Directors to avoid
by n-depouez | created - 09 Feb 2012 | updated - 26 Jun 2012 | Publicobviously, I mean : to avoid their films
1. Michael Bay
Producer | Armageddon
A graduate of Wesleyan University, Michael Bay spent his 20s working on advertisements and music videos. His first projects after film school were in the music video business. He created music videos for Tina Turner, Meat Loaf, Lionel Richie, Wilson Phillips, Donny Osmond and Divinyls. His work won...
Exception : "The island"
2. Louis Leterrier
Director | The Incredible Hulk
Louis Leterrier is a French film director and producer. He notably directed the first two Transporter films, Unleashed, The Incredible Hulk, Clash of the Titans, Now You See Me, Tower of Strength and The Brothers Grimsby. He also directed episodes of The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance on Netflix ...
I'm french ; Apologies from France for "Hulk" and "Clash of the titans"
3. Roland Emmerich
Writer | Independence Day
Roland Emmerich is a German film director and producer of blockbuster films like The Day After Tomorrow (2004), Godzilla (1998), Independence Day (1996) and The Patriot (2000). Before fame, he originally wanted to be a production designer, but decided to be a director, after watching the original ...
Exception : "Anonymous" Watchable : "The day after tomorrow" and "The patriot"
4. Wolfgang Petersen
Director | Das Boot
A controversial film maker, Wolfgang Petersen has at once been lauded for his professionalism and attention to detail and decried for turning out a string of standard commercial Hollywood blockbusters. The son of a naval officer, Petersen held a lifelong fascination with the sea and naval subjects....
Examples : "Troy", "Air force one", "Poseidon"
5. Jan de Bont
Director | Speed
Jan de Bont was one of 17 children born into a Roman Catholic Dutch family in Eindhoven on 22 October 1943. Credited with being creative and having a good mentality for camera techniques, he became a popular cinematographer. He worked on a huge number of films before finding himself on the ...
Examples : "Speed 2" and "The hauting"
6. David Yates
Director | Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
David Yates was born on October 8, 1963 in St. Helens, Merseyside, England, UK. He is a director and producer, known for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007), The Legend of Tarzan (2016) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011).
Do you really need an example ?
7. Rob Marshall
Director | Mary Poppins Returns
Rob Marshall was born on October 17, 1960 in Madison, Wisconsin, USA. He is a director and producer, known for Mary Poppins Returns (2018), Chicago (2002) and Into the Woods (2014).
Chicago was nice... After that...
8. M. Night Shyamalan
Producer | Lady in the Water
Born in Puducherry, India, and raised in the posh suburban Penn Valley area of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, M. Night Shyamalan is a film director, screenwriter, producer, and occasional actor, known for making movies with contemporary supernatural plots.
He is the son of Jayalakshmi, a Tamil ...
Exceptions : "The sixth sense" and "Unbreakable"
9. Uwe Boll
Producer | Postal
As a youth, he produced a number of short films on Super 8 and video. After short stints as guest auditor at Filmacademy Vienna and Filmhochschule Munich, Boll studied literature and economics in Cologne and Siegen. He graduated from university in 1995 with a doctorate in literature. From 1995-2000...
No comment
10. Andrzej Bartkowiak
Director | Romeo Must Die
Esteemed cinematographer known for his long, durable association with Sidney Lumet. Trained at the Polish Film School in his native Lódz. After he immigrated to the U.S.A. he began working in commercials filming hundreds of memorable spots for IBM, Xerox, American Express, Pepsi ,Coca Cola, ...
Examples : "Doom" and "Street fighter"
11. John Moore
Director | Max Payne
John Moore was born in Dundalk, Ireland in 1970, a small town situated about 60 miles from the country's capital Dublin. Moore attended a technical college in Dublin where he studied filmmaking and after completing the school he went on to direct and write a series of short films all produced in ...
