Sidney Lumet

The first few times I saw a Sidney Lumet film, I didn't realize he had directed them.  At that time I was still a young pup of 17 and raiding the library of the local small town video store.  I was only allowed to rent them because my mother had given the okay for me to rent the very grown up Rated R films.   But Serpico and Dog Day Afternoon blew my pre-adult mind, and soon enough I knew his name.

He might not have been the greatest director, but he was damn good, and for those two films alone he deserves to be celebrated.

Check out a wonderful piece the New York Times did on his career here.