William Goldman is famous for saying, "In Hollywood, nobody knows anything."
While this is true for the most part, fortunately, in a medium where CGI effects dominate and every movie seems to be a remake, a reboot, or an adaptation from another medium, there are a handful of filmmakers who know story is more important then spectacle.
Many of these filmmakers are not the most talented amongst their peers nor do their films stand the test of time. However, these are the filmmakers who have consistently shown success commercially and critically in modern cinema.
Here's the list in reverse order:
10) Martin Campbell: He is the filmmaker who breathed life back into the James Bond franchise - twice! He is the director who finally brought Zorro to the screen and introduced the audience to Cameron Zeta-Jones. He even tried to revive Mel Gibson's career with Edge of Darkness. Campbell has proven he is at his best when he makes blockbuster pictures based on genre characters. However, even when he steps into original fare, such as No Escape and Vertical Limit, Campbell is able to entertain. Edge of Darkness suffered not from the filmmaking but the casting. Based on the footage from the trailer for next summer's Green Lantern, Campbell will transcend to the next level.
9) Ron Howard: When it comes to reliable filmmakers, Ron Howard is always dependable to make a movie that entertains. The interesting thing about Howard is that his movies are not original. They're all homages to the filmmakers. He's make the Lucas epic (Willow), the Spielberg historical drama (Far and Away, Apollo 13), the Ivan Reitman comedy (Splash!, Gung Ho, Parenthood), the Clint Eastwood western (The Missing), the Oliver Stone political picture (Frost/Nixon), the Tim Burton cartoon brought to life (How the Grinch Stole Christmas), and the Alfred Hitchcock thriller (Ransom, The Da Vinci Code). However, Howard's best pictures are his biopics - A Beautiful Mind and Cinderella Man. The strength of Howard's directing is also his ability to work with talented leading men over and over again - Michael Keaton, Tom Hanks, Russell Crowe - and get some of their best performances out of them. With this year's The Dilemma, Howard has made his Judd Apatow comedy.
8) George Lucas: George Lucas is a one-trick pony, but that pony has provided him a career that has not only lasted over 35 years but has established a universe that has transcended into other mediums. Lucas is credited for creating two of the most successful film series in the history of cinema - Star Wars and Indiana Jones. However, the best Star Wars films are the ones not directed by Lucas and Indiana Jones is more Spielberg's than Lucas. Lucas is a master storyteller, however, his talent improves when he is assisted by another artist. The more successful Indiana Jones films are due more to Spielberg's direction and the talent of the screenwriters (Lawrence Kasdan, Chris Columbus, Jeffrey Boam) than Lucas's story. In fact, the worst of the series - Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - suffered because Lucas pushed his story about Indy in the atomic age. Lucas needs to realize his talent lies more in turning his ideas over to other more talented writers and filmmakers who can interpret his vision, be it either on screen, in animation, or in books. Still, other than James Cameron - who for years lived in George Lucas's shadow until he established his own niche - no one has been able to create and continue to entertain audiences with the universe they have created.
7) Peter Jackson: Forget The Lovely Bones. Remember The Lord of the Rings trilogy? Back then, Jackson was being touted as the next George Lucas and Steven Spielberg so much that even Spielberg took notice and directed The Adventures of Tintin for him. Jackson is like Cameron in that he knows the value of story, character, and spectacle. The unfortunate thing about Jackson is that he is similar to Michael Mann, another great filmmaker who suffers from creating films with long narratives, which is why Jackson's adaptation King Kong was well made but not widely received. With The Lovely Bones, Jackson unsuccessfully attempted to combine his talent with special effects with the suspense he showcased in Heavenly Creatures. After attempting to hand over the directing reins for The Hobbit to Sam Raimi and Guillermo Del Toro, Jackson has finally decided to give the fans what they want and returns to the directing chair to shepherd the classic prequel to the trilogy that made him famous.
6) Clint Eastwood: Like Howard, Eastwood is always reliable for providing reliably films that are both engaging and entertaining (except for Hereafter). However, the difference between Eastwood and Howard, both former actors who moved behind the camera, is that Eastwood's films have more depth. Perhaps it's because Eastwood's films are more personal and carry a message. Prior to his retirement from acting with Gran Torino, Eastwood directed films that allowed him to showcase not only his acting talent but provide roles for his friends. Now that he has moved behind the camera permanently, Eastwood is determined to present even more personal films. Invictus is his tribute to Nelson Mandela. Hereafter is his exploration of life after death. Eastwood also seems determined to pass on to the new generation of movie stars such as Angelina Jolie and Matt Damon what Sergio Leone passed on to him - an appreciation of the overall craft of filmmaking that transcends beyond acting.
