History Main / PigeonholedDirector

* WesAnderson and Noah Baumbach are best known as "those guys who make quirky comedies about dysfunctional families". However, Anderson's movies are much more mainstream and colorful than Baumbach's (who abides by TrueArtIsAngsty).

* JohnFord's westerns, usually with JohnWayne.

* DavidFincher: Expect it to be gritty, stylish, morally murky, and concerning criminal goings-on (TheCuriousCaseOfBenjaminButton is the only outright exception so far, TheSocialNetwork fits the bill aside from the grittiness and ''direct'' criminality - the FramingDevice are two lawsuits against Mark, and he does some nasty stuff in his path)

* All [[Film/TrueLies but]] [[Film/{{Titanic}} two]] of JamesCameron's films are science fiction.

* ChristopherNolan: Neo-noir, non-linear, psychological thrillers with obsessed protagonists.

* StanleyKubrick outsmarted genre pigeonholing by making a classic in every genre, sometimes more. All the same, he's best known for filming with a cold, controlled eye and slow, steady pacing.

* MartinScorsese has become synonymous with (organized) crime dramas, even though he's tried just about every genre you can imagine: musical, romantic comedy, documentary, Biblical epic, costume drama, even a biopic about the Dalai Lama.

* Creator/StevenSpielberg is remembered for tales of childlike innocents or intrepid adventurers (or both) triumphing against an unforgiving world, usually in a sci-fi setting.

* SergioLeone and the SpaghettiWestern. Only his first and last movie were out of the genre.

* How many non-{{Thriller films}} has Creator/AlfredHitchcock done again?

* DavidCronenberg, despite PlayingAgainstType in recent years, will always be a pioneer of BodyHorror.
* How many non-Thriller films has Creator/AlfredHitchcock done again?
** ''Mr. and Mrs. Smith''-- A ScrewballComedy. [[MrAndMrsSmith (Not that one.)]]
* QuentinTarantino doesn't have a genre stereotype, unless "GenreThrowback" fits. Though most of his movies deal with criminals and hitmen, and he has a distinguished SignatureStyle - characters discussing other movies, the plot stopping for a while so people can trade [[SeinfeldianConversation witty banter]], [[ClusterFBomb swearing]] and [[NWordPrivileges slurs]], women's feet and [[OverdrawnAtTheBloodBank bloody]] [[AnyoneCanDie deaths]], [[BloodyHilarious at times]] [[DeathAsComedy for laughs]].
* DavidLynch: MindScrew. Lots and lots of MindScrew. Weirdly, for a few years in the early 1980s, he was considered a mainstream Oscar-friendly director after the success of ''TheElephantMan'' (although even it is a little on the weird side, and apparently nobody had seen [[{{Eraserhead}} his debut picture]]), which is why they gave him the ''{{Dune}}'' movie. After that flopped, he dove right back into the MindScrew, and - with the exception of ''TheStraightStory'' - never looked back, and has been getting progressively weirder since the late '90s.

* RolandEmmerich: sci-fi or regular action movies with lots of destruction. When he decided to break the mold with ''Anonymous'', it was met with indifference.

* QuentinTarantino doesn't have a genre stereotype, unless "GenreThrowback" fits. Though most of his movies deal with criminals and hitmen, and he has a ditinguished SignatureStyle - characters discussing other movies, the plot stopping for a while so people can trade [[SeinfeldianConversation witty banter]], [[ClusterFBomb swearing]] and [[NWordPrivileges slurs]], women's feet and [[OverdrawnAtTheBloodBank bloody]] [[AnyoneCanDie deaths]], [[BloodyHilarious at times]] [[DeathAsComedy for laughs]].

* Creator/BazLuhrmann: {{Period Piece}}s (with [[PopStarComposer anachronistic soundtracks]], most of the time)With a cliched romance and fast paced editing that's hard to follow and even watch.

* Creator/TheCeonBrothers always make crime comedies, or crime thrillers, or crime dramas.

** The same goes for Creator/JuddApatow who also only makes gross out comedies that are 2 hours long. Most of the extras on his DVDs are deleted scenes. Even if they're not on the deleted scenes section.

** The same goes for Creator/JuddApatow who also only makes gross out comedies that are 2 hours long. Most of the extras on his DVD are deleted scenes. Even if they're not on the deleted scenes section.

* Creator/BazLuhrmann: {{Period Piece}}s (with [[PopStarComposer anachronistic soundtracks]], most of the time).

* QuentinTarantino doesn't have a genre stereotype, unless "GenreThrowback" fits. Though most of his movies deal with criminals and hitmen, and he has a ditinguished SignatureStyle - characters discussing other movies, the plot stopping for a while so people can trade [[SeinfeldianConversation witty banter]], [[ClusterFBomb swearing]] and [[NWordPrivileges slurs]], [[FootFocus women's feet]] and [[OverdrawnAtTheBloodBank bloody]] [[AnyoneCanDie deaths]], [[BloodyHilarious at times]] [[DeathAsComedy for laughs]].

Most lykely to happen because directors work in genre they know best, mostly if they also write. But they might as well be stuck in a genre they do not favor because an out of their genre product was their only success.

* StanleyKubrick outsmarted genre pidgeonholing by making a classic in every genre, sometimes more. All the same, he's best known for filming with a cold, controlled eye and slow, steady pacing.

* DavidFincher: Expect it to be gritty, stylish, morally murky, and concerning criminal goings-on (TheCuriousCaseOfBenjaminButton is the only outright exception so far, TheSocialNetwork fits the bill aside from the grittiness)

* QuentinTarantino doesn't have a genre stereotype, unless "throwback" is a genre. Also, expect characters in his movies to discuss other movies, also for the plot to occasionally stop for a while so people can trade witty banter.

* GeorgeLucas: Either StarWars movies or the GenreThrowback.

* Ishiro Honda, director behind the {{Godzilla}} series also was known for being an assistant to Kurosawa and directing a number of romance films.

-->''I am a typed director. If I made Cinderella, the audience would immediately be looking for a body in the coach.''
--->'''Creator/AlfredHitchcock'''

* All [[TrueLies but]] [[{{Titanic}} two]] of JamesCameron's films are science fiction.

* GeorgeLucas: Either StarWars movies or the GeorgeLucasThrowback.