It definitely doesn’t feel like a Spike Lee joint but the big reveal still felt super stylish and satisfying. Gives me a similar vibe to the ending to black kkklansman (before the real footage)
Last of the Mohicans. Directed by...wait for it...Michael Mann. The director of Miami Vice, Heat, Manhunter, Collateral, etc. made one of the best period pieces about colonial America ever.
I had no idea that movie was Michael Mann, wtf. I've seen folks talk about that movie and folks talk about "Michael Mann Movies" like Heat and Collateral, but never both things together haah
Coen Brother's True Grit. It felt way too sincere and very serious compared to their black comedies and slow burn thrillers. It's their least Coen Brothers feeling movie and one of my favorites of theirs.
Everything about the movie feels very Coen Bros. to me, from the literary dialogue like O Brother Where Art Thou (much lifted straight from the book) to the cinematography by Deakins, to the recurring work with favorite actors (Brolin and Bridges), and the brutal realism of the violence. Even the humor in the movie is very Coenesque. It's pretty unmistakable tbh, but I definitely agree one of my favorites of theirs.
I wouldn't say so. At the time it definitely made sense for him to be pushed to do a big movie as he was a very "hot" director coming off a huge commercial and critical/awards success. It just sucks that the film is problematic (though still more fun than last year's slog).
If anything, I'd argue that Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore is the least-Scorsese of Scorsese's films- and it may be telling that that's a fairly early one.
Wes Craven had a near-30 year run of solely making horror movies until he cashed in the success of the Scream movies to direct his passion project "Music of the Heart", a biopic about a teacher in Harlem who fought to keep music alive in inner-city schools. He then followed that up with another decade of horror films.
I wouldn't call that a "passion project" as Miramax just opened up their script vault for him to choose what he wanted. His actual passion project was Total Immersion which was a script or idea he had which was allegedly a semi-autobiographical story about growing up in a very religious household.
I'm sure this is going to be a cheat, lol, but Spielberg checks this box a few times. When he directed the following films, they were very different from his prior work.
his horror background really shined in that monster scene at the boardroom or whatever it was. It reminded me of that dark gremlins-pg13 feeling it has
Peter Jackson of LOTR fame's earlier films are a FAAAAAAR CRY from what made him famous. I mean ive been a fan of his since renting Bad Taste as a youngster but most know him for LOTR. His early work is insanely sleazy gore fueled trash that brings a tear of joy to your average slimetime grindhouse cinema lovers eye... so naturally i and many others fell in love. Still not sure how he got the LOTR job lol.
Despite the hilarious gore-satire of his early work, the puppetry of Meet the Feebles and the size reduction sequences for Selwyn in Brain Dead/Dead Alive very much influenced the decision to give him the cash to make LOTR. He did such a great job with little money on those effects and made them halfway decent stories.
The Joel Schumacher Batman movies. It's really a shame that the man who brought us The Lost Boys, Flatliners, Falling Down and A Time To Kill made that neon thrash.
His commentary track on Batman & Robin is quite fascinating. He actually takes full responsibility, because he apparently could have said no to a lot of suggestions from Warner’s marketing and merchandising departments, but he chose not to. I have never heard a filmmaker accept blame for a bad movie, other than this. I had to stop hating the guy after that.
Fast Company from Cronenberg. It's a drama about a drag-racing circuit with a country-rock song soundtrack and theme. You'd never guess that he was the one behind it as it has zero of his trademarks from that era.
I'd say his back-to-back thrillers, Eastern Promises & A History of Violence are also far from his usual exploration of body transformation and mindness.
And Hugo! That's the one that really stands out to me. Scorsese is talented enough that he can work in any genre, but whimsical, fairy tale-esque, children's story (in 3D!) is not the first thing that comes to mind when I think of ol' Marty.
Red State is definitely different from his other movies, but I'm reluctant to call it fantastic. It's 2/3 of a pretty solid horror/suspense movie that absolutely tanks in the third act. I definitely don't fault anyone who likes it, though.