I really fear for the next "Die hard"
12. Paul W.S. Anderson
Writer | Resident Evil: Apocalypse
Paul W.S. Anderson gained a fair bit of notoriety in his native England when he directed the ultra-violent Shopping (1994) (which he also wrote), starring Jude Law and Sean Pertwee in a story about thieves who steal by ramming a car into storefronts. The film was banned in some cinemas in England, ...
Examples : "Resident evil", "Alien vs Predator", "The three musketeers" and... all the rest
13. Colin Strause
Visual_effects | Skyline
Since moving to Hollywood as teens in the mid-90s, Colin and his brother, Greg have charted a meteoric rise from self-taught artists working on local cable commercials in the suburbs of Chicago, to renowned visual effects gurus. Their careers began on the original run of The X-Files television show...
"AVP 2" and "Skyline"... Stop this guy and his brother !
14. Mark Steven Johnson
Director | Finding Steve McQueen
Mark Steven Johnson is an American film director, screenwriter and producer. He is known for writing and directing the hit Marvel films "Daredevil" and "Ghost Rider" as well as writing "Grumpy Old Men" and its successful sequel "Grumpier Old Men." Johnson recently wrote, directed and produced "Love...
The worst Marvel adaptations
15. Tim Story
Director | Fantastic Four
Timothy Kevin Story was born on March 13, 1970 in Los Angeles, California. Attended Westchester High School in Los Angeles, California with jazz pianist Eric Reed and actresses Regina King and Nia Long. Graduated from USC film school.
Who gave him the Fantastic four ? Who ?
16. Brett Ratner
Director | Red Dragon
Brett Ratner is one of Hollywood's most successful filmmakers. His diverse films resonate with audiences worldwide and, as director, his films have grossed over $2 billion at the global box office. Brett began his career directing music videos before making his feature directorial debut at 26 years...
I hate the Rush hour licence... And he killed Wolverine...
17. David S. Goyer
Writer | Dark City
David S. Goyer was born on December 22, 1965 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for Dark City (1998), The Dark Knight (2008) and Flashforward (2009). He is married to Marina Black. They have two children. He was previously married to Jessika Borsiczky.
He wrote "Dark city" and "The dark Knight" but he's definitely an awful director...
18. Martin Campbell
Director | Casino Royale
Martin Campbell knows how to entertain an audience when he steps behind the camera. When he directed The Mask of Zorro (1998), the movie earned Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations and launched the international careers of Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Next, when he helmed ...
Exceptions : "Casino royale" and maybe "Goldeneye" I can't comment the rest of his work...
19. Pitof
Director | Vidocq
Pitof started his career in 1976 as photographer, assistant director and editor for films and commercials. He then branched out into musical scoring, software design and graphic design for televisions, music videos and commercials.
A pioneer of digital imaging in France, Pitof made his debut in ...
Another french guy... Sorry, sorry, sorry...
20. Roger Donaldson
Director | The World's Fastest Indian
Roger Donaldson was born on November 15, 1945 in Ballarat, Australia. He is a director and producer, known for The World's Fastest Indian (2005), No Way Out (1987) and Species (1995). He is married to Marliese Schneider. He was previously married to Susan Hockley.
Exceptions : "Thrirteen days" and "The world's fastest indian" (thanks to Anthony Hopkins) Examples : "Dante's Peak", "Species", "The getaway" Even "The recruit" and "The bank job" are just watchable
21. Barry Sonnenfeld
Director | Men in Black
Barry Sonnenfeld was born and raised in New York City. He graduated from New York University Film School in 1978. He started work as director of photography on the Oscar-nominated In Our Water (1982). Then Joel Coen and Ethan Coen hired him for Blood Simple (1984). This film began his collaboration...
Exception : "Men in black"
22. Brian Levant
Producer | Still the Beaver
Brian Michael Levant is an American filmmaker and producer known for directing many films such as The Flintstones, Jingle All the Way, Snow Dogs, Scooby-Doo: The Mystery Begins, The Flintstones: Viva Rock Vegas, Scooby-Doo: Curse of the Lake Monster, Are We There Yet?, The Spy Next Door and Max 2: ...
Children are not so stupids...
