Dr. DVD

What was the first movie you saw in the theater of a famous/infamous director? Sorry if there is already a thread on this, haven't seen anything like it recently.

Steven Spielberg- E.T.
Francis Coppola- Peggy Sue Got Married-didn't know it was him, just got dragged by parents and was only ten
Martin Scorsese- Cape Fear
Ridley Scott- Black Rain
Quentin Tarantino-Pulp Fiction
Brian De Palma-Mission:Impossible


Maybe more later, all I can think of off the top of my head.

printerati

Almodovar - All About My Mother
Altman - Popeye
Aronofsky - Pi
Besson - The Professional
Bigelow - Strange Days
Bong Joon-ho - Mother
Boyle - Trainspotting
Burton - Pee-wee's Big Adventure
Coen Bros. - Raising Arizona
Coppola - Apocalypse Now Redux (surprisingly, the only thing of his I have seen theatrically)
Cronenberg - The Fly
del Toro - Mimic
Fincher - Se7en
Gilliam - Time Bandits
Herzog - Encounters at the End of the World
Kubrick - Eyes Wide Shut
Lang - Metropolis
Lisberger - Tron
Lynch - Dune
Miyazaki - Princess Mononoke
Nolan - Memento
Scorsese - Casino
R. Scott - Legend
Singer - The Usual Suspects
K. Smith - Mallrats
Soderbergh - Out of Sight
Spielberg - E.T.
Tarantino - Pulp Fiction
Tykwer - Lola rennt
Welles - Touch of Evil

EDIT: Before it's insinuated that I'm "old" again (below), let me point out that my first experiences with Altman, Gilliam, Lynch, and Spielberg were all before the age of 10, and a couple of the others are obvious reissues. I also added Tron to the list, only because I never really have lost a 7-year-old's sense of wonder with that film.

Solid Snake

Fuck. I'm young.

Abrahms - Star Trek
Affleck- The Town
Allen - Midnight in Paris
P.T. Anderson - The Master
Aronofsky - Black Swan
Apatow - 40 Year Old Virgin
Bay - Transformers
Bigelow - The Hurt Locker
Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire
Burton - Batman Returns
Cameron - Terminator 2
Chow - Kung Fu Hustle
Cuaron - Children of Men
Coen Bros. - True Grit
Del Toro - Hellboy II
Eastwood - Million Dollar Baby
Fincher - Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Hillcoat - Lawless
R. Howard - Frost/Nixon
Jackson - Fellowship of The Ring
Jonze - Where The Wild Things Are
A. Lee - Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Lucas - The Phantom Menace
Luhrmann - Australia
Malick - Tree of Life
Mann - Public Enemies
Nolan - Batman Begins
Raimi - Spider-Man
Refn - Drive
Rodriguez - Sin City
Scorsese - Shutter Island
R. Scott - Prometheus
Soderbergh - Ocean's 12
Singer - X-Men
Smith - Zack and Miri Make a Porno
Snyder - Dawn of The Dead
Spielberg - Jurassic Park
Stallone - Rocky Balboa
Tarantino - Grindhouse
Van Sant - Milk
Vauhgn - Kick Ass
Whedon - The Avengers
E. Wright - Shaun of the Dead

