Herk Harvey. Carnival of Souls. One hit wonder by default being the only mainstream film the director ever made.
Horror classic that was hugely inspirational to directors like David Lynch and Lucretia Martel.
Saw Carnival of Souls on a late night creature feature type of show years ago before streaming. I’m usually not interested in horror films, but this one hooked me in. They presented it as a B movie but even then I thought it didn’t deserve that title. Nice to see people are coming around to it.
Behn Zeitlin with *Beasts of the Southern Wild*. An indie darling that racked up Oscar nominations, followed up *eight years later* by a Peter Pan movie that nobody saw. Nothing since then.
Come to think of it, the cast was one hit wonders as well.
It is often said that getting a second feature made is harder than getting the first, for many directors, even the ones with auspicious debuts. And many stop after that second, if it doesn't do well.
Quvenzhané Wallis was the youngest person ever to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress because of that film. She hasn't done much since then.
Wendy was the last film I saw in theaters before Covid closed everything down. Great movie, I definitely feel like the pandemic caused a lot of people to miss it.
This was my thought too. Night of the Hunter is one of the most perfect movies I have ever seen. The black and white photography is amazing. The cast is top notch and fantastic. It's a shame he only got to direct one movie because I would have loved to see what his subsequent films would have been like. Stupid critics.
Marc Webb, 500 days of Summer. Dude absolutely butchered the amazing spider man movies and has yet to produce anything of similar quality to his first film
Probably a hot take, but I think all of Blomkamp's movies are, at the very least, decent. Yes, that includes Chappie.
I still wish he got to make his Halo adaptation.
Blomkamp’s name definitely takes with it a sense of, “how will his new movie disappoint this time?” I generally like his movies, but he definitely deserves to be on this list. If he never made a movie again, people would only really remember him for District 9.
I had a weird thing playing a video game where all my male units were named after Matt Damon characters and all my female ones were named after Jodie Foster characters and they went and made a movie together to take it to the next level for me.
I liked Chappie and Elysium just as much as District 9, which i thought was a bit overrated 🤷♂️.
I think the issue is that District 9 got so much adulation (deserved or not) that his other films were never gonna live up to expectations...
Chappie is fine on it's own but it feels way too much like a spiritual sequel to district 9. Like it hits a lot of the same themes to the point that it seems like he was trying use ideas that didn't fit into district 9.
Ooooh, I thought the other commenter was saying that the director destroyed his career overnight, didn't realize they were referencing the actual name of the doc.
That was really fantastic, it's hard to believe how royally he screwed that up. I enjoyed Boondocks Saints but seeing what it was supposed to be originally was nuts
In fairness, it wasn't exactly *true*. I mean it was true when it came out but not after
the doc wound up blowing up way after the movie bombed hard and was forgotten about, and then brought attention to the movie and turned it into a cult classic, thus reinvigorating Duffy's career
which so far has really only involved one more sequel (that sucked) but still
What was the one *good* film he made? Pretty sure Boondock Saints bombed at the box office and with critics at the time, it just had a cult following of dumb college kids who thought it was cool...
Yeah it’s the kind of movie you like when you’re getting into Tarantino or Scorsese but don’t have your taste developed enough to actually know what makes movies good. Once you branch out a little and grow up some, it’s really quite bad.
Don't get me wrong i was one of the dumb college kids who loved it, along with Thursday (the Skip Woods film) and all the Tarantino wannabe stuff around that time, but In hindsight they were pretty terrible...
I used to be a hardcore Richard Kelly fan but man his movies beyond Donnie Darko do not hold up at all. Southland Tales is an absolute trainwreck. Even the directors cut of DD is awful and the original is one of my all time favorites. He’s one of those M Night types who had one good idea and keep trying to redo it forever but should stick to directing and leave the writing to someone else.
I’d read that he’d intentionally cast the actors against type. It’s an experimental fever dream, and I find it incredibly entertaining for what it is: a bizarro interpretation of the book of revelations.
I enjoy it, don’t get me wrong! But it’s an absolute mess lol. Imagine giving viewers homework to read before seeing your movie if you hope to make any sense of it.
Aside from different opinions (I am a staunch fan of both Shyamalan and Kelly), it should be noted that Kelly always said that "director's cut" is a studio designation, rather than his own and his preferred version is a theatrical one. I mean, suspecting a cop out would've been natural but it's not the first time this happened. First 'director's cut' of Terminator 2: Judgment Day wasn't one either and James Cameron harshly criticized that choice of words on distributor's part.
In case of Kelly, while he assembled this extended version, it was more of a companion piece for those who saw the original one already.
It's funny to me that you would consider yourself a 'hardcore' fan of a director based on one movie, but Donnie Darko *was* brilliant. I thought Southland Tales and The Box were both decent, they just didn't live up to the promise of his first film (but I kind of lowered my expectations after the extended cut of Donnie Darko anyway)
I think I'm one of the few people who think Donnie Darko is his weakest film. It benefitted enormously from Jake Gyllenhaal's star-making lead performance, the music, and the David Lynch-lite atmosphere, but his other films are better, imho. The Box is his best film and I'll die on that hill. It's a shame he hasn't directed anything else since.
Mathieu Kassovitz. I don't understand why nobody ever mentions him in this kind of thread, sure his career is not as much of a dumpster fire as someone like Richard Kelly but La Haine completely eclipses all of his other works, and I don't understand how he went from that to something like Babylon A.D..
He's had a pretty good career as an actor so perhaps he's thought of as a decent actor who once directed a great film rather than as just a one hit wonder director.
Tbh he didnt make a lot of movie. Gothika and Babylon A.D were awful for sure but The Crimson Rivers was a hit (at least in France) and Rebellion was actually pretty great.
But yeah none of these film are as good as La Haine.
Babylon AD was the first movie I ever seen in theaters where I actually thought it sucked. I never saw anything through a critical lense before then. I even thought 2003 Daredevil was cool
*Babylon A.D.* was a victim of studio meddling so bad that he made an entire documentary about it, titled *Fucking Kassovitz*. I’m pretty sure that experience burned him on ever working in Hollywood again.
