# Do you pay attention to the director and/or screenwriter of movies? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 23, 2016, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pay-attention-to-the-director-and-or-screenwriter-of-movies/749917 "2016-03-23T03:31:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pay-attention-to-the-director-and-or-screenwriter-of-movies/749917/41 "2016-03-24T11:42:14Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Joss Whedon is the director of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, and most notably on the big screen, The Avengers. And wrote and produced CABIN IN THE WOODS – but, yeah, the big one is obviously AVENGERS (uh, plus AGE OF ULTRON). If he announced tomorrow that he was now undertaking some big new project, I’d instantly be curious. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pay-attention-to-the-director-and-or-screenwriter-of-movies/749917/42 "2016-03-24T11:51:06Z")
Screenwriters, no. If the director is Coppola, Spielberg, Scorsese, or Howard sure I’ll watch. If it’s Tarantino, I’ll pass. ---
**Author:** ![Smid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Smid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smid)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pay-attention-to-the-director-and-or-screenwriter-of-movies/749917/43 "2016-03-24T12:11:40Z")
I use directors to track new directors, ie: for the first few movies before they get dragged into the machine, they get to shine in their own way… After they’re getting the big money, I tend to judge more on other things. Actors/Actresses sometime makes a good indicator of content. Some actors choices of movies are signs that they like interesting stuff. Tom Hardy for instance, Ewan Mcgregor, when it’s not a big money movie, churns out some really interesting movies, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, for instance, will make me look at a film closer. Other actors/actresses will just do whatever for the money, so definitely not an indicator. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pay-attention-to-the-director-and-or-screenwriter-of-movies/749917/44 "2016-03-24T13:23:04Z")
There are directors I avoid, but no one I really seek out. There are some that I will give a shot simply because of previous work I liked. For example, the only reason I’ll check out “Gods of Egypt” is Alex Proyas. It doesn’t sound like it’s a very good film, but **Dark City, The Crow** , and even **I, Robot** were visually interesting and I’m curious how this will look. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pay-attention-to-the-director-and-or-screenwriter-of-movies/749917/45 "2016-03-24T13:32:52Z")
I’ll go see Wes Anderson or Coen brothers movies because of the directors and the only reason I watched Bridge of Spies was because it was written by the Coen bros. Other than that, I pay more attention to certain reviewers when I choose to see a movie. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pay-attention-to-the-director-and-or-screenwriter-of-movies/749917/46 "2016-03-24T13:38:26Z")
There are directors I avoid, but no one I really seek out. There are some that I will give a shot simply because of previous work I liked. For example, the only reason I’ll check out “Gods of Egypt” is Alex Proyas. It doesn’t sound like it’s a very good film, but **Dark City, The Crow** , and even **I, Robot** were visually interesting and I’m curious how this will look. ---
**Author:** ![JustinC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justinc/32/8083_2.png) [@JustinC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustinC)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pay-attention-to-the-director-and-or-screenwriter-of-movies/749917/47 "2016-03-24T14:20:15Z")
I tend to place more emphasis on the director than the actors, but who any of them are won’t change my mind if I want to see a film. I wouldn’t know a screenwriter even if they were thrown at me. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pay-attention-to-the-director-and-or-screenwriter-of-movies/749917/48 "2016-03-24T15:39:34Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Joss Whedon is the director of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, and most notably on the big screen, The Avengers. I’ve never seen any of those. Have always avoided The Avengers franchise anyway, because reports are it sucks bilge water. I’ve watched almost all the other Marvel franchises (not _Deadpool_ though), but not seen The Avengers. ---
**Author:** ![psiekier](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psiekier/32/116_2.png) [@psiekier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psiekier)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pay-attention-to-the-director-and-or-screenwriter-of-movies/749917/49 "2016-03-24T15:51:38Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > How much does a movie’s director and/or screenwriters affect your choice to see a movie? If [Hayao Miyazaki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayao_Miyazaki) (or his [son](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gor%C5%8D_Miyazaki)) had a hand in directing a movie - hell, just about _anything_ to do with a movie - I’m in automatically. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_John_Marcej)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pay-attention-to-the-director-and-or-screenwriter-of-movies/749917/50 "2016-03-24T15:58:59Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I’ve never seen any of those. Have always avoided The Avengers franchise anyway, because reports are it sucks bilge water. I’ve watched almost all the other Marvel franchises (not _Deadpool_ though), but not seen The Avengers. Really? I’m curious, what reports said it “sucks bilge water”? The first Marvel’s The Avengers scored a 92% positive on Rotten Tomatoes And the second, while not as positively reviewed as the first still scored a 75% I can understand not liking a specific genre or franchise but to say that something was reported to be really critically panned and then to see the actual positive numbers, well, that doesn’t add up. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pay-attention-to-the-director-and-or-screenwriter-of-movies/749917/51 "2016-03-25T07:54:45Z")
> [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](#): > > Really? I’m curious, what reports said it “sucks bilge water”? > The first Marvel’s The Avengers scored a 92% positive on Rotten Tomatoes > And the second, while not as positively reviewed as the first still scored a 75% > > I can understand not liking a specific genre or franchise but to say that something was reported to be really critically panned and then to see the actual positive numbers, well, that doesn’t add up. The reviewers whose opinions I generally agree with did not like them, so I watched other stuff instead. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pay-attention-to-the-director-and-or-screenwriter-of-movies/749917/52 "2016-03-25T15:56:49Z")
Heck with all those roles - why on earth does anyone ever give a shit about producers and executive producers? These are basically bankrollers. Shouldn’t they just shut up and quietly sit in the background and collect their profits? Why do we even have to know their names? Ego? ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2016, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pay-attention-to-the-director-and-or-screenwriter-of-movies/749917/53 "2016-03-26T01:54:26Z")
> [@BwanaBob](#): > > Heck with all those roles - why on earth does anyone ever give a shit about producers and executive producers? These are basically bankrollers. Shouldn’t they just shut up and quietly sit in the background and collect their profits? Why do we even have to know their names? Ego? Very rarely the producers’ names will jump out and grab me. For instance, the Coen Brothers. I can pretty much count on them not bankrolling shit. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-pay-attention-to-the-director-and-or-screenwriter-of-movies/749917.md?page=2)