SCFZ poll: Sam Peckinpah

[flip]

Polling the films of director Sam Peckinpah

The rules:

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

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]

Cross of Iron
Bring Me The Head of Alfredo Garcia
Straw Dogs
Ride the High Country

seen eight

[flip]

clear slate on nominations, so whoever posts the first ballot (besides oscar), please feel free to nominate our next director!

[greennui]

Seen 5.

Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia
Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid

I nominate Michael Mann.

[mesnalty]

Seen 4:

1. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia
2. The Wild Bunch

[Silga]

Seen 2:

Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia

[flip]

I nominate Michael Mann.

michael mann will definitely work, so he'll be our next poll -- we've done anthony mann, so i think that leaves delbert as the last mann outstanding

[Curtis, baby]

Seen 5

Ride the high country
Bring my the face of Alfredo Garcia

[oscarwerner]

Seen 13.
1. The Wild Bunch (1969)
2. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974)
3. Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973)
4. Straw Dogs (1971)
5. The Getaway (1972)

[nrh]

the ballad of cable hogue
pat garrett and billy the kid
bring me the head of alfredo garcia
jeff (the westerner, episode 1)
ride the high country

need to rewatch major dundee and junior bonner...

[thoxans]

the ballad of cable hogue
ride the high country
bring me the head of alfredo garcia

*seen seven (wow kinda sorta surprised we didn't do sam the man earlier on in these polls)

[...]

Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia
Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid
Ballad of Cable Hogue
Major Dundee
Ride the High Country

I can never really settle on how I feel about Peckinpah overall. He's obviously talented, in his way, with a clearly personal viewpoint, but how I feel about that point of view varies depending on what elements I happen to be most focused on at the time as much as anything else. While I can see someone opting for Cable Hogue as his best film just because it's a different sort of thing than the others, Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia seems to encapsulate everything about what makes Peckinpaugh a significant figure so well that it's hard to choose anything else as his best, even if others might be more entertaining. Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid almost reaches that same level, as it's also it's own thing, but it feels just a little less comprehensive or maybe coherent a vision.

The Wild Bunch is the more audience friendly version of all that, while Straw Dogs and The Getaway are the rougher takes, hitting some of Peckinpaugh's sourer notes. Major Dundee and Ride the High Country feel more conversant with movie history, Peckinpaugh giving his take on that past, and Junior Bonner and maybe even Convoy aren't too far from that as well, though a bit too of their own era friendly to really carry the same kind of conversation. I don't remember Cross of Iron all that well, but thought that it was along the same lines, but Peckinpaugh's part of the conversation with war movies didn't feel as significant given the way the genre has worked, but I could be misremembering. The Osterman Weekend and The Killer Elite are vaguely interesting in some elements as part of his body of work, but also have more of his worse tendencies and few of his better.

[brian d]

seen 7

the getaway
the wild bunch
bring me the head of alfredo garcia

[rischka]

i got 5

bring me the head of alfredo garcia
pat garrett and billy the kid

[kanafani]

Bring Me The Head of Alfredo Garcia
Straw Dogs

[john ryan]

Seen 14

1. The Wild Bunch
2. Cross of Iron
3. Straw Dogs
4. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia
5. Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid

[Umbugbene]

we've done anthony mann, so i think that leaves delbert as the last mann outstanding

Good one, Flip!

Only seen 3 Peckinpahs, and no idea which to vote for. All too long ago.

[liquidnature]

Seen 2

The Getaway

[wba]

not a fan, but I've enjoyed three of his films.

01. The Getaway (1972)
02. Ride the High Country (1962)
03. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974)

Peckinpah seen: 6

[ofrene]

seen 4

Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia
Ballad of Cable Hogue

[St. Gloede]

Wow, surprised Peckinpah has not been voted on before. My rundown, seen 11:

Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia
The Wild Bunch
Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid
Ride the High Country
Cross of Iron

[flip]

barely got to a top ten there was so much overlap in the voting, and overwhelming support for the #1 film:

results

1. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974) -- 37 pts
2. Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973) -- 17 pts
2. The Wild Bunch (1969) -- 17 pts
4. The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970) -- 12 pts
5. Ride the High Country (1962) -- 11 pts
6. Cross of Iron (1977) -- 9 pts
7. The Getaway (1972) -- 8 pts
7. Straw Dogs (1971) -- 8 pts
9. Major Dundee (1965) -- 2 pts
10. The Westerner: "Jeff" (1960) -- 1 pt

[flip]

up at letterboxd:

https://letterboxd.com/fliptrotsky/list ... -poll-172/