The top 40 directors in the world

The Guardian, UK has come out with a whimsical rating of what they feel are the top 40 directors in the world. While the talent of the directors in the list is never in question, the relative importance given to each director is certainly an open question. It is, of course, impossible to compile such a list and satisfy every critic out there, but there are some glaring omissions in the list. The list names David Lynch (Mulholland Dr.) as the "most important film-maker of the current era". This is probably the equivalent of looking at a particularly abstract painting and calling the artist the 'most important artist of the era' knowing fully well that no one will contradict you as no one can interpret it any better either. Admittedly, Lynch's films provoke much thought and are interesting, but at no point of time does any of his films strike you of greatness. While Quentin Tarantino makes the list, another filmmaker who makes films with the same panache, Guy Ritchie is nowhere to be seen. IMHO, Guy Ritchie is a superior filmmaker since his movies do not smack of self-importance and 'see-I-think-this-is-so-funny-and-I-don't-care-if-you-understand-shit' the way most of Tarantino's films do. And where is Zemekis? And for a list that claims to be a list of the best directors in the world, it appears to be a list of directors known in the western world I'm sure a little extra research would have turned up amazing directors from the rest of the world too.