# Hollywood directors who just aren't good at their craft **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 14, 2014, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywood-directors-who-just-arent-good-at-their-craft/683672 "2014-03-14T06:00:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywood-directors-who-just-arent-good-at-their-craft/683672/61 "2014-03-20T15:07:05Z")
> [@Dave\_Hartwick](#): > > Yeah, you said that already. Do you have some examples of particularly bad sequences you can share? They’d have to be really bad to sink the entire film. Personally, I think he cuts away too often, and I remember the first time Batman fought with Bane looking slow, but those things are not enough for me to say Nolan’s bad at his job. I found _Inception_ deeply incoherent. The scene I mentioned when I first raised his name was from that movie, IIRC – the one where a bunch of people are scaling an icy cliff, and it’s not clear whether we’re rooting for the scalers or the scalees. Also, this Batman movies. I actually kind of liked the first, the second was carried by the brilliance of Heath Ledger, and the third made no fucking sense at all. I think it was in the second, early in the movie, when there was a scene with the Joker’s guys fighting the good guys, right after that first heist, and it wasn’t clear to me who was who or what was going one. It’s been years since I’ve seen any of these films, sorry I can’t be more specific. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywood-directors-who-just-arent-good-at-their-craft/683672/62 "2014-03-20T15:34:18Z")
I don’t know exactly how much input he had to Alias, Lost, the ST films, Cloverfield and his book ‘S’…but he seems to have fun, fresh ideas. The world is definitely better off for having him in it. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_jeffrey_lebowski/32/215_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Jeffrey_Lebowski)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywood-directors-who-just-arent-good-at-their-craft/683672/63 "2014-03-20T15:38:06Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Because he’s a director of action movies who can’t direct action sequences. In movie making, there can be 2 directors working with 2 separate crews. The credited director will helm the crew that shoots all of the dialogue, and the 2nd unit director (frequently a stuntman) oversees the action, stunt sequences, precision driving. Any big budget movie will have 2 units, so it’s a near certainty that Nolan directed none of the action sequences in any of his movies. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywood-directors-who-just-arent-good-at-their-craft/683672/64 "2014-03-20T16:29:52Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > I think it was in the second, early in the movie, when there was a scene with the Joker’s guys fighting the good guys, right after that first heist, and it wasn’t clear to me who was who or what was going one. I always understood those combat scenes to be intentionally chaotic and confused, much like real combat is. The idea being that the way that it’s filmed is intentionally supposed to be confusing but exhilarating, so that you sort of experience a similar emotion to the protagonists in the story- chaotic, confused but adrenaline-charged, and then calming down if the scene changes, or continuing to be charged up, but less confused if it segues into a car chase or other suspenseful scene. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywood-directors-who-just-arent-good-at-their-craft/683672/65 "2014-03-20T16:30:23Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > Other than notorious people like Ed Wood…I don’t know of any. You’ll get knee jerk reactions like “Tarantino”…But even Joel Schumaker directed “Cousins” and “Phone Booth” Here’s my knee jerk reaction for Tarantino: he seems more interested in fulfilling his foot fetish than making a good movie. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywood-directors-who-just-arent-good-at-their-craft/683672/66 "2014-03-20T16:44:02Z")
> [@keeganst94](#): > > I wouldn’t really consider him a director of action movies. Thrillers, yes. Even the batman movies were a lot more thriller than action. But even if that’s true, he is overall a good director, in terms of the movies he makes, performances he gets out of actors, shot choices, etc. I’m not saying it’s not a valid criticism, because it absolutely is, but the OP asked for hack directors, and Nolan is definitely not a hack. Particularly when you compare him to some of the directors I’ve listed, who have never really shown any directorial merit, in any area. Nolan’s bad at action sequences. Tyler Perry can’t film a two shot. And I’d wonder why RR is on your list. A resume as diverse as Desperado, Planet Terror, Sin City, Spy Kids, The Faculty, the only good part of that 4 part film… I’m not saying those are all Citizen Kane, and I left out a lot of not so good films, but surely there’s a lot of good in the films I listed. ---
**Author:** ![keeganst94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a6a055/32.png) [@keeganst94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/keeganst94)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywood-directors-who-just-arent-good-at-their-craft/683672/67 "2014-03-20T16:52:15Z")
He definitely has some good ones, and I love Sin City, but he also has Spy Kids 1-4 (trust me, after the 1st they were awful, and even the first was pretty bad), the adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl, Shorts, Planet Terror (I see that ones actually got decent reviews so I guess that ones just personal), and Machete Kills. So basically the majority of his movies range from awful to pretty bad with a few standouts. He is by far the best director on that list though. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywood-directors-who-just-arent-good-at-their-craft/683672/68 "2014-03-20T17:20:23Z")
> [@keeganst94](#): > > He definitely has some good ones, and I love Sin City, but he also has Spy Kids 1-4 (trust me, after the 1st they were awful, and even the first was pretty bad), the adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl, Shorts, Planet Terror (I see that ones actually got decent reviews so I guess that ones just personal), and Machete Kills. So basically the majority of his movies range from awful to pretty bad with a few standouts. He is by far the best director on that list though. I have no real opinion either way regarding Robert Rodriguez, but you do realize that _Planet Terror_ and _Machete_ were specifically made as parody/homage to 70s B-movies? Now, I said at the time (and still feel) that if you’re making an homage to bad movies, you end up _intentionally making a bad movie_, which is ludicrous, but… whatever. He succeeded, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![keeganst94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a6a055/32.png) [@keeganst94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/keeganst94)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywood-directors-who-just-arent-good-at-their-craft/683672/69 "2014-03-20T18:44:57Z")
I know. I’m actually a pretty big fan of 70’s B-movies. I thought that Planet Terror was a bad parody/homage to those movies. Machete was pretty good, which is why I didn’t include it. The sequel, Machete Kills, was awful. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywood-directors-who-just-arent-good-at-their-craft/683672/70 "2014-03-20T23:00:30Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > And penises. Lots and lots of penises. Hold on now. There is nothing wrong with lots and lots of penises. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywood-directors-who-just-arent-good-at-their-craft/683672/71 "2014-03-21T05:31:22Z")
Ralph Bakshi. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywood-directors-who-just-arent-good-at-their-craft/683672/72 "2014-03-21T06:00:19Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Ralph Bakshi. Fucking Amen. I would say that guy was the Ed Wood of animation, but I can’t. As bad as they were, Ed Wood movies at least had some entertainment value. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywood-directors-who-just-arent-good-at-their-craft/683672/73 "2014-03-21T06:05:44Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Ralph Bakshi. Insane in the membrane. American Pop is a fantastic film. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywood-directors-who-just-arent-good-at-their-craft/683672/74 "2014-03-21T08:00:50Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](#): > > In movie making, there can be 2 directors working with 2 separate crews. The credited director will helm the crew that shoots all of the dialogue, and the 2nd unit director (frequently a stuntman) oversees the action, stunt sequences, precision driving. Any big budget movie will have 2 units, so it’s a near certainty that Nolan directed none of the action sequences in any of his movies. From the Wikipedia [“Second unit”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_unit) article: “A notable exception to having more than one filming unit is director Christopher Nolan, who has avoided the use of a second unit in movies such as _The Dark Knight_ or _Inception_, preferring instead to oversee every shot himself with cinematographer Wally Pfister.” ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywood-directors-who-just-arent-good-at-their-craft/683672/75 "2014-03-21T14:20:23Z")
And even if he did have a second unit, as the director of the film presumably he would have explained to that director what he wanted. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hollywood-directors-who-just-arent-good-at-their-craft/683672.md?page=3)