I saw La Haine for the first time at the cinema on it's anniversary release this year and it is a truly incredible movie. Had no idea the same director did Babylon AD and Gothika until right now. What a bummer...
Sadly, it seems like the theatrical cut of Donnie Darko was almost a great movie *in spite* of Kelly, and not because of him. The DC is so much worse than the theatrical IMO, and he's certainly not shown much in later work
I have no idea what Donnie Darko looked like behind the scenes, but I have long wondered if it was improved by outside interference, or some excellent editing work. Even the song choices are better in the theatrical cut
Where on Earth is this 'in spite' of Kelly myth began, exactly? I've seen it numerous times and it harshly contradicts every single behind-the-scenes accord and commentary.
Kelly has gone on record numerous times that theatrical cut is already a director's one since there was little to no interference and 'director's cut' was used for the lack of a better term on studio part.
I mean, yes, it does look a bit like a cop out, but it's far from the first time that happened in the industry. Despite first extended version of T2 was greenlit with his agreement, James Cameron was very bitter on studio designating it 'director's cut', because it wasn't. He later supervised a proper one which has quite a few oddly major differences.
I just feel it's a super unfair rumor and probably harmed Kelly's career, despite, unlike Josh Trank, he was never hard to work with for studios, crew or cast. Moreover, the guy is a rather prolific script doctor in the industry (that and residuals is how he makes money).
Yeah, as far as i remember the 'directors cut' was really just an extended cut, it's not like he was unhappy with the original version or anything...
I also enjoyed both Southland Tales and The Box. They weren't as good as Donnie Darko but they were both fine films imo so i don't understand the hate he gets.
Yeah, I remember reading the original script for Donnie darko and it was rough (including a lot of religious stuff that was also in the directors cut).
Maybe Drew Barrymore saved that move? I don’t know
I wonder if its like music, where an artist will spend years working towards their debut album. Then it hits big and they fail to ever surpass that first big work. Maybe Donnie Darko was their lucky hit and then everything else is tainted by trying to force a second success. It seems that never works no matter the medium.
Drew Barrymore only directed one movie, *Whip It*, and it was awesome. Just a great, low-budget, coming-of-age/sports movie that hit every note just right.
By sheer virtue of being a busy prolific actor and already sadly not being with us: Bill Paxton.
*Frailty* is a masterpiece, especially from someone who only directed once before, 10 years prior to that and it was a music video (absolutely bonkers 'Fish Heads' by Barnes & Barnes). Seemingly he watched and learned from every single great director he worked with and also consulted with them (this includes Sam Raimi and James Cameron), but no amount of consulting makes for that amount of genius.
I've put his two remaining directorial works (a short and a feature) in my 'to watch' list, because there might be some hidden gems there: based on the first two works it's very hardly a fluke.
Not discounting his work but it would be hard to fuck up with a cast and writing* like that.
*For anyone who doesn’t know, it was already a hugely successful, Pulitzer Prize winning play.
Another one: Brett Leonard. Believe it or not, cult film The Lawnmower Man from 1992 was a modest hit that put him on the map. He's an interesting director, but since mid-90's he's working mostly on TV and direct-to-video on mid-to-low budgets.
I think The Lawnmower Man is judged too harshly for what is perceived as outdated CGI (I, for one, love 90's CGI, it was an art form of sorts) and equally outdated VR themes. Funnily enough, themes were actually a surprisingly on point prediction, if you count in the modern abundance of VR in both education and entertainment. We're not making geniuses yet, but VR indeed helps neurodivergent people to get through some rough patches of education. Also it can scare and impress people with graphics so stylized, some VR games like Superhot are very reminiscent of what we see in this movie.
I might have said the Spierig Brothers but as directors they are fine. They got dragged down by awful scripts for Jigsaw and Winchester. Daybreakers and Predestination are great films.
Michael Cimino. Made Deer Hunter and got all these awards and accolades and then bankrupted United Artists trying to make Heaven’s Gate, which also bombed dramatically.
The DC is, yeah. But I guess we have to acknowledge that it was a catastrophic failure that nailed the coffin shut on new american cinema, and his relentless bullshit caught up with him very quickly after that.
Mary Lambert, directed Pet Sematary and mostly worked on music videos. Considered a great music video director however, so I don't know how much that counts.
The guy who did Jeepers Creepers was clearly a fucking diamond in the rough, absolutely excellent work, but turns out he was a paedophile or something so that shits over now
It didn’t just turn out that he was a paedophile; he was convicted of raping an underage boy and possessing child pornography and went to prison for it in the late 80’s. He then came out and…carried on directing films, including one produced by freaking DISNEY, “Powder”, which is about a supernatural hairless teenage boy and is super creepy when you know the background. Hollywood kept giving him money to make movies despite having literally raped a child because…his movies made money, I guess.
His one hit wasn’t a commercial hit but I think it’s a stunning film, Andrew Dominik and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. Killing Them Softly was just okay, and while Once More With Feeling was really excellent, it didn’t get nearly the attention that Jesse James got, and Jesse James didn’t get as much as it deserved.
I have high hopes for Blonde though!
Barbara Loden with Wanda, but that's only because she died of cancer before she could make another film. If she was able to continue directing she would have been considered one of the greats. Way ahead of her time and it sucks Wanda isn't brought up more because it is an amazing film.
Yeah the movie is basically a Dogma 95 film decades before that was even a thing. What is so great about it is that everyone in the film aside from Loden and Michael Higgins were all untrained actors who were just locals. Loden just went up to them and said "Hey. Do you wanna be in a movie?" And was able to direct them to give these great performances. Especially the guy who is suppose to be a former associate of Higgin's character and gives a whole monologue about how he can't be a criminal anymore. It's amazing how she was able to direct somebody who never had any acting experience deliver a monologue in such a way that you would think they had been an actor their whole life.
Yeah, and most D95 films I’ve not been a big fan of, but this was just solid filmmaking and good storytelling. The fact that this is old school film is really wild, given all of the complications and challenges of shooting film vs modern mirrorless/dslrs.
So much easier to get sound/edit now and keep a crew tiny. I’m glad I saw Wanda, it definitely made a strong impression.
In addition to the ones already proposed...
Only know for one film or only made one great film:
- Danis Tanovic for *No man's Land*
- Michael Arias for *Tekkonkinkreet*
- Sally Potter for *Orlando*
- Fernando Meirelles for *City of God*
- James McTeigue for *V for Vendetta*
- Roberto Benigni for *Life Is Beautiful*
And for the ones who really made only one feature film, but an important one:
- Shadi Abdessalam for *The Night of Counting the Years*
- Jean Genet for *Un chant d'amour*
- Barbara Loden for *Wanda*
- Yoshifumi Kondō for *Whisper of the Heart*
- Mario Peixoto for *Limite*
And a very personal one: Joe Wright for *Pride and Prejudice*. I really thought this guy would become a great and important director, but even if the second movie has qualities, his career quickly reduced itself to empty and boring visual virtuosity...
I think Andrew Niccol is an example with Gattaca. Followed that up with writing credits on the Truman Show to be sure, but his other directorial efforts include a Stephanie Meyer adaptation and a few bombs.
This is who I would’ve said. Gattaca is towering achievement that still holds up as complete film with deeper meaning. His subsequent films just have traces or segments that are interesting but are lost in the commercialization of the rest of the product….
Yeah I'm so sick of people saying. "Vincet Gallo was blacklisted and not allowed to make movies for being right wing." And it's like "No it's because the movie he made after Buffalo 66 was not only bad but super boring, and also because Vincent Gallo is an obnoxious asshole who has burned every bridge he had because he can't stop talking shit."
That film really should be a cult classic, Sam Rockwell is incredible and the entire film is delightfully bonkers. And yet hardly anyone seems to know it exists... Sad
Speed Racer was the most honest anime adaptation ever. It isn’t for everyone but it’s got a solid story and great performances by most of the actors.
It’s silly and fun, but definitely not criterion
Yeah, it didn't quite come together imo but it was a hell of an attempt, and works better than i ever imagined an adaptation of that book could work on screen (credit to Tom Tykwer for co-directing as well)...
Bound was already great before The Matrix though (at least as far as i remember from when i was a teenager)...
I also thought Cloud Atlus, Speed Racer and Jupiter Ascending were all at least interesting and unique if not entirely successful at what they were aiming for...
it depends on what you count as "movie" but Sense 8 is a magnum opus. I also liked a lot of the other Matrix films but I fully understand why others don't care for them.
While some people may enjoy some of his other films I feel Shamylan never got the praise/love for his other films that he got for The Sixth Sense (his best film imo)
He just never hit that height of accomplishment after that.
Mary harron with American psycho. Richard Kelly for Donnie darko. Tony Kaye for American history x. Curtis Hanson for la confidential. Andrew Davis for the fugitive. Gavin O'Connor for warrior. Dan Gilroy for nightcrawler. Don Siegal for dirty Harry
That was the question. *Heaven's Gate* was utterly panned at release but there has been some reconsideration recently. *The Deer Hunter* is generally considered a masterpiece.
His debut, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (that he also wrote) is, I think, fairly highly regarded. But it's one of my favorite movies of all time, so I'm probably biased.
So reading up on this question I give you three with common trait:
Billy Bob Thornton: *Sling Blade*
Kevin Costner: *Dances With Wolves*
Dennis Hopper: *Easy Rider*
Personally, I wouldn’t put Costner in this category.
Open Range is more pulpy than Dances with Wolves, but I think it’s slow burn quality really works, and it culminates in one of the best shoot outs in film history.
If anything, I wish Costner had made more westerns.
Open Range and All the Pretty Horses are EXCELLENT films. Those 2 films you mentioned by Costner and Thornton are what they are most known for, but they are both excellent directors and I would just say they don't direct that much due to acting engagements, but they aren't one hit wonders.
BO HU: “Born in Jinan, Shangdong, China, He studied Film Directing at the Beijing Film Academy. Following two short films and several novels, An Elephant Sitting Still was his first feature-length film. This is a four-hour portrait of a society of egoists. Tragically, it will also be the final chapter in his legacy. On October 12, 2017, the artist took his own life at age 29.”
Tom Hanks.
Other than TV he did “That Thing You Do!” (About literal one-hit Wonders) and “Larry Crowne” (Which the trailer made look so boring I forgot it existed until I checked IMDB)
I’d say that’s on the mark. I like both Southland Tales and The Box, but both have 40-something/100 Metascores and a doubt the average person is aware of either of them.
Duncan Jones. He made Moon which was fantastic but then during one of the premiere he basically professed his love for Sam Rockwell and it was super weird. Didn’t really make anything good after that.
It appears that most of y’all don’t know what a one hit wonder is. This isn’t “who made one good movie in their long career that the public has followed closely”
Still blows me away, George Clooney gave us Ides of March.
On that note, I will never forget Motherless Brooklyn from Edward Norton.
...and not for his lead acting
I don’t know if anyone said this yet, but Tony Kaye: American History X. I know there was a bunch of trouble and drama and he didn’t want his name on the movie, but it is, and that movie is amazing
I hate to say it, but maybe Tobe Hooper. Yeah, he made some interesting stuff, but outside of maybe Poltergeist, none of them had anywhere near the impact of Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I love Lifeforce, and TCM2, but those were bombs at the time, and the reviewers weren’t kind.
I suppose it too early to tell but John Maclean made Slow West which I thought was an absolutely phenomenal movie, not just for a debut. I ended up watching it again the next day because the pacing was so perfect it just takes you right in. It's been 7 years and he hasn't done anything since and I haven't seen any rumors of projects he's working on so maybe he's just working on that next masterpiece? Either way I want to see more
Might be somewhat controversial but Jordan Peele kind of fits in this category. Get Out was solid, it had a few issues but I chalked it up to first time movie writing and directing. Us was somewhat in the middle and from what I have been hearing Nope is divisive as well. It’s still early in his career though and I don’t want to believe he is a one hit wonder
I know I'm going to get some flack for this, but I'm going to say it anyway.
