I saw Sentimental Value last night and midway through the words “fatally flawed” flashed through my head. You left off, Joachim Trier and Renate Reinsve. With Sentimental Value and The Worst Person In The World they have proven themselves to be the filmmakers most.open to exploring all the messiness and contradictions that makes us human. And that’s a well that never runs dry. So please keep them coming.
We should also credit Anders Danielsen Lie who has a supporting role in both these movies and has been working with Trier since 2006’s Reprise. In fact, Reinsve had a supporting role in the Trier directed / Danielsen Lie starring Oslo, August 31s.. So hopefully we have a bright future with all three working together.
But since this poll asked specifically for duos, I’ll stick with Trier and Reinsve who are on a great roll and just getting started.
It should be added that Anders Danielsen Lie, in addition to acting, is a full time doctor. This is utterly irrelevant to your poll, but insane to comprehend.
Juan - 3 weeks ago
I think the only true answer is when you consider which of these directors has brought out the best in the actors and vice versa. In some cases it's quite the contrary; although it has brought some brilliant performances, I would plead that someone please save Emma Stone from Yorgos Lanthimos. And while yes, we have had some unique and wonderful performances from Ralph Fiennes thanks to Wes Anderson, Michael B. Jordan has rarely seemed to be inspired as much as he has when he works with Ryan Coogler, Who even turned him into arguably the best MCU villain, certainly One of the few you can truly sympathize with.
Brett Matzke - 3 weeks ago
I’d rather see these directors and actors work new people. But I’d jump to see another Edgar Wright/Simon Pegg/Buck Frost collaboration.
Trent Robb - 3 weeks ago
I actually think some of these directors need to stop working with these actors. They need to use other actors to tell their stories. Hopefully it will add variety to their work. Break up Peele/ Kaluuya. Don't need to see anymore Wes/ Fiennes. Is Nolan/ Murphy really even a thing? Won't even be missed. I'm kind of over all of these combos to be honest. We don't need them at all.
Brett Merryman - 3 weeks ago
This one’s easy. Every actor in this poll has made a great film and had a great performance away from their director— except Jordan. He needs Coogler badly and so do we.
Jeremy Laughery - 3 weeks ago
My heart is telling me Reichardt/Williams, as per Bob's comment, I simply don't see any other actor fulfilling the types of roles and characters Reichardt has written for Williams. Williams's quiet intensity and emotive precision is just a match made in heaven for Reichardt's slow, lyrical, contemplative style. Especially coming off of Showing Up, which saw her play a much different Reichardt-penned character than before, I'm confident Williams's range and her clear suitability for Reichardt's creative direction would result in as many masterpieces as they have time to churn out.
All that said? My head told me to vote for Peele/Kaluuya. Though I think I can live in a world where we only got four Reichardt/Williams collaborations (mainly because they're incredible works across the board), I'm not sure I could give up the idea of getting another Peele & Kaluuya work. Tonally, Kaluuya (and Palmer, in Nope) understands and executes Peele's idiosyncratic blend of bursts of humor and eruptions of violence with aplomb. I'm a weak man; I have to see at least one more work from them before I'm ceding this poll to another pairing.
Bob McHugh - 3 weeks ago
For most of these directors, it’s easy to play matchmaker in the case these creative partnerships are disintegrated. Most of these relationships aren’t monogomous anyway.
“Hey, PTA, you looked pretty good with Benicio Del Toro wrapped around your arm…I don’t know, could be the start of something beautiful.”
But when I look at future and past collaborations between these teams, I find myself asking, “Could someone else do this part? Would someone else do this part?”
And I just can’t see anyone else filling the Emma-Stone-shaped-hole for Yorgos Lanthimos. There’s simply no actor with her star power that matches her freak or would even want to. Given her status as a producer and likely draw for financing in his films, you have to wonder if his future weirdo ideas even get made without her.
And I simply can’t take that chance. Yorgos/Stone gets my vote.
Stevie B - 3 weeks ago
I'll be 40 next year, so naturally I managed to hurt my back IN MY SLEEP. The result has been a couple days of wandering around with uneven shoulders, a posture I suddenly recognized in the shower today as uncannily similar to Freddy Quell, the truly iconic creation of Paul Thomas Anderson and Joaquin Phoenix.
I already loved that performance, but this small bout of involuntary method acting has only deepened my awe at how physical Phoenix’s work is in The Master. I remember PTA mentioning that Quell’s signature twisted stance wasn’t even discussed beforehand; it just appeared on camera when they started rolling. Another director might’ve asked him to dial it back a bit, but with those two, it became yet another moment of symbiotic, jazz-like improvisation that somehow adds up to more than the sum of its parts.
You know who’s getting my vote.
rmp - 4 weeks ago
Rather than looking back at the completed movies, I am going to take the prospective perspective implicit in this very deeply flawed poll question and think of collaborations between people who each have a long list of movies I've loved, but whose work together has not settled into anything like a pattern, so that my anticipation might be exceeded by my curiosity. To date the Jim Jarmusch/Adam Driver duo have given us Paterson, The Dead Don't Die & Father Mother Sister Brother. Got me what's coming next, but I'm game.
