I remember the film but I can't recall the name

How not to get people excited: recite names of critically acclaimed directors with the intent to build expectations for a crop of fall award-bait movies.

I imagine that method used to work, possibly back in the 1940s and possibly with a different group of people.

Back then, directors, actors, dancers, performers and stars of all sorts were under contract to studios, and when a movie was made, film enthusiasts knew what they were getting, for example, a John Ford Western starring John Wayne and your pick of the leading lady of the day. That would be more than enough to validate the price of the ticket.

Today, there is no actor famous enough to give a movie buzz or blockbuster status solely on their star power, and there are few directors respected enough outside of Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Joel or Ethan Coen or maybe Christopher Nolan to open a movie to wide appeal, no matter their reputation, their number of awards or their level of embracement by the critical community.

And not to compare today’s directors with the legends of old, but where are the John Fords, Orson Welleses, Billy Wilders, Howard Hawkses, Alfred Hitchcocks, William Wylers and other household names of today?

My point being, why is it that I can say Oliver Stone is releasing a new movie this fall and get a blank stare in return?

He may not be the best example, and I can easily jog your memory by saying he’s making “Wall Street 2.” But here is a short list of directors releasing movies this fall: Ben Affleck, Davis Guggenheim, David Fincher, Clint Eastwood, Woody Allen, Randall Wallace, Stephen Frears, Danny Boyle, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Haggis, Edward Zwick, Julian Schnabel, James L. Brooks, Sofia Coppola, John Madden and Mike Leigh.

All of the above have either been nominated for or won an Oscar for acting, directing, writing or producing, and I challenge the best of you to tell me who all of them are, despite the fact that you may be more than familiar with their work.

I’ll confess that for one or two names, I had to look up their resumes myself, and there are certainly some reading this who know exactly who those names are and the films they are releasing in the next few months. Good for you.

But it is a sin that we don’t know Schnabel’s name after his absolutely lovely “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.” Or that Zwick has worked with actors as well known as Daniel Craig, Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Cruise. Or that we can’t put two and two together and guess that Coppola is Francis’ daughter, or maybe people aren’t that stupid.

And I have yet to even mention Doug Liman, Tony Scott, Mark Romanek, Todd Phillips, Matt Reeves, Tom Hooper and Darren Aronofsky, who have films this fall and have yet to receive a director’s highest honor (while at least one already deserves it).
But this fall is promising, which is more than I can say about this year’s winter, spring and summer. And given a few months, reciting these names and getting people excited in the process may not be such a chore.