Who are my favourite directors?
For me, the first is Stanley Kubrick… I’m in awe of his body of work. I’ve seen 11 of his 12 features and three of them I revisit every couple of years: Barry Lyndon (1975, a sublimely beautifully framed, clinical and evenly paced wonder); A Clockwork Orange (1971, a film to which I introduced an unsuspecting friend in 1991, at a 20th anniversary screening… He came out reeling); and 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968, a film that still intrigues and perplexes me). My least favourite was the last, Eyes Wide Shut (1999), but I’d still gladly sit through any of the 11 again.

Equal second: David Lean. His great films were outnumbered by his ordinary, but in 2 films: Lawrence of Arabia (1962, my all-time favourite film) and The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), there are such memorable scenes that they elevate him near the top. Add to that, his wonderful adaptation of Charles Dickens novel, Great Expectations (1946) and his final film, A Passage to India (1984, which famed critic, Roger Ebert described as “one of the greatest screen adaptations I have ever seen”), and it’s easy to see why Lean is a favourite.

Equal second: Martin Scorsese. Taxi Driver (1976, I love the noir feel and the tension); Raging Bull (1980, a master class in film-making);
The King of Comedy (1983, a playful and very effective role reversal for Robert De Niro and Jerry Lewis); Goodfellas (1990, the ultimate gangster film); The Departed (2006, don’t laugh… for me, Jack Nicholson’s chilling performance is brilliant).

Ask me in 10 years and I reckon one of them might be replaced, possibly by the Coen Brothers or Christopher Nolan or Quentin Tarantino. I’m really looking forward to what those guys come up with.

Now I feel guilty for leaving out Alfred Hitchcock. After all, he did give us The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934 and his own 1956 Hollywood remake); Rebecca (1940); Notorious (1946); Rear Window (1954); Vertigo (1958); North by Northwest (1959, my fav. Hitch movie); Psycho (1960); The Birds (1963); and Marnie (1964). I think the problem with Hitch. for me, is that many of these great films have dated quite badly, with the possible exception of North by Northwest and Psycho and that has detracted from my enjoyment of his movies.

This has been totally self-indulgent and enjoyable.

Well, they’re my favourites, who are yours?

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