If not Ridley Scott...

Leone films may not be as intellectually rigorous as the films of some other directors mentioned here, but no one was better at pure visual storytelling, imo. And don't get me wrong, I think Clockwork Orange is bloody brilliant, and the imagery in the Shining is indelible.

As Peter Griffin would say, I do not much care for Kubrick - I just don't get him, I wish I could. And Coppola is overrated. Furthermore, I will defend Cameron till the cows come home to roost. You can count all his films on two hands and yet he must have made like 3bn at the box ofice and then some. Anyways, I would be interested to see what Cronenberg would come up with - I think his remake of The Fly was absolutely unblemished. He would ensure character and story took precedent over explosions and yet wouldn't shy away from stark horror and gore. Finally, people who should not be allowed near a film set are the brothers Strauss and Nimrod Antal (and for that matter, Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino).

Count me as a Kubrick fan. I think he was a genius. We had this thread before. I think I said [u]AlexProyas[/u]. No doubt he could do it very well, and bring the heat given the chance. Every shot of Dark City is so well thought.--beautiful film. I, Robot was Will Smithed, so nobody really stood a chance of doing that right once he became involved. Lots of people rag on Knowing, but I maintain that it is one of the more thought provoking science fiction films in recent memory. The incredible discussion on the Ebert blog was as good as it gets (look it up). And hate Nic Cage if you want, but those disaster sequences were sweet. Add in the good sense to get Beltrami on the score, and it would be a very nice film. Proyas just has the weird distinction of choosing projects with actors that consume the filmmaking. Get Proyas with some solid actors and he can do well, I think. [u]Nolan[/u], of course. Think that would be a home run. Thought provoking filmmaker. I'd like to see what he can do in the genres. [u]Blomkamp[/u][u][/u]

Nolan is a really interesting choice, think he is linked with the next Super Man film too, don't think anyone said George Lucas, thank god lol

Cronenberg is on the same level as Carpenter....they are incapable of truly masterful work, let alone originality. Very high school in their sensibilities, combined with awkward, disjointed narratives and equally substandard cinematography.

Cohen brothers at their best may be an interesting choice. Aronofsky's a bit hit and miss for my taste but i loved the fountain . Sam peckinpah did some great films for his day. From today's bunch i think Neil Blomkamp, or Tarsem Singh, the cell, and the fall, were great.. imagine him with a decent budget . Tony scott on form i'm thinking man on fire, de ja vue, true romance.

I would still rather watch a Carpenter or Cronenberg movie any day of the week then a Kubrick film. Guess I am weird. Though in carpenters case it is the soundtracks. Love those.

Nice choices, but i still say David Fincher or Neill Blomkamp. I'd actually would like to see what Blomkamp would do with a sequel to Prometheus.

I love the short District 9 was based on. I still didn't like District 9. It started out good but started too feel to much like the early works of peter jackson. Just empty and pointless violence and it lost the interesting ideas the beginning had for explosions and cheap cg. I wonder how much of that was Jackson tweaking the script more to his liking. I hate Peter Jackson movies as well. Just empty bullshit. And no, I haven't seen LotR. I never will. I greatly dislike fantasy. Fuck dragons, hobbits and all that stuff.

@ Shane Believe it or not I somewhat agree with your view on LotR. I have seen the movies and think they're excellent. But they're just not my type of movies...they bored me. I can't say this about all fantasy though..I do like Game of Thrones. I think you may be right about Jackson tweaking the script of District 9. Still i found even the action shots to be great. For me it still felt like it was an organic part of the movie. But I do see what you're saying. I'm not suggesting Jackson touch the Alien franchise.

At my roommates urging I sat through 2 episodes of Game of Thrones. I hated every moment of it. The ceiling became less irritating to watch after 30 minutes. Just me, I can see what people like in it. It just isn't...weird or fantastic enough for me. Or something. Most fantasy just lacks something unless it is complete D&D crap. Like Krull. But I never liked George RR Martin's writing or editing [I spent a lot of time as a kid trying to get into "Wild Cards" cause I loved superheroes. Failed Miserably].