Each director name is linked to an especially awesome video to represent his body of work. You might find that, based on my grades for each film, the rankings seem illogical. They are based mostly on potential for future greatness. In other words, even if I haven’t seen a lot from a specific director, I may feel like I still haven’t seen his best work. Films are ranked in order of preference. Enjoy.

20. Stanley Kubrick

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Full Metal Jacket (A)
2001: A Space Odyssey (A-)
A Clockwork Orange (B+)
Dr. Strangelove (C+)

19. John Huston

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (A-)
The Maltese Falcon (A-)
The Asphalt Jungle (B)

18. Charles Chaplin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

City Lights (A)
The Great Dictator (A)

17. Michel Gondry

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Science of Sleep (A)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (B+)
Be Kind, Rewind (C+)

16. Akira Kurosawa

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seven Samurai (A)
Ran (A)

15. Jean-Luc Godard

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Breathless (A)
Band of Outsiders (B)

14. Steven Spielberg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jaws (A)
E.T. (A-)
Schindler’s List (A-)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (A-)
Munich (B+)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (B+)
The Terminal (B)
War of the Worlds (B)
Saving Private Ryan (B-)
Jurassic Park (B-)
A.I. (C)
The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (C)

13. Sidney Lumet

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12 Angry Men (A)
The Verdict (A-)
Network (A-)
Dog Day Afternoon (B+)
Murder on the Orient Express (No Grade)

12. Terrence Malick

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Thin Red Line (A)
Days of Heaven (A-)
The New World (A-)
Badlands (B+)

11. David Fincher

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zodiac (A)
Se7en (A)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (B+)
The Game (B+)
Panic Room (B)
Fight Club (B-)

10. Francois Truffaut

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jules and Jim (A)
The 400 Blows (A-)
Pocket Money (B+)

9. Yasujiro Ozu

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tokyo Story (A)
Early Summer (A-)

8. Howard Hawks

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rio Bravo (A)
His Girl Friday (A-)
Only Angels Have Wings (B+)

7. Joel and Ethan Coen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No Country for Old Men (A-)
Miller’s Crossing (A-)
O Brother, Where Art Thou (A-)
Barton Fink (A-)
Fargo (A-)
Raising Arizona (B+)
Burn After Reading (B+)
The Big Lebowski (B)

6. Francis Ford Coppola

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Godfather: Part II (A)
Apocalypse Now (A)
The Godfather (A)
The Conversation (A-)
The Rainmaker (B+)

5. Sergio Leone

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once Upon a Time in the West (A)
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (A)
For a Few Dollars More (A)
A Fistful of Dollars (A-)

4. Paul Thomas Anderson

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Magnolia (A)
There Will Be Blood (A-)
Boogie Nights (A-)
Hard Eight (B+)
Punch-Drunk Love (B)

3. Robert Altman

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Short Cuts (A)
Nashville (A)
McCabe and Mrs. Miller (A)

2. Alfred Hitchcock

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vertigo (A)
Rope (A)
Rear Window (A)
Shadow of a Doubt (A-)
Psycho (A-)
The Man Who Knew Too Much (B+)
North By Northwest (B+)
The Birds (B+)
Saboteur (B+)
The 39 Steps (B+)
The Lady Vanishes (B)
Strangers on a Train (B-)
To Catch a Thief (C+)
Frenzy (C+)

1. Steven Soderbergh

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Traffic (A)
Che (No Grade)
Out of Sight (A)
Schizopolis (A)
The Limey (A)
Sex, Lies, and Videotape (A-)
Bubble (A-)
Erin Brockovich (B+)
Ocean’s Eleven (B+)
The Good German (B)
Ocean’s Twelve (B)
Ocean’s Thirteen (B)
Solaris (B-)

 

The End. (of cinema)