Also, if you're going to be expanding the number of options to where I'm just about out of fingers, could you maybe include some duos who don't primarily work in English? That needn't make the poll obscure; you had, for instance, the Bong Joon Ho/Song Kang-Ho duo just sitting there, and....
David C - 4 weeks ago
I have to go with the pairing of Ryan Johnson and Daniel Craig. The Knives Out films have been such a pleasure to watch.
Jim from Los Angeles - 4 weeks ago
Great choices, but I have to go with an "Other" team-up even though they're unlikely to reunite anytime soon:
Adam McKay and Will Ferrell.
Jonathan Anderson, Denver CO - 4 weeks ago
I'm thinking about the future, and it feels like Coogler/Jordan and Gerwig/Ronan have the most road ahead of them.
I would happily take either option, but to narrow it down to one I'll let my recency bias for Sinners win out and say Coogler/Jordan.
Carlos - 4 weeks ago
Some great pairs of collaborators here. Of the listed choices, my top 3 would be Reichardt/Williams, Coppola/Dunst and Lanthimos/Stone. However, I had to choose 'Other' as to me Almodóvar and Penélope Cruz are the most fruitful and rich collaboration of the last quarter century.
I love what PTA/Phoenix and Wes/Fiennes have accomplished, but think Gerwig/Ronan have the greatest potential of all these options moving forward.
Honorable non-mentions:
-Scorsese/DiCaprio
-Tarantino/Waltz
-Field/Blanchett
-Kogonada/Farrell or McDonagh/Farrell
-Nichols/Shannon
-Baumbach/Driver or Jarmusch/Driver
Tim from Denver - 4 weeks ago
The relative youth of both Gerwig & Ronan (applies to some of the other choices as well) helped tip the balance for me given that this is about *future* potential collaborations. Also, that factor, led me to downgrade Lanthimos & Stone. At this point I wouldn't mind seeing them take a break from each other and work with others.
Dave Allen - 4 weeks ago
I voted "Other" for Scorsese/Leo. I'm guessing that wasn't on the list because Scorsese theoretically has fewer films in his future than others on the list, but I find that partnership just as compelling as the others shown here. Also, while I'm here, is anyone else getting tired of the abrasive gratuitousness of Lanthimos? It's like if Roger Corman and Salvador Dali had a baby that was adopted by Howard Stern. I'm over it.
Bruce from Portland - 4 weeks ago
I aspire to Torey Lightcap's moral courage. Until that day, I'm going with Reichardt/Williams.
Torey Lightcap - 4 weeks ago
I refuse to be a part of this cinematic murder spree.
I saw Sentimental Value last night and midway through the words “fatally flawed” flashed through my head. You left off, Joachim Trier and Renate Reinsve. With Sentimental Value and The Worst Person In The World they have proven themselves to be the filmmakers most.open to exploring all the messiness and contradictions that makes us human. And that’s a well that never runs dry. So please keep them coming.
We should also credit Anders Danielsen Lie who has a supporting role in both these movies and has been working with Trier since 2006’s Reprise. In fact, Reinsve had a supporting role in the Trier directed / Danielsen Lie starring Oslo, August 31s.. So hopefully we have a bright future with all three working together.
But since this poll asked specifically for duos, I’ll stick with Trier and Reinsve who are on a great roll and just getting started.
It should be added that Anders Danielsen Lie, in addition to acting, is a full time doctor. This is utterly irrelevant to your poll, but insane to comprehend.
I think the only true answer is when you consider which of these directors has brought out the best in the actors and vice versa. In some cases it's quite the contrary; although it has brought some brilliant performances, I would plead that someone please save Emma Stone from Yorgos Lanthimos. And while yes, we have had some unique and wonderful performances from Ralph Fiennes thanks to Wes Anderson, Michael B. Jordan has rarely seemed to be inspired as much as he has when he works with Ryan Coogler, Who even turned him into arguably the best MCU villain, certainly One of the few you can truly sympathize with.
I’d rather see these directors and actors work new people. But I’d jump to see another Edgar Wright/Simon Pegg/Buck Frost collaboration.
I actually think some of these directors need to stop working with these actors. They need to use other actors to tell their stories. Hopefully it will add variety to their work. Break up Peele/ Kaluuya. Don't need to see anymore Wes/ Fiennes. Is Nolan/ Murphy really even a thing? Won't even be missed. I'm kind of over all of these combos to be honest. We don't need them at all.
This one’s easy. Every actor in this poll has made a great film and had a great performance away from their director— except Jordan. He needs Coogler badly and so do we.
