So the reblogging game is to name your favorite films by these indie auteurs of the 30 years or so: the Coen Brothers, Wes Anderson, Hal Ashby, Kevin Smith, and Quentin Tarantino. kottke.org adds Stanley Kubrick, P.T. Anderson, and Errol Morris to the list. All well and good, but a few of of these guys worked only one seam, and if this is to be a revealing personality test we need some directors with a wider range of material. Offhand, I can think of Woody Allen, Robert Altman, and Steven Soderbergh. So here’s my list:
- Coens: Blood Simple
- W. Anderson: Bottle Rocket
- Ashby: none (Harold and Maude is for adolescents)
- Smith: Dogma edges out Clerks
- Tarantino: Reservoir Dogs, also by a slight margin
- Kubrick: 2001: A Space Odyssey
- P.T. Anderson: Magnolia
- Morris: Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control
- Allen: Hannah and Her Sisters
- Altman: Nashville
- Soderbergh: sex, lies, and videotape