SCFZ poll: Peter Bogdanovich

[flip]

Polling the films of Peter Bogdanovich.

The rules:

- your list can include no more than half of the Bogdanovich 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: no one

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]

three things:

- we just started a new round of nominations, so if you post the first ballot in this thread (after mine), please feel free to choose our next director! or if you don't want to, please mention that so the next person can

- we almost had the views to poll ismael rodriguez, and i didn't leave too much time to get more feedback, so if anyone has seen 6+ of his films, please post here, and i'll just start that poll next and postpone the first nomination a few days

- for bogdanovich, i might switch to extended rules if ballots appear short, so it you post early, check back to see if the rules change and you can post more films!

[---]

Seen 4

What's up doc
Paper Moon

[flip]

Noises Off...
Saint Jack
Targets
She's Funny That Way
Daisy Miller
The Last Picture Show
Paper Moon


seen 14, probably will watch 2 more (texasville, the cat's meow) before the poll closes, and i really should rewatch paper moon and last picture show, been so long since i've seen those that i'm voting for other films ahead of those

[---]

I saw someone on autistic twitter say that What's Up Doc is an autistic love story. I haven't seen it in a long time but that does sound right. I will rewatch it pb

[greennui]

7.

Targets
They All Laughed
What’s Up, Doc?
Directed by John Ford

[Monsieur Arkadin]

Seen 3.

Targets
Paper Moon

I actually really liked The Cat's Meow, way back when. But I'm not confident I would feel the same if I re-watched it today.

*Edited for extended rules.

[nrh]

texasville

if you don't mind the laserdisc quality and aspect ratio i kind of recommend trying the director's cut. should be able to post it if anyone is interested and is having trouble tracking it done.

[---]

also i will pick TOD "ODD" BROWNING

yuh! yuh! yuh! yuh!

[St. Gloede]

Seen 5:

Paper Moon
Targets

[wba]

Seems like a boring guy, judging by his books (of interviews), but his 3 films I've seen were quite wonderful.

01. The Last Picture Show
02. Paper Moon
(sorry SAINT JACK, you were as good as the other 2, but one has to go...)

Bogdanovich seen: 3

[Roscoe]

WHAT'S UP DOC?

Otherwise whatever.

[flip]

people i might have expected to have seen several bogdanovich films have not seen as many as i expected, so let's switch to extended rules:

- if you've seen an odd #, you can round up when deciding how long to make your ballot (e.g. seen 5, you can vote for 3 instead of the normal 2)
- if you've seen more than 10, you can vote for more than 5

[flip]

if you don't mind the laserdisc quality and aspect ratio i kind of recommend trying the director's cut. should be able to post it if anyone is interested and is having trouble tracking it done.

not sure what to do, i've already started watching the studio cut, now i wish i'd waited

even if i love the film, i wouldn't watch the director cut all that soon, so i guess don't upload it on my account, but i might be interested in it in a year or two

[mesnalty]

Seen 3:

1. What's Up, Doc?
2. The Last Picture Show

[grabmymask]

Seen 3

Targets

[john ryan]

Somehow only seen 8

1. Targets
2. What's Up, Doc?
3. The Last Picture Show
4. Noises Off...

Will try to watch Mask and Nickelodeon this weekend

[...]

Meh. His ex-wife, Polly Platt, is the greater talent, she did the production design for Bogdanovich's early films. I find the man an insufferable ass personally, it even comes through in his books which are ,sadly, some of the only interviews with old Hollywood types that offer much detail, but to fill out the list I'll give a full slate.

They All Laughed
What's Up Doc?
The Last Picture Show
Paper Moon
Targets
Directed by John Ford
Saint Jack

[flip]

also i will pick TOD "ODD" BROWNING

i can't remember - did we check browning before? if we did and he worked, then he's our next poll. if not, we probably should make sure he has the views. i've seen three.

[greennui]

You get the feeling that pretty much everyone at the time enjoyed seeing Bogdanovich fuck up his own career.

[wba]

You get the feeling that pretty much everyone at the time enjoyed seeing Bogdanovich fuck up his own career.

But did he really "fuck up" his career? As a director, at least, he's regularly directed films from 1968 till 1993 and since then two theatrical feature films (as well as two documentaries). And he directed over half a dozen Television movies between 1995 and 2004 after his last two theatrical releases in 1992 and 1993 were huge commercial flops. Compared to many other "New Hollywood" filmmakers he did farely well (see for example what little John Milius has done after his last two theatrical films flopped as bad as those made by Bogdan in 1989 and 1991...). When your last couple of films in Hollywood aren't a success but instead huge flops it was/is difficult for almost any filmmaker to continue his career as he used to - hell, some even lose their directing-career after one major flop (if they weren't hit-makers before that), and Bogdanovich's two previous theatrical films (before those last two) in 1990 and 1988 were huge flops as well! So it's more or less inevitable and logical that after having made 4(!) huge flops in a row between 1988 and 1993 (three of which he also co-produced...), that producers got less than enthusiastic to give him another directing job.

[wba]

also i will pick TOD "ODD" BROWNING

i can't remember - did we check browning before? if we did and he worked, then he's our next poll. if not, we probably should make sure he has the views. i've seen three.

seen merely three by Tod as well.

[brian d]

seen 2

paper moon


3 browning

[...]

Seen eight by Browning , but if you include existent material, then nine since I've seen all the stills left from London after Midnight!

Yeah, Bogdanovich has the peculiar ability to simultaneously seem like both a snobby elitist and a toadying sycophant, a winning combination if there ever was one! He is, however, a perfectly good casting choice should one need to fill a role that hits both those notes, so he gets points for consistency. I also gotta give him credit for casting Ryan O'Neal repeatedly just so one can't easily say Bogdanovich was the least talented person on his sets without due pause for deeper consideration. I do have to admit though that Bogdanovich is the more talented craftsman of the two major Orson Welles parasites. His films are much better put together than Henry Jaglom's, though Jaglom might win out on "originality" if you don't place any store by original needing to be good or anything. But that isn't really surprising since Bogdanovich doesn't really direct so much as "direct" his movies, where it often feels like every shot is in quotation marks. He loves old Hollywood don't ya know.

[Monsieur Arkadin]

When I was reading Jaglom's "My Lunches with Orson", I was staying in an AirBnB in Iowa. The guy who owned the place saw the book and was like "Oh... you know Henry Jaglom? You're sleeping in his childhood bed." Can't say I ever would have expected that.

Seen 3 Browning.

[nrh]

The Thing Called Love
At Long Last Love
She's Funny That Way
They All Laughed
Saint Jack
Targets

only 5 by browning but i'd love to see more - those five were very good to great.

[Evelyn Library P.I.]

6 Browning, and was planning to watch The Wicked Darling this month, so should be at 7 soon.

[flip]

okay if bure has seen 10+, then browning is good!

[---]

I've actually only seen 9 but I'll obvs watch one more (actually there are like 3 I've been meaning to see but yeah)

[oscarwerner]

Have seen 7.
My votes are very clear:
1. The Last Picture Show (1971) -my favorite masterpiece
--------------------------------------------------
2. Targets (1968)
3. Paper Moon (1973)
He was a cinema critic first of all. Somehow he managed to create one great movie. Others were just not good enough. He knows how good film must look like, but didn`t manage to create his own storytelling, style.