Most Accomplished ACTIVE Directors (2011 Edition)

DEBUT

2010 Rank: #29 on Future Directing Greats
2009 Rank: #48 on Future Directing Greats

a. Fitzcarraldo (1982)
b. My Best Friend (1999)
c. Grizzly Man (2005)
d. The Wild Blue Yonder (2006)
e. Rescue Dawn (2007)
f. Encounters at the End of the World (2007)
g. My Son, My Son, What Ye Done? (2010)
h. The Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2011)
i. Death Row (2012)

I realize some people will be confused or upset by this "debut" but I haven't seen most of Herzog's older work, including 'Aguirre'.

2010 Rank: #50
2009 Rank: #48

a. The Hit (1984)
b. Dangerous Liaisons (1988)
c. The Grifters (1990)
d. Hero (1992)
e. High Fidelity (2000)
f. Dirty Pretty Things (2002)
g. Mrs. Henderson Presents (2005)
h. The Queen (2006)
i. Tamera Drewe (2010)
j. Lay the Favorite, Take the Dog (2012)

DEBUT

2010 Rank: #18 on Future Directing Greats
2009 Rank: #37 on Future Directing Greats

a. El Mariachi (1992)
b. Desperado (1995)
c. From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)
d. Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003)
e. Sin City (2005)
f. Sin City 2 (2012)

2010 Rank: #49
2009 Rank: #49

a. Scanners (1981)
b. Videodrome (1983)
c. The Dead Zone (1983)
d. The Fly (1986)
e. Dead Ringers (1988)
f. A History of Violence (2005)
g. Eastern Promises (2007)
h. A Dangerous Method (2011)*
i. Cosmopolis (2013)

2010 Rank: #48
2009 Rank: #28

a. The Usual Suspects (1995)
b. Apt Pupil (1998)
c. X-Men (2000
d. X2: X-Men United (2003)
e. Superman Returns (2006)
f. Valkyrie (2008)
g. Battlestar Galactica (2011)
h. Jack the Giant Killer (2012)

DEBUT

2010 Rank: #6 on Future Directing Greats
2009 Rank: --

a. Terms of Endearment (1983)
b. Broadcast News (1987)
c. As Good as it Gets (1997)
d. Spanglish (2004)
e. How Do You Know (2010)

DEBUT

2009 Rank: #13 on Future Directing Greats
2009 Rank: #39 on Future Directing Greats

a. Face/Off (1997)
b. Mission: Impossible II (2000)
c. Windtalkers (2002)
d. Paycheck (2003)
e. Red Cliff I (2008)
f. Red Cliff II (2009)
f. Rainbow Six (2012)
h. The Sicilian Clan (2015)

DEBUT

2010 Rank: #2 on Future Directing Greats
2009 Rank: #23 on Future Directing Greats

a. Delicatessen (1992)
b. The City of Lost Children (1995)
c. Alien: Resurrection (1997)
d. Amelie (2001)
e. A Very Long Engagement (2004)
f. Micmacs a tire-Larigot (2010)

2010 Rank: #47
2009 Rank: #47

a. Ordinary People (1980)
b. The Milagro Beanfield war (1988)
c. A River Runs Through It (1992)
d. Quiz Show (1994)
e. The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000)
f. The Conspirator (2011)
g. The Company You Keep (2012)

2010 Rank: #45 (Debut)
2009 Rank: #17 on Future Directing Greats

a. Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)
b. Snatch (2000)
c. Revolver (2005)
d. RocknRolla (2008)
e. Sherlock Holmes (2009)
f. Sherlock Holmes 2 (2011)
g. Excalibur (2012)

2010 Rank: #42
2009 Rank: #32

a. Dazed and Confused (1993)
b. Before Sunrise (1995)
c. Waking Life (2001)
d. The School of Rock (2003)
e. Before Sunset (2004)
f. Fast Food Nation (2006)
g. A Scanner Darkly (2006)
h. Me and Orson Wells (2008)
i. Bernie (2011)
j. Boyhood {12-Year Long Project} (2014)*
k. Liars (A-E) (2015)

