Every month, our contributors submit lists of ten films fitting certain topics. Each month, we feature an alphabetical list of films along with commentary explaining our selections. There will also be an itemized list at the end of each of our individual selections.

For the third month in a row, we focus on individuals within the film industry who have had an impact on our appreciation of film. This month, the directors get their turn. With 120 years of film history behind us, it’s difficult to narrow down a list of favorite actors, actresses, or even directors. Just as there are many types of actors, there are also many types of direectors and when so very many of them fit into rolls of the best ever, it’s incredibly difficult to winnow down a list.

Our attempt to do so left some interesting results. Some of the directors frequently cited as the best got only one or two mentions. Only Alfred Hitchcock managed to make each of our lists. He had something for everyone and his influence was tremendous. Aside from that, there was little agreement. Eight directors received two mentions, the rest were individual suggestions. Those directors were Woody Allen, Frank Capra, George Cukor, John Ford, David Lean, Hayao Miyazaki, Steven Spielberg, and Billy Wilder. The list did include a number of non-American directors, but unfortunately, history isn’t as flush with women or black directors, so there were none included in our final lists. However, some have referenced them within their individual introductions, which you can find below.

The Introductions

Wesley Lovell: I’ve never sat down to look at directors in this light. I have a few names that always appear on my list, but never in a concrete way. That’s largely because many directors are so good in what they do that it’s difficult to narrow down the list. Coming up with this list required me to narrow the choices down to ten, which was a challenge. I’ve also put together a list of several additional directors I could have included, but didn’t have sufficient room for (or the supreme appreciation of): Alfonso Cuaron, George Cukor, Federico Fellini, David Fincher, Spike Jonze, Akira Kurosawa, Fritz Lang, David Lean, Penny Marshall, Steve McQueen, F.W. Murnau, Francois Ozon, Francois Truffaut, and Zhang Yimou. Special mention to a finalist who almost made the list over Steven Spielberg due his supreme impact on cinema with his sole directing credit: Charles Laughton. The Night of the Hunter is superior to all but one of Spielberg’s myriad films and most of the output of all the directors on these lists.

Peter J. Patrick: I would like to be more inclusive in my selection, but I can’t omit any one of these legendary ten directors, all of whom were part of the Golden Age of movies from the 1940s to 1960s, to make room even for some of their equally talented contemporaries like Roberto Rossellini, Federico Fellini, Vittorio De Sica, Ingmar Bergman, Elia Kazan, Fred Zinnemann, John Huston, and James Whale, all of whom would I’d likely include on a top twenty list. Nor do I have room for the many talented contemporary directors like Ang Lee, Steven Spielberg, Clint Eastwood, David Lynch, and Oliver Stone who would be candidates for a top forty list.

Tripp Burton: This is not a list of the best directors in cinema, although some of my names would appear on that list too. This was also a very difficult list to come up with — I started with 27 names and then slowly whittled it down to these ten. This is a list of the directors whose films mean the most to me. I have seen most (if not all) of their filmographies and coming across a new film of theirs shoots it to the top of my watchlist. Like my last two lists, I will also include my five favorite films of theirs. These aren’t necessarily their best, but they are some of the ones that have resonated with me most strongly and are meant to give a range of the director’s abilities.

Thomas La Tourrette: This was a hard list to pare down to only ten, for I ended up dropping some of the major names of old Hollywood off the list. John Ford, William Wyler, and Howard Hawks came close, but I ended up with a list that was much more modern though five of them did work in classic Hollywood. Half my list is still working, or recently retired. Perhaps it is that I have seen more of their films in the theaters, so there is that excitement of seeing it on the big screen rather than at home on the television that made the difference for me.

Woody Allen (1935- )

Commentary By Tripp Burton – Woody Allen is my easy answer for all-time favorite director, and has been since my teenage years. Something about his world view plays right into my wheelhouse: his wry sense of humor makes me laugh, his humanism makes me cry, and his idealized New York is the cinematic place I most want to live in. As adept at drama as he is at comedy, Woody’s films consistently provoke laughter and philosophy out of the same places, almost like watching a great novel unfold on screen. Favorite films: Sleeper, Annie Hall, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Hannah and Her Sisters, Everyone Says I Love You.

