Director Name: Robert Anthony Rodríguez

DOB: June 20, 1968

Movies: 

• El Mariachi (1992)
• Desperado (1995)
• From Dusk till Dawn (1996)
• The Faculty (1998)
• Spy Kids (2001)
• Spy Kids: The Island of Lost Dreams (2002)
• Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over (2003)
• Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003)
• Sin City (2005)
• The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D (205)
• Planet Terror (2007)
• Shorts (2009)

Upcoming Movies:

• Machete (2010)
• Spy Kids 4: Armageddon (2011)

Short Bio:

(From Wikipedia) Rodríguez was born in San Antonio, Texas, the son of Mexican-American parents, Rebecca, a nurse, and Cecilio G. Rodríguez, a salesman. He began his interest in film at age 7 when his father bought one of the first VCRs, which came with a camera.

While attending St. Anthony High School Seminary, he was commissioned to videotape the school’s football games. According to his sister he was fired soon after for shooting them with a cinematic style; getting shots of parents reactions and the ball traveling through the air instead of shooting the whole play. After graduating Rodriguez went to the College of Communication at the University of Texas where he also developed a love of cartooning. His grades were not good enough to get into the school’s film program, so he invented a daily comic strip entitled Los Hooligans with many of the characters based on his siblings – in particular, one of his sisters, Maricarmen. The comic proved to be quite successful, running for three years in the student newspaper The Daily Texan while Rodríguez continued to make short films.

Links:
http://www.robertrodriguezcollection.com/

Reviews:

Rodriguez and Tarantino have taken the let-’em-eat-trash cynicism of modern corporate moviemaking and repackaged it as junk-conscious ”attitude.” In From Dusk Till Dawn, they put on such a show of cooking up popcorn that they make pandering to the audience seem hip. -Entertainment Weekly  (From Dusk Till Dawn)

 
In the original format, Rodriguez’s Planet Terror kicked off the night. In fact, the zombie extravaganza works better after Tarantino’s more cerebral entry. Planet Terror is juiced-up, late-night excess from frame one.  -Empire Online  (Grindhouse)

Are you fan of Robert Rodriquez? Which of his movies is your favorite and why? What about his directing style do you like best, and what don’t you like?

Director Name: David Slade

Music Videos:
- Speedy J’s “Symmetry”
(computer animated video piece titled “Corpus Porpoise Posthumous Non Polhemus”)
- Aphex Twin’s “Donkey Rhubarb”
- LFO’s “Tied Up”
- Rob Dougan’s “Clubbed to Death”
- Stone Temple Pilots’ “Sour Girl”
- Tori Amos’ “Strange Little Girl”
- Muse’s “Hyper Music, Feeling Good”
- Muse’s “Bliss”
- Muse’s “New Born”
- System of a Down’s “Aerials”
- AFI’s “Girl’s Not Grey”
- The Killers’ “Goodnight, Travel Well”

Short Films:
- I Smell Quality (1994)
- Do Geese See God? (2004)
- MEATDOG: What’s Fer Dinner (2008)

Feature Films:
- Hard Candy (2006)
- 30 Days of Night (2007)
- Eclipse (2010)

Upcoming Projects:
- The Twilight Saga Eclipse (June 2010)

Links:
Twitter – @David_a_Slade

 Short Bio and Review:
David Slade was born September 26, 1969. He’s a British film director who began his career making music videos. His work includes videos for artists such as Aphex Twin, Rob Dougan, System of a Down, Stone Temple Pilots, Tori Amos, and Muse.

His first feature film, Hard Candy, was released in 2005 by Lions Gate Entertainment, who purchased the independent movie at the Sundance Film Festival. He went on to direct the vampire movie 30 Days of Night in 2007. David Slade was chosen by Summit Entertainment to direct Eclipse, the third film in the Twilight film series.

What I like about David’s work is the way he handles the photography of all of his work. The color lenses he uses and how he can capture a good angle. Have you seen any of his movies? What do you think of his music videos? After seeing what he can do with a vampire movie, how he manages to do fight scenes between vampires represents a couple in love, how do you think Eclipse will turn out to be?

Are you a fan of David Slade’s work? What about his directing style that you like most, and is there anything you disagree with? What was your reacation when you found out he was going to direct ‘Eclipse’ – and what are your thoughts now that the movie is almost out?

