The Great Directors' Masterpieces -- What I Think They Are -- #26-50

[@chanceotter8121]

Of the directors I care about- Woody Allen- Crimes and Misdemeanors Friedkin-To Live and Die in LA DePalma-Femme Fatale Capra-It Happened One Night Griffith-Broken Blossoms Malick-Tree of Life Coen Brothers-Miller’s Crossing Lang-Human Desire Tarkovsky-Mirror

[@willieluncheonette5843]

For Griffith, Way Down East is his most moving film, emotionally. Lang's two best IMO are Dr. Mabuse the Gambler (one of my 12 all time favorite films) and M

[@WilliamJames48]

I love the French Dispatch. Agreed.

[@markkodama6910]

Thin Red Line is my favorite malick film.

[@markkodama6910]

Lawrence of Arabia and Bridge on the River Kwai were both amazing films for Lean.

[@markkodama6910]

Purple Rose is one of my favorite all time movies. A good list would be top 10 movies not on AFI's best 100 lists.

[@Mike_v_E]

I would pick Stalker as Andrei Tarkovsky's masterpiece. Mirror is definitely great too!

[@PirateJacques79]

Look like fun. Here's my picks: 50. Woody Allen - The Purple Rose of Cairo 49. Kathryn Bigelow - Near Dark 48. Tim Burton - Edward Scissorhands 47. Terry Gilliam - Brazil 46. Wes Anderson - The Grand Budapest Hotel 45. Powell and Pressburger - A Matter of Life and Death 44. Lois Weber - ? 43. William Friedkin - Sorcerer 42. Darren Aronofsky - Black Swan 41. Spike Lee - Do The Right Thing 40. Pedro Almodovar - All About My Mother 39. Lars von Trier - Breaking the Waves 38. Abbas Kiarostami - Through the Olive Trees 37. Brian De Palma - Scarface 36. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu - Amores Perros 35. Satyajit Ray - The Apu Trilogy 34. Ridley Scott - Blade Runner 33. Alice Guy-Blache - ? 32. Frank Capra - It's a Wonderful Life 31. D.W. Griffith - ? 30. Terrence Malick - Days of Heaven 29. The Coen Brothers - Barton Fink 28. Fritz Lang - Metropolis 27. Andrei Tarkovsky - Stalker 26. David Lean - Lawrence of Arabia

[@rodrigomatosopecanha1035]

Through the Olive Trees, A Matter of Life and Death and Amores Perros. Sir I need your letterboxd sir, excuse me

[@LearningaboutMovies]

thank you.

[@richardmcleod1930]

Lillian Gish titled her autobiography, "The Movie, Mr. Griffith and me". I think you get the point.

[@richardmcleod1930]

The great Director Billy Wilder had a sign above the door in his Hollywood office. It simply stated, "How Would Lubitsch have done it."

[@markkodama6910]

Loved Ed Wood. Couldn't stop laughing.

[@jonhinson5701]

Big Fish and Ed Wood are my favorite Tim Burton. As a person who ran home from school in the 60's and early 70's , i loved the original Dark Shadows and Burton made a total mess of a show he professes to like.

[@tsp1999]

I have seen a few Alice Guy movies. She was the first female director and was along with Melies a pioneer in narrative cinema. Her best movie is The Birth, the Life, and the Death of Christ, from 1906. Highly recommended, probably the best silent passion play

[@drdavid1963]

Woody Allen - Hannah and Her Sisters Katheryn Bigelow - Zero Dark Thirty Tim Burton - no masterpieces Terry Gilliam - Brazil Alesandro Inaritu - Birdman Wes Andersen - The Grand Budapest Hotel Powell and Pressburger - A Canterbury Tale (they have about 10 masterpieces in all) William Friedkin - French Connection Spike Lee - Do The Right Thing Pedro Almodovar - All About My Mother, Talk To Her Lars Von Trier, Melancholia, The Idiots, Breaking The Waves, The Kingdom Abbas Kiarostami - Close Up , The Wind Will Carry Us Sayajit Ray - World of Apu Ridley Scott - Thelma and Louise Frank Capra - Mr Deeds Goes To Town Terence Malikc - Badlands DW Griffith - Intolerance Coen Brothers - No Country For Old Men Fritz Lang - M aNDREI tARKOVSKY - Mirror, Andrei Rublev, The Sacrifice David Lean - Great Expectations, Brief Encounter, Lawrence of Arabia, Bridge on The River KwAI

[@esock2001]

I agree that Aronofsky’s filmography is so good that it’s hard to pick one. I would have to go with mother! tho. It did something for me that I have never felt before.

