Well, the Michael Mann marathon was, I think, a smashing success, and among the more entertaining things I’ve done for myself on this blog lately.
Just to prove that I’m easily swayed by reader requests, I’m following up on a suggest made a couple weeks back by loyal reader Diego: not only should I do another one of these, why not put up a poll to see what director should be the next subject? And by “next” I mean “starting this August”, since that gives me a month off, and who needs more time than that to recuperate?
I’ve picked five filmmakers according to a arcane series of rules and criteria, including: availability on DVD or other means THAT ARE CERTAINLY NOT ILLEGAL, BECAUSE THAT’S NOT THE WAY WE DO THINGS HERE; a reasonable number of features, that is, at least 8 but not any more than 18 or 19, so I can manage it in four (perhaps very densely packed) weeks; I haven’t reviewed a significant portion of the filmmaker’s work, or I can see value in revisiting what I’ve already reviewed; I don’t have a particularly strong opinion about the filmmaker’s work taken as a whole, and/or haven’t seen a significant number of their films (this was the hardest rule to apply: it meant no Coens, no Soderbergh, no Cuarón, and no Scorsese); it’s a filmmaker I’m willing to spend that much time with.
Hopefully my five-man shortlist will prove reasonably appealing to most everyone; but just in case, I’ve provided an “other” option, and if there’s anyone who comes up over and over again in write-ins, that meets the other rules, I’ll be happy to abide by the majority rule. The only person I’d strictly outlaw as a write-in candidate is James Cameron; I’m already planning on digging through his filmography later this year.
The poll will remain open until 12:01 AM on Sunday, July 28. Voting has been moved to the sidebar, top right.