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The 10 Most Overrated Directors

spike.com — A lot of films get made these days, but it seems like more and more people are opting out of a $10 or $15 ticket to stay home and watch them on DVD. But this doesn ’t stop a slew of talent-lacking directors from hogging all the limelight and posing as "Geniuses of the Cinema."

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Who Dugg It?

diggleague, on 11/20/2008, -7/+28Wasn't going to submit this b/c I didn't agree with Tarantino, but they nailed it on the head later in the article with the comment - "Lucas is more money than man now." Also made me think of the Patton Oswald bit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIMEYe5WLJ8
- mikbunn, on 11/20/2008, -1/+15I agree. He's appropriately rated. While there are hordes of rabid Tarantino fans, most critics have said 'meh,' to his recent stuff.
  I think he'd do better if he'd direct something he hadn't written. The cinematography and acting in his movies is always excellent, but I think people are tired of the drawn-out diner-breakfast dialogue.
  - paranoidyingya, on 11/20/2008, -1/+6I think the same thing applies to Lucas, he hasn't done anything else since Star Wars and Indy.
  - diggleague, on 11/20/2008, -2/+13Agreed .. and please just stop featuring yourself in your movies. We get it already. You directed it, Great .. now please just get out of them.
  - mikbunn, on 11/20/2008, -1/+8Basically, don't try to repeat Pulp Fiction. I love that movie (and his cameo in it is probably the funniest part, yeah I know it's not PC,) but his movies that try to emulate it fail hard.
  - antzology, on 11/20/2008, -1/+7Critics liked Kill Bill 1 and 2.
  - adventchild08, on 11/20/2008, -1/+6And so did I... I thought the second was better than the first.
    I also liked deathproof more that planet terror.
  - Andrwmorph, on 11/20/2008, -2/+2I just think his head is lodged waaaay too far up his own ass for him to ever remove it.
  - MarkusDee, on 11/20/2008, -3/+8Tarantino is possibly the greatest American director of our generation.
- fuckupedoslut, on 11/20/2008, -0/+9Lucas was ALWAYS more money than man. How else do you explain his foresight in making sure he owned all the merchandising rights to Star Wars? Space Balls had it right. "MOICHANDISIN' MOICHANDISIN'!"
- TheGooseyOne, on 11/20/2008, -1/+12A lot of things worry me about this list and its author.
  
  First, it seems as if the author has seen very few of the movies he blasts these so-called overrated directors about. For example, movies like Catch Me if You Can, Big Fish, all of the Apatow movies except for Drillbit Taylor, Sweeney Todd, and both Kill Bills were all massive critical successes (some like the "clunker" Catch Me if You Can receiving a 96% on Rotten Tomatoes along with 2 Oscar nods) and most were moderate commercial successes as well.
  
  And secondly, while Kevin Smith is an overrated director, the author leaves off his newest film, Zack and Miri Make a Porno, which is easily Smith's biggest critical success in a decade.
  
  Overall, poorly written and even worse researched. I think this article is overrated.
  - kufurex, on 11/20/2008, -5/+2Actually, I would say that Tarantino is 'the' most overrated director ever.
    
    The only reason he gets such praise is because it is 'cool' to like his movies.
    
    I have nothing against him living out his teenage blood-dreams on screen and make money out of them, but he is not much of a director.
- SuperWinner, on 11/20/2008, -3/+3No, they nailed it on Tarantino too...
- aixelsyD, on 11/21/2008, -1/+2This is Spike TV talking ***** about violent tarantino films... wtf? How is there any credibility in anything that this idiot is spouting.
  
  And what the hell was wrong with Catch Me If You Can and The Terminal?
- robvstheworld, on 11/21/2008, -0/+2TBH I just wanted to reply to the first comment. I can't even access the article.
mikbunn, on 11/20/2008, -25/+12M. Night Shamalamadingdong* and Tim Burton** suck.

*all of the time
**most of the time
- SlyT862, on 11/20/2008, -12/+8Rewatch it... Sixth Sense is one of the greatest films of the past ten years.
  - jkleinrichert, on 11/20/2008, -2/+6Yea, Sixth Sense was GREAT-but how about the rest of this films?
    You said it yourself "...the past ten years".
    He's a One-Hit-Wonder IMO.
    
    I really hope he doesn't screw up "The Last Airbender"!
  - teotbote, on 11/20/2008, -7/+2The Sixth Sense is far from great. I had the twist figured out in the first 15 minutes of the movie, and the whole thing seemed like a less interesting version of Carnival of Souls. The cinematography was decent. Unbreakable was good, though.
  - SlyT862, on 11/20/2008, -3/+4Hey, I'm not going to try and defend Night, but I'll defend Sixth Sense to the death.
    
    Teotbote, pat yourself on the back for predicting the twist! You're so smart!!!!
    
    I actually enjoyed Carnival of Souls (even though it got campy), but Sixth Sense isn't just a great movie because of the twist at the end. The characters in the movie are compelling throughout. You really feel for the kid, and take a vested interest in the mother and psychologist helping him with his problem. It's eerie and tense, well paced, and somehow emotionally genuine throughout.
    
    The more films he makes it seems like he has less and less of these emotionally genuine elements, which is why the quality is declining so rapidly.
  - fovea, on 11/20/2008, -1/+0Well, I think we can agree 6th Sense was alright, on the basis that it was a Night flick that actually functioned in the areas of plot and character motivation in respect to how they interact with an audience. I'm surprised no one has mentioned it, or at least I haven't scrolled through enough comments yet, but Lady in the Water was by far the movie with the highest ratio of # of billboard ads in NYC over the actual quality of the film I have ever seen. It suffers worst from the central problem that bogs down everything after 6th Sense, which is to make unrealistic assumptions that the audience will buy into the mythological or paranormal current which carries the motivations of the characters. And mainly it's because the concepts of Lady in the Water or the Village were either based on metaphors too obtruse or just inherently lame.
    It's hard to be good when all of your material is so awful no director could redeem it, M. Night just needs to stop writing. I.E. if Lois Lowry's book The Giver were to ever be made into a film, M. Night would be at the top of my list for directors.
- mikeoncampus, on 11/20/2008, -10/+6are you ***** me I love Tim Burton, yes his style is somewhat repetitive but its original and is(or atleast was) creative.
  
