Best Contemporary Director?

[DFF]

Obviously, a lot of this is going to come down to personal taste, but I'd be interested to hear what people think and I think it would be a great discussion point.

I thought of creating this thread after reading the overwhelming positivity towards Arrival in the What Have you Watched Today? thread. Is Denis Villeneuve the best director of today? I've not seen his whole body of work, but I regard Prisoners, Enemy, Sicario and now Arrival as, at the very least, very good if not excellent. That's four on the bounce - I can't think of many directors to have such a strong back-to-back output.

What do you guys think?

 

 

[Jimmy]

I think Villeneuve is rightly heralded from the films I've seen (Polytechnique, Prisoners and Enemy). He seems to have such tight control over what he wants to do; his films feels slick and have an eye on making an emotional connection. I'll be watching Arrival soon and I really need to see Incendies, which is supposedly his best. He's definitely someone who is now starting to hit a more mainstream audience with films that don't fit that mould, which is exciting. 

For me, it's Andrea Arnold. Red Road, Fish Tank and American Honey are all outstanding films that have stayed with me. Her ability to capture adolescence, create realistic female characters and craft stories that slowly grip you by the throat is unrivalled. 

Lots of amazing filmmakers working right now. 

[9 to 5]

6 minutes ago, Jimmy said:

I think Villeneuve is rightly heralded from the films I've seen (Polytechnique, Prisoners and Enemy). He seems to have such tight control over what he wants to do; his films feels slick and have an eye on making an emotional connection. I'll be watching Arrival soon and I really need to see Incendies, which is supposedly his best. He's definitely someone who is now starting to hit a more mainstream audience with films that don't fit that mould, which is exciting. 

For me, it's Andrea Arnold. Red Road, Fish Tank and American Honey are all outstanding films that have stayed with me. Her ability to capture adolescence, create realistic female characters and craft stories that slowly grip you by the throat is unrivalled. 

Lots of amazing filmmakers working right now. 

If only we knew any.

[DFF]

How about John Michael McDonaugh?

Admittedly, I've only seen the (brilliant) Calvary, but I've been told I would similarly enjoy The Guard, and the reviews for War on Everyone have been very positive.

[Gazz]

J.C. Chandor

Margin Call, All is Lost and A Most Violent Year. All belters.

I especially like that his first film was 90 minutes of an ensemble cast sat around tables talking non-stop near incomprehensible financial jargon and his second film was just 90 minutes of Robert Redford in a boat with about three words of dialogue, yet both films have a really clear narrative throughout.

[Benjamin]

What would you categorize as contemporary? Richard Linklater is probably my favorite filmmaker going right now, but I don't think you'd consider his work to be contemporary.

Also, Damien Chazelle with Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench and Whiplash, and La La Land looks like it's going to be fucking phenomenal, definitely looks like he should belong in this discussion.

Steve McQueen might be the correct answer? Hunger, Shame and 12 Years a Slave, all just terrific home runs.

[DFF]

40 minutes ago, Gazz said:

J.C. Chandor

Margin Call, All is Lost and A Most Violent Year. All belters.

Oooo! Didn't realise they were all the same. AMVY was particularly great.

34 minutes ago, Benkid Nada said:

What would you categorize as contemporary? Richard Linklater is probably my favorite filmmaker going right now, but I don't think you'd consider his work to be contemporary.

Also, Damien Chazelle with Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench and Whiplash, and La La Land looks like it's going to be fucking phenomenal, definitely looks like he should belong in this discussion.

Steve McQueen might be the correct answer? Hunger, Shame and 12 Years a Slave, all just terrific home runs.

I was wondering this. I guess Linklater has probably been around too long / made too many films to be considered 'contemporary' (he's nearing 20 films now isn't he?). Definitely a favourite of mine though.

The others are a god shout!

I guess I'd consider someone who - has made less than 8 ish films and has been predominantly most active within the last 10-15 years as criteria?

[Benjamin]

Maybe not the best ever, but Ben Affleck has a pretty great track record as a director, too. Gone Baby Gone, Argo, The Town, Live by Night looks like it's going to be good.

[DFF]

33 minutes ago, Benkid Nada said:

Maybe not the best ever, but Ben Affleck has a pretty great track record as a director, too. Gone Baby Gone, Argo, The Town, Live by Night looks like it's going to be good.

I think that's a pretty good shout actually! GBG and Argo are both great, and I keep meaning to watch The Town.

 

On the 'ones to watch' list I'm gonna throw out there:

• Adam Wingard (The Guest, You're Next, Blair Witch, the upcoming Death Note movie)
• Duncan Jones (Moon, Source Code, Warcraft)

[RPS]

Michael Haneke is amazing. He hit his stride in 1997 with Funny Games, but he released Cache, The White Ribbon and Armour in the last 10 years. I don't think there is anybody else out there who can make movies like he can. A lot of his movies deal with the evil inside humanity, but he rarely ever shows that evil. He uses everything but the visual of a character dying to create dread and horror from his audience. He rarely, if ever, provides catharsis for his audience - you can watch an entire movie of his, understand everything that happens, but also not understand why it happened. 

The Coen Brothers are another great shout. While they have roots in the 90s, they definitely had much more critical success in the last 15 years. They are super hit and miss for me. I loved Burn After Reading, No Country, and O Brother, but I despised Inside Llewyn Davis and A Serious Man. 

