“The Dark Knight” and “Oppenheimer” filmmaker Christopher Nolan has been named the Best Director of the last 25 years according to a major new poll conducted by Rotten Tomatoes to celebrate that site’s 25th anniversary.
Nolan emerged victorious above 64 other filmmakers in a single-elimination tournament, though the final round against runner-up Denis Villeneuve (“Dune,” “Blade Runner 2049”) was a much tighter race than any of Nolan’s preceding rounds.
In those earlier rounds, Nolan defeated his previous opponents with at least 87% of the vote each time but with Villeneuve it came down to a 56% to 44% split. Close to 30,000 votes were reportedly cast in this final round.
Damien Chazelle (“La La Land”) and Jordan Peele (“Get Out”) made the semi-final, whilst Bong Joon-ho (“Parasite”), Taika Waititi (“Thor: Ragnarok”), Alex Garland (“Ex Machina”) and Sam Mendes (“Skyfall”) made the quarter-final.
The poll follows on from several others conducted for the site in recent weeks which more specifically targeted the best film and TV series of the past TV years.
Critics named “Mad Max: Fury Road,” “Parasite,” “Mulholland Drive,” “The Dark Knight,” and “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” as the best films whilst “Breaking Bad,” “The Sopranos,” “The Wire,” “Mad Men,” and “Succession” were the best shows.
Fans named “The Dark Knight,” “Interstellar,” “Inception,” “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,” and “Avengers: Endgame” the best films and “Breaking Bad,” “Game of Thrones,” “The Sopranos,” “The Office,” and “Stranger Things” were the best shows.
