3. The Master of Moving Image

3. Stanley Kubrick

Kubrick is a mad genius. The first film by him I'd seen was 'The Shining.' A haunting film about isolation caused by a snow storm and perhaps something supernatural. Based on Steven King's novel of the same name but adapted in a new way for film, without much regard for the source material. The experience is both haunting and exhilarating. A major achievement for the horror genre.  There are several documentaries about 'The Shining.' All speculating the hidden stories being told in the background; a story about American greed and the massacre of the natives or more notoriously Kubrick's confession of faking the moon landing footage for the U.S government. The latter theory being tied into Kubrick's earlier work '2001: A Space Odyssey', which is a spectacular landmark in the science fiction genre. He's also made a movie about the Vietnam war as well as a dark sexual fantasy starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, while the two were married. All of his films share an unmatchable level of detail and commitment to perfection. There's a reason the 'The Shining' has been studied for almost three decades. It's Kubrick's relentless pursuit of brilliance through cinema. If it weren't for personal preference, he'd be ranked #1.
MUST WATCH FILM - '2001: A Space Odyssey' 
MY FAVORITE - 'The Shining'