  However i do agree with you on Shamalamon or whatever, after seeing the Village and the Happening he lost my respect.
- lovek, on 11/20/2008, -1/+3I think people are confusing writers and directors. M. Night is definitely a hacky writer, but what's wrong with his direction?
  
  At least the proper argument was made by mikeoncampus that Tim Burton has only one style, which might qualify him for the list.
  
  The Kevin Smith, Apatow, and Coppolas arguments in this article seem to be more about writing quality, not direction.
RoroCo, on 11/20/2008, -11/+76Either Michael Bay was excluded from this list because they do not think he is rated well to begin with, or they actually think he is a good director in comparison... Either way an explanation is due as to why that high-budget, load of suck is not included in this list.
- dhammond, on 11/20/2008, -1/+16Why on earth would you think that Michael Bay is rated highly by anyone?
  - plaunie, on 11/20/2008, -1/+8He keeps making movies. Someone must think highly enough of him to trust him with their millions...
  - therayven, on 11/20/2008, -1/+4Uwe Boll and Friedberg/Seltzer (Disaster Movie et al.) keep making movies. I don't think anyone considers "highly" of them, unless you're insinuating you need to be high in order to enjoy their work.
  - trolleyfan, on 11/20/2008, -1/+8Uwe Boll, as low a rating as everyone gives him, should *still* be on this list as "overrated." In any universe where he's even allowed to go inside a movie theater, let alone have something to do with making a film, he's being overrated...
  - flano1, on 11/20/2008, -0/+4However lowly rated Michael Bay is, is not nearly low enough.
- spaceman84, on 11/20/2008, -0/+9Michael Bay makes dumb, entertaining movies, but no one has called him a great director. That's why he's not on the list.
- gametavern, on 11/20/2008, -12/+2***** that, Michael Bay rocks. All his movies are in my time action movies of all time (not including Pearl Harbor)
  
  If you're looking for though provoking flicks, no he's not the go-to guy, but still a great director who brings in the $$.
  - flano1, on 11/20/2008, -1/+7Michael Bay rocks?
    
    Consider killing yourself.
- Andrwmorph, on 11/20/2008, -0/+5The key word there is entertaining. People don't always go to movies to think.
- DasHef, on 11/20/2008, -1/+2come on it's spike tv doing the rating; any idiot who watches that drivel loves slo-mo explosions and that ***** circle dolly shot he does every ten minutes.
- pgouy, on 11/20/2008, -1/+1Reviewers, renters and stores should create a category called 'Michael Bay' to include all suckassing movies released from mankind.
- SuperWinner, on 11/20/2008, -0/+3Bay is not rated, he is just the luckiest hack on earth
- dieboldcracy, on 11/20/2008, -0/+3wow, Michael Bay was the first to come to mind before I even read the list. Going to the comments I only had to scroll down to the 2nd one to see I was beat to punch
- geoboy, on 11/20/2008, -0/+2Michael Bay is the Nickelback of movie directors. Everybody seems to hate the same old crap that he keeps pumping out, yet people keep paying to watch it, so he keeps on making more.
  - greenvortex, on 11/21/2008, -0/+1OK, that was just cruel. What if Michael Bay's mother read that he's being compared to Nickelback? You should never stoop so low, even in jest.
- reginaldwam3, on 11/25/2008, -0/+0You had it right. ...not well rated
bruins72, on 11/20/2008, -11/+34It's a good list but I still have a soft spot for Kevin Smith and Judd Apatow films. Sorry, I just like what they do.

Tarantino is definitely overrated and I've been let down by most of his post-Pulp Fiction work but I'll still be eager to see Inglorious Bastards when it comes out.
- c010rb1indusa, on 11/20/2008, -0/+5Kevin Smith is the *****, I'll admit, Jersey Girl and Jay and Silent Bob strike back are pretty lame, but clerks mallrats dogma and chasing amy are all great films in their own right, and are all different.
  - bruins72, on 11/21/2008, -0/+1Check out Zack and Miri Make A Porno. It was a fun movie too.
- Merp08, on 11/21/2008, -0/+1I like Smith's earlier work but his newer stuff sucks a big black dick.
dougdouglas, on 11/20/2008, -11/+12RoroCo: you're right on the first count, I left Bay off 'cause everyone in the "movie community", at least the online community, does not respect him to begin with, so it's hard to say he's overrated -- even with Transformers under his belt.
- greenvortex, on 11/21/2008, -0/+1Bad Boys, The Rock, Pearl Harbor, and The Island all suck, but you have to put some blame on the scripts. Transformers seemed like a ridiculous idea for a movie, but it turned out way better than I expected. When it comes on cable, I rewatch it, and I enjoy it. The action sequences kick major ass and they are spread out through the movie well. I actually think that Iron Man would have been a lot more exciting with Bay at the helm.
bontzmachine, on 11/20/2008, -16/+40this list is an absolute abomination. I guess it makes sense that it comes from the television network that makes me most embarrassed to be an American man.
- sexynemesis, on 11/20/2008, -8/+1how so?
  
