SCFZ

Polling the films of director Peter Hyams

The rules:

- your list can include no more than half of the Hyams 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 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

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

only seen two:

Stay Tuned

Capricorn One
Running Scared
Time Cop
2010 The Year We Make Contact
The Star Chamber

stay tuned
timecop

*seen four

:holymanm:

you can pick our next director thoxans!

one of my favorite artists.

01. Sudden Death (1995)
02. Narrow Margin (1990)
03. Outland (1981)
04. The Presidio (1988)
05. Busting (1974)

Hyams seen: 10

Seen 11 :
1. Capricorn One (1977)
2. Outland (1981)
3. Busting (1974)
4. Running Scared (1986)
5. 2010 (1984)

Seen 9:

Capricorn One (1977)
2010 (1984)
The Star Chamber (1983)

Watched 2 films for this poll (The Relic and Capricorn One).

As for The Relic, I think it is one of the worst films of the 90s I've seen.

I also think that End of Days and Timecop are pretty terrible films.

Sudden Death, The Presidio and Narrow Margin are forgettable, mediocre 90s thrillers.

But I loved Capricorn One and it ended up on my ballot. I was pleasantly surprised by its tidy, precise direction and captivating story.

sudden death

Had no idea who this guy was. Looked him up, apparently I've seen end of Days and the Relic. Bla bla.

kanafani wrote: ↑Tue May 07, 2019 7:08 pmBla bla

dude. you gotta watch timecop. jcvd sports one of the all-time great mullets

p.s. flip, i'm still thinking about who i'm gonna nom. i don't want another mulligan man poll to happen, for everyone's sake...

hey the mulligan poll was cool, i don't mind at all if we have another poll like that

thoxans wrote: ↑Tue May 07, 2019 7:55 pm

kanafani wrote: ↑Tue May 07, 2019 7:08 pmBla bla

dude. you gotta watch timecop. jcvd sports one of the all-time great mullets

p.s. flip, i'm still thinking about who i'm gonna nom. i don't want another mulligan man poll to happen, for everyone's sake...

Yeah, but it's easily one of JCVD's worst films. I can't believe Hyams made this lame film just before his Opus Magnum...

Mulligan poll was great! Gimme another one like it anytime! :ugeek:

Silga wrote: ↑Tue May 07, 2019 5:07 pm

Sudden Death, The Presidio and Narrow Margin are forgettable, mediocre 90s thrillers.

I'd disagree and say that Sudden Death is even better than the (great) first three Die Hard films combined, Narrow Margin my favorite example of how to hugely improve a mediocre picture (instead of trying to remake a masterpiece, which is the usual idiotic Hollywood standard), and The Presidio simply one of the best films from the 80s.

flip wrote: ↑Tue May 07, 2019 7:58 pmanother poll

aight. we did the mulligan man last go round; let's do robert altboy this time

no question altman will work, so he'll be our next poll!

seen two and i'll vote for capricorn one for being one of those great 70s paranoia movies

wba wrote: ↑Tue May 07, 2019 10:19 pmeasily one of JCVD's worst films

no way! admittedly, i haven't seen sudden death, but what i do know is if you grew up in uhmurica during the early-to-mid-90s, then timecop (as well as stay tuned) played a big part in them all important early years. i will say this: double team all day everyday awww yeah!!!

Seen 8

1. Narrow Margin
2. The Relic
3. End of Days
4. Timecop

I like Hyams' films well enough and find him to be a somewhat interesting studio director who worked consistently but never found much commercial or critical acclaim. Although he's been the cinematographer on all of his films since 2010 (1984), his visual sensibilities aren't altogether obvious to me beyond a fondness for shadows and darkness (people frequently comment on how difficult they are to see sometimes but I respect the stylistic choice which suits theatrical screening more than a laptop or living room TV). There's some recurrent topics in his films (time travel in Timecop and A Sound of Thunder, the supernatural in The Relic and End of Days) but he seems to approach them more from the position of a craftsman than one trying to convey a particular idea. there's an interesting interview where he gets asked whether he feels if his films represent him and how he sees the world - he seems visibly taken aback by the question as if such a concept hadn't ever occurred to him (happens around the 11:00 mark).

@wba I'd like to pry more out of you about Hyams, if you have the time to write more about your enthusiasm for his films

goodnight, my love
busting

seen 12 i think?

thoxans wrote: ↑Wed May 08, 2019 12:05 am

wba wrote: ↑Tue May 07, 2019 10:19 pmeasily one of JCVD's worst films

no way! admittedly, i haven't seen sudden death, but what i do know is if you grew up in uhmurica during the early-to-mid-90s, then timecop (as well as stay tuned) played a big part in them all important early years. i will say this: double team all day everyday awww yeah!!!