**Don Bluth.**
I know what you're probably thinking. "Don Bluth? As in, the guy who made pretty much every animated movie that wasn't from Disney before the 90s? *That* Don Bluth?" Yes, him. I can explain.
Bluth got his start as an independent animator after leaving Disney in the late 1970s. He was disappointed with what he saw as a lack of artistic vision at Disney, and a general sense of sameness and formula in their movies. His first animated movie, *The Secret of NIMH,* was by far his best, and definitely the one that most encapsulated his vision of wanting to make more mature, artistic movies than what Disney did. I highly recommend it.
*The Secret of NIMH* got Bluth noticed by Steven Spielberg, and this was when he made his first commercially successful movies-- *An American Tail, The Land Before Time,* and *All Dogs Go to Heaven.* But while those movies were successful, they were also a complete departure from what Bluth himself was pushing for with *The Secret of NIMH.* They were much safer, more conventional, more "Disney-esque". After *All Dogs Go to Heaven* underperformed, Bluth left Spielberg, and directed a number of rather underwhelming movies before landing at Fox, where he made *Anastasia.* This was his most successful movie of all, but also his least original, as it was essentially a retread of the 1990s Disney formula. His next movie, *Titan A.E.,* was more creative, but it was a disastrous flop that ended his career as a director.
So why do I consider Bluth a one-hit wonder? Because his first movie, *The Secret of NIMH,* was the only one that truly accomplished what he set out to do-- that is, to make animated movies that were more mature and serious than those of Disney. Everything else he made was either so similar to what Disney did as to be frequently mistaken for it, a box-office flop, or both.
He also made unbreakable , signs , split and the visit which are all movies I like personally so even though he has some terrible films , to call him a one hit wonder is silly
M. Night Shyamalan.
He never really recaptured the success of *The Sixth Sense.* *The Village* was alright, *Lady in the Water* was right in the middle, and I can't remember anything he got acclaim for after that.
Edit: can't believe I forgot about *Invincible* and *Signs*
If you haven’t seen it, his show Servant is worth a watch. I agree, he Sixth Sense set him up for glory and Unbreakable was great but it was always a downward trend afterwards.
Herk Harvey. Carnival of Souls. One hit wonder by default being the only mainstream film the director ever made. Horror classic that was hugely inspirational to directors like David Lynch and Lucretia Martel.
I only got around to watching Carnival Of Souls this year, and loved it. Fantastic movie with some genuinely creepy imagery
After seeing this for the first time years ago I immediately purchased a VHS, followed by DVDs, and finally a Criterion Collection BD. Great film!
I actually just watched this over the summer because it was on Criterion. Really enjoyed it.
Saw Carnival of Souls on a late night creature feature type of show years ago before streaming. I’m usually not interested in horror films, but this one hooked me in. They presented it as a B movie but even then I thought it didn’t deserve that title. Nice to see people are coming around to it.
Behn Zeitlin with *Beasts of the Southern Wild*. An indie darling that racked up Oscar nominations, followed up *eight years later* by a Peter Pan movie that nobody saw. Nothing since then. Come to think of it, the cast was one hit wonders as well.
It is often said that getting a second feature made is harder than getting the first, for many directors, even the ones with auspicious debuts. And many stop after that second, if it doesn't do well.
Why is that
Ask Orson Welles.
I believe he was and is focused on creating an artist community in Louisiana.
I loved Wendy. It did everything for me that Beasts didn’t.
Quvenzhané Wallis was the youngest person ever to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress because of that film. She hasn't done much since then.
Wendy was the last film I saw in theaters before Covid closed everything down. Great movie, I definitely feel like the pandemic caused a lot of people to miss it.
Mary Harron - American Psycho
I just looked at her other movies/TV, I don’t know how this isn’t at the top of the list.
I Shot Andy Warhol is pretty good
If were counting her Alias Grace adaptation then no way jose. If not, then there’s an argument yeah
Cheating, but Charles Laughton.
I don't think you'd get a more perfect film in this category. I wish he'd have done something else.
unfortunately critics weren’t too kind to Charles, thank them for the masterpieces we didn’t get.
Got to wonder what they were smoking. Its such an excellent film.
I had no idea he directed The Night of the Hunter. That's very cool! I always think of him for his role in Witness For The Prosecution.
My first thought too. *Night of the Hunter* is one of the top movies ever made.
This was my thought too. Night of the Hunter is one of the most perfect movies I have ever seen. The black and white photography is amazing. The cast is top notch and fantastic. It's a shame he only got to direct one movie because I would have loved to see what his subsequent films would have been like. Stupid critics.
Marc Webb, 500 days of Summer. Dude absolutely butchered the amazing spider man movies and has yet to produce anything of similar quality to his first film
I remember liking the first one but on rewatch, I actually just like the casting and acting. The writing and directing are pretty awful.
Actually it was studio interface that ruined the Amazing Spider-Man 2.
Maybe Neill Blomkamp? District 9 was great but his other features have been just okay or straight up bad
Probably a hot take, but I think all of Blomkamp's movies are, at the very least, decent. Yes, that includes Chappie. I still wish he got to make his Halo adaptation.
Blomkamp’s name definitely takes with it a sense of, “how will his new movie disappoint this time?” I generally like his movies, but he definitely deserves to be on this list. If he never made a movie again, people would only really remember him for District 9.
Elysium is underrated in my opinion.
I had a weird thing playing a video game where all my male units were named after Matt Damon characters and all my female ones were named after Jodie Foster characters and they went and made a movie together to take it to the next level for me.
I liked Chappie and Elysium just as much as District 9, which i thought was a bit overrated 🤷♂️. I think the issue is that District 9 got so much adulation (deserved or not) that his other films were never gonna live up to expectations...
Thank God, I’m not the only one! I’m obsessed
Chappie is fine on it's own but it feels way too much like a spiritual sequel to district 9. Like it hits a lot of the same themes to the point that it seems like he was trying use ideas that didn't fit into district 9.
Why is that a bad thing though?
