# Directors with 2 great full length movies in one year
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-with-2-great-full-length-movies-in-one-year/970034
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Tags:** movies
**Created:** [August 21, 2022, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-with-2-great-full-length-movies-in-one-year/970034 "2022-08-21T14:15:31Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2022, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-with-2-great-full-length-movies-in-one-year/970034/1 "2022-08-21T14:15:31Z")
So which directors (please directors only) had two great movies in a single year?
**Mel Brooks** 1974 **[Young Frankenstein](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072431/?ref_=nm_flmg_dr_8)** & **[Blazing Saddles](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071230/?ref_=nm_flmg_dr_9)**
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**Spielberg** 1993 **[Jurassic Park](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107290/?ref_=nm_flmg_dr_26)** & **[Schindler’s List](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108052/?ref_=nm_flmg_dr_25)**
_Honorable mention:_ **Spielberg** 1989 **[Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097576/?ref_=nm_flmg_dr_30)** & the less remembered but still great film **[Always](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096794/?ref_=nm_flmg_dr_29)**
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**Francis Ford Coppola** : 1974 **[The Godfather Part II](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071562/?ref_=nm_flmg_dr_26)** & the far less famous but nominated for Best Picture & Best Writing **[The Conversation](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071360/?ref_=nm_flmg_dr_27)**
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**Alfred Hitchcock** 1954 **[Rear Window](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047396/?ref_=nm_flmg_dr_20)** & **[Dial M for Murder](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046912/?ref_=nm_flmg_dr_21)**
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The weakest of my suggestions:
**John Hughes** 1985 **[The Breakfast Club](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088847/?ref_=nm_flmg_dr_7)** & probably doesn’t qualify as great, but it is very well remembered **[Weird Science](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090305/?ref_=nm_flmg_dr_6)**
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So who else has pulled off 2 great movies in a year? I could even find a year where **Capra** did it.
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### Author:  [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2022, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-with-2-great-full-length-movies-in-one-year/970034/2 "2022-08-21T14:27:33Z")
Victor Fleming, with _The Wizard Of Oz_ and _Gone With The Wind._
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### Author:  [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2022, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-with-2-great-full-length-movies-in-one-year/970034/3 "2022-08-21T14:33:15Z")
Is Peter Jackson, for the LOTR trilogy, cheating? Made on one continuous shoot. 😏
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### Author:  [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2022, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-with-2-great-full-length-movies-in-one-year/970034/4 "2022-08-21T14:40:32Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#):
>
> Victor Fleming, with _The Wizard Of Oz_ and _Gone With The Wind._
Great one, I should have got that. I remembered Oz had 3 directors, I didn’t realize Fleming is the credited one.
> [@iamatractorboy](#):
>
> Is Peter Jackson, for the LOTR trilogy, cheating? Made on one continuous shoot.
Yes, that is cheating. They were released in 3 different years.
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### Author:  [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2022, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-with-2-great-full-length-movies-in-one-year/970034/5 "2022-08-21T14:45:23Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#):
>
> **Spielberg** 1993 **[Jurassic Park](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107290/?ref_=nm_flmg_dr_26)** & **[Schindler’s List](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108052/?ref_=nm_flmg_dr_25)**
>
> _Honorable mention:_ **Spielberg** 1989 **[Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097576/?ref_=nm_flmg_dr_30)** & the less remembered but still great film **[Always](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096794/?ref_=nm_flmg_dr_29)**
>
> * * *
>
> \*\*
Michael Curtiz really put Bogart and Cagney on the map with **Angels With Dirty Faces** in ‘38, the same year that **The Adventures Of Robin Hood** achieved perfection — and then, in ‘42, it was **Casablanca** for Bogart and **Yankee Doodle Dandy** for Cagney.
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### Author:  [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2022, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-with-2-great-full-length-movies-in-one-year/970034/6 "2022-08-21T14:51:54Z")
That is a really great nomination. Especially 1942. Holy Cow.
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### Author:  [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2022, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-with-2-great-full-length-movies-in-one-year/970034/7 "2022-08-21T14:58:40Z")
Steven Soderbergh released both _Erin Brockovich_ and _Traffic_ in 2000.
Robert Zemeckis released both _What Lies Beneath_ and _Cast Away_ in 2000 as well. I’m not his biggest fan, but his box office prowess was pretty unassailable for a few years.
Takashi Miike has made over a hundred feature films, so obviously he tends to release several in each calendar year. That said, his hit-and-miss ratio is basically what you’d expect, but there have been a few years when more than one piece of brilliant work rolled off the assembly line: _Audition_ and _Dead or Alive_ both came out in 1999, _City of Lost Souls_ and _Dead or Alive 2_ came out the next year, and 2001 saw the release of both _Ichi the Killer_ and _The Happiness of the Katakuris_ (I’ll leave defending _Visitor Q_ to someone else).
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### Author:  [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2022, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-with-2-great-full-length-movies-in-one-year/970034/8 "2022-08-21T15:01:06Z")
arent the DOA movies based on a notorious PlayStation game?
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### Author:  [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2022, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-with-2-great-full-length-movies-in-one-year/970034/9 "2022-08-21T15:05:25Z")
No, that’s the 2006 movie directed by Yuen Kwai starring Devon Aoki and Jaime Pressley.
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luSqcSVGknU)
The Miike trilogy is a surreal (at times science fiction) yakuza saga.
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXv4V1r_00w)
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### Author:  [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2022, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-with-2-great-full-length-movies-in-one-year/970034/10 "2022-08-21T15:11:56Z")
> [@veryfrank](#):
>
> Robert Zemeckis released both _What Lies Beneath_ and _Cast Away_ in 2000 as well. I’m not his biggest fan, but his box office prowess was pretty unassailable for a few years.
