This article is part of a twelve part series that includes Film Artists, Visual Artists, Music Artists, Interactive Artists, Comedians, Industrial Designers, Photographers, Culinary Artists, Performance Artists, Authors and Digital Designers. It consists of creatives whose work I universally love, respect and celebrate, with whom I'd be honoured to collaborate, and whose work I could easily discuss and analyse at length.
As time goes on, though one may continue to be open to experiencing the work of newly discovered artists, invariably one begins to notice (particularly as one enters their thirties) that certain pantheons begin to take form: those artists across multiple mediums who stalwartly retain their position as being the best in their respective art forms. As art is subjective, pantheons vary wonderfully from person to person.
These are my most kindred (favourite) Film Artists, in no particular order.
DIRECTORS
James Cameron (Avatar, Titanic, Aliens)
Cameron's work is defined by innovation.
Christopher Nolan (Tenet, Inception, The Dark Knight)
Nolan's work is defined by a stark, filmic aesthetic and heady themes.
Denis Villeneuve (Dune, Blade Runner 2049)
Villeneuve's work is defined by grand, sweeping, artful cinematography and an expert sensibility for building tension.
George Lucas (Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Willow)
Robert Eggers (The Witch)
Ari Aster (Midsommar)
Ingvar Bergmann
Tarkovsky
Nyquist
Luca Guadagnino (Call Me By Your Name)
Steven Spielberg (Jurassic Park, Shindler's List, Tin Tin)
Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird)
Antoine Fuqua (The Equalizer)
Damien Chezelle (La La Land)
Jordan Peele (Get Out)
Akira Kurosawa (Seven Samurai, Ran, Rashomon)
Jon Favreau (Iron Man, The Jungle Book)
David Chase (The Sopranos)
Lana & Lilly Wachowski (The Matrix)
Matt & Ross Duffer (Stranger Things)
Joel & Ethan Cohen (O' Brother, Where Art Thou?)
Alejandro Jodorowsky (Holy Mountain, El Topo)
Andrei Tarkovsky (Stalker)
David Lynch (Twin Peaks)
David Fincher (Se7en)
David Chase (The Sopranos)
Guillermo Del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth, Nightmare Alley)
ACTORS
James Gandolfini
Daniel Day Lewis
Alec Guinness
Anthony Hopkins
Heath Ledger
Cate Blanchett
WRITERS
David Koepp
Max Borenstein
Philippa Boyens
Fran Walsh
CINEMATOGRAPHERS
Roger Deakins
SOUND
Ben Burtt
Gary Rydstrom
PRODUCTION DESIGN
Richard Taylor
Roger Christian
PRODUCERS
Joel Silver
Jon Landau