it takes a hell of an artist to
understand the acting and technical
sides of crafting a film welcome to
watchmojo.com and today we’re counting
down our picks for the top 10 movies
where actors directed themselves what is
this a center for apps for this list
we’re looking to those films where one
of the principal actors served double
duty as director or co-director that’s
right
number 10 Argo Ben Affleck so you want
to come to Hollywood act like a big shot
yeah without actually doing anything No
you’ll fit right in
after a train wreck like Gigli many film
goers thought of Ben Affleck as a joke
and probably found it hard to believe
he’d ever star in let alone direct even
one more watchable film pronounced Gigli
like crimes oh really but Affleck became
the comeback King by directing and
starring in 2010 suspenseful action
thrill ride the town
however he solidified his place as one
of this generations best actor directors
with 2012’s nail-biting ly tense agro we
say no they show up at the residence and
drag everyone out at gunpoint how well
do you think your covers are going to
hold up when I get their fingernails
pulled nominated for more Awards than we
have time to list Argo didn’t rely on
bullets flying left and right instead
choosing to engross the audience with
the story and characters and Affleck led
the way taking home the Best Picture
Oscar for his trouble we’re responsible
for these people number nine Easy Rider
Dennis Hopper very few films represent
the 60s counterculture movement as
effectively as this low-budget success
story it’s not every man and can live
off the land you know do your own thing
in your own time he should be proud
taking in 60 million dollars at the box
office on a budget of 360,000 Easy Rider
came at a time when Hopper was on his
way up in Hollywood circles and it
blasted him right to the top of the
a-list I mean you know that man marking
an important turning point in American
cinema and in the actor directors career
Easy Rider was full of the kind of
believable performances that only a
contemporary could elicit man anybody
get chicken that’s what happened hey we
can’t even get into like a second-rate
hotel I’m in a secondary motel you do
though hoppers directorial career never
again soared to such Heights Easy Rider
was more than enough to warrant his
inclusion on this list hey man hey if
we’re going we’re going let’s go
number eight Dances with Wolves Kevin
Costner
when you star in and direct a film
that’s nominated for 12 Academy Awards
including both Best Actor and Best
Director the latter of which you win you
are doing something right I like the
quiet one immensely he’s been patient
and inquisitive he seems eager to
communicate on top of the impressive
critical acclaim the actors directorial
debut cost only twenty-two million to
make but racked up almost four hundred
and twenty five million at the box
office I’m John Dunbar Costner’s
attention to detail in telling the story
paid off not only at the box office and
with critics he was also adopted as an
honorary member of the Sioux Nation
proving the Dances with Wolves showed
native culture in a positive light and
succeeded on every level more than
earning its place here I can’t it’s too
much yeah number seven Braveheart Mel
Gibson they may take our lives but
they’ll never take oh right on
at his peak in Hollywood Mel Gibson
could do no wrong and his sophomore
effort as a director proved to be an
absolute work of art code to see you
become the man you are if you’re in the
mood for a love story brave hearts got
it if you want some incredibly bloody
and gruesome battle scenes that don’t
feel gratuitous brave hearts got that if
you want a few laughs brave hearts got
that to winning Gibson the Oscars for
Best Director and Best Picture and
creating his most lasting cinematic
moments Braveheart is an example of
Gibson’s skill as an actor and amateur
filmmaker
number six the great dictator Charlie
Chaplin Beckman opens that hidden stash
in his first full-on talkie Chaplin set
his sights on satirizing Adolf Hitler at
a time when America had yet to declare
war against Nazi ruled Germany your
cause is doomed to failure because it’s
built on a stupid ruthless persecution
of innocent people but despite its
controversial nature the Great Dictator
was Chaplin’s biggest box-office hit and
earned the iconic comedian his only
Academy Award nomination for acting very
good equally viewed as Chaplin’s most
political film and one of the first
significant satires the movie is both
beautifully shot and perfectly paced for
its time the film was not only a
box-office smash but still holds
critical esteem years later having been
selected for preservation by the Library
of Congress in 1997 I should like to
help everyone if possible Jew Gentile
black man white
number-5 do the right thing Spike Lee
all the way to do the right thing
in an era where a lot of society wanted
to pretend the racial divide in North
America was mostly a thing of the past a
young african-american filmmaker flashed
a spotlight on the tensions bubbling
under the surface by writing directing
and starring and do the right thing
that’s it that’s it I got it I’m gone
