The 10 Greatest Modern Writer/Directors

  1.  Joel and Ethan Coen: Fargo, The Big Lebowski, No Country For Old Men, Miller’s Crossing, Barton Fink, O Brother Where Art Thou?, Inside Llewyn Davis, Bridge of Spies, Raising Arizona, Blood Simple.
  2.  Woody Allen: Midnight in Paris, Hannah and Her Sisters, Annie Hall, Manhattan, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Crimes and Misdemeanors, Blue Jasmine, Deconstructing Harry, Broadway Danny Rose, Husbands and Wives.
  3.  Quentin Tarantino: Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, Jackie Brown, True Romance, Inglorious Basterds, Once Upon a Time…In Hollywood, Django Unchained, Natural Born Killers, From Dusk Till Dawn, Kill Bill, The Hateful Eight.
  4.  Charlie Kaufman: Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Synecdoche New York, Anomalisa, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Human Nature.
  5.  Paul Thomas Anderson: Boogie Nights, There Will Be Blood, Magnolia, Punch Drunk Love, The Master, Phantom Thread, Hard Eight, Inherent Vice.
  6.  Wes Anderson: Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, Moonrise Kingdom, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Fantastic Mr. Fox.
  7.  Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu: Birdman, 21 Grams, Amores perros, Babel, The Revenant.
  8.  Oliver Stone: Platoon, Wall Street, JFK, Salvador, Talk Radio.
  9.  Christopher Nolan: Memento, The Prestige, Inception, The Dark Knight, Dunkirk, Following, Interstellar.
  10.  David O. Russell: American Hustle, Three Kings, Silver Linings Playbook, Joy, Flirting With Disaster.
*Academy Award winning screenplays in italics.
Must have at least one 21st century writing credit to be considered “modern”
Only writing credits are listed above.  For a look at their films ranked by direction, see The 100 Greatest Modern Directors