Supermallet

Woody Allen: Everyone Says I Love You
Steven Spielberg: Jurassic Park
Stanley Kubrick: Eyes Wide Shut
Christopher Nolan: Memento
Lars Von Trier: Breaking The Waves
David Lynch: Lost Highway
Steven Soderbergh: Out of Sight
Robert Rodriguez: Desperado
Michael Mann: Heat
Martin Scorsese: The Age of Innocence
Takashi Miike: Ichi The Killer
Werner Herzog: Invincible
Sam Raimi: The Gift
Ridley Scott: Gladiator
Spike Lee: Bamboozled
George Lucas: Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (Special Edition)
Peter Jackson: The Frighteners
Coen Brothers: The Big Lebowski
Spike Jonze: Being John Malkovich
David Fincher: Fight Club
James Cameron: Titanic
Edgar Wright: Hot Fuzz
Danny Boyle: A Life Less Ordinary
Darren Aronofsky: Pi
John Lasseter: Toy Story
Michael Bay: The Rock
Luc Besson: The Fifth Element
Wachowskis: The Matrix
Kevin Smith: Dogma
Francis Ford Coppola: Apocalypse Now Redux
Fritz Lang: Metropolis
Terry Gilliam: Twelve Monkeys
Brian de Palma: Mission: Impossible
Tim Burton: Batman Returns
David Cronenberg: eXistenZ
Alejandro Jodorowsky: El Topo
Dario Argento: Suspiria
James Whale: Frankenstein
Orson Welles: Citizen Kane
Roman Polanski: The Ninth Gate
Guillermo Del Toro: Blade II
Akira Kurosawa: Throne of Blood
Andrei Tarkovsky: Solaris
Billy Wilder: Some Like It Hot
Sergei Eisenstein: The Battleship Potemkin
Kiyoshi Kurosawa: Cure
Sam Mendes: American Beauty
Paul Thomas Anderson: Magnolia

bluetoast

Adding and subtracting from Snake's list.

Abrahms - Mission Impossible III
Affleck- The Town
P. T. Anderson - There Will Be Blood
W. Anderson - The Royal Tenenbaums
Aronofsky - The Wrestler
Apatow - 40 Year Old Virgin
Bay - The Rock
Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire
Burton - Batman Returns
Cameron - Titanic
Chow - Kung Fu Hustle
Cronenberg - A Dangerous Method
Cuaron - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Coen Bros. - No Country for Old Men
Del Toro - Pan's Labyrinth
Eastwood - Flags of our Fathers
Fincher - Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Herzog - Grizzly Man
Hillcoat - Lawless
R. Howard - How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Jackson - Fellowship of The Ring
A. Lee - Sense and Sensibility
S. Lee - Inside Man
Linklater - School of Rock
Lucas - Star Wars Special Edition
Luhrmann - Moulin Rouge
Nolan - Memento
Raimi - Spider-Man
Refn - Drive
Ritchie - Sherlock Holmes
Rodriguez - Once Upon a Time in Mexico
Scorsese - The Aviator
Shyamalan - The Sixth Sense
R. Scott - Gladiator
Soderbergh - Traffic
Singer - X-Men
Smith - Clerks II
Snyder - 300
Spielberg - Hook
Stallone - Rocky Balboa
Tarantino - Kill Bill Vol 1.
Van Sant - Milk
Vauhgn - X-Men: First Class
Verbinski - The Ring
Whedon - Serenity
E. Wright - Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

Charlie Goose

Clint Eastwood - UNFORGIVEN

Steven Spielberg - RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK

James Cameron - THE ABYSS

Sam Peckinpah - CONVOY

Ridley Scott - BLACK RAIN

Sam Raimi - EVIL DEAD

PopcornTreeCt

Woody Allen: Match Point
Steven Spielberg: Jurassic Park
Stanley Kubrick: none
Christopher Nolan: Memento
Lars Von Trier: none
David Lynch: none
Steven Soderbergh: Traffic
Robert Rodriguez: Sin City
Michael Mann: Collateral
Martin Scorsese: Gangs of New York
Takashi Miike: Ichi none
Werner Herzog: none
Sam Raimi: The Gift
Ridley Scott: Gladiator
Spike Lee: Summer of Sam
George Lucas: Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (Special Edition)
Peter Jackson: Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Coen Brothers: O Brother Where Art Thou?
Spike Jonze: Where the Wild Things Are
David Fincher: The Game
James Cameron: Titanic
Danny Boyle: 127 Hours
Darren Aronofsky: The Wrestler
John Lasseter: Toy Story
Michael Bay: Armageddon
Luc Besson: none
Wachowskis: The Matrix
Kevin Smith: Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back
Francis Ford Coppola: none
Fritz Lang: none
Terry Gilliam: none
Brian de Palma: Mission: Impossible
Tim Burton: Batman
David Cronenberg: A History of Violence
Alejandro Jodorowsky: none
Dario Argento: none
Orson Welles: none
Roman Polanski: none
Guillermo Del Toro: Blade II
Akira Kurosawa: none
Andrei Tarkovsky: none
Billy Wilder: Some Like It Hot (saw this in a theater in film school)
Sergei Eisenstein: The Battleship Potemkin (saw this in a theater in film school)
Kiyoshi Kurosawa: none
Sam Mendes: Road to Perdition
Wes Anderson: The Royal Tenenbaums
Paul Thomas Anderson: Punch Drunk Love
Ron Howard: Apollo 13
Quentin Tarantino: Kill Bill Vol. 1

Yes, I was nothing before DVDs.