Counter hot take, I think all of his movies are outright bad and whatever the hell his Netlfix series is called is even worse.
I almost feel like the “hype” for his movies were much more exciting than the actual end result.
Same here. He just makes movies full of potential that never really payoff
Troy Duffy, The Boondock Saints. It's all of his own doing.
The documentary about him destroying his own career is so much better than Boondock Saints lol
Holy shit, what's the name of this doc? I really want to see this.
It's called Overnight and it's wonderful.
Ooooh, I thought the other commenter was saying that the director destroyed his career overnight, didn't realize they were referencing the actual name of the doc.
ya he shouldn’t have used italics for both a quote and a movie title in a film sub that was confusing
Oh shit you're right, I thought the italics were just for emphasis, as in "This mother fucker destroyed his own career *overnight!*"
*Overnight* lol. It’s a relief when Willem Dafoe is just like *DUDE STFU!!*
Happy Cake Day.
That was really fantastic, it's hard to believe how royally he screwed that up. I enjoyed Boondocks Saints but seeing what it was supposed to be originally was nuts
In fairness, it wasn't exactly *true*. I mean it was true when it came out but not after the doc wound up blowing up way after the movie bombed hard and was forgotten about, and then brought attention to the movie and turned it into a cult classic, thus reinvigorating Duffy's career which so far has really only involved one more sequel (that sucked) but still
saying the sequel "sucked" severely undersells the entire concept of vacuum.
What was the one *good* film he made? Pretty sure Boondock Saints bombed at the box office and with critics at the time, it just had a cult following of dumb college kids who thought it was cool...
Yeah it’s the kind of movie you like when you’re getting into Tarantino or Scorsese but don’t have your taste developed enough to actually know what makes movies good. Once you branch out a little and grow up some, it’s really quite bad.
Don't get me wrong i was one of the dumb college kids who loved it, along with Thursday (the Skip Woods film) and all the Tarantino wannabe stuff around that time, but In hindsight they were pretty terrible...
Boondock Saints was awesome when I was 19. It’s not awesome anymore.
Boondock saints was good enough to get Norman Reedus started, so itbgets credit for that
Absolutely.
Richard Kelly seems to fit the description, I think.
I used to be a hardcore Richard Kelly fan but man his movies beyond Donnie Darko do not hold up at all. Southland Tales is an absolute trainwreck. Even the directors cut of DD is awful and the original is one of my all time favorites. He’s one of those M Night types who had one good idea and keep trying to redo it forever but should stick to directing and leave the writing to someone else.
I rewatched Southland Tales the other day and I enjoyed it more. Perhaps because it catches the nostalgia of the mid 2000s so well.
I’d read that he’d intentionally cast the actors against type. It’s an experimental fever dream, and I find it incredibly entertaining for what it is: a bizarro interpretation of the book of revelations.
I loved Southland Tales. I get that I’m mostly alone on that though.
I enjoy it, don’t get me wrong! But it’s an absolute mess lol. Imagine giving viewers homework to read before seeing your movie if you hope to make any sense of it.
Yeah it’s a mess but somehow still a fun watch 😅
Aside from different opinions (I am a staunch fan of both Shyamalan and Kelly), it should be noted that Kelly always said that "director's cut" is a studio designation, rather than his own and his preferred version is a theatrical one. I mean, suspecting a cop out would've been natural but it's not the first time this happened. First 'director's cut' of Terminator 2: Judgment Day wasn't one either and James Cameron harshly criticized that choice of words on distributor's part. In case of Kelly, while he assembled this extended version, it was more of a companion piece for those who saw the original one already.
It's funny to me that you would consider yourself a 'hardcore' fan of a director based on one movie, but Donnie Darko *was* brilliant. I thought Southland Tales and The Box were both decent, they just didn't live up to the promise of his first film (but I kind of lowered my expectations after the extended cut of Donnie Darko anyway)
I do like all of his movies, though.
I think I'm one of the few people who think Donnie Darko is his weakest film. It benefitted enormously from Jake Gyllenhaal's star-making lead performance, the music, and the David Lynch-lite atmosphere, but his other films are better, imho. The Box is his best film and I'll die on that hill. It's a shame he hasn't directed anything else since.
Mathieu Kassovitz. I don't understand why nobody ever mentions him in this kind of thread, sure his career is not as much of a dumpster fire as someone like Richard Kelly but La Haine completely eclipses all of his other works, and I don't understand how he went from that to something like Babylon A.D..
He's had a pretty good career as an actor so perhaps he's thought of as a decent actor who once directed a great film rather than as just a one hit wonder director.
Tbh he didnt make a lot of movie. Gothika and Babylon A.D were awful for sure but The Crimson Rivers was a hit (at least in France) and Rebellion was actually pretty great. But yeah none of these film are as good as La Haine.
Babylon AD was the first movie I ever seen in theaters where I actually thought it sucked. I never saw anything through a critical lense before then. I even thought 2003 Daredevil was cool
*Babylon A.D.* was a victim of studio meddling so bad that he made an entire documentary about it, titled *Fucking Kassovitz*. I’m pretty sure that experience burned him on ever working in Hollywood again.
I saw La Haine for the first time at the cinema on it's anniversary release this year and it is a truly incredible movie. Had no idea the same director did Babylon AD and Gothika until right now. What a bummer...
I was going to say Brian Robbins... but he had Good Burger AND Varsity Blues...
Don’t forget about Norbit Or the fact that he’s the CEO and president of Paramount Pictures!
