SCFZ poll: Norman McLaren

[flip]

Polling the films of director Norman McLaren

The rules:

- your list can include no more than half of the McLaren films you've seen, up to a maximum of 5. So if you've seen seven of his films, for example, you can list only a top 3. It's only if you've seen ten or more of his films than you can list the maximum of five.

- i'll assume ballots are ranked unless you tell me otherwise. unranked ballots are fine.

- deadline for ballots: next Tuesday, in seven days, whatever day that is

- if anyone is watching films for these polls, then i'll extend the deadline up to three days, if someone requests an extension

- next poll: whoever posts the first ballot in this thread is free to nominate the director we poll next, unless you've nominated in this round already (everyone should get a chance). Already nominated this round: oscarwerner, greennui, mesnalty, bure, ofrene, arkheia, brian d, rischka, twodeadmagpies, john ryan, karl, umbugbene, greg x, wba, st gloede, evelyn, thoxans, roscoe

umbugbene created an index on letterboxd of all of our previous polls here: letterboxd.com/umbugbene/list/index-of-all-scfz-director-polls/

one rule for nominees: at least 3 scfzers need to have seen 10+ of a nominee's films, or at least 4 scfzers need to have seen at least 8 of the nom's films, so if it isn't clear if that will be the case, we'll confirm that's true before moving forward

if 24 hours pass after a poll opens, and no one eligible to nominate has posted a ballot, then i'll nominate someone, and then we'll start over, and everyone will be able to nominate again

[flip]

seen nine

Begone Dull Care
Blinkity Blank
Dots
Lines: Vertical

[Roscoe]

BEGONE DULL CARE
NEIGHBORS
PAS DE DEUX

I'll be adding others, of course.

[Curtis, baby]

"Pas de Deux" (Norman McLaren, 1968)
"Christmas Cracker" (Jeff Hale/Norman McLaren/Grant Munro/Gerald Potterton, 1963)
"Spook Sport" (Mary Ellen Bute/Norman McLaren/Ted Nemeth, 1940)
"Begone Dull Care" (Norman McLaren/Evelyn Lambart, 1949)

seen 8

[brian d]

seen 2

pas de deux

[greennui]

Ballet Adagio
Pas de Deux

Seen 16.

[Evelyn Library P.I.]

1. Begone Dull Care (1949)
2. Boogie-Doodle (1940)
3. Hen Hop (1942)
4. Dots (1940)
5. Blinkity Blank (1955)

One of Canadian cinema's stars. His sometimes collaborator Canadian animator Evelyn Lambart has unfortunately been somewhat forgotten in his shadow, but deserves praise in this body of work as well, as does of course the broad institutional framework of the National Film Board.

[MrCarmady]

Seen: 9

1. Pas de deux
2. Begone Dull Care
3. Dots
4. Neighbours

Might add a few more.

[nrh]

this is where i curse myself for not taking more systematic notes or logs - i know i watched at least 15 ten years ago but can't remember which ones, only that i loved them.

[rischka]

begone dull care
boogie doodle
neighbours
hen hop

didn't realize this guy invented 'pong'

[...]

Spook Sport
The Obedient Flame

Don't really care much for McLaren myself, find his work to sit between mildly pleasing to moderately banal. It's an avenue that was ready for exploration, but one which wasn't all that exciting once mapped, to my mind, as it turned out to be a fairly safe and predictable route, that is judging from the 20ish shorts I've seen anyway. I might add a couple more titles later, but for now I'll just go with these two.

[grabmymask]

Pas de Deux
Spook Sport
Narcissus
Dots
Neighbors

[flip]

Seen:

MrCarmady, you can choose the director we poll next if you like!

[MrCarmady]

Seen:

MrCarmady, you can choose the director we poll next if you like!

Cool! Is there a list of directors we've already had somewhere?
Not a nomination for a poll, but those like me who do like McLaren's geometric work might enjoy Oskar Fischinger as well.

[Evelyn Library P.I.]

There's an index of the already polled here: https://letterboxd.com/umbugbene/list/i ... tor-polls/

[MrCarmady]

There's an index of the already polled here: https://letterboxd.com/umbugbene/list/i ... tor-polls/

Thank you!
Well, my old-time fav Leone isn't on there but I assume his filmography isn't quite long enough, and Argento/Fulci/Bava have all been featured, so I'd suggest Corbucci, Sergio Martino, or Fernando Di Leo, been a while since we've had some juicy Italian genre stuff.

[wba]

Seen:

Corbucci: 7
Martino: 6
Di Leo: 2

[flip]

i think we'll need to check that one of corbucci, martino or di leo has enough viewership for a good poll, so if anyone has seen several films from one of those directors, please post here!

[oscarwerner]

Seen 4
Pas de deux (1968)
A Chairy Tale (1957)
---------------
I have:
Corbucci -11,
Martino -5
Di Leo - 8.

[flip]

okay, i'm assuming mrcarmady has seen a lot of corbucci too, in which case he'll work for a poll, so i'll start that now. i'll use the 'new rules' because it seems possible he has borderline viewership

[flip]

two clear winners:

results

1. Begone Dull Care (1949) -- 20 pts
2. Pas de Deux (1968) -- 18 pts
3. Spook Sport (1940) -- 8 pts
3. Dots (1940) -- 8 pts
5. Boogie-Doodle (1948) -- 7 pts
6. Neighbours (1952) -- 6 pts
7. Blinkity Blank (1955) -- 4 pts
7. Hen Hop (1942) -- 4 pts
9. Christmas Cracker (1963) -- 3 pts
9. Narcissus (1983) -- 3 pts
11. Ballet Adagio (1972) -- 2 pts
12. Lines: Vertical (1960) -- 1 pt
12. The Obedient Flame (1939) -- 1 pt
12. A Chairy Tale (1957) -- 1 pt

[flip]

posted to lbox:

https://letterboxd.com/fliptrotsky/list ... -poll-189/