DEBUT

2010 Rank: #3 (Future Directing Greats)
2009 Rank: #18 (Future Directing Greats)

a. Road Trip (2000)
b. Old School (2003)
c. Starsky & Hutch (2004)
d. The Hangover (2009)
e. Due Date (2010)
f. The Hangover Part II (2011)
g. The Chadster (2012)
h. Murray at Large (2013)

2010 Rank: #40
2009 Rank: #44

a. Something Wild (1986)
b. Married to the Mob (1988)
c. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
d. Philadelphia (1993)
e. The Agronomist (2003)
f. The Manchurian Candidate (2004)
g. Rachel Getting Married (2008)
h. Zeitoun (2011)
i. The Courage Consort (2013)

2010 Rank: #39
2009 Rank: #42

a. Gallipoli (1981)
b. The Year of Living Dangerously (1982)
c. Witness (1985)
d. The Mosquito Coast (1986)
e. Dead Poets Society (1989)
f. Fearless (1993)
g. The Truman Show (1998)
h. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)
i. The Way Back (2011)

DEBUT

2010 Rank: #14 (Future Directing Greats)
2009 Rank: #16 (Future Directing Greats)

a. The Evil Dead II (1987)
b. Army of Darkness (1993)
c. The Quick and the Dead (1995)
d. A Simple Plan (1998)
e. For Love of the Game (1999)
f. Spider-Man (2002)
g. Spider-Man 2 (2004)
h. Spider-Man 3 (2007)
i. Drag Me to Hell (2009)
j. Oz: The Great and Powerful (2013)
k. Warcraft (2015)

2010 Rank: #36
2009 Rank: #45

a. Das Boot (1981)
b. The Neverending Story (1984)
c. In the Line of Fire (1993)
d. Outbreak (1995)
e. Air Force One (1997)
f. Troy (2004)
g. Old Man's War (2012)
h. Paprika (2014)

2010 Rank: #35
2009 Rank: #43

a. Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)
b. European Vacation (1985)
c. Look Who’s Talking (1989)
d. Clueless (1995)
e. A Night at the Roxbury (1998)
f. I Could Never Be Your Woman (2007)
g. Vamps (2011)

2010 Rank: #38
2009 Rank: #38

a. Top Gun (1986)
b. Beverly Hills Cop II (1987)
c. Days of Thunder (1990)
d. The Last Boy Scout (1991)
e. True Romance (1993)
f. Crimson Tide (1995)
g. Enemy of the State (1998)
h. Spy Game (2001)
i. Man on Fire (2004)
j. Domino (2005)
k. Déjà vu (2006)
l. Unstoppable (2010)
m. Emma's War (2012)

2010 Rank: #34
2009 Rank: #41

a. Tommy Boy (1995)
b. My Fellow Americans (1996)
c. Anger Management (2003)
d. 50 First Dates (2004)
e. Get Smart (2008)
f. Dirty Old Men (2012)

2010 Rank: #37
2009 RankL #37

a. Cul-de-Sac (1966)
b. Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
c. Chinatown (1974)
d. Frantic (1988)
e. Death and the Maiden (1994)
e. The Pianist (2002)
f. The Ghost Writer (2010)
g. Carnage (2012)

2010 Rank: #30
2009 Rank: #46

a. About Last Night… (1986)
b. Glory (1989)
c. Legends of the Fall (1994)
d. Courage Under Fire (1996)
e. The Siege (1998)
f. The Last Samurai (2003)
g. Blood Diamond (2006)
h. Defiance (2008)
i. Love and Other Drugs (2010)
j. Heart of the Sea (2012)

2010 Rank: #33
2009 Rank: #27

a. The Fourth Man (1983)
b. RoboCop (1987)
c. Total Recall (1990)
d. Basic Instinct (1992)
e. Showgirls (1995)
f. Starship Troopers (1997)
g. Black Book (2007)
h. Hidden Force (2013)

2010 Rank: #31
2009 Rank: #23

a. Diner (1982)
b. The Natural (1984)
c. Good Morning, Vietnam (1987)
d. Rain Man (1988)
e. Avalon (1990)
f. Bugsy (1991)
g. Toys (1992)
h. Sleepers (1996)
i. Wag the Dog (1997)
j. Bandits (2001)
k. Man of the Year (2006)
l. You Don't Know Jack (2010)
m. The Bay (2011)
n. Shanghai, I Love You (2012)
o. Gotti: Three Generations (2014)

