re: Who's the better director: Stanley Kubrick or Christopher Nolan

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When Nolan learns to have at least B movie quality sound mixing again we can talk about him being up there.

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It's worse than that - he muddies up the dialogue ON PURPOSE.

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A more interesting question would be: Spielberg or Nolan

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It’s a better comparison, because Spielberg and Nolan make the same type of movies, but Spielberg by a mile

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A closer call IMO with a modern filmmaker would be Kubrick or Villeneuve.

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Naw that's still Nola v. DV, and DV wins easily.

There are 2 main variables with Kubrick that make him hard to top.

First, his ability to work within multiple genres. He has produced one of the funniest movies of all time, possibly the best sci-fi movie of all time, and one of the most respected horror movies of all time. What I think is his best film is a historical social satire that works on both levels. Then he has genre-benders like FMJ, Clockwork Orange, and Eyes Wide Shut.

Second, he created elevated films while being accessible. He made some exceptionally artistic works while not being art house.

The range + accessibility is what puts him in god tier. There aren't many other directors who have shown the ability to do both. Spielberg has. Scorcese has.

I doubt Nolan has the range to ever direct a worthwhile comedy. DV as well.

I previously wanted to see Nolan try horror (without the time bullshite) but I'm leery after seeing his first foray into fantasy-adventure with the Odyssey trailer. Sicaro is bordering on horror so DV has shown he can do that. He also hit Dune out of the park without any missteps like Chadamemnon.

he will pass him up eventually
—impossible to know

Good post.

I want to squeeze the Coen brothers into this discussion somewhere. Although they don’t produce the cinematic masterpieces like Kubrick, and haven’t produced any grand blockbuster films like Spielburg or Nolan, their dialogue and master of character exposition and development is absolutely top-level. Possibly no one better.

This is true for their quirky comedies like Raising Arizona and Big Lebowski as well as for serious films like Fargo and No Country for Old Men.

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I want to squeeze the Coen brothers into this discussion somewhere

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They 100% have both variables as well. Old Country really elevated their library.

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Nolan, hands down.

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I love Nolan. He's one of my all time favorite directors, and most definitely my favorite of the last 30 years. With that said, Kubrick is better. Kubrick is probably the second greatest of all time behind Orson Welles.

Welles, Kubrick, Hitchcock, Nolan

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Kubrick is insanely overrated.

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um, no. this is an incredibly stupid take

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First, his ability to work within multiple genres. He has produced one of the funniest movies of all time, possibly the best sci-fi movie of all time, and one of the most respected horror movies of all time. What I think is his best film is a historical social satire that works on both levels. Then he has genre-benders like FMJ, Clockwork Orange, and Eyes Wide Shut.

Second, he created elevated films while being accessible. He made some exceptionally artistic works while not being art house.

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Frankly, the only comparator to Kubrick is Billy Wilder (or, maybe, John Ford). And Kubrick was better than both (with all due respect - I think they are criminally underrated - Hitch was great - a legitimate genius in his own right, but Wilder and Ford could make a movie for anyone. And they could do it 3 or 4 times a year.)

For Wilder - just the highlights in a 17-year period:

Five Graves to Cairo
Double Indemnity
The Lost Weekend
The Emporer Waltz
A Foreign Affair
Sunset Boulevard
Ace in the Hole
Stalag 17
Sabrina
The Seven Year Itch
The Spirit of St. Louis
Love in the Afternoon
Witness for the Prosecution
Some Like it Hot
The Apartment

And Ford's resume is even more diverse, IMHO. When you consider that he was known as being a "Western" director and won 4 directing Oscars for non-Westerns (when the Oscar still had value and was a legit benchmark for quality, unlike more recent times).

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Frankly, the only comparator to Kubrick is Billy Wilder

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It's become cliche to hate on Spielberg these days, but he's up there.

I know 1941 was a failure, but when he hit Catch Me If You Can out of the park he showed he could do the comic route.

And a lot of his movies were popcorn movies but they were also technically brilliant and groundbreaking. He's made elite movies in all sorts of genres (especially if we give him credit for Poltergeist).

When he wanted to make an important adult film that required a certain level of artistry, he banged out Schindler's List (immediately after Jurassic Park no less).

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After Tenet?

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Maybe unpopular, but Tenet>>>>>>>Eyes Wide Shut

EWS was fricking stupid and boring