Commentary By Thomas La Tourrette – I may be more a fan of Woody Allen’s writing than his directing, but if he were a hack director he wouldn’t be on this list. From farce to serious drama, he has ably held his position behind the camera producing a number of great films. He also started with farces and then moved to serious dramas, varying between the two over the years. Occasionally the concept, probably more a fault of the writing than directing, can overwhelm a film like Zelig or The Purple Rose of Cairo, but often his comedies break barriers and can be laugh out loud funny. Some of his serious films could use a bit more of that humor, but they still are striking. He also knows how to elicit great performances from his actors and has directed seven of them to Oscars. He has drawn some of their best work from such diverse people as Mia Farrow, Diane Keaton, Cate Blanchett, Sally Hawkins, Judi Davis, and Dianne Wiest. Even a lesser Woody Allen film is usually something to be celebrated.

Pedro Almodovar (1949- )

Commentary By Thomas La Tourrette – Almodovar started with sexy farces that were quite enjoyable in their own right. Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown remains one of my favorite films. Then he suddenly and surprisingly turned out a series of dramatic and very moving films, All About my Mother, Talk to Her, and Volver. Even these films never lost sight of the comedy and farce that made him famous, but they were moviemaking at a different level. And he effortlessly made the transition. His last films have not been as good, but hopefully he will return to form and I look forward to what he next produces as writer and director.

Paul Thomas Anderson (1970- )

Commentary By Wesley Lovell – The youngest living director on my list, Paul Thomas Anderson has established himself with a small, eight-piece filmography as one of the foremost directors working today. His skill with actors has earned numerous Oscar nominations. While two to five years can pass between his visits to the big screen, each new effort is a sign of something fierce. A traditional filmmaker with a penchant for non-traditional narratives has helped him emerge as one of the most distinctive voices working today. Boogie Nights and There Will Be Blood are crowning achievements.

Ingmar Bergman (1918-2007)

Commentary By Wesley Lovell – For many, American cinema is all they know. Regular filmgoers are exposed most often to the works of prominent American directors; however, there was a time when foreign directors were more famous than their American counterparts. Few of those names are as celebrated as that of Ingmar Bergman. I will frankly admit that my familiarity of foreign features is limited. Of all the non-English language directors I could have chosen, Bergman’s films are most familiar to me and, each of them have been great. Among them, The Seventh Seal, Cries and Whispers, and Autumn Sonata are easily my favorites.

James Cameron (1954- )

Commentary By Tripp Burton – Perhaps the greatest action director of all time, James Cameron has consistently created innovative worlds that not only cradle his amazing visual sense of action but also deal with emotion and theme better than any of his compatriots. He is a technical innovator, but he cares as much about his characters as he does his effects and it shows. His best films are perfectly crafted, and even if some of his later work feels a little worn in the story department, it is because he is using old tropes to hold up his new technological way of storytelling. Favorite films: The Terminator, Aliens, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Titanic, Avatar.

Frank Capra (1897-1991)

Commentary By Peter J. Patrick – Capra was first nominated for a Best Director Oscar for 1933’s Lady for a Day, losing to another Frank. Frank Lloyd for Cavalcade. He would soon more than make up for the loss by becoming the first director to win three Oscars, which he did in the first eleven years of the Academy for It Happened One Night, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, and You Can’t Take It With You. He then went on to receive subsequent nominations for two even stronger directorial efforts, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and It’s a Wonderful Life.

Commentary By Thomas La Tourrette – Capra did his best work in the span between 1934’s It Happened One Night through 1946’s It’s a Wonderful Life, the shortest span of any of the directors I have listed. He elicited career highs from Jimmy Stewart and Jean Arthur and directed Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert to their only Oscars. His work often was a bit schmaltzy as he looked for the best in humanity, but it probably was what the country needed through the Great Depression and World War II. His uplifting work fell out of favor soon after that, but his three Oscars for directing films in five years show how appreciated he was by his peers. No other director earned so many in such a short time, and only John Ford has more.