2010 Rank: #29
2009 Rank: #29

a. Say Anything… (1989)
b. Jerry Maguire (1996)
c. Almost Famous (2000)
d. Vanilla Sky (2001)
e. Elizabethtown (2005)
f. We Bought a Zoo (2011)*
g. Pearl Jam: Twenty (2012)

Debut

2010 Rank: #5 on Future Directing Greats List
2009 Rank: #13 on Future Directing Greats List

a. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)
b. Mystery, Alaska (1999)
c. Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)
d. Meet the Parents (2000)
e. Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002)
f. Meet the Fockers (2004)
g. Dinner for Schmucks (2010)
h. Game Change (2011)
i. Southern Rivals (2012)
j. Austin Powers in For Your Thighs Only (2013)

2010 Rank: #28
209 Rank: #22

a. Heavenly Creatures (1994)
b. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
c. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
d. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
e. King Kong (2005)
f. The Lovely Bones (2009)
g. The Hobbit: Part I (2012)*
h. The Hobbit: Part II (2013)*
i. Temeraire (2015)

2010 Rank: #27 (Debut)
2009 Rank: #1 on 'Future Directing Greats'

a. Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989)
b. Schizopolis (1997)
c. Out of Sight (1998)
d. The Limey (1999)
e. Erin Brockovich (2000)
f. Traffic (2000)
g. Ocean’s Eleven (2001)
h. Solaris (2002)
i. Ocean's Twelve (2004)
j. The Good German (2006)
k. Ocean's Thirteen (2007)
l. Che: Parts One and Two (2008)
m. The Informant! (2009)
n. And Everything is Going Fine (2011)
o. The Last Time I Saw Michael Gregg (2011)
p. Haywire (2011)
q. Contagion (2012)
r. The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (2012)
s. Liberace (2013)

2010 Rank: #21
2009 Rank: #9

a. Finian’s Rainbow (1968)
b. The Godfather (1972)
c. The Conversation (1974)
d. Godfather Part II (1974)
e. Apocalypse Now (1979)
f. Godfather Part III (1990)
g. Dracula (1992)
h. The Rainmaker (1997)
i. Tetro (2009)
j. Twixt Now and Sunrise (2011)

2010 Rank: #15
2009 Rank: #26

a. Manhunter (1986)
b. The Last of the Mohicans (1992)
c. Heat (1995)
d. The Insider (1999)
e. Ali (2001)
f. Collateral (2004)
g. Miami Vice (2006)
h. Public Enemies (2009)
i. Waiting for Robert Capa (2014)

2010 Rank: #23
2009 Rank: #30

a. Sudden Impact (1983)
b. Pale Rider (1985)
c. Unforgiven (1990)
d. Absolute Power (1997)
e. Blood Work (2002)
f. Mystic River (2003)
g. Million Dollar Baby (2004)
h. Letters From Iwo Jima (2006)
i. Changeling (2008)
j. Gran Torino (2008)
k. Invictus (2009)
l. The Hereafter (2010)
m. J. Edgar (2012)*

2010 Rank: #14
2009 Rank: #17

a. Do the Right Thing (1989)
b. Malcolm X (1992)
c. He Got Game (1998)
d. 25th Hour (2002)
e. Inside Man (2006)
f. Miracle at St. Anna (2008)
g. Untitled James Brown Biopic (2012)

2010 Rank: #26
2009 Rank: #21

a. Trainspotting (1996)
b. A Life Less Ordinary (1997)
c. The Beach (2000)
d. 28 Days Later (2002)
e. Millions (2004)
f. Sunshine (2007)
g. Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
h. 127 Hours (2010)
i. Maximum City (2013)

2010 Rank: #20
2009 Rank: #24

a. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
b. Time Bandits (1981)
c. The Meaning of Life (1983)
d. Brazil (1985)
e. The Fisher King (1991)
f. Twelve Monkeys (1995)
g. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)
h. Tideland (2006)
i. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009)
j. The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (2012)

2010 Rank: #19
2009 Rank: #7

a. Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure (1985)
b. Beetle Juice (1988)
c. Batman (1989)
d. Edward Scissorhands (1990)
e. Batman Returns (1992)
f. Ed Wood (1994)
g. Mars Attacks! (1996)
h. Sleepy Hollow (1999)
i. Big Fish (2003)
j. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)
k. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
l. Alice in Wonderland (2010)
m. Frankenweenie (2012)
n. Dark Shadows (2013)

2010 Rank: #13
2009 Rank: #20

a. Bananas (1971)
b. Annie Hall (1977)
c. Manhattan (1979)
d. The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)
e. Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
f. Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)
g. Husbands and Wives (1992)
h. Mighty Aphrodite (1995)
i. Match Point (2005)
j. Vicky Christina Barcelona (2008)
k. Whatever Works (2009)
l. Midnight in Paris (2011)
m. The Wrong Picture (2012)

2010 Rank: #18
2009 Rank: #19

a. Reservoir Dogs (1992)
b. Pulp Fiction (1994)
c. Jackie Brown (1997)
d. Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)
e. Kill Bill Vol. 2 (2004)
f. Inglourious Basterds (2009)
g. The Angel, The Bad and The Wise (2013)*
h. Kill Bill Vol. 3 (2014)

2010 Rank: #24
2009 Rank: #18

a. Alien 3 (1992)
b. Seven (1995)
c. The Game (1997)
d. Fight Club (1999)
e. Zodiac (2007)
f. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
g. The Social Network (2010)
h. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)*
i. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (2013)

2010 Rank: #12
2009 Rank: #33

a. Cigarettes & Coffee (1993)
b. Hard Eight (1996)
c. Boogie Nights (1997)
d. Magnolia (1999)
e. Punch-Drunk Love (2002)
f. There Will Be Blood (2007)
g. The Master (2013)*

2010 Rank: #17
2009 Rank: #39

a. Bottle Rocket (1996)
b. Rushmore (1998)
c. The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
d. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)
e. The Darjeeling Limited (2007)
f. Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
g. Moonrise Kingdom (2012)*

AND Bobby Farrelly

2010 Rank: #9
2009 Rank: #5

a. Dumb & Dumber (1994)
b. Kingpin (1996)
c. There’s Something About Mary (1998)
d. Me, Myself and Irene (2000)
e. Shallow Hal (2001)
f. Stuck On You (2003)
g. Fever Pitch (2005)
h. The Heartbreak Kid (2007)
i. Hall Pass (2011)
j. Movie 43 (2011)
k. The Three Stooges (2012)

2010 Rank: #10
2009 Rank: #4

a. Splash (1984)
b. Cocoon (1985)
c. Parenthood (1989)
d. Backdraft (1991)
e. Far and Away (1992)
f. The Paper (1994)
g. Apollo 13 (1995)
h. Ransom (1996)
i. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
j. A Beautiful Mind (2001)
k. Cinderella Man (2005)
l. The Da Vinci Code (2006)
m. Frost/Nixon (2008)
n. Angels & Demons (2009)
o. The Dilemma (2011)
p. The Dark Tower (2013)

Howard is having a try at comedy, which is unusual for him. With a solid cast I have to imagine it will be good, but it doesn't look quite as good as The Dark Tower's potential...

2010 Rank: #22
2009 Rank: #15

a. Memento (2000)
b. Insomnia (2002)
c. Batman Begins (2005)
d. The Prestige (2006)
e. The Dark Knight (2008)
f. Inception (2010)
g. The Dark Knight Rises (2012)*
h. The Prisoner (2014)

Nolan really solidified his greatness with his latest. He is by far the youngest in the top 10.

2010 Rank: #8
2009 Rank: #12

a. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
b. The Graduate (1967)
c. Catch-22 (1970)
d. Silkwood (1983)
e. Working Girl (1988)
f. Wolf (1994)
g. The Birdcage (1996)
h. Primary Colors (1998)
i. Closer (2004)
j. Charlie Wilson’s War (2007)
k. Deep Water (2013)

Battling it out with Lumet to see who can get their swan song out first.

2010 Rank: #6
2009 Rank: #11

a. The Terminator (1984)
b. Terminator II: Judgment Day (1991)
c. Aliens (1986)
d. The Abyss (1989)
e. True Lies (1994)
f. Titanic (1997)
g. Avatar (2009)
h. Avatar Two (2014)
i. Avatar Three (2015)
j. Battle Angel (2017)

I may not be looking forward to the second and third Avatar as much as the first; but I am intrigued with the Battle Angel project.

