Which directors had the hottest streak?

Discuss past, present, and future releases. This is the place for news, reviews, and your 'best' lists.

Moderators: Buscemi, BarcaRulz, Geezer, W

Post Reply
User avatar
Ron Burgundy
Red Redding
Posts: 2466
Joined: November 23rd, 2009, 7:27 am
Location: Perth, Western Australia

Which directors had the hottest streak?

Post by Ron Burgundy »

Based on J.erles comment from the Directors hit n miss thread...

Some criteria to keep us on course.
-Must have at least 5 films in a row which you think are a success (in their realm)
-One or two smaller box office hits are allowed, but please explain (not a complete bomb,cult following or later praise)
-A Box Office take under say 25Mil in the middle of a streak must have been a success later on or critically acclaimed (like imdb 7.5+)
-Adjust for inflation
-Older directors without accurate BO takes, go with ticket sales, legacy + ratings instead
-Independently orientated directors are acceptable
-Shorts, music videos, TV movies and doco's are not included

Heres some that come to mind for me-

JOHN MCTIERNAN
1995 Die Hard: With a Vengeance
1993 Last Action Hero
1992 Medicine Man (exception)
1990 The Hunt for Red October
1988 Die Hard
1987 Predator

ROB REINER
1992 A Few Good Men
1990 Misery
1989 When Harry Met Sally
1987 The Princess Bride
1986 Stand by Me
1985 The Sure Thing (exception)
1984 This is Spinal Tap

WES ANDERSON
2014 The Grand Budapest Hotel
2012 Moonrise Kingdom
2009 Fantastic Mr. Fox
2007 The Darjeeling Limited
2004 The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (exception)
2001The Royal Tenenbaums
1998 Rushmore

CHRISTOHER NOLAN
2010 Inception
2008 The Dark Knight
2006 The Prestige
2005 Batman Begins
2000 Memento

DENIS VILLENEUVE
2021 Dune
2017 Blade Runner 2049
2016 Arrival
2015 Sicario
2013 Enemy (exception)
2013 Prisoners
2010 Incendies

STANLEY KUBRICK
1999 Eyes Wide Shut
1987 Full Metal Jacket
1980 The Shining
1975 Barry Lyndon
1971 A Clockwork Orange
1968 2001: A Space Odyssey
1964 Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
1962 Lolita
1960 Spartacus
1957 Paths of Glory

BILLY WILDER
1960 The Apartment
1959 Some Like It Hot
1957 Witness for the Prosecution
1957 Love in the Afternoon (exception)
1957 The Spirit of St. Louis
1955 The Seven Year Itch
1954 Sabrina
1953 Stalag 17
1951 Ace in the Hole
1950 Sunset Blvd.

DARREN ARONOFSKY
2010 Black Swan
2008 The Wrestler
2006 The Fountain
2000 Requiem for a Dream
1998 Pi
“One time I wrestled a giraffe to the ground with my bare hands.” — Dale

User avatar
JohnErle
Snake Plissken
Posts: 2905
Joined: October 22nd, 2009, 4:01 am
Contact:

Re: Which directors had the hottest streak?

Post by JohnErle »

In addition to Rob Reiner in the 80s, I'd nominate Hitchcock in the 50s, The Coen Brothers in the 90s, and John Carpenter in the 80s. I'd also nominate Kurosawa in the 50s, with the caveat that there's a few I haven't seen, and he was a workhorse so there may be a few stinkers among the gems.

User avatar
Shrykespeare
Site Admin
Posts: 14273
Joined: September 12th, 2009, 11:38 pm
Location: Glendale, AZ

Re: Which directors had the hottest streak?

