Welcome back to Director Showdown! In this series, we pit 64 of the biggest directors to debut since 1998 against each other in an elimination bracket to determine who will be crowned the greatest director of the last 26 years!
In the first episode, we looked at how Antoine Fuqua and Pete Docter handled institutional corruption with Training Day and Monsters, Inc., with Pete Docter advancing to the next round. In this episode, we’re about to determine who Docter will face off against in Round 2!
From Glasgow, Scotland, Lynne Ramsa erupted onto the scene with her 1999 debut Ratcatcher, which screened at Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section. In 2011, she’d return to Cannes to compete for thee Palme d’Or with Tilda Swinton-starrer We Need to Talk About Kevin.
Facing off against Ramsay is Gentilly, Quebec’s own Denis Villeneuve! One of the most acclaimed Canadian directors working today, his debut feature August 32nd on Earth was selected as the Canadian entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 71st Academy Awards, though it would not ultimately be nominated. Just over 10 years later, in 2009, Villeneuve would sweep the Genie Awards with his dramatisation of the 1989 École Polytechnique massacre, Polytechnique.
In this week’s episode, we discuss tragedy in educational institutions, and the themes and resonance of Polytechnique and Kevin, as we debate Ramsay vs. Villeneuve!
Joining us today is Dakota Arsenault of Contra Zoom Pod, last heard on Classic Movies Live – Season 4, Episode 15: Do Do-Over: The Hidden Fortress/Star Wars. You can find more of Dakota over on Twitter, Instagram, and Threads, or on any of your favourite podcasting services!
Jeff recently guested on Contra Zoom as well to talk about the Canadian Screen Awards, which you can hear more about here. Also check out the other most recent episode, in which Dakota and Rachel Ho discuss their most anticipated movies of 2024.
This episode was inspired by Rotten Tomatoes’ Best Director Showdown, which was conducted among RT users over the summer of 2023. The results of that competition are summarized in this article.
Special thanks this week to our good friend Cris, who made the cover art for this episode! Follow her on Instagram, Twitter, and Letterboxd to see more of her artwork, film opinions/reviews, or both!
