By The Numbers: Ranking Hollywood's Directors From Past, Present and Future- Part 1

With a new year, I wanted to start a new series. This series is all about the best directors in Hollywood. I have gathered over 110 directors from some of the most well-known to some of the most exciting newcomers, and compared their filmographies through an objective metric, ranking them over the course of the year. To factor in all aspects of movie viewing, I have factored in the Rotten Tomatoes Score (For Critics), the IMDB rating (casual watchers), the Letterboxd Score (avid film fans), Oscar nominations (Prestige community), and cultural importance (impact on film and pop culture). All of these factors have been encompassed into a total score out of 330. I will also share my average score of their moves, but that will not be factored into the score. Today's post will consist of the bottom 10 directors.

116. Roland Emmerich

Out of all of the directors on this list, Roland Emmerich was found to have the lowest score. Roland Emmerich is largely known as the disaster movie guy, which would explain why his rating is so low. Disaster movies are usually very entertaining but not very high quality. He is known for movies like Godzilla, The Day After Tomorrow, Moonfall, and 2012, as well as his most famous and highest rated movies, Independence Day and The Patriot, with his highest rated movie being Independence Day with a 7/10 on IMDB, a 68% percent on Rotten Tomatoes, and a 3.3/5 on Letterboxd. I have seen 5 of his movies, with my favorite of his being Independence Day. My average score for his movies that I have seen is a 5.6/10. He has not received any Oscar nominations and has a cultural impact score of 1 for Independence Day.

Average Rotten Tomatoes: 37.6% Average IMDB: 5.82/10 Average Letterboxd: 2.69/5

Oscar Nominations: 0 Cultural Impact: 1 Total Score: 154.55/330

Click here to see the full list of his films and their respective scores.

115. David Ayer

David Ayer is a director that many people don't know, but know at least one of their movies. He started making movies in the early 2000s, so he is a fairly modern director. He is most known for directing 2016's Suicide Squad, which, while not well-received, was not because of him. He has also directed a few Jason Statham action thrillers as well as the war drama Fury. His highest rated movie is End of Watch with a 85% on Rotten Tomatoes, a 7.6/10 on IMDb, and a 3.8/5 on Letterboxd. I have seen three of his movies, with my favorite of his being The Beekeeper. My average score for this movie is a 5.66/10. He does not have any Oscar nominations and has not made any movies with real cultural impact.

Average Rotten Tomatoes: 45.8% Average IMDB: 6.39/10 Average Letterboxd: 2.78/5

Oscar Nominations: 0 Cultural Impact: 0 Total Score: 165.3/330

Click here to see the full list of his films and their respective scores.

114. Michael Bay

Michael Bay is one of the more famous directors in this part of the list. He is famous for his big blockbuster films with huge explosions, with jokes about his films being that a cup tips over and it explodes. His films are always high spectacle but are typically lacking on a plot and logic level. Michael Bay is probably most famous for the Transformers films (outside of Bumblebee and Rise of the Beasts), but before that, he also made Armageddon, Bad Boys, and The Rock, films that were very popular in the 90s. His highest rated movie is The Rock with a 67% on Rotten Tomatoes, a 7.4/10 on IMDb, and a 3.6/5 on Letterboxd. I have seen all of his films and gave them an average score of 6.46/10. My favorite of his films is Armageddon. He does not have any Oscar nominations, but has a cultural impact score of 2 for his films in the Transformers Franchise and Armageddon.

Average Rotten Tomatoes: 39.27% Average IMDB: 6.43/10 Average Letterboxd: 2.86/5

Oscar Nominations: 0 Cultural Impact: 2 Total Score: 170.9/330

Click here to see the full list of his films and their respective scores.

113. Robert Rodriguez

Robert Rodriguez is not as familiar a name for most, but is responsible for several popular Grindhouse films as well as some kids' movies from the early 2000s. He has also been used by several very famous directors to make films that they wrote but couldn't direct, such as From Dusk Till Dawn (Quentin Tarantino) and Alita Battle Angel (James Cameron). The quality of his films is pretty split, with quite a few good dark comedy and action films offset by some very bad films. His films that are most famous are probably split between generations, with people my age knowing Spy Kids or Sharkboy and Lava Girl, and people older being more familiar with Sin City and Manchette. His highest rated film is Sin City with a 76% on Rotten Tomatoes, an 8/10 on IMDb, and a 3.7/5 on Letterboxd. I have seen 4 of his films and gave them an average score of 5/10, with my favorite of his being Spy Kids. He does not have any Oscar Nominates and has not made any films with a large cultural impact.

Average Rotten Tomatoes: 56.77% Average IMDB: 5.84/10 Average Letterboxd: 2.83/5

Oscar Nominations: 0 Cultural Impact:0 Total Score: 171.8/330

Click here to see the full list of his films and their respective scores.

112. Nora Ephron

Nora Ephron made a big splash in the romantic film department in the early 90s. She wrote several famous Rom-Coms, such as When Harry Met Sally, and also directed Sleepless in Seattle and You've Got Mail. She was the director who helped cement the Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan pairing of the early 90s. It may be surprising to see her so low on the list, considering these films, but if you take a look at her list, she has made 3 very good romantic films and 5 very bad films. Her highest rated film is surprisingly neither of the 2 listed above, but is actually Julia and Julia with a 77% on Rotten Tomatoes, a 7/10 on IMDB, and a 3.4/5 on Letterboxd. I have seen 2 of her films (the two famous Rom-Coms) and gave her an average score of 7.5/10. My favorite movie of hers is You've Got Mail. She received a Best Screenplay Oscar nomination for Sleepless in Seattle and got a cultural impact score of 2 for You've Got Mail and Sleepless in Seattle.

