#6
Jacques Audiard
It’s hard for me to imagine Jacques Audiard making a film I would love anymore than I love A Prophet. Then again, as excited as I was to see Rust and Bone, I still didn’t expect it to move me the way it did, convincing me Audiard has more than his share of tricks left up his sleeve. That said, his next film has yet to be announced and we are two years removed from the 2012 Cannes premiere of Rust and Bone. How many movies does this guy have left? The excitement mounts…
#5
Bennett Miller
With Capote and Moneyball already out there for us to judge and the rave reviews for Foxcatcher out of this year’s Cannes Film Festival it would seem obvious Bennett Miller is not some “flash in the pan” filmmaker. Some are saying Foxcatcher is his best film to which I’d say for as accomplished as Capote and Moneyball are, they never felt like “best film of a career” features. There is clearly more Miller has to offer us and I’m excited to not only see Foxcatcher for myself, but see what else is down the line.
#4
Richard Linklater
I love Richard Linklater‘s Before series of films and after seeing Boyhood my immediate reaction was to say, “I can’t imagine another film this year being any better.” Add Dazed and Confused to that list and you have my top five Linklater features not to mention my fondness for a couple of his other films.
So, with such high praise for five of his movies specifically how can I believe he has something even better in the future? Well, considering he’s just about to turn 54 and he’s only just delivered what might be his best movie to date (sorry, impossible for me to decide between Boyhood and the Before series) it shows he hasn’t slowed and his understanding of how to tell a story, the human condition and what draws us into characters makes him one of the best in the business.
#3
Denis Villeneuve
I still haven’t seen Denis Villeneuve‘s Incendies, but based on Maelstrom, Enemy and Prisoners alone I know his best is still yet to be revealed as he is still finding his place in this world while at the same time not afraid to test his cinematic voice.
#2
J.C. Chandor
From Margin Call to All is Lost, J.C. Chandor showed growth, he also showed us how to make a talky film about investment banking exciting as well as made us care for a man alone in the middle of the ocean with only a few words of dialogue. Up next is A Most Violent Year as he tests his skills yet again in another genre of filmmaking, but I have no doubt it will once again be his characters we’re drawn to just as much as the situation they find themselves in, a mark, in my book, of a director that truly understands how to balance both character and story and the importance of each.
#1
Xavier Dolan
To see the excitement people had for Xavier Dolan‘s Mommy at this year’s Cannes Film Festival makes me wonder just where the hell all of these people have been living. Dolan, at the age of 20, delivered I Killed My Mother, which captured the attention of some, perhaps just as much for the film as much for his blatant ego. A year later Heartbeats didn’t raise his stock, but it didn’t diminish it either, hurt only, I’d say be a small bit of redundancy in a film that may have gone on a little long, but was nonetheless a pleasure and joy to watch.
In 2012 came Laurence Anyways, which, not having seen Mommy just yet, I consider his best film as he has come to master his interpretation of the French New Wave and turn it into a style all his own. His framing, use of music and the performances he gets out of his actors is something to behold and to be doing it at such a young age, interpreting the work of the masters into something all his own is remarkable.
Then, in 2013 he delivered Tom at the Farm, something of a Hitchcockian thriller that I didn’t entirely buy into when I first saw it but would rush to see again just to give it a second evaluation.
With that we’re talking about five films that have generated a considerable amount of buzz from a filmmaker only 25 years old. Is he cocky? Does he have a big ego? I hope so, I’d hate to see him lose any confidence because I only want to see more of what he’s delivered so far and his age tells me the best is yet to come… which is a little scary.
So that does it for the top ten, but I didn’t want to end it without mentioning a few others I considered including David Ayer (End of Watch), Lynne Ramsay (We Need to Talk About Kevin), Todd Haynes (Carol), Dee Rees (Pariah), Joon-ho Bong (Snowpiercer), Steve McQueen (Shame), Ava DuVernay (Middle of Nowhere, Selma), Alfonso Cuarón (Children of Men), Jean-Marc Vallée (Wild), John Michael McDonagh (Calvary) and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (Birdman).
I know there are names I’ve left off and others to consider, which is why there is a comment section below. So have at it, who makes your list and why? I’m excited to see the responses and reasoning.
