerns, which were not considered "serious" film. He won six Oscars, ...
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance- 9
30. Orson Welles
Actor | Citizen Kane
His father, Richard Head Welles, was a well-to-do inventor, his mother, Beatrice (Ives) Welles, a beautiful concert pianist; Orson Welles was gifted in many arts (magic, piano, painting) as a child. When his mother died in 1924 (when he was nine) he traveled the world with his father. He was ...
Citizen Kane- 9
31. Terry Gilliam
Writer | Brazil
Terry Gilliam was born near Medicine Lake, Minnesota. When he was 12 his family moved to Los Angeles where he became a fan of MAD magazine. In his early twenties he was often stopped by the police who suspected him of being a drug addict and Gilliam had to explain that he worked in advertising. In ...
Monty Python and the Holy Grail- 10 12 Monkeys- 9
32. Ingmar Bergman
Writer | Smultronstället
Ernst Ingmar Bergman was born July 14, 1918, the son of a priest. The film and T.V. series, The Best Intentions (1992) is biographical and shows the early marriage of his parents. The film Sunday's Children (1992) depicts a bicycle journey with his father. In the miniseries Private Confessions (...
The Passion of Anna- 9
33. Guy Ritchie
Director | Sherlock Holmes
Guy Ritchie was born in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, UK on September 10, 1968. After watching Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) as a child, Guy realized that what he wanted to do was make films. He never attended film school, saying that the work of film school graduates was boring and ...
34. Sofia Coppola
Actress | The Godfather Part III
Sofia Coppola was born on May 14, 1971 in New York City, New York, USA as Sofia Carmina Coppola. She is a director, known for Somewhere (2010), Lost in Translation (2003), and Marie Antoinette (2006). She has been married to Thomas Mars since August 27, 2011. They have two daughters, Romy and ...
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