 

[Benjamin]

Inside Llewyn Davis was a chore, and pushed the entire premise of an artist's lack of compromise to the point where it became almost comical to me, which kind of sucked. It had a great soundtrack, though.

Hey, since we're talking about brothers who co-direct, the Dardennes have the Son, The Kid with a Bike and Two Days One Night, plus L'Enfant and Lorna's Silence are universally lauded.

[Jimmy]

6 hours ago, DFF said:

How about John Michael McDonaugh?

Admittedly, I've only seen the (brilliant) Calvary, but I've been told I would similarly enjoy The Guard, and the reviews for War on Everyone have been very positive.

War on Everyone is a really bad film, an absolute mess and waste of talent. I've found both McDonough's films in America to have nothing on their previous work. 

19 minutes ago, RPS said:

Michael Haneke is amazing. He hit his stride in 1997 with Funny Games, but he released Cache, The White Ribbon and Armour in the last 10 years. I don't think there is anybody else out there who can make movies like he can. A lot of his movies deal with the evil inside humanity, but he rarely ever shows that evil. He uses everything but the visual of a character dying to create dread and horror from his audience. He rarely, if ever, provides catharsis for his audience - you can watch an entire movie of his, understand everything that happens, but also not understand why it happened. 

The Coen Brothers are another great shout. While they have roots in the 90s, they definitely had much more critical success in the last 15 years. They are super hit and miss for me. I loved Burn After Reading, No Country, and O Brother, but I despised Inside Llewyn Davis and A Serious Man. 

 

Felt like Haneke is probably pushing it in a discussion of contemporary directors, but no doubt he is brilliant. I've been working my way through his stuff chronologically (after seeing Amour years back - devastating, sublime, never wanna watch again). It's great to see him grow as a filmmaker and I'm so ready for the stretch of films you've name-checked, as well as The Piano Teacher. His early work is someone who was allowed to really find their feet, and Funny Games definitely feels like the start of him really finding his feet. 

Would definitely throw Celine Sciamma and Tobias Lindholm into the discussion, too. Or, more like directors worth checking out. The former's a brilliant French director who focuses a lot on the feminine coming-of-age experience, Waterlilies, Tomboy and Girlhood are all extremely moving films. Lindolm's A Hijacking and A War are devastating and tense films starring Pilou Asbaek, who has recently done some English-Language speaking stuff in Game of Thrones. 

17 minutes ago, Benkid Nada said:

Inside Llewyn Davis was a chore, and pushed the entire premise of an artist's lack of compromise to the point where it became almost comical to me, which kind of sucked. It had a great soundtrack, though.

Hey, since we're talking about brothers who co-direct, the Dardennes have the Son, The Kid with a Bike and Two Days One Night, plus L'Enfant and Lorna's Silence are universally lauded.

Oh yeah The Dardenne's are insane, but have been on the radar since the mid-nineties, which is where they've made some of my favourite work, Rosetta is particularly great. 

[Benjamin]

I can't keep thinking about this question. Shit, Asghar Farhadi's work might be some of the best I've seen, contemporary or otherwise. I think he's like a top 5 director for me. A Separation broke me, I don't think I've ever felt anything so raw for a film, with the Before Sunrise trilogy being the only exceptions, maybe. Then there's About Elly, which is like this emotional thriller and drama rollercoaster all mixed up into one. And the Past is pretty sublime as well. I really like how his work seems to be about the huge consequences of one simple act that you don't even think about after you've done it.

[Monkey D. Lars]

Sooo I might sound stupid right now but is Contemporary a guy who hasn't made loads of ilms or someone who isn't long in the business? 

[Jimmy]

7 minutes ago, Gigan Lars said:

Sooo I might sound stupid right now but is Contemporary a guy who hasn't made loads of ilms or someone who isn't long in the business? 

I'd say someone who is relatively new, like their first feature was around ten years ago at most. But it doesn't really matter  

Edited November 18, 2016 by Jimmy

[RPS]

See, I view contemporary as less about age and more about which is relevant and interesting. Gus Van Sant is making movies these days but I don't see him as contemprary because nothing he's done post-Milk has been culturally important. Ditto for someone like Spielberg. 

[GoGo Yubari]

Man, I loved A Serious Man. That's probably the line on Bleakly Absurdist Coens for me since Inside Llewyn Davis was a little too much. Actually, that one and Hail Caesar! are similar in the sense that a lot of really great musical numbers and a couple great performances prop up stories I didn't really care for.

I don't know if I have a good answer for the "didn't start like 20-30 years ago" version of the question, tbh. There are a lot of guys where I'm like "oh, I like that guy" but there's not someone I'm "yeah I'll see whatever they do regardless" about like I am with the Coens. Villeneuve could get there, I loved Arrival and really appreciated Sicario even if I got sick of it by the end.

[apsham]

Well contemporary really just means something that is happening in the present. So to me that just means someone who is still making films.

[arwrestling]

I'm a fan of Xavier Dolan. He's one of the great young canadian directors and is making waves worldwide with his films. J'ai Tue Ma Mere, Tom A La Ferme and Mommy are very good films. 

[Monkey D. Lars]

Let's all add Park Chan-wook to that list! He has made some brilliant films the last 10 years!