Film directors who avoided the sophomore slump

In 1996, Paul Thomas Anderson turned the heads of critics with "Hard Eight," a story about a gambler (Philip Baker Hall) who takes a born loser under his wing. Little did critics and filmgoers know, one year later, Anderson would transport viewers to '70s Los Angeles and introduce us to one Dirk Diggler (Mark Wahlberg), a young man short on brains but long on something else as he becomes a star in the porn industry in "Boogie Nights." It became an instant classic that not only allowed Anderson to avoid the slump, but it also set him on a path of great films he has yet to stray from.

While Kathryn Bigelow's sophomore effort, "Near Dark," failed to set the box office on fire, the film became a cult classic with both fans and critics, who hailed it as a seductively sober take on the vampire genre, offering both compelling characters and a story that was ultimately hard to resist. Bigelow would later rise from cult favorite to Oscar darling with her powerful "Hurt Locker," which in many ways matched the level of talent she showed as a much younger director finding acclaim for just her second film.

In 1995 newcomer Danny Boyle wowed audiences with his debut effort, "Shallow Grave," which turned into the most successful British film of the year at the box office, earning a surprising run of BAFTA awards, including Best Picture. Boyle immediately parlayed his success into his second film, "Trainspotting," based on the best-selling novel by Irvine Welsh. With his darkly comedic take on heroin addiction in Scotland, Boyle's second effort managed to become an even larger success than his debut and launched the careers of Ewan McGregor and Jonny Lee Miller into star status.

James Cameron found early success both as a writer and a director, with his classic tale of a murderous time-travelling cyborg in 1984's "The Terminator." While scripting the equally successful "Rambo: First Blood Part II," Cameron took the next step in his meteoric career by helming the sequel to Ridley Scott's "Alien," a film that, coincidentally, helped Scott avoid a sophomore slump of his own. But more about that later. "Aliens" proved to be a rousing success for Cameron, who would, through his new relationship with 20th Century Fox, make some of the most successful films of all time, including "Titanic" and "Avatar."

Michael Cimino started his career as a screenwriter, most notably penning "Magnum Force," the 1972 sequel to Clint Eastwood's "Dirty Harry." That successful collaboration would lead to Cimino earning the director's chair for Eastwood's next film, "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot," but what came next served as both the pinnacle and downfall of Cimino's career. "The Deer Hunter" proved to be Cimino's magnum opus, depicting the lives of a close-knit Pennsylvania community torn apart by the Vietnam War and all that came after. The film won Oscars for Best Picture and Best Actor, but for Cimino, this was as good as it would ever get for him. In his case, avoiding the sophomore slump only led to a career-long slump he would never recover from.

On the heels of his standout debut "Fruitvale Station" in 2012, Ryan Coogler was well on his way to becoming the next big thing in independent film. Life, however, had different plans for him, as his work in "Fruitvale" caught the eye of Sylvester Stallone, who tapped the young filmmaker to direct "Creed," the next chapter in the long-running "Rocky" series. Stallone gave Coogler space to work and make decisions, as he brought along "Fruitvale" star Michael B. Jordan to star as the son of boxing legend Apollo Creed, famously killed in an exhibition match as depicted in "Rocky IV." An instant success, "Creed" would only lead to greater things for Coogler, as he was snapped up to direct the biggest film of his career: "Black Panther."

Derided as an actress (we'll never know how she was able to replace Winona Ryder as the ill-fated Mary Corleone), Sofia Coppola took a stride in her father's footsteps, gaining acclaim with 1999's "The Virgin Suicides." Her 2003 follow-up, "Lost in Translation," a sweetly somber tale of a lonely movie star (Bill Murray) and a young and conflicted newlywed (Scarlett Johansson) meeting in Tokyo, solidified Coppola as a filmmaker of note.

Long established as an on-screen hero, Clint Eastwood first stepped behind the camera in 1971's "Play Misty for Me," a lurid potboiler that showed this cowboy was far more than the sum of his parts. However, for his second go-round, Clint stuck to what he knew and delivered a Western classic in "High Plains Drifter," a tale of revenge and retribution that showed critics and audiences that his time behind the camera was every bit as potent as his time in front of it.

By the time David Fincher stepped out into feature films with his debut "Alien 3," he was already an established visionary director of music videos. But his sophomore effort, "Seven," or "Se7en" if you're keeping score, was more than a pleasant surprise. Boasting star power in the form of Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman facing off against the ecumenically villainous John Doe (Kevin Spacey) and leading viewers to one of the more shocking twist endings in film history, Fincher planted his flag as a true auteur in the Hollywood landscape.

Spike Jonze and Charlie Kaufman had a clear synergy with their first collaboration as director and writer in 1999's "Being John Malkovitch." However, the pair would not rest their laurels on the weird, and so they doubled down (literally) with 2002's "Adaptation." Based loosely on Susan Orlean's "The Orchid Thief," "Adaptation." is a cavalcade of weird, including a mesmerizing dual performance by Nicholas Cage as Charlie Kaufman and his lunatic fictional brother, Donald, along with equally solid turns from Meryl Streep and Chris Cooper. The film was hailed as an instant classic, and as sophomore efforts go it would be tough to do better.

While George Lucas will always be best known for creating galaxies far, far away, his second film, "American Graffiti," has cultural significance of its own. Set in the early '60s, the film is a simple fable of one night in the life of a group of teenagers consumed with worries of the moment but never forgetting to enjoy life. Featuring young actors like Richard Dreyfuss and Ron Howard, this slice of Americana was clearly a sophomore step up for Lucas after critical acclaim via his first film, "THX 1131."

A devotee of oddities and curiosities, it was no surprise that David Lynch would follow up his underground cult classic "Eraserhead" with the true-life tale of John Merrick, a man deformed by a rare congenital disease, who became a celebrated (if not mocked) figure in Victorian London, in "The Elephant Man." The success of the film lies not in Lynch's love of the weird but rather in its humanity. By portraying Merrick (masterfully performed by John Hurt) as a vital human, despite his maladies, the end result was a powerful film that earned a slew of Academy Award nominations and the assurance that David Lynch was here to stay.

Sam Mendes' feature directorial debut, "American Beauty," is about as successful as a first-time director could ever hope for. A box office smash and an award circuit darling, the film earned Mendes his first Oscar nomination and win for Best Director. His follow-up, "Road to Perdition," brought with it a fair amount of acclaim on its own and a chance for its star, Tom Hanks, to spread his wings in a role unlike any of his others, as father and cold-blooded hitman Michael Sullivan Sr. Include Paul Newman into the mix, and you have a film that easily allowed Mendes to avoid the dreaded slump.

Following the international success of his debut film, "Following," Christopher Nolan used his sophomore effort, "Memento," about an amnesiac (Guy Pearce) who becomes obsessed with piecing together his past — despite having no memory of it whatsoever — to become a star in his own right. A modern-day noir in vivid color, Pearce's performance as Leonard Shelby is both mesmerizing and melancholy, giving Nolan a pastiche on which he built an entire career. While "Memento" is a small film compared to Nolan's later behemoths, it's possibly the most vital in his filmography.

A comedy writer based out of Chicago who grew up in the business with talent like John Belushi and Bill Murray, Harold Ramis was destined for success. After finding it writing "National Lampoon's Animal House" and "Meatballs," Ramis struck pay dirt with his directorial debut, "Caddyshack." Just two years later, Ramis would direct his second straight hit and future cultural landmark film, "National Lampoon's Vacation." Featuring "Caddyshack" star Chevy Chase, the film was an instant classic, and for Ramis it represented the polar opposite of a sophomore slump.

The son of popular '80s director Ivan Reitman, Jason Reitman gained instant notice with his debut film, 2005 satire "Thank You For Smoking." Two years later Reitman would team with writer-of-the-moment Diablo Cody on "Juno," a slice-of-life film about a head-strong teen (Ellen Page) who gets pregnant and tries to work her way through not only her own emotions but also her sense of self, as she becomes the thing she once put down. For his effort, Reitman earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Director, proving that not only was he as good as, if not better, than his old man but also that the sophomore curse can be avoided with a little effort and a lot of acclaim.

The Tarantino of Great Britain, Guy Ritchie found instant stardom with 1998's "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels," a crime caper comedy reintroducing American audiences to the Cockney Gangster and in the process carving out a nice niche for himself. His 2000 follow-up, "Snatch," capitalized on that success by succeeding in casting American actors to melt into a wholly British film. Whether it was Brad Pitt's nearly unintelligible gypsy knockout artist or Dennis Farina's curmudgeonly jeweler, "Snatch" brought the laughs and ensured the sophomore slump would stay as far away from Ritchie as possible.

It's hard to think of a time when Sir Ridley Scott was little more than an up-and-coming filmmaker, but after his debut, "The Duelists," a serious period drama nominated for the main prize at the Cannes Film Festival and later winning an award for Best Debut Film, Scott set his sights on something far more frightening. Inspired by the success of "Star Wars," Scott decided his sophomore film would be set in space, where allegedly no one can hear you scream. Working with avant garde artist H.R. Giger, Scott created a nightmare in the form of "Alien." The film was an instant hit with audiences and set Scott on a path as an auteur of the people while never forgetting to delve into higher fare from time to time.

Zack Snyder defied expectations when he chose to remake the classic "Dawn of the Dead" in 2004. For his sophomore effort, he would team with fellow visionary Frank Miller to produce a gorgeously phantasmagorical depiction of the Battle of Thermopylae in "300." Starring Gerard Butler as King Leonidas, viewers were enthralled by the look, feel and bloody bluster of a film that succeeded in making Snyder into a genre household name.

Bursting out onto the independent scene with tough-guy potboiler "Reservoir Dogs" in 1992, Quentin Tarantino was instantly regarded as an actor to keep an eye on. Who knew Tarantino's next effort, "Pulp Fiction," would not only help him skip the Slump but would also become an instant classic in its own right, resurrecting the career of John Travolta and turning Samuel L. Jackson, a supporting actor in projects for Spike Lee and a bit player in memorable films like "Coming to America" and "Patriot Games," into a bona fide star.