Director Dirty Dozen

Powdered Toast Man inspired this list of some of my favorite directors.  Not much more to say except here are some of my favorites:

Stephen Spielberg  -- The films he has directed don't miss.  They have all been pretty darn good and cover a wide range.  Some of my favorites are War of the Worlds (2005), Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and the amazing Empire of the Sun.

Tim Burton --  His films have shown a lot of diversity and he gives them a unique world view.  Some of my favorites are Pee Wee's Big Adventure, Batman, Big Fish, and, one of the most optimistic movies ever, Ed Wood.

Joel and Ethan Coen -- I have been a fan of the Coens since the beginning.  My favorite films by them are Raising Arizona, Fargo, O Brother Where Art Thou?,  A Serious Man, and most of all No Country For Old Men because it is a faithful version of the novel by my favorite author Cormac McCarthy.

Christopher Nolan  --His string of great films include  Memento, Insomnia, Inception,  Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and my favorite The Prestige.

Roland Emmerich -- Laugh if you want, but I think his films have been just plain outright ridiculous fun.  Really this is one of the reasons I watch movies--escapism.  And his films have some pretty cool special effects.   I especially enjoyed 2012, The Day After Tomorrow,  Independence Day, and, one of my favorite films, The Patriot.

Ridley Scott---He has a fine list of films that he has directed, including Kingdom of Heaven, Black Hawk Down,  1492: Conquest of Paradise, Blade Runner, Alien, and, from my list of favorite films,  Gladiator.

Alfred Hitchcock --The master who had it down so well his name has been attached to a film genre.  A few of his greatest films include The Birds, Spellbound, Psycho, Rear Window,  and Vertigo, which is my personal favorite Hitchcock film.

Roman Polanski  -- If you get past his scandalous reputation, you have one of filmdom's greatest directors.  Some of my Polanski favorites are The Tenant, Chinatown, Bitter Moon, The Pianist,  and the very creepy Repulsion.

John Sayles  --  If Roland Emmerich is the master of over the top entertainment, John Sayles is on the opposite end of the movie making spectrum.  Sayles makes films that are quiet, intelligent, and thought-provoking.  My favorites are Sunshine State, Limbo,  Lone Star, Matewan, and  Men with Guns. It's difficult to say which is my absolute favorite.

Francis Ford Coppola --This legend in film-making is the director of films like Peggy Sue Got Married, The Godfather Trilogy, The Conversation, and one my top favorite films, Apocalypse Now.

David Lynch -- The genius behind the notorious TV series Twin Peaks directed great films like Blue Velvet, Lost Highway, The Elephant Man, The Straight Story, and  the mind-bending Mulholland Drive.

Federico Fellini -- My all-time favorite director is Fellini.  His films are more than just movies.  They are dreams captured on screen.  His vision has had the greatest influence on my appreciation of film as an art.  Some of my favorites are Ginger and Fred, Clowns, La Strada, and Roma, which I would rank in my all-time five top favorite films.

           And there you go.  That says a lot about me as far as movies go.  Do you have any thoughts about any of these directors?  Any directors you'd like to toss into the mix?