EDITORIALS

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

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

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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