Favorite Actor/Director & Actress/Director Duos

[Mitch Henessey]

De Niro/Scorsese is too obvious, but feel free to list them in your picks. Two of my picks:

Quentin Tarantino & Uma Thurman- The Mia Wallace character springboarded Thurman into being one of the more recognizable actresses in Hollywood, and Thurman transformed herself into a lethal and vicious bad ass in the Kill Bill films. Thurman's rise to prominence stems for her collaborations with Tarantino. When you think about Thurman's success, you think about The Bride and Mia Wallace.....and that's it. Unfortunately, she accepted the part in Batman & Rabin as Poison Ivy, and the rest of her non-Tarantino career is mostly forgettable.

Johnny Depp & Tim Burton- A lot of hit-and-miss films, and some awful ones along the way (i.e. Dark Shadows), but when it comes to horror, Burton and Depp are a match made in heaven.....most of the time. Ed Wood is still my favorite Tim Burton film ever, and for my money, it's an easy pick for Depp and Burton's best film as a actor/director duo. Charlie and The Chocolate Factory and Alice In Wonderland are wild cards, but Sleepy Hollow and Sweeney Todd have endless amounts of re-watch value for me.

 

[Lowdown]

For me I gotta say Kurt Russell and John Carpenter. They didn't garner any Oscar nods, but they made some cool cult classics during the 80's. Though I didn't see the Elvis biopic they did, Escape from New York, the Thing, and Big Trouble in Little China were all awesome, and are a part of my DVD collection.

 

[The Butcher]

Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale. I love The Dark Knight trilogy and The Prestige.

 

[TLC]

Steve McQueen and Michael Fassbender - Though they have only done 2 films (Hunger and Shame) with a third set for later this year, both the films they've done together have been superb. Hunger is brilliant, provocative, intense and wonderfully acted. One of the best feature length film debuts I can ever remember. Shame was also fantastic and my favourite film of 2011; I have no idea how Michael Fassbender missed out on a best actor nomination for the film. Hopefully their next collaboration "12 Years a Slave" is just as good.

David Fincher and Brad Pitt - The pairing have done 3 movies together; Seven, Fight Club and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Each film has proved how good of an actor Brad Pitt is and really ushered him into the megastar stratosphere. Seven is one of the greatest thrillers of all time with one of the best endings I can remember. Fight Club is considered a cult classic and I know it gets shat on a lot around here, but I enjoyed the film. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was brilliant with Pitt putting in a great performance.

 

[8thwotwATG]

De Niro and Scorsese. Raging Bull, Goodfellas, Taxi Driver, Casino...all great examples of cinematic excellence, and fabulous De Niro performances. King of Comedy was good too...an underrated film.

 

[jacdnwarrior]

James Cameron and Arnold Schwarzenegger

The Terminator 1 and 2 were very good films and helped to solidify Arnold as a huge star. 2 was pretty damn good at the time it came out and I couldn't get enough it.

Keanu Reeves and the Wachowskis

Matrix one mostly. That film set the standard for superior film making. It's undeniably the best sci fi flick of its time period. Reloaded wasn't as good, but it was a decent sequel to a film that was a really tough act to follow. Revolutions had its moments, and tied up the series, but it was subpar compared to the first.

Harrison Ford and George Lucas

Indiana Jones and the Star Wars franchise. Star Wars would be the better choice here as Lucas didn't direct The Indiana Jones films as far as I know. Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi got the ball rolling and of the three, Empire was the best.

 

[JGlass]

Woody Allen/Diane Keaton- Annie Hall is probably my favorite comedy of all time, and Manhattan is another fantastic Woody Allen film in which Keaton is just fantastic.

David Fincher/Brad Pitt- I can leave Benjamin Button, but obviously Fight Club and Se7en are fantastic films and two of Brad Pitt's greatest roles.

Wes Anderson/Bill Murray- I actually prefer the Wes Anderson movies where Murray has a smaller role (Royal Tennenbaums and Moonrise Kingdom are my favorites), but I still enjoy Rushmore very much, and Murray is always a blast in Wes Anderson movies.

 

[Alastor]

Agree with the Depp/Burton, Bale/Nolan Fincher/Pitt pairings. Those were great.

Dicaprio / Scorsese is a pairing that produced some good movies. Gangs of New York, the Departed, and Shutter Island.

 

[Wolf Pac]

Quentin Tarantino/Samuel L. Jackson - Sam Jackson's characters always steal the show for me in Tarantino's films, and like Uma Thurman he rose to prominence cause of Tarantino's films, or so I've heard.

Keenan Ivory Wayans/Shawn & Marlon Wayans - I doubt this is a popular choice but their movies especially the ones that were poorly received like White Chicks and Little Man always get a laugh out of me.

Kurt Russell/John Carpenter

Christopher Nolan/Christian Bale, Tom Hardy & Joseph Gordon Levitt

 

[Mitch Henessey]

John Goodman and the Coen brothers- The Big Lebowski still brings some great laughs out of me, and I've probably seen it at least thirty times or more. Jeff Bridges' Dude is the more popular character, but Goodman is the true star of the cast. And you can say the same thing about Barton Fink and John Turturro. I still have trouble getting into The Hudsucker Proxy and O' Brother Where Art Thou?, but Raising Arizona makes up for it. Still waiting for Inside Llewyn Davis' release date.

Part of me was tempted to put George Clooney and Steven Soderbergh on here, because I love Out Of Sight so much, but I really hate Ocean's Thirteen.

 

[TLC]

Martin McDonagh and Colin Farrell - Once again, these two have only made two films together, but both films are fantastic and two of my favourites. In Bruges is one of the darkest and funniest films I have ever witnessed. Farrell, Gleeson and Fiennes were perfectly cast and the film is just brilliant. Seven Psychopaths is also hilarious; Sam Rockwell, Christopher Walken and Woody Harrelson join Farrell for this film and the screenplay is one of the most original screenplays I've seen.

 

[Uncle Sam]

I was pretty fucked off when I discovered that my pick (John Carpenter and Kurt Russell) was the first reply, considering it's not necessarily blindingly obvious. They've got those cool, cooky, cult classics - like Big Trouble and the Escape From films - under their belt, but The Thing for me is one of the all-time greats. There's definitely more besides, and this doesn't really have anything to do with Russell, but the visual effects in The Thing are the best ever - practical, computer-generated, or otherwise.

A more original pick would be Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell. The fun and a little more disturbing than they're given credit for Evil Dead films are always worth a watch - Evil Dead II being a personal favourite of mine... since I first saw it a fortnight ago - and you've got to love the stories of Raimi joyfully and mercilessly torturing Campbell at any given opportunity - e.g. smacking him in the face with sticks, crashing a motorcycle into him, etc. etc. And then, of course, there's Cambell's cameos in Raimi's Spidey trilogy: as a wrestling announcer, as an obnoxious theater usher and then, best of all, as a French waiter.

Edit: Apparently he has a cameo in Oz the Great and Powerful as well. Did I miss that? I must have.