Rotten Tomatoes, as part of its 25th anniversary celebration, has run polls with their readership to vote for the top Director of The Last 25 Years. The outcome? Not too astounding.
Nolan and Villeneuve Head the List
Christopher Nolan nabbed first place without too much difficulty. Denis Villeneuve, came in as the runner-up. Damien Chazelle and Jordan Peele weren’t trailing far behind. The final vote tally came close to a whopping 30,000 users.
Quarter Finals and Fanboy Influence
Directors who made the quarterly finals cut include Sam Mendes, Alex Garland, Bong Joon-Ho, and a reluctant Taika Waititi. Evidently, fanboy tastes had a significant impact here. Afterall, popular appeal tends to win in such votes.
The Eligibility Line
Directors eligible for these rankings had to have directed their first film on or after January 1st, 1998, placing stalwarts like Scorsese, Lynch, Coen, Cuaron, Anderson, Tarantino, Fincher and PTA outside the running.
Notably, Paul Thomas Anderson and Wes Anderson missed the cutoff with their respective debut films “Hard Eight” and “Bottle Rocket,” released in February of 1997 and 1996, respectively.
A Critical Contemplation
As I mull over the past 25 years, Nolan, Chazelle, Peele, and Villeneuve seem to make sense in the top brass. However, there are plenty of film-making geniuses who didn’t manage to clamber high within the rankings.
Unsung Cinematic Heroes
For my part, I’d spotlight Yorgos Lanthimos, Steve McQueen, Achitapong Weerasethakul, Josh and Benny Safdie, Spike Jonze, Sean Baker, Todd Field, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Lynne Ramsay and Darren Aronofsky, who have made impactful contributions to the world of cinema.