  elaborate on why it is so bad.
  support your opinions much?
  - fuckupedoslut, on 11/20/2008, -1/+4Um, it should go without saying. No explanation needed. They basically make men look like fat slobs who can only stop drooling over ***** long enough to get the beer bong in their mouth.
  - Mavital, on 11/20/2008, -0/+2Uh oh. I totally fit that stereotype.
  - Dauntless1, on 11/20/2008, -0/+1@*****
    Yes, they do indeed make American men out to be slobs. What's sad about that is we see how fast shows and channels get yanked off of tv with just a slight fluctuation in ratings. So, while Spike does make for terrible tv, there are apparently a good number of slobs who are exactly the stereotype Spike makes them out to be.
- mikeoncampus, on 11/20/2008, -0/+6Ill back you up on that...Speilburg, Burton, Tarantino and the rest are considered big directors because they have made good, if not great, movies that have done great. Speilburg has had countless titles under his belt and despite what a television network will write the man wont be stopped, Burton has given the industry a very nice dark image of movies and his recreations are not terrible like the TELEVISION network writer can say, it is only a new and interesting spin and I for one(and many others) am anticipating his spin on Alice in Wonderland. I dont feel like writing anymore but I hope some of you get my point. I pity you if you agree with anything that comes from a network that only plays UFC human cockfighting, Bond films, and ***** action movies OVER and OVER and OVER again.
- EpicPale, on 11/20/2008, -0/+2I definitely agree that Spike is pretty much a useless channel now. In the beginning, they at least had Joe Shmoe (I hate reality tv, but that was entertaining), Ren and Stimpy and the cartoon with Kelsey Grammar (no idea what it was called anymore. Basically, ***** Spike TV, it doesn't really matter what they think anyway, if you believe the directors are over-rated, you don't need a list to tell you.
- NexFrost, on 11/20/2008, -0/+15**** spike, i loved Catch Me if You Can and The Terminal
- kmaximilian, on 11/20/2008, -0/+9Agreed. Spike TV is pure, 100% lowest-common-denominator.
  
  This whole list seems like it's written by a cocky frat boy who thinks he's far wittier than he actually is. Anyone who honestly thinks that Steven Spielberg or Francis Ford Coppola are bad directors should not be allowed to write about movies. I wish I could bury this list twice.
  
  And I liked Big Fish...
- bontzmachine, on 11/20/2008, -1/+9wes anderson is a genius. Tarantino is a genius. Kevin Smith, I kind of agree with, but come on he's a nice guy. Shyamalan makes sense, although I enjoyed everything he made up until the last one, which was admittedly awful. Lady in the Water was tolerable. Saying Spielberg is overrated is like saying the rolling stones are overrated. How do you account for that much fantastic, unbelievably masterful output? Burton I understand I guess, but he makes great movies here and there. Sweeney Todd was fantastic. Coppolas... come on. this is ridiculous.
  - karagekun, on 11/20/2008, -1/+3"Lady in the Water was tolerable."
    
    !?!?!?!??!?!?
    Lady in the Water was the worst movie i have ever seen.
    Id seriously rather be raped in the butt by a blue whale than ever watch that ***** again.
    
    Explain yourself.
SpectralSounds, on 11/20/2008, -7/+98"and Big Fish was, well, stupid."

I disagree. It isn't a movie that would make it anywhere near my top 10 list, but I wouldn't say it was a stupid movie.
- fuckupedoslut, on 11/20/2008, -2/+10It was only stupid if you didn't understand it, and didn't want to.
  - bluesdealer, on 11/20/2008, -0/+9Big Fish was excellent. Maybe the plot or genre was not to your liking, but the cinematography, writing, and content was freshly original and HQ.
- stang06, on 11/20/2008, -2/+6Totally agree. It was almost magical. Just missing a little something that keeps it from the same tier as Edward Scissor hands and the Nightmare Before Christmas.
- iceman0113, on 11/20/2008, -0/+11I liked it...
- Alegoo92, on 11/20/2008, -0/+4Yeah and Sweeney Todd = Edward Scissorhands... Really??? Murderous barber-tragedy gone broadway = Curious fellow with nothing but good will in a fairytale?
- pgouy, on 11/20/2008, -1/+1I was a Tim Burton fan myself, but i have to agree with the list.
  
  Sweeney Todd was good, not great. But its the classic Tim Burton movie: you see it thinking 'I saw that before, didn't I?'.
- gilgamesh23, on 11/20/2008, -0/+14No kidding!!
  I'm a 6'4" black man about to hit my fourties and when i saw Big Fish I freaking cried at the end like a baby! Ahh crap.. just thinking about that movie gets me all gushy!
  ::tear::
  - hellsing47, on 11/20/2008, -5/+7Dugg for being black
NathanCH, on 11/20/2008, -9/+3FFS. "This page will appear in 10 seconds".

And I disagree with some of those. It's easy to believe George Lucas is overrated when you know nothing about film history.
- gasoline, on 11/20/2008, -2/+3I disagree. It's easy to NOT believe George Lucas is overrated when you know nothing about film history.
- luciofulci, on 11/20/2008, -1/+2People who are digging you down obviously dont know anything about the history of American Cinema. George Lucas's contributions from 1977 are still being felt today.
  - trolleyfan, on 11/20/2008, -0/+3True, but the problem is that date there: 1977. He's basically still living off the credit he got for his films *from* the 70's and 80's...but Hollywood's still rating him as if Star Wars came out last month.
    
    Or, IOW, this is about how directors should be rated for their work *now* - not what they did back before PCs existed.
- coldwind777, on 11/20/2008, -1/+1he hasn't actually directed too many films, and the list did say overrated directors. The big ones he directed are Star Wars I, II, III and IV and American Grafitti. That's two good films, three terrible films...so...yeah I think he's a pretty overrated director.
  
