Embedded Files
We figure that, for the hell of it, we'd pin four of today's best youngish filmmakers against each other by more or less putting one's catalog up against the others. The contestants, all currently working in their primes, are all more or less household names these days. Check 'em out:
- Quentin Tarantino, who has seven films, not countinghis many collaborations and thus partial directorial credits.
- Wes Anderson, who is currently shooting his seventh
film with one heck of a cast, is the most artsy of the crew.
- David Fincher, who (not counting his debut, the studio-
spoiled Alien 3) has seven films in the can, all of which
are considered classics, save for maybe Panic Room.
- Christopher Nolan, who, counting his first film, the little
known The Following, has seven films completed. Some
of those films did very, very well. As did some of Fincher's.
We're going to go about this two ways:
1. For this method we're going to pair the each director's films up against the others in order of how the were released. We will then add all those rankings up and add the scores together. Whichever director ends up with the lowest score wins. (Note: Anderson will get a last place ranking for his seventh film. Bummer, sure, but who cares.)
2. We'll give each film a score out of 100, then add up the scores for each director and divide it by how many films the director has made. This will give each filmmaker an average out of 100. We'll then rank those scores and hopefully come up with a winner. Gonna be close!
CHALLENGE ONE: FILMS VS. FILM
FIRST FILM
1. Reservoir Dogs (QT)
2. Se7en (DF)
3. Bottle Rocket (WA)
4. The Following (CN)
SECOND FILM
1. Pulp Fiction (QT)
2. Rushmore (WA)
3. Memento (CN)
4. The Game (DF)
THIRD FILM
1. The Royal Tenenbaums (WA)
2. Fight Club (DF)
3. Jackie Brown (QT)
4. Insomnia (CN)
FOURTH FILM
1. The Life Aquatic (WA)
2. Kill Bill, Vol. 1 (QT)
3. Batman Begins (CN)
4. Panic Room (DF)
FIFTH FILM
1. Kill Bill, Vol. 2 (QT)
2. The Darjeeling Limited (WA)
3. The Prestige (CN)
4. Zodiac (DF)
SIXTH FILM
1. The Dark Knight (CN)
2. Fantastic Mr. Fox (WA)
3. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (DF)
4. Death Proof (QT)
SEVENTH FILM
1. Inglourious Basterds (QT)
2. Inception (CN)
3. The Social Network (DF)
4. No film for West Anderson yet (will update)
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RESULTS
1. Quentin Tarantino - 13
2. Wes Anderson - 15
3. Christopher Nolan - 20
4. David Fincher - 22
CHALLENGE TWO: AVERAGE FILM SCORES
1. WES ANDERSON
Bottle Rocket - 96/100
Rushmore - 100/100
The Royal Tenenbaums - 100/100
The Life Aquatic - 96/100
The Darjeeling Limited - 92/10
Fantastic Mr. Fox - 87/100
FINAL SCORE: 95.2/100
2. QUENTIN TARANTINO
Reservoir Dogs - 100/100
Pulp Fiction - 100/100
Jackie Brown - 94/100
Kill Bill, Vol. 1 - 95/100
Kill Bill, Vol. 2 - 96/100
Death Proof - 84/100
Inglourious Basterds - 96/100
FINAL SCORE: 95/100
3. CHRISTOPHER NOLAN
The Following - 83/100
Memento - 100/100
Insomnia - 88/100
Batman Begins - 97/100
The Prestige - 94/100
The Dark Knight - 100/100
Inception - 98/100
FINAL SCORE: 94.3/100
4. DAVID FINCHER
Se7en - 100/100
The Game - 84/100
Fight Club - 100/100
Panic Room - 82/100
Zodiac - 93/100
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - 89/100
The Social Network - 98/100
FINAL SCORE: 92.3/100
So, it seems, were it not for Christopher Nolan's micro-budget debut, he'd maybe be No. 1. And if it wasn't for Tarantino's toss-off film Death Proof, he'd have easily buried the competition. And what if Wes Anderson's in-progress seventh film is as good as, say, Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums? Then maybe he'd tie QT in that first challenge and then take the overall battle? And what about Fincher? What if he wrote his own screenplays? He's about as technically sound (and these days, prolific) as any filmmaker in history. But, in the end, it was QT and Anderson who took the top two spots, with QT probably taking the overall spot.
These four men will, when time looks back on the auteurs from 1990-2020, be the best of their era, no doubt. They're all incredibly talented and original filmmakers with already great catalogs behind them. I wouldn't be surprised if they all end up on quite a few Top 50 All-Time Directors lists. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if QT and maybe even Nolan end up on some All-Time Top 10 lists. We're lucky, folks, to be alive while these guys are working in their primes.
Okay, one more little challenge, just for the hell of it. We're going to compile an all around Top 10 from the 27 films these four men have made.
CHALLENGE THREE: OVERALL RANKINGS
1. Pulp Fiction (QT)
2. The Royal Tenenbaums (WA)
3. Rushmore (WA)
4. The Dark Knight (CN)
5. Fight Club (DF)
6. Se7en (DF)
7. Reservoir Dogs (QT)
8. Kill Bill, Vol. 2 (QT)
9. Memento (CN)
10. The Life Aquatic (WA)
Again, another toss up between QT and Wes. We'll give the edge to QT for now, as his work is more diverse (though Wes' style and attention to detail is otherwordly).
Written by G. William Locke
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