# Weird Idiosyncracies of Directors? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 10, 2019, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-idiosyncracies-of-directors/838458 "2019-08-10T15:06:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2019, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-idiosyncracies-of-directors/838458/1 "2019-08-10T15:06:48Z")
I read that Stanley Kubrick wouldn’t sit in a car going over 30mph. ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2019, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-idiosyncracies-of-directors/838458/2 "2019-08-10T16:09:06Z")
Fritz Lang and Peter… > **[Breakfast the Fritz Lang way: Martinis with scrambled eggs (and a toy monkey)](https://dangerousminds.net/comments/breakfast_the_fritz_lang_way_martinis_with_scrambled_eggs)** > > Fritz Lang and friend >   > The record seems clear on this point. Fritz Lang loved monkeys, and especially toy monkey dolls that he could pretend were his constant companions. The best-known of the succession of toy monkeys was called Peter, but... ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2019, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-idiosyncracies-of-directors/838458/3 "2019-08-10T16:26:14Z")
Well, there are Alfred Hitchcock’s frequent cameos in his own films and the obligatory foot fetish scene in Quentin Tarantino’s movies. ETA: also [Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werner_Herzog_Eats_His_Shoe) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2019, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-idiosyncracies-of-directors/838458/4 "2019-08-10T16:26:38Z")
Wes Anderson is the king of idiosyncrasies: Nearly all shots symmetrically composed, nearly all motion going from left to right, camera that rarely moves, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2019, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-idiosyncracies-of-directors/838458/5 "2019-08-10T17:27:39Z")
This could go 3 pages on Woody Allen alone. ---
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2019, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-idiosyncracies-of-directors/838458/6 "2019-08-10T19:14:01Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > This could go 3 pages on Woody Allen alone. The only one I know is that he takes his temperature twice a day. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2019, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-idiosyncracies-of-directors/838458/7 "2019-08-10T19:24:12Z")
What is it with David Lynch and head wounds? Too many to list. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2019, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-idiosyncracies-of-directors/838458/8 "2019-08-10T20:04:51Z")
Mel Gibson likes to show a character persevering in the face of adversity. But it frequently morphs into torture porn. Many of Robin Williams’ movies ostentatiously proclaimed, “Children are good; grownups are evil.” I often wondered whether that attitude would survive when his own children became teenagers. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2019, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-idiosyncracies-of-directors/838458/9 "2019-08-10T20:09:56Z")
Every Monday night, Woody Allen plays clarinet with the New Orleans Jazz Band at the Carlyle Hotel in Manhattan. He has snubbed prestigious award ceremonies, rather than miss his Monday performances. ---
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2019, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-idiosyncracies-of-directors/838458/10 "2019-08-10T20:42:30Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > What is it with David Lynch and head wounds? Too many to list. I remember reading that he went to the same restaurant for breakfast for years. (Surprised the place wasn’t inundated with fans) ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2019, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-idiosyncracies-of-directors/838458/11 "2019-08-10T21:16:23Z")
> [@Dropo](#): > > Fritz Lang and Peter… Hang on. Fritz didn’t EAT monkey along with his scrambled eggs and martinis, did he? Because scrambled eggs with salami is really a preferable option. Some people say it’s better than sex. Martinis with breakfast, I have no quibble. They make it easier to go straight back to bed afterwards. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2019, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-idiosyncracies-of-directors/838458/12 "2019-08-10T21:17:27Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > Every Monday night, Woody Allen plays clarinet with the New Orleans Jazz Band at the Carlyle Hotel in Manhattan. He has snubbed prestigious award ceremonies, rather than miss his Monday performances. He started doing that in the 1970s. Is it still a thing with him? Has he gotten any better on the clarinet? ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2019, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-idiosyncracies-of-directors/838458/13 "2019-08-10T21:21:50Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Well, there are Alfred Hitchcock’s frequent cameos in his own films… Not “frequent.” He had a cameo in every movie starting with _The Lodger_ in 1926. In _Lifeboat,_ which takes place entirely in a lifeboat, he was in the “before” photo in a newspaper ad for a diet system. His real and ugly idiosyncrasy was his penchant for ice-cold blonde actress torture. ---
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2019, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-idiosyncracies-of-directors/838458/14 "2019-08-11T12:33:39Z")
Paul Verhoeven has a funny habit of physically trying to get a reaction out of his actors by pretending to be something the actors can’t see: special effects, be it practical props added in later or CGI. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2019, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-idiosyncracies-of-directors/838458/15 "2019-08-11T19:16:55Z")