Post by Shrykespeare »

DAVID FINCHER

1992 Alien 3 (really not as bad as some people say)
1995 Se7en
1997 The Game
1999 Fight Club
2002 Panic Room
2007 Zodiac
2008 The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
2010 The Social Network
2011 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
2014 Gone Girl


STEVEN SPIELBERG

1975 Jaws
1977 Close Encounters of the Third Kind
1981 Raiders of the Lost Ark
1982 E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial
1984 Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

(He directed 1941 in this time period, but I never saw it)



JAMES CAMERON

1984 The Terminator
1986 Aliens
1989 The Abyss
1991 Terminator 2: Judgment Day
1994 True Lies
1997 Titanic



QUENTIN TARANTINO

1992 Reservoir Dogs
1994 Pulp Fiction
1997 Jackie Brown
2003 Kill Bill Vol. 1
2004 Kill Bill Vol. 2
2009 Inglorious Basterds

(I know he did Death Proof in Grindhouse, but as that wasn't a full feature-length film, I discounted it.)
Happy 60th birthday Jet Li! (4/26/23)

User avatar
Ron Burgundy
Red Redding
Posts: 2466
Joined: November 23rd, 2009, 7:27 am
Location: Perth, Western Australia

Re: Which directors had the hottest streak?

Post by Ron Burgundy »

I watched 1941 recently, its not anywhere close to his other stuff, its pretty much Mel Brooks material.

I like your other mention except for Fincher- I did not rate Benjamin Button- sorry but a person aging backwards needs to have that credibility in some way, which this never had like Se7en
“One time I wrestled a giraffe to the ground with my bare hands.” — Dale

User avatar
numbersix
Darth Vader
Posts: 11545
Joined: October 21st, 2009, 2:34 pm

Re: Which directors had the hottest streak?

Post by numbersix »

Coppolla and Scorsese in the 1970s
David Lynch 86-2001
Ingmar Bergman 1957-1968
Andrei Tarkovsky
Billy Wilder 44-66
Later films of David Lean
Wong Kar-wai 1990-2004
Federico Fellini 53-68

User avatar
JohnErle
Snake Plissken
Posts: 2905
Joined: October 22nd, 2009, 4:01 am
Contact:

Re: Which directors had the hottest streak?

Post by JohnErle »

Since we've already mentioned most of the great directors of the 80s, we also need to mention David Cronenberg since everything from Scanners though Dead Ringers is a classic.

User avatar
transformers2
John Rambo
Posts: 7730
Joined: October 23rd, 2009, 5:15 pm

Re: Which directors had the hottest streak?

Post by transformers2 »

Adam McKay:
Anchorman
Talladega Nights
Step Brothers
The Other Guys
Anchorman 2
The Big Short
Vice

Guillermo del Toro:
Blade II
Hellboy
Pan's Labyrinth
Hellboy II
Pacific Rim
Crimson Peak
The Shape of Water



Edgar Wright doesn't exactly meet the criteria Ron set, but I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the run he went on from Shaun of the Dead through Baby Driver. I'll also echo Nolan, Villeneuve and Tarantino.

And of course the great David Leitch will be joining this list once Bullet Train comes out in April ;)
BRING BRENDAN FRASER BACK TO THE BIG SCREEN DAMN IT
Check out my blog http://maitlandsmadness.blogspot.com/
Movies,Music,Sports and More!

User avatar
Buscemi2
Mad Max
Posts: 6662
Joined: July 25th, 2017, 9:13 pm
Location: Neither here nor there.

Re: Which directors had the hottest streak?

Post by Buscemi2 »

I'd say the third act of The Other Guys ended McKay's streak, as it not only made the film uneven with its sudden plot change, but it signified the point where McKay went from mainstream comedic director to Oscar bait filmmaker (Anchorman 2 was purely an "in it for the money" job). Though GoldDerby loves it right now, I expect Don't Look Up to be more of the same for recent McKay.

And though it wasn't a big streak in terms of numbers of work, Terrence Malick had a 38 year long streak of Badlands, Days of Heaven, The Thin Red Line, The New World, and The Tree of Life.
It's like what Lenin said...I am the walrus.

Post Reply