With all due respect to the tireless efforts of the ballot-stuffers, I’m closing the poll a few minutes early, showing a final total of Alan J. Pakula – 378, and Miyazaki Hayao – 370. Something tells me that these are not absolutely correct figures. Something also tells me that I’m not doing a poll again anytime soon.
In my Solomonic wisdom, here is my solution: since Pakula “won”, and was leading back before the numbers started going crazy, I’m giving him the victory, along with his running mate Jane Campion. That means that starting next Tuesday, I’m embarking on my Campion retrospective; Pakula follows in early September. And in deference to how close the voting was, Miyazaki will be put on the schedule for the next open month I’ve got, January.
Meanwhile, FUCK ALL OF YOU for letting Pedro Almodóvar, one of the greatest living filmmakers, twist in the wind like that. He’s going on the schedule for the next open slot after Miyazaki.