playing the lead role of Mookie a lazy
pizza delivery man who deals with racism
at work on a regular basis
Spike Lee gives the performance of his
career both as an actor and as a
director I can’t do nothing with him Sal
you told some brother talk to him
brother talk ranked as the best movie of
1989 by respected film critics Gene
Siskel and Roger Ebert this spike Lee
joint has arguably had as big an impact
on society as any film
number four Unforgiven Clint Eastwood
here that Ned Eastwood made his name in
westerns but he stepped away from the
genre for a number of years well I don’t
know that it was all that easy even back
then we was young full of beans that’s
why when he decided to once again Don
the cowboy hat when he was in his early
60s people took notice and the result
was arguably one of the best films in a
career that began in 1955 while Eastwood
has directed and starred in other
masterpieces like Million Dollar Baby
and Gran Torino
it’s Unforgiven that combines his many
talents to build a near-perfect film
well you should have armed himself he’s
gonna decorate his saloon with my friend
winning Eastwood the Academy Awards for
Best Picture and Best Director and
earning him a nod in the Best Actor
category Eastwood’s final Western is
arguably his best it’s a hell of a thing
to killing a man
take away all he’s got and always ever
gonna number three singing in the rain
Gene Kelly
oh yes singing in the rain over the
years the story of Gene Kelly having a
103 fever when he performed the
legendary dance routine has taken on
epic proportions but it goes under
reported that one of the slave driving
directors in charge was Kelly himself Oh
Donnie you couldn’t kiss me like that
not mean it just a teensy-weensy bit
meet the greatest actor in the world I’d
rather kiss a tarantula that extra
effort paid off for the actor director
because singing in the rain has gone
down in history as one of the most
iconic musicals or films in general ever
produced well there’s no joke Cosmo it’s
a sensation the public is screaming for
more co-directing and Coe choreography
in this marvelous film with Stanley
Donen
Kelly is spectacular in the film and
we’re not just talking about the famous
dance sequence where I stand sun is
shining all over the place
number two Annie Hall Woody Allen
of course I’ve always felt he was
essentially a technical filmmaker it’s
tough to say which statement is more
accurate that Woody Allen is an actor
who directs or a director who acts
Allen’s directorial career began in 1966
and now includes many acclaimed films
like sleeper or Manhattan which also
featured the awkward comedian as the
lead yeah I know my analyst warned me
but you were so beautiful lemon I got
another analyst but Annie Hall is almost
universally regarded as his seminal work
winning the Oscars for Best Picture and
Best Director and securing Allen a
nomination for Best Actor this film is
intelligent without being self-important
right well I hope I have to go now to
Wayne because I I’m due back on the
planet Earth influencing everything from
fashion to the perception of therapy
Annie Hall’s place in film history is
indisputable and that’s all down to its
director slash co-writer and star Woody
Allen Oh
God Annie well oh well la-dee-da
la-dee-da
before we unveil our number one pick
here are some honorable mentions golden
is a sly or trans vote yet model City
Shambhala boondi people a CBL division
Parramatta wait oh I’m sorry yeah Louie
hey how about if we just say yeah see
you tomorrow instead of goodbye huh I am
NOT cloying
I am NOT needy I don’t care what you
think you’re not getting to me I’m not
needy will you be here with us for a
long time I reckon if you want me to
don’t you get it he’s messing with our
heads
that’s what all that playing God stuff
was about he’s trying to get us to act
good save the movie we’ll show him
Chinese boxing yeah I need boxing hmm
number one Citizen Kane Orson Welles
Citizen Kane is consistently listed
among the best films ever made and while
that may leave the uninitiated
scratching their heads we can assure you
there are very good reasons for its
reputation
I always gagged on that silver spoon if
you view the film within the context of
the time in which it was crafted you
realize that it used all the effects and
tricks filmmakers had in their arsenal
and revolutionized them to bring us a
truly groundbreaking film you’ve gone
completely crazy
you know that I guess that everyone here
don’t know about this but Citizen Kane
truly would have been nowhere without
Orson Welles the director producer chief
actor and co-writer brought the thinly
veiled story of a media Baron to life in
more ways than one
and changed Hollywood pictures in the
process here’s a man that could have
been president who was his loved and
hated and has talked about as any man in
our time but when he comes to die he’s
got something on his mind called rosebud
do you agree with our list all you
motherfuckers are gonna pay what’s your
favorite movie where actors directed
themselves
for more film top 10s published every
day be sure to subscribe to
watchmojo.com who are the people are
they elected are they appointed do they
have an axe to grind
is it you
