Best Five In a Row: Directors & Actors

[Dunnyman]

This one's simple, list some great runs of five by directors and actors. The only rule is they have to be in actual order of release.
Director:
Akira Kurosawa
Seven Samurai
I Live in Fear
Throne Of Blood
The Lower Depths
The Hidden Fortress
While I consider The Lower Depths as the weakest of the five, it's not a bad film at all. However, what a roll that man was on! Three of my top 20 in roughly four years?

Actor: (ruling is it must be starring or co-starring, cameos don't count)
Tom Hanks
Philadelphia
Forrest Gump
Apollo 13
Toy Story
That Thing You Do
Oh yeah, it was only a voice job, but Woody would have been nothing in someone else's voice. Three best actor noms, winning two of them, and he became the highest paid guy in the business doing so, as well as one of the most respected. Nice run, there Hildy (or was he Buffy?).

Actress:
Katherine Hepburn
Stage Door
Bringing Up Baby
Holiday
The Philadelphia Story
Woman of the Year
OK Stage Door's mostly an ensemble, but she's the one getting the good lines, etc. Then she nailed three in a row with Cary Grant, (charming the world in the process) and then ignited the Hepburn/Tracy legend to top it all off.

Who do y'all think had good runs as well?

[Jim_Thomas]

Director: Rob Reiner

This is Spinal Tap (1984)
The Sure Thing (1985)
Stand By Me (1986)
The Princess Bride (1987)
When Harry Met Sally (1989)

[Dan Mancini]

Director: Francis Ford Coppola

The Rain People
The Godfather
The Conversation
The Godfather Part II
Apocalypse Now

Director: John Cassavetes

Faces
Husbands
Minnie and Moskowitz
A Woman Under the Influence
The Killing of a Chinese Bookie

Director: Christopher Nolan

Insomnia
Batman Begins
The Prestige
The Dark Knight
Inception

[cdouglas]

Actor: John Cazale

The Godfather
The Conversation
The Godfather: Part II
Dog Day Afternoon
The Deer Hunter

[Jim_Thomas]

Harrison Ford

1980 Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
1981 Raiders of the Lost Ark
1982 Blade Runner
1983 Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
1984 Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom I
1985 Witness Det. Capt. John Book

[Steve T Power]

James Cameron (Director)
- The Terminator
- Aliens
- The Abyss
- Terminator 2
- True Lies

[HGervais]

John Carpenter
Dark Star
Assault On Precinct 12
Halloween
The Fog
Escape From New York

Next Five From John Carpenter
The Thing
Christine
Starman
Big Trouble in Little China
Prince of Darkness and one more for good measure, They Live.

I know Christine gets some grief from a lot of people, Carpenter himself, but I think it works really, really well and man really, that is a run. Plus if you wanted to count TV movies you could also throw Elvis in there.

[HGervais]

And has anyone ever delivered a better run than Woody Allen?
Take The Money and Run
Bananas
Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Sex
Sleeper
Love and Death



Annie Hall
Interiors
Manhattan
Stardust Memories
A Midsummer's Night Sex Comedy



Zelig
Broadway Danny Rose
The Purple Rose of Cairo
Hannah And Her Sisters
Radio Days

[Andrew Forbes]

Director: David Cronenberg
The Brood
Scanners
Videodrome
The Dead Zone
The Fly
(+1) Dead Ringers

Director: Roman Polanski
Knife in the Water
Repulsion
Cul-de-sac
The Fearless Vampire Killers
Rosemary's Baby

Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger:
I Know Where I'm Going!
A Matter of Life and Death
Black Narcissus
The Red Shoes
The Small Back Room

Director: Howard Hawks
Bringing Up Baby (despite my opinion, it's held in high regard)
Only Angels Have Wings
His Girl Friday
Sergeant York
Ball of Fire

Director: John Ford
Stagecoach
Young Mr. Lincoln
Drums Along the Mohawk
The Grapes of Wrath
The Long Voyage Home

[Andrew Forbes]

Director: John Frankenheimer
The Manchurian Candidate
Seven Days in May
The Train
Seconds
Grand Prix

[Bryan Pope]

Milos Forman, director
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Hair
Ragtime
Amadeus
Valmont
The People vs. Larry Flynt
Man on the Moon

Surely Billy Wilder can compete with Woody Allen, but I'm too lazy to look.

[Gabriel Girard]

Director :Stanley Kubrick
Dr. Strangelove
2001: A Space Odyssey
A Clockwork Orange
Barry Lyndon
The Shining

You can add and subtract on either side as you see fit : the man never made a bad film.

Bryan : thankls for reminding me that I need to see Ragtime and Valmont!