  Producer? Writer? Contributions to film? All separate from directing.
lumpyup, on 11/20/2008, -8/+79So like.... every well known director there is? And Big Fish was an awesome movie.
- soupnumber5, on 11/20/2008, -3/+16Yup... The guy just wants to be a hater cause he's stuck writing for Spike. A really grand job.
- fuckupedoslut, on 11/20/2008, -3/+8Obviously, the writer thought that pandering to the readers of Spike meant to take every director who actually makes you "think" instead of just look at ***** and slam them relentlessly so all the mongoloids reading their site can pat themselves on the back for just watching gun fetish pregnant porn instead.
- RaulMuadDib, on 11/20/2008, -0/+4I liked the Big Fish
FullMetalNIN, on 11/20/2008, -19/+72Wow is this list bad
- SuperMoses, on 11/20/2008, -4/+3Agreed. Some directors should have not been on that list (Tarantino and Anderson for example) and David Koepp should have been on that list.
  - fovea, on 11/20/2008, -0/+2Yeah, but Anderson and Tarantino seem like they just apply a formula now.
    
    Tarantino = (feminist justified violence) + (domineering or pathological masculine figure) + (anything that looks like it came from the time period between 1976-1979) x (whatever fetish Tarantino thinks is funny while constructing the screenplay or harbors himself)
    
    Anderson = (Unrequited love) + (emotionally limited father figures)/(potential for redemption) + (symmetrically arranged props and scenes) + (esoteric places or occupations but not outside the limits of the possible)
- xsquirrel378x, on 11/20/2008, -9/+4Its actually not bad. It amazes me how clueless people on digg are whenever movies come up. All you guys know about are mainstream American films from the past 40 years and are completely oblivious to everything else.
  - FullMetalNIN, on 11/20/2008, -0/+1Enlighten us.
RussLieber, on 11/20/2008, -12/+7dugg down for QT, spielberg, and the coppolas. im not too familiar with sofia but the other three changed cinema. if you look at any top 100 films of all time the list will be littered with films by these guys.
- luciofulci, on 11/20/2008, -5/+4QT is a hack and will only get recognition for his first 2 films, and that's purely for the cultural impact they had.
  - RussLieber, on 11/20/2008, -0/+4i don't understand the criticisms against QT, he's only done 4 films (i don't count deathproof) and you yourself admit that 2 of them were good. every director has had some rotten eggs.
  - LemonChicken, on 11/20/2008, -1/+3I liked Death Proof.
  - luciofulci, on 11/20/2008, -1/+0No, I didnt say they were good. Just that hell get recognition for the cultural impact they had.
    read the post next time.
uzusan, on 11/20/2008, -1/+21For most of the directors on that list it should really be called the 10 most gone to ***** directors. Some of the films they have directed have been classics (the godfather trilogy to name but one), but the later offerings are crap.
- spaceman84, on 11/20/2008, -8/+3The Godfather Trilogy is one of the most overrated bunch of movies, which just adds to how much Coppola is overrated.
  - Bilbobaggins, on 11/20/2008, -2/+7No. Just no.
  - Deadpixel1221, on 11/20/2008, -1/+4Moran.
  - Slyfer911, on 11/20/2008, -1/+1Wow...just...wow. You're an idiot.
- xsquirrel378x, on 11/20/2008, -3/+2Bram Stoker's Dracula was the best movie Coppola directed
  - teotbote, on 11/20/2008, -2/+5Now that's funny.
  - zip000, on 11/20/2008, -0/+2I don't know, "Jack" was awfully good!
  - Zfreund, on 11/20/2008, -0/+1If we burned every copy of Godfather, Godfather II, and Apocalypse Now on the face of the earth, I would agree.
  - xsquirrel378x, on 11/20/2008, -0/+1Ok the Godfathers are decent. DECENT. Sorry but they are not great movies. I think most people are more attracted to Puzo's story and screenplay anyways, at least I hope.
    
    Apocalypse Now - ehh. another DECENT movie. It holds up pretty well against most war films but most war films aren't that great to begin with. If you want great war or war setting films look back at old Sam Fuller movies from the 1950s.
    
    Bram Stoker's Dracula is Hollywood filmmaking of the highest caliber. It's big and expensive but almost nothing was wasted. The direction, photography, colors, editing, sound and even the acting were all amazing.
    
    Rumble Fish is my second favorite Coppola film, everything else I could give or take.
- mrfizzle, on 11/20/2008, -1/+1Couldn't have said it better.
- Zfreund, on 11/20/2008, -1/+3EXACTLY.
  
  Including Francis Ford Coppola on a list of "overrated" Directors is absurd, while his inclusion on a list of "Directors who went downhill" would be very appropriate.
  
  Spielberg should be #2—his endings are so freaking cheezy and his directorial footprint hardly noticeable in many of his films. That's why I frankly prefer Close Encounters of the Third Kind and ET as opposed to SPT and Schindler's List. Don't put Hollywood cheese into a super serious movie—keep it in ET.
  
  Quentin Tarantino's post-Pulp Fiction work has been nothing short of amazing. Just because he's changed his focus to comic book movies and visually dazzling splatter art as opposed to more poetic works doesn't mean he's gone downhill. Even if they Kill Bill did suck (which it doesn't) there is NO WAY ON EARTH his name should even get near this list as he is the creator of one of the greatest pieces of cinema of all time.
  
  Wes Anderson? How on earth did he make the list? His films are hilarious and brilliantly creative.
  
  As for Tim Burton: agree that Sweeney Todd is no Edward Scissorhands and that Charlie and the Chocolate Factory blew.
  
  But Big Fish...stupid? The author must have been abused as a child in order to say something like that.
  
  I'm digging the article because I want people to see the list, but I'm not going to pretend like it's accurate.
TheKarmaPolice, on 11/20/2008, -4/+14AKA 10 directors that people who are familiar with movies would know.

he makes some good points, but you could say that anyone who is well-known is overrated.
- mikeoncampus, on 11/20/2008, -0/+2chances are its one of the guys that thinks anything that has become "popular" is overrated. In a few years youll have guys like this (if theyre not already) saying that Christopher Nolan is overrated.
sexynemesis, on 11/20/2008, -14/+57M Night Shamalan--most overrated director ever. i've had to re-evaluate who I go to movies with because of this man, because they all say "OMG you HAVE to see his new movie! Its soo much better than XXXX movie from 19xx - 200x"
sixth sense was the only good movie of his, and by good, i mean watchable.