I'd probably lean more towards Kundun. Although religion is also an ever present theme in his filmography, so it still doesn't feel outside the realms of his style.
Todd Phillips made a career making comedies such as the Hangover films, Starsky and Hutch, Due Date and War Dogs. But then, he also made Joker, which couldn't be more different to his prior work. It was great, but it is certainly not what you'd classify as his style of film.
I would say War Dogs was him moving into more serious projects (more black comedy/crime rather than straight comedy). But WD and Joker have both been kind of poor man’s Scorsese. I’m interested to see if he can create a little bit of his own style in future works.
Black Book, dir. Paul Verhoeven. It's a serious, small WWII drama set in Germany. Same dude directed Robocop, Showgirls, Hollow Man, Total Recall, & Starship Troopers!
I think this period of time he wasn't sure where to take his career. He could basically write his own ticket but was still a pretty young man. Old interviews show a wide range of projects he thought about making but he mostly seemed to do nothing for a long time. Maybe a fear of failure? Trying to nail down what his own style was and wasn't. I think he figured out what he wanted to do and then made Kill Bill and hasn't really slowed since.
Knightriders by George Romero. It's about a Renaissance Faire that uses motorcycles instead of horses and a coup to gain control of the faire. It's pretty good and has some cool action sequences, Tom Savini is in it.
Woody Allen's Match Point is a totally dry British thriller. I think it's one of his best films and if you removed his name from the credits, no one would know he made it.
INSIDE MAN - Spike Lee
It definitely doesn’t feel like a Spike Lee joint but the big reveal still felt super stylish and satisfying. Gives me a similar vibe to the ending to black kkklansman (before the real footage)
And less successfully, Spike Lee's Oldboy.
The conversation with the Indian taxi driver and the dolly shot of Denzel are classic Spike Lee
Last of the Mohicans. Directed by...wait for it...Michael Mann. The director of Miami Vice, Heat, Manhunter, Collateral, etc. made one of the best period pieces about colonial America ever.
I had no idea that movie was Michael Mann, wtf. I've seen folks talk about that movie and folks talk about "Michael Mann Movies" like Heat and Collateral, but never both things together haah
Coen Brother's True Grit. It felt way too sincere and very serious compared to their black comedies and slow burn thrillers. It's their least Coen Brothers feeling movie and one of my favorites of theirs.
Everything about the movie feels very Coen Bros. to me, from the literary dialogue like O Brother Where Art Thou (much lifted straight from the book) to the cinematography by Deakins, to the recurring work with favorite actors (Brolin and Bridges), and the brutal realism of the violence. Even the humor in the movie is very Coenesque. It's pretty unmistakable tbh, but I definitely agree one of my favorites of theirs.
The like five minute scene where Jeff Bridges tries and fails to shoot corn bread feels very Coen-esque to me.
Over No Country for Old men? I really have to disagree, True Grit is a super coen movie.
The humour and character quirks definitely felt like Coen brothers to me.
Seems everyone comment on this one disagrees.
Mank by David Fincher. It felt very different than his normal films to me at least.
Shame he chose it over Mindhunter though. :/
Benjamin Button is just as big a difference from his usual fare too.
David Lynch’s ‘Dune’?
The Straight Story too.
It's weird that he was given a relatively big-name IP, but it's still pretty Lynch-y, which is probably a reason it doesn't work so well.
I wouldn't say so. At the time it definitely made sense for him to be pushed to do a big movie as he was a very "hot" director coming off a huge commercial and critical/awards success. It just sucks that the film is problematic (though still more fun than last year's slog).
Shutter Island is definitely inside Scorsese's comfort zone.
I'd say Hugo was more of a stretch for him, stylistically.
If anything, I'd argue that Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore is the least-Scorsese of Scorsese's films- and it may be telling that that's a fairly early one.
OK, how about Bringing Out the Dead?
Can you really compare to many of his other films?
Wes Craven had a near-30 year run of solely making horror movies until he cashed in the success of the Scream movies to direct his passion project "Music of the Heart", a biopic about a teacher in Harlem who fought to keep music alive in inner-city schools. He then followed that up with another decade of horror films.
