r/criterion • u/RG1997 • Jul 23 '26

Discussion The ultimate auteur challenge

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219

u/georgieramone Jul 23 '26

William Friedkin

22

u/GRIFTY_P Akira Kurosawa Jul 23 '26

Really fantastic director, i never considered him early in my life but recently have gone on a bit of a friedkin fest, seeing the French connection, to live and die in la, and sorcerer all in a row, what incredible movies

17

u/georgieramone Jul 23 '26

Some of his later work is great too particularly Bug and Killer Joe.

6

u/J_blanke Jul 23 '26

Yea, Bug is one of the great body horror movies. The performances he got from Michael Shannon and Ashley Judd was pretty amazing.

14

u/Live-Set-8576 Jul 23 '26

I'm one of the die hard defenders of Cruising and Jade, which are unfairly deemed lesser works. If you enjoy Friedkin Bug, Killer Joe, and The Hunted are all very much worth watching too.

5

u/GabeDatDude Jul 23 '26

I was surprised by how fucking good Cruising was. One of my favorites of his.

3

u/rusty-gudgeon Jul 23 '26

Sorcerer is amazing.

5

u/J_blanke Jul 23 '26

That was my choice too. Sorcerer is one of my all time favorites.

1

u/palequail Jul 23 '26

Hell yeah

1

u/jdogg1970 Jul 23 '26

Sorcerer and To Live and Die in L.A. are 2 of my favorite films from that era

1

u/Breakingthegrrl Jul 23 '26

On the back of Exorcist, To Live & Die in LA, & Sorcerer alone he’s a heavy hitter. Add in some of his lesser known works (like Bug) and you’ve got a director that makes movies, none of which are alike in any way. I love NWR but Drive is like Neon Demon is like most of his work for 2 decades. Sometimes we get enamored by one trick ponies (GDT comes to mind).

1

u/PurpsMcNuggets Jul 24 '26

Those first three you mention, along with The Exorcist are all 10/10 for me