Spike Jonze, however, has only done 3. Being John Malkovich, Adaptation and Where The Wild Things Are. Sure he’s done a lot of shorts, but those don’t count.

Joon-Ho Bong (The Host, Mother) absolutely fantastic Korean director.

Christopher Smith (Triangle, Black Death) is making some great horror flicks and I think has a lot still to show us.

And though I’ve only seen one film from Jeff Nichols so far (Taking Shelter) his new film “Mud” already has great reviews and I’m expecting a lot from him in the long run…

Most controversially, I think I ought to have George Clooney on the list. I think he could be following the Clint Eastwood pattern as someone who started out with acting roles, but is learning from his directors and has a lot of talent to put to use. I’m not sure though because while I thought Clooney’s first two movies “Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind” and “Good Night And Good Luck” were fantastic, he seems to have gone down since then. “The Ides Of March” was distinctly lacking. But most directors have their off days and in the long run George Clooney may still have many more great films left to direct.

I’d also like to add two more who I believe are the future of American independant cinema:

Jeff Nichols who directed Shotgun Stories and Take Shelter

Debra Granik who directed Winter’s Bone and Down to the Bone