Great Directors
Paladin (II) | Release Date: July 2, 2010 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
49
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 15 Critic Reviews
Positive:
5
Mixed:
7
Negative:
3
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
New York Daily NewsJoe Neumaier
To eavesdrop on Bernardo Bertolucci, Stephen Frears, Ken Loach and John Sayles, as they talk politics; David Lynch and Todd Haynes, discussing inspiration; and Catherine Breillat, Agnès Varda, Richard Linklater and Liliana Cavani as they riff on controversy and aspiration, even for a little while, is a real treat. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
Movie actors are notoriously inarticulate about their craft, but what about movie directors? If the documentary Great Dir­ectors is any indication, the returns are a bit more promising. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterNatasha Senjanovic
What is most interesting is hearing the directors speak of their work in general, rather than any film in particular. Read full review
70
VarietyRonnie Scheib
Some viewers will doubtless argue over Ismailos' choices or balk at her adherence to a romantic single-vision theory of a highly collaborative art. Still, her eclectic pantheon weighs in with entertaining anecdotes and illuminating comments, illustrated with well-chosen samplings of the artists' work. Read full review
70
MovielineMichelle Orange
Though the movie is largely vanilla in its pleasures, film lovers will eat it up. Read full review
60
Time OutKeith Uhlich
Her (Angela Ismailos) heart's in the right place, but her subjects' ruminations demand a much larger canvas. Read full review
60
Boxoffice MagazineRay Greene
First time documentarian Angela Ismailos has interviewed ten noteworthy international directors about their art, and then cut them together by skipping back and forth between their voices like an iPod in shuffle mode. Read full review
50
The New York TimesJeannette Catsoulis
As an interrogator Ms. Ismailos is no Torquemada; she lobs softballs that her subjects genially accept. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
It shouldn't be surprising, but some of these directors are more interesting than their work. French director Breillat, never a personal favorite, is an absolutely hypnotic speaker who holds the screen the way her films rarely have. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
Her (Angela Ismailos) generic questions about the politics, economics, and aesthetics of film yield predictably generic responses from her subjects. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Despite the title, Ismailos' documentary is not a study of what constitutes great direction. Rather it's a nicely arranged film in which a variety of filmmakers Ismailos likes discuss their inspirations and influences. Read full review
45
NPRIan Buckwalter
But more often, the film jumps around in dizzying disorganization, illustrating the fact that part of what a director provides to a film is not just vision and leadership, but also, as the word suggests, a narrative direction. Read full review
38
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
Rarely have clips from so many good and great movies been put to such dull use. Read full review
25
New York PostLou Lumenick
Apprently novice filmmaker Angela Ismailos' definition of a Great Director is one who's willing to sit or walk with her while she lobs innocuous questions and gives herself lots of awed close-up reaction shots. Read full review
20
Village VoiceNick Pinkerton
Ten interviews with 10 "name" American and European directors--including Todd Haynes, David Lynch, Bernardo Bertolucci, and Catherine Breillat--diced into a documentary as asinine and fawning as its title suggests. Read full review
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