1. Steven Spielberg
2. Peter Jackson
3. Martin Scorsese
4. Christopher Nolan
5. Steven Soderbergh
6. Ridley Scott
7. Quentin Tarantino
8. Michael Mann
9. James Cameron
10. Joel and Ethan Coen
11. Guillermo del Toro
12. David Fincher
13. Tim Burton
14. Judd Apatow
15. Sam Raimi
16. Zack Snyder
17. Darren Aronofsky
18. Danny Boyle
19. Clint Eastwood
20. Ron Howard
21. Ang Lee
22. Paul Thomas Anderson
23. Paul Greengrass
24. Pedro Almodóvar
25. Jon Favreau
So many damn problems with this list, but it’s to be expected. I’m not really certain what the parameters are—is this how great someone is now, or over the lifespan of their career?—but either way Favreau, Cameron, Raimi, Aronofsky, Snyder (all of which I dig in their own way) have to go. Peter Sciretta wisely points out no Woody Allen, no animation directors, no Spike Lee, no Wes Anderson, and no Clint Eastwood. All headscratchers. I’d also point out no David Lynch, David Cronenberg, Terrence Malick, Errol Morris, Wong Kar-wai, Todd Haynes and Spike Jonze. So, yeah, this list, whether forcibly “provocative” or not, is really cynical and lame.
