I'll name one

Steven Spielberg

HEAR HEAR!

also

M. Night Shyamalan

Like most movies (Signs was crap), but he's leaning too much on his established routines.

John Woo

His use of slow motion is terrible to say the least, and Paycheck was just one of the worst all around films I've ever seen.

I agree. The Village would have been a much better movie if the audience wasn't waiting for and expecting a "twist ending".

He has made some great fucking movies.

Zemekis(sp?) , Bob

This thread makes me sick. Spielberg is not overrated! I love all his movies. I grew up with him. When I was a kid, all I wanted to do was be a director because of him. Close Encounters, Jaws, E.T., Duel, Indiana Jones, Saving Private Ryan,.. all unbelievably great movies!.. I even love A.I., which alot of people don't seem to "get".

Now, Jerry Bruckheimer IS overrated.

I definately agree with that.

He's a producer, and he is fairly well hated.

Well who's the guy who directed Armegeddon and Pearl Harbor? HIM, THAT guy is overrated!!!

A.I. was quite good, right up until The boy throws himself into the ocean. That was when the movie should have ended (and most likely would have, had Kubrick been alive). The central theme is obviously a kubrick idea: the destruction of individuality and identity. Spielberg adheres to this theme until he chooses to add his typical grotesque sentimentality which not only throws all logic and believability right out the window, but actually destroys all the emotional momentum the movie had been building up in the classical (and brilliant) Kubrick fashion.

Had the movie ended with Osmonds character's suicide, the message of the movie would have been clearer and more powerful. Instead Spielberg chooses to turn it into an infantile and unimaginitive piece of dribble.

I was angry bordering on aggression when I left the theater after watching this film.

score had it ended at the aforementioned moment: 8/10
actual score: 3/10

Botching up a film with the intention of making it emotionally easy and safe is something Spielberg seems to be unable to avoid since (and including) Saving Private Ryan. He is excellent when it comes to making entertaining movies, the problem is that he seems to be unsatiscfied by doing this and wants to make challenging movies.

I agree with Speilberg.

and it's weird because he directed my favorite movie of all times: Jaws.
but lets face it AI sucked, ET has not held up, and the he went and fucked with it. Indy got old after the 1st one. Terminal was eh, catch me if you can got on my nerves, amesdat, hook, always........... I can go on.

In my opinion he has had 3 "Masterpieces"

Jaws
Schindler's List
Saving Private Ryan

the rest I can take or leave.

other overrated directors

George Lucas. take star wars away and what do you have ? NOTHING.
and only the 1st two star wars were actually any good.

Roland Emmerich. The Patriot kicked ass, but it was a sequal to braveheart anyway.

The Wachowski Bros. The Matrix kicked ass & then they went insane & fucked up 2 sure fire great sequals.


Barry Sonnenfeld. HE JUST FUCKING SUCKS ! I mean, did you see Wild Wild West ?!?

that all for now. I'm getting angry.

Michael Bay

American Graffiti is a great movie. I haven't seen THX, but have heard it was good. He hasn't done many movies. He only directed the first Star Wars and they are meant to be fun kiddy corny movies anyways, not serious thought provoking films.

I'll add Oliver Stone to the list. To me, he hasn't made anything worthwhile since Natural Born Killers. And my low expectations for Alexander got lower after seeing all the bad reviews. Say what you want about trusting critics vs. forming your own opinion, but when a film has only 17 positive reviews out of 117 on the Tomatometer, that says something.

And I agree w/ M. Night Shyamalan. He may be the most overrated director ever.

Star Wars IS NOT fucking "fun kiddy corny" goddammit!

John Woo is an awesome action director. Since coming to America, his stuff has been in decline. But his Hong Kong flicks are some of the best action movies ever made. Hard Boiled and The Killer, especially.

George Lucas is really, really awful. Talk about a director that can't squeeze a mildly decent performance out of his actors. He aspired to be Kurasawa and he ended up being my asshole.

Oliver Stone has made some excellent movies. Platoon, Born on the Fourth of July, Wall Street, The Doors. And JFK is, IMO, one of the top five movies of the 90s. You watch that movie and tell me it doesn't take a truly masterful director to create something like that.

Michael Bay is probably the worst director ever. His action scenes with the wildly shaking camera are the single worst film technique ever invented.

I like Spielberg. A lot. He deserves most of the credit he gets for Saving Private Ryan and Schindler's List alone. He also has some truly classic movies to his credit (The Indiana Jones trilogy, The Color Purple, Close Encounters, Poltergeist, Jurassic Park, Jaws, ET) and most of the rest of his stuff is very well done and highly entertaining, at least (Hook, Minority Report, Catch Me If You Can). He's simply great.

Those are all quality films (except for The Doors...nothing but a 2hr+ acid trip), but my gripes against Oliver Stone weren't for that career period. I was referring to the last 10 years (or since Natural Born Killers, if you like).

He has definitely gone downhill...Nixon was no JFK, U-Turn sucked, Any Given Sunday was underwhelming at best, and Alexander has probably gotten the worst reviews of his career. Maybe it's only three (potentially four) "thumbs down" movies out of many more, but they're all he's accomplished in the past decade (not counting a couple of documentaries that I haven't seen but don't really apply here, IMO).

I'll definitely agree that he hasn't done anything worthwhile since Natural Born Killers. Actually, I'll say since JFK, since I have yet to see NBK.

Regardless, I don't think that matters much. He's resting on his laurels for sure, but with that catalog of incredible films to his name, I don't think he has much left to prove at all. Christ, Francis Ford Coppola hasn't done shit since "Apocalypse Now" and that was 25 years ago, but you don't see anyone questioning his credibility.

IMO, directors don't have to have a particularly prolific career to be considered great. Seems like most great directors have a handful of truly great films and then a bunch of medicore filler that they used to pay the bills.

You know I wouldn't disagree with you there because Woo's 90s movies SUCKED. But have you seen his Hong Kong stuff? Hard Boiled, the Killer, and A Better Tomorrow are 3 of the best action movies ever made. Rent those.

And I wouldn't disagree with those who say Spielberg either. He has made some great movies, but he is also a corporate tool as well. His films are a little too melodramatic and mainstream. Other than that, his direction on Schindler's List is amazing, one of the best films ever made.