What’s your TOP ten American Film Directors?

Surprised no one mentioned Charlie Chaplin.

 

Orson Welles
John Ford
David Lynch
Russ Meyer
Coen Brothers
Sam Fuller
Woody Allen
Budd Boetticher
Howard Hawks
Anthony Mann

 

Both became American citizens. The OP didn’t specify American born directors. See how quickly absurd the whole thing becomes?

 

Ah! Their good ole American directors now... doh.

 

Kubrick
Coppola
John Ford
Spielberg
Tarantino
Altman
Scorsese
Coens
Hawks
Wes Anderson

 

John Frankenheimer
John Ford
Sidney Lumet
Clint Eastwood
Don Seigel
Francis Ford Coppola
Frank Capra
Steven Spielberg
Quentin Tarantino
Mike Nichols

 

There's really only ONE genius American director, whose body of work makes all the others look like amateurs. His name---Cassavetes. Most folks don't know who he is, and would not "get" or understand what he is doing because our "dumb-ed down" society demands that everything be spoon-fed to them, and to be told "how to feel", and "what the movie and characters are about, and what they are feeling". His movies are not "easy" or "comfortable" to watch, because one has to use intelligence and patience for an understanding. Nevertheless, he's the best.

 

Quentin Tarantino?!?
Best?!?
Definitely not!!!

 

Least he’s an American. Lol

 

Honestly, guys, I don't see the point of labeling a director, Best, unless you're considering box office receipts. Favorite or most influential are far more apt adjectives when you're considering a medium as subjective as movies. Anyway, why be stuck on two or three dudes whose style you can spot from a spaceship? There is so much out there to see. My second set of American faves -

David Lynch
Jean Negulesco
Joseph Mankiewicz
Howard Hawks
George Cukor
William Wellman
Sam Fuller
Martin Ritt
Sam Peckinpah
Norman Jewison

 

Folks are enjoying this thread alright.
Maybe not the thread starter.

 

Not in order:

Stanley Kubrick
Orson Welles
Coen Brothers
John Cassavetes
John Huston
Martin Scorsese
Robert Altman
Terrence Malik
Billy Wilder
Paul Thomas Anderson

 

Agreed.

His writing is non-nuanced and one-note and the cinematography - while usually good - isn't his. So what exactly is he good at?

 

Making entertaining movies.

 

Hard Eight is one of my favorite director debuts. Need to watch more of his stuff. He made me appreciate some things about the great Max Ophuls, a filmmaker I actively disliked but grew to appreciate.

 

So, I'm not really that director-oriented, and I'd bet I'm forgetting someone(s) obvious, but probably something like:

Coen Brothers
Dennis Dugan
John Carpenter
John Landis
Martin Scorsese
Mel Brooks
Robert Zemeckis
Terry Gilliam
Wes Craven
Woody Allen

I'm a film fanatic, but I don't at all have normal cinephile tastes, and unlike with music, there are a lot of films I hate (including a lot of stuff that stereotypical cinephiles love).

It would be more accurate for me to replace some of these with "Whoever directs Disney, Pixar, Will Ferrell, Arnold Schwarzenegger, etc. films"

 

IMO he's made 2 good movies. So have a lot of directors. The rest range from tiresome to garbage.

He was a great video store clerk, but a mediocre filmmaker.

 

You do have a point. The silent era is often given short shrift by contemporary audiences. There were some giants from that era (Griffith, Demille, Chaplin, Keaton) whose films I rarely watch but should appreciate more as they were the real firsts in movies.

 

I was being sarcastic.

 

Fine that’s your opinion, I beg to differ.

 

Billy Wilder
Alfred Hitchcock
Stanley Kubrick
Martin Scorsese
Fred Zinnemann
John Frankenheimer
William Wyler
Francis Coppola
John Huston
Elia Kazan
Stanley Donen (I just realized how many films he directed or co-directed that I love)

 

Because he is english?

 

Yes! From merry olde England.

 

How about best director not to make anybody's list? I will go with Preston Sturges.