Mondo Kane

Adding/subbing from other lists:

Steven Spielberg- E.T.
Francis Ford Coppola- Godfather III
Martin Scorsese-Gangs of New York (I remember choosing to see Van Damme's Death Warrant over Goodfellas!)
Ridley Scott-Gladiator
Quentin Tarantino-Pulp Fiction
Brian DePalma-The Untouchables
Altman - Popeye
Besson - The Professional
Boyle -127 Hours
Coen Bros. - Raising Arizona
Cronenberg - The Fly
Fincher - Se7en
Gilliam - Time Bandits
Nolan - Batman Begins
Singer - X-Men
Soderbergh - Traffic
Abrams - Star Trek
Apatow - 40 Year Old Virgin
Bay - Bad Boys
Bigelow - Near Dark
Burton - Pee Wee's Big Adventure
Cameron - Aliens
Eastwood - Sudden Impact
R. Howard - Splash
Jackson - FOTR
A. Lee - Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Lucas - Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (Special Edition)
Mann - Heat
Raimi - A Simple Plan
Rodriguez - Desperado
Snyder - Dawn of The Dead
Stallone - Rocky IV
Vaugh- X-Men:First Class
Whedon - The Avengers
Spike Lee - Malcolm X
John Lasseter: Toy Story 2
Wachowskis: The Matrix
Shyamalan - The Sixth Sense
Verbinski - Pirates/Black Pearl

Oliver Stone-Platoon
John Carpenter-Starman
William Friedkin-Deal of the Century (Just found out he directed this!)
Mel Brooks-Spaceballs
George Romero-Land of the Dead
John Woo-Broken Arrow
Richard Donner-The Toy (Didn't know he directed this either!)
Robert Zemeckis-Romancing The Stone
Tony Scott-Top Gun
Paul Verhoeven-Robocop
Joel Schumacher-Falling Down
Paul Thomas Anderson-Boogie Nights
Zhang Yimou-Hero

devilshalo

Steven Spielberg - JAWS
James Cameron - Terminator
Peter Jackson - The Frighteners
David Fincher - Alien³
William Friedkin - To Live and Die in LA
John Hughes - The Breakfast Club
Ridley Scott - Alien
Oliver Stone - Platoon
Francis Ford Coppola - Rumble Fish
Joe Dante - Gremlins
Walter Hill - Streets of Fire
Blake Edwards - 10
Richard Donner - Superman
John Carpenter - Big Trouble in Little China
Joel Schumacher - The Lost Boys
Barry Levinson - Good Morning, Vietnam
Tony Scott - Beverly Hills Cop 2
Akira Kurosawa - Ran
John Badham - WarGames
John Milius - Conan the Barbarian
Robert Townsend - Eddie Murphy Raw
John Landis - Into the Night
Ang Lee - Eat, Drink, Man, Woman
John Avildsen - Neighbors
Mel Brooks - History of the World: Part I
Terry Gilliam - The Fisher King
Tim Burton - Pee Wee's Big Adventure
John McTiernan - Predator
Dennis Hopper - Colors
Harold Ramis - Groundhog Day
Ivan Reitman - Stripes
Stanley Kubrick - 2001: A Space Odyssey (1974 re-release)
Hayao Miyazaki - Laputa
Katheryn Bigelow - Near Dark
Sam Raimi - For Love of the Game
Barry Sonnenfeld - The Addams Family
Brian De Palma - Scarface
Stuart Gordon - From Beyond
Jun Fukuda - Godzilla vs Megalon
Sun Chung/Shaw Bros - Kung Fu Instructor
John Woo - Hard Target
Woody Allen - Match Point
Clint Eastwood - Heartbreak Ridge
Quentin Tarantino - Pulp Fiction
Coen Brothers - Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?
Robert Altman - Popeye
Terrence Malick - The New World

Ash Ketchum

Great thread idea and great lists, fellas! I love the range and diversity of directors cited.