He relies waaay too much on convenient coincidences.
What's that you say? the aliens invaded a planet made up of 75% water, yet they are ALLERGIC? AND the young girl leaves water glasses all over the house???? and the brother knows how to swing a baseball bat?

WHAT A TWIST!
- SlyT862, on 11/20/2008, -1/+18That was the whole point of signs... that you can either believe that there are coincidences, or that you have faith in a higher power. He finds his faith when he realizes all those things happened for a reason
  
  yeah, Signs has a lot of holes in it:
  http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=si ...
  but sexynemesis completely missed the whole point of the movie!
  
  Oh, and Sixth Sense isn't just watchable, it's an incredible film.
- fuckupedoslut, on 11/20/2008, -0/+14uh, you missed the point of Signs entirely. The point was the coincidences. It was those "coincidences" that led Mel Gibson's character back to his faith as a preacher.
  - trolleyfan, on 11/20/2008, -2/+3So therefore Signs was a bog standard "preacher who's lost his faith finds it again" film (which has been done better *lots* of times) with stupid (in several ways) aliens tossed in...
    
    Oh yeah, *that* deserves a high rating.
- spaceman84, on 11/20/2008, -2/+3Nobody has really rated him too highly since Unbreakable. The only reason why anyone still takes him seriously is the marketing hype. His whole career is based on The Sixth Sense and nothing else. The rest of his movies have been crap and everyone knows it, so I wouldn't call him the most overrated director ever.
- Twag86, on 11/20/2008, -0/+13I really liked Unbreakable.
  - Dunnix, on 11/20/2008, -0/+2me too
  - zip000, on 11/20/2008, -0/+1I agree. I've always really wanted a sequel to Unbreakable, but looking at what M. Night has done since, I'm not sure I want it anymore.
- sexynemesis, on 11/20/2008, -2/+1I didn't miss the point of the movie. like trolley said its just another preacher who's lost his faith finds it again type movie. every one of his movies has some sort of stupid but predictable twist or funny coincidence.
  I just don't understand how people like this crap.
  - pootpoot, on 11/21/2008, -0/+1You really did miss the point. The coincidences in Signs did have purpose. However, it was horribly played out. Like you mentioned, the Earth being 75% water and the hydroallergic aliens not recognizing this is a huge gaping hole that completely messes with the overall theme/message of the film.
- MrFisty, on 11/21/2008, -0/+1Both Lady in the Water and The Village should have comfortably earned him a spot at the top of the list.
mooseontheloose, on 11/20/2008, -3/+9aka a list of directors people actually know
shazbotter, on 11/20/2008, -9/+3Did anyone else read that as "The 10 most Overrated Dictators"? That's what I saw and I thought to myself, I bet Mao and Stalin are on that list. Also, I bet Mao and Stalin are really good directors too.
K4Lic0, on 11/20/2008, -3/+117Am I the only one that liked "Catch Me If You Can?"
- Bic823, on 11/20/2008, -0/+5Honestly, I haven't seen the film, but I'm a fan of Leonardo Dicaprio, and the book was excellent. It's been on my list of "movies to see" for a while now.
  - mlvassallo, on 11/20/2008, -0/+5See it. This is a pretty solid movie.
- adventchild08, on 11/20/2008, -0/+14I loved it...
- Jeepinator, on 11/20/2008, -1/+22I liked it as well as The Terminal. I dont know why he said The Terminal was bad. It was creative and Tom Hanks is always good.
  - zip000, on 11/20/2008, -0/+2I loved the Terminal. I just thought it was an excellent film.
  - greenvortex, on 11/21/2008, -0/+1It even made Catherine Zeta-Jones seem not too annoying. Amazing.
- coldwind777, on 11/20/2008, -0/+14no way dude. That was a great film. I loved it. It definitely was better than Minority Report.
- sodade, on 11/20/2008, -2/+8Honestly, I ***** hate tom hanks and only sometimes tolerate babyface dicaprio, but Catch Me If You Can was a kickass movie.
- KickTown, on 11/20/2008, -0/+11I thought Catch Me if You Can was good and The Terminal was excellent. It doesn't need to be viciously original to be good.
- pgouy, on 11/20/2008, -0/+6Can't agree with Spielberg on the list. He is a great director, who granted his 'right' to make some flops now and then.
  
  George Lucas, on the other hand, deserved the number 1 spot!
- c010rb1indusa, on 11/20/2008, -1/+5Terminal sucked, but catch me if you can kept my attention the whole movie and the characters were great from Christopher Walken, to Tom Hanks, to Jennifer Gardner as the whore...it's just a great movie.
- skyz, on 11/20/2008, -0/+3i liked it
  
