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He Directed That? 14 Directors Who Threw Us for a Loop

December 29, 2007
Source: Daily Film Dose
by Alex Billington

I recently stumbled across an article over at Daily Film Dose titled He Directed That?. It's actually a pretty fun concept - they look at 14 very well-known directors that each directed a movie you would have never expected. As they describe it: "Every once in a while a director will throw us for a loop and make a film that is inconsistent with his or her other work. Here’s a compilation that has been brewing in my head for a long time - a list of the most famous cinematic anomalies from great directors." There's some good names and good films mentioned here and it's worth a look, even just for a laugh or two.

For a great write-up on each of the movies and why it's so inconsistent with the director's work, head over to Daily Film Dose.

Robert Altman – Popeye (1980)
Francis Ford Coppola – Jack (1996)
Roman Polanski – Pirates (1986)
Stanley Kubrick - Spartacus (1960)
Walter Hill – Brewster's Millions (1985)
Brian De Palma – Wise Guys (1986)
Robert Wise – Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)
John Huston – Victory! (1981)
David Lynch – The Straight Story (1999)
Sam Raimi – For Love of the Game (1999)
Gus Van Sant - Finding Forrester (2000)
Tim Burton – Planet of the Apes (2001)
Woody Allen – Match Point (2005)
Wes Craven - Music of the Heart (1999)

I was familiar with Sam Raimi's For Love of the Game and Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes, but the rest even got me. It's just so odd to see such great director's take a diversion and direct an inconsistent movie. The real question is whether or not they succeeded. I know Burton's Planet of the Apes was pretty much a box office failure and a terrible movie. And For Love of the Game is not a very well remembered sports movie either. Maybe this is a sign that great filmmakers should stick with what they know best.

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Reader Feedback - 8 Comments »

1

Wasn't "Planet of the Apes" a huge summer hit?

Andrew Wickliffe on Dec 29, 2007

2

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=planetoftheapes01.htm

^ Well shit, maybe you are right Andrew. Either way, I don't think many people liked it. It only has a 5.5 on IMDb and I know I didn't like it.

Alex Billington on Dec 29, 2007

3

Robert Wise directed Star Trek because he was a big science-fiction fan. It's actually surprising to many of his colleagues he didn't do more, though he did direct The Day the Earth Stood Still and The Andromeda Strain.

And Spartacus is still an amazing movie, even if it wasn't one of Kubrick's usual stuff. But he liked dabbling in all sorts of genres anyway.

Chris on Dec 29, 2007

4

How about acclaimed director Roland Joffe ("The Killing Fields"(1984) and "The Mission" (1986)) helming
Elisha Cuthbert's torture porn flick "Captivity"(2007)??

Spider on Dec 29, 2007

5

…..and the director of 1990's "Quick Change" was none other than Bill Murray. That was his only directorial effort!

Spider on Dec 29, 2007

6

u guys forgot the faculty by robert rodriguez, 1942 by spielberg, thelma and louise by ridley scott….and my favorite "he did that?!" moment was finding out that JJ abrams wrote forever young haha

mos on Dec 29, 2007

7

Yeah well the biggest one of all is QUENTIN TARANTINO….
Directing his 1st movie….no it's not reservoir dogs….it's My Best Friend's Birthday (1987)
It's even that awful that he doesn't include it into his list at the beginning of Kill Bill Vol.1 "The 5th film by…" no sir… it was his 6th.
And I don't care why he did it or for what reason…it's his film, he directed it…he's f*-ed

Simon on Dec 30, 2007

8

First thought that popped into my head was Altman and Popeye.

Coppola directing Jack really took the wind out of my sails. I know it was you Francis, you broke my heart. You broke my heart!

Rob on Dec 30, 2007

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