Come Join Our Forum Discussion about David Slade – HERE

Director name: James Cameron

Movies Directed:

- Battle Angel (2011) (pre-prod.)
- Avatar (2009)
- Aliens of the Deep (2005)
- Ghosts of the Abyss (2003)
- Expedition: Bismark (2002)
- “Dark Angel” (42 episodes, 2000-2002)
- Earthship.TV (2001) (TV)
- Titanic (1997)
- T2 3-D Battle Across Time (1996)
- True Lies (1994)
- Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)
- The Abyss (1989)
- Aliens (1986)
- This Time It’s War (1985)
- The Terminator (1984)
- Piranha Part Two: The Spawning (1981)
- Xenogenesis (1978)

Upcoming Projects:

- Heavy Metal
- Terminator 5
- Forbidden Planet
- Fantastic Voyage
- The Dive
- Nagasaki Deadline

A Short Bio and Review:

James Cameron was born in Kapuskasing, Ontario, Canada, on August 16, 1954. He moved to the USA in 1971. The son of an engineer, he majored in physics at California State University but, after graduating, drove a truck to support his screen-writing ambition. He landed his first professional film job as art director, miniature-set builder, and process-projection supervisor on Roger Corman’s Battle Beyond the Stars (1980) and debuted as a director with Piranha Part Two: The Spawning (1981) the following year.

In 1984, he wrote and directed The Terminator (1984), a futuristic action-thriller starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Biehn, and Linda Hamilton. It was a huge success. After this came a string of successful science-fiction action films such as Aliens (1986) and Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991). Cameron is now one of the most sought-after directors in Hollywood. He was formerly married to producer Gale Anne Hurd, who produced several of his films. He married Kathryn Bigelow in 1989.

James Cameron is widely known for his blockbuster hit Titanic. But he is more recently known for his visual masterpiece Avatar. Cameron wrote a majority of the movies that he directed which gave these movies a bit of an advantage. Because he wrote such films as Terminator and Avatar he was able to make his visions come to life on the big screen. Cameron is one of the most popular visual directors of our time and it seems like everything he touches turns to gold!

Interesting Facts:

Jokingly refers to Titanic (1997) as his 190 Million Dollar “Chick Flick”.

First director to film both a $100 million (Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)) and a $200 million (Titanic (1997)) movie.

After seeing Star Wars (1977), Cameron quit his job as a truck driver to enter the film industry.

Are you a fan of James Cameron? Which of his movies, is your favorite? What about his movie making style that appeals to you most?

Director: Kenneth Branagh 

Born December 10th, 1960
Belfast, Northern Ireland

Movies Directed:

1989 - Henry V
1991 - Dead Again
1992 - Swan Song
1992 - Peter’s Friends
1993 - Much Ado About Nothing
1994 - Frankenstein
1995 - A Midwinter’s Tale
1996 - Hamlet
2000 - Love’s Labour’s Lost
2003 - Listening
2006 - The Magic Flute
2006 - As You Like It
2007 - Sleuth
2011 - Thor

Kenneth’s sucessful career:

He is known for directing and starring in several adaptations of William Shakespeare’s plays on films. In that respect, his career has, at times, been compared to Laurence Olivier’s.

Branagh has been nominated for four Academy Awards. His first two nominations were for Henry V (one each for directing and acting). He also received similar BAFTA Award nominations for his film work, winning one for his direction. His first BAFTA TV award came in April 2009, for Best Drama Series (Wallander). Branagh’s two other Academy Award nominations were for the 1992 film short subject Swan Song and for his work on the screenplay of Hamlet in 1996.

Source

Short Bio about Kenneth:

Branagh, the middle of three children, was born and brought up in Belfast to working class Protestant parents Frances (née Harper) and William Branagh, a plumber and joiner who ran a company that specialised in fitting partitions and suspended ceilings. He was educated at Grove Primary School. At the age of nine, he relocated with his family to Reading, Berkshire to escape “the Troubles”. At school, he affected an English accent to avoid bullying. On his identity today he has said, “I feel Irish. I don’t think you can take Belfast out of the boy,” and he attributes his “love of words” to his Irishness.

Website:
http://www.branaghcompendium.com/

Upcoming Movies:

Thor – Hits theatres May 6th, 2011

Are you a fan of Kenneth’s work? Do you prefer is acting over his directing, if so why? What are some of your favorite movies he has directed/written/acted in? What about his directing style appeals to you as the viewer?

