BoD: Film's influential 15

I think of all the people that have come and gone over the years. As in any decade or year, we’ve had deaths, breakthroughs and controversies. But who amongst our A-list celebrities, our auteur directors and our powerhouse corporations have really ruled Hollywood in the 2000’s? And who will continue to do the same?  

15 people or groups come to mind

Clint Eastwood – No other person now or perhaps ever is as active and as significant in old age as Clint Eastwood is, that 79-year-old battle-ax. Who else his age can star in and direct not one, but two films (“Million Dollar Baby,” “Gran Torino”)? Who else in the last ten years became a seven time Oscar nominee (“Baby,” “Letters From Iwo Jima,” “Mystic River”) and winner of four? Whether you’re Hilary Swank, Morgan Freeman, Angelina Jolie, Ken Watanabe, Sean Penn, Ryan Phillippe or Matt Damon, it is an honor to work with this living legend.

Philip Seymour Hoffman – After two phenomenal years in 2007 (“Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead,”  “Charlie Wilson’s War,” “The Savages”) and 2008 (“Synecdoche, New York,” “Doubt”), and not to mention his Oscar winning turn as Truman Capote, Philip Seymour Hoffman seems like an A-lister here to stay. Aside from being one of our better actors, he may surprise us in 2011 when he takes a stab at directing.

Peter Jackson – Peter Jackson will always be known as the guy that successfully filmed “The Lord of the Rings,” but his reputation precedes him. Not only is he a director, he is also an equally formidable writer and producer, responsible for all the “Rings” screenplays and the ones for “King Kong” and the upcoming “The Lovely Bones.” Furthermore, he has launched Neill Blomkamp’s career (“District 9”), a director with great potential, and he will have a hand in the new “Hobbit” saga and the “Halo” movie.

Spike Jonze – Spike Jonze is a director to keep an eye on. With his indie-cred, he can attract great talent to his projects. He has proven time and again that he can take a difficult screenplay and run with it because despite his inexperience, he has the confidence to do so. “Being John Malkovich” and “Adaptation” are inherently fun films because he got his hands in them, and I would wager only a handful of other directors could do well adapting a nine sentence children’s book.

Charlie Kaufman – With Jonze is Charlie Kaufman, two powerhouses I’m sure will work together again. Since “Adaptation,” Kaufman penned the excellent “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” and tried his luck at directing with the difficult and sobering film “Synecdoche, New York.” No one else this decade has defined themselves as an auteur out of writing screenplays alone.

Christopher Nolan – I would argue there are directors with better resumes than Christopher Nolan, but there are many that would not, and this is why he is so influential. “The Dark Knight” aside, Nolan has a legion of cult followers and fanboys stacked behind him after films such as “Memento” and “The Prestige.” Before he wows us with the next Batman installment, his “Inception” with Leonardo Dicaprio is primed to be the next cult smash.

Pixar – This is a no-brainer. They’ve had 10 not just good, but great films, a monopoly on the Oscar’s Best Animated Film category and a box-office track record to boot. Pixar can become legendary again if the upcoming “Toy Story” sequel proves to be the greatest film with a 3 on the end of it, and with directors like Andrew Stanton moving away from animation for the first time, Pixar may soon be dominating in all departments of cinema.

Jason Reitman – Here’s yet another young director I have a lot of faith in. Jason Reitman wowed me with “Juno,” he made me think with “Thank You for Smoking” and he’s already charmed thousands more with “Up in the Air.” With his connections through the indie and A-list channels, he can get just about any project he wants, and it won’t be long until he has a real masterpiece under his belt.

Martin Scorsese – I think of all the legendary directors with movies in this decade and who actually still matters. David Lynch had nothing more than “Mulholland Dr.” Steven Spielberg had a few duds. Robert Altman is dead. That leaves Scorsese. “Gangs of New York,” “The Aviator”  and “The Departed” were all nominated for big Oscars, and he finally got the recognition he deserved with the latter. With his boy Leo at his side, Marty is the last living legend.

Meryl Streep – I’ve actually hated a lot that Meryl Streep has done over the last 10 years (“The Devil Wears Prada,” “Mamma Mia!”), but after three more Oscar nods (“Prada,” “Adaptation.,” “Doubt”) and a position as the queen of the box office, there is no denying that Meryl Streep is the greatest living actress and will be for a long time. It’s unlikely that she will surpass Katherine Hepburn’s record of four Oscars, but let’s hope in the next 10 years Streep gets a definitive classic under her belt.

Michael Bay – Not all influential figures are beneficial to the industry. But Michael Bay has the biggest ego in Hollywood, and all the bile critics spew at him don’t make a difference. There will be nothing stopping him from making “Transformers 3,” making it more bloated, offensive and nauseating, and he loves to do so.

Paul Greengrass – Not only did Paul Greengrass direct “United 93,” my pick for the best movie of the decade, he is undeniably the best at using the experimental shaky cam, and his use of it in the last two Bourne films is one of the few mainstream incorporations of the innovative cinematography. It will be a thrill to see his 2010 slated project, “The Green Zone,” starring Matt Damon, and anything else he has up his sleeve.

Spanish-language Cinema (Alfonso Cuaron, Guillermo Del Toro, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Pedro Almodovar) – In 2006, each of the directors I’ve listed above made one of the best films of the year (“Pan’s Labyrinth,” “Children of Men,” “Babel,” “Volver”). Although there is no Mexican auteur from the past, what nationality can claim as many recognizable names as Mexico has today, and can they name any at all?

But these directors’ achievements don’t stop at those titles. Cuaron directed the third Harry Potter film. Del Toro did the Hellboy movies and is working on “The Hobbit.” Inarritu is famous for his story structure in “Babel,” “21 Grams” and “Amores Perros.” Almodovar has made an A-list star out of Penelope Cruz. What a group.

Quentin Tarantino – Tarantino is the biggest love him/hate him director in the business today, right ahead of Michael Moore. His style, his love of cinema, his excessively verbose screenplays and his satirical jabs that scream pretentiousness are definitive qualities unmatched by anyone today, and perhaps ever. What’s more, it’s not unlikely that his “Kill Bill” saga and the recent “Inglourious Basterds” will show up on some best of the decade lists.

Tru3D Advocates (Robert Zemeckis, Jeffrey Katzenberg, James Cameron) – I don’t know how to feel about 3D, but these guys think it’s the best thing since sliced bread, or more accurately, surround sound and widescreen. Their lobbying that it is no longer a gimmick has many conservatives in a frenzy waiting to see what will develop. One of the earliest directors to incorporate the new technology, Zemeckis has three films under his belt in 3D, each pushing the concept of visual depth within the screen to its limits.

Katzenberg, the head of Dreamworks, is working on the business side, trying to get 3D in every theater nationwide, and he came close with “Monsters vs. Aliens.” And Cameron and his epic “Avatar” is the first live action attempt using 3D to be taken seriously. If his film makes money and is actually good, if not Oscar-bait, films may change drastically as we know them.