Who is the most overrated director of all time?

[Doctor Who?]

For me it's M.Night Shyamalan.

I mean I kind of liked The Sixth Sense and Unbreakible the first time I saw that but they don't stand up to repeat viewings,and everything else he has done sucks.

I don't understand how someone who has only made to watchible movies is treated like an all time great film maker.

[bratpop]

Okay, if you REALLY wanted to know, somebody should do a Top 50 Most Overrated Directors thread.

Chris Nolan is pretty damn overrated. Memento was okay for a gimmick. It's sort of like Bound. Interesting, not terrible, but not a "great film." The Prestige is okay for a gimmick. It's silly and not particularly clever, and... actually it's completely ridiculous, not just silly. Very MUCH like Memento, actually, it takes itself way too seriously for a goofy concept. In that respect, I'd say he's up there with M. Night as far as being pretentious (the accent doesn't help), but he does make more entertaining films. It is, of course, the fucking Batman movies that make his overratedness unbearable. Batman Begins worked as most origins worked, and it's impossible to screw up Batman unless you do it INTENTIONALLY, as the past has shown. And it's fun, more or less. It didn't have to live up to hype because there wasn't any, so no harm done. But The Dark Knight is so full of so many horrible choices, some of which just happened to work out due to sheer luck (Heath Ledger... though not exactly "lucky," if you know what I mean), so overhyped without any basis prior to anyone seeing it, so overhyped AFTER everyone saw it, and so undeserving of praise for really not giving us anything 100% new apart from its own sense of self importance, that I just can't get behind the guy anymore.

There is something to be said for directors too good to do sequels or remakes, but Nolan acting "too good" DESPITE doing sequels and reboots is just too much. Maybe it's more the fans than him, but he definately has the smug auteur thing going on.

TDK really is a case of the first movie doing what needs to be done, and the director showing his true colors in the sequel, outing him as what he truly is. Same thing happened with Spider-Man 2, where Raimi put way too much of himself in the movie and we got the crazy Raimi cameras, slapstick comedy, and really over the top goofy ideas (Harry with a literal drinking problem, so drunk that he can't actually get the liquor into his mouth, the relationship troubles, etc.). People were hopeful for part 3 because the action in 2 was decent, but the benefit of the doubt did not work out.

In the end, Nolan's career so far is a lot of really well done bad ideas. That's probably better than M. Night doing mediocre movies based on interesting concepts, but I don't think The Sham is anywhere near as overrated as Nolan, since everyone knows he's done crap movies.

And I don't think Nolan has done crap movies, he's just REALLY overrated.

[Plastic Self-Cleaning Duck]

David Lynch

(remember, we're not saying "bad"....we're saying "overrated")

Nine-tenths of the symbolism in his movies mean nothing.

[Doctor Who?]

I don't know I can still enjoy all of Nolan's movies and The Dark Knight is still the best made superhero movie.

Also I think Spiderman 2 was much better then Spiderman.

[bratpop]

Hmm, as a (former?) Lynch fan, I don't know if I agree. I think that's a case of, he used to make good movies and now not so much. I don't think everyone... "overrates" him, if that can be a word. He doesn't have a "Dark Knight." He doesn't have a movie that everyone says is great, especially outside the fanbase. And I don't think the whole fanbase overanalyzes his films. It's true there's a lot of analysis going on, but you kind of HAVE to when he throws so much weird shit at you, since that's the only way your brain can deal with it. I don't think many people claim his work is brilliant because of their own interpretations. He's always said the movies are for you to make your own conclusions about, so it would be hard to call him brilliant when you know he won't admit to ever doing anything you think he might have done. Inland Empire was crap. I don't even think HE liked it. And I'm pretty sure nobody else did.

[Darth Geek]

Quinten Tarentino.

[Doctor Who?]

Quinten Tarentino.

Oh yeah.

Some of his movies are fun but i have heard a lot of people compare him to Hitchcock and Wells,what is up with that?

[Darth Geek]

His obsession with dialog, the wild swings from one style to another that disrupt the flow of the movie,etc. All kinds of things that make him more a fanboy than a director, who is incapable of moderating his impulses.

That and the fact that he makes movies exclusively in genres that I loath: gansters, film noir, revenge, etc. But that isn't part of why he is a bad director, just why even if he was a good director I wouldn't watch his movies anymore.

[bratpop]

Why did you watch his movies in the first place? It's not like he started his career with "E.T. Part 2." He's always done those genres.

[Darth Geek]

I gave a few of them a shot. I saw Pulp Fiction at the very annoying insistance of my roommate in college. I probably could have figured out what was going on if I cared about ANY of the characters enough to try. I saw Kill Bill part 1 and had no incling to want to watch the second. I think I may have seen one other of his, too.

The funny thing is that for years I thought that From Dusk Till Dawn was directed by him. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the second half (once Salma Hayak's strip tease starts), but everything else before it is torture to sit through (and that includes Cheech's stupid "pussy" speech).

When I went to the theater to see Grindhouse, I left after Planet Terror. Absolutely AWESOME movie, and even if they hadn't split up the DVDs and I had both, I still wouldn't waste my time with Death Proof.

[bratpop]

At least he wrote From Dusk Till Dawn... all of it. Robert Rodriguez, on the other hand, made Shark Boy and Lava Girl... or whatever the hell it's called. If we're talking overrated... Rodriguez is inconsistent at best.

[Darth Geek]

Ang Lee.

HULK is a failure, sure. But even Crouching Tiger Hiddden Dragon didn't impress me, and their "flying" was so patheticly obviously cables I can't believe people love it so much.

[Plastic Self-Cleaning Duck]

But even Crouching Tiger Hiddden Dragon didn't impress me, and their "flying" was so patheticly obviously cables I can't believe people love it so much.

Bruce Lee was spinning in his grave.   

[Darth Geek]

But even Crouching Tiger Hiddden Dragon didn't impress me, and their "flying" was so patheticly obviously cables I can't believe people love it so much.

Bruce Lee was spinning in his grave.  

Maybe they used that to generate power for their wire rig.

[mearnest]

I don't really see David Lynch as being overrated.  Some people like him, some people hate him, but most people don't know who the hell he is.  I like him but I still hated Mulholland Dr. (and I loved Inland Empire btw).  Tarentino is overrated even though I have enjoyed most of his movies.  He 'borrows' too much from other (and in many cases better) movies for me to totally be on board with him.
My nominee for most overrated director is:
Brian De Palma