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Who’s the next director that will reach “iconic” status?

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Who’s the next director that will reach “iconic” status?

Old 10-13-17, 04:15 PM
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Who’s the next director that will reach “iconic” status?

When I think legendary or iconic directors it has to be because of their full body of work, right? A number of successes, an Oscar or two, etc. So names like Spielberg, Coppola, Eastwood, Scorsese, maybe Tarantino, de Palma are all iconic directors that everyone of multi-generations know and are still alive and producing.

So with some great ones now coming to the forefront: Viileneueve, Inarritu, Whedon, Nolan, etc. who do you think will be the next to reach that type of status or have some of them already?
Old 10-13-17, 04:24 PM
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Re: Who’s the next director that will reach “iconic” status?

Chazelle is on the fast track at a very young age. Not Whedon. Probably Nolan.
Old 10-13-17, 04:29 PM
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Re: Who’s the next director that will reach “iconic” status?

Originally Posted by OldBoy
So with some great ones now coming to the forefront: Viileneueve, Inarritu, Whedon, Nolan, etc. who do you think will be the next to reach that type of status or have some of them already?
One of these things is not like the others...

And my vote goes to Denis Villeneuve.
Old 10-13-17, 04:36 PM
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Re: Who’s the next director that will reach “iconic” status?

Originally Posted by GoldenJCJ
One of these things is not like the others...

And my vote goes to Denis Villeneuve.
After the Blade Runner 2049 BO disaster? Don't think so...
Old 10-13-17, 04:40 PM
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Re: Who’s the next director that will reach “iconic” status?

Nolan is getting close to that status, especially since he writes and directs his own stuff. Unless Villeneuve starts doing more than directing his own stuff, I don’t see him getting to any iconic status. I also don’t see any distinct vision he has that hasn’t been shown before.
Old 10-13-17, 04:51 PM
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Re: Who’s the next director that will reach “iconic” status?

I wouldn't put Whedon up as one of the greats. He's made some good blockbuster type films but nothing that really cements his status. If anything I'd say he's had more influence on the world of television.

I think Nolan is well on his way. Most of his films are great or at least interesting. I'd agree with Villeneuve too. Not sure who else is say. I'm repeating what I've seen others post and can't think of others but I like both.
Old 10-13-17, 04:58 PM
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Re: Who’s the next director that will reach “iconic” status?

Nobody. Cultural icons are a thing of the past. Popular culture has become too fragmented. Icons are a product of shared experience through mass culture.
Old 10-13-17, 04:59 PM
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Re: Who’s the next director that will reach “iconic” status?

I like Whedon's TV work but he isn't on the level of Speilberg, Hitchcock, Scorsese, Coppola, etc. We all know my feelings on Nolan, he isn't in their league either.
Old 10-13-17, 05:15 PM
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Re: Who’s the next director that will reach “iconic” status?

In the same way that we can have a Bruno Mars or Taylor Swift or Lady Gaga-level superstar but are unlikely to see a Prince/Madonna/Michael Jackson level mega-star again, I think while Viileneueve, Inarritu, Nolan (and Cuarón) are very famous and popular in their own right, none are going to elevate themselves to the superstar director ranks of a Spielberg, Scorsese or Hitchcock. The last one was almost certainly Tarantino (and maybe James Cameron before or after him). Popular culture is too fragmented these days to have a popular or critically acclaimed director be a superstar brand name any more -- at least to a Speilbergian level.
Old 10-13-17, 06:29 PM
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Re: Who’s the next director that will reach “iconic” status?

Yeah, maybe not Whedon, even though I think Serenity is incredible. Much better than Avengers. But he was great in tv even though never got into Firefly. But Buffy is one of favorite shows ever.

I think Paul Thomas Anderson is up there, as is, Wes Andersen (or is he too obscure?) Whst about Coens? Maybe Soderbergh. Is Ridley Scott considered iconic? What about Hughes and the horror masters, like Craven, Romero, maybe Raimi? Ron Howard or Rob Reiner, Mel Brooks? Woody Allen must be. What makes one iconic?

Last edited by OldBoy; 10-13-17 at 06:44 PM.
Old 10-13-17, 07:24 PM
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Re: Who’s the next director that will reach “iconic” status?

