The latter is often used, so in this article we tried to gather the names of Directors followed by JoRafCinema (i.e. for which we have 2-3 reviews at least and would like to have more) in alphabetical order giving you a brief description of their trademark, the list of their movies reviewed on this blog and the ones we would like to review. Sometimes we also provide links to other movie reviews or articles related to them. We hope that this could help our readers find ideas for watching movies they may like. This approach is complementary to searching movies using the Tags for Country, Year, Rating or Genre.
We have also provided for each director a picture because we found it interesting to put on those names a face we usually don't know (most pictures extracted from IMDb). We will keep the list updated with new reviews as they get published. This Article was two years in the making, we hope to be able to bring you the next one about Actors in less that that.
Looking at the list we sadly notice that movie directing was and still is a Man's world. Only Susanne Bier and Sofia Coppola (plus now the Wachowskis) are here to balance the counts. Should we try on JoRafCinema to watch more movies from female directors? I know that there are other like the American Mimi Leder (Deep Impact, Thick as Thieves), the Filipina Siege Ledesma (Shift), the Bruneian Siti Kamaluddin (Yasmine), Jennifer Lynch (Hisss, Chained), the Belgian Marina de Van (Dark Touch), the Lithuanian Kristina Buozyte (Vanishing Waves) and probably many more, but from which we have never seen more than one or two movies. Are there Festivals dedicated to women in Cinema? There are a few although usually focused towards LGBT like the Queerfilm Festival in Bremen.
Another number we can crunch is the ratio between American directors and the others, and this ratio turns out to be 39/77 (50% of the total). Almost half the directors we follow are not American and if you look at any of our anniversary articles (like for the fourth year), you notice that the USA produce or co-produce more than 60% of what we watch. The difference is due to the fact that many directors have made themselves known in the USA even if not their birth country. It is anyway nice to see many Europeans represented, as well as a few Asian, Canadians, Australians...
Enough chit-chat, here goes the list.
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J. J. Abrams, symbol of the geeks now in power at Hollywood. Mission: Impossible III (2006) Star Trek (2009) Super 8 (2011) Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) |
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Woody Allen, love and other disasters, with jazz and rich dialogs. Everyone says I love you (1996) Small Time Crooks (2000) Match Point (2005) To Rome with Love (2012) Blue Jasmine (2013) and his acting in Fading Gigolo (2013) Missing: Vicky Christina Barcelona |
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Wes Anderson, geometrical precision film-making. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004) Moonrise Kingdom (2012) The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) Isle of Dogs (2018) |
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Judd Apatow, Kevin Smith in less extreme but more famous. The 40-Year Old Virgin (2005) Knocked Up (2007) |
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Denys Arcand, satirical Canadian. Le Déclin de l'Empire Américain (1986) Les Invasions Barbares (2003) |
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Dario Argento, Master of the Italian Giallo. The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970) Inferno (1980) Pelts (2006) Missing: Suspiria, Tenebrae, Phenomena, Deep Red, Cat O' Nine Tails |
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Darren Aronofsky, one of the few Hollywood directors able of shooting original and sensible screenplays. Pi (1998) Noah (2013) Missing: Black Swan, The Fountain, The Wrestler, Requiem for a Dream (I own all of his movies in Blu-ray but only two are reviewed in JoRafCinema yet). |
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Mario Bava, Precursor of the Italian Giallo. La ragazza che sapeva troppo (1963) Sei Donne per l'Assassino (1964) Le spie vengono dal semifreddo (1966) Lisa e il diavolo (1973) Missing: Planet of the Vampires, A Bay of Blood, The Mask of Satan. |
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Michael Bay, King of the brainless blockbuster. The Rock (1996) Armageddon (1998) The Island (2005) Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon (2011) Pain and Gain (2013) Transformers 4: Age of Extinction (2014) Transformers 5: The Last Knight (2017) Missing: Transformers 1, Bad Boys 1&2, Pearl Harbor |
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Peter Berg, easy blockbusters. The Rundown (2003) The Kingdom (2007) Hancock (2008) Battleship (2012) Deepwater Horizon (2016) Missing: Very Bad Things, Lone Survivor |
