Sidney Lumet (1924–2011)

Interesting insofar as Lumet so carefully considers every aspect of his films, and then fills you in on what he was thinking, how he achieved that effect when it succeeded, and where he thinks he went wrong in the cases in which his movies didn't work.

There is wisdom in the first quarter, irrespective of the movie-making project; it's decent management or art-creation advice. The back three-quarters, though, is pretty locked into the movies themselves, and depending on your excitement about specific movies (Long Day's Journey, Dog Day Afternoon, 12 Angry Men and Network are all thoroughly spelunked), or his filmography as a whole, you might find your interest waning rapidly on technical discussions of lighting those. Even if you do like those movies a lot (as I do), there is discussion of how to handle actors, but nothing specific about any of them, so if you're curious how Ned Beatty's insane short scene in Network came to be so thunderously intense, no luck for you; it isn't even mentioned.

For '70s[1] movie fans I could see it being considered essential. It just isn't for me.
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[1] Oh, and also, he admits/brags about hauling off and slapping an actress at one point, in order to have her performance be "more real." Not a great way to get me on one's side.… (more)