Because I'm old enough to have seen a lot of classic directors' work on the big screen in childhood, I'm gonna keep it old-school, all pre-1970:

John Ford: SERGEANT RUTLEDGE (1960)
Alfred Hitchcock: PSYCHO (1960)
Raoul Walsh: A DISTANT TRUMPET (1964)
Howard Hawks: EL DORADO (1967)
William Wyler: BEN-HUR (1959)
Billy Wilder: STALAG 17 (1953)
David Lean: LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (1962)
Cecil B. DeMille: THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (1956)
Akira Kurosawa: THE SEVEN SAMURAI (1954)
Anthony Mann: BEND OF THE RIVER (1952)
Nicholas Ray: REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE (1955)
Robert Aldrich: THE LAST SUNSET (1961)
Don Siegel: COOGAN'S BLUFF (1968)
Sam Peckinpah: THE WILD BUNCH (1969)
Ishiro Honda: LATITUDE ZERO (1968)
Terence Fisher: HORROR OF DRACULA (1958)
Mario Bava: PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES (1965)
Roger Corman: THE ST. VALENTINE'S DAY MASSACRE (1967)


Some of these were seen in reissues or revival theaters.

I'll do another thread with the film school generation later.

joe_b

First Run:
Joe Dante - Gremlins 2: The New Batch
Tim Burton - Batman Returns
John Hughes - Home Alone 2: Lost in New York
Steven Spielberg - Jurassic Park
Joel Schumacher - Batman Forever
George Lucas - Star Wars: Special Edition
Robert Zemeckis - Contact
Wes Craven - Scream 2
James Cameron - Titanic
Michael Bay - Armageddon
Brian De Palma - Mission to Mars
Ron Howard - EDtv
Bryan Singer - X-Men
M. Night Shyamalan - Unbreakable
Ridley Scott - Hannibal
Peter Jackson - The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Sam Raimi - Spider-Man
Hayao Miyazaki - Spirited Away
Gore Verbinski - The Ring
The Wachowskis - The Matrix Reloaded
Ang Lee - Hulk
Quentin Tarantino - Kill Bill Vol. 1
Anthony Minghella - Cold Mountain
Guillermo del Toro - Hellboy
Zack Snyder - Dawn of the Dead
Martin Scorsese - The Aviator
Christopher Nolan - Batman Begins
George A. Romero - Land of the Dead
The Coen Bros. - No Country for Old Men
Oliver Stone - W.
Judd Apatow - Funny People
Darren Aronofsky - Black Swan

Revival Showing:
Alfred Hitchcock - The Birds
Roman Polanski - Rosemary's Baby

Solid Snake

It's funny. You can kind of tell who the younger guys in here are just based off where they may have hit a certain director in their career.

Man...I'm so happy to have seen JP in a theater as a kid. Amazing experience for me at that age of 6. The perfect age to be into dinosaurs and then JP comes out.

Dan

I, too, am so young compared to you people:

Steven Spielberg- Jurassic Park
Martin Scorsese- Departed
Ridley Scott- Prometheus
Quentin Tarantino- Jackie Brown
Danny Boyle-127 Hours
Coen Bros. - True Grit
David Cronenberg - Spider
David Fincher - Panic Room
Terry Gilliam - Tideland
Christopher Nolan - Batman Begins
Steven Soderbergh - Ocean's Twelve
JJ Abrams - Star Trek
Judd Apatow - Knocked Up
Michael Bay - The Rock
Tim Burton - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
James Cameron - True Lies
Clint Eastwood - Gran Torino
Ron Howard - Parenthood or Apollo 13
Peter Jackson - Fellowship of the Ring
Ang Lee - Brokeback Mountain
George Lucas - Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Michael Mann - Public Enemies
Sam Raimi - A Simple Plan
Rodriguez - Sin City
Zack Snyder - Dawn of The Dead
Joss Whedon - The Avengers
John Lasseter: Cars
Wachowskis: The Matrix
M. Night Shyamalan - The Happening
Oliver Stone- Savages
John Carpenter- Village of the Damned
William Friedkin- Killer Joe
George Romero- Land of the Dead
John Woo- Broken Arrow
Richard Donner- Lethal Weapon 4
Robert Zemeckis- Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Tony Scott- Spy Game
Paul Verhoeven- possibly Hollow Man
Joel Schumacher- Batman Forever
Paul Thomas Anderson- The Master
David Lynch- Mulholland Drive
Jean-Pierre Jeunet- Alien: Resurrection
Akira Kurosawa- Rashomon (in 2009...)
Brian De Palma- Mission:Impossible
Nicolas Winding Refn - Drive
Kevin Smith - Dogma
Edgar Wright - Hot Fuzz
Darren Aronofsky - Requiem for a Dream
Wes Craven - Scream 2

islandclaws

Carpenter: Village of the Damned
Spielberg: Jurassic Park
Cameron: T2
Stone: Natural Born Killers
Dante: Gremlins 2
Tarantino: Jackie Brown
Lynch: Mulholland Dr.
Cronenberg: Spider
Burton: Batman Returns
Craven: New Nightmare
Scorsese: Casino
DePalma: Mission: Impossible
Fincher: Alien 3

That's all I feel like remembering right now.

Dr. DVD

Adding:
Ang Lee- Sense and Sensibility
Oliver Stone-The Doors
John Woo-Hard Target
James Cameron-T-2
Paul Verhoeven-Robocop
Coen Bros.- The Big Lebowski- great one with which to start!
Tony Scott-Top Gun
John Carpenter-Memoirs of an Invisible Man

David Fincher- Alien3- I have a perfect track record theatrically with this man

Stanley Kubrick-Eyes Wide Shut-I think this might be the only new release of his many in my generation saw theatrically

Ash Ketchum

Pt. 2: The counterculture/film school generation:

Francis Coppola: DEMENTIA 13 (1963)
Stanley Kubrick: DR. STRANGELOVE (1964)
Arthur Penn: BONNIE AND CLYDE (1967)
William Friedkin: THE NIGHT THEY RAIDED MINSKY'S (1969)
Robert Altman: M*A*S*H (1970)
Bob Rafelson: FIVE EASY PIECES (1970)
Milos Forman: TAKING OFF (1971)
Martin Scorsese: BOXCAR BERTHA (1972)
George Lucas: AMERICAN GRAFFITI (1973)
Brian De Palma: SISTERS (1973)
Steven Spielberg: THE SUGARLAND EXPRESS (1974)
Hal Ashby: THE LAST DETAIL (1973)
John Carpenter: ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 (1976)

Mondo Kane

That was released in theaters? whoa.

Dan

^ Yep. I saw it in a theatre with two friends... and one random dude sitting in the back. That was opening night at about 7pm.

devilshalo

That's the way I feel about sharks and JAWS. I was 7 watching its first run and I was already into Jacques Cousteau. It just made me a bigger shark fanatic.

Sondheim

I'm also young:

Allen - Midnight in Paris
Altman - A Prairie Home Companion
P.T. Anderson - There Will Be Blood
Aronofsky - The Fountain
Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire
Burton - Big Fish
Cameron - Titanic
Cronenberg - A Dangerous Method
Cuaron - Harry Potter 3
Coen Bros. - No Country for Old Men
Del Toro - Pan's Labyrinth
Eastwood - Million Dollar Baby
Fincher - Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Gilliam - The Brothers Grimm
Herzog - Rescue Dawn
A. Lee - Brokeback Mountain
M. Leigh - Happy-Go-Lucky
Malick - The New World
Miyazaki - Spirited Away
Nolan - Batman Begins
Scorsese - The Aviator
R. Scott - American Gangster
Spielberg - Minority Report
Tarantino - Inglourious Basterds
Van Sant - Milk
Von Trier - Antichrist
Wright - Hot Fuzz