My lists:

1. Peter Weir

- 1. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
- 2. Picnic at Hanging Rock
- 3. The Truman Show

2. David Lean

- 1. Doctor Zhivago
- 2. A Passage to India
- 3. Lawrence of Arabia

3. Michael Mann

- 1. Heat
- 2. Manhunter
- 3. Miami Vice

4. Neil Jordan

- 1. Interview with the Vampire
- 2. The Company of Wolves
- 3. The Crying Game

5. Joe Wright

- 1. Atonement
- 2. Pride & Prejudice
- 3. Anna Karenina

6. Jane Campion

- 1. The Portrait of a Lady
- 2. Bright Star
- 3. The Piano

7. Wong Kar-wai

- 1. Chungking Express
- 2. Happy Together
- 3. In the Mood for Love

8. Gus Van Sant
- 1. My Own Private Idaho
- 2. Good Will Hunting
- 3. To Die For

9. Jim Sheridan
- 1. In America
- 2. In the Name of the Father
- 3. My Left Foot

10. Eric Rohmer

- 1. Pauline at the Beach
- 2. My Night at Maud's
- 3. Claire's Knee

Great thread!

I have put them in order of best, and I have included their bad movies into my decision of where they rank, for example; while Robert Rodirguez's top 3 are better than most other directors' top 3, his bad movies are awful enough to drop him down to only an HM spot.

1. Sylvester Stallone
1. Rocky IV
2. Rocky II
3. Rocky Balboa

2. Michael Mann
1. Collateral
2. Heat
3. Miami Vice

3. Mel Gibson
1. Apocalypto
2. Braveheart
3. The Passion of the Christ

4. Jackie Chan
1. Project A Part II
2. Police Story 2
3. Who Am I?

5. Steven Spielberg
1. War of the Worlds
2. Minority Report
3. Catch Me If You Can

6. James Cameron
1. The Terminator
2. Terminator 2: Judgement Day
3. True Lies

7. Quentin Tarantino
1. Inglourious Basterds
2. Death Proof
3. Kill Bill Vol. 1

8. Peter Jackson
1. The Lords of the Rings: The Return of the King
2. King Kong
3. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

9. Richard Donner
1. Assassins
2. Lethal Weapon 2
3. Maverick

10. Martin Scorsese
1. The Departed
2. Goodfellas
3. Casino

HM: Robert Rodriguez
1. Desperado
2. Sin City
3. From Dusk Till Dawn

Others I considered: Steven Soderbergh, James Mangold, Alfred Hitchcock and John Woo

I hope I haven't forgotten anyone.

The Coen Brothers
1. Fargo
2. No Country for Old Men
3. The Hudsucker Proxy/The Big Lebowski

David Fincher
1. Zodiac
2. The Social Network
3. Se7en

Francis Ford Coppola
1. The Godfather
2. The Godfather Part II
3. Apocalypse Now

Martin Scorsese
1. The Departed
2. Goodfellas
3. Hugo

Paul Thomas Anderson
1. Magnolia
2. Boogie Nights
3. There Will Be Blood

Quentin Tarantino
1. Inglourious Basterds
2. Jackie Brown
3. Kill Bill

Richard Donner
1. Superman: The Movie
2. Lethal Weapon
3. Lethal Weapon 2

Robert Zemeckis
1. Back to the Future
2. Back to the Future Part III
3. Cast Away

Stanley Kubrick
1. 2001: A Space Odyssey
2. The Shining
3. Eyes Wide Shut

Steven Spielberg
1. Raiders of the Lost Ark
2. Jaws
3. Close Encounters of the Third Kind

1. Quentin Tarantino
1. Pulp Fiction
2. Inglourious Basterds
3. Reservoir Dogs/Kill Bill

2.Christopher Nolan
1. The Dark Knight Rises
2. The Dark Knight
3. Memento

3.David Fincher
1. Fight Club
2. Se7en
3. The Social Network

4.Martin Scorsese
1. The Departed
2. Gangs of New York
3. Hugo

5.The Wachowski Brothers
1. The Matrix
2. Cloud Atlas
3. V for Vendetta

6.The Coen Brothers
1. The Big Lebowski
2. No Country for Old Men
3. The Ladykillers

7.Sergio Leone
1. The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly
2. One Upon A Time In The West
3. For A Few Dollar More

8.James Cameron
1. Terminator II
2. Titanic
3. Aliens

9.Michael Mann
1. The Last of the Mohicans
2. Collateral
3. Heat

10.Jason Reitman
1. Juno
2. Thank You For Smoking
3. Up in the Air

HM: Steven Spieilberg
1. Jurassic Park
2. Catch Me if You Can
3. Jaws

While making this list i came across a lot of directors that I would consider as good if not better than some of those listed, but in most cases I only had two films that i loved while merely liking the third choice, I blame this mostly on my lack of having seen enough of each directors work.