[What lies Beneath](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/what_lies_beneath) is not a great film by most definitions. Neither Fans nor Critics loved it.
This sums it up well …
###
CRITICS CONSENSUS
> Robert Zemeckis is unable to salvage an uncompelling and unoriginal film. [Read critic reviews](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/what_lies_beneath/reviews?intcmp=rt-what-to-know_read-critics-reviews)
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> [@veryfrank](#):
>
> Steven Soderbergh released both _Erin Brockovich_ and _Traffic_ in 2000.
Very good example. Both movies won Oscars and were well liked at least by critics.
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### Author:  [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2022, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-with-2-great-full-length-movies-in-one-year/970034/11 "2022-08-21T15:15:04Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#):
>
> [What lies Beneath](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/what_lies_beneath) is not a great film by most definitions. Neither Fans nor Critics loved it.
Fair 'nuff. Not that box office is a reliable marker of quality, it did make nearly $300M so somebody liked it. I’m still impressed at the work ethic that made two big-budget, big star movies back to back (or sandwiched…if memory serves, _What Lies Beneath_ was shot while _Cast Away_ took a break for Hanks to lose a ton of weight for the second half of the shoot),
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### Author:  [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2022, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-with-2-great-full-length-movies-in-one-year/970034/12 "2022-08-21T17:41:08Z")
For certain - and generally very loose - definitions of “great”:
Julien Duvivier 1937: _Pépé le Moko_ & _Un Carnet de Bal_
Jacques Tourneur 1943: _I Walked with a Zombie_ & _The Leopard Man_
Howard Hawks 1944: _To Have and Have Not_ & _The Big Sleep_ (filmed in '44, but not released until '46)
Ishirô Honda 1963: _Matango, Fungus of Terror_ & _Atragon_
Russ Meyer 1965: _Mudhoney_ & _Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!_ & _Motorpsycho!_
Hideo Gosha 1969: _Hitokiri_ & _Goyokin_
Ken Russell 1988: _Salome’s Last Dance_ & _The Lair of the White Worm_
Siu-Tung Ching 1992: _Swordsman II_ & _Dragon Inn_ (as uncredited co-director)
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### Author:  [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2022, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-with-2-great-full-length-movies-in-one-year/970034/13 "2022-08-21T17:54:03Z")
> [@veryfrank](#):
>
> (I’ll leave defending _Visitor Q_ to someone else)
I’ll defend it. You have to be on Miike’s gonzo black-comic wavelength, but if you can roll with it, _Visitor Q_ has lots to offer.
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### Author:  [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2022, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-with-2-great-full-length-movies-in-one-year/970034/14 "2022-08-21T19:01:57Z")
There only been two directors nominated for two Best Director Oscars in the same year:
Michael Curtiz for _Angels with Dirty Faces_ and _Four Daughters_
Steven Soderbergh for _Erin Brockovich_ and _Traffic_
But note that for a few years two nominations in that category for one year were allowed, then it wasn’t allowed for a long time, and then it once again was allowed.
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### Author:  [@Didi44](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Didi44)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2022, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-with-2-great-full-length-movies-in-one-year/970034/15 "2022-08-21T19:29:20Z")
Kim Ki Duk. I think all of his films are brilliant. He also wrote all his movies, often rewriting as he filmed. \*Films on which he was also the producer.
2000
_ **The Isle** _
_ **Real Fiction** _
2001
_ **Address Unknown** _
_ **Bad Guy** _
2004
_ **Samaritan Girl** _ \*
_ **3-Iron** _ \*
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### Author:  [@journeyman\_southpaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/journeyman_southpaw)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2022, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-with-2-great-full-length-movies-in-one-year/970034/16 "2022-08-21T19:55:46Z")
I’m not that big a fan of Jean-Luc Godard, but the critical consensus on these movies has them as great:
1965
Alphaville
Pierrot le Fou
1967
Two or Three Things I Know About Her
Week-End
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### Author:  [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2022, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-with-2-great-full-length-movies-in-one-year/970034/17 "2022-08-21T20:32:44Z")
> [@Dropo](#):
>
> Siu-Tung Ching 1992: _Swordsman II_ & _Dragon Inn_ (as uncredited co-director)
Damn, that’s a good one. Got me reminiscing about my HK action cinema fandom days and looking up filmographies. So I’ll match that with Yuen Woo Ping, who released both _Wing Chun_ and _Iron Monkey_ in 1993 (though that’s sullied somewhat by _Last Hero in China_ coming out the same year, and I still can’t believe Jet Li accepted the role of Wong Fei Fung with a script that had him dressing up like a chicken).
Not to mention Tsui Hark, who did it repeatedly in 1992 as yet another uncredited co-director on _Dragon Inn_ as well as helming _Once Upon a Time in China_ parts 2 and 3
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### Author:  [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2022, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-with-2-great-full-length-movies-in-one-year/970034/18 "2022-08-21T21:29:53Z")
Clint Eastwood has released two movies the same year eight (!) times, and yet, as far as I can tell, not once have both been great (although one of them often is). That’s got to be some kind of record.
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### Author:  [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2022, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-with-2-great-full-length-movies-in-one-year/970034/19 "2022-08-21T21:31:37Z")
Directors in the 30s often had 2-3 full length films in a year.
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### Author:  [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2022, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/directors-with-2-great-full-length-movies-in-one-year/970034/20 "2022-08-21T21:32:43Z")
True - but it’s very rare in post-studio system Hollywood.
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