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Guys, I will make my choice in a few minutes. I am torn between my original first choice, and a choice I didn't think would still be hanging around. I know both will go this round. Anybody got a coin?
For what its worth, Hitch wasn't my number one, but I figured he would go first.
Going with Hitchcock's feeling that actors are cattle....no, wait...that actors should be treated like cattle - yeah, that's it....I see actors will be at the bottom of the list...
Hitchock started making films in the silent era and wrapped his career up in 1976. From 1922 to 1976 the man directed 67 pictures. Many of these are considered the greatest of all time - by audiences and critics alike. He even become a television icon through Alfred Hitchcock Presents, a program he created and produced. His works are widely in demand to this day and there's no slowing down. If anything, he becomes a bigger legend with time.
His name is often used as an adjective - Hitchcockian. Have a look at some of his technical innovations here. I haven't even gotten into his films. Frankly, there are too many and it would take hours and tldr to crack the surface.
How about my personal top 10?
1. Vertigo
2. Rope
3. North by Northwest
4. Rebecca
5. Dial M for Murder
6. The Birds
7. Rear Window
8. Family Plot
9. Notorious
10. Shadow of a Doubt
Like, I probably left out many people's favorites in my top 10. That alone blows my mind. How many filmmakers even made 10 movies worth watching? 20? 30? **** is ridiculous. If Hitch ain't the greatest, ya'll better learn me.
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Man does not live by murder alone. He needs affection, approval, encouragement and, occasionally, a hearty meal.
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Film your murders like love scenes, and film your love scenes like murders.
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Drama is life with the dull bits cut out.
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Even my failures make money and become classics a year after I make them.
Going with Hitchcock's feeling that actors are cattle....no, wait...that actors should be treated like cattle - yeah, that's it....I see actors will be at the bottom of the list...
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I can`t imagine how such a rumor began. Of course it may possibly be because I was once quoted as saying that actors are cattle. My actor friends know I would never be capable of such a thoughtless, rude and unfeeling remark, that I would never call them cattle . . . What I probably said was that actors should be treated like cattle.
I thought the first choices were excellent, and the write-ups, as well. Interesting that on the Scorsese list, which on it's own would give him credence as a number one pick, omits such films as King of Comedy and After Hours, not to mention The Last Waltz,which seemed almost like departures for him at the time. But their brilliance proves how flexible his genius was, and illustrates D1abolical's point about even his second-tiered works being head and shoulders above the crowd.
Yeah, I left out a lot of excellent films because I tried to keep it to just a couple every decade to show how consistent he has been for the last 40 odd years without going overboard. The list could have certainly been much longer.
In hindsight, I probably should have included them because they really illustrate how diverse he can be as a filmmaker, like you say. Plus, After Hours is definitely one of my favourites of his.
Wilder made some of the great classic Hollywood mainstream films; not my favorite filmmaker but you can't argue against him. Plus his prolific output makes him a good pick.
Scorsese -- genius, of course. My favorite film of his is Life Lessons with Nick Nolte and Rosanna Arquette. Just a masterpiece of camerawork, music, and acting. Plus the script by Richard Price... God I love that movie. Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas, and King of Comedy are close behind, all 10/10 movies.
Hecht -- well he wrote Scarface which is one of my all-time favorite films so there's that... but I think he could have waited a few rounds and not been taken. There was better draft value available.
Hitchcock is The Man, and one of the most intelligent craftsmen in history. He knew that suspense was a genre best suited for cinema, so even his stage-play movies had terrific suspense (e.g. Rope and Dial M For Murder). Psycho is the greatest of the great on a frame-for-frame basis. The only thing I would knock about this pick for a studio in this format is Hitchcock's lack of versatility. He's going to make one kind of movie and will be tough for anyone else to work with.
the studio will have multiple filmmakers I presume, so no worries about Hitchcock...he can do his thing and then [undrafted] can make comedies or whatever
in POG, we had the rule of 4 hours, but if you were around in the forum, then you had less time...the reasoning being that if you were here then you should go ahead and move the draft forward
Alright, dammit. Write up to follow when I get home. After much internal debate, I have decided to against my first choice, and go instead with my second favorite director, Francis Ford Coppola.
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