[Gabriel Girard]

Director: Federico Fellini
I Vitelloni
La Strada
Il Bidone
Nights Of Cabiria
La Dolce Vita
(+1) 8 1/2

Director: Oliver Stone
Salvador
Platoon
Wall Street
Talk Radio
Born On The Fourth Of July

[Dan Mancini]

Director: Preston Sturges

The Lady Eve
Sullivan's Travels
The Palm Beach Story
The Miracle of Morgan's Creek
Hail the Conquering Hero

[Burson_Fouch]

Actors: The Marx Brothers

Animal Crackers
Monkey Business
Horse Feathers
Duck Soup
A Night at the Opera

[JoshRode]

Coen brothers (in reverse chronological order)

The Man Who Wasn't There

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

The Big Lebowski

Fargo

The Hudsucker Proxy

Okay, not as strong as some of the others. But I thought they should be mentioned.

[Dan Mancini]

Coen brothers (in reverse chronological order)

The Man Who Wasn't There

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

The Big Lebowski

Fargo

The Hudsucker Proxy

Okay, not as strong as some of the others. But I thought they should be mentioned.

Hudsucker Proxy is the weak link on the list, and it's a solid effort as far as I'm concerned. Considering you could just as easily go Blood Simple to Hudsucker, I'd say the Coens are at least as strong as most of the directors we've listed.

[cdouglas]

Surely Billy Wilder can compete with Woody Allen, but I'm too lazy to look.

A couple of solid Wilder runs worth considering...

Sunset Blvd.
Ace in the Hole
Stalag 17
Sabrina
The Seven Year Itch

plus...

Witness for the Prosecution
Some Like it Hot
The Apartment
One, Two, Three
Irma La Douce

[cdouglas]

Jack Nicholson (Actor)

A Safe Place
The King of Marvin Gardens
The Last Detail
Chinatown
The Passenger

(Admittedly, A Safe Place is a small role in a small film, but he's very effective. For this run, it was either that or his even smaller role in Tommy)

Al Pacino (Actor)

The Godfather
Scarecrow
Serpico
The Godfather Part II
Dog Day Afternoon

Werner Herzog (Director)

Aguirre, The Wrath of God
The Enigma of Kasper Hauser
Heart of Glass
Stroszek
Nosferatu

Plus...

Grizzly Man
The Wild Blue Yonder
Rescue Dawn
Encounters athe End of the World
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans

[Mach6]

I know Christine gets some grief from a lot of people, Carpenter himself, but I think it works really, really well and man really, that is a run.

Amen, HGervais.

Director: Steven Spielberg
Jaws (1975)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
1941 (1979)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

Yeah, yeah, I know 1941 is horrible, but I’m a bigger fan of Spielberg’s early work. Besides, it’s hard to pick 5 Spielberg movies in a row that don’t have a 1941, Empire of the Sun, Hook, Jurassic Park 2: The Lost World, or The Terminal weakening the list. If anyone can do better, be my guest.

[Dan Mancini]

Director: Hal Ashby

Harold and Maude
The Last Detail
Shampoo
Bound for Glory
Coming Home

...you might as well throw in Being There to make it an even half-dozen.

[Steve T Power]

I know Christine gets some grief from a lot of people, Carpenter himself, but I think it works really, really well and man really, that is a run.

Amen, HGervais.

Director: Steven Spielberg
Jaws (1975)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
1941 (1979)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

Yeah, yeah, I know 1941 is horrible, but I’m a bigger fan of Spielberg’s early work. Besides, it’s hard to pick 5 Spielberg movies in a row that don’t have a 1941, Empire of the Sun, Hook, Jurassic Park 2: The Lost World, or The Terminal weakening the list. If anyone can do better, be my guest.

Take Empire of the Sun out of there and substitute Always. Take out The Terminal while yer at it. Both better films than they're given credit for.

[HGervais]

I's also argue 1941. Yes the movie is big, loud & noisy but it is also funny. And as I have stated for like the 50th time any movie that puts Christopher Lee, Slim Pickens & Toshiro Mifune in the same scene, let alone the same shot, is a-ok by me.

I know Christine gets some grief from a lot of people, Carpenter himself, but I think it works really, really well and man really, that is a run.

Amen, HGervais.

Director: Steven Spielberg
Jaws (1975)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
1941 (1979)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

Yeah, yeah, I know 1941 is horrible, but I’m a bigger fan of Spielberg’s early work. Besides, it’s hard to pick 5 Spielberg movies in a row that don’t have a 1941, Empire of the Sun, Hook, Jurassic Park 2: The Lost World, or The Terminal weakening the list. If anyone can do better, be my guest.

Take Empire of the Sun out of there and substitute Always. Take out The Terminal while yer at it. Both better films than they're given credit for.

[HGervais]

Anthony Mann

Border Incident
Side Street
Winchester '73
The Furies
Devil's Doorway
and then jump to
Bend of the River
The Naked Spur
Thunder Bay
The Glenn Miller Story
The Far Country
and throw in The Man From Laramie, The Tin Star, Man of the West & El Cid for good measure.

[Steve T Power]

Michael Mann

- Last of the Mohicans
- Heat
- The Insider
- Ali
- Collateral

Hell, Mann hasn't made a bad flick since "The Keep".

[JoshRode]

Coen brothers (in reverse chronological order)

The Man Who Wasn't There

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

The Big Lebowski

Fargo

The Hudsucker Proxy

Okay, not as strong as some of the others. But I thought they should be mentioned.

