I don't consider someone "great" unless they are consistently "great" (momentarily "great" just doesn't cut it in my book). A director can make several great films; that doesn't necessarily make him great.

I do, however, wholeheartedly agree with you on both Spike Lee and Quentin Tarantino. I did not, however, include Spike Lee in my list, because his movies tend to get mixed reviews. Sure, some are overpraised by several critics but, generally speaking, Lee is not – and never really was – a highly praised filmmaker (controversial, yes, but not overly praised). I do think his best film was "Malcolm X". "Do the Right Thing" was mediocre, at best.

As for Tarantino, "Pulp Fiction" was one of the WORST films of 1994, and it earned its position on my Ten Worst list that year. If he were making movies in the 50s, his films would be the B or C variety shown just after the newsreeel or cartoon and before the main feature; but, today, he receives accolades and acclaim from just about everyone.

There are however, directors that get elevated by many critics in the sphere of the truly great directors even when their work does not merit. Two names come mind: Spike Lee and Quenton Tarintino.
Spike Lee has never made a great movie. He's made some good ones, some stinkers and some mediocre ones, yet there are people who think he is one of the most brilliant, innovative, creative filmmakers ever. Watching Siskel and Ebert fall all over each other to worship "Do the Right Thing" was one of the most pathetic performances I ever saw those two do. They arent' the only ones who have done it though. DTRT was derivative and dull, not one of Lee's best moments but there are "legit" movie critics who think it's the greatest thing since Gone With the Wind. The overpraising is mostly due to the Great Black Hope syndrome and a way of posing and posturing as noble anti racists whenever Spike Lee makes one of his heavy handed "statements". One the other hand there are people who think he stinks as a filmmaker. I suspect there may be some racial bias in the people who think he stinks because the man has made some good movies and is a capable filmmaker, but not a great one.
Quenton Tarantino also receives the same kind of exaggerated hyperbole that doesn't really reflect the quality of what he does. By all accounts he is a smart guy but to me, lacks the artistic flair and creativity that sets apart truly great filmmakers. Pulp Fiction was one of the most overpraised but dull movies I've ever seen. The aforementioned Sikel/Ebert were so effusive in their praise of this piece of crap it was actually nauseating. Not that all his movies stink, Kill Bill 1 & 2 were good but overall his movies are leaden, derivative and highly overrated by critics and the public.

"Fargo" was on my Ten Worst List for that year! And, actually, the accents were the main reason I HATED this film.

I also agree that "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" was a boring misfire and that "No Country for Old Men" was good, but certainly not worthy of the awards bestowed upon it. "There Will Be Blood" was a much better film and, of those films that were nominated for Academy Awards, it deserved the Best Picture award more than the others.

Still, I do beleive the Coens have shown genius with films like "Millers Crossing" (their masterpiece, IMHO), "Blood Simple", "The Man Who Wasn't There" and "Burn After Reading"

The most overrated definitelly Tim Burton and the so called visionary director Robert Rodriguez. Spielberg is probably a little overrated as well, he has made great movies but has also made terrible ones. Oliver Stone is a little over rated as well.
Tim Burton has made movies such as planet of the apes, the batman movies and alice in wonderland, but none of them is good enough specially when compared to other movies made about the same characters. Nola taugh him how he should have done a batman movie, Planet of the apes and alice simply ruined both franchises.

JAMES CAMERON

Thank you, Pretty Polly, for the reminder!

My list, thus far (in no particular order) – and this list can serve as an overrated writers list as well:

David Fincher
Paul Haggis
Quentin Tarantino
M. Night Shyamalan
Wes Anderson
Noah Baumbach
Judd Apatow
Steven Soderbergh
Rob Marshall
Ron Howard
The Farrelly Brothers
Martin Scorsese

I do like some of her films – or, more accurately, I like PARTS of her films. But there's a slightly pompous and somewhat naive streak there that acts like a fly in the ointment.

I am not saying she is a bad director, only that she is, in my opinion, overrated.

I can and I have (written screenplays, I mean).
To whom do I submit them, to convince you? ;-)

(Yes, I could explain it, copiously.
But I won't.)

Make a movie or write a screenplay if you can! Just give a try.

J-.J.

Spielberg ? No way !! He's had a lot of good movies to his credit.

but even further, lotr were extremely well done. fellowship is one of the most well crafted films i have ever seen. but then again, i am a tolkien fan and respect peter and fran's film interpretation.

one must consider that not every film by any specific director will be great but that doesnt change their entire career. Spielberg and Scorsese may have made a few bad films but that doesnt change their impact on cinema.

also, this very concept is objectively impossible.

dont understand the hated of snake eyes, that film is damn good

Most overrated:
1. David Lynch (great tv show and a few good films)
2. Oliver Stone (Platoon is the only great film IMO)

So take your place with Peter Jackson. I can't believe that dildo was so full of himself that he had to do an "homage" to King Kong. Idiot.

Lucas, you're finished. Please leave.

Do his fans call him "Night"? He's finished thankfully.

Of course the worst of all is the loathsome self promoting L'il Quentin but it looks like he can't get his next project off the ground. I really hope we've heard the last of Little Mr. "F" Bomb and his boring dialogue. How did his opinion become something to be taken seriously?

You actually pulled the critical remarks that were posted re: your entry about Kristen Stewart on David Letterman's show last night (11/20)? Wow. You are one powerful player.

Spielberg is far more influential than Scorcese, but he wasn't taken seriously before Schindler's List. That means over half of his CV was not highly rated by critics.

Scorcese, meanwhile, has been a critic's darling almost from the very get go. It's easy to understand why he is overrated. He has a distinctive voice and his movies are very cinematic with his almost masturbatory use of camera movement. Unfortunately, he has poor story sense and couldn't put together a good movie if both Orson Welles and Alfred Hitchcock mentored him on set.

The few tolerable works of Scorcese (Raging Bull, Taxi Driver) work in spite of Scorcese, not because of him. Scorcese is someone who needs a great script from a writer with a strong voice to make a mediocre movie.

Yet the critics love him. Why? I can only imagine because many critics and cinephiles have little understanding about the medium they love. They focus so much on the cinematic aspects of a movie that they lose sight of the bigger picture. And over time, the myth of Scorcese has grown and he can now do no wrong despite over 30 years of going over budget and over schedule to make awful dreck. His lack of storytelling finesse and "look at me, ma, I'm directing!" style is perfect for music videos which probably explains why the best thing on his CV is the music video for Michael Jackson's song "Bad".

As for Tarantino, yes, he's overrated but he's not prolific enough to be as overrated as Scorcese or Spielberg. He also doesn't make the pretense of making "serious" films or "art films". The critics may label his derivative brand of filmmaking "art", but it's "pop art" and lacks the bombastic attitude of filmmakers like Spielberg and Scorcese.

I posted a list of who I think the 5 most overrated directors here:

http://cinemoose.com/5-most-overrated-directors/

Something tells me the worst directors shouldn't be the one that everyone knows. I look at this list and these are some of my favorite directors. We might as well as Scorsese, F.F. Coppola, Jean Junet, Fellini, and PTA to that list.

But I do agree that Ron Howard is definitely in the top 5 worst!

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