This week’s Director profile is brought to you by staff member Emily-June

Director Name: Quentin Tarantino

Movie Directed:

- My Best Friend’s Birthday (1987)
- Reservoir Dogs (1992)
- Pulp Fiction (1994)
- Four Rooms (1995)
- ER (1 episode, 1995)
- Jackie Brown (1997)
- Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)
- Jimmy Kimmel Live! (1 episode, 2004)
- Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004)
- CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2 episodes, 2005)
- Sin City (2005) (special guest director)
- Grindhouse (2007)
- Death Proof (2007)
- Inglourious Bastards (2009)
- Kill Bill: Vol. 3 (2014)

Movie Acted in:

- My Best Friend’s Birthday (1987)
- The Golden Girls (1 episode, 1988)
- Reservoir Dogs (1992)
- Eddie Presley (1992)
- Somebody to Love (1994)
- Sleep with Me (1994)
- Pulp Fiction (1994)
- The Coriolis Effect (1994)
- Dance Me to the End of Love (1995)
- Four Rooms (1995)
- Desperado (1995)
- Destiny Turns on the Radio (1995)
- All-American Girl (1 episode, 1995)
- Steven Spielberg’s Director’s Chair (1996)
- Girl 6 (1996)
- From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)
- Jackie Brown (1997)
- Little Nicky (2000)
- Alias (4 episodes, 2002-2004)
- Diary of the Dead (2007)
- Sukiyaki Western Django (2007)
- Planet Terror (2007)
- Death Proof (2007)
- Grindhouse (2007)

Short Bio about Quentin:

Quentin Jerome Tarantino was born in Knoxville, Tennessee on March 27, 1963. He is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. Tarantino started as an independent filmmaker whose films used nonlinear storylines and aestheticization of violence.

His films have earned him Academy, Golden Globe, BAFTA and Palme d’Or Awards and he has been nominated for Emmy and Grammy Awards. In 2007, Total Film named him the 12th greatest director of all-time.

Quentin Tarantino attended Narbonne High School in Harbor City, California before dropping out of school at age 15. Together with his childhood friend he began to make movies in his parents backyard. He attended acting school at the James Best Theatre Company in Toluca Lake.

Review:

Tarantino’s different style of film making earned him many accolades worldwide. According to Tarantino, a recurring hallmark in all his movies is that there is a different sense of humour in all his movies, which gets the audience to laugh at things that aren’t funny.The influence of African American culture is apparent in much of Tarantino’s work. His references to blaxploitation films and soul music are complimentary tributes. Tarantino has been criticized for a too familial attitude towards other cultures. Spike Lee questions the use of racial epithets in his films, particularly the word ‘nigger’ in ‘True Romance’, ‘Pulp Fiction’, ‘Jackie Brown’, ‘Death Proof’, and ‘Reservoir Dogs’.

Read more about Quentin and discuss his work  HERE

Are you a fan of Quentin? What is it about his directing/writing/acting style that you like best? What are some of your favorite movies of his?

Director Name: Tim Burton

Movies Directed: (imdb.com)

Frankenweenie
Alice in Wonderland
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Cinema16: American Short Films
Corpse Bride
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Big Fish
Planet of the Apes
The World of Stainboy
Sleepy Hollow
Batman Returns
Edward Scissorhands
Batman
Beetle Juice
Pee-wee’s Big Adventure

Future projects:
Frankenweenie remake
Dark Shadows

Links to website:

http://www.timburton.com/

http://www.timburtoncollective.com/

Short Director Bio: (wikipedia.org)

His early film career was fueled by almost unbelievable good luck, but it’s his talent and originality that have kept him at the top of the Hollywood tree. Tim Burton began drawing at an early age, going on to attend the California Institute of the Arts, studying animation after being awarded a fellowship from Disney, for whom he went on to work. Although he found that the mainstream Disney films he worked on (The Fox and the Hound (1981)) were far removed from his own sensibility, Disney let him have the freedom to work on his own personal projects, the six-minute animated black-and-white Gothic Vincent Price tribute Vincent (1982), and the 27-minute live-action Frankenweenie (1984), which was judged unsuitable for children and never released. However, Paul Reubens (aka Pee-Wee Herman) saw it and decided that Burton, still only in his mid-twenties, would be the ideal person to direct his feature debut, Pee-wee’s Big Adventure (1985). An enormous (and surprise) box-office hit, it led to the supernatural comedy Beetle Juice (1988), which in turn led to Burton being entrusted with the reins on the hugely expensive Batman (1989).    (cont. on forum)

A short review on the director:
Tim Burton’s ideas and imagination are something that go beyond any film maker I’ve ever seen. There is not another word to describe Tim Burton other than a genius.Born in California in 1958, Burton was drawn to art and animation early in his career. His sensibilities conflicted with the mainstream, and he sought unconventional outlets for his vision. Burton’s first foray into feature directing was the off-beat Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, which was a huge hit. This lead to Tim’s helming of 1989’s Batman, the cache of which solidified his power to pursue his art in Hollywood. Henceforth examples of which range from Edward Scissorhands to Sweeney Todd.

Read more HERE

Are you fan of Tim Burton? What is it about his film making that you enjoy most? Which are some your favorite movies he has directed?