Added by Stehako on 21 Feb 2014 03:20

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Top Future Directing Greats (2014 Edition)

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Rating: List Type:

7.3

Mira Nair

2013 Rank: #50
2012 Rank: #44
2011 Rank: #32
2010 Rank: #37
2009 Rank: #47

a. Monsoon Wedding (2001)
b. The Namesake (2007)
c. Amelia (2009)
d. The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2013)

Stehako's rating:

Mark Duplass

and Jay Duplass

2013 Rank: #18 on Best Up and Coming Directors
2012 Rank: #37 on Best Up and Coming Directors
2011 Rank: #20 on Best Up and Coming Directors
2010 Rank: #24 on Best Up and Coming Directors
2009 Rank: #41 on Best Up and Coming Directors

a. The Puffy Chair (2005)
b. Baghead (2008)
c. Cyrus (2010)
d. Jeff Who Lives at Home (2012)

Stehako's rating:

6.9

James Mangold

2013 Rank: #44
2012 Rank: OUT
2011 Rank: #29
2010 Rank: #21
2009 Rank: #38

a. Cop Land (1997)
b. Girl, Interrupted (1999)
c. Identity (2003)
d. Walk the Line (2005)
e. 3:10 to Yuma (2007)
f. The Wolverine (2013)
g. Three Little Words (2015)

Stehako's rating:

7.2

John Hillcoat

2013 Rank: #49
2012 Rank: #4 (On "Best Up and Coming" list)
2011 rank: #25 (On "Best Up and Coming" list)
2010 Rank: #26 (On "Best Up and Coming" list)
2009 Rank: #19 (On "Best Up and Coming" list)

a. The Proposition (2006)
b. The Road (2009)
c. Lawless (2012)
d. Quarry (2014)
e. Triple Nine (2015)*

Stehako's rating:

6.8

Ryan Fleck

2013 Rank: #46
2012 Rank: #21 (On "Best Up and Coming" list)
2011 Rank: #39 (On "Best Up and Coming" list)

a. Half Nelson (2006)
b. Sugar (2009)
c. It's Kind of a Funny Story (2010)
d. Mississippi Grind (2015)

Stehako's rating:

6.4

John Madden

2013 Rank: #42
2012 Rank: #41

a. Mrs Brown (1997)
b. Shakespeare in Love (1998)
c. The Debt (2011)
d. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2012)
e. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel Sequel (2015)
f. The Outcast (2016)

Stehako's rating:

7.9

Kathryn Bigelow

2013 Rank: #10 on Best Up and Coming Directors
2012 Rank: #15 on Best Up and Coming Directors
2011 Rank: #23 on Best Up and Coming Directors
2010 Rank: #22 on Best Up and Coming Directors

a. Point Break (1991)
b. Strange Days (1995)
c. The Hurt Locker (2009)
d. Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
e. Triple Frontier (2015)

Stehako's rating:

7.3

Stephen Daldry

2013 Rank: #41
2012 Rank: #40
2011 Rank: #39
2010 Rank: #41
2009 Rank: #45

a. Billy Elliot (2000)
b. The Hours (2002)
c. The Reader (2008)
d. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (2011)
e. Trash (2014)

Stehako's rating:

8.2

Jim Jarmusch

2013 Rank: #47
2012 Rank: #43

a. Dead Man (1995)
b. Coffee and Cigarettes (2003)
c. Broken Flowers (2005)
d. Only Lovers Left Alive (2014)

Stehako's rating:

6.6

Gore Verbinski

2013 Rank: #37
2012 Rank: #34

a. The Ring (2002)
b. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
c. Rango (2011)

Stehako's rating:

7.2

Greg Mottola

2013 Rank: #9 on Best Up and Coming Directors
2012 Rank: #12 on Best Up and Coming Directors
2011 Rank: #4 on Best Up and Coming Directors
2010 Rank: #3 on Best Up and Coming Directors
2009 Rank: #8 on Best Up and Coming Directors

a. Superbad (2007)
b. Adventureland (2009)
c. Paul (2011)
d. Clear History (2013)

