Paul Greengrass: one of the names on the list
Entertainment Weekly has just revealed its list of “the” 25 best active directors in the world, and suffice to say, it’s quite an embarrassment. I know EW is a pop culture magazine more geared towards “the masses” than the average die-hard film buff, but c’mon. Jon Favreau?! Swingers and Iron Man – passable, above average entertainments; hardly masterpieces and not even films I’d say were as well directed as they were presented, i.e. Favreau’s love for the comics showed through in Iron Man, aided by a strong cast and decent script, but the direction itself wasn’t anything special, was it?
And honestly, anyone who believes Zack Snyder (300, Dawn of the Dead remake) is superior to both Paul Thomas Anderson and Darren Aronofsky should not be writing articles on anything. The scary thing is, this list was probably done as a poll, which means most EW staffers actually ranked Snyder above eight other directors on the list. Shameful.
Sam Raimi is at #15 (I don’t even have to comment on that one) and they seriously ranked Judd Apatow on a list that doesn’t include Sidney Lumet. Don’t read the top five or you’ll notice that they ranked Peter Jackson above Martin Scorsese, for which I’d say half their staff deserve time in the corner.
You can check out the full list here; below, the top ten:
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
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Yep, pretty awful. Scorsese and Eastwood are the only two that belong at all IMO. EW keeps going lower even than you could imagine. Snyder? Favreau? Surprised Michael Bay isn't on the list honestly.
I wonder if they'd still put Snyder on that list now that the "Watchmen" hype has subsided (and the film flopped)…?