Love them or hate them, movie lists are always good for two things: 1) engorging my DVD queue and 2) sparking conversation. This has already done the first and I’m sure the second will follow closely.
Earlier in the week, Time Out London put together a very impressive list of “The 50 Greatest Directorial Debuts of All Time.” Jeffrey Anderson already noted some of the problems of lists and specifically this list, but it’s the content of the list itself that captured my attention, especially some of the selections near the bottom. And really, how important is a debut film? Sometimes, it may not be a great indicator of a director’s talent while other times, it may be a one-of event.
The numbering seems a little strange, especially when films like Kids are near the bottom of the list while The Texas Chain Saw Massacre sits in the top 20. Were they both not equally groundbreaking in the way they affected their specific genres and filmmaking in general? And then there’s the always present question of why something didn’t make the list.
Lots of material for discussion and really, it’s a great list of both “high brow” and “low brow” material. I’m curious to see what Row Three readers make of it; what you love, what you question, what you recommend and perhaps most interestingly, what’s missing?
as far as lists go, its not a bad one.
Interesting to note that the bulk of the names are actors making their directorial debut….(at least in the bottom half the the list!)
Ah ha! My prediction failed this time!
How nice to see someone other than Welles topping the list. Really didn’t see it coming!
Especially for it being a dir. debut list, I mean come on…. isn’t that why he always tops these anyway?
I love Mitchum!
Not a bad list, but in some ways an odd one. I would have ranked On the Town, This is Spinal Tap (which is Reiner’s best film besides When Harry Met Sally IMHO), and Knife in the Water much higher. It’s impossible for me to argue with that top ten, though. Citizen Kane and Night of the Hunter are hard to beat!