Who's the Greatest Working Film Director? Round Six: Ang Lee vs. Pedro Almodovar

Each week, I’m pitting two acclaimed directors’ three top-reviewed films (as determined by their metacritic score) against each other. So far, we’ve seen some good head-to-head battles among some awesome directors. This week, we are looking at the work of Ang Lee and Pedro Almodovar. I waited until this week to see if Taking Woodstock made the cut for Lee, but it didn’t. Here’s how it shakes out:

Round 6

Ang Lee

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) – 93

Brokeback Mountain (2005) – 87

Lust, Caution (2007) – 61

Average: 80


Pedro Almodovar

Talk to Her (2002) – 86

Volver (2006) – 84

Bad Education (2004) – 81

Average: 84

Ang Lee had the two highest rated films of the whole bunch, but Almodovar wins by being more consistent overall. Neither of them is in the overall lead, however. Peter Jackson has a deathgrip on that title with a seemingly unbeatable score of 91, followed by Paul Greengrass who has an overall average score of 88. Come back next week for more.