CinemaBowl II: The Directors (Round One: Yellow A & B)

[slipjig3]

"You can cut the tension with a tension-cutting device."
— Taylor Negron

I'd forgotten how much fun this is. Thanks again to everyone who has voted so far! We've got six more preliminary rounds to plow through before hitting Round Two, so let's jump right in with the usual rules and disclaimers:

1) For each pairing, choose the director you prefer, using whatever criteria you see fit. Be aware that you are voting strictly on the basis of directorial skill, and not on talent in acting, writing or other fields that the candidates might be involved in. The winner of each pairing will advance to the next round.

2) If any names are unfamiliar or if you need a reminder of a given director's resumé, clicking on any name will open that director's IMDb page in a new window.

3) The list of names is painfully, painfully arbitrary, and their placement in the brackets is painfully, painfully random. If I forgot one of your favorites, or worse, stacked two of your favorites against each other, I'm truly sorry; that said, please do not abuse the management. Thank you.

4) Important: When voting, please note that there are two separate polls, so be sure to click both "Submit" buttons.

5) Feel free to pimp this out in your own journals, if you're so inclined.

Deadline for this round of voting is Thursday, April 10 at 1 p.m. Also, you still have until 1 o'clock this afternoon to vote on yesterday's poll, if you haven't already done so. Thank you, all! This poll is now closed; all votes have been recorded. Thanks!


Yellow Conference, Division A

[Poll #1168298]

Yellow Conference, Division B

[Poll #1168299]

Comments

[yendi]

Baz and Lars together? De Palma and Lyne? Talk about votes in which the audiences will overlap.

Quick reminder for those unfamliar with some directors from the pre-auteur days: George Roy Hill directed Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (as well as lots of other good stuff), and Fred Zinnemann gave us From Here to Eternity, Oklahoma!, and Day of the Jackal.

I know that I'll be fighting a losing cause for Friedkin, but my love for The French Connection is nearly limitless.

Personally, both Zemeckis and Van Sant are directors who would have benefitted greatly from a "Less is More" approach. It's hard not to take the utter crap they've done in recent years into account (and in Zemeckis's case, "recent years" is since 1990 or so).

All that said, the single hardest decision for me was Mann/Apted.

[slipjig.livejournal.com]

The de Palma v. Lyne one flat-out cracked me up when it first randomized itself into place. The only thing that would've been funnier would've been Lyne v. Verhoeven.

The only reason I voted for Zemeckis is the lingering suspicion that Fellini is even more overrated than I think he his. Well, that and Roger Rabbit. (And do note that Friedkin has actually held his own quite nicely in this one.)

[chris-walsh.livejournal.com]

Spike Lee vs. David Cronenberg? I wonder if robyn_ma's doing these polls; that's likely to be a very tough choice for her. (Kind of tough for me, even, but I went Cronenberg because he's much more consistently good; Lee can be all over the quality map.)

[slipjig.livejournal.com]

*nods* That's pretty much where I'm at. Also, Cronenberg's career has actually gotten more interesting over the years, while Lee's, um, hasn't.

[chris-walsh.livejournal.com]

And while getting more interesting and uncompromising, Cronenberg's getting more mainstream attention. There can be justice in this world.

[slipjig.livejournal.com]

Aye, that. All of a sudden I'm picturing it as a game show: Wheel! Of! Misogyny!

[weyrdbird.livejournal.com]

Jim Henson has no competition by definition:D.
And De Palma got my vote for Carlito's Way (Books by Edwin Torres among my fave faves. 'nuff said). Gibson lost in part due to his last couple of films and his idiotic behavior and remarks while inebriated. Violence against humankind by other humans is not my thing. Braveheart is a nice romantic (very) retelling of history of one part of my ancestral homelands despite the blood and guts and general battle innacuracies. Not to mention period clothing problems, etc. But that's a whole other forum;).

[slipjig.livejournal.com]

I think if historical accuracy were the main factor, we'd have to eliminate everyone who's not Kubrick or James Ivory.

And I so, so miss Jim Henson.

[odheirre.livejournal.com]

Brad Bird versus Mel Gibson???? Don't make me laugh.

[chris-walsh.livejournal.com]

Maybe the randomizer has a sense of humor.

[slipjig.livejournal.com]

It does. A sick one.

[slipjig.livejournal.com]

Hey, they're both Oscar winners. But then again, so's Kevin Costner.

[chris-walsh.livejournal.com]

So's the guy who wrote the line "If you get caught between the moon and New York City." Yes, one of the credited writers of that song contributed only that line, and Song Oscars go to all of the songwriters (3 writers? 3 statues). So that dude has as many Oscars as Jerry Goldsmith.

But to possibly make you feel better about this, here are posters and photos from Tropic Thunder. Stare in awe at Robert Downey, Jr. (yes, that's him).

More links!

[chris-walsh.livejournal.com]

Check out this entry by trollprincess, especially the first two paragraphs of stuff. (I'll say no more.)