Hudsucker Proxy is the weak link on the list, and it's a solid effort as far as I'm concerned. Considering you could just as easily go Blood Simple to Hudsucker, I'd say the Coens are at least as strong as most of the directors we've listed.

I haven't see Blood Simple (though now I want to), so I wasn't sure how it would fit.

[JoshRode]

Michael Mann

- Last of the Mohicans
- Heat
- The Insider
- Ali
- Collateral

Hell, Mann hasn't made a bad flick since "The Keep".

Um...didn't Miami Vice come soon after Collateral?

[Dan Mancini]

Michael Mann

- Last of the Mohicans
- Heat
- The Insider
- Ali
- Collateral

Hell, Mann hasn't made a bad flick since "The Keep".

Um...didn't Miami Vice come soon after Collateral?

And Miami Vice is awesome fun. So your point is...?

[Steve T Power]

Michael Mann

- Last of the Mohicans
- Heat
- The Insider
- Ali
- Collateral

Hell, Mann hasn't made a bad flick since "The Keep".

Um...didn't Miami Vice come soon after Collateral?

And Miami Vice is awesome fun. So your point is...?

And also a genuinely adult police procedural that's well acted, well plotted, and extremely well shot.

[cdouglas]

Michael Mann

- Last of the Mohicans
- Heat
- The Insider
- Ali
- Collateral

Hell, Mann hasn't made a bad flick since "The Keep".

Um...didn't Miami Vice come soon after Collateral?

And Miami Vice is awesome fun. So your point is...?

Miami Vice is a thrilling exercise in style. I don't know why people beat up on that movie.

[Gabriel Girard]

Director : Wong Kar-Wai
Chungking Express
Fallen Angels
Ashes Of Time
Happy Together
In The Mood For Love
2046

Actor : Tom Cruise
Interview With The Vampire
Mission:Impossible
Jerry Maguire
Eyes Wide Shut
Magnolia

[HGervais]

I'd agree with that.

Miami Vice is a thrilling exercise in style. I don't know why people beat up on that movie.

[Mark Van Hook]

Michael Mann

- Last of the Mohicans
- Heat
- The Insider
- Ali
- Collateral

Hell, Mann hasn't made a bad flick since "The Keep".

Um...didn't Miami Vice come soon after Collateral?

And Miami Vice is awesome fun. So your point is...?

Miami Vice is a thrilling exercise in style. I don't know why people beat up on that movie.

Correct. Vice Rules. People beat up on it because it refuses to cash in on '80s nostalgia and go the kitsch route. It plays it straight. Other people hate it because it's slower and more methodical than typical action fare, and doesn't feel a need to beat up the audience with explosions every five minutes just to keep their attention. Mann understands how to build tension, then release it with tight, brutal, effective bursts of violence. Also, the last five minutes, with Farrell watching Gong Li leave on the boat juxtaposed with Naomi Harris waking up from her coma in the hospital, all set to Mogwai's "Auto Rock," is pure filmmaking bliss.

It's got problems (Mann has never been a great dialogue guy), but it's better - and better made - than 90 percent of the Hollywood actioners hitting theaters these days.

[JoshRode]

Michael Mann

- Last of the Mohicans
- Heat
- The Insider
- Ali
- Collateral

Hell, Mann hasn't made a bad flick since "The Keep".

Um...didn't Miami Vice come soon after Collateral?

And Miami Vice is awesome fun. So your point is...?

Miami Vice is a thrilling exercise in style. I don't know why people beat up on that movie.

Correct. Vice Rules. People beat up on it because it refuses to cash in on '80s nostalgia and go the kitsch route. It plays it straight. Other people hate it because it's slower and more methodical than typical action fare, and doesn't feel a need to beat up the audience with explosions every five minutes just to keep their attention. Mann understands how to build tension, then release it with tight, brutal, effective bursts of violence. Also, the last five minutes, with Farrell watching Gong Li leave on the boat juxtaposed with Naomi Harris waking up from her coma in the hospital, all set to Mogwai's "Auto Rock," is pure filmmaking bliss.

It's got problems (Mann has never been a great dialogue guy), but it's better - and better made - than 90 percent of the Hollywood actioners hitting theaters these days.

I stand corrected. I should know better than to a) make any kind of judgement on a film without having actually seen it and b) go on the word of the masses. Please accept my abject apologies.

[Steve T Power]

I stand corrected. I should know better than to a) make any kind of judgement on a film without having actually seen it and b) go on the word of the masses. Please accept my abject apologies.

Hey, if you've seen it, your opinion is as valid as anyone's. If you haven't, and you dig Mann, remedy this at your earliest convenience.

[LarryLockyer]

Ridley Scott

Robin Hood
Body of Lies
American Gangster
A Good Year
Kingdom of Heaven

[LarryLockyer]

Leonardo DiCaprio

Body of Lies
Blood Diamond
The Departed
The Aviator
Catch Me If You Can
Gangs of New York