understand the acting and technical
sides of crafting a film welcome to
watchmojo.com and today we’re counting
down our picks for the top 10 movies
where actors directed themselves what is
this a center for apps for this list
we’re looking to those films where one
of the principal actors served double
duty as director or co-director that’s
right
number 10 Argo Ben Affleck so you want
to come to Hollywood act like a big shot
yeah without actually doing anything No
you’ll fit right in
after a train wreck like Gigli many film
goers thought of Ben Affleck as a joke
and probably found it hard to believe
he’d ever star in let alone direct even
one more watchable film pronounced Gigli
like crimes oh really but Affleck became
the comeback King by directing and
starring in 2010 suspenseful action
thrill ride the town
however he solidified his place as one
of this generations best actor directors
with 2012’s nail-biting ly tense agro we
say no they show up at the residence and
drag everyone out at gunpoint how well
do you think your covers are going to
hold up when I get their fingernails
pulled nominated for more Awards than we
have time to list Argo didn’t rely on
bullets flying left and right instead
choosing to engross the audience with
the story and characters and Affleck led
the way taking home the Best Picture
Oscar for his trouble we’re responsible
for these people number nine Easy Rider
Dennis Hopper very few films represent
the 60s counterculture movement as
effectively as this low-budget success
story it’s not every man and can live
off the land you know do your own thing
in your own time he should be proud
taking in 60 million dollars at the box
office on a budget of 360,000 Easy Rider
came at a time when Hopper was on his
way up in Hollywood circles and it
blasted him right to the top of the
a-list I mean you know that man marking
an important turning point in American
cinema and in the actor directors career
Easy Rider was full of the kind of
believable performances that only a
contemporary could elicit man anybody
get chicken that’s what happened hey we
can’t even get into like a second-rate
hotel I’m in a secondary motel you do
though hoppers directorial career never
again soared to such Heights Easy Rider
was more than enough to warrant his
inclusion on this list hey man hey if
we’re going we’re going let’s go
number eight Dances with Wolves Kevin
Costner
when you star in and direct a film
that’s nominated for 12 Academy Awards
including both Best Actor and Best
Director the latter of which you win you
are doing something right I like the
quiet one immensely he’s been patient
and inquisitive he seems eager to
communicate on top of the impressive
critical acclaim the actors directorial
debut cost only twenty-two million to
make but racked up almost four hundred
and twenty five million at the box
office I’m John Dunbar Costner’s
attention to detail in telling the story
paid off not only at the box office and
with critics he was also adopted as an
honorary member of the Sioux Nation
proving the Dances with Wolves showed
native culture in a positive light and
succeeded on every level more than
earning its place here I can’t it’s too
much yeah number seven Braveheart Mel
Gibson they may take our lives but
they’ll never take oh right on
at his peak in Hollywood Mel Gibson
could do no wrong and his sophomore
effort as a director proved to be an
absolute work of art code to see you
become the man you are if you’re in the
mood for a love story brave hearts got
it if you want some incredibly bloody
and gruesome battle scenes that don’t
feel gratuitous brave hearts got that if
you want a few laughs brave hearts got
that to winning Gibson the Oscars for
Best Director and Best Picture and
creating his most lasting cinematic
moments Braveheart is an example of
Gibson’s skill as an actor and amateur
filmmaker
number six the great dictator Charlie
Chaplin Beckman opens that hidden stash
in his first full-on talkie Chaplin set
his sights on satirizing Adolf Hitler at
a time when America had yet to declare
war against Nazi ruled Germany your
cause is doomed to failure because it’s
built on a stupid ruthless persecution
of innocent people but despite its
controversial nature the Great Dictator
was Chaplin’s biggest box-office hit and
earned the iconic comedian his only
Academy Award nomination for acting very
good equally viewed as Chaplin’s most
political film and one of the first
significant satires the movie is both
beautifully shot and perfectly paced for
its time the film was not only a
box-office smash but still holds
critical esteem years later having been
selected for preservation by the Library
of Congress in 1997 I should like to
help everyone if possible Jew Gentile
black man white
number-5 do the right thing Spike Lee
all the way to do the right thing
in an era where a lot of society wanted
to pretend the racial divide in North
America was mostly a thing of the past a
young african-american filmmaker flashed
a spotlight on the tensions bubbling
under the surface by writing directing
and starring and do the right thing
that’s it that’s it I got it I’m gone
playing the lead role of Mookie a lazy
