SCFZ

Polling the films of director Atom Egoyan

The rules:

- your list can include no more than half of the Egoyan 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: greennui, bure, roscoe, kanafani

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

Exotica
Calendar
The Sweet Hereafter
Felicia's Journey
Gross Misconduct

seen nine... edit: seen eleven

only seen Remember, which kicked butt. guess i should watch more can-con...

Seen 3

Guest of honour

Only seen Remember

pass

Egoyan seen: 4

Calendar

The Sweet Hereafter
The Adjuster
Next of Kin
Ararat

Seen 7

Calendar

4.

Exotica

seen 2

The Sweet Hereafter

1. Where the Truth Lies
2. The Sweet Hereafter
3. Chloe

Exotica
Calendar
The sweet hereafter
Next of kin
Speaking parts

seen 3

the sweet hereafter

Seen 3:

1. Exotica

One of my favorite contemporary directors.

Seen 8:

The Sweet Hereafter
Remember
Guest of Honour
Where the Truth Lies

seen just the sweet hereafter, which was really disappointing after all the hype. have heard good things about the adjuster and exotica though, so i haven't totally given up on at

Seen 11.
1. The Sweet Hereafter (1997)
2. Exotica (1994)
------
3. Where the Truth Lies (2005)
4. Remember (2015)
5. Ararat (2002)

THE SWEET HEREAFTER
EXOTICA

3/

The Adjuster

Only seen Exotica which was good. Gonna try to catch one or two more to make a 'list'.

seen 6

1. Exotica
2. Calendar
3. The Sweet Hereafter

Seen 5:

The Sweet Hereafter
Exotica

Calendar

Chloe

i watched only 2 films by AG — mainly to see the architecture in them.
as far as "Calendar" is concerned, it's architectural side is obvious (and ultimately i liked the film itself — besides the ancient buildings on display).
as far as "Chloe" is concerned, i guess i watched it due to stumbling upon the following article...
https://www.dwell.com/article/architect ... e-ef488e50

Architecture at the Movies: Chloe
I saw Atom Egoyan's new film Chloe this weekend, and though it was something of a stinker (only those deeply committed to watching Amanda Seyfried undress and Liam Neeson glower are advised to drop their $10 on this laughable thriller), it did pay quite close attention to the local architecture; and I don't mean New York's canyons of steel or L.A.'s canyons of Laurel. Not only was the film very self-consciously set in Toronto--Torontonian architecture, hotels, and cafes abound--but the family at the center of the film live in a rather nice modern house in Toronto by architect Drew Mandel. I talked with Mandel on the phone this morning about how his Ravine House was chosen to be in the movie, how Toronto is one of the most-filmed, yet rarely celebrated cinematic cities in North America, and about why, according to the flick, anyhow, modern houses always stand in for some deep, psychological trouble.

- How did the production crew come to choose your house?
- I met the director during shooting. Egoyan is friendly with a colleague of mine, they sat on a board together or something, and he told my friend that he was looking for a modern ravine house to use for the film. He wanted a ravine house to suggest a kind of precipice of civilization, to get this kind of wildness in the domestic sphere. He was presented with three options and the one I designed made the most sense.

Back around the time Mubi closed its forums, I was watching a lot of Egoyan movies and had some thoughts on how he uses mediated perspectives in his narratives in an interesting way, where the way characters see events is frequently clouded by the manner in which they engage the world, causing conflicts from the different filters events are engaged through, but unfortunately, for me at least, I've largely forgotten the specifics behind those thoughts and the way I felt they played out other than noting how that distorts the more traditional narrative methods used in films. Egoyan uses that in different ways, with Calendar and Ararat exploring a historical perspective matched to modern domestic views, while Next of Kin and some of the others are exploring it more theoretically, in a sense, where the heightened elements of the story drama serve the ends of demonstrating varying perspectives. The Sweet Hereafter holds closest to popular cinema norms in its methods, while still seeming to play with some of the same basic concepts, if memory serves.

greg x wrote: ↑Wed Dec 30, 2020 9:44 am C

greg, you can pick our next director if you like!

and i know some people here are into hockey movies - might want to check out egoyan's gross misconduct

Let's try a wild card. That Cocktail talk got me thinking about Roger Donaldson,
just to try and have someone not noted as an auteur or really noted much at all, but still at least sorta current (2017 when he released his last movie)

Other possibilities, Gore Verbinski, Norman Jewison, John Woo, Barbet Schroeder, John Turtletaub, or Richard Benjamin (I browsed the Nicolas Cage filmography to come up with those fine choices. Any others that may have directed Cage would be welcome as alternatives as well if needed.)

I have:

Donaldson: 8
Verbinski: 6
Jewison: 5
Woo: 7
Schroeder: 3
Turteltaub: 2
Benjamin: 5

I've got 8 Schroeder, can't help with the others.

edit: oh wait, turns out I've seen 9 Woo.

11 John Woo