I’m a huge movie buff.  In fact I nearly despise TV shows, with a few minor exceptions, and will spend the vast majority of what little time I can dedicate to watching TV to movies (if that last sentence made any fucking sense).  I have taken the opportunity to list out my favorite movie writer/directors.  These are the few dudes that can boast full control over their work and most in this list typically write, direct, and produce their films.  In no particular order:

Kevin Smith

 

What can I say about Kevin Smith?  From the first moment I saw Clerks in ‘94 I was hooked.  He could write about monks that sit around naked under a vow a silence and turn it into a funny quirky dialog piece.  Smith is the guy who made Clerks on credit card debt while he worked in a convenience store and created a masterpiece.  We’ll casually look the other way on Jersey Girl, even Tiger Woods takes mulligans from time to time right?  His raunchy irreverent sarcastic humor feels like home to me, my favorites in this order are:  Clerks, Dogma, Clerks 2, Mallrats, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Chasing Amy, and Lopez chowing down on some man-juice bringing up the rear with Jersey Girl.  I’m looking forward to his next project “Zack and Miri Make a Porno” starring a recently signed Seth Rogan and Elizabeth Banks.

QuentinTarentino

In a word Tarentino is a genius.  His movies are nearly perfect (at least in my warped sense of taste) with stunning cinematography, soundtrack, comedy, violence, and unique ability to sense what is cool.  Which is an enigma to me, Tarentino comes off as a huge dork in many interviews, and yet he makes some of the downright coolest movies on the planet.   Many non-fans do not know that Tarentino also wrote True Romance (one of my all time favorites) and Natural Born Killers (which I’m convinced would be an incredible movie if Tarentino directed).   I recently made the mistake of not taking his latest movie Death Proof seriously as it was part of a strangely marketed double feature called Grindhouse with another writer/director Robert Rodriguez pitching in on Planet Terror.  Death Proof looked like a quirky throwback/homage to the old 70’s car chase movies, which didn’t really float my boat.  I picked it up on DVD a couple of weeks ago, and sure enough, another great fucking movie.  I will not doubt you again Q-man.  My favorites in this order:  Kill Bill (both volumes I and II), True Romance, Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, Death Proof, Jackie Brown, Natural Born Killers, and bringing up the rear From Dusk Til Dawn.  I’m really looking forward to his next project, most likely called Inglorious Bastards which will be a World War II based movie.

Ethan and Joel Cohen

 The Cohen brothers, Ethan and Joel, have created some of the most unique and entertaining movies ever.  Going all the way back to Raising Arizona in 1987 the Cohen Brothers have been making great movies and regularly re-inventing themselves.  They run the gambit from dark comedies such as Fargo and Raising Arizona to quirky, fun, and interesting satires such as The Big Lebowski, O Brother Where Art Thou, and Ladykillers.  And now there is No Country For Old Men, an incredible crime drama that in my opinion is the run-away best movie of 2007.  I can’t wait to see what is next from these guys.  My favorites in order (list is not a complete list of their movies):  No Country for Old Men, O Brother Where Art Thou, The Big Lebowski, Raising Arizona, Fargo, and Ladykillers.

Honorable mention:  Guy Ritchie

As an honorable mention, because of two incredible movies, is Guy Ritchie.  Ritchie’s two incredible movies are  Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch.  These are very similar but different enough movies centered in the seedy underworld of London.  Both are hilarious and creatively put together and are in the same league as Tarentino movies.  Why the honorable mention?  Because of a steaming pile of shit of a movie called Swept Away and the fact that he cast his fucked up wife Madonna in it.  Enough said, you could have been somebody Guy, you could have been somebody.

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