SCFZ poll: Robert Altman

[flip]

Polling the films of director Robert Altman

The rules:

- your list can include no more than half of the Altman 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 Friday, in seven days, whatever day that is

- if anyone is watching films for these polls, then i'll extend the deadline 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: brian d, greennui, ofrene, kanafani, bure, greg x, oscarwerner, silga, dt, umbugbene, roscoe, rischka, wba, thoxans

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]

3 Women
Brewster McCloud
Nightmare in Chicago
California Split
Images


seen 24

[thoxans]

come back to the 5 & dime, jimmy dean, jimmy dean
california split
mccabe & mrs. miller
nashville

*seen ten

[wba]

Interesting director.

01. The Company (2003)
02. Ready to Wear (1994)
03. Popeye (1980)

Altman seen: 7

[brian d]

seen 13

gosford park
buffalo bill and the indians
mash
mccabe and mrs miller
the long goodbye

[rischka]

17. altman was a gateway cinema for me. haven't watched any in a long time

3 women
california split
the long goodbye
mccabe and mrs miller
images

[...]

Nashville
McCabe and Mrs. Miller
Thieves Like Us
A Prairie Home Companion
Quintet


Eh, I might change some of those. It's been a long time since I watched any Altman. I was impressed by some of his early seventies films, but also kinda hate his overall attitude in some ways, which was really apparent in his later films, though I have some fondness for how he bowed out with Prairie even with some of those issues still floating around the film a bit.

[kanafani]

The Long goodbye
McCabe & Mrs. Miller
Thieves Like Us
Gosford Park
California Split

[ofrene]

seen 7

Short Cuts
The Long Goodbye
Nashville

[Lencho of the Apes]

3 Women
McCabe And Mrs Miller

Seen 7.

[oscarwerner]

Seen 12:
1. Nashville (1975)
2. McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)
3. The Long Goodbye (1973)
4. Short Cuts (1993)
5. California Split (1974)

[Umbugbene]

Seen 11, but the only one I liked was:

3 Women

[mesnalty]

Seen 7:

1. 3 Women
2. Nashville
3. The Long Goodbye

[arkheia]

Seen 5

1. The Long Goodbye
2. Nashville

[Caracortada]

Saw ten films. He's notorious for his multi-star casts.

1. Gosford Park
2. 3 Women
3. Prêt-à-Porter
4. Short Cuts
5. McCabe & Mrs. Miller

[Senor Arkadin]

Seen 8
Half of which I love, the other half I find on a spectrum from middling to awful... but everything he's done is quite interesting at very least.
1. The Long Goodbye
2. Gosford Park
3. 3 Women
4. The Player

[john ryan]

Seen 25

1. California Split
2, McCabe and Mrs. Miller
3. The Long Goodbye
4. M*A*S*H
5. 3 Women

[greennui]

3 Women
Images
McCabe and Mrs Miller
Mash

[thoxans]

apparently, i need to see 3 women...

[Caracortada]

apparently, i need to see 3 women...

You'd better start with one.

[nrh]

california split
combat - cat and mouse
mccabe and mrs miller
fool for love
the long goodbye

[Roscoe]

NASHVILLE

All of Altman's best and the least of Altman's worst is in NASHVILLE. Can't say I find the rest to be interesting enough to rate.

[Mysterious Dude]

I've seen ten.

1. 3 Women
2. Gosford Park
3. A Wedding

[flip]

Seen 7:

sorry, forgot to check who was next - mesnalty you can pick our next director if you like!

[mesnalty]

Does Mekas have enough views?

[flip]

let's assume yes and see what happens!

[thoxans]

seriously, is no one else gonna vote for cbtt5&djdjd!?!? time to put my scfz ghost accts to work and vote surreptitiously

[flip]

altman made thirteen films in the 1970s, and twelve of them got support in our poll (many of them rank near the top of the results) - the lone exception was 1979's a perfect couple. his films from other decades got much more sporadic support.

i might post a top fifteen to letterboxd instead of a top ten, but altman's episode for the tv series combat! isn't in the letterboxd database. i'm not going to add it myself, but if anyone has a tmdb account and wants to add a missing altman thing to letterboxd, that's one (of many early altman tv efforts) that needs adding.

results

1. 3 Women (1977) -- 38 pts
2. McCabe and Mrs Miller (1971) -- 37 pts
3. The Long Goodbye (1973) -- 29 pts
4. Nashville (1975) -- 26 pts
5. California Split (1974) -- 24 pts
6. Gosford Park (2001) -- 17 pts
7. Short Cuts (1993) -- 7 pts
8. Thieves Like Us (1974) -- 6 pts
8. MASH (1970) -- 6 pts
10. Images (1972) -- 5 pts
10. Brewster McCloud (1970) -- 5 pts
10. Pret a Porter (1994) -- 5 pts
10. The Player (1992) -- 5 pts
14. Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (1982) -- 4 pts
14. Buffalo Bill and the Indians (1976) -- 4 pts
14. Combat! : "Cat and Mouse" (1962) -- 4 pts
17. Nightmare in Chicago (1964) -- 3 pts
17. The Company (2003) -- 3 pts
19. That Cold Day in the Park (1969) -- 2 pts
19. Quintet (1979) -- 2 pts
19. Fool for Love (1985) -- 2 pts
22. A Wedding (1978) -- 1 pt
22. Popeye (1980) -- 1 pt
22. A Prairie Home Companion (2006) -- 1 pt

[flip]

seriously, is no one else gonna vote for cbtt5&djdjd!?!? time to put my scfz ghost accts to work and vote surreptitiously

and if altman had a much shorter career, i might have voted for that, good film, just too many things to choose from with altman!

[Joks Trois]

Damn! Missed it! In my view Altman didn't make any great films after the 70's. Some good ones, some interesing ones, some very good ones, but nothing really outstanding.

Seen 32.

Top 5:

1.McCabe and Mrs Miller
2.The Long Goodbye
3.3 Women
4.Nashville
5.California Split