Do you ever let a Director's personality alter your opinion of a film?

I don't know if this is just me, but do any of you (consciously or otherwise) let your perception of a particular director get in the way of your ability to enjoy a film, regardless of whether the film itself is good or not?

Personally, this sometimes happens for me. Don't get me wrong, when debating the quality of a movie I would never resort to blurting out: "But the Director is an asshole", but when I'm watching a film alone, the knowledge that what I'm viewing was created by a jerk can sometimes derail my desire to keep watching.

This happens mostly with Insufferable Genius types like Cameron or Kubrick. I don't doubt their abilities in the slightest, but still.

I was wondering if any of you sometimes suffer this kind of reaction.

Interesting question...

Jeepers Creepers was directed by someone who did disgusting, reprehensible things but I hold the movie up as one of the better horror films of its time.

James Cameron comes off as kind of a dick, but I think his talent justifies his ego.

But then you have a director like Samuel Bayer, who directed a lame, dull remake, bashed the films that preceded his remake, and then went Dear Negative Reader on the haters, and in that case, his dickery had a lot more to do with his work...so I guess the closer their behavior relates to whatever they turn out, the more likely I am to let it affect my opinion.

edited 7th Oct '11 9:59:01 PM by Prowler

The same guy also has a Troy Duffy-sized ego. Back in the 1990's, he was being tailor-made to be the next David Fincher in terms of making a successful transition from music videos to film (which Michael Bay ended up doing instead). However, his big mouth and short temper made him impossible to hire in Hollywood.

Only ones I can think of are Tim Burton, where my assumption tends to be that the movie will suck and it has to prove to me that I'm wrong for me to like it, and Roman Polanski, whose films are unwatchable regardless of quality.

M Night Shyamalan does this to me,I can only let The Sixth Sense slide these days. The other good films he or amusing films he directed I have to imagine as done by someone else to enjoy them. Unbreakable is the easiest to imagine as directed by someone else since it feels like a Nolan film.

Ever since his egotistical views on The Last Airbender,nothing is enjoyable if I think of it as his name.

Also George Lucas,though he mostly only produces or writes,but other than Revenge Of The Sith his personality ruins Star Wars,especially with all these revisions. A New Hope reminds me of all the crap he put in,but he was able to hide by dumb luck. The other OT films aren't directed by him,and the other Prequel films remind of the big ego he seems to have and his incessant unhappiness with how things are.

edited 7th Oct '11 9:12:49 PM by terlwyth

That's pretty much how I enjoy Kubrickian or Cameron films.

I just pretend somebody else made them

It is sometimes hard to seperate any work from the person, Jesse Ventura and Arnold Schwarzenegger have apparently done quite well as governers of their respective states but people still think of them as their movie persona.

As for me personally, I try to always see the value of any story regardless of personal feelings. If a movie is bad and a director insults people for not liking it then I might take umbrage.

I have never done this.

No, not their personality. But I won't watch Polanski films. He raped a teenage girl and got away with it. That's not something you can - or should - just ignore.

I also avoid Polanski films. It probably does influence how I view his films, but regardless, I would never go to one, or buy it on DVD, because I don't want to give money to someone who's a fugitive from Justice for something like that. Fuck Polanski.

Edit: I have watched one Polanski film that I can recall. It was in a class at school, though.

edited 7th Oct '11 8:33:26 PM by Pulsar

It's part of his personality, too, though, because not only did he do it, but he was unable to comprehend why other people would think that it was wrong. And accused everyone else of just being jealous of him.

Tangentially related to Polanski, but I haven't touched a Star Wars film recently despite being rather forgiving to all six. Why? I learned George Lucas originally wanted Indiana Jones to be a pedophile. That plus Ashoka's "costume" in The Clone Wars (reportedly designed by George himself, and for extra "ick" factor, she's based on his daughters) have made me somewhat uncomfortable with him...

No. I generally dismiss actors, directors and such until after I've watched the movie. After all, I'm not there to see 'movie made by X'; I'm there to see 'movie about Y'. Its one of the reasons why I don't keep up with who's who in Hollywood. I mean, certain names obviously pop up more than others. In recent memory, Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman seem to be absolutely everywhere. However, I just assume they can play whatever role they weou'll re casted for and try to watch the movie on its own merits.

So, no, you'll never hear me say 'I hated Avatar II because Cameron is a douche' or anything of the like. Mostly because I don't know anything about the guy.

Well... mostly. I try to remain neutral director-wise, but I've come to expect little from M Night Shamalamadingdong. Its less to do with who he is, though, and more to do with his past movies sucking. I go in expecting slow-cooking horror and I get... whatever M Night Shaylalala thinks that is... with a twist!

The Indy-was-a-pedophile story is actually a misconception (Cracked, spread misconceptions? Nooo!). Lucas et al were discussing what age to make Marion when she knew Indy previously, and they went from a younger character who just had a crush on him to an older character who was actually in a relationship with him, but there was never a point where Indy was hooking up with a 12-year-old.

Also, Spielberg was in that discussion too, so if it bugs you so much you'll really have to swear off his films too.

i like asshole directors (kubrick, lars von trier)
but most of the time
i just go for Death of the Author

I never swear off a film because of its director. But on a somewhat related note, when a movie is only ever marketed as "a film by This Director", it tends to frustrate me and give me a negative view on the film, because in my mind it means the actual movie has no quality other than a big name attached to it.

You know, like Inception.

i dont know how but i didnt know inception was directed by nolan until i wikipediaed
i must be the purest virgin in the world

edited 8th Oct '11 3:14:08 AM by CommanderObvious

It's worse when they advertise things other than the director.

Like The Water Horse. "From the special effects team that worked on Lord of the Rings"

That's not a good sign

Not really. I might avoid films if I think the director is bad, especialy if I think the actors are bad, or the film sounds bad, or if people have told me that the film is bad.

Also I won't watch Polanski films that were made after his trial. Not because of what he did per se, but he shouldnt have had the oppurtunity to make those films, he should be in jail. Although I don't think I'd feel the same way if his crime had been something like fraud. ( I have already seen the Pianist, but back then I didn't know what he'd done.)

The only example I can think of is Kubricks The Shining. TBH I've never liked that film anyway, but it was on TV last week so I decided to give it another chance. It was better than I remembered, it well directed but without the substance to back up the atmosphere. But every time Scatman Curuthers came on I was wondering whether this was the scene Kubrick made him cry over. Maybe it's because I like Curuthers, I couldn't care less over bad treatment of any other actors in his films.

The first teaser for Inception was literally nothing more than a couple of second-long shots of water glasses tipping over and a huge disclaimer of "FROM THE DIRECTOR OF THE DARK KNIGHT!"

I was so biased against that movie a year after seeing the teaser.

M Night Shyamalan. The guy has an ego the size of Jupiter, completely unaware that his recent films are utter crap, and the fact that he actively worked to give the creators of Avatar The Last Airbender the least amount of input as humanly possible just comes off as pure dickishness.

I just can't find it in myself to see any Quentin Tarantino movies. It's like a perfect storm of his personality, Hype Backlash and Hype Aversion.

What's wrong with Tarantino's personality? (I'm not disagreeing with you, I honestly don't know)

I'm not sure. Just wherever I see him, it seems too bold, too cocksure.

tarantino is a pretty cocky overconfident director
but thats precisely why i love his direction
another director i enjoy is Ed Wood possibly because of the tim burton's biopic
while the horror is plain cheesy
the director is passionate in his work which gives it kinda like a Narm Charm feeling