Originally Posted by stvn1974
We all know my feelings on Nolan, he isn't in their league either.
Originally Posted by rw2516
Nobody. Cultural icons are a thing of the past. Popular culture has become too fragmented. Icons are a product of shared experience through mass culture.
Originally Posted by Decker
Popular culture is too fragmented these days to have a popular or critically acclaimed director be a superstar brand name any more -- at least to a Spielbergian level.
Agreed on all points. Aside from Tarantino, I can't think of a single American director mass-marketed in the U.S. whose work I have followed devotedly in the 21st century, nor one whose work I'd recommend to people the way I used to when I lent out tapes of films by John Woo and Hayao Miyazaki in the '90s. Nor can I think of any European or Asian directors like that today. I do follow some Chinese and Japanese filmmakers, but they're a niche market and I don't even post about their work here, other than in the Anime Talk forum.

On Facebook, my niece asked for Netflix film recommendations and my nephew posted a list of films. I hadn't heard of 12 of the 19 and I'd only seen one, which I hated. I bring this up to illustrate the kind of fragmentation that goes on within one's own family. Here's the list. Some of you guys would appreciate this list more than I do:

- Take This Waltz
- Drinking Buddies
- Sleepwalk With Me
- Blue Is The Warmest Color
- Win it All
- I Don’t Feel At Home In This World Anymore
- Don’t Think Twice
- Creep
- Zodiac
- The Babadook
- It Follows
- Boyhood
- Nightcrawler
- The Place Beyond the Pines
- Gimme The Loot
- Europa Report
- Pariah
- Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead
- Amores Perros


Some of the titles that I don't remember hearing about may have been reviewed in The New York Times and I may even have glanced at those reviews, but they didn't register in my memory since so many crappy indie and foreign films get reviewed in the Times every Friday.
Old 10-13-17, 07:33 PM
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Re: Who’s the next director that will reach “iconic” status?

Nolan
QT
James Cameron
David Fincher
GDT
Gonzalez-Iñarritu
Alfonso Cuaron
Old 10-13-17, 07:47 PM
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Re: Who’s the next director that will reach “iconic” status?

Cameron for sure, fincher for me as well.. Nolan is on his way
Old 10-13-17, 08:22 PM
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Re: Who’s the next director that will reach “iconic” status?

I'd say Nolan, Tarantino, and Fincher are pretty much already there. They have the bodies of work, and are widely considered appointment-worthy.

Ridley Scott's earlier work cements his place there, and he continues to produce a strong film every handful of years. Same as many other directors, like Woody Allen. I dunno where Lynch fits in all that, but he seemed to earn that status after the release of Mulholland Dr. Unless Cronenberg pulls out one last great piece of work, I think he'll stop just shy of that reputation.

Villeneuve is on the way at a good clip. Linklater could get there with a few more substantive films under his belt. The Three Amigos (Cuaron, Inarritu, del Toro) will hopefully cement that sort of reputation in the coming decade; each one probably needs one more tried-and-true great film to be considered in that category.

I thought Duncan Jones was headed in that direction, but Warcraft kinda hit the brakes on that.

Aronofsky is ... complicated at this point.

Last edited by gryffinmaster; 10-13-17 at 08:44 PM.
Old 10-13-17, 09:02 PM
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Re: Who’s the next director that will reach “iconic” status?

Originally Posted by Ash Ketchum
- Take This Waltz
- Drinking Buddies
- Sleepwalk With Me
- Blue Is The Warmest Color
- Win it All
- I Don’t Feel At Home In This World Anymore
- Don’t Think Twice
- Creep
- Zodiac
- The Babadook
- It Follows
- Boyhood
- Nightcrawler
- The Place Beyond the Pines
- Gimme The Loot
- Europa Report
- Pariah
- Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead
- Amores Perros
Whoo-hoo! I'm hipper than Ash Ketchum, having seen 13 movies on this list.

Curious, which is the only one you've seen? I would guess Zodiac or Amores Perros, but wouldn't be surprised if it was Blue is the Warmest Colour

But seriously, I do get the sense cinema isn't the thing anymore, and most of the iconic names will come from creators working in the medium of television/steaming series.
Old 10-13-17, 10:27 PM
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Re: Who’s the next director that will reach “iconic” status?

Jeff Nichols
Nicolas Winding Refn
Jacques Audiard
Hou Hsiao-hsien
Kelly Reichardt
Asghar Farhadi
Dardenne brothers
Tsai Ming-liang
Michael Haneke
Pedro Almodovar
Lars Von Trier
Steve McQueen
Kim Ki-duk
Bruno Dumont
Abel Ferrara
Old 10-13-17, 10:36 PM
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Re: Who’s the next director that will reach “iconic” status?