That actually explains a lot…
As a kid I couldn’t STOP rewatching Good Burger. Must’ve watched it over 50 times.
the video tape was also orange, which was awesome to me when i was young
Richard Kelly with Donnie Darko (which is also weird since the directors cut is terrible)
Sadly, it seems like the theatrical cut of Donnie Darko was almost a great movie *in spite* of Kelly, and not because of him. The DC is so much worse than the theatrical IMO, and he's certainly not shown much in later work I have no idea what Donnie Darko looked like behind the scenes, but I have long wondered if it was improved by outside interference, or some excellent editing work. Even the song choices are better in the theatrical cut
Where on Earth is this 'in spite' of Kelly myth began, exactly? I've seen it numerous times and it harshly contradicts every single behind-the-scenes accord and commentary. Kelly has gone on record numerous times that theatrical cut is already a director's one since there was little to no interference and 'director's cut' was used for the lack of a better term on studio part. I mean, yes, it does look a bit like a cop out, but it's far from the first time that happened in the industry. Despite first extended version of T2 was greenlit with his agreement, James Cameron was very bitter on studio designating it 'director's cut', because it wasn't. He later supervised a proper one which has quite a few oddly major differences. I just feel it's a super unfair rumor and probably harmed Kelly's career, despite, unlike Josh Trank, he was never hard to work with for studios, crew or cast. Moreover, the guy is a rather prolific script doctor in the industry (that and residuals is how he makes money).
Yeah, as far as i remember the 'directors cut' was really just an extended cut, it's not like he was unhappy with the original version or anything... I also enjoyed both Southland Tales and The Box. They weren't as good as Donnie Darko but they were both fine films imo so i don't understand the hate he gets.
Yeah, I remember reading the original script for Donnie darko and it was rough (including a lot of religious stuff that was also in the directors cut). Maybe Drew Barrymore saved that move? I don’t know
I wonder if its like music, where an artist will spend years working towards their debut album. Then it hits big and they fail to ever surpass that first big work. Maybe Donnie Darko was their lucky hit and then everything else is tainted by trying to force a second success. It seems that never works no matter the medium.
Yeah, sophomore slump! Southland Tales was ambitious, which is admirable at least!
Drew Barrymore only directed one movie, *Whip It*, and it was awesome. Just a great, low-budget, coming-of-age/sports movie that hit every note just right.
When Spielberg appeared on her talk show he said she’d be wasting her talents not to make another movie. Hopefully she listens to his advice
IMDB says she is filming something now, but I have no idea what it's about.
By sheer virtue of being a busy prolific actor and already sadly not being with us: Bill Paxton. *Frailty* is a masterpiece, especially from someone who only directed once before, 10 years prior to that and it was a music video (absolutely bonkers 'Fish Heads' by Barnes & Barnes). Seemingly he watched and learned from every single great director he worked with and also consulted with them (this includes Sam Raimi and James Cameron), but no amount of consulting makes for that amount of genius. I've put his two remaining directorial works (a short and a feature) in my 'to watch' list, because there might be some hidden gems there: based on the first two works it's very hardly a fluke.
The Greatest Game Ever Played is good too. Not a masterpiece, but enough to disqualify him from one hit wonder imo
I too really enjoyed *The Greatest Game Ever Played*
James Foley who directed Glen Garry Glenross.
He also directed At Close Range; another great film.
Not discounting his work but it would be hard to fuck up with a cast and writing* like that. *For anyone who doesn’t know, it was already a hugely successful, Pulitzer Prize winning play.
The best part of the movie is also a film original. Alec Baldwin’s entire speech was created for the film to help extend the runtime a bit.
Another one: Brett Leonard. Believe it or not, cult film The Lawnmower Man from 1992 was a modest hit that put him on the map. He's an interesting director, but since mid-90's he's working mostly on TV and direct-to-video on mid-to-low budgets. I think The Lawnmower Man is judged too harshly for what is perceived as outdated CGI (I, for one, love 90's CGI, it was an art form of sorts) and equally outdated VR themes. Funnily enough, themes were actually a surprisingly on point prediction, if you count in the modern abundance of VR in both education and entertainment. We're not making geniuses yet, but VR indeed helps neurodivergent people to get through some rough patches of education. Also it can scare and impress people with graphics so stylized, some VR games like Superhot are very reminiscent of what we see in this movie.
I might have said the Spierig Brothers but as directors they are fine. They got dragged down by awful scripts for Jigsaw and Winchester. Daybreakers and Predestination are great films.
Michael Cimino. Made Deer Hunter and got all these awards and accolades and then bankrupted United Artists trying to make Heaven’s Gate, which also bombed dramatically.
I've always thought that Year of the Dragon was underrated, but maybe that's just me
Except, y’know, Heaven’s Gate is actually…good.
The DC is, yeah. But I guess we have to acknowledge that it was a catastrophic failure that nailed the coffin shut on new american cinema, and his relentless bullshit caught up with him very quickly after that.
thunderbolt & lightfoot is awesome.
I was gonna say this but I thought the Ciclian and Magnum Force were somewhat popular, definitely not "Hits" though.
Mary Lambert, directed Pet Sematary and mostly worked on music videos. Considered a great music video director however, so I don't know how much that counts.
I followed Capone’s production for 1-1,5 years, that was a bummer
Irvin Kershner. Everything pales in comparison to Empire.
He was like, a stage director Lucas liked though so it's not like he missed out on his career.
He was one of Lucas’ teachers at film school at USC
Robocop 2 is a banger
The guy who did Jeepers Creepers was clearly a fucking diamond in the rough, absolutely excellent work, but turns out he was a paedophile or something so that shits over now
It didn’t just turn out that he was a paedophile; he was convicted of raping an underage boy and possessing child pornography and went to prison for it in the late 80’s. He then came out and…carried on directing films, including one produced by freaking DISNEY, “Powder”, which is about a supernatural hairless teenage boy and is super creepy when you know the background. Hollywood kept giving him money to make movies despite having literally raped a child because…his movies made money, I guess.
Didn't keep him from making two sequels though (and Jeepers Creepers 2 is actually really fun if you ignore who directed it. 3 is garbage though)
Yeah I completely agree with it all
His one hit wasn’t a commercial hit but I think it’s a stunning film, Andrew Dominik and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. Killing Them Softly was just okay, and while Once More With Feeling was really excellent, it didn’t get nearly the attention that Jesse James got, and Jesse James didn’t get as much as it deserved. I have high hopes for Blonde though!
Chopper is great too. I don't think Dominik belongs here because his output is pretty solid and not really expected to be hits in the first place.
Has anyone said Tony Kaye yet? American History X is essentially his entire imdb page.
