Ross Bonaime, Staff Writer
This weekend, Martin Scorsese released his highly anticipated Shutter Island, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, who has collaborated with Scorsese on four of his last five movies.
When a great director finds an actor they want to use over and over again, it usually makes for movie magic. With that, here are the top 10 actor/director pairings, along with their best works.
10. Kevin Smith & Ben Affleck – Chasing Amy
Smith loves using Affleck in his movies so much, he has said that he would even cast him as the shark in Jaws.
Smith and Affleck have done much of their best work together such as Dogma and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, but with Chasing Amy, Smith got Affleck to a comedic, yet dramatic peak that he has not topped since.
9. Steven Soderbergh & George Clooney – Ocean’s Eleven
Everyone knows that Clooney is cool, but never quite as cool as he is in Soderbergh’s films. Clooney shined when he played the Frank Sinatra character in the remake of Ocean’s Eleven, propelling himself into movie superstardom with the help of Soderbergh.
8. Quentin Tarantino & Uma Thurman – Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2
Thurman has been Tarantino’s muse since Pulp Fiction and with Kill Bill, which is described as “Created by Q + U,” they together created a massive revenge tale that is one of Thurman’s best roles and another great film in Tarantino’s impressive catalogue.
7. Tim Burton & Johnny Depp – Edward Scissorhands
Depp had only made four films when Burton cast him as the star of his modern day Frankenstein story. Since then, he has starred in six of Burton’s films, including next month’s Alice in Wonderland. Separate, they are great, but together, they truly have something special.
6. John Huston & Humphrey Bogart – The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
In between directing his first film The Maltese Falcon with Humphrey Bogart and earning an Oscar for his film The African Queen, Huston directed The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, a fantastic tale of greed that brings out the best of Bogart’s talents and shows what makes him one of the greatest acting legends.
5. Toshiro Mifune & Akira Kurosawa – Rashomon
Together, Mifune and Kurosawa would become arguably the most famous Japanese actor and director pairing of all time. Working in over a dozen Japanese classics together such as Seven Samurai, High and Low and Throne of Blood cemented it, but Kurosawa got the best of Mifune in one of his early roles in Rashomon as an insane, suspected rapist.
4. Frank Capra & Jimmy Stewart – Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Frank Capra’s feel-good themes of the 30s and 40s were a perfect match for Stewart’s lovable charm that made them a great American duo. While It’s a Wonderful Life has becoming a fan favorite, Stewart’s work with Capra in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is an inspiring work and Stewart’s finest role of his career.
3. George Lucas & Harrison Ford – Star Wars
After directing Ford in American Graffiti, Lucas went on to put Ford into one of the greatest sci-fi films of all time, Star Wars. As if that wasn’t enough, Lucas also wrote the scripts for another great trilogy in which Ford would star with the Indiana Jones films, making Ford one of the greatest action stars of all time.
2. John Ford & John Wayne – The Searchers
With their fourteen films together, Ford and Wayne defined the Western genre. With Stagecoach, they created one of the first great Westerns, but with The Searchers, they perfected it, making a beautiful and exceptional Western.
1. Martin Scorsese & Robert De Niro – Raging Bull
Almost every time Scorsese and De Niro meet, a new classic is created. With Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, Casino and Goodfellas, Scorsese & De Niro have created amazing art together. But they both were pushed to greatness with 1980’s Raging Bull, giving De Niro his second Oscar.
The film is now considered one of the greatest films of all time. With recent talks of Scorsese and De Niro teaming up for the first time since 1995’s Casino, it can be assured that whatever they come up with, it’ll truly be something to behold.
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