i enjoy J.J. Abrams from time to time, but i see him more as James Cameron's superior younger brother. he has a large tendency to do action/disaster movies, which leads to a lot of relying on big-name actors and special effects, and it's a downward spiral from there. but like i said, he's definitely more watchable than a lot of directors who muddle around in that stuff, really enjoyed his reboot of Star Trek
my mold-breaking (not favorite, but top 5) director worth a mention is Darren Aronofsky.
films of note to watch: Pi, Requiem for a Dream, Black Swan (listen in order of quality as well as release date)
Pi is my personal favorite of his. it's a paranoid film done in black and white with a crazy electronica soundtrack to it. the main guy is a math genius who's hell-bent on figuring out a pattern in the stock market, which leads to a universal pattern he's trying to unravel, etc. whole thing was done in black and white, and it's especially cool how well the film integrates his thought process into the scenes.
while watching it you start seeing his realization in almost every scene, but his mentor memorably cautions that when your mind becomes obsessed with something it shuts everything else out. in a way the viewing audience is being cautioned as well as the main character :lol:
anyway, enough praise. here's a trailer for one of my top 5 films from one of my top 5 directors.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jo18VIoR2xU