Hot Shots
let's talk about directorial debuts
As the story goes, it takes time to become a Hollywood legend. Directors have to scrap on shoestring budgets, work the festival circuit, get their big studio break, and, over time, earn their way into that “legend” status.
Recently, directors are finding themselves rocketed up to the big leagues faster and faster (Chloé Zhao is in charge of MARVEL’S ETERNALS after just 3 films. These films are all very good, but to be handed Disney money after just 3 is quite a feat). It’s a sign of the changing nature of what films are, how they’re distributed, and what people are watching.
Sometimes, however, a director’s debut is legendary in its own right. The director steps into the world as a fully-formed artist and leaves little doubt that they will go on to be a success in the world of film.
Below are some of those films and directors. The last few issues of this newsletter have been deeper dives into certain films or the Oscars. I’m going to keep it simple today with a list of some of my favorite directorial debuts that do a great job of projecting where these directors would go and are entertaining as hell. They’re hard to beat.
Title: Sex, Lies, and Videotape
Director: Steven Soderburg
Year Released: 1989
Where To Watch: this one is harder to find to rent, but you can find it on iTunes for $4. Any other platform you’ll need to buy it and it’ll run you about $13
Why: Steven Soderburg is one of the more fascinating directors working in Hollywood today, imo. He’s made one of my favorite movies of all time (OCEAN’S 11), can do successful franchise stuff (MAGIC MIKE), and can still surprise when it comes to style and function (HIGH FLYING BIRD on Netflix was shot entirely on iPhones). His debut is still one of the best movies he’s made and he’s made a LOT of movies.
SEX, LIES, AND VIDEOTAPE features a very darkly funny script and an incredible performance by James Spader. In the wrong hands, this film could have been a Grindhouse movie, but in the hands of Soderburg, it becomes so much more and clearly shows the talent of a man far beyond his years.
Title: Reservoir Dogs
Director: Quinten Tarantino
Year Released: 1992
Where To Watch: Streaming on HBO MAX, rent wherever
Why: Sorry to be a Film Bro™️ here, but I’m not going to pretend like I don’t love this movie. I saw it in high school and it fundamentally shifted how I saw movies. Quentin Tarantino did stuff you weren’t allowed to do in movies at the time. He did cool needle drops, his characters said cool shit, and it shocked the hell out of me with its violence for the sake of violence.
I know that Tarantino is very polarizing. I know that some people can’t stand him. I know that he’s problematic. I know about the feet thing. That said, I like Tarantino movies, and this one sets the standard. He came out guns blazing and RESERVOIR DOGS remains my favorite of his films (sometimes rotating in with KILL BILL, but that’s for another newsletter). Tarantino really lays a solid foundation for his work to come.
Title: Bottle Rocket
Director: Wes Anderson
Year Released: 1996
Where To Watch: not streaming, unfortunately. rent wherever
Why: This is another one of those movies where if you saw a picture of me you’d think to yourself “yeah, of course this guy likes Wes Anderson. Shocker.”
Don’t be too quick to write off Wes Anderson as just the quirky indie dude with cool shot framing. He’s definitely that, but he also makes incredibly compelling and watchable films and his debut with BOTTLE ROCKET is no different. Great performances from both Luke and Owen Wilson, some really tender moments, and a charmingly lo-fi soundtrack and style. You can see where Anderson’s big ideas down the road would come from.
Title: The Virgin Suicides
Director: Sofia Coppola
Year Released: 1999
Where To Watch: Streaming on Paramount+ (which is a surprisingly good streaming service), rent wherever
Why: I think the context of this movie is really important as to why it’s so great. In the 1990s Sofia Coppola was (in)famous for one thing: ruining THE GODFATHER film series with her performance in THE GODFATHER III. She’s been unfairly maligned for it, but let’s not get it twisted, she’s not good in that movie at all. So, when she wrote THE VIRGIN SUICIDES script based on the novel of the same name, there wasn’t exactly the highest of expectations.
What happened next was that Sophia Coppola threw up the bird on both hands, said “fuck you” and made of of the best movies of the 1990s and certainly one of the best high school movies ever made. It turned Kirsten Dunst into a star, introduced Josh Hartnett as a leading man, and told the world that this was a director to get used to being around. The film is an emotional force and also much funnier than it gets credit for.