[@jonhinson5701]

Almodovar has so many good ones but Pain and Glory is my favorite but Volver and All About My Mother are fantastic.

[@ll-yg2dn]

I agree with your picks, most of them. Except Gilliam, Woody and Ray which are Brazil, Manhattan and Charulata. Also, Pedro's masterpiece is Tall to Her.

[@MarcusNunes]

My choice for Almodovar's masterpiece is Volver, but I can see why you choose Talk to Her.

[@ll-yg2dn]

@@MarcusNunes Its been a while since I watched Volver, I have to watch it again. I think both are popular choices for Pedro. I am planning to a study.

[@prilljazzatlanta5070]

Love the explanations here and thanks for putting some respect of Wes Andersons latest. A lot of people say he keeps doing the same thing and his style never evolves. You could argue the same for Ozu or Vivaldi but some artists keep chiseling away and the same block and you get to see so many iterations along the way and theres nothing wrong with that. Also, Im starting to believe that A Serious Man is the greatest achievement of the Coen Bros. My personal favorite is still O Brother Where Art Thou but thats for personal reasons.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

Yes, A Serious Man is an excellent film.

[@jonhinson5701]

I am so glad you appreciate French Dispatch . To me, it ties with Grand Budapest Hotel for the top

[@LearningaboutMovies]

thanks, and thanks for the comments -- I appreciate them.

[@Markus-ov9wh]

Hello again from Medford Oregon. Here are a few more of my favorites; Terry Gilliam-The Holy Grail. I've probably seen this about 30 times and still find something I missed before. DePalma-Femme Fatale. Cohen Brothers- Raising Arizona. I love the chase scene in the grocery store. I'm surprised Luis Bunuel is not on the list. It's a three way tie for me- Simon of the Desert, The exterminating Angel, Sylvia Pinyal is absolutely amazing in both films. The Milky Way. The Catholic Church actually awarded Bunuel with some kind of Catholic movie of the year award. I guess the Church figured that any movie that could possibly make the audience think theologically for 2 hours was worthy of an award.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

thank you very much.

[@infamo77]

For me the masterpiece of Almodóvar is the “the flower of my secret” even many people think “all about my mother”.

[@freddiemarshall769]

I mean, doesn’t The French Dispatch feel so similar to Jacques Tati’s films? Plus, my favourite from Wes Anderson is The Grand Budapest Hotel

[@barscale597]

I would probably go for Badlands for Terrance Malick.

[@ngugikioi3147]

As much as I love Lawrence of Arabia, my favorite David Lean film is Doctor Zhivago

[@noellutsey5620]

I'd pick Black Swan but I also loved The Wrestler

[@pingupinga6252]

Pedro Almodovar's "Pain and Glory" is well worth the watch!

[@patrickkelly5004]

Well done, Dr. Matthews! This list gives me plenty to think about watching. For Terrence Malick, I'd have nominated Days of Heaven, which I've enjoyed watching several times since seeing it in a theatre in 1978.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

thank you.

[@pe3pe3po0po0]

Can’t believe Carl Theodor Dreyer or Krzysztof Kieslowski weren’t anywhere in the top 50

[@widewailcorduroy7278]

If the bar your setting for choosing these movies is "Masterwork", then for the Coen Brothers it has to be O Brother Where Art Thou.

[@freddiemarshall769]

Almodóvar’s’s best film - probably Pain and Glory

[@vulgarlang]

Pedro Al-mo-DO-var: Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown is one the best crafted comedies ever, IMO. Replete with insane Euro '80s fashion. Tarkovsky: agreed with Mirror.

