The directors with the most eclectic filmographies

The Coen brothers have made some searing dramas, including Best Picture winner “No Country for Old Men.” And yet these are also the guys who directed “The Big Lebowski,” and even the slapstick “The Ladykillers.” Joel and Ethan are seemingly not making movies together anymore, but they still have an eclectic filmography.

Soderbergh is prolific, to be sure. He is also a quintessential “One for them, one for me” director. He’ll make an “Ocean’s 11,” and then turn around and make an experimental film, or shoot something on an iPhone because he feels like it. Soderbergh also once faced off with himself in the Best Director category when he had “Erin Brockovich” and “Traffic” come out the same year, not the only time he’s doubled-up on movies in a single calendar.

Now, a lot of Lynch’s movies fall into a similar mode, but we wanted to include him anyway. The man who made the bonkers “Dune” and the depraved “Blue Velvet” also made “The Straight Story,” a G-rated film about an old man going on a multi-state trip on a tractor.

With another Steven — Soderbergh — we talked about his year when he had two notable movies. Well, Spielberg can one-up that. In 1993, he broke box-office records with “Jurassic Park” and won Best Picture with “Schindler’s List.” He’s also made war epics, four Indiana Jones movies, and the comedy “1941.”

Favreau made his directorial debut with “Made,” a crime movie that was largely built on the success of “Swingers,” which Favreau co-starred in. Then he made the family film “Elf,” before eventually having his biggest career success. “Iron Man” was considered a gamble at the time, which is how Favreau got a chance to take a stab at it. You know the story of the MCU, we assume, but since then the director has moved on to direct “The Lion King,” plus all his “Mandalorian” stuff over in TV land.

Finding female directors for this list was tricky. One, male directors outpace females in a vacuum. Two, it seems like women either tend to work within a certain realm over and over, or are pigeonholed into doing so. Zhao has a slim filmography, but we still wanted to include her. She followed up “Nomadland” with “Eternals.” That’s a complete 180 to be sure.

Boyle first made a splash with “Trainspotting” and some of his other films like “28 Days Later” feel like they are in that vein. However, Boyle also directed that “Yesterday” movie where almost everybody forgets about the Beatles, and he has “Slumdog Millionaire” in the mix as well.

Here are three film’s Lee made in a row: “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” “Hulk,” and “Brokeback Mountain.” That’s not all, though. His first American film was an adaptation of “Sense and Sensibility,” and he also directed “Gemini Man.”

Wilder is about as old-school a director as we are going to include. He’s a classic example of a guy who did comedy and serious drama both with gusto. Wilder directed “Some Like It Hot” and “Witness for the Prosecution.” “Double Indemnity” is an iconic film noir. “Kiss Me Stupid” is a Dean Martin sex comedy. It was an eclectic, and also impressive, career.

Want a sci-fi epic? A dark war comedy? A swords-and-sandals epic? A horror movie? A domestic drama that is also maybe actually a comedy? Kubrick did it all. In fact, Kubrick had the kind of career where every film feels at least a little distinct, which is partially why he is so venerated.

Miller has one of the most-fun filmographies to talk about. The former doctor has directed four “Mad Max” movies, but also two “Happy Feet” movies and “Babe: Pig in the City.” Yes, really. We didn’t even mention “The Witches of Eastwick” either!

Hardwicke made her name with the indie darling “Thirteen,” which was like “Kids,” but a bit less depraved and nihilistic. She followed that up with the skateboarding movie “Lords of Dogtown.” After this, Hardwicke directed… “Twilight.” Yes, Hardwicke went from directing serious fare to the sparkly vampires series. Since then, her career has taken a dip, but she has continued to be eclectic, with movies like action thriller “Miss Bala” in the mix.

Once more into the “Twilight” realm. Chris and his brother Paul made a splash with “American Pie,” and then later directed “About a Boy.” Both comedies, yes, but one is decidedly gentler than the other. Chris went off on his own and directed “The Golden Compass” and “Twilight: New Moon.” More recently, Weitz has directed “Operation Finale,” a serious historical drama. That’s a long way from Stifler.

Reiner’s father Carl basically stuck to comedy, but Rob has varied it up a bit more. He began with the iconic mockumentary “This is Spinal Tap,” and then added some other comedies like “The Princess Bride” and “When Harry Met Sally.” That being said, Reiner also directed the thriller “Misery” and the classic law drama “A Few Good Men.” In a way, Reiner has also had a varied career in that he used to direct huge hits, but has largely been making anonymous films since “The Bucket List.”

Marshall and Reiner were once married, and admittedly Marshall’s filmography is slimmer and maybe a bit less eclectic. We still think she earned a spot on this list, though. She followed “Big” with “Awakenings,” and also directed the supernatural Christmas movie “The Preacher’s Wife.” The former actor’s directing career ended abruptly after 2001’s “Riding in Cars with Boys,” but she still managed to mix it up some.

Jewison began his career working on Doris Day comedies. Then, he would direct Oscar winner “In the Heat of the Night,” a searing drama. There were musicals such as “Fiddler on the Roof” and “Jesus Christ Superstar.” Jewison directed “Rollerball.” He directed “Moonstruck.” It was a successful career that was also extremely varied.

Clark started as a horror director, including helming the influential slasher film “Black Christmas.” A few years later he would direct “Porky’s” an ‘80s sex comedy that very much doesn’t hold up. Only a couple years after that he would direct the “Porky’s” sequel, but also “A Christmas Story.” Yes, that Christmas movie on all the time every year. The last film he directed? That would be the sequel to “Baby Geniuses,” which he also directed.

Rodriguez’s filmography will give you whiplash. He’s a grindhouse aficionado who has made several violent, sexual, quasi-exploitation movies. There’s “From Dusk till Dawn,” “Sin City,” and “Planet Terror,” his half of “Grindhouse,” the film he co-directed with Quentin Tarantino. Otherwise, he pretty much exclusively makes kids’ movies. Rodriguez has also directed all the “Spy Kids” movies and “The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lava Girl.” Heck, the director’s movie “Machete” even came out of the “Spy Kids” franchise. That doesn’t make any sense, except it does for Rodriguez.