23. John Singleton
Writer | Boyz n the Hood
Son of Danny Singleton, a mortgage broker, and Sheila Ward, a pharmaceutical company sales executive, and raised in separate households by his unmarried parents, John Singleton attended the Film Writing Program at USC, after graduating from high school in 1986. While studying there, he won three ...
Examples : "Shaft", "2 fast 2 furious" and above "Abduction"
24. James Wong
Producer | The X Files
James Wong is known for The X-Files (1993), The One (2001) and Space: Above and Beyond (1995). He is married to Teena Wong. They have three children.
25. Chuck Russell
Director | The Scorpion King
Graduating from the University of Illinois, Russell left Chicago to begin work in film production in Los Angeles. He worked his way up, assistant directing and production managing independent films while writing screenplays. Russell made his directorial debut in 1987 with A Nightmare on Elm Street ...
Prepares a movie about Sinbad and Ali-Baba with The Rock and brother of Thor... I think we gonna laugh...
26. John Stockwell
Actor | Top Gun
John Stockwell is an American actor, director, producer and writer who is probably best known - as an actor - for his roles in the Tom Cruise vehicles Losin' It (1982) and Top Gun (1986), and the Stephen King - John Carpenter film Christine (1983).
John has since moved from acting into the ...
Sea, sex and sun... It's written on his face...
27. Walt Becker
Director | Old Dogs
Walt Becker was born on September 16, 1968 in Hollywood, California, USA. He is a director and producer, known for Old Dogs (2009), Wild Hogs (2007) and National Lampoon's Van Wilder (2002). He has been married to Lindsay Becker since 2005. They have two children.
his filmography has no personality and no interest
28. Steven Brill
Producer | Adam Sandler: 100% Fresh
A native of Utica, New York, Steven Brill studied film, theater and acting at Boston University. It was there that he became a student of acclaimed, Nobel Prize winning poet and playwright, Derek Walcott. Brill became a part of Mr. Walcott's first theater group in Boston, Playwright's Theater, ...
Adam Sandler's buddy
29. Frank Coraci
Director | The Wedding Singer
Frank Coraci is an American film Director, Writer and Actor best know for his work with Adam Sandler.
Coraci was born in Shirley, New York on Long Island. Coraci graduated from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 1988 with a bachelor's degree in Film. He has directed a number of ...
Adam Sandler's buddy
30. Dennis Dugan
Actor | Happy Gilmore
Dennis Barton Dugan is an American film director, actor, comedian and screenwriter from Wheaton, Illinois who directed several films featuring Adam Sandler including Happy Gilmore, Big Daddy, Jack & Jill, Grown Ups, I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry and You Don't Mess With the Zohan. He also ...
Adam Sandler's buddy
31. Tom Shadyac
Director | The Nutty Professor
Tom Shadyac moved to Los Angeles in 1983 and, at age 24, became the youngest staff joke writer ever for comedian Bob Hope. Shadyac received his master's degree in film from UCLA in 1989 after completing the critically acclaimed short, Tom, Dick and Harry. He then worked on movies-of-the-week, ...
32. Steve Carr
Director | Movie 43
Steve Carr is known for Movie 43 (2013), Paul Blart: Mall Cop (2009) and Daddy Day Care (2003).
33. Adam Shankman
Producer | Hairspray
Adam Shankman was born on November 27, 1964 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He is a producer and director, known for Hairspray (2007), A Walk to Remember (2002) and Disenchanted (2022).
34. Keenen Ivory Wayans
Writer | White Chicks
The trail-blazing linchpin of a sprawling family dynasty of comic entertainers, it was multi-talented writer/director/producer Keenen Ivory Wayans (born June 8, 1958, in New York City) who led the familial pack and was the first to achieve national prominence when he successfully created, launched,...
35. Shawn Levy
Producer | Free Guy
Shawn Levy was born on July 23, 1968 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He is a producer and director, known for Stranger Things (2016), Real Steel (2011), and the Night at the Museum franchise. He is the founder and principal of 21 Laps Entertainment. He is married to Serena Levy and they have four ...