I wouldn't call that a "passion project" as Miramax just opened up their script vault for him to choose what he wanted. His actual passion project was Total Immersion which was a script or idea he had which was allegedly a semi-autobiographical story about growing up in a very religious household.
I'm sure this is going to be a cheat, lol, but Spielberg checks this box a few times. When he directed the following films, they were very different from his prior work.
Color Purple definitely feels very Spielberg in a couple points
SHAZAM was directed by David Sandberg. He usually does
his horror background really shined in that monster scene at the boardroom or whatever it was. It reminded me of that dark gremlins-pg13 feeling it has
Shazam has a number of horror inspired moments.
Peter Jackson of LOTR fame's earlier films are a FAAAAAAR CRY from what made him famous. I mean ive been a fan of his since renting Bad Taste as a youngster but most know him for LOTR. His early work is insanely sleazy gore fueled trash that brings a tear of joy to your average slimetime grindhouse cinema lovers eye... so naturally i and many others fell in love. Still not sure how he got the LOTR job lol.
Despite the hilarious gore-satire of his early work, the puppetry of Meet the Feebles and the size reduction sequences for Selwyn in Brain Dead/Dead Alive very much influenced the decision to give him the cash to make LOTR. He did such a great job with little money on those effects and made them halfway decent stories.
I'm not much of a horror fan but I love the sheer hell out of The Frighteners.
I always wanted to see Dead Alive but I wasn't sure if the gore would be too much for me.
Their oscar nomination for Heavenly Creatures is the reason why they were able to pitch LOTR to a few different studios.
For some reason Huston directing Annie reminded me of Robert Altman directing Popeye.
I went and re-watch 'A good year' just now, and loved it very much.
When Eli Roth did "The House with The Clock On The Walls".
The Joel Schumacher Batman movies. It's really a shame that the man who brought us The Lost Boys, Flatliners, Falling Down and A Time To Kill made that neon thrash.
His commentary track on Batman & Robin is quite fascinating. He actually takes full responsibility, because he apparently could have said no to a lot of suggestions from Warner’s marketing and merchandising departments, but he chose not to. I have never heard a filmmaker accept blame for a bad movie, other than this. I had to stop hating the guy after that.
I liked Batman Forever
They’re actually pretty excellent for what they are. Watched them about a month ago and was shocked—they’re $100 million gay-porn parodies of Batman.
Fast Company from Cronenberg. It's a drama about a drag-racing circuit with a country-rock song soundtrack and theme. You'd never guess that he was the one behind it as it has zero of his trademarks from that era.
I'd say his back-to-back thrillers, Eastern Promises & A History of Violence are also far from his usual exploration of body transformation and mindness.
Scorsese also did After Hours.
Scorsese is a really versatile director. He's known for the mob stuff, but he's made 25 movies and only like 5-6 of them are crime movies.
And Hugo! That's the one that really stands out to me. Scorsese is talented enough that he can work in any genre, but whimsical, fairy tale-esque, children's story (in 3D!) is not the first thing that comes to mind when I think of ol' Marty.
I feel like you can't answer with any Scorsese film set in New York. That was a staple of his films especially in the 70s and 80s
This is such a good film.
John Carpenter with Starman.
Kevin Smith’s “Red State” is a fantastic horror movie that is unlike anything he has made…including “Tusk”
Red State is definitely different from his other movies, but I'm reluctant to call it fantastic. It's 2/3 of a pretty solid horror/suspense movie that absolutely tanks in the third act. I definitely don't fault anyone who likes it, though.
Tarsem Singh directed the Cell, the Fall, and Immortals and Self/less.
Ugh immortals was such a chore to get through.
Ben Wheatley is about to do The Meg 2. That's Kill List, High Rise, A Field In England, Ben Wheatley.
he did a remake of Rebecca for whatever reason and that felt very different from everything else he's done.
i mean if we're talking Scorsese I'd say Hugo a more of a far cry from his usual stuff than Shutter Island
I'd probably lean more towards Kundun. Although religion is also an ever present theme in his filmography, so it still doesn't feel outside the realms of his style.