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Susanne Bier, keeping the highly dramatic Danish story-telling. After the Wedding (2006) Second Chance (2014) |
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Neil Bloomkamp, amazing debut, declining and repeating himself since. District 9 (2009) Elysium (2013) Chappie (2015) |
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Joon-ho Bong, a bomb of Korean creativity in different genres and topics. Mother (2009) Snowpiercer (2013) Missing: Memories of Murder, Tokyo!, The Host |
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John Carpenter, the Master of Action Horror, period. Christine (1983) Big Trouble in Little China (1986) They Live (1988) Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992) The Ward (2010) Missing: Village of the Damned, In the Mouth of Madness, The Thing, Escape from L.A., Escape from New York, Ghosts of Mars, Vampires, Starman, Halloween, Prince of Darkness, The Fog ... (One of my favorite directors, I own all of his movies in DVD or Blu-ray). and the remakes and sequels: The Thing (2011) Missing: Halloween H20, The Fog |
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James Cameron, after so many successes undoubtedly the King of the Cinema World. The Terminator (1984) Aliens (1986) Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) Avatar (2009) Missing: Titanic |
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Michael Cimino, unforgettable scenes. The Deer Hunter (1978) Year of the Dragon (1985) Missing: Heaven's Gate, The Sicilian |
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Joel & Ethan Coen, colorful characters and offbeat humour. Fargo (1996) The Big Lebowski (1998) A serious Man (2009) Hail Caesar (2016) Follow-up: Fargo TV-series, season 1 and season 2. Missing: No Country for Old Men, True Grit, The Man Who wasn't there, Burn after Reading, O Brother Where Art Thou? |
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Francis Ford Coppola, classic visionary American genius. The Converation (1974) Twixt (2011) and a contribution to Supernova (2000) Missing: Apocalypse Now, Dracula, The Godfather 1-3 |
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Sofia Coppola, depicting the true boring life. Lost in Translation (2003) The bling ring (2013) Missing: The Virgin Suicides. |
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David Cronenberg, organic horror, realistic thrillers, now in a bad period. A History of Violence (2005) Cosmopolis (2012) Maps to the Stars (2014) and from his son Brandon: Antiviral (2012) Missing: Scanners, Videodrome, The Dead Zone, The Fly, Naked Lunch, Crash, eXistenZ, Eastern Promises and as actor in Jason X and Nightbreed |
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Álex de la Iglesia, energetic humour from Spain. The Oxford Murders (2008) Balada Triste de Trompeta (2010) Witching and Bitching (2013) Mi Gran Noche (2015) Missing: Acción mutante, The Day of the Beast, 800 Bullets, El Crimen Ferpecto |
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Guillermo del Toro, Mexican genius unfortunately not always able to express it. Mimic (1997) Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008) Pacific Rim (2013) Missing: Pan's Labyrinth, Chronos, Hellboy, Blade 2, Crimson Peak |
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Brian de Palma, son of Hitchcock. Obsession (1976) Dressed to Kill (1980) Blow Out (1981) Mission to Mars (2000) Missing: Carrie |
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Clint Eastwood, western legend, thriller legend, now dramatic director aiming at legend. Play Misty for Me (1971) The Eiger Sanction (1975) |
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Gareth Edwards, from Visual effects to Star Wars in 3 movies. End Days (2005) Monsters (2010) Godzilla (2014) Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) |
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Roland Emmerich, German twin of Michael Bay. Stargate (1994) Independence Day (1996) The Day after Tomorrow (2004) 2012 (2009) White House Down (2013) Independence Day: Resurgence (2016) Missing: Universal Soldier, Godzilla |
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David Fincher, multi-talent touching to many genres and always fine and efficient. The Game (1997) Fight Club (1999) The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) Gone Girl (2014) Missing: Se7en, The Social Network, Panic Room, Alien 3, Zodiac |
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Terry Gilliam, expressionist director full of creativity, but cursed. Time Bandits (1981) Brazil (1985) The Zero Theorem (2013) The Man who killed Don Quixote (2018) Missing: 12 Monkeys |
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Renny Harlin, Finnish Action Master. Die Hard 2 (1990) Deep Blue Sea (1999) Mindhunters (2004) Devil's Pass (2013) Missing: A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, Exorcist: The Beginning, Cliffhanger, The Covenant, The Legend of Hercules |