  i thought it was fascinating because it was true
  
  this kid gets away with so much it really is amazing
  
  if it had not been based on a true story it would not have been good imho
- Syric, on 11/20/2008, -0/+2Not at all. This list is actually the first time I've heard/read of somebody actually disliking it. I loved it personally, and the Terminal was solid as well.
- tgc1, on 11/20/2008, -0/+1I thought it was thoroughly entertaining.
- Merp08, on 11/21/2008, -0/+2I ***** love Catch Me...
IronGoldfish, on 11/20/2008, -6/+33I loved The Darjeeling Limited, and I related very well to most of the characters. I haven't come out of a Wes Anderson movie and not been completely satisfied yet. I say, just because The Darjeeling Limited wasn't quite as amazing as Rushmore, doesn't mean it wasn't still a great film.
- spaceman84, on 11/20/2008, -13/+4You're probably a douchebag.
  - LemonChicken, on 11/20/2008, -2/+6You're definitely a douchebag.
- indubitably, on 11/20/2008, -8/+4The Darjeeling Limited was awful and i say that as a fan of his. i don't know why spaceman is getting dug down. all the characters in the film were douchebags so if you relate well with them...
  - IronGoldfish, on 11/20/2008, -0/+2Reminds me of how my brothers acted, that's all. People are often far more crude around family.
  - indubitably, on 11/21/2008, -1/+1fair enough. my main gripe is that this film makes wes anderson seem like a parody of himself. way too pretentious and self indulgent (not a new criticism, i know, but i could usually handle it in smaller doses). he needs to explore more and get away from the quirky dysfunctional family thing. hopefully his next film 'the fantastic mr.fox', and the fact that it's animated, will steer him in new directions.
- spikewilbury, on 11/20/2008, -0/+7I'll watch a Wes Anderson movie just for the soundtracks.
- zip000, on 11/20/2008, -0/+3I agree, I really enjoyed The Darjeeling Limited, but no one that I've spoken to about it liked it.
  
  Sure, it is weird, and the characters aren't likable or realistic, but that isn't the point. I can't tell you exactly what the point was, but I really enjoyed the movie.
  
  The only Anderson movie that I didn't particularly like - I thought it was ok - was The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.
- Abdax, on 11/21/2008, -0/+7Disagree with the above poster, I loved The Life Aquatic. Bill Murray killing pirates to Search and Destroy... Awesome.
mikeoncampus, on 11/20/2008, -10/+7I really do not see how Michael Bay was not on this list. Please someone post the South Park Imagination Land clip of interviewing directors.

and p.s. Tim Burton is the *****
- spaceman84, on 11/20/2008, -2/+1Everyone makes fun of Michael Bay, thus he is not overrated, whereas everyone thinks Tim Burton is a genius despite being a repetitive hack, thus he IS overrated.
  - mikeoncampus, on 11/20/2008, -1/+2yes it is a repetitive STYLE but you do not see anyone bring something to the table as he does. Chances are the only reason people would consider him "overrated" is because now he is famous. You cannot seriously compare Sweeney Todd to a Nightmare Before Christmas...they are two entirely different movies (musical vs claymation awesomeness). The style of the movies (dark) is similar yes. I cannot see how you can consider him a repetitive hack unless of course you have no idea what you are arguing for.
- trolleyfan, on 11/20/2008, -1/+2No one expects Bay to make the next Oscar-winning film (unless it's for special effects), or to get a good rating from the critics, or even to make something that doesn't require turning your brain off for two hours. They expect him to make entertaining "Summer Blockbusters" with lots of explosions and - usually - an alien or two.
  
  And he delivers on this every time. That's not "overrated" that's "rated correctly."
- mikeoncampus, on 11/20/2008, -0/+2http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/155700/
  
  @Trolley. This is for you sir.
- Slyfer911, on 11/20/2008, -1/+0Sorry, I have to agree that Tim Burton is overrated. He's pretty much had the same plot for the past twenty years...with exclusion of Batman and Big Fish...and Planet of the Apes. But let's not talk about that movie.
purseonality, on 11/20/2008, -6/+6LOL I read this headline as the "10 most overrated DICTATORS" and was thinking, yeah, that Pol Pot turned out to be a real chicken-sh!t.

Time for more coffee, methinks.
- Zfreund, on 11/21/2008, -0/+1Maybe I need some coffee too—I thought the same thing initially, lol...
  
  But seeing as you mentioned it, I'll give it a try:
  
  10) Brezhnev
  9) Gowon
  8) Menghistu
  7) Enver
  6) Kambanda
  5) Tojo
  4) Mao
  3) Pol Pot
  2) Hitler
  1) Stalin
  
  When Pinochet, Mussolini, Charles Taylor, Slobodan Milosevic, and Saddam Hussein are left off the list you know you're talking about a bunch of real scumbags.
  
  Wait, I guess that's just the worst dictators of all time. Hard to think of "overrated" dictators since most of them are hardly thought of in a positive fashion these days....
brown2hm, on 11/20/2008, -5/+24Quick Summary:
"I'm going to name the 10 most famous directors and they write about how I think all their movies are stupid!"

So what directors aren't overrated? He didn't leave a lot of options, or maybe he's just obsessed with Woody Allen.
- SparklingWiggle, on 11/20/2008, -1/+6Precisely!
  
  This list sucked, and the author is apparently a "too hip for the room" film guy, who obviously thinks that once a director makes a flop, they're no longer considered good. I was almost expecting him to put Scorsese on the list too, at the rate it was going.
  
  Although, M. Knight I can't disagree with (most of his movies are 2 hours of sucking ass).
- Zfreund, on 11/20/2008, -0/+1I wasn't impressed with the list either, but to be fair he didn't mention Scorsese, Hitchcock, or Kubrick. There are plenty of awesome Directors who were not included.
skeletorcares, on 11/20/2008, -4/+11No oliver stone?

"Back and to the left" -- reignited a disproven fallacy that lasted for many years to come.
- spaceman84, on 11/20/2008, -2/+4He's been a joke for years, so he's not exactly overrated.
  - skeletorcares, on 11/20/2008, -0/+2He's just as much a joke in recent years as tim burton.
- indubitably, on 11/20/2008, -0/+3"That is one magic loogie."
  - skeletorcares, on 11/20/2008, -0/+2now larry david on the other hand, that guy IS a genious.
- mlvassallo, on 11/20/2008, -0/+1So was it disproved as fallacy or was it a fallacy that had been disproved?
  - skeletorcares, on 11/20/2008, -1/+1Ugh.
    