Was watching Robin Williams movie Jack and Francis Ford Coppola directing it feels weird.
Mind you, much of Coppola's 1980s and 1990s work was openly as a director-for-hire, so that gives a strange logic to it.
The Age of Innocence is not what one thinks of when they think of a Scorcese movie.
Well, it's still about New York though
David - The Straight Story
You guys on a first-name basis?
Sam Raimi's A Simple Plan is a major outlier in his filmography.
He did the Oz movie too with James Franco.
Jacob's Ladder. Adrian Lyne
Rewatched that just last week. It's still incredible.
Todd Phillips made a career making comedies such as the Hangover films, Starsky and Hutch, Due Date and War Dogs. But then, he also made Joker, which couldn't be more different to his prior work. It was great, but it is certainly not what you'd classify as his style of film.
I would say War Dogs was him moving into more serious projects (more black comedy/crime rather than straight comedy). But WD and Joker have both been kind of poor man’s Scorsese. I’m interested to see if he can create a little bit of his own style in future works.
Yeah, that Todd Phillips made Joker is still insane to me. What a phenomenal stretch.
Black Book, dir. Paul Verhoeven. It's a serious, small WWII drama set in Germany. Same dude directed Robocop, Showgirls, Hollow Man, Total Recall, & Starship Troopers!
It sticks out a lot less if you check out the films he made before going to Hollywood.
His early Dutch films are actually in the same mold.
RoboCop would actually be the film that was out of his comfort zone. He claims he threw the script away at first.
George Miller did Mad Max Fury Road and Happy Feet
Don’t forget Babe Pig In The City.
My favorite new example is
Most directors really just need to earn a living.
Wes Craven, typically a horror director, also directed Music of the Heart, a heartwarming biopic.
Red State.
Schindlers List? Spielberg went Indiana Jones, Hook, Jurassic Park, SCHINDLERS LIST, Jurrasic Park II..
He also made The Color Purple and Always.
Ang Lee's Hulk. Keep in mind this was in between Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and Brokeback Mountain.
Jackie Brown is the least tarantinoic film
Based on a book by an author who heavily inspired him though, definitely isn't out of his comfort zone.
Is it? Feels very similar to Pulp Fiction to me.
I think this period of time he wasn't sure where to take his career. He could basically write his own ticket but was still a pretty young man. Old interviews show a wide range of projects he thought about making but he mostly seemed to do nothing for a long time. Maybe a fear of failure? Trying to nail down what his own style was and wasn't. I think he figured out what he wanted to do and then made Kill Bill and hasn't really slowed since.
Marc Webb did the TASM 1 & 2. He's famously known for 500 Days of Summer.
John Carpenter - Big Trouble in Little China
Knightriders by George Romero. It's about a Renaissance Faire that uses motorcycles instead of horses and a coup to gain control of the faire. It's pretty good and has some cool action sequences, Tom Savini is in it.
World Trade Center by Oliver Stone.
Happy Feet and Babe Pig in the City are both made by George Miller who does the Mad Max movies.
Francis Ford Coppola directing “Peggy Sue Got Married” surprised me a lot. It’s a lighter comedy/drama, a far cry from his usual fare.
Duel (1971) - Steven Spielberg: just seems too boring for a Spielberg film. And I know it was very early in his career, but still.
Joker from guy who made hangover
Francis Ford Coppola's 'Jack' is mush of a departure from what he usually did.
Alice Doesn't Live Here Any More (1974), directed by Scorsese, but you'd never know it. One of my favorite movies, and Ellen Burstyn won an Oscar.
How about a terrible robin Williams comedy directed by the guy who brought you The Godfather?
Woody Allen's Match Point is a totally dry British thriller. I think it's one of his best films and if you removed his name from the credits, no one would know he made it.
George Miller (of Mad Max fame) directed Happy Feet and Babe 2: Pig in the City.
Didn't direct it but Joss Whedon - Toy Story