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Werner Herzog, always between documentary and extravagant fiction with a very special style. Fitzcarraldo (1982) Queen of the Desert (2015) Into the Inferno (2016) Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World (2016) Missing: Aguirre Wrath of Gods, Nosferatu the Vampyre, Grizzly Man |
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Alfred Hitchcock, the Master of suspense that need no introduction. Blackmail (1929) The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934) Sabotage (1936) Jamaica Inn (1939) Saboteur (1942) Rope (1948) Rear Window (1954) The Man Who Knew too Much (1956) Vertigo (1958) The Birds (1963) Marnie (1964) Torn Curtain (1966) Topaz (1969) and a movie about part of his life Hitchcock (2012) Missing: Psycho |
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Gavin Hood, yes man? X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) Ender's Game (2013) Eye in the Sky (2015) |
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Alejandro G. Iñárritu, making ideas visible on screen and touching the emotional level. Biutiful (2010) Birdman (2014) The Revenant (2015) Missing: Babel, Amores Perros, 21 Grams |
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Peter Jackson, Kiwi visionary, from gore to unmatched blockbuster success. Bad Taste (1987) The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) King Kong (2005) The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013) The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014) Missing: The Feebles, Braindead, Lovely Bones |
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Alejandro Jodorowsky, Chilean-French film and theatre director, screenwriter, playwright, actor, author, poet, producer, composer, musician, comics writer, and spiritual guru. La Danza de la Realidad (2013) Missing: Fando & Lys, El Topo, The Holy Mountain, Santa Sangre, The Rainbow Thief, Endless Poetry (only one review on JoRafCinema but I have seen all of his older movies and find them amazing) |
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Stanley Kubrick, having crazy ideas and making them almost easy to sense. Dr Strangelove or How I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb (1964) 2001, A Space Odyssey (1968) and the sequel not directed by him 2010, the Year we make Contact (1984) Missing: Shining, A Clockwork Orange, Eyes Wide Shut, Full Metal Jacket |
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Georges Lautner, specialist of French polars with dialogs by Michel Audiard. Les Tontons Flingueurs (1963) Les Barbouzes (1964) Ne nous fâchons pas! (1966) Le Pacha (1967) Flic ou Voyou (1979) Missing: Quelques messieurs trop tranquilles, Le Professionnel, Le Guignolo |
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Sergio Leone, Master of spaghetti Western. A Fistful of dollars (1964) For a few dollars more (1965) The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) Missing: Once Upon a time in the West |
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Jonathan Liebesman, yes man 2? Battle Los Angeles (2011) Wrath of the Titans (2012) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014) |
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Ken Loach, shooting social reality dramatically but with humour. Looking for Eric (2009) The Angel's Share (2012) |
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Georges Lucas, could have started a religion. Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999) Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002) Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005) and the other Star Wars movies and series: Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015) Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017) The Clone Wars TV-series, pilot movie, season 1-3, season 4, season 5, season 6 Missing: American Graffiti, THX 1138, Howard the Duck |
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David Lynch, inviting you inside his brain, mysterious and artistic. Blue Velvet (1986) Lost Highway (1997) Inland Empire (2006) and from his daughter Jennifer: Hiss (2010) and its making of Despite the Gods (2012) Chained (2013) Missing: A Straight Story, Twin Peaks TV-series |
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Neil Marshall, efficient British Action. Doomsday (2008) Episode Black Water in Game of Thrones - season 2. Episode The Watchers on the Wall in Game of Thrones - season 4. Missing: The Descent, Dog Soldiers, Centurion |
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John McTiernan, father of John McClane and the Predator. The Hunt for Red October (1990) Last Action Hero (1993) Die Hard (1998) Die Hard 3: With a Vengence (1995) The 13th Warrior (1999) Missing: Predator |
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George Miller, father of Mad Max and the only one able to keep it alive 35 years after. Mad Max (1979) Mad Max 2 (1981) Babe 2: Pig in the City (1998) Happy Feet (2006) Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) Missing: Mad Max 3, Happy Feet 2 |
