…also directed 2 revolutionary short subjects in the late '20s, The Love of Zero and The Life and Death of 9413.
Good call. Hill made a series of really good films in the late seventies and early eighties: Hard Times, The Driver, The Warriors, The Long Riders, Southern Comfort, 48 Hrs. But for some reason, his career faded in the eighties. Which seems strange - Hill was successuly in the action movie genre which grew in popularity in the eighties and nineties; it would have seemed his career should have grown with it rather than declined.
Probably the highlight of his career was Moonlighting – I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like that movie. But he had a long stretch of making entertaining, character-based films geared toward thinking adults. He was probably seen as conventional during the 70’s and 80’s, but looking back at his films today you can really get a sense for how Hollywood has changed. Just doesn’t seem like there is anyone out there making those types of pictures today.
And, I don’t think he’s Jewish, which I find interesting.
Moonstruck. And yes, I love that movie. 
But he’s a good choice. You’re right that the type of small, character-driven films that he excelled at aren’t being made on a wide scale any more. He made a number of good movies from the 60s throughout the 80s, including The Cincinnati Kid, The Thomas Crown Affair, And Justice For All, A Soldier’s Story, and Agnes of God. Plus, he even has two decent musicals to his name: Fiddler on the Roof and Jesus Chris Superstar. Most directors can’t even make one good musical.
Thanks for that correction. Was typing faster than I was thinking.
Walter Murch, who directed the brilliant Return To Oz.
He only made that one movie but that was because it was so unfairly savaged by idiot critics that the movie died and was buried by Disney. It’s been kept alive by fans who recognize its worth as a film worthy of the dark nature of the books, and not as just a fucking money-grubbing sequel to a beloved movie that had very little to do with the books. I wanted to see what he would do next.
I always assume that people like him are either talented but difficult and nobody wants to work with him (tough on actors, goes over budget, etc. like Sam Peckinpah) or he made his money and wants to enjoy it.
He has a really crappy looking Stallone movie coming out called Bullet to the Brain or something.
He also did two of my favorite movies (I am one of the few in these two cases):
Rancho Deluxe with Jeff Bridges and Sam Waterston
Compromising Positions with Susan Sarandon and Raul Julia
I’ll second this, and the film. I’ve always loved the fiolm’s attempt to straddle the beloved 1939 musical ad the original Oz books, and its use of Will Vinton’s equally underappreciated Claymation (A term Vinton came up with, and copyrighted)
It didn’t look like he chose to quit. He kept working on low budget movies and TV so it appears more like his career got downgraded.
It’s obviously possible that his career declined because he was so difficult to work with. But this is show business. If somebody’s that difficult, you’ll usually hear stories about it and I’ve never heard any about Hill.
I came here to mention him but I was going to cite DIARY OF A MAD HOUSEWIFE and DOC as my two favorites. He got a terrific performance out of Carrie Snodgress in the former, and used Dick Benjamin very well, too, and Frank Langella. And for DOC, the “You can pull that gun if you wanna, cowboy, but if you do you’re going to have two assholes and one of them’s gonna be right between your your eyes” scene is a beauty.
I watched Killer Joe a couple of weeks ago. Definitely worth watching, but I agree that many people probably won’t enjoy it. Another recent Friedkin movie worth giving a look is Bug. Both Bug and Killer Joe are film versions of plays written by Tracy Letts.
Director of several terrific films, foremost among them School of Rock, Before Sunrise and its sequel Before Sunset (and I’m looking forward a third episode that just finished, Before Midnight), and Dazed and Confused.
He’s made good films, but he’s pretty well recognized as well. I don’t think I’d characterize Linklater as “under appreciated”.
Oh yeah, like William Friedkin, Frank Oz, Norman Jewison, and George Roy Hill fit the OP better. :rolleyes: