As a rule of thumb, no, I try to let there work do the talking (which is the reason I dislike M. Night Shylaman so much), but there have been exceptions. One I can name right off the top of my head is Jean-Claude Brisseau. That guy is just a dick.
Theres sex and death and human grime in monochrome for one thin dime and at least the trains all run on time but they dont go anywhere.The passion along with his similar stance on humanity is exactly why I like Stanley Kubrick,that and the genius idea of Kubrick Stare.
The only movies I can say I didn't all around like were A Clockwork Orange [ridiculous amount of gore and stupid ending],2001 [too confusing],and The Shining [His direction of Shelley D Uvall was laughably misguided]
Also Tim Burton has a personality I really like, with his kind of OCD-like,energetic,yet twisted personality and someone who doesn't constantly use Dark Is Evil all the time. His films just on personality alone,they just can't be bad. It has to prove itself from the start to NOT be good.
Its to the point that I never go to theaters to watch movies unless A) Someone has me at gun-point and that's my only way to live B)It's a homework assignment or class trip or most likely C) Because its Tim Burton,Pixar,or Hayao Miyazaki
Other than M Night Shyamalan,James Cameron,George Lucas (negative),Tim Burton,Stanley Kubrick, or Hayao Miyazaki (positive),I never take personality into account.
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Wait, wait, wait.
A Clockwork Orange was gory?
Unless you meant "ridiculous", as in, "not really all that gory in the slightest".
edited 9th Oct '11 11:30:01 AM by Prowler
Re: Tarantino - it seems he gets (even) more of a reputation amongst filmmakers, particularly those he "grew up" with. To be honest, I'd probably share Allison Anders' sort of view on him if I went through the Four Rooms fiasco in her shoes. That and many other points for content (like him getting executive breaks during the incredibly slow production of what would eventually become Inglourious Basterds) weren't really Tarantino's fault alone (a certain Mr. Weinstein's constant pushing and branding of him is probably the almost-wise man's target), but his media openness combined to brew something fierce for some. Not me particularly, but with him it can potentially go beyond being perhaps a little cocky.
Although, I'm not really sure why Thomas Vinterberg supposedly said he should die in a car crash. Unless he was taking the von Trier trolling route, which is always fun. For the record, von Trier gives the most entertaining interviews whether you're a fan or not.
I can't really think of an example where I've felt deeply because of the director's reputation. It might've happened momentarily when I was reading more about Elia Kazan, not just because of what happened
, but because he sat very rough with people who should be associates with for the rest of his life. I shrugged the former off as being of its time and the latter as him being an old man.
But you know, when the defense is On The Waterfront, whaddaya do?
Vinterberg is von Trier's partner in crime. He's trollin'.
More Buscemi at http://forum.reelsociety.com/Roman Polanski committed an awful, absolutely sick crime, but I can't believe some people just refuse to watch his films because of an unrelated act he committed in his personal life that doesn't translate into his films.
I cannot imagine any true film buff not watching such fantastic films like Chinatown, Rosemarys Baby, The Tenant, The Pianist, and The Ghost Writer; among others.
(YMMV on some of those)
edited 9th Oct '11 2:29:06 PM by HerrKman
In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.
Respect the Red Right Hand
The first of those was made into a much better movie with the liberal addition of cartoon characters.
I can seperate Polanski's crime from his films. If he'd gone to jail for his crimes then I wouldn't have any problem at all. But to me the films he's made since then feel stolen, he shouldn't have had the chance to make them. Watching them feels like supporting his freedom. I know that this doesn't really make any logical sense, but it's just my gut reaction.I might feel differently once he's dead, or if he ever ends up in prison, but the again I might not.
Am I a good man or a bad man?Buscemi - Absolutely. Some of the books on Dogma 95 are amongst some of the funniest I've read on the topic of film thanks to Vinterberg and von Trier's trolling.
You know, now that we bring it up, von Trier occasionally comes up a little stiff when he's not trying to be "out there". When he talks about Carl Theodor Dreyer in The Story of Film documentary, he sort of keeps giggling and stuttering, "I love his films...", etc.
Though I should probably be thankful he didn't say something like, "I love his films, we all get together for an orgy every time I watch one."
I never let the creator's personality get in the way of enjoying any kind of entertainment, film or otherwise. Peter Sellers was a jerk at times. I still enjoy his roles immensely. John Byrne is...controversial, but he's still one of the greatest comic artists of all time. And so on. I prefer to let the work speak for itself.
In a non-film example, I totally enjoyed The Sword Of Truth books (well, most of them), even knowing that Terry Goodkind is a huge asshole.
I don't know any director's personalities, so no. All that I would know about a particular director is what kind of movies they make, that what is important is not their personality, but their history, what kind of movies have they made in the past. Considering that, I'd check out a Nolan flick, but I think I'll stay away from anything made by Michael Bay for awhile, unless I can see it for cheap.
edited 10th Oct '11 5:45:39 PM by shiro_okami
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Now that you mention it I have encountered a lot of people who criticise Byrne's work because of his personality. He's a dickhead, but he's certinaly a talented guy. On the other hand you get guys like Mark Millar, the first indication you get that he's a sick bastard is from some of the themes in his work. That doesn't stop me from enjoying the portion of his comics that actually are good though.
Another related thing that annoys me is when people criticise the early work of a creator, even when it could be called classic, solely because of a decline in quality of their more recent material. I Can think of comic book writers, novelists, actors and singers but no directors come to mind. I guess George Lucas and the Star Wars films might count for some people, but there must be a more clear cut example I can't think of.
Am I a good man or a bad man?I'm not a huge fan of either one, nor do I hate them, but I honestly don't much of Lucas' personality while watching Star Wars prequels or Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Sometimes, though, I get the feeling Lucas is more clever than fans like to think, or want to think.
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Lucas only produced Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. This is a major case of Mis-blamed (along with people blaming Seth MacFarlane for Butch Hartman's shows even though he had absolutely nothing to do with them).
On the one hand I think Polanski should be in prison, on the other hand that doesn't make The Pianist any less of the film.
Off Topic: Am I the only person on the internet who liked Indy 4?

That's why I said "too".