Stehako's rating:

7.3

Tom Hooper

2013 Rank: #43
2012 Rank: #20 (On "Best Up and Coming" list)
2011 Rank: #30 (On "Best Up and Coming" list)

a. The Damned United (2009)
b. The King's Speech (2010)
c. Les Miserables (2012)

Stehako's rating:

6.1

Jared Hess

2013 Rank: #38
2012 Rank: OUT
2011 Rank: #43
2010 Rank: #47
2009 Rank: #46

a. Napoleon Dynamite (2004)
b. Nacho Libre (2006)
c. Gentlemen Broncos (2009)
d. Don Verdean: Biblical Archeologist (2014)

Stehako's rating:

7.6

Matthew Vaughn

2013 Rank: #35
2012 Rank: #38 (Debut)
2011 Rank: #11 on "Best Up-and-Coming Directors" List
2010 Rank: #14 on "Best Up-and-Coming Directors" List

a. Layer Cake (2004)
b. Stardust (2007)
c. Kick-Ass (2010)
d. X-Men: First Class (2011)
e. The Secret Service (2015)

Stehako's rating:

6.4

Ben Affleck

2013 Rank: #1 on Best Up and Coming Directors
2012 Rank: #3 on Best Up and Coming Directors
2011 Rank: #10 on Best Up and Coming Directors
2010 Rank: #20 on Best Up and Coming Directors
2009 Rank: #27 on Best Up and Coming Directors

a. Gone Baby Gone (2007)
b. The Town (2010)
c. Argo (2012)
d. Live by Night (2015)

Stehako's rating:

5.8

David Dobkin

2013 Rank: #33
2012 Rank: #35
2011 Rank: #37
2010 Rank: #43
2009 Rank: #28

a. Clay Pigeons (1998)
b. Shanghai Knights (2003)
c. Wedding Crashers (2005)
d. The Change-Up (2011)
e. The Judge (2014)

Stehako's rating:

7.6

J.J. Abrams

2013 Rank: #40
2012 Rank: #4 (On "Best Up and Coming" list)
2011 Rank: #1 (On "Best Up and Coming" list)
2010 Rank: #2 (On "Best Up and Coming" list)
2009 Rank: #2 (On "Best Up and Coming" list)

a. Mission: Impossible III (2006)
b. Star Trek (2009)
c. Super 8 (2011)
d. Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)
e. Star Wars: Episode VII (2015)*

Stehako's rating:

7.3

Noah Baumbach

2013 Rank: #6 on Best Up and Coming Directors
2012 Rank: #13 on Best Up and Coming Directors
2011 Rank: #7 on Best Up and Coming Directors
2010 Rank: #1 on Best Up and Coming Directors

a. The Squid and the Whale (2005)
b. Margot at the Wedding (2007)
c. Greenberg (2010)
d. Frances Ha (2013)
e. While We're Young (2015)

Stehako's rating:

Nancy Meyers

2013 Rank: #29
2012 Rank: #29
2011 Rank: #20
2010 Rank: #24
2009 Rank: --

a. The Parent Trap (1998)
b. Something's Gotta Give (2003)
c. The Holiday (2006)
d. It's Complicated (2009)
e. The Intern (2015)

Stehako's rating:

7.3

Rian Johnson

2013 Rank: #36
2012 Rank: #17 (On "Best Up and Coming" list)
2011 Rank: #36 (On "Best Up and Coming" list)
2010 Rank: #42 (On "Best Up and Coming" list)
2009 Rank: #21 (On "Best Up and Coming" list)

a. Brick (2005)
b. The Brothers Bloom (2009)
c. Looper (2012)

Stehako's rating:

Jon Favreau

2013 Rank: #31
2012 Rank: #36
2011 Rank: #22
2010 Rank: #31
2009 Rank: #27

a. Made (2001)
b. Elf (2003)
c. Iron Man (2008)
d. Iron Man 2 (2010)
e. Cowboys and Aliens (2011)
f. Chef (2014)

Stehako's rating:

Guillermo del Toro

2013 Rank: #34
2012 Rank: #37
2011 Rank: #40
2010 Rank: #45
2009 Rank: #8

a. Hellboy I (2004)
b. Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)
c. Hellboy II (2008)
d. Pacific Rim (2013)
e. Crimson Peak (2015)

Stehako's rating:

6.7

Rob Marshall

2013 Rank: #30
2012 Rank: #30
2011 Rank: #17
2010 Rank: #27
2009 Rank: #9 on Up & Coming Directors

a. Chicago (2002)
b. Memoires of a Geisha (2005)
c. Nine (2009)
d. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011)
e. Into the Woods (2014)

Stehako's rating:

6.8

Marc Forster

2013 Rank: #28
2012 Rank: #33
2011 Rank: #18
2010 Rank: #23
2009 Rank: #36

a. Finding Neverland (2004)
b. Stranger Than Fiction (2006)
c. The Kite Runner (2007)
d. Quantum of Solace (2008)
e. Machine Gun Preacher (2011)
f. World War Z (2013)
g. Electric Ant (2015)

Stehako's rating:

7.8

Mike Leigh

2013 Rank: #25
2012 Rank: #27
2011 Rank: #27
2010 Rank: #42
2009 Rank: #35

a. Secrets & Lies (1996)
b. Topsy-Turvy (1999)
c. Vera Drake (2004)
d. Happy-Go-Lucky (2008)
e. Another Year (2010)
f. Mr. Turner (2014)

Stehako's rating:

Nicolas Winding Refn

2013 Rank: #32
2012 Rank: #2 (On "Best Up and Coming" list)

a. Bronson (2008)
b. Valhalla Rising (2009)
c. Drive (2011)
d. Only God Forgives (2013)
e. I Walk with the Dead (2015)

Stehako's rating:

8.5

Kar Wai Wong

2013 Rank: #27
2012 Rank: #31
2011 Rank: #26
2010 Rank: #33
2009 Rank: #50

a. Chungking Express (1994)
b. In the Mood for Love (2000)
c. 2046 (2004)
e. The Grandmaster (2013)

Stehako's rating:

7.6

John Lasseter

2013 Rank: #21
2012 Rank: #23
2011 Rank: #12
2010 Rank: #32
2009 Rank: #20

a. Toy Story (1995)
b. A Bug’s Life (1998)
c. Toy Story 2 (1999)
c. Cars (2006)
d. Cars 2 (2011)

Stehako's rating:

7.6

George Clooney

2013 Rank: #24
2012 Rank: #26 (Debut)
2011 Rank: #35 on "Best Up & Coming Directors
2010 Rank: #25 on "Best Up & Coming Directors
2009 Rank: #22 on "Best Up & Coming Directors

a. Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002)
b. Good Night, and Good Luck (2005)
c. Leatherheads (2008)
d. The Ides of March (2011)
e. The Monuments Men (2014)

Stehako's rating:

8.1

Fernando Meirelles

2013 Rank: #20
2012 Rank: #20
2011 Rank: #28
2010 Rank: #35
2009 Rank: #19

a. City of God (2002)
b. The Constant Gardner (2005)
c. 360 (2012)
d. Rio, I Love You (2014)

Stehako's rating:

8.4

Pedro Almodóvar

2013 Rank: #26
2012 Rank: #39

a. Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988)
b. Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!
c. Talk to Her (2002)
d. Volver (2006)
e. The Skin I Live In (2011)
f. I'm So Excited! (2013)

Stehako's rating:

7.3

Paul Greengrass

2013 Rank: #23
2012 Rank: #25
2011 Rank: #13
2010 Rank: #12
2009 Rank: #2

a. The Bourne Supremacy (2004)
b. United 93 (2006)
c. The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
d. Green Zone (2010)
e. Captain Phillips (2013)
f. Memphis (2016)

Stehako's rating:

8.1

Edgar Wright

2013 Rank: #18
2012 Rank: #21
2011 Rank: #35
2010 Rank: #4 on Up & Coming Directors

a. Shaun of the Dead (2004)
b. Hot Fuzz (2007)
c. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (2010)
d. The World's End (2013)
e. Ant-Man (2015)

Stehako's rating:

8.6

Errol Morris

2013 Rank: #19
2012 Rank: #24
2011 Rank: #46

a. The Thin Blue Line (1988)
b. Fast, Cheap and Out of Control (1997)
c. Mr. Death (1999)
d. The Fog of War (2003)
e. Standard Operating Procedure (2008)
f. Tabloid (2011)
g. Holland, Michigan (2015)

Stehako's rating:

7.9

Lars von Trier

2013 Rank: #22
2012 Rank: #28
2011 Rank: #41

a. Breaking the Waves (1996)
b. Dancer in the Dark (2000)
c. Antichrist (2009)
d. Melancholia (2011)
e. Nymphomaniac (2014)*

Stehako's rating:

7.6

Brad Bird

2013 Rank: #15
2012 Rank: #15
2011 Rank: #34
2010 Rank: #46
2009 Rank: #10

a. The Iron Giant (1999)
b. The Incredibles (2004)
c. Ratatouille (2007)
d. Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)
e. Tomorrowland (2015)
f. 1906 (2016)

Stehako's rating:

Adam McKay

2013 Rank: #17
2012 Rank: #19
2011 Rank: #30
2010 Rank: #44
2009 Rank: #32

a. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)
b. Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006)
c. Step Brothers (2008)
d. The Other Guys (2010)
e. Anchorman: The Legend Continues (2013)

Stehako's rating:

6.9

Zack Snyder

2013 Rank: #16
2012 Rank: #18 (Debut)
2011 Rank: #3 on Up & Coming Directors
2010 Rank: #7 on Up & Coming Directors
2009 Rank: #4 on Up & Coming Directors

a. 300 (2007)
b. Watchmen (2009)
c. Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole (2010)
d. Man of Steel (2013)
e. Untitled Superman-Batman Movie (2016)

Stehako's rating:

7.2

Judd Apatow

2013 Rank: #13
2012 Rank: #16
2011 Rank: #23
2010 Rank: #26
2009 Rank: #5

a. The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005)
b. Knocked Up (2007)
c. Funny People (2009)
d. This is 40 (2012)
e. Trainwreck (2015)

Stehako's rating:

7.8

Yimou Zhang

2013 Rank: #12
2012 Rank: #14
2011 Rank: #15
2010 Rank: #17
2009 Rank: #11

a. Hero (2004)
b. House of Flying Daggers (2005)
c. Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles (2006)
d. Curse of the Golden Flower (2007)
e. The Flowers of War (2012)
f. Coming home (2014)

Stehako's rating:

Alejandro González Iñárritu

2013 Rank: #10
2012 Rank: #11
2011 Rank: #4
2010 Rank: #9
2009 Rank: #3

a. Amores Perros (2000)
b. 21 Grams (2003)
c. Babel (2006)
d. Biutiful (2010)
e. Birdman (2014)

Stehako's rating:

7.6

Sofia Coppola

2013 Rank: #11
2012 Rank: #12
2011 Rank: #9
2020 Rank: #20
2009 Rank: #43

a. The Virgin Suicides (1999)
b. Lost in Translation (2003)
c. Marie Antionette (2006)
d. Somewhere (2010)
e. The Bling Ring (2013)
f. Fairyland (2015)

Stehako's rating:

6.8

Andrew Stanton

2013 Rank: #8
2012 Rank: #7
2011 Rank: #10
2010 Rank: #16
2009 Rank: #4

a. A Bug’s Life (1998)
b. Finding Nemo (2003)
c. Wall-E (2008)
d. John Carter (2012)
e. Finding Dory (2016)

Stehako's rating:

7.6

Ang Lee

2013 Rank: #9
2012 Rank: #22
2011 Rank: #36
2010 Rank: #39
2009 Rank: #26

a. Sense and Sensibility (1995)
b. The Ice Storm (1997)
c. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
d. Brokeback Mountain (2005)
e. Taking Woodstock (2009)
f. Life of Pi (2012)
g. Gods & Kings (2016)

Stehako's rating:

8.1

Michel Gondry

2013 Rank: #7
2012 Rank: #8
2011 Rank: #3
2010 Rank: #4
2009 Rank: #34

a. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
b. The Science of Sleep (2006)
c. Dave Chapelle’s Block Party (2006)
d. Be Kind, Rewind (2008)
e. Is the Man Who is Tall Happy? (2013)
g. Megalomania (2015)

Stehako's rating:

7.4

Jason Reitman

2013 Rank: #3
2012 Rank: #5
2011 Rank: #5
2010 Rank: #7
2009 Rank: #30

a. Thank You For Smoking (2005)
b. Juno (2007)
c. Up in the Air (2009)
d. Young Adult (2011)
e. Labor Day (2013)
f. Men, Women & Children (2014)

Stehako's rating:

6.6

Baz Luhrmann

2013 Rank: #2
2012 Rank: #3
2011 Rank: #11
2010 Rank: #22
2009 Rank: #22

a. Romeo + Juliet (1996)
b. Moulin Rouge! (2001)
c. Australia (2008)
d. The Great Gatsby (2013)

Stehako's rating:

7.8

Joe Wright

2013 Rank: #6
2012 Rank: #11
2011 Rank: #42
2010 Rank: #2 on Up & Coming Directors
2009 Rank: #10 on "Best Up & Coming Directors"

a. Pride & Prejudice (2005)
b. Atonement (2007)
c. The Soloist (2009)
d. Hanna (2011)
e. Anna Karenina (2012)
f. Pan (2015)
g. A Season in the Congo (2017)

Stehako's rating:

7.8

Alfonso Cuarón

2013 Rank: #5
2012 Rank: #9
2011 Rank: #21
2010 Rank: #25
2009 Rank: #25

a. Y Tu Mama Tambien (2001)
b. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
c. Children of Men (2006)
d. Gravity (2013)
e. Tales from the Hanging Head (2016)

Stehako's rating:

7.7

Spike Jonze

2013 Rank: #4
2012 Rank: #6
2011 Rank: #7
2010 Rank: #11
2009 Rank: #14

a. Being John Malkovich (1999)
b. Adaptation. (2002)
c. Where the Wild Things Are (2009)
d. Pretty Sweet (2012)
e. Her (2013)

Stehako's rating:

Voters of this person list - View all

Welcome to the 6th year of these lists!

In the opinion of Stephen H Koontz

This list includes directors who...
-- Have at least three successful films finished and/or at least one promising film on the way
-- Have directed full-length features for at least five years.

The more completed films combined with promising films the director has on deck, the higher their rank.
But of course the quality in films they've completed is even more important.

Italicized title indicates unreleased film

Bold title indicates favorite film

* - Indicates a highly anticipated film

Where did some directors move to?

Those who MOVED UP to Most Accomplished ACTIVE Directors:
Alexander Payne
Ben Stiller

Those who are OUT of the list:
Taylor Hackford - He directed "An Officer and a Gentleman" but has not directed a solid movie since "Ray" in 2004.
Mike Newell - Has been directing since the 1960s but hasn't directed anything impressive in nearly a decade.
Atom Egoyan - While still active I'm not impressed by any recent films and upcoming films lack interest.

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