pizza delivery man who deals with racism
at work on a regular basis
Spike Lee gives the performance of his
career both as an actor and as a
director I can’t do nothing with him Sal
you told some brother talk to him
brother talk ranked as the best movie of
1989 by respected film critics Gene
Siskel and Roger Ebert this spike Lee
joint has arguably had as big an impact
on society as any film
number four Unforgiven Clint Eastwood
here that Ned Eastwood made his name in
westerns but he stepped away from the
genre for a number of years well I don’t
know that it was all that easy even back
then we was young full of beans that’s
why when he decided to once again Don
the cowboy hat when he was in his early
60s people took notice and the result
was arguably one of the best films in a
career that began in 1955 while Eastwood
has directed and starred in other
masterpieces like Million Dollar Baby
and Gran Torino
it’s Unforgiven that combines his many
talents to build a near-perfect film
well you should have armed himself he’s
gonna decorate his saloon with my friend
winning Eastwood the Academy Awards for
Best Picture and Best Director and
earning him a nod in the Best Actor
category Eastwood’s final Western is
arguably his best it’s a hell of a thing
to killing a man
take away all he’s got and always ever
gonna number three singing in the rain
Gene Kelly
oh yes singing in the rain over the
years the story of Gene Kelly having a
103 fever when he performed the
legendary dance routine has taken on
epic proportions but it goes under
reported that one of the slave driving
directors in charge was Kelly himself Oh
Donnie you couldn’t kiss me like that
not mean it just a teensy-weensy bit
meet the greatest actor in the world I’d
rather kiss a tarantula that extra
effort paid off for the actor director
because singing in the rain has gone
down in history as one of the most
iconic musicals or films in general ever
produced well there’s no joke Cosmo it’s
a sensation the public is screaming for
more co-directing and Coe choreography
in this marvelous film with Stanley
Donen
Kelly is spectacular in the film and
we’re not just talking about the famous
dance sequence where I stand sun is
shining all over the place
number two Annie Hall Woody Allen
of course I’ve always felt he was
essentially a technical filmmaker it’s
tough to say which statement is more
accurate that Woody Allen is an actor
who directs or a director who acts
Allen’s directorial career began in 1966
and now includes many acclaimed films
like sleeper or Manhattan which also
featured the awkward comedian as the
lead yeah I know my analyst warned me
but you were so beautiful lemon I got
another analyst but Annie Hall is almost
universally regarded as his seminal work
winning the Oscars for Best Picture and
Best Director and securing Allen a
nomination for Best Actor this film is
intelligent without being self-important
right well I hope I have to go now to
Wayne because I I’m due back on the
planet Earth influencing everything from
fashion to the perception of therapy
Annie Hall’s place in film history is
indisputable and that’s all down to its
director slash co-writer and star Woody
Allen Oh
God Annie well oh well la-dee-da
la-dee-da
before we unveil our number one pick
here are some honorable mentions golden
is a sly or trans vote yet model City
Shambhala boondi people a CBL division
Parramatta wait oh I’m sorry yeah Louie
hey how about if we just say yeah see
you tomorrow instead of goodbye huh I am
NOT cloying
I am NOT needy I don’t care what you
think you’re not getting to me I’m not
needy will you be here with us for a
long time I reckon if you want me to
don’t you get it he’s messing with our
heads
that’s what all that playing God stuff
was about he’s trying to get us to act
good save the movie we’ll show him
Chinese boxing yeah I need boxing hmm
number one Citizen Kane Orson Welles
Citizen Kane is consistently listed
among the best films ever made and while
that may leave the uninitiated
scratching their heads we can assure you
there are very good reasons for its
reputation
I always gagged on that silver spoon if
you view the film within the context of
the time in which it was crafted you
realize that it used all the effects and
tricks filmmakers had in their arsenal
and revolutionized them to bring us a
truly groundbreaking film you’ve gone
completely crazy
you know that I guess that everyone here
don’t know about this but Citizen Kane
truly would have been nowhere without
Orson Welles the director producer chief
actor and co-writer brought the thinly
veiled story of a media Baron to life in
more ways than one
and changed Hollywood pictures in the
process here’s a man that could have
been president who was his loved and
hated and has talked about as any man in
our time but when he comes to die he’s
got something on his mind called rosebud
do you agree with our list all you
motherfuckers are gonna pay what’s your
favorite movie where actors directed
themselves
for more film top 10s published every
day be sure to subscribe to
watchmojo.com who are the people are
they elected are they appointed do they
have an axe to grind
is it you
Please follow and like us: