Words at Play Language Inspired by Filmmakers Top 10 Words Inspired by Filmmakers Hitchcockian Photo: Matt Brown on Flickr From Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1990) British-American Think: nail-biting suspense, droll humor, cool patrician blondes. (One of the few directors who was able to "brand" himself with the American public.) Image Courtesy mptvimages.com Chaplinesque Photo: Wikipedia From Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977) British-American Think: silent-movie slapstick, tears-and-laughter pathos. (Score points with film aficionados by noting that he was the first true genius of cinema.) Image Courtesy mptvimages.com Capraesque Photo: Wikipedia From Frank Capra (1897-1991) American Think: celebration and eventual triumph of the average guy, sentimentalism. (Probably the first nonactor movie director to be known by the general public.) Image Courtesy mptvimages.com Wellesian Photo: Flickr From Orson Welles (1915-1985) American Think: cinematic pyrotechnics done to technical and dramatic perfection. (Spoiler alert: it's a sled!) Image Courtesy mptvimages.com Kubrickian Photo: Hannes Engelbrecht on Flickr From Stanley Kubrick (1928-1999) American Think: irony, emotional aloofness, deliberate pacing. (Don't even try deciphering what the finale with the Star Child means.) Felliniesque Photo: Rossano aka Bud Care on Flickr From Federico Fellini (1920-1993) Italian Think: poetic neorealism, surrealism, and sometimes just plain weirdism. (Carl Jung's ideas about the collective unconscious helped inspire the dreamlike images in many Fellini films.) Image Courtesy mptvimages.com Bergmanesque Photo: Meagan Fisher on Flickr From Ingmar Bergman (1918-2007) Swedish Think: deep, dark, depressing. (Never play chess with someone who introduces himself as Death, and do not rent "Winter Light" if you're looking for a pick-me-up.) Image Courtesy mptvimages.com Warholian Photo: Wikimedia From Andy Warhol (1928?-1987) American Audacious, minimalist, unwatchable. (According to legend, when "Sleep" - an eight-hour static shot of a man snoozing in bed - played in a Los Angeles theater in 1963, 500 people started watching it and 50 remained at the end.) Image Courtesy mptvimages.com Spielbergian Photo: Wikimedia From Steven Spielberg (1947-) American Think: exhilarating, over-the-top action sequences, childlike wonder, feel-good endings. (And audience members who still fear deep water, even in pools.) Image Courtesy mptvimages.com Eisensteinian Photo: Wikipedia From Sergey Eisenstein (1898-1948) Russian Think: montage, montage, montage. (Claim that you have studied the Odessa Steps scene frame by frame; some scholars actually have.) More Words At Play Steele: Can't Even Do 'Feckless' Leadership Well Former RNC chair derides Trump The Illuminating History of 'Gaffer' It relates to godfathers. Some Odd Words with ISMO: "Junk in the Trunk" Comedian ISMO on what separates a boot from a trunk Love Poems for Word Nerds For you, from us. Comments show hide TRENDING NOW feckless Former RNC chair derides Trump emergency, national emergency Trump declares crisis over wall apoplectic Bezos writes post about Pecker SEE ALL Love words? Need even more definitions? Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free! Merriam-Webster unabridged