Title: Being John Malkovich
Director: Spike Jonze
Year Released: 1999
Where To Watch: Streaming on Peacock (lol), rent wherever
Why: This film is not only the directorial debut of Spike Jonez, but it is also the feature-film debut of one of my favorite screenwriters, Charlie Kaufman. This movie is so weird and funny, and I don’t know if there’s anything quite like it. It’s got great performances from John Cusak and (obviously) John Malkovich, with lovely turns from Charlie Sheen and Cameron Diaz.
Jonez has only directed four feature films, so his sample size is smaller. Those films (BJM, ADAPTATION, WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE, HER) are all very different, but all very good. I’m hoping Jonez returns to the world of feature films again soon, but until he does, this is a good place to start.
Title: The Iron Giant
Director: Brad Bird
Year Released: 1999
Where To Watch: not streaming anywhere, unfortunately. rent wherever.
Why: In 1999, Pixar was not the juggernaut it is today. The reason that Pixar is what it is is in part due to a man named Brad Bird, who directed both THE INCREDIBLES and RATATOUILLE while also serving as a creative consultant on just about every major Pixar hit over the last 2 decades.
He got his start as a director, however, with Warner Bros. Animation Studios and a film called THE IRON GIANT. This movie is such a good preview of the types of stories that Bird would carry over to Pixar. It’s funny, touching, and features an all-star cast including Vin Freakin’ Diesel as the titular giant. If you want to see a good animated movie that will make you cry before Pixar was doing it once a year, THE IRON GIANT is a great place to start.
Title: Brick
Director: Rian Johnson
Year Released: 2005
Where To Watch: it was streaming on Amazon Prime at one point, but now I think you have to rent it, which you should do.
Why: I already wrote about BRICK in a previous edition of this newsletter but I have no problem talking about how much this movie kicks ass. It’s a hardboiled crime movie straight out of the 1940s only instead it takes place in the present and all the characters are in high school. It’s atmospheric and moody and features really good performances from Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Emili de Ravin.
A lot of the cool stuff Rian Johnson does in this film is evident in his later films as well (shoutout the newly Netflix acquired KNIVES OUT and its sequels) and it’s obvious why he’s still getting his Star Wars Trilogy. BRICK whips nuts.
Title: Margin Call
Director: J.C. Chandor
Year Released: 2011
Where To Watch: Streaming on Peacock (lol), rent wherever
Why: Just three years after the financial crisis of 2008, we were making movies about it. As depressing as it sounds, I’m utterly fascinated by the events and circumstances that lead up to that crisis and the ramifications it had for years to come.
Enter MARGIN CALL, a film that is a genuine financial thriller. Imagine if THE BIG SHORT was way less funny and had way fewer Selena Gomez cameos. This movie is enthralling and tense and fun. As someone who was just becoming an adult when this was all going on, Chandor’s film brings it starkly into the light.
As a small warning, this movie’s cast is incredible and they all give rock-solid performances, but it is a cast that features Kevin Spacey quite prominently. Obviously, you are free to make your own decisions regarding whether this is a movie you’d feel comfortable watching, but it’s a very good film and one that launched Chandor into his next films ALL IS LOST, A MOST VIOLENT YEAR, and TRIPLE FRONTIER.
Title: Wildlife
Director: Paul Dano
Year Released: 2018
Where To Watch: streaming on Netflix. There is also a Criterion Collection edition if you like physical media
Why: It’s probably a little early to bestow any sort of legendary status on the directorial talents of Paul Dano. WILDLIFE is his first and so far only directorial project.
That said, Dano is (and I don’t say this lightly) one of the best actors over the last 2 decades, winning awards and acclaim for his performances in films like THERE WILL BE BLOOD, 12 YEARS A SLAVE, and LOVE & MERCY. It was only a time before he took his talent behind the camera.
WILDLIFE is a wonderful first entry into his directorial filmography. It is a through and through domestic drama that is gripping and terrifying in very small, intimate ways. Jake Gyllenhall and Carey Mulligan are both electric and Dano’s directorial style is meticulous in ways evident throughout the entirety of the film. I put this film last on the list because it’s one the gives me really high hopes. I’m excited to see where Dano goes from here.