Discuss: EW’s Ranking Of The 50 Greatest Active Directors

Posted by Rob Hunter (rob@filmschoolrejects.com) on February 19, 2009

Spielberg Tops EW's Director List

What’s better than a good list? A bad list, obviously. And Entertainment Weekly is once again happy to oblige with their ranking of the “50 Greatest Active Film Directors.” The only qualification they put before the ranking is that they’re “counting down the most talented, in-demand filmmakers behind the camera today.” So with these vague and conflicting criteria in mind, here’s EW’s terribly humorous list. Enjoy.

1. Steven Spielberg
2. Peter Jackson
3. Martin Scorsese
4. Christopher Nolan
5. Steven Soderbergh
6. Ridley Scott
7. Quentin Tarantino
8. Michael Mann
9. James Cameron
10. Joel and Ethan Coen
11. Guillermo del Toro
12. David Fincher
13. Tim Burton
14. Judd Apatow
15. Sam Raimi
16. Zack Snyder
17. Darren Aronofsky
18. Danny Boyle
19. Clint Eastwood
20. Ron Howard
21. Ang Lee
22. Paul Thomas Anderson
23. Paul Greengrass
24. Pedro Almodóvar
25. Jon Favreau
26. Woody Allen
27. Brad Bird
28. David Cronenberg
29. Sofia Coppola
30. Bryan Singer
31. Sam Mendes
32. Mel Gibson
33. The Wachowski Brothers
34. J.J. Abrams
35. Alfonso Cuaron
36. Hayao Miyazaki
37. Mike Leigh
38. Oliver Stone
39. Roman Polanski
40. Spike Jonze
41. Richard Linklater
42. Spike Lee
43. David Lynch
44. Wong Kar-Wai
45. Wes Anderson
46. Mira Nair
47. Andrew Stanton
48. Michael Moore
49. Mary Harron
50. Sidney Lumet

A few questions and observations to get the rest of you started…

Someone, probably blckmanjew, is going to slam Spielberg’s placement at #1, but I think it’s the only spot EW actually got right. He’s made some pablum to be sure, but his filmography contains more blockbusters and critically acclaimed movies than anyone else on the list.

But what about Zack Snyder at #16? Higher than Clint Eastwood, Ang Lee, PT Anderson? Bullshit. And Jon Favreau at #25? Higher than David Cronenberg, Wong Kar-Wai, and Wes Anderson? Bullshit. Only three women on the list, seemingly as afterthoughts in the bottom 25? No Kathryn Bigelow, Nora Ephron, or Jane Campion? And where is Terry Gilliam? Terrence Malick? Chan-wook Park? Kevin Costner? And why the hell is JJ Abrams on this list at all?

Okay. Your turn.

What do you think of EW’s list?


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  • Well I do agree with the majority of who is on the list, not necessarily the order and yeah Wes Anderson near the bottom, what is that about; how many movies has Jon Favreau even done? I don't even think Michael Moore should be on this at all. I'm sure everyone has their own opinion and would love to critique the hell out of this list as I could also but I'm too lazy today.
  • eat my nuts
    Peter Jackson 2? This list eats my nuts.
  • Ya know, I love Peter Jackson, but isn't spot 2 a little extreme? Over Scorsese? No sir. And no way is Michael Mann better than Darren Aronofsky. And I'd argue that Brad Bird deserves a spot in the top 10 and no way is Sophie Coppola better than Andrew Stanton. But that's just me.
  • Mathieu Lalonde
    Being a great director doesn't just mean "to direct big movies"... It means that you are great at the art of directing itself. Some of these people are, others just happened to work on great flicks by accident...

    The names on this list make sense for the most part but the order seems completely wrong...

    And what about Lars Von Trier? C'mon, there's got to be a dozen art-house/cult/indie directors who are better directors than say, Judd Apatow or Mel Gibson... !
  • 790
    Lol, at least Mcg isn't up there.
    I would have put Aronofski in the Top 10 and what's Apatow doing up ahead of him.

    Damn you EW !!!!
  • Jon Favreau? Really? No...really? 'Made', 'Elf', 'Zathura', and the astoundingly overrated 'Iron Man'? Really?

    Like he said above, the orders of these things are always annoying.

    Hey, as long as Kevin Smith isn't on this list I'm happy. I'm sure it's a fun guy, and is very cool, but my god.
  • Chille
    That was my reaction to. WTF?
  • Antony
    Mel. Gibson.

    The list was void for me after I saw that.
  • Chris
    Sofia Coppola is at 29 Rob
  • Peter Jackson at #2 is what pissed me off the most, but this list is just garbage overall
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