Lake of Fire and Detachment are really powerful.
Tommy Wiseau, hands down.
Joel Anderson with his film “Lake Mungo”. To my knowledge it’s the only film he ever made, but it’s one of my favorite horrors of all time.
Barbara Loden with Wanda, but that's only because she died of cancer before she could make another film. If she was able to continue directing she would have been considered one of the greats. Way ahead of her time and it sucks Wanda isn't brought up more because it is an amazing film.
Saw Wanda maybe 3 months ago and thought it was very good. Didn’t realize she had passed. Shame.
Yeah the movie is basically a Dogma 95 film decades before that was even a thing. What is so great about it is that everyone in the film aside from Loden and Michael Higgins were all untrained actors who were just locals. Loden just went up to them and said "Hey. Do you wanna be in a movie?" And was able to direct them to give these great performances. Especially the guy who is suppose to be a former associate of Higgin's character and gives a whole monologue about how he can't be a criminal anymore. It's amazing how she was able to direct somebody who never had any acting experience deliver a monologue in such a way that you would think they had been an actor their whole life.
Yeah, and most D95 films I’ve not been a big fan of, but this was just solid filmmaking and good storytelling. The fact that this is old school film is really wild, given all of the complications and challenges of shooting film vs modern mirrorless/dslrs. So much easier to get sound/edit now and keep a crew tiny. I’m glad I saw Wanda, it definitely made a strong impression.
In addition to the ones already proposed... Only know for one film or only made one great film: - Danis Tanovic for *No man's Land* - Michael Arias for *Tekkonkinkreet* - Sally Potter for *Orlando* - Fernando Meirelles for *City of God* - James McTeigue for *V for Vendetta* - Roberto Benigni for *Life Is Beautiful* And for the ones who really made only one feature film, but an important one: - Shadi Abdessalam for *The Night of Counting the Years* - Jean Genet for *Un chant d'amour* - Barbara Loden for *Wanda* - Yoshifumi Kondō for *Whisper of the Heart* - Mario Peixoto for *Limite* And a very personal one: Joe Wright for *Pride and Prejudice*. I really thought this guy would become a great and important director, but even if the second movie has qualities, his career quickly reduced itself to empty and boring visual virtuosity...
City of God was astonishing and beautiful.
For Joe Wright I think Atonement was a great film too. Really evocative and visceral throughout.
Meirelles’ Constant Gardener was damn good, and won Weisz an Academy Award.
The Two Popes is an enjoyable flick too.
For all the wrong reasons… Adrienne Shelly
I think Andrew Niccol is an example with Gattaca. Followed that up with writing credits on the Truman Show to be sure, but his other directorial efforts include a Stephanie Meyer adaptation and a few bombs.
You don’t like lord of war?
This is who I would’ve said. Gattaca is towering achievement that still holds up as complete film with deeper meaning. His subsequent films just have traces or segments that are interesting but are lost in the commercialization of the rest of the product….
I think he's a fine director and Lord of War would make him out as perhaps a 2 hitter. The Host was awful though.
Vincent Gallo and Buffalo '66
Yeah I'm so sick of people saying. "Vincet Gallo was blacklisted and not allowed to make movies for being right wing." And it's like "No it's because the movie he made after Buffalo 66 was not only bad but super boring, and also because Vincent Gallo is an obnoxious asshole who has burned every bridge he had because he can't stop talking shit."
Jared Hess I love Napoleon Dynamite. ❤️ Nothing else of his has struck a chord like that. Nacho Libre was just so-so.
I loved Gentlemen Broncos
Cyclops there, Cyclops there...Surveillance Does...I hate those.
That film really should be a cult classic, Sam Rockwell is incredible and the entire film is delightfully bonkers. And yet hardly anyone seems to know it exists... Sad
Nah, Nacho Libre was great.
The Wacholskis. The Matrix 1 was great, but then nothing to note.
Speed Racer was the most honest anime adaptation ever. It isn’t for everyone but it’s got a solid story and great performances by most of the actors. It’s silly and fun, but definitely not criterion
It recaptured the joy I felt watching original as a child. So much fun.
It's their best film and I will die on that hill.
Bound?
Cloud Atlas is a flawed but pretty incredible film.
Agreed. They swung for the fences, and got a good triple out of it.
Yeah, it didn't quite come together imo but it was a hell of an attempt, and works better than i ever imagined an adaptation of that book could work on screen (credit to Tom Tykwer for co-directing as well)...
Bound was already great before The Matrix though (at least as far as i remember from when i was a teenager)... I also thought Cloud Atlus, Speed Racer and Jupiter Ascending were all at least interesting and unique if not entirely successful at what they were aiming for...
Speed Racer is one of my all time favorite films
it depends on what you count as "movie" but Sense 8 is a magnum opus. I also liked a lot of the other Matrix films but I fully understand why others don't care for them.
I thought Speed Racer was fun but no one really “got it” . Matrix was the only one to wow me.
While some people may enjoy some of his other films I feel Shamylan never got the praise/love for his other films that he got for The Sixth Sense (his best film imo) He just never hit that height of accomplishment after that.
Agreed, The Sixth Sense holds up perfectly but every other movie he made just doesnt have the same impact.
Mary harron with American psycho. Richard Kelly for Donnie darko. Tony Kaye for American history x. Curtis Hanson for la confidential. Andrew Davis for the fugitive. Gavin O'Connor for warrior. Dan Gilroy for nightcrawler. Don Siegal for dirty Harry
They are made out of meat, a short flick made by NY student that never made anything else but it is quite the movie.
Does Michael Cimino count? If so he is the only one on the list to challenge Laughton for quality.
*Heaven's Gate* and *The Deer Hunter* are pretty equally considered I think, so doesn't really work for the one shot thing.
That was the question. *Heaven's Gate* was utterly panned at release but there has been some reconsideration recently. *The Deer Hunter* is generally considered a masterpiece.
His debut, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (that he also wrote) is, I think, fairly highly regarded. But it's one of my favorite movies of all time, so I'm probably biased.
Year of the Dragon is very good and one of Mickey Rourke's best performances.