I liked it when I was young as well, and I thought it easily one of Hyams best films. But that was when I thought that Hyams directed mostly shitty stuff (and was more or less an incompetent hack), Pulp Fiction was "da thing", and no one made movies as profound as Tarkovsky. Those were the days...

Nowadays I think TIMECOP doesn't really hold up very well on repeat viewings. I even saw it on a great 35mm print at the cinema in a private screening as a birthday gift from a friend. It's not a bad film per se, but compared to Hyams other stuff, it's definitely mediocre.

And I haven't seen all of Van Damme's films (not even most of his stuff: letterboxd tells me there are 73 starring him), but he's one of my favorite actors, and from the ones I've seen, only BLACK EAGLE (1988) was worse than Timecop. Of course that's just my subjective opinion.

DOUBLE TEAM rocks of course! A great Hark Tsui film.

arkheia wrote: ↑Wed May 08, 2019 4:52 am Seen 8

1. Narrow Margin
2. The Relic
3. End of Days
4. Timecop

I like Hyams' films well enough and find him to be a somewhat interesting studio director who worked consistently but never found much commercial or critical acclaim. Although he's been the cinematographer on all of his films since 2010 (1984), his visual sensibilities aren't altogether obvious to me beyond a fondness for shadows and darkness (people frequently comment on how difficult they are to see sometimes but I respect the stylistic choice which suits theatrical screening more than a laptop or living room TV). There's some recurrent topics in his films (time travel in Timecop and A Sound of Thunder, the supernatural in The Relic and End of Days) but he seems to approach them more from the position of a craftsman than one trying to convey a particular idea. there's an interesting interview where he gets asked whether he feels if his films represent him and how he sees the world - he seems visibly taken aback by the question as if such a concept hadn't ever occurred to him (happens around the 11:00 mark).

@wba I'd like to pry more out of you about Hyams, if you have the time to write more about your enthusiasm for his films

Well, I haven't really got that much time (usually typing on SCFZ at work...), but there's this famous line by Ford where he said something like "my name is John Ford and I make westerns". It's not like most mainstream filmmakers consider themselves (great) artists) or even have high flying artistic ambitions. But filmmaking is an art, and many people involved are artists (actors, directors, cameramen, editors, composers, designers, etc.).

I don't know if there's many recurring topics in Hyams films or if they represent his worldview or any such thing (though there seems to be an interest in "working class" heroes and a theme of self-reliant individuals going against all odds and struggling with things way beyond their usual routine, having to go out of their comfort zone to survive and (re)assert themselves.
Anyways, he's written many of the screenplays for his films, he's photgraphed most of them and he's directed them - how much more "auteurist" can you get?

As you said, Hyams has been the cinematographer on most of his films (even on some before 1984, if unofficially), and imo he's one of the best in Hollywood history. What I especially like about it is the way he works with light, using the camera as a paintbrush, with many scenes using natural light, low light, creating chiaroscuro effects - and I also like his use of dolly shots.

It's great to see that work on a good 35mm print (even the lighting in timecop is great!), but I think a decent digital copy also gives you a fair enough impression.

Never heard of him, but the write-ups by arkheia and wba might win me over to checking his stuff out! I know his son John Hyams is sometimes cited as a fav of vulgar auteurist critics, but it sounds like the father is due for vulgar auteurist appraisal as well.

Seen a couple -- bland and forgettable, of no interest or value whatsoever beyond having kept people gainfully employed. The guy's a hack. Pass.

Seen 4.

1. Capricorn One
2. Narrow Margin

Roscoe wrote: ↑Wed May 08, 2019 2:10 pmPass.

roscoe, you devil

Watched Running Scared (1986) tonight. Crystal and Hines enliven the buddy cop routine with a fair amount of good chemistry and humor. Hyams has fun with a couple big set pieces (a lengthy car chase through Chicago’s airport, streets, and subways ends racing down the L while dodging oncoming trains) and displays his characteristic penchant for cloaking scenes in shadow whenever the occasion allows for it.



There's even a goofy subplot about them planning their retirement together and buying a bar in Key West.



In keeping with the genre, it's part procedural, part treatise on male friendship, both illustrated in a light irreverence and casually plotted to give the actors ample room to riff with one another.

I've only seen two. As a 12 year old I was weirdly obsessed with both Running Scared (my first ever DVD) and The Musketeer
The Musketeer, upon re-evaluation by someone who isn't 12 years old is an absolute garbage film, that manages to get garbage performances from every single actor (especially Justin Chambers and Mena Suvari, but shockingly also from Stephen Rea, Catherine Deneuve, and Tim Roth).

I don't think he's much of a director, and as a cinematographer I find him pretty uninspiring as well. Barry Sonnenfeld was a much more interesting Cinematographer, who also became a much more interesting Studio Hack style director.

My vote goes to the one I've seen that retains any of its original charm whatsoever.

Running Scared