Joel Coen (1954- ), Ethan Coen (1957- )

Commentary By Tripp Burton – Joel and Ethan Coen are auteurs in the truest sense of the world: they move from noir to thriller to comedy to drama, yet their distinctive voice is stamped on every iteration. They have a very exact sense of humor that enfuses everything they do, so the most terrifying moments become hysterical — you can’t help but laugh as people are being put into woodchippers and stabbed in the hand while hanging out a window. Their funniest moments are also terrifying, though. The world of the Coens is never safe, even if it seems light on the surface. Favorite films: Raising Arizona, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, No Country for Old Men, Inside Llewyn Davis.

George Cukor (1899-1983)

Commentary By Peter J. Patrick – Cukor was one of the most prolific directors working in Hollywood from the 1930s to the early 1980s. He was also one of the most versatile, giving us what are still the definitive screen versions of the classics Little Women and David Copperfield, sophisticated comedies the likes of The Philadelphia Story and Adam’s Rib, high profile musicals such as A Star Is Born and My Fair Lady, for which he won his Oscar on his fifth nomination, as well as the TV movies, Love Among the Ruins (his Emmy winner) and The Corn Is Green.

Commentary By Thomas La Tourrette – Cukor may not have had as distinctive a style as some of the others I chose, but his mastery of so many genres is why he ended up on the list. From period dramas of Gaslight and Little Women, the comedy of The Women and The Philadelphia Story to the stylized musical My Fair Lady, he showed his wide range. Like many of the others here, he knew how to get the best from his actors. He worked repeatedly with my favorite actress, Katharine Hepburn, and she gave her most luminous performance for him in The Philadelphia Story. It also contained great performances from Jimmy Stewart, Cary Grant, and Ruth Hussey. He didn’t make the list just because of this one film, but for the prodigious and sterling output he had over the decades.

Clint Eastwood (1930- )

Commentary By Thomas La Tourrette – I would never have guessed that action star Clint Eastwood would turn into an introspective and delicate filmmaker. His earlier works did not begin to show what he would later do. Unforgiven was considered a breakthrough by many, though it was not a favorite of mine. It was with Mystic River and Million Dollar Baby that he showed how good he was with actors and mining that desperation that many feel just beneath the surface. He continued with a range of films that continue to impress, showing the softer side of the Japanese occupiers in Letters from Iwo Jima, the damage that war can do upon a soldier’s return in the tense American Sniper, and he even gave himself a striking last starring role in Gran Torino, a film that deserved a wider audience. With this year’s Sully, he shows that he is still in the mix as a top drawer director.

John Ford (1894-1973)

Commentary By Peter J. Patrick – The only four-time Oscar-winning director, Ford was equally celebrated for his westerns and films about families torn apart by events beyond their control. His great westerns included Stagecoach, Fort Apache, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, Rio Grande, and The Searchers. His great family dramas included Four Sons, Pilgrimage, The Informer, The Grapes of Wrath, How Green Was My Valley, The Quiet Man, The Long Gray Line, and The Last Hurrah.

Commentary By Tripp Burton – When Orson Welles was once asked who the three greatest filmmakers were, he answered “John Ford, John Ford, John Ford.” Ford is also high on my list for the same reasons I imagine Welles did: he brings a depth to genres that were sorely lacking in it, he populated his films with three-dimensional figures from the top-billed to the day player, and he did it all with an epic sense of wonder and beauty. His films are as moving as they are exciting, and he treated his genre exercises with the same veracity as his adaptations of great literary novels. He was a pioneer of American filmmaking whose films seem as thrilling today as they did 75 years ago. Favorite films: The Informer, The Grapes of Wrath, How Green Was My Valley, The Searchers, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.