First to mention Peter Greenaway? He has made films which are almost entirely composed of idiosyncrasies. [Drowning By Numbers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drowning_by_Numbers) is maybe the most extreme - the numbers 1 to 100 appear in sequence through the film (for you to identify), which is largely concerned with games played by the characters. > [@](#): > > In Drowning by Numbers, number-counting, the rules of games and the repetitions of the plot are all devices which emphasise structure. Through the course of the film each of the numbers 1 to 100 appear, the large majority in sequence, often seen in the background, sometimes spoken by the characters. Another game, if I remember correctly, played by the viewer, concerns the composition of the initial shots of scenes, which are based on renaissance paintings, for you to identify. It’s not the only film he made which is monumentally odd. Prospero’s Books is a relatively straightforward version of The Tempest - except that all of the characters’ lines are spoken by John Gielgud (who also plays Prospero). A Zed & Two Noughts (about the efforts of two twins to _become_ conjoined) is filled with time lapse video clips of growth and decay. Always interesting, mind. j ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2019, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-idiosyncracies-of-directors/838458/16 "2019-08-12T16:01:36Z")
Darn! I completely forgot about Greenaway! _Drowning by Numbers_ and _The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover_ are like logic puzzles. You spend the first part of the movie trying to figure out the rules of the game, and then spend the rest of the movie trying to see if he ever breaks the rules. In _The Draughtsman’s Contract_, the sex and violence are basically a pretext to get you into the theater, so he can give you a lecture on architecture and drafting techniques. In _The Pillow Book_, the sex and violence are basically a pretext to get you into the theater, so he can give you a lecture on papermaking, calligraphy, and weird forms of poetry. In _Prospero’s Books_ . . . . Well, it’s John Gielgud doing Shakespeare, with a lot of naked people running around in the background. Who cares what his intentions were? It’s fun to watch. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2019, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-idiosyncracies-of-directors/838458/17 "2019-08-12T16:37:33Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > He started doing that in the 1970s. Is it still a thing with him? Has he gotten any better on the clarinet? As of last year it is. There was a documentary about him touring Europe with his band, and to my untrained ear he sounded very good. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2019, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-idiosyncracies-of-directors/838458/18 "2019-08-12T16:55:59Z")
Of course Hitchcock is known for his cameos, but most people miss the fact that he often staged key scenes on stairways. Some examples (spoilered so no one gets huffy): _Number Seventeen_ – most of the film _The Thirty-Nine Steps_ – sort of: Pamela realizes Hannay is telling the truth when she stands on a landing near the stairs _Suspicion_ – the glass of milk _Shadow of a Doubt_ – an attempt at murder by sawing through a step, and Charlie descending the stairs with the ring. _Notorious_ – Grant rescuing Bergman _Strangers on a Train_ – Guy’s attempt to murder Bruno’s father _The Man Who Knew Too Much_ (1956) – Villain dies falling down stairs _Vertigo_ _Psycho_ – Arbogast’s murder _Frenzy_ – The dolly shot down the stairs to the street. _Family Plot_ – Final scene Truffaut once asked Hitchcock about it, and Hitchcock replied “Stairs are very photogenic.” ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2019, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-idiosyncracies-of-directors/838458/19 "2019-08-12T18:29:23Z")
There’s always John Landis and his running gag of _See You Next Wednesday_: > **[See You Next Wednesday](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/See_You_Next_Wednesday)** > > See You Next Wednesday is a recurring gag in most of the films directed by John Landis, usually referring to a fictional film that is rarely seen and never in its entirety. Each instance of See You Next Wednesday in Landis's films seems to be a completely different film. > Landis got the title See You Next Wednesday from the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey. It is the last line spoken by Frank Poole's father during Poole's video letter from his parents. > [@](#): > > See You Next Wednesday is a recurring gag in most of the films directed by John Landis, usually referring to a fictional film that is rarely seen and never in its entirety. Each instance of See You Next Wednesday in Landis’s films seems to be a completely different film. > > Landis got the title See You Next Wednesday from the 1968 movie, 2001: A Space Odyssey. It is the last line spoken by Frank Poole’s father during Poole’s video letter from his parents. That might be the origin, but I can’t help but think that there’s a relationship to the quasi-risqué _See You Next Tuesday_ in there. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2019, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-idiosyncracies-of-directors/838458/20 "2019-08-13T06:46:28Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > What is it with David Lynch and head wounds? Too many to list. While shooting the _Blue Velvet_ scene introducing Frank (with Jeffrey hiding in the closet), Lynch was constantly fondling the severed ear that appeared at the beginning of the film. Sam Peckinpah required sets of doors for throwing knives at, between takes. In pressuring Menahem Golan for more funds for _Barfly_, Barbet Schroeder threatened to chainsaw off his finger. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-idiosyncracies-of-directors/838458.md?page=2)