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Hayao Miyazaki, pure magic from Japan sending you back to childhood. Sherlock Holmes (1984) Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984) My Neighbour Totoro (1988) The Castle of Cagliostro (1989) Kiki's Delivery service (1989) Porco Rosso (1992) Spirited Away (2001) The Wind Rises (2013) Missing: Princess Mononoke, Castle in the Sky, Howl's moving castle, Ponyo |
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Christopher Nolan, quickly rising but always with excellent screenplays. Inception (2010) The Dark Knight Rises (2012) Interstellar (2014) Dunkirk (2017) Missing: Memento, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, The Prestige |
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François Ozon, French Drama with strong emphasis on women. Sous le Sable (2000) Dans la Maison (2012) Frantz (2016) Missing: Huit Femmes, Swimming Pool |
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Claude Pinoteau, French Maestro for Polars and Thrillers. Le Silencieux (1973) La Gifle (1974) La 7ème cible (1984) |
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Jean-Marie Poiré, once the best at Action Comedy in France. Les Anges Gardiens (1997) Les Visiteurs: La Révolution (2016) Missing: Les Visiteurs, Le père Noël est une ordure, L'opération Corned Beef |
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Roman Polanski, controverted but mysterious mind and talented image composer. The Ninth Gate (1999) The Pianist (2002) La Vénus à la fourrure (2013) Missing: Rosemary's Baby |
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Guy Ritchie, colorful characters, creative cuts and quick dialogs with thick accent changed the way to tell stories in Cinema. Snatch (2000) Sherlock Holmes (2009) Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011) The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015) Missing: Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, RocknRolla |
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Robert Rodriguez, Mexican full of tricky ideas who prefers organizing BBQs to shooting properly his movies. From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) Spy Kids (2001) Sin City (2005) Machete (2010) Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (2014) Machete kills (2013) Missing: El Mariachi, Desperado, From Dusk till Dawn TV-series |
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George A. Romero, Master of the Living Dead from Pittsburg. Knightriders (1981) Missing: The Crazies, Martin, Night, Day, Dawn, Land, Diary and Survival of the Dead (only one review on JoRafCinema but I have seen all of his ...Dead movies and they had a strong influence on me) |
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Daniel Ruczko, ambitious German director having a sense for combining music and image. Bipolar (2011) Wake Up! (2013) Duality (2015) Solitary (2016) |
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Chuck Russell, succesful B-movies. The Blob (1980) Eraser (1996) Missing: The Mask, The Scorpion King |
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Martin Scorsese, good with gangsters and real-life characters, very passionate and emotional stories. Casino (1995) Hugo (2011) The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) Missing: Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, The Departed, Shutter Island, Goodfellas, Gangs of New York |
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Ridley Scott, father of Ripley and the Replicant, now going back to the origins. Blade Runner (1982) White Squall (1994) Prometheus (2012) Alien: Covenant (2017) Missing: Alien, Gladiator |
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Tony Scott, quick-pace Action. Enemy of the State (1998) Man on Fire (2004) Deja Vu (2006) The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009) Unstoppable (2010) Missing: Crimson Tide |
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M. Night Shyamalan, all in the twist. The Sixth Sense (1999) Unbreakable (2000) Lady in the Water (2006) The Last Airbender (2010) After Earth (2013) The Visit (2015) Missing: The Village, Signs, The Happening |
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Sono Sion, attacking the traditional image of Japan in all genres and on all fronts. Love Exposure (2008) Guilty of Romance (2011) The Whispering Star (2015) Missing: Cold Fish |
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Christopher Smith, a living proof of the good health of the British Genre Cinema. Black Death (2010) Labyrinth (2012) Detour (2016) Missing: Triangle, Creep, Severance |