-

I had the same problem. James Mangold, for one.

In no particular order:


David Lynch

- Blue Velvet
- Eraserhead
- Lost Highway


Stanley Kubrick

- 2001: A Space Odyssey
- A Clockwork Orange
- Dr. Strangelove


Hayao Miyazaki

- My Neighbor Totoro
- Spirited Away
- Kiki's Delivery Service


The Wachowski's

- Cloud Atlas
- Bound
- Speed Racer


Alfred Hitchcock

- Vertigo
- Rear Window
- The Lady Vanishes


Clint Eastwood

- Letters From Iwo Jima
- Unforgiven
- Bridges of Madison County


Baz Luhrmann

- Moulin Rouge!
- Strictly Ballroom
- Romeo + Juliet


Roman Polanski

- Chinatown
- The Ninth Gate
- Frantic


Ang Lee

- Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
- Lust, Caution
- Sense and Sensibility


Paul Verhoeven

- The Fourth Man
- Black Book
- Total Recall



...and as the 11th man in - - I'd pick...


Woody Allen

- Any
- Three
- Films

Forgot about Paul Verhoeven. He's pretty good. If I had to pick three; Total Recall, Hollow Man, Basic Instinct.

No particular order...

Christopher Nolan
1./2. The Dark Knight/Batman Begins
1./2. Batman Begins/The Dark Knight
3. Inception

Steven Spielberg
1. Jurassic Park
2. Jaws
3. Catch Me If You Can

Martin Scorsese
1. The Departed
2. The Aviator
3. Shutter Island

Sam Mendes
1. American Beauty
2. Revolutionary Road
3. Away We Go

Michael Bay
1. The Rock
2. Transformers
3. Armageddon

James Cameron
1. Terminator 2
2. Aliens
3. Titanic

Tim Burton
1. Ed Wood
2. Batman
3. Mars Attacks

I can't even get to 10. I love some directors' style, but too many of my favorites are one hit wonders from random directors.

And yes, Michael Bay makes the list because he is badass!

Hahaha...

1. Steven Spielberg
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Catch Me if You Can
Saving Private Ryan

2. James Cameron
Terminator 2: Judgement Day
Aliens
The Terminator

3. Alfred Hitchcock
Vertigo
Psycho
Shadow of a Doubt

4. Richard Donner
Superman: The Movie
Lethal Weapon series
The Omen

5. Robert Zemeckis
Forrest Gump
Back to the Future Part II
Used Cars/ Romancing the Stone ties

6. Quentin Tarantino
Pulp Fiction
Kill Bill Vol. 1+2
Resevoir Dogs

7. John Carpenter
Big Trouble in Little China
The Thing
Escape From New York/ Halloween

8. Clint Eastwood
High Plains Drifter
A Perfect World
Gran Torino/ Unforgiven

9. David Fincher
The Game
Zodiac
Fight Club/ Seven

10. Tim Burton
Pee Wee's Big Adventure
Batman Returns
Ed Wood/ Beetlejuice

I might have included Robert Zemeckis too, but his downfall has been just too darn sad for me.

