Three Hollywood Directors to Keep Your Eye On

Hello, fellow moviegoers!
   For today’s blog post, I thought it would be fun to just sit back and just discuss who I believe are three directors that might be some of the next big names in Hollywood. These three directors have each already shown their talents in a few films, and they could very easily become household names. They are just entering, or will soon enter the Hollywood spotlight. So without further ado, here are three directors that I believe you should be keeping your eye on. Keep in mind, this is in no particular order, so this isn't ranked by any means. 

Taika Waititi

   Taika Waititi is the type of director that, to put it simply, makes really fun films. He hasn’t made a lot of feature length films, though he has made many short films. In fact, in 2005 his short film Two Cars, One Night was nominated for Best Live Action Short Film at the Oscars. More recently, he released the critically acclaimed What We Do in the Shadows, in 2014. That film is certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with an impressive 96% approval rating. In addition to that, this past year he released another critical darling by the name of Hunt for the Wilderpeople (check out my review here). That movie was an incredibly fun and original film that I would very highly recommend.
    So what’s next for Waititi? Well, he’ll be entering the big blockbuster arena this fall as he's helming the upcoming Marvel film Thor: Ragnarok. We haven’t seen any footage from Ragnarok yet, but we do know that the film will also feature the Incredible Hulk, and it has an all-star cast with the likes of Cate Blanchett, Tessa Thompson, and Jeff Goldblum on-board. We’ve already gotten a taste of how Waititi will approach the film, as he also directed those popular Team Thor promotional videos for Marvel. If Waititi can bring the same sense of originality and fun from Hunt for the Wilderpeople to Thor: Ragnarok, then you can guarantee he will direct some more big budget films down the road.

Denis Villeneuve

   Denis Villeneuve is a director that a lot of hardcore movie fans have already been fans of for about five years now, but he is just now starting to pick up some steam when it comes to mainstream audiences. Villeneuve entered the scene in 2013 when he released two films, Enemy, and Prisoners. Both films are certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, a fact that is made even more impressive when taken into account that Enemy is his lowest rated film at 75% approval. Not too shabby. Villeneuve has since continued his streak of great movies with 2015’s Sicario, and 2016’s Arrival. Sicario was a movie that I enjoyed a lot, and if you haven’t seen it yet, you should do that as soon as you can. Arrival was also an amazing film (check out my review here)! In fact, Arrival ranked at #5 on my Top Ten Films of 2016. It is also currently nominated for Best Picture and a number of other awards at this year's Oscars.
   Similar to Waititi, Villeneuve is releasing his first blockbuster film later this year. This film comes in the form of a sequel to the cult-classic 1982 film Blade Runner. This sequel, entitled Blade Runner 2049, sees the return of Harrison Ford, while also bringing in other big names such as Ryan Gosling, Dave Bautista, and Jared Leto. I must confess, at this point, I have not seen the original Blade Runner, though that is something I will be remedying very soon. The first trailer for Blade Runner 2049 was intriguing, but the biggest reason to look forward to this film would be that Villeneuve is directing.

​Damien Chazelle

   Damien Chazelle is the definition of a director that has exploded onto the scene out of nowhere. Chazelle has only directed three feature films. The first, Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench, was released in 2009. That film currently holds a 91% on Rotten Tomatoes. His other two films have both been nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars in their respective years. His 2014 film, Whiplash, was at the top of a lot of people’s Top Ten lists of that year, and it also won Oscars for Film Editing and Sound Mixing. In addition to that, J.K. Simmons won the Oscar for Supporting Actor that year for his performance in Whiplash, deservedly so.
   His most recent film is a little film you might have heard about recently called La La Land. I mentioned earlier that Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival was #5 on my Top Ten of 2016 list, well, La La Land was #1. This was a truly special film, and Chazelle’s directing really pulled the whole thing together. Though the film was over-hyped for some people, and it ended up disappointing them, I still firmly stand by my original review of the film (which you can find here). La La Land is all but guaranteed to win the Oscar for Best Picture this Sunday night, so yeah, it’s pretty good.
   Chazelle’s next film currently doesn’t have a release date, though I’m very excited for it nonetheless. His next movie is called First Man, and it is a biopic about the first man to walk on the moon, Neil Armstrong. In addition to being written by Oscar winner Josh Singer, the film also sees Chazelle reteam with Ryan Gosling, who will be in the lead role. If Chazelle continues to make movies at the quality he is, he could easily go down as one of the all-time greats. Did I mention that he’s only 32?

   So what do you think of these directors? Are you fans of theirs? Which are you most looking forward to seeing more from in the future? Let me know by commenting on this post! Also, if you enjoyed this article, share it on Facebook and Twitter. It really helps! Don’t forget, I post every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, so check back then for more movie reviews and miscellaneous movie thoughts!
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Thanks for stopping by!