Average Rotten Tomatoes: 44.25% Average IMDB: 5.94/10 Average Letterboxd: 2.99/5

Oscar Nominations: 1 Cultural Impact:2 Total Score: 174.4/330

Click here to see the full list of her films and their respective scores.

111. Christopher Landon

Christopher Landon is an underrated director who has made some very interesting films. The aspect that makes his filmography stand out is his ability to blend genres together. For example, Happy Death Day is Groundhog Day as a slasher film, Freaky is Freaky Friday as a slasher film, and Drop is a romantic movie as a whodunnit. He has done some very interesting pairings and is one I am also looking forward to seeing what he does next. His films are fairly consistent in quality, having a similar score, just none of them venture above a 6.6/10. They are all very simple yet very one-note, but are still interesting. His highest rated movie is his most recent film Drop, with a 84% on Rotten Tomatoes, a 6.6/10 on IMDB, and a 3/5 on Letterboxd. I have seen 2 of his films (Drop and Happy Death Day) and gave them an average score of 6.5, with my favorite being Happy Death Day. He has not gotten any Oscar nominations and has not made any films with a cultural impact, but he is one that more people should check out.

Average Rotten Tomatoes: 59.38% Average IMDB: 6.0/10 Average Letterboxd: 2.76/5

Oscar Nominations: 0 Cultural Impact:0 Total Score: 174.6/330

Click here to see the full list of his films and their respective scores.

110. Antoine Fuqua

Antoine Fuqua is another director who has quite a varied quality of filmography. He has made highly praised movies such as Training Day, but he has also made movies like Infinite. He is a more serious director making more action, drama, or thriller-type movies. He is also known to partner up with Denzel Washington quite often (Training Day, The Equalizer, The Magnificent Seven). His most famous film is probably Training Day. He is also directing the upcoming Michael Jackson biopic. His highest rated movie is Training Day with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 74%, a 7.8/10 on IMDb, and a 4/5 on Letterboxd. I have seen 6 of his films, including the Equalizer Trilogy and The Magnificent Seven, and gave an average score of 6.8/10. My favorite of his is the original Equalizer film. He has not received any Oscar nominations, nor has he made any films with a large cultural impact.

Average Rotten Tomatoes: 49.44% Average IMDB: 6.6/10 Average Letterboxd: 3.07/5

Oscar Nominations: 0 Cultural Impact:0 Total Score: 177/330

Click here to see the full list of his films and their respective scores.

109. Zach Snyder

Zach Snyder is a very divisive filmmaker. You either love his films or hate his films; there is really no in between, which explains his placement this low. He has a very distinct style to his film, with highly stylized action and an emphasis on slow motion. He is also very edgy with his films, often toeing the line with things that will set people off. He does have an impressive resume with a beginning run of Dawn of the Dead, 300, and Watchmen, while also essentially running the DCEU, making Man of Steel, Batman V Superman, and Justice League. His highest rated movie is Zach Snyder's Justice League with a 71% on Rotten Tomatoes, a 7.9/10 on IDMB and a 3.4/5 on Letterboxd, just barely edging out Dawn of the Dead. I have seen all of his movies and gave an average score of 6.73, with my favorite of his being Zach Snyder's Justice League. He has not received any Oscar nominations, but gets a cultural impact score of 1 for 300 and his famous slo-mo.

Average Rotten Tomatoes: 49% Average IMDB: 6.7/10 Average Letterboxd: 2.87/5

Oscar Nominations: 0 Cultural Impact:1 Total Score: 178.36/330

Click here to see the full list of his films and their respective scores.

108. M. Night Shyamalan

M. Night Shyamalan is the most famous director at the bottom of the list. It is so disappointing to see him this low, but once you see his filmography, you will see why. He had one of the most impressive opening runs ever with The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, and Signs. He was at the top of the world. Unfortunately, it went quickly downhill just 4 years after that with a run of The Lady in the Water, The Happening, After Earth, and The Last Airbender. He has made a bit of a resurgence recently, but that middle section is hard to come back from on a list like this. His highest rated film is The Sixth Sense with an 86% on Rotten Tomatoes, an 8.1/10 on IMDb, and a 4.1/5 on Letterboxd. I have seen 4 of his movies (The Sixth Sense, Signs, Trap, A Knock at the Cabin, and After Earth), giving an average score of 6.25/10. My favorite of his is The Sixth Sense. He has received Best Screenplay and Best Director Oscar nominations, both for The Sixth Sense, and gets a cultural impact score of 2 for Signs and The Sixth Sense.

Average Rotten Tomatoes: 49.13% Average IMDB: 6.1/10 Average Letterboxd: 2.81/5

Oscar Nominations: 2 Cultural Impact:2 Total Score: 178.53/330

Click here to see the full list of his films and their respective scores.

107. Neil Blomkamp

Neil Blomkamp is another underrated director who always makes something interesting. He is a fairly new director, having only directed 5 films. His most famous film is probably his first film, District 9. He initially made Sci-Fi action films but has since switched to be more broad, dabbling in both horror and sports drama. He would have a significantly higher score if it were not for Demonic. That movie tanked his averages significantly, but when you only have 5 movies, that can happen. His highest rated film is his first film, District 9, with a 90% on Rotten Tomatoes, a 7.9/10 on IMDB, and a 3.8 on Letterboxd. I have only seen his most recent film (Gran Turismo), and I gave it a score of 8/10. He has received a Best Screenplay Oscar nomination for District 9, but has not many films of cultural impact.

Average Rotten Tomatoes: 53% Average IMDB: 6.5/10 Average Letterboxd: 3.02/5

Oscar Nominations: 2 Cultural Impact:2 Total Score: 179.8/330

Click here to see the full list of his films and their respective scores.