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Kevin Smith, King of the geeks, movies ultra-referencial, verbose... and delightful. Clerks (1994) Mallrats (1995) Jersey Girl (2004) Clerks 2 (2006) Cop Out (2010) Red Sate (2011) Tusk (2014) Yoga Hosers (2016) plus his one-man show Too Fat for 40 (2010) and his participations as actor in Die Hard 4.0: Live Free or die Hard (2007) Daredevil (2003) Missing: Dogma, Chasing Amy, Zack and Miri make a Porno, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back and the upcoming Moose head and Clerks 3 |
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Zack Snyder, Comic books adaptations. 300 (2006) Watchmen (2009) Sucker Punch (2011) Man of Steel (2013) Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) Missing: Dawn of the Dead |
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Stephen Sommers, Universal revisited. The Mummy Returns (2001) G.I.Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009) Odd Thomas (2013) Missing: The Mummy, Van Helsing |
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Steven Spielberg, anything you can dream of. Jaws (1975) Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) Jurassic Park (1993) Saving Private Ryan (1998) The Terminal (2004) Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) The Adventures of Tintin (2011) Lincoln (2012) Ready Player One (2018) and his production and strong influence on Poltergeist (1984) Missing: Duel, Minority report, A.I., Catch me if You Can, War of the Worlds, Jurassic Park 2, Schindler's List, ... |
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Quentin Tarantino, a lot of death with delightful dialogs and music. Like him or hate him, I chose. Pulp Fiction (1994) Jackie Brown (1997) Kill Bill (2003-2004) Death Proof (2007) Inglourious Basterds (2009) Django Unchained (2012) The Hateful Eight (2015) Read also the article Down for the Count: Death in the Tarantino movies Missing: Reservoir Dogs |
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Andrei Tarkovsky, Russian author liking symbolism and expressionism. Ivan's childhood (1962) Solaris (1972) |
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David Twohy, from Writer to Director of SF classics.
and in the Riddick Universe he created: The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury (2004)
Missing: Timescape
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Tom Tykwer, trying to find his place in Hollywood.
Missing: Run Lola Run, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
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Matthew Vaughn, bringing us something new in Cinema, currently at his best. Layer Cake (2004) Stardust (2007) Kick-Ass (2010) X-men: First Class (2011) Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014) Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017) Upcoming: I am Pilgrim |
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Paul Verhoeven, flying Dutchman always in the avant-garde of film genres. Robocop (1987) Total Recall (1990) Starship Troopers (1997) Black Book (2006) Plus the remake and sequels of his classics: Hollow Man 2 (2006) Starship Troopers 3: Marauder (2008) Starship Troopers 4: Invasion (2012) Total Recall (2012) Robocop (2014) see also the article Starship Troopers - The Saga Missing: Hollow Man, Basic Instinct, Showgirls. And I would like to see some of his Dutch movies. |
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Dennis Villeneuve, a fresh wind from Canada renewing the library of stories in Cinema. Next Floor (2008) Polytechnique (2009) Prisoners (2013) Enemy (2013) Sicario (2015) Arrival (2016) Blade Runner 2049 (2017) and from his brother Martin Mars & Avril (2012) |
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The Wachowski, born in the Matrix, in constant renewal. The Matrix (1999) Matrix Reloaded (2003) Matrix Revolutions (2003) Speed Racer (2008) Cloud Atlas (2012) Jupiter Ascending (2015) Sense8 - season 1 (2015) |
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Ti West, small movies, big impact. The Innkeepers (2011) one segment in The ABCs of Death (2012) one segment in V/H/S (2012) The Sacrament (2013) |
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Nicolas Winding Refn, merciless and aesthetic-loving poet. Bleeder (1999) Drive (2011) Only God Forgives (2013) The Neon Demon (2016) Missing: The Pusher Trilogy, Valhalla Rising |
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Edgard Wright, brings that British humour to the World in simple crazy stories. Shaun of the Dead (2004) Hot Fuzz (2007) Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (2010) The World's End (2013) |
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Robert Zemeckis, for the whole family. Romancing the Stone (1984) Back to the Future (1985) Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) Back to the Future Part II (1989) Back to the Future Part III (1990) Death Becomes Her (1992) The Polar Express (2004) Beowulf (2007) A Christmas Carol (2009) Flight (2012) Documentary about the Back to the Future legacy: Back in Time (2015) Missing: Contact, Cast Away, Forrest Gump |
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