Coen Bros.
Howard Hawks
David Fincher
Sidney Lumet
Robert Altman

James Whale
Terence Fisher
Tod Browning
John Carpenter (up until about 1988)
William Wellman

Dario Argento
John Carpenter
Ingmar Bergman
David Cronenberg
Akira Kurosawa

I guess I feel good with that list

This thread is about our favorite directors, not who we think are the best directors. My list would be much different if it was based on who I thought were the best directors.

In a hypothetical situation: If you could only own 25 films, etc, etc, Jaws, Close Encounters, and Raiders would be in my 25. Not 1 film by any of the 5 directors you listed would be in my 25.

IMO his best films are AI, Munich & Jaws. I could care less for everything else he has done.

[Increasingly whiny voice] I think for some, it is easy being cynical. I just hear a lot of Spielberg is schmaltz and it makes me want to cry because I'm a schmaltzy person and I can't help it![/Increasingly whiny voice]*Jukes grabs a tissue and dabs the corners of his eyes.*

Tarkovsky's Andrei Rublev and The Mirror would probably be my very first choices in such a scenario - both films have a lot of personal meaning for me, and I've watched them both many times.

I don't have any animosity towards Spielberg. I love Empire of the Sun, The Sugarland Express, Close Encounters and a few of his other films (I was even one of the five people, outside of the Academy, who liked War Horse) - but none of them would be "desert island" discs for me. His films just don't quite resonate as much with me as the best films from my favorite directors.

Although I'm no fan of Spielberg's schmaltzy cinema, I've always found it interesting that those who dislike Spielberg's sappy films are often fans of crap like "The Shawshank Redemption" or "The Green" Mile". Both of those films with massive fan bases are easily as sappy and manipulative as anything Spielberg has done, or for that matter anything Ron Howard has done.

IMO favorite & best are the same.
Based upon your list the only director I would consider top 25 material would be Kubrick.

Yeah, my wording may have been a bit trite towards inri222. I own the majority of films by those directors, but when it comes to favorites, my childhood nostalgia wins out over my artsy side.

Shit, I like Shawshank and Green Mile also. I don't know what the overlap of Spielberg haters/Darabont prison movie lovers is but my inclination would be that if they don't like Spielberg, they wouldn't like those movies either. I don't know. All I know is that I'm a sappy mother fucker.

That is where we differ. See my previous post.

I'm not that much of a cinephile, I mostly like watching mainstream domestic movies so mine aren't anything special.

Quentin Tarantino
David Fincher
Christopher Nolan
Steven Spielberg
Ridley Scott

It was hard thinking of a 5th director that I really like, there's been a lot that I thought would be great but recent work has been mixed, like Bryan Singer, James Cameron, Robert Rodriguez, Tim Burton, Steven Soderbergh, and Scott. I just defaulted to one.

Minority opinion here, but George Lucas as a director from the 1970's only>Nolan, Tarantino, and Fincher.

bolded for emphasis

Lucas was once a serious and respected filmmaker. Although I love Star Wars, it certainly did ruin him.

I feel the same way.

Life's short, enjoy the best things of everything.

I'm just weird I guess. Although I think Citizen Kane and Casablanca are fantastic films, I have no desire to watch them again. I can easily make the assessment that they are better films than Escape from New York, but I would much rather watch Escape from New York.

Tarantino
Leone
Scorsesse
Nolan
Malick

favorite films of director in ()

Paul Thomas Anderson (Magnolia, Boogie Nights, There Will Be Blood)

Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill 1&2, Inglourious Basterds)

Stanley Kubrick (A Clockwork Orange, Full Metal Jacket, The Shining, Dr. Strangelove)

Sidney Lumet (Network, The Verdict, Dog Day Afternoon)

Oliver Stone (Natural Born Killers, Born on the Fourth of July, JFK, Wall Street).

Sergio Leone
Aleksandr Ptushko
Mario Bava
Jesus Franco
Antonio Margheriti

Not sure who my favorite filmmakers are, but I'll do Dragon Tattoo a solid and save him a post by listing his five fave directors:

Christopher Nolan
Christopher Nolan
Christopher Nolan
Christopher Nolan
Christopher Nolan

Alfred Hitchcock
Takashi Miike
David Cronenberg
Quentin Tarantino
Guillermo Del Toro

Kubrick
Woody Allen
Paul Thomas Anderson
Steven Spielberg
Tarantino

Glad to see someone mention Lumet, a very underrated director. I just watched Prince of the City again this weekend....what a great film!