Iconic doesn't mean "indie darlings".
Old 10-13-17, 10:43 PM
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Re: Who’s the next director that will reach “iconic” status?

By that standard I guess Godard and Antonioni are just a couple of scrubs that don’t count.
Old 10-14-17, 02:06 AM
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Re: Who’s the next director that will reach “iconic” status?

Godard and Antonioni were world famous game changers. The directors you listed are fine, but they're never going to achieve the stature of a Spielberg, Scorsese or Coppola.
Old 10-14-17, 03:19 AM
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Re: Who’s the next director that will reach “iconic” status?

Originally Posted by inri222
Jeff Nichols
Nicolas Winding Refn
Jacques Audiard
Hou Hsiao-hsien
Kelly Reichardt
Asghar Farhadi
Dardenne brothers
Tsai Ming-liang
Michael Haneke
Pedro Almodovar
Lars Von Trier
Steve McQueen
Kim Ki-duk
Bruno Dumont
Abel Ferrara
I've only seen films by two of the directors on that list, Refn and Ferrara. I've never even heard of three of them.
Old 10-14-17, 03:21 AM
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Re: Who’s the next director that will reach “iconic” status?

Originally Posted by Crocker Jarmen
Whoo-hoo! I'm hipper than Ash Ketchum, having seen 13 movies on this list.
That wouldn't be hard.

Curious, which is the only one you've seen? I would guess Zodiac or Amores Perros, but wouldn't be surprised if it was Blue is the Warmest Colour
Bingo on ZODIAC.
Old 10-14-17, 09:29 AM
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Re: Who’s the next director that will reach “iconic” status?

Originally Posted by rw2516
Nobody. Cultural icons are a thing of the past. Popular culture has become too fragmented. Icons are a product of shared experience through mass culture.
I tend to agree with this. There are plenty of great, talented directors out there making quality films but at this point in popular culture nobody seems to be a trail-blazer with completely unique ideas, perspectives or angles.

Most of the great films today are built on the accomplishments of past directors and writers.

A movie making lots of money and iconic are two different things. "It" the movie made a lot of money but I don't imagine we'll be talking about it five years from now. In five years, the iconic horror films will still be Night of the Living Dead, Halloween, The Shining, Texas Chainsaw Massacre etc.

All-in-all there's just too much of everything coming-and-going so quickly that there's no culturally collective "glue" that holds anything together. Iconic TV shows from 1960s, 70s and early 1980s were a product of the fact there were only 3 networks and 13 channels on the dial of most American TV sets. This simplicity allowed the population to collectively embrace an "iconic" TV show.

Music was the same way; most cities had 1 rock station, 1 pop station, 1 oldies station. Nowadays there's so much niche variety out there that nothing really gels with any sizable portion of the population.

Last edited by orangerunner; 10-14-17 at 10:09 AM.
Old 10-14-17, 09:33 AM
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Re: Who’s the next director that will reach “iconic” status?

Originally Posted by William Fuld
Godard and Antonioni were world famous game changers. The directors you listed are fine, but they're never going to achieve the stature of a Spielberg, Scorsese or Coppola.
...unless you are referring to Sophia Coppola.
Old 10-14-17, 09:35 AM
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Re: Who’s the next director that will reach “iconic” status?

And really there's no telling what those iconic movies will be. Was it Robert Altman who said a movie's lifespan is maybe 10 years before everyone forgets about it? We can only assign such a status to films from the 90's or earlier (damn I'm getting old). The movies that people still care about.

Remember how every DVD collection used to have The Usual Suspects? Do people still care? Does that film still matter? What are our newest generation of iconic films? For TV, will anyone care about Breaking Bad in 2030?
Old 10-14-17, 06:42 PM
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Re: Who’s the next director that will reach “iconic” status?

Originally Posted by orangerunner

Music was the same way; most cities had 1 rock station, 1 pop station, 1 oldies station. Nowadays there's so much niche variety out there that nothing really gels with any sizable portion of the population.
Hell nowadays even though their is more niche and fragmation. 60% of FM stations are literally owned by 1 company(Clear Channel). In the Us even rock stations are default oldies stations and the top 40/pop station's are just Producer driven records with handpicked Idols. The situation in Us Radio now is really just as bad or even worse then radio was before rock and roll were it was just a record company controlling which Big Band/Easy Listening Crooners got a mass audience and which were nobodies.

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