Brian Depalma
-Scarface
-Carlito's Way
-Untouchables

Richard Donner
-Superman
-Lethal Weapon 2
-Goonies

Michael Mann
-Last of the Mohicans
-Heat
-The Insider

Ridley Scott
-Gladiator
-Blade Runner
-Black Hawk Down

David Cronenberg
-The Fly
-History of Violence
-The Dead Zone

David Lynch
-The Elephant Man
- Wild At Heart
- Mulholland's Drive

Paul Verhoeven
-Robocop
-Total Recall
-Starship Troopers

Martin Scorsese
-Good Fellas
-The Departed
-Raging Bull

Paul Thomas Anderson
-Boogie Nights
-There would be Blood
-Magnolia

Quention Tarentino
-Pulp Fiction
-Kill Bill
-Django Unchained

1. Quentin Tarantino
1. Inglourious Basterds
2. Pulp Fiction
3. Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2

2. Hayao Miyazaki
1. Princess Mononoke
2. Spirited Away
3. Porco Rosso

3. Brad Bird
1. Ratatouille
2. The Incredibles
3. Iron Giant

4. Edgar Wright
1. Shaun of the Dead
2. Hot Fuzz
3. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

5. The Coen Bros.
1. No Country for Old Men
2. The Big Lebowski
3. Ladykillers

6. Martin Scorsese
1. Goodfellas
2. Raging Bull
3. The Departed

7. Akira Kurasawa
1. Rashomon
2. Seven Samurai
3. Ran

8. Steven Spielberg
1. Raiders of the Lost Ark
2. Jurassic Park
3. Jaws

9. Robert Zemeckis
1. Who Framed Roger Rabbit
2. Back to the Future Part 1 & 2
3. Forrest Gump

10. Sergio Leone
1. Fistful of Dollars
2. The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly
3. For a Few Dollars More

Hon. Mention:

Alfred Hitchcock
1. Vertigo
2. North by Northwest
3. Psycho

Sir David Lean
1. Lawrence of Arabia
2. Bridge on the River Kwai
3. N/A (the reason I can't put him in my top ten over probably Leone, maybe Zemeckis)

So pretty much everyone here has the same tastes apart from that Samurai guy and me it seems.

My list is unique, damn it!

Three things,

1. From my list no one else has Edgar Wright nor Brad Bird.

2. We both like Tarantino, so our tastes are totally different.

3. Who's the Samurai, Kurasawa? If so, now you're post is even more confusing.

He's a member here (L'Samurai or something). His taste, while he hasn't posted in this thread, is very arthouse/foreign.

No, no, that's not how I meant it. It wasn't a bitchy comment. Just an observation.

I'm gonna exclude people who have made three films or less that I really liked. In no order:

Tarantino
1. Pulp Fiction
2. Reservoir Dogs
3. Django Unchained

Kubrick
1. The Shining
2. 2001
3. A Clockwork Orange

Spielberg
1. Raiders of the Lost Ark
2. Jurassic Park
3. Jaws

Brooks
1. Blazing Saddles
2. Young Frankenstein
3. Spaceballs

Smith
1. Dogma
2. Mallrats
3. Clerks

Boyle
1. Sunshine
2. Slumdog Millionaire
3. 28 Days Later

Scorsese
1. Goodfellas
2. Taxi Driver
3. The Departed

Cameron
1. Terminator 2
2. Aliens
3. The Abyss

Nolan
1. The Dark Knight
2. Memento
3. Inception

Fincher
1. Fight Club
2. Seven
3. The Social Network

Dayum! Django is more well liked than I thought. Magnus must just have too loud of a opinion.

Kubrick
2001
The Shining
Eyes Wide Shut

Cronenberg
Naked Lunch
Dead Ringers
The Fly

Hitchcock
The Birds
Psycho
Rear Window

Lynch
Mulholland Dr.
Eraserhead
Inland Empire

Bergman
Fanny & Alexander
Persona
The Silence

Maddin
My Winnipeg
Brand Upon the Brain!
The Saddest Music in the World

Suzuki
Gate of Flesh
Branded to Kill
Tokyo Drifter

Mann
The Insider
Heat
Public Enemies

Godard
Contempt
Week End
Breathless

Fincher
Fight Club
Se7en
Zodiac

jean renoir:

la règle du jeu
lle crime de monsieur lange
the river


dario argento:

suspiria
the bird with the crystal plumage
tenebre


preston sturges:

the palm beach story
the lady eve
the miracle of morgans creek


jean vigo:

l'atalante
a propos de nice
zero de conduite


ernst lubitsch:

to be or not to be
the shop around the corner
trouble in paradise


john woo:

the killer
a better tomorrow
hard boiled


john carpenter:

big trouble in little china
halloween
the thing


robert altman:

mccabe & mrs. miller
nashville
the long goodbye


jacques tourneur:

night of the demon
cat people
out of the past


nicholas ray:

johnny guitar
on dangerous ground
they live by night