Christopher Guest (1948- )

Commentary By Tripp Burton – I struggled putting Christopher Guest on this list, only because his list of films as a director is shorter than the others I chose, and some of those I don’t even like too much. In a trifecta of brilliant, improvised mockumentaries — Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, and A Mighty Wind — Guest made my three favorite comedies of the last few decades and mined something both absurdly hilarious. He gets the most out of his ever-growing ensemble of comedians, but his films often work more as character studies than joke factories (although the jokes are plentiful). He can make his actors as devastatingly human as they are hilarious, and I get giddy with anticipation every time he announces a new project. Favorite films: Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, A Mighty Wind.

Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980)

Commentary By Wesley Lovell – Any fan of cinema has to recognize the place Alfred Hitchcock holds in that history. His films helped redefine key elements of storytelling and his features were among the most compelling and visually daring to come out of the Hollywood studio system while he was active. Modern thrillers and horror films all owe a debt of gratitude to the man, but it’s not out of obligation that he places on this list. Several of his films are downright masterpieces, while others are quite close. My favorites of his lengthy filmography are Rebecca, Vertigo, and Psycho.

Commentary By Peter J. Patrick – The master of suspense had no equal during his lifetime and none since, though not for the lack of trying. From his 1930s British mysteries such as The 39 Steps and The Lady Vanishes to such 1940s classics as Shadow of a Doubt, Spellbound, and Notorious to such 1950s trailblazers as Rear Window, Vertigo, and North by Northwest to his later flirtation with more macabre dealings in such films as Psycho, The Birds, and Frenzy, his films still entertain avid fans across all generations.

Commentary By Tripp Burton – My guess is every cinephile would put Hitchcock on their list of favorite filmmakers, but that is probably for a good reason. Hitchcock’s films are cinema in the purest sense: exciting, taut, structured within an inch of their livesb and utilizing every trick in the book. Every shot is perfectly composed, every cut is thrilling to experience, and every detail meticulously planned out. He is an influence on anyone who makes films. Whatever he did moved beyond the tropes you would expect from the film. His thrillers are dramatically moving, his horror films gave us three-dimensional monsters no one has replicated, and his dramas have a tinge of the macabre that keep you on the edge of your seat. Favorite films: Rebecca, Shadow of a Doubt, Notorious, Rear Window, Psycho.

Commentary By Thomas La Tourrette – The master of suspense has to be on this list. He started with fairly low budget films in Britain, but even then was inventive in his photography. He also managed to cast quite a lot of soon to be famous actors in his work. On his coming to the USA he definitely had more money for his shoots, and also a whole new set of A-list actors that were happy to work with him. He tried all sorts of techniques, keeping each film different than the others, from a single set in Lifeboat to the use of 3D in Dial M for Murder or the building of an entire apartment block in Rear Window. He elicited some great performances from Jimmy Stewart, Cary Grant, Joan Fontaine, Ingrid Bergman, and even the true ice queen Grace Kelly. He has an astounding body of work with too many films to name and a truly amazing run of films between 1934’s The Man Who Knew Too Much to 1963’s The Birds, with a number of films before and after that. He may never have won a competitive Oscar, but he will always be remembered.

Stanley Kubrick (1928-1999)

Commentary By Wesley Lovell – No one who knows me well doesn’t know my affection for Stanley Kubrick. Kubrick is easily my favorite all-time director. His films are daring, controversial, poetic, inventive, narratively dense, intense, and any number of other adjectives. His style has been mimicked for years, seldom effectively. Even my least favorites of his (Barry Lyndon, I’m looking at you) are solid movies. The films I most cherish are Dr. Strangelove, A Clockwork Orange, The Shining, and Eyes Wide Shut (the only film of his I managed to see in its original theatrical release).

David Lean (1908-1991)

Commentary By Peter J. Patrick – Eleven-time Oscar nominee and a two-time winner Lean’s background as both a screenwriter and an editor served as a base for his long, distinguished directorial career as he mastered black-and-white drama with the likes of Brief Encounter, Great Expectations, and Oliver Twist while his striking use of color in Summertime led to an even more exquisite use of color in the epics The Bridge on the River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago, Ryan’s Daughter, and A Passage to India.

