Blind pigs and acorn movies

[mitchum]

"Even a blind pig can find an acorn from time to time"
What about hack directors turning out a good movie? Imagine Joel Schumacher fucking up and actually making a good movie. Okay, that's a little farfetched...
My nominee is Sidney Lumet and "Dog Day Afternoon"

Any more?

[troublemaker]

1. Blind Pig? Lumet is one of the 10-20 greatest American directors

As an actor's director he's on par with Cukor and he's been a pretty innovative guy cinematically as well. The span from 12 ANGRY MEN to THE VERDICT is a remarkable run... I'd say about eight really first-rate flix in those 20+ years.

[troublemaker]

2. Even looking only at his theatrical films (no TV or Braoadway) here's

a list of the movies he directed that are genrally acknowledged to be very good movies.

Verdict, The (1982)
Deathtrap (1982)
Equus (1977)
Network (1976)
Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
Murder on the Orient Express (1974)
Serpico (1973)
Anderson Tapes, The (1971)
King: A Filmed Record... (1970)
Hill, The (1965)
Fail-Safe (1964)
Pawnbroker, The (1964)
Long Day's Journey Into Night (1962)
12 Angry Men (1957)

[mitchum]

3. You left out "The Wiz"

:)

I didn't say that he was unskilled, but I do consider him a hack (which requires a high level of competence) His films always smack of a patented middlebrow earnestness (with "Dog Day Afternoon" being the exception) IMO, his work doesn't rank with the best of Coppola, Scorsese, Schrader, Penn, Peckinpah)