2010 Rank: #4
2009 Rank: #6

a. Alien (1979)
b. Blade Runner (1982)
c. Thelma & Louise (1991)
d. White Squal (1996)
e. G.I. Jane (1997)
f. Gladiator (2000)
g. Black Hawk Down (2001)
h. Kingdom of Heaven (2005)
i. American Gangster (2007)
j. Body of Lies (2008)
k. Robin Hood (2010)
l. Prometheus (2012)
m. The Kind One (2012)
n. Two 'Alien' Prequels (2013, 2014)
o. The Wolf of Wall Street (2015)

Even at the age he is at Sir Ridley has a lot of future projects on his plate, including more Aliens

2010 Rank: #5
2009 Rank: #3

a. Back to the Future (1985)
b. Back to the Future II (1989)
c. Back to the Future III (1990)
d. Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988)
e. Forrest Gump (1994)
f. Contact (1997)
g. Cast Away (2000)
h. The Polar Express (2004)
i. A Christmas Carol (2009)
j. Yellow Submarine (2012)
k. Stoneheart (Possible Trilogy starting in 2013)

Zemeckis really needs a new direction as he has had trouble coming up with impressive projects lately. Still, his past glory can't be denied.

2010 Rank: #7
2009 Rank: #13

a. 12 Angry Men (1957)
b. Long Day’s Journey Into Night (1962)
c. Serpico (1973)
d. Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
e. Network (1976)
f. The Verdict (1982)
g. Running on Empty (1988)
h. Find Me Guilty (2006)
i. Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (2007)
j. Getting Out (2012)

The legend is getting old; but he still has a prospective film coming up, let's hope it's a swan song to be proud of.

2010 Rank: #3
2009 Rank: #8

a. Blood Simple (1984)
b. Raising Arizona (1987)
c. Miller’s Crossing (1990)
d. Barton Fink (1991)
e. The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)
f. Fargo (1996)
g. The Big Lebowski (1998)
h. O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
i. The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)
j. Intolerable Cruelty (2003)
k. The Lady Killers (2004)
l. No Country for Old Men (2007)
m. Burn After Reading (2008)
n. A Serious Man (2009)
o. True Grit (2010)
p. Gambit (2013)

These guys are the only ones with a slight possibility of besting Scorsese. Look at the work they've done in just the past four years!

2010 Rank: #2
2009 Rank: #2

a. The Sugarland Express (1974)
b. Jaws (1975)
c. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
d. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
e. E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
f. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
g. The Color Purple (1985)
h. Empire of the Sun (1987)
i. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
j. Hook (1991)
k. Jurassic Park (1993)
l. Schindler’s List (1993)
m. Amistad (1997)
n. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
o. Artificial Intelligence: AI (2001)
p. Minority Report (2002)
q. Catch Me if You Can (2002)
r. The Terminal (2004)
s. Munich (2005)
t. The Adventures of Tintin (2011)
u. War Horse (2011)
v. Lincoln (2012)*
w. Robopocalypse (2013)

His talents have been in question lately; but he has some pretty exciting films coming up... either way, this man is one of the greatest.

2010 Rank: #1
2009 Rank: #1

a. Mean Streets (1973)
b. Taxi Driver (1976)
c. New York, New York (1977)
d. The Last Waltz (1978)
e. Raging Bull (1980)
f. The King of Comedy (1982)
g. After Hours (1985)
h. The Color of Money (1986)
i. The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)
j. Goodfellas (1990)
k. Cape Fear (1991)
l. The Age of Innocence (1993)
m. Casino (1995)
n. Kundun (1997)
o. Gangs of New York (2002)
p. The Aviator (2004)
q. The Departed (2006)
r. Shutter Island (2010)
s. The Invention of Hugo Cabret (2011)*
t. Silence (2012)*
u. Sinatra (2013)*
v. The Irishman/I Heard You Paint Houses (2 Films!) (2013/14)*
w. The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt (2015)*

Look at his list of films. It's insane. I can't imagine anyone ever topping Scorsese.
The craziest thing is he is more active than ever!