    Re-write my sentence however you want, grammar police.
zadadka, on 11/20/2008, -2/+10Buried as inaccurate.
None of my company's Directors are mentioned.
;)
ethbone, on 11/20/2008, -7/+4Nice list of um, directors. I don't really think that any of these guys are over rated, with the exception of Tim Burton. He was cool when I was in highschool, and Edward Scissor Hands was good, but he needs to grow up and stop making everything so dark and twisted. Did you see Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter? That movie is gonna be terrible.
- Dauntless1, on 11/20/2008, -1/+1He's doing that simply because Johnny Depp is the Emofag Idol. If it's even remotely dark, it seems like Depp has to come in with his mix of extreme arrogance and angst.
Mookie5, on 11/20/2008, -1/+7Buried for ridiculous delay by advertising.
evan3168, on 11/20/2008, -5/+10I don't agree with the Tarantino evaluation. I think like many other films that are lambasted in their day and heralded later on, the Kill Bill series will turn out to be critically successful in the future. Nobody thought Hitchcock was anyone to write home about (except the French critics) until years after his most popular films had been taken out of circulation
- indubitably, on 11/20/2008, -2/+7i thought the kill bill series was fantastic. i don't know why it gets hated on
  - philhatesyou, on 11/20/2008, -1/+1Because it's nothing more than a ***** of clips from other films re-shot and thrown together with a semi-coherent story line slapped on?
  - indubitably, on 11/21/2008, -0/+2i saw that as tarantino's way of paying homage to all the classic films that he loves. he didn't try to hide it. have you never enjoyed a cover song?
- teotbote, on 11/20/2008, -1/+2I think Jackie Brown is his best film. I enjoy Pulp Fiction more probably, but Jackie Brown is a very mature and all around well made film.
conkeso, on 11/20/2008, -3/+73Cool fact: Look at M. Night Shyamalan's movies rating on imdb

The Sixth Sense: 8.2
Unbreakable: 7.2
Signs: 6.9
The Village: 6.6
Lady in the Water: 5.9
The Happening: 5.3

See a trend?
- sideshowRAHEEM, on 11/20/2008, -0/+8I'm sorry I can use the people who rate movies on IMDB as the end all be all of movie reviewers, have you ever read the forums on that site.
  - stufflebean, on 11/20/2008, -0/+6True, but here are the same ratings on Rotten Tomatoes:
    
    The Sixth Sense: 85%
    Unbreakable: 67%
    Signs: 74%
    The Village: 43%
    Lady in the Water: 24%
    The Happening: 19%
    
    Ignoring the blip at Unbreakable/Signs, seems to be pretty much the same story.
  - sideshowRAHEEM, on 11/20/2008, -0/+1I can't defend Lady in the Water or The Happening but I think everything else he's done has been some of the best work within that genre in the past 10 years.
- pgouy, on 11/20/2008, -0/+4In a perfect world Lady in the Water should be the 'death sentence' to any director in the business.
  
  How he managed to get money to direct another crappy movie I'll never know...
- bosco9, on 11/20/2008, -2/+0I'm surprised how highly The Village is rated, that movie was terrible
doctorgrim, on 11/20/2008, -13/+5This list should be called, "10 of the most gifted directors ever". Buried.
- xsquirrel378x, on 11/20/2008, -2/+3You know nothing about movies so don't talk
  - kirualeorio, on 11/20/2008, -2/+1Andy: I'm a director. Which on a film set, is the highest title there is. Do you know anything about film?
    Dwight Schrute: I know everything about film. I've seen over 240 of them.
    Andy: Congratulations.
- Dauntless1, on 11/20/2008, -0/+4"10 of the most gifted directors of 10 years ago." Fixed that for you.
  - zip000, on 11/20/2008, -0/+18 of the most gifted directors + M. Night Shyamalan and George Lucas.
  - doctorgrim, on 11/21/2008, -0/+1That doesn't take away from their being geniuses.
- doctorgrim, on 11/22/2008, -0/+1http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/opinions/in-respo ...
  
  Yeah ***** you digg.
luciofulci, on 11/20/2008, -7/+2I should digg this down because the basis of the authors arguments are purely whether or not he liked the film. He compeltely ignores them on both a technical level, and reflection of cultural mores. By his criteria, anyone can make this list and it will be just as credible, even if Kubrick is #1.

Dugg PURELY because Tarantino was on there, though not nearly high enough. David Fincher should be on there too. George Lucas shouldnt be #1 because at this point in his career, hes far from over-rated.
bshock, on 11/20/2008, -9/+4Wow. Have I really overrated these guys?

For the most part, I consider all of these guys to be mindless hacks. I guess they might just be worse than that.
SlyT862, on 11/20/2008, -2/+16I guess you could say Speilberg is overrated just simply because he's the most famous director in general, but lets not forget he really is a master storyteller. Besides the new Indiana Jones, I even liked the movies that are considered by critics to be his worst (Hook, Catch Me If You Can, even A.I.).

I disagree that Munich leaves audiences going, "Meh," it's an outstanding film. And even Kubrick, Hitchcock and Welles had some lesser movies in their career.

But as far as the quality and range of a storyteller, I'll take Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T., Jurassic Park, Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan over the top movies of any other director!
- adventchild08, on 11/20/2008, -1/+4Munich was pretty epic...but I HATED war of the worlds
  - Slyfer911, on 11/20/2008, -0/+0Yeah, War of the Worlds was ***** terrible.
  - solid12345, on 11/21/2008, -0/+1Munich was excellent for the very reason that I had seen the plot before from the made-for-tv movie "Sword of Gideon" yet it kept me in suspense even though I knew most of what was going to happen.
dist0rtedwave, on 11/20/2008, -2/+7Yikes! All they did was call a lot of good movies bad, and use that as an argument for these guys being overrated.
jun2san, on 11/20/2008, -9/+43Wow, spike.com is retarded.
- Dauntless1, on 11/20/2008, -0/+3You obviously haven't seen Spike TV. It makes Spike.com look like ***** Shakespeare.
AncientWeird, on 11/20/2008, -0/+9I just checked this list to see if Kubrick was on it. He isn't. You may go about your business. All is well.

edit: Whoops I didn't realize this list is meant for contemporary directors.
- omjeremy, on 11/20/2008, -0/+2Or Leone
fuckupedoslut, on 11/20/2008, -2/+18Any relevance this article might have had just kept getting destroyed by their insistance on simply taking anything and anyone popular, and finding something bad to say about it. Kill Bill being a snoozer, forgettable? Umm...?