Commentary By Thomas La Tourrette – More than any other director, Lean knew how to use film to produce epic movies. Even his early films from Dickens’ novels, had a brooding and painterly tone. He showed in the next decade how he could pull strong performances from Charles Laughton in Hobson’s Choice and Katharine Hepburn in Summertime, each in films that were set in a single city. Then with The Bridge on the River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago, and A Passage to India he came into his own as a filmmaker. No one else has known how to capture not only vistas for grandeur but also the personal dramas that capture the heart. His last five films all won Oscars for cinematography, but also won or were nominated for acting roles too. It is an impressive feat to do both.

Ang Lee (1954- )

Commentary By Wesley Lovell – Before I saw Brokeback Mountain, I liked Ang Lee well enough, but I didn’t fully appreciate his capabilities. After that film released, I took a closer look at his limited filmography and realized just how much I loved him as a cinematic sculptor. His films are often simple in terms of story, but built around complex interpersonal relationships that demand care and attention. His style is stark, but evocative and even his worst films have redeeming qualities. Of his films, the ones I value most are Brokeback Mountain, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, The Ice Storm, and Lust, Caution.

Mike Leigh (1943 – )

Commentary By Tripp Burton – Mike Leigh’s films are unlike the films of any other filmmaker, and that may be what I love about them so much. Developed through months of improvisation, and often modern-day realist dramas about people outside the norm of mainstream cinema, each film is a raw examination of the human condition. Even when he moves into period dramas, he does so with a dirt and honesty that is rarely found in other films. He manages to find the humor in even the most gristly of situations, and most importantly gives an ensemble of great actors deeply felt parts that they don’t find from other filmmakers. Favorite films: Secrets & Lies, Topsy-Turvy, All or Nothing, Another Year, Mr. Turner.

David Lynch (1946- )

Commentary By Tripp Burton – David Lynch is a surprising favorite of mine because his films go against a lot of what I normally cherish in a film. They are not meant to make linear sense, often they include characters who seem very one-dimensional (at least at first) and their tone is often black and cynical. I find them fascinating, though, and I return to them again and again like a great book, hoping to unravel the truths that Lynch codes into them. He is a very dark filmmaker, and his films are often about the demonic underbellies that lie in the most innocuous of places, but he is also very funny. I find myself laughing often at a Lynch film, and maybe that is my hook into them. In the brightest of places he finds evil, but in the darkest of places he finds light touches and in the end you tend to be a tad more optimistic about our world than when you began. Favorite films: The Elephant Man, Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, The Straight Story, Mulholland Drive.

Joseph L. Mankiewicz (1909-1993)

Commentary By Thomas La Tourrette – Mankiewicz not only knew his way around sparkling dialogue, but he also had a way of getting the best from some of his actors. All About Eve had five actors nominated, not an easy feat, but even misfires like the stylized Guys and Dolls or the fiasco of Cleopatra brought strong performances. In the odd Suddenly, Last Summer, adapted from a lesser Tennessee Williams work, he got memorable work from Katharine Hepburn and Elizabeth Taylor, even if they despised him. And his final film Sleuth, brought great work from both Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine. Later adaptations of the latter two films by others never produced work that was as memorable. Unlike some of the directors here, he did not have a distinctive style, but he did remarkable work across a broad spectrum of genres.

Leo McCarey (1896-1969)

Commentary By Peter J. Patrick – Two-time Oscar winner McCarey introduced Stan Laurel to Oliver Hardy and directed the Marx Brothers in Duck Soup as well as such other comic geniuses as Mae West, W.C. Fields, and Harold Lloyd in some of their best films. Turning to more sophisticated fare, Hollywood’s greatest humanist directed such classics as Ruggles of Red Gap, Make Way for Tomorrow, The Awful Truth, Love Affair, Going My Way, The Bells of St. Mary’s, and An Affair to Remember, the remake of his earlier Love Affair.