5) Tim Burton: The last three decades can be described as the rise and fall and return of Tim Burton. In the 1908s, Burton was the bankable blockbuster director thanks to Beetlejuice, Batman, and Batman Returns, which allowed him to make pet projects such as Edward Scissorhands and the reintroduction of model animation with The Nightmare Before Christmas. In the mid to late 1990s, Burton lost sight of who he was and made a series of critical and commercial disappointments - Ed Wood, Mars Attacks, and Planet of the Apes. During this time, Burton reunited with his constant collaborator, Johnny Depp, and directed Sleepy Hollow, which not only embodied Burton's gothic yet quirky style but also showcased the strength of his artistic relationship with Depp. Going into the next decade of the new millennium, Burton has realized his talent lies in two areas - stop-motion animation (James and the Giant Peach, The Corpse Bride) and his collaboration in with Depp in making remakes (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) or bringing other stories from other mediums to the screen (Sweeney Todd, Alice in Wonderland). Burton is continuing his motif of filmmaking with Frankenweenie and an adaptation of the vampire soap opera Dark Shadows with Depp playing Barnabus Collins.
4) JJ Abrams: JJ Abrams is the modern day Chris Columbus, who was once the heir apparent to Steven Spielberg's throne after Robert Zemeckis. Like Spielberg, Abrams got his start in TV shepherding the series Felicity, Alias, and Lost - three series known for their strength in characterization. Abrams is a student of not only the cinema but also genre fiction. His films are influenced by the two Steves - Spielberg and King. With Cloverfield, Abrams created a Japanese monster movie using the camera storytelling Spielberg incorporated through the eyes of the shark in Jaws while also incorporating King's ability to tale a story featuring an ensemble cast of dynamic characters. Abrams's true genius is showcased with Star Trek in that he was able to make a film that satisfied both the die hard Trekkers and brought new fans to a dying series. Next summer, Abrams will team with his idol on Super 8. All of his films are clear homages to Spielberg, so it will be interesting to see what happens when the mentor teams with his protege.
3) Christopher Nolan: The genius of Christopher Nolan is not just for his successful reboot of the Batman franchise by incorporating stark realism into Batman Begins and continuing it with The Dark Knight. Nolan's talent is exemplified in his more cerebral films - specifically, the mystery he creates and the emotions his films exude on screen - the confusion in Memento, the exhaustion in Insomnia, the tension in The Prestige, and the anxiety in Inception. The problem with Nolan's films? The studios don't know how to market them. They're not straightforward genre pics. They transcend the genres by incorporating elements of other genres. The Dark Knight is not a superhero movie but a crime thriller featuring a superhero as the main character. It's easy to sell Nolan's Batman pics because it features Batman. However, except for The Joker, the villains in the series are second tier villains, and they are successfully presented in the film through Nolan's direction and his screenwriting partnership with his brother, Jonathan. We're all waiting who the villains he will feature in The Dark Knight Rises. Here's hoping one of them is Catwoman.
2) Steven Spielberg: Spielberg is still a cinematic genius only because if it wasn't for him or George Lucas the modern day blockbuster wouldn't exist. Before Cameron, Speilberg was the filmmaker with the Midas Touch. E.T. the Extra-Terrestial was the biggest blockbuster of all time until it was dethroned by Cameron's Titanic. Think of all the blockbusters with Spielberg's name on them as director - Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the Indiana Jones movies, Jurassic Park. Think of the Oscar winners - Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan. Think of the film he's produced - the Back to the Future films, the Men in Black movies, the Transformers movies, Poltergeist, Twister, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, Gremlins, The Goonies. The credits "Steven Spielberg Presents" or "a film by Steven Spielberg" before a movie title continues to stimulate and interest an audience. When it comes to packaging potential blockbuster pics, he's the first director every studio approaches. At one point, the trend for Spielberg was to direct the blockbuster for the summer and the Oscar-contender for the winter. While Spielberg has focused his efforts more on producing blockbusters by others and directing Oscar-caliber film fare over the last decade, he will sometimes remind the audience of his blockbuster talents by giving us a summer blockbuster such as War of the Worlds. Spielberg currently has a collection of blockbusters and Oscar-caliber dramas he has directed in post-production as well as producing a third Transformers and Men in Black.
1) James Cameron: Name one James Cameron movie that truly disappoints. You can't. The Terminator redefined the low budget sci-fi/action film of the 1980s. Aliens became The Empire Strikes Back of the Alien series. T2-Terminator 2: Judgment Day brought the morphing technology from commercial to film production and remains one of the greatest action films ever made. Titanic is one of the few movies that ever successfully struck the four quadrants of an audience - male, female, young, old - and became the biggest blockbuster of all time due to vigorous repeat theater viewings resembling the days before the proliferation of home video and cable. The only film able to usurp Cameron's work was another Cameron film - Avatar. Even Cameron's less successful box office blockbusters (The Abyss) and his harshly criticized movies (True Lies) are still more entertaining and enthralling than any of the blockbusters released in the last 20 years. Not only has Cameron surpassed George Lucas as a cinematic special effects wizard, he is able to do two things not even "the greats" have been able to do - create a movie that weighs story and character equally to special effects. What makes him even more amazing is his ability to create strong, female characters that can be tough yet tender - Sarah Connor from Terminator/T2, Ripley from Aliens, Rose from Titanic, Netyiri from Avatar, and even Lindsay Bringham from The Abyss. When it comes to pure genius in filmmaking in all three quadrants - director, screenwriter, producer - no one surpasses James Cameron.
While most of these filmmakers have not become as legendary as their peers, they are the ones who are making an impact on modern moviemaking and at the box office.
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