Magnificent Seven by Gregory Freitas If the Indie Revolution has given us anything approaching a Golden Age in any area of cinema, it is the proliferation of (extremely) quirky young comedic auteurs. One would have to go back to the days of Woody Allen, Blake Edwards and Mel Brooks to approach the current crop for pointed laughs. And if they are inspired by the Coens, Preston Sturges, and Billy Wilder, their voices have been entirely their own. With Napoleon Dynamite, Jared Hess (top left) jumps onto the short list of young writer/directors whose indie comedies have made a huge splash on a tiny budget. Some of their movies can be sophomoric and smugly annoying at times, yet even their misfires have been interesting. Here are the six other writer/directors with the quirkiest views, and the funniest, most distinctive comic voices, and where they are now: Wes Anderson Outsider Debut: Bottle Rocket, closest in tone and sensibility to Napoleon. Imagine the Wilson Brothers with white Afros in Idaho and Napoleon could be a prequel to Rocket. Insider Trajectory: Quickly became known as one of the sharpest, hippest directors in Young Hollywood while maintaining his quirky sensibility. Up Next: Directing Bill Murray as a world famous oceanographer in The Life Aquatic. We'd Like to See: Bill Murray as a world famous oceanographer in The Life Aquatic. Neil LaBute Outsider Debut: In the Company of Men, a wickedly funny and widely misunderstood tale of the jackasses giggling at the water cooler. Insider Trajectory: Directed Greg Kinnear, Renee Zellweger and Chris Rock in the unfunny Nurse Betty; and Paul Rudd and Rachel Weisz in the barely watchable The Shape of Things. Up Next: Directing (guess who) Aaron Eckhart and Ralph Fiennes in Vapor. We'd Like to See: LaBute write a script for a strong visual director, like Sam Raimi, David Fincher, or Roland Emmerich, and then head for Broadway the moment filming starts. Richard Linklater Outsider Debut: Wrote and directed the sharp slacker comedy Slacker, and then mistook the laughs to mean that we actually wanted to see the same film again, so he made Dazed and Confused. Then made the modest romantic charmer Before Sunrise, and mistook our indifference to mean that we cared passionately about the same characters, so he made Before Sunset. Insider Trajectory: Perhaps feeling left out by the whole LaBute/Eckhart dynamic, directed muse Ethan Hawke in The Newton Boys. And in fairness, also directed Jack Black in the most excellent School of Rock. Up Next: The aforementioned After Sunset, which might just do for American film what A Man and A Woman: 20 Years Later did for French Cinema. We'd Like to See: Linklater NOT unleash Ben Affleck on an unsuspecting public back in 1993. But it looks like that ship has already sailed. Alexander Payne Outsider Debut: Directed the dark and irreverent pro-choice/pro-life abortion comedy Citizen Ruth. Then adapted Election from Tom Perrotta's laughing-fit-in-public-inducing novel. Insider Trajectory: Directed the Jack Nicholson vehicle About Schmidt to multiple Oscar nominations. Next Up: Adapts Rex Pickett's comic wine country misadventure, Sideways. We'd Like to See: Payne adapt Perrotta's latest comic disasterpiece, Little Children. Kevin Smith Outsider Debut: Wrote and directed the sharp slacker comedy Clerks, and then mistook the laughs to mean that we actually wanted to see the same character (that, not incidentally, he plays), over and over again. Insider Trajectory: Became Harvey Weinstein's pet low-budget indie comedy director. Happily directs himself in a backwards baseball cap for his loyal cult of dozens of fans. Up Next: If it wears a cape he's worked on it. Reported involvement in a Green Hornet remake and Fletch sequel. Previously reported involvement in a Superman remake. We'd Like to See: Jay and Silent Bob in a remake of Midnight Cowboy. Todd Solondz Outsider Debut: Sorry Napoleon, but you're number two. Not that number two. Welcome to the Dollhouse is still the reigning Special People's Club of teen geek angst comedies. Insider Trajectory: No insider trajectory. Attempts to garner cheap publicity by being outrageously offensive, whether in the brilliantly warped Happiness or the flawed Storytelling. Next Up: The offensive continues with Palindrome, starring Jennifer Jason Leigh. A casting call went out for teenagers with disabilities, we can only hope that idea is half as funny as it sounds. We'd Like to See: Solondz direct Philip Seymour Hoffman in a modern retelling of "Death of a Salesman", updated to include graphic references to analingus, bestiality and coprophilia. Or maybe not.

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