Vincente Minnelli (1903-1986)

Commentary By Peter J. Patrick – Minnelli was best known for such cherished musicals as Cabin in the Sky, Meet Me in St. Louis, An American in Paris, The Band Wagon, Brigadoon, Les Girls, and Gigi, for which he won his Oscar. He was also adept at such well-regarded dramas as The Clock, The Bad and the Beautiful, Lust for Life, Tea and Sympathy, Some Came Running, and Home from the Hill as well as an occasional comedy such as The Courtship of Eddie’s Father.

Hayao Miyazaki (1941- )

Commentary By Wesley Lovell – The Japanaese style of animation, frequently referred to as “Anime,” never piqued my interest. It still doesn’t, but I can no longer say I dislike the style. In the right hands, it can be transcendental. The right hands belong to Hayao Miyazaki. The master animator has been dubbed the Japanese Walt Disney. His focus on young men and women overcoming obstacles certainly mimics the Disney ethos, but it’s so much more than that. Unlike Disney, whose premises were relatively superficial, there’s always a deeper resonance to Miyazaki’s films. They tap into deep wells of emotion, and set the audience on a journey of magical discovery, inventive and imaginative realms overlaid on our own, and a humanistic approach to storytelling. That’s why I count Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, and The Wind Rises among my favorite all-time films in any medium.

Commentary By Thomas La Tourrette – Miyzaki and Studio Ghibli which he co-founded have probably the most distinct animated style in the movies. Even stills from the films would let you know who directed them. The large eyed children, strong natured heroines, fantasy figures who seemingly arise from the very woods themselves are all staples in his films. Otherworldly characters inhabit the world around us, and no one seems disturbed by this, even in films where they would seemingly be out of place. He has created worlds that are fascinating to watch, for one never knows what will happen in them. Even the lyrical The Wind Rises which is based on a real person’s life as a plane designer contains elements of the unreal or surreal. A few of his ideas and films can be head scratchers, but they also make one think. He has retired from active filmmaking, and he will be missed.

Errol Morris (1948- )

Commentary By Tripp Burton – Like most of my entries, Errol Morris makes films that aren’t quite like anyone else’s films. His documentaries often have log lines that sound dreadfully dull — pet cemetery owners, the residents of a small town in Florida, a longform interview with a former Secretary of Defense — but I am always surprised by the life and charm he finds in them. His films are often funny and sad at the same time. He gives every subject the utmost respect, and you never feel like he is condescending or ridiculing of any person in his films, no matter how far out there they may get. He has been recently moving away from his portraits of everyday life and more into politically grounded films, which are still exceptional but not always as charming. Still, every film is essential to help figure out the world we live in. Favorite films: Gates of Heaven, Vernon, Florida, The Thin Blue Line, The Fog of War, Standard Operating Procedure.

Yasujiro Ozu (1903-1963)

Commentary By Peter J. Patrick – Japanese master director Ozu was a movie buff from childhood, a film director from 1927. When the Japanese film board started allowing the release of their country’s films abroad after World War II, Ozu’s films were suppressed, considered too Japanese while Kurosawa, Mizoguchi, and Kinugasa’s samurai and geisha films were not. Ironic, since Ozu’s films were patterned on the works of Ford and McCarey whose Make Way for Tomorrow was virtually remade by Ozu as Tokyo Story, long considered his masterpiece. The 1953 film was not shown commercially in the U.S. until 1972, nine years after Ozu’s death.

Steven Spielberg (1946- )

Commentary By Wesley Lovell – Has there been a director who so skillfully blended serious subject matters and frivolous trifles into his repertoire. Even Spielberg’s frivolity is filled with compelling narrative dynamics that helped define and redefine genres. Although I’m not always impressed with his output, there’s no question he’s a gifted filmmaker who set the stage for the modern blockbuster and gave audiences one of the cinema’s all-time great films, Schindler’s List. This isn’t an exhaustive list, but my favorite films of his are Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Color Purple, Jurassic Park, and Schindler’s List.

