  all 52 comments  [–][deleted] 27 points28 points  (38
children)   Here is a list of cinema's greatest directors (or at
least those usually deemed so) and their third full-length
feature films:  My main goal was just to provide the data and
let everyone else discuss, but I will offer my two cents. I
think out of those provided Scorcese, Anderson, the Coens,
Spielberg, Malick, and Keaton are the best cases to corroborate
the OP's claim, and even then within each case it is debatable
whether this third film is actually the director's best, e.g. I
think most would say "Mean Streets" is not Scorcese's best film.
But at least in these directors you do see them "hitting their
stride" in their third film. (The notable exceptions are Malick
and the Coens, who seemed to have just been born genius
filmmakers that could make masterpieces from the get-go.) But
the number of counterexamples to the OP's claim is staggering,
and so, I remain skeptical about the theory, though, an
interesting one it is.  EDIT: I can add to