My heart is telling me Reichardt/Williams, as per Bob's comment, I simply don't see any other actor fulfilling the types of roles and characters Reichardt has written for Williams. Williams's quiet intensity and emotive precision is just a match made in heaven for Reichardt's slow, lyrical, contemplative style. Especially coming off of Showing Up, which saw her play a much different Reichardt-penned character than before, I'm confident Williams's range and her clear suitability for Reichardt's creative direction would result in as many masterpieces as they have time to churn out.
All that said? My head told me to vote for Peele/Kaluuya. Though I think I can live in a world where we only got four Reichardt/Williams collaborations (mainly because they're incredible works across the board), I'm not sure I could give up the idea of getting another Peele & Kaluuya work. Tonally, Kaluuya (and Palmer, in Nope) understands and executes Peele's idiosyncratic blend of bursts of humor and eruptions of violence with aplomb. I'm a weak man; I have to see at least one more work from them before I'm ceding this poll to another pairing.
For most of these directors, it’s easy to play matchmaker in the case these creative partnerships are disintegrated. Most of these relationships aren’t monogomous anyway.
“Hey, PTA, you looked pretty good with Benicio Del Toro wrapped around your arm…I don’t know, could be the start of something beautiful.”
But when I look at future and past collaborations between these teams, I find myself asking, “Could someone else do this part? Would someone else do this part?”
And I just can’t see anyone else filling the Emma-Stone-shaped-hole for Yorgos Lanthimos. There’s simply no actor with her star power that matches her freak or would even want to. Given her status as a producer and likely draw for financing in his films, you have to wonder if his future weirdo ideas even get made without her.
And I simply can’t take that chance. Yorgos/Stone gets my vote.
I'll be 40 next year, so naturally I managed to hurt my back IN MY SLEEP. The result has been a couple days of wandering around with uneven shoulders, a posture I suddenly recognized in the shower today as uncannily similar to Freddy Quell, the truly iconic creation of Paul Thomas Anderson and Joaquin Phoenix.
I already loved that performance, but this small bout of involuntary method acting has only deepened my awe at how physical Phoenix’s work is in The Master. I remember PTA mentioning that Quell’s signature twisted stance wasn’t even discussed beforehand; it just appeared on camera when they started rolling. Another director might’ve asked him to dial it back a bit, but with those two, it became yet another moment of symbiotic, jazz-like improvisation that somehow adds up to more than the sum of its parts.
You know who’s getting my vote.
Rather than looking back at the completed movies, I am going to take the prospective perspective implicit in this very deeply flawed poll question and think of collaborations between people who each have a long list of movies I've loved, but whose work together has not settled into anything like a pattern, so that my anticipation might be exceeded by my curiosity. To date the Jim Jarmusch/Adam Driver duo have given us Paterson, The Dead Don't Die & Father Mother Sister Brother. Got me what's coming next, but I'm game.
Also, if you're going to be expanding the number of options to where I'm just about out of fingers, could you maybe include some duos who don't primarily work in English? That needn't make the poll obscure; you had, for instance, the Bong Joon Ho/Song Kang-Ho duo just sitting there, and....
I have to go with the pairing of Ryan Johnson and Daniel Craig. The Knives Out films have been such a pleasure to watch.
Great choices, but I have to go with an "Other" team-up even though they're unlikely to reunite anytime soon:
Adam McKay and Will Ferrell.
I'm thinking about the future, and it feels like Coogler/Jordan and Gerwig/Ronan have the most road ahead of them.
I would happily take either option, but to narrow it down to one I'll let my recency bias for Sinners win out and say Coogler/Jordan.
Some great pairs of collaborators here. Of the listed choices, my top 3 would be Reichardt/Williams, Coppola/Dunst and Lanthimos/Stone. However, I had to choose 'Other' as to me Almodóvar and Penélope Cruz are the most fruitful and rich collaboration of the last quarter century.
I love what PTA/Phoenix and Wes/Fiennes have accomplished, but think Gerwig/Ronan have the greatest potential of all these options moving forward.
Honorable non-mentions:
-Scorsese/DiCaprio
-Tarantino/Waltz
-Field/Blanchett
-Kogonada/Farrell or McDonagh/Farrell
-Nichols/Shannon
-Baumbach/Driver or Jarmusch/Driver
The relative youth of both Gerwig & Ronan (applies to some of the other choices as well) helped tip the balance for me given that this is about *future* potential collaborations. Also, that factor, led me to downgrade Lanthimos & Stone. At this point I wouldn't mind seeing them take a break from each other and work with others.
I voted "Other" for Scorsese/Leo. I'm guessing that wasn't on the list because Scorsese theoretically has fewer films in his future than others on the list, but I find that partnership just as compelling as the others shown here. Also, while I'm here, is anyone else getting tired of the abrasive gratuitousness of Lanthimos? It's like if Roger Corman and Salvador Dali had a baby that was adopted by Howard Stern. I'm over it.
I aspire to Torey Lightcap's moral courage. Until that day, I'm going with Reichardt/Williams.
I refuse to be a part of this cinematic murder spree.