36. Robert Luketic
Director | The Ugly Truth
Robert Luketic was born on November 1, 1973 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. He is a director and writer, known for The Ugly Truth (2009), Killers (2010) and 21 (2008).
37. Russell Mulcahy
Director | Highlander
Dynamic film/video director Russell Mulcahy was born June 23, 1953, in Melbourne, Australia. He first gained fame directing visually striking music video clips for such artists as Elton John, Duran Duran, The Buggles and Bonnie Tyler. He is also well known for feature films, starting off with the ...
38. Luis Llosa
Director | Anaconda
Luis Llosa was born in 1951 in Lima, Peru. He is a producer and director, known for Anaconda (1997), The Specialist (1994) and Crime Zone (1988). He is married to Roxana Valdivieso. They have two children. He was previously married to Patricia Pinilla Cisneros.
39. George P. Cosmatos
Director | Rambo: First Blood Part II
George P. Cosmatos was born on January 4, 1941 in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. He was a director and assistant director, known for Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985), Leviathan (1989) and Cobra (1986). He was married to Birgitta Ljungberg. He died on April 19, 2005 in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
40. Andrew Bergman
Writer | Striptease
Andrew Bergman was born on February 20, 1945 in Queens, New York City, New York, USA. He is a writer and director, known for Striptease (1996), Blazing Saddles (1974) and Fletch (1985). He has been married to Louise Fay since 1973. They have two children.
41. Jeremiah S. Chechik
Director | Benny & Joon
Jeremiah S. Chechik was born in 1955 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He is a director and producer, known for Benny & Joon (1993), Christmas Vacation (1989) and Gossip Girl (2007).
42. Danny Cannon
Producer | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Danny Cannon is an Emmy-nominated film and television producer, director and writer, known for executive producing and directing Pennyworth (2019), Gotham (2014), Nikita (2010), I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998), Judge Dredd (1995), and is responsible for executive producing the billion ...
43. Mick Jackson
Director | Volcano
Mick Jackson was born on October 4, 1943 in Aveley, Essex, England, UK. He is a director and producer, known for Volcano (1997), The Bodyguard (1992) and Temple Grandin (2010).
44. Peter Hyams
Director | 2010: The Year We Make Contact
Peter Hyams was born in New York on July 26, 1943, and attended Hunter College Elementary School. He studied art and music at the Art Students League and the High School of Music and Art as well as at Syracuse University, where he majored in music and art. Before he became a CBS News news anchor in...
45. Amy Heckerling
Writer | Clueless
Amy Heckerling studied Film and TV at New York University and got a Masters Degree in Film from The American Film Institute. Despite this education she couldn't get a break in Hollywood. However, in 1982, she made Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), and people started to take notice. In 1985, ...
46. Wayne Wang
Director | Smoke
Wayne Wang is a key figure in the development of independent filmmaking, alternating major Hollywood studio films such as »The Joy Luck Club« with smaller, independent work like »Smoke«. Continuing to work in the two different worlds, Wang directed an independent digital film, »The Center of the ...
47. Garry Marshall
Actor | A League of Their Own
Garry Kent Marshall (November 13, 1934 - July 19, 2016) was an American actor and filmmaker. He started his career in the 1960s writing for The Lucy Show and The Dick Van Dyke Show before he developed Neil Simon's 1965 play The Odd Couple for television in 1970. He gained fame for creating Happy ...
48. Emile Ardolino
Director | Dirty Dancing
Emile Ardolino was born on May 9, 1943 in Maspeth, New York, USA. He was a director and producer, known for Dirty Dancing (1987), Great Performances: Dance in America (1976) and He Makes Me Feel Like Dancin' (1983). He died on November 20, 1993 in Bel Air, California, USA.
49. Edward D. Wood Jr.
Writer | Plan 9 from Outer Space
Hacks are nothing new in Hollywood. Since the beginning of the film industry at the turn of the 20th century, thousands of untalented people have come to Los Angeles from all over America and abroad to try to make it big (as writers, producers, directors, actors, talent agents, singers, composers, ...
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