[@WilliamJames48]

Ed Wood is the bomb

[@pallenda]

For Ridley Scott I totally get why many people would pick Blade Runner. Personally, I think Alien is a better movie. Blade Runner 2049 to me is better than the original.

[@lorenzgoller1794]

Where was Louis Buñuel on this complete list?

[@TheNovaFiends]

I will have to watch the French Dispatch given yr recommendation. I generally have felt he has declined into kitsch lately, but if there is an Orson Welles comparison I will certainly give it a shot! Edit: I certainly agree that Malcolm X is Lee's best. I quite like Summer of Sam as well. Von Trier is hard. I would pick Nymphomaniac. It is probably one of the most underrated movies of the last 15 years Edit 2: Malick I would probably say would be A Hidden Life. Soooo Gooood!

[@LearningaboutMovies]

thank you.

[@dougmattis9293]

Pedro! Almodovar--and I think you pronounced it correctly. Start with "Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown," and include "All About My Mother."

[@miguelguerrero3394]

He didn't tho haha. It's Almodóvar, he said Almódovar.

[@ohen]

Just a few comments/observations. For Aronofsky, The Fountain is both technically brilliant and explores grand subjects like life and death in a refreshingly innovative way. It is a bit convoluted for most folks but I think if you give it a second (and maybe third chance) you might name The Fountain as his masterpiece. For Tarkovsky-- and I think this may be blasphemous, but Solaris is a better film than 2001; it may not be as technically gifted as the Kubrick masterpiece but it explores similar themes with more depth and nuance than the latter film. Coen Brothers--Not a mention of Fargo??? C'mon.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

thank you. I prefer the Coens' later works, mostly. The Fountain is an awesome movie in my opinion, partly because my wife and I both really liked it at the same time, which happens not a lot.

[@VanillaCocoShow]

Great vid.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

thank you.

[@jacobymonterastelli6198]

Part 2?

[@LearningaboutMovies]

Coming, I think in two weeks.

[@JishnuShaj00]

TBF I hate Studio binder's ranking . Tarkovsky is easily top 5 for me and he sure deserves top 10.Terrance Mallick too 🙃

[@LearningaboutMovies]

yeah, the dislike of the actual list will come out in my third video in this series, which is on directors who didn't make their list. IMO it is a better list than theirs!

[@croooow84]

I would say for the ones you skipped Louis Weber - Suspense 1913 Alice Guy Blache - The Birth, the life and the death of Christ 1906

[@croooow84]

Lois not Louis

[@LearningaboutMovies]

thank you.

[@Progger11]

Mine (for now): -Allen: Manhattan -Bigelow: only seen Detroit so far. It was okay. -Burton: shouldn't be on this list, but... Ed Wood by a country mile. -Gilliam: haven't seen any movies yet -Anderson: The Grand Budapest Hotel -Powell and Pressburger: Black Narcissus -Weber: Haven't watched -Friedkin: The Exorcist -Aronofsky: Black Swan -Lee: Do the Right Thing -Almodovar: All About My Mother -von Trier: Breaking the Waves -Kiarostami: 24 Frames -De Palma: Carrie -Inarritu: Birdman -Ray: The Stranger -Scott: Blade Runner -Guy-Blaché: Consequenses of Feminism. -Capra: It's A Wonderful Life -Griffith: Overrated racist whose "inventor of cinematic techniques" legend is dubious when one examines his lesser known contemporaries. No picks. -Malick: Haven't watched yet. -Coen: No Country for Old Men -Lang: Metropolis -Tarkovsky: Stalker -Lean: A Brief Encounter

[@LearningaboutMovies]

thank you very much.

[@mind6008]

You look like Bird man

[@LearningaboutMovies]

I think we are up to about a dozen lookalikes, with David Cross in a big lead for that.

[@Acrocanthosaurus]

Hurt Locker is an embarrassment to cinema. Cat Bigalow over Woody Allen? Get out of here.