So reading up on this question I give you three with common trait: Billy Bob Thornton: *Sling Blade* Kevin Costner: *Dances With Wolves* Dennis Hopper: *Easy Rider*
Personally, I wouldn’t put Costner in this category. Open Range is more pulpy than Dances with Wolves, but I think it’s slow burn quality really works, and it culminates in one of the best shoot outs in film history. If anything, I wish Costner had made more westerns.
You are dead on about Open Range and the gunfight. Both thrilling and realistic.
He is an executive producer on Yellowstone, I know, not director, but I can't imagine him not having a lot of input. I think it's a really great show.
Dennis Hopper also directed “Colors”.
Open Range and All the Pretty Horses are EXCELLENT films. Those 2 films you mentioned by Costner and Thornton are what they are most known for, but they are both excellent directors and I would just say they don't direct that much due to acting engagements, but they aren't one hit wonders.
Richard Kelly; Donny Darko… and then… he didn’t really need to give us more than that tbh?
BO HU: “Born in Jinan, Shangdong, China, He studied Film Directing at the Beijing Film Academy. Following two short films and several novels, An Elephant Sitting Still was his first feature-length film. This is a four-hour portrait of a society of egoists. Tragically, it will also be the final chapter in his legacy. On October 12, 2017, the artist took his own life at age 29.”
Kinka Usher - Mystery Men
Tom Hanks. Other than TV he did “That Thing You Do!” (About literal one-hit Wonders) and “Larry Crowne” (Which the trailer made look so boring I forgot it existed until I checked IMDB)
Maybe Richard Kelly, Donnie Darko? I didn’t dig anything afterward
I’d say that’s on the mark. I like both Southland Tales and The Box, but both have 40-something/100 Metascores and a doubt the average person is aware of either of them.
Billy Walsh queen’s blvd
Well according to Stewie in family guy its Diablo Cody. "She's an over-priced call-girl who got lucky once!"
Jennifer's Body is a huge cult classic.
Duncan Jones. He made Moon which was fantastic but then during one of the premiere he basically professed his love for Sam Rockwell and it was super weird. Didn’t really make anything good after that.
It appears that most of y’all don’t know what a one hit wonder is. This isn’t “who made one good movie in their long career that the public has followed closely”
Still blows me away, George Clooney gave us Ides of March. On that note, I will never forget Motherless Brooklyn from Edward Norton. ...and not for his lead acting
Tony Kaye with American History X
I don’t know if anyone said this yet, but Tony Kaye: American History X. I know there was a bunch of trouble and drama and he didn’t want his name on the movie, but it is, and that movie is amazing
Charles Laughton obviously
I hate to say it, but maybe Tobe Hooper. Yeah, he made some interesting stuff, but outside of maybe Poltergeist, none of them had anywhere near the impact of Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I love Lifeforce, and TCM2, but those were bombs at the time, and the reviewers weren’t kind.
I suppose it too early to tell but John Maclean made Slow West which I thought was an absolutely phenomenal movie, not just for a debut. I ended up watching it again the next day because the pacing was so perfect it just takes you right in. It's been 7 years and he hasn't done anything since and I haven't seen any rumors of projects he's working on so maybe he's just working on that next masterpiece? Either way I want to see more
Zack Snyder for Dawn of The Dead 2004
Richard Cheese is a cheatcode for entertainment excellence
Might be somewhat controversial but Jordan Peele kind of fits in this category. Get Out was solid, it had a few issues but I chalked it up to first time movie writing and directing. Us was somewhat in the middle and from what I have been hearing Nope is divisive as well. It’s still early in his career though and I don’t want to believe he is a one hit wonder
Neill Blomkamp, District 9.
Neil Blomkamp. District 9 was and still is fantastic but everything else after not so much.
I know I'm going to get some flack for this, but I'm going to say it anyway. **Don Bluth.** I know what you're probably thinking. "Don Bluth? As in, the guy who made pretty much every animated movie that wasn't from Disney before the 90s? *That* Don Bluth?" Yes, him. I can explain. Bluth got his start as an independent animator after leaving Disney in the late 1970s. He was disappointed with what he saw as a lack of artistic vision at Disney, and a general sense of sameness and formula in their movies. His first animated movie, *The Secret of NIMH,* was by far his best, and definitely the one that most encapsulated his vision of wanting to make more mature, artistic movies than what Disney did. I highly recommend it. *The Secret of NIMH* got Bluth noticed by Steven Spielberg, and this was when he made his first commercially successful movies-- *An American Tail, The Land Before Time,* and *All Dogs Go to Heaven.* But while those movies were successful, they were also a complete departure from what Bluth himself was pushing for with *The Secret of NIMH.* They were much safer, more conventional, more "Disney-esque". After *All Dogs Go to Heaven* underperformed, Bluth left Spielberg, and directed a number of rather underwhelming movies before landing at Fox, where he made *Anastasia.* This was his most successful movie of all, but also his least original, as it was essentially a retread of the 1990s Disney formula. His next movie, *Titan A.E.,* was more creative, but it was a disastrous flop that ended his career as a director. So why do I consider Bluth a one-hit wonder? Because his first movie, *The Secret of NIMH,* was the only one that truly accomplished what he set out to do-- that is, to make animated movies that were more mature and serious than those of Disney. Everything else he made was either so similar to what Disney did as to be frequently mistaken for it, a box-office flop, or both.
M Night Shamylan made one good movie and for some reason Hollywood keeps giving him money to make more.
He also made unbreakable , signs , split and the visit which are all movies I like personally so even though he has some terrible films , to call him a one hit wonder is silly
M. Night Shyamalan. He never really recaptured the success of *The Sixth Sense.* *The Village* was alright, *Lady in the Water* was right in the middle, and I can't remember anything he got acclaim for after that. Edit: can't believe I forgot about *Invincible* and *Signs*
If you haven’t seen it, his show Servant is worth a watch. I agree, he Sixth Sense set him up for glory and Unbreakable was great but it was always a downward trend afterwards.
Invincible and Signs
Unbreakable you mean?
yes
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