Commentary By Thomas La Tourrette – Spielberg may have more clunkers on his resume than any of the other directors on this list, but when he succeeds, he can be brilliant. He early showed himself to be a deft hand at suspenseful work, Duel on television and Jaws in the films. With both Raiders of the Lost Ark and Jurassic Park, he showed that audiences still loved to be a little bit frightened. The more adult work in The Color Purple, Amistad (sadly overlooked), Munich, and Lincoln showed that he had a strong handle on that type of film as well. His tour de force will probably always be Schindler’s List which ranks, in my mind, as still the best film about the Holocaust. He has several films planned and it will be interesting to see what he produces.

Quentin Tarantino (1963- )

Commentary By Wesley Lovell – As much as his public persona can grate on your nerves, Tarantino is one of cinema’s true artists. With only eight films under his belt, no filmmaker has defined himself so decisively while building off the backs off the cheesy, exploitative cinema of the 1960s and 1970s. He has some weaker efforts, but most of his output is sheer brilliance. He’s also a daring filmmaker that stretches the boundaries of cinema acceptability, making dense narrative features out of bloody, sometimes grotesque concepts. The best of his formiddable career are Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, and the Kill Bill films.

François Truffaut (1932-1984)

Commentary By Tripp Burton – A common thread of my favorite filmmakers seems to be their ability to move within genres yet still keep their own personal voice within them. Truffaut is no exception to this. Many of his films seemed to ape his own favorite filmmakers, many of whom he discovered as a critic before being a filmmaker in his own right. Each one, though, was done with a meticulous honesty that became Truffaut’s trademark. Whereas many other members of the French New Wave kept trying to push the physical style of film in new dimensions, Truffaut was always trying to get film to dig deeper into the stories of his characters. Each one is a delicious treat, funny, heart-warming, sometimes scary, but always real and emotionally honest. Favorite films: The 400 Blows, Shoot the Piano Player, Stolen Kisses, Day for Night, The Story of Adele H.

Orson Welles (1915-1985)

Commentary By Wesley Lovell – A defining eye for visual flair and cinematic language, Welles re-wrote the book on filmmaking. From his early beginnings, Welles had a distinctive feel for how to juxtopose and frame images to help craft his narrative. Each film was a dense palette of creative energy. In only three films, all of which are masterpieces, he set standards for decades to come and influenced generations of filmmakers and artists with his creativity and originality. Those defining works, and easily my favorites, are Citizen Kane, The Magnificent Ambersons, and Touch of Evil.

Billy Wilder (1906-2002)

Commentary By Wesley Lovell – Last on my list, but certainly not least, Wilder seemed like a prolific director in spite of bringing a scant 27 films to the screen over a near-50-year career. Those films, however, are among the most classic of classic films. I don’t like everything he’s done, but there’s no question his inimitable and oft-copied style defined drama and comedy for decades to come. He tackled each subject with vigor and simplicity while giving film enthusiasts enduring images and stories across his varied career. The films I most enjoyed were The Lost Weekend, Witness for the Prosecution, Sunset Blvd., and Stalag 17.

Commentary By Peter J. Patrick – Two-time Best Director Oscar winner Wilder also won Oscars for writing and producing as well as the Thalberg award. The prolific director turned out some of the best films of the 1940s, 50s, and 60s such as Double Indemnity, The Lost Weekend, A Foreign Affair, Sunset Boulevard, Stalag 17, Sabrina, The Spirit of St. Louis, Love in the Afternoon, Witness for the Prosecution, Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, One, Two, Three, and The Fortune Cookie.

William Wyler (1902-1981)

Commentary By Peter J. Patrick – Wyler’s record twelve Oscar nominations, including three wins, from 1936-1965 has never been equaled and may never be. Martin Scorsese comes closest to date with eight. Wyler’s wide range of directorial brilliance runs the gamut of motion picture genres and includes such films as DodsworthJezebel, Wuthering Heights, The Little Foxes, Mrs. MiniverThe Best Years of Our Lives, The Heiress, Detective Story, Roman Holiday, The Big Country, Ben-Hur, The Collector, and Funny Girl.