Sam Peckinpah

[ie]

Bring me the head of Sam Peckinpah.



Ha. I just noticed that there was no Peckinpah discussion, and thought there should be. After all, he had a distinct style and is still plenty influential.


I caught Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia practically at random, because it was on the Sundance channel and I just recently found out about the director. I wasn't overly impressed, and couldn't really bring myself to recommend it highly, but I still thought it was nifty.


Your thoughts on more of his movies will continue this discussion.

[PTAhole]

My favorite Peckinpah:

1. The Wild Bunch
2. Pat Garret and Billy the Kid
3. Staw Dogs
4. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia
5. The Getaway

Still need to see more, but just these five have made him one of my favorite directors.

[criterionmaster]

An amazing director, too bad he went crazy at the end of his career. I have only seen Straw Dogs and The Wild Bunch, I think…

Straw Dogs is one of the best exploitation films of all-time, if not the best. It is so crazy. The rape scene will stick in my head probably the rest of my life, the wife's face when she actually starts enjoying it, oh God! Hoffman gives a very underrated performance in this film, he is so calm with short burst of craziness and hysteria, he deserves much more praise for it. And the finale is one of my favorites ever, just so chaotic and exciting to watch. I like it more than The Wild Bunch.

The Wild Bunch is a fantastic western, one of the best. The violence is so poetically shot with one of the most memorable shootouts of all-time.

ie, you must check both of these out for sure!

[Nomansvally]

I've seen:

Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia
Straw Dogs
The Wild Bunch
The Getaway

I like 'em, but I feel less about Straw Dogs and Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia than The Wild Bunch and The Getaway.

[criterionmaster]

Yeah, Straw Dogs could be hard for some people to connect with, it's a very distant film. It almost alienates the viewer it seems. So some people may not like it.

[ie]

criterionmaster said:

Straw Dogs is one of the best exploitation films of all-time, if not the best. It is so crazy. The rape scene will stick in my head probably the rest of my life, the wife's face when she actually starts enjoying it, oh God! Hoffman gives a very underrated performance in this film, he is so calm with short burst of craziness and hysteria, he deserves much more praise for it. And the finale is one of my favorites ever, just so chaotic and exciting to watch. I like it more than The Wild Bunch.

Hey, hey, what the fuck is wrong with you? Come on, mark your fucking spoilers. You should know this by now. Fuck.

[criterionmaster]

Well you can see it coming from the first few minutes, and it will still surprise you. Plus it is one of the most talked about scenes so anything you read about would have basically mentioned the same thing. I usually put up spoilers but didn't think that needed it.

[kiddo]

But hey, Straw Dogs a explotation film!? Why?

[criterionmaster]

Oh, I didn't call it that, well I did lol, but I didn't think that up myself. Inside the Criterion booklet somewhere it says something about it being a 70's exploitation film, more arthouse exploitation in my eyes though. It is very tame exploitation if anything. It only exploits a little sex and some violence. Nothing like other 70's exploitation really. And if you look at it, it's not like Peckinpah went out and exploited nudity and violence in the film, for the sake of exploiting, he had a purpose. I will have to find the quote and post it in here sometime this week.

[ie]

I guess that's okay then, Seaman.


I do own the Getaway, but it will take me some time to watch it, even if it's next in line for me to watch. (Need to get through the borrowed movies first.)

[kiddo]

I think Peckinpah condemn the violence. I can see that it comes to the surface in quite an unclear way. Hell, I'm not sure if it's on the surface at all; I guess you have too look under it to really see the condemnment. I know you manage to do this, cm, so I'm not after you here, I just want to point out that, in my view, Straw Dogs is rather the exact opposite of explotation. The violence in Straw Dogs, and espesially in the end, makes me sick, and I do not get the feeling "oh, this was cool", which is what explotation cinema mainly is about (?). If you look into Hoffmans brain, you see this complexity, and the violence is so brutal and real, I cannot see this film as an explotation-film. I want some thoughts from you other guys...

[criterionmaster]

I completely understand what you mean; when the term "exploitation" is used it usually means they are exploiting something to appeal to a specific audience. Like one who likes sex, or violence, kung-fu, etc. and really that whole film is so the opposite of appealing. And there is a purpose behind it all, whereas exploitation cinema doesn't need, or usually have a purpose behind what it shows. There is a message behind Hoffman's actions in the end, like you said, and I actually feel it is a put down on the film to be coined as exploitation, but then again I was the one who called it that here. What are everyone else’s thoughts on Straw Dogs?

[kiddo]

There's so much to discuss when it comes to Peckinpah. No one has any thoughts on this subject?

[PTAhole]

I agree. It's not really an exploitation film.

I urge everyone to see Pat Garett and Billy the Kid. It rivals the Wild Bunch. Plus, as you all know, the sountrack kicks ass.

[ie]

There's been talk of Peckinpah's best-titled work:

police386 said:

Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (Sam Peckinpah) (1974)



Besides having quite possibly the coolest title ever, it's pretty much the ultimate love it or hate it movie. you'll either be thrilled or disgusted with the orgy of violence and nudity and just plain screwball-ness. I, of course, loved it. In terms of Peckinpah, doesn't quite stack up to the Wild Bunch, but it's still fantastic. It's one of those movies where you just can't tell what'll happen next, 'cuz it's so damn weird. Benny, IMO, is a great "hero"...you feel for him and really get to understand that his world is crumbling around him, and he's slowly slipping into a deranged, vengeance-driven madness. All the odd goings-on, standoffs, him talking to a severed head...it's got all the makings of a cult classic and more. I can see why it was universally despised upon release (except for Roger Ebert), but IMO, it's a classic, hands-down. Just oozes cool.

9/10

kiddo said:

police386 said:

Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (Sam Peckinpah) (1974)

Besides having quite possibly the coolest title ever, it's pretty much the ultimate love it or hate it movie. you'll either be thrilled or disgusted with the orgy of violence and nudity and just plain screwball-ness. I, of course, loved it. In terms of Peckinpah, doesn't quite stack up to the Wild Bunch, but it's still fantastic. It's one of those movies where you just can't tell what'll happen next, 'cuz it's so damn weird. Benny, IMO, is a great "hero"...you feel for him and really get to understand that his world is crumbling around him, and he's slowly slipping into a deranged, vengeance-driven madness. All the odd goings-on, standoffs, him talking to a severed head...it's got all the makings of a cult classic and more. I can see why it was universally despised upon release (except for Roger Ebert), but IMO, it's a classic, hands-down. Just oozes cool.

9/10

You said it so nicely; "It's one of those movies where you just can't tell what'll happen next, 'cuz it's so damn weird." It's a fantastic film. I wrote a review for it (on norwegian, fo course) and I concluded with something like this:

Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia is Peckinpahs lion roar; wild and merciess, but at the same time controlled and fascinating.

I thought I was going to rewatch The Wild Bunch now, but I don't know. I've seen it three times, I think, but there's some mysterious force that drags my mind up to my room and to the dvd player. Should I watch The Wild Bunch, or should I rewatch Bring Me (seen that one two times, I think)?

ie said:

I've mentioned my thoughts on Bring Me The Head of Alfredo Garcia before, but basically: I thought it was decently good, but I like more movies better. I can appreciate what it brought to the table, but it wasn't overly amazing to me, and, I need to check out more Peckinpah.

[criterionmaster]

God that is hilarious.

[criterionmaster]

My myspace says it is his birthday today? You guys should all watch that video andruini posted.