Note to Spike: compiling a list of things that everyone loves and then finding a way to ***** on them isn't cutting edge or deep. Its just desperate.

And Kevin Smith and Judd Apatow may not be "great" directors, but their movies are ***** hilarious. That's all I really care about when it comes to those two. I'm not looking for a cinematic masterpiece.

How about Lynch? The man has insanity confused with avant garde, yet no mention of him? And if you can leave out Oliver Stone and call Big Fish stupid...wow, you shouldn't even be allowed to watch movies. No wonder this was written for for Spike dot com. I suppose their definition of a great director is Michael Bay.
Bic823, on 11/20/2008, -1/+9I disagree with the George Lucas call-

I don't think anybody overrates him after the prequel trilogy. His name is pretty much mud.
pathouston22, on 11/20/2008, -8/+1Whats with all the hate on Michael Bay? What, you go into his movies expecting a highly polished script with a genius plot or something? The dude makes good action movies, Transformers, Bad Boys 1/2, Pearl Harbor. I didn't go watch Transformers to see the boy fall in love with that skinny whore Fox, I went to see some badass action scenes.
- Procure, on 11/20/2008, -5/+1Dude Im with you- You go to see movies for entertainment, right? Thats why they call it the entertainment business. I watch Bad Boys 2, Transformers, Pearl Harbor, I am ENTERTAINED for two hours.
  - aznhomig, on 11/20/2008, -0/+3By your logic, I'm not allowed to be entertained by any other movies but action movies. God forbid they actually provoke deep thought or emotions within you.
    
    Needs more pan-and-scan explosion scenes. AWESOME.
  - Procure, on 11/20/2008, -0/+1You can be entertained by any movie you wish, its your entertainment after all. But who says that something that is entertaining to some must not be entertaining to others and vice versa? One defines and dictates how 'good' something is based on their own experience and preference, which may not and should not be applied to everyone.
- adventchild08, on 11/20/2008, -1/+4Buried for calling my Megan Fox a whore. And for applying any quality to a bad boys movie.
HouseofEl, on 11/20/2008, -2/+13Spielberg isn't overrated, he's just in more of a twilight of his career now. I mean that in the best way. He's just done everything he's wanted to . Now he is making films for fun or just to keep busy. Once and a while he has another great one, but I think Spielberg just feels he's done everything he's wanted to do. I don't call that overrated. He just isn't hungry anymore. Let's be honest, does he need to be? The man has done enough for film, at this point he should be able to do what he wants.
- Briandt75, on 11/21/2008, -0/+1Sir I want to personally thank you for this comment. I couldn't agree more. I'd rather read your comment 20 times than that blowhard idiot with a tin eye's article once more.
djmphoto, on 11/20/2008, -1/+2Can someone list them please
haydukeqc, on 11/20/2008, -1/+2hmmm... 7, 8, 10 no go
slothlovechunk, on 11/20/2008, -2/+3This is more like a list of directors who make some good movies, and some movies the author doesn't like.

I can say the same thing about any director.
KiltedMile, on 11/20/2008, -2/+9That was the worst and most disagreeable list I've ever read.. I want 4 minutes of my life back!
Apocalyptic0n3, on 11/20/2008, -2/+6So basically take any director who is popular at the moment (Burton, Apatow, and Smith) and bash them left and right and call it a day? Sounds like a plan to me.
- xsquirrel378x, on 11/20/2008, -0/+1That seems to be the popular sentiment in this thread that this guy bashes every known filmmaker. The fact that these are pretty much the only directors you guys know of should say something about your overall knowledge of film in general no?
  Maybe everyone in this thread should be getting less pissed at the guy who made this list and actually go study some film and come back and comment.
  - solid12345, on 11/21/2008, -1/+1I've studied film and realized one thing, popular movies are popular for a reason. A "film" with endless stock footage mashed together by some guy with a French name does not make it a treasure of cinema, it makes it a glorified art school project.
- Briandt75, on 11/21/2008, -0/+1He doesn't bash every known filmmaker...only the ones he's heard of. hey xsquirrel, seems like you're making a point for our side.
antzology, on 11/20/2008, -4/+5This list sucks. Anything George Lucas ever does will be redeemed by Star Wars, same with Steven Spielberg and Raiders of the Lost Ark. Tim Burton has released some amazing movies this decade... Big Fish and Sweeney Todd (8/10 and 9/10 respectively from me).
anaclagon, on 11/20/2008, -2/+6This was a big stinky troll post.
hauntedchippy, on 11/20/2008, -7/+2Anything that ridicules George Lucas is a plus in my book.
Never forget, never forgive.
- jstearns, on 11/20/2008, -1/+2You're doing it wrong..
SketchaMPM, on 11/20/2008, -4/+41He bashes 'Catch Me If You Can', 'Royal Tennenbaums', 'Big Fish' and 'Lost in Translation'. Screw this guy and his crappy 'Spike' list.
- bluesdealer, on 11/20/2008, -1/+7Indeed. Catch Me If You Can is one of my favorite flicks, ever.
- BeastOfGevaudan, on 11/20/2008, -0/+10Big Fish is amazing, this guy's parents didn't shake him enough.
- Hortinstein, on 11/21/2008, -0/+4love lost in translation
comedianX, on 11/20/2008, -2/+9I could write pages on wrong this guy is on about 8 of the 10 picks -- but I don't have the time -- so I'll just bury it.
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