Ten Directors On The Verge Of Greatness

Every great director has at least one film that makes the world take notice. For Quentin Tarantino it was Pulp Fiction, for Paul Thomas Anderson it was Boogie Nights (although one could arguably swap that moment for There Will Be Blood). That elusive classic doesn't just happen though. Some filmmakers seem destined for greatness with only a few films under their belt, while some may take a lifetime to achieve immortality. Here are ten directors in a heated race for glory.

10. Noah Baumbach
After his impressive 1995 directorial debut Kicking And Screaming, Noah Baumbach seemed to disappear off the radar. 2005's The Squid And The Whale, a painfully hilarious semi-autobiographical tale about divorce, became a critical darling and brought Baumbach back into the limelight. His 2007 film Margot At The Wedding only confirmed his talents for capturing ugliness in a humorous context. While his films often draw comparison to those of Wes Anderson (possibly due to their collaboration of The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou), Baumbach's films take place in the real world, as opposed to Anderson's exaggerated literary fantasy worlds. This may be why Baumbach has not obtained the cult following that Anderson enjoys, as his settings may seem too familiar for comfort. His talents are obvious though; it's not Baumbach who needs to strive for his great film...the audience needs to be ready for it.


9. Greg Mottola
Greg Mottola's directorial debut, the completely enjoyable comedy The Daytrippers, was a hit at Sundance in a year when there were too many hits at Sundance, and therefore got lost in the shuffle. He spent the next ten years of his career working in television, on quality shows such as Undeclared and Arrested Development. His Judd Apatow connection on Undeclared helped him land the 2007 sleeper hit Superbad, which carried the blessing and curse of being an Apatow production (guaranteed talent and quality, little recognition for Mottola as director). Mottola's next film, Adventureland, could be a Superbad-style sleeper hit, hopefully with praise being rightfully given to Mottola's direction this time around.


8. Allen Coulter
Give a quick glimpse at Allen Coulter's resume and you'll notice he's directed a lot of television. Upon closer inspection, you'll notice 27 episodes of The Sopranos, including some of the series' best, such as "The Test Dream," "College," and my personal favorite, the extremely brutal "University." It's clear Coulter has already made his mark on the world of television, and his well crafted feature debut Hollywoodland proved that Coulter is someone you can expect great things from in the future.


7. Doug Liman
Doug Liman made his directorial debut in 1994 with Getting In, but everyone took notice two years later when he directed the film that launched the careers of Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn, Swingers. To some, Swingers may not seem like a directorial tour de force, but when you take into consideration that the film was made for a meager $200,000, thanks to Liman's ability to shoot technically complicated shots on the cheap, you might change your mind. After Swingers came Go, a highly underrated comedy that too many critics wrote off as Pulp Fiction for teens. Recently Liman's shifted his focus to action, having helmed The Bourne Identity, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, and Jumper in the past decade.


6. Mary Harron
Mary Harron started her career as a journalist for Punk magazine in the 1970's (she was the first person to interview The Sex Pistols for an American publication), and didn't make her directorial debut until 1996 with I Shot Andy Warhol. She followed Warhol in 2000 with the extremely controversial American Psycho, based on the equally controversial novel by Bret Easton Ellis. The film received mixed reviews, and Harron didn't return to features until 2005's Bettie Page biopic, The Notorious Bettie Page, which many saw as a triumphant return to form. It would seem as if Harron's talents lie in period pieces, which leads one to wonder if her great film is possibly set in the 1970's punk scene she's so familiar with...or if that subject is too close for comfort?


5. Robert Rodriguez
Some of you may think this pick is completely unjustified and that Robert Rodriguez has already made his mark on the world of cinema, and some of you may believe that immortality isn't even within his reach. My opinion of Rodriguez lies somewhere in the middle. He certainly knows how to make kick ass genre pics (Desperado), he's a technological pioneer (Sin City), and he's even made a great family film (Spy Kids). Still, for all the bang his films provide, there's not much substance. Perhaps he's guilty of stretching himself too thin. Rodriguez multi-tasks on all his films by directing, writing, shooting, editing, and often composing. The fact that his most successful outing, Sin City, was based on source material by Frank Miller, may suggest that he hand over the writing duties to someone else next time, so he can focus his attentions on the things he does best...although it should be noted that he did not receive a writing credit for The Faculty (that honor(?) goes to Dawson's Creek creator Kevin Williamson).


4. Peter Berg
An accomplished actor before he turned his attentions behind the camera, Peter Berg began his directing career with the 1998 dark (extremely dark) comedy, Very Bad Things, an insanely divisive film that audiences either applauded for its mix of no holds barred violence and tasteless humor or reviled for the very same reasons. Still, he seemed like just another unnecessary actor turned director until his 2004 adaptation of the H.G. Bissinger novel, Friday Night Lights, which was a refreshingly realistic (I'm looking at you, Varsity Blues) look at a small Texas town and its obsession with high school football. The film also spawned an even better TV show, developed by Berg. Personally, the moment I started to suspect Berg had more up his sleeve was during the climatic shootout in The Kingdom, one of the most riveting action sequences I've seen in years in an otherwise mediocre film. Berg's next movie, the Will Smith vehicle Hancock, should be his first major box office hit, but my money says 2010's Dune will make or break Berg as a serious filmmaker.


3. Craig Brewer
2005's Hustle & Flow established Craig Brewer as the current king of southern fried cinema, capturing the desperate poverty of south without ever coming off as heavy handed or losing its soul. Brewer's follow-up, Black Snake Moan, was a brilliant spin on the sexploitation genre that never found the audience it deserved, possibly due to sensationalist marketing. With the south mostly relegated to outdated stereotypes or inaccurate nostalgia on film, Brewer seems poised to be the man to bring us an accurate portrayal of one of the most poorly represented regions of this country on film.


2. Darren Aronofsky
Darren Aronofsky exploded into the film world at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival with his feature-length debut Pi, where he won the award for Best Director. He followed Pi with Requiem For A Dream, which some may consider his "great film," but let's face it: the film doesn't retain the mindf*@k it gives the viewer on the initial viewing (how could it?). His last film, The Fountain, was regarded by most as extremely ambitious, but somewhat of a mess. Early shots from Aronofsky's next film, The Wrestler, look extremely promising, and if that doesn't work out, the similarly-themed The Fighter follows.


1. Tony Scott
With a filmography that anyone would be lucky to achieve, it may seem odd to find Tony Scott in the number one position. But let's face it, with all the ground he's covered, not one film in his career screams "classic." There are the blockbusters (Top Gun, Crimson Tide), the cult favorites (True Romance, Revenge) and the just god-awful (Beverly Hills Cop II, The Fan). The man is clearly a technical master, and in recent years his films have adopted a very grainy, overexposed look (Domino, Man On Fire), that you either love or hate. There's no doubt he has a great film within him. Still, with remakes of The Taking Of Pelham 123 and The Warriors on the horizon, I don't see it happening anytime soon.