The First Features List

An ongoing project to survey the best films of individual decades, genres, and filmmakers.
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zedz
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 7:24 pm

Re: The First Features List

#176 Post by zedz » Thu Jul 29, 2021 7:13 pm

Four!

I'd wrestled it down to thirty titles and ended up just randomizing the bottom five to get this done. My chronological spread ran from the 1940s (three films) to the 2010s (four films), with the 1960s and 1970s best represented (seven and five films, respectively) and nothing from the 1990s.

I had films from five continents (nothing from Oceania) and thirteen countries. France and the USA came out on top with four films apiece, then China with three and Czechoslovakia, Germany, India and USSR / Russia with two.

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therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: The First Features List

#177 Post by therewillbeblus » Thu Jul 29, 2021 7:21 pm

I’ve similarly been narrowing my list and will submit tonight. 25 is so tough for this (it might be a more challenging list to manage than the 60s!)- I’m trying to find a way to keep several key works on but there’s nothing I’d eliminate either, so I’ll probably have to go the zedz route

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senseabove
Joined: Wed Dec 02, 2015 3:07 am

Re: The First Features List

#178 Post by senseabove » Thu Jul 29, 2021 8:48 pm

I haven't participated or watched anything for this list, so I feel a little odd submitting, but I cobbled a list together of 25 first features that I like, so if it's in danger of not getting enough lists to merit a tally I can throw mine in.

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domino harvey
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Re: The First Features List

#179 Post by domino harvey » Thu Jul 29, 2021 9:11 pm

Throw it in, participation in the thread is never a prerequisite!

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therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: The First Features List

#180 Post by therewillbeblus » Thu Jul 29, 2021 10:45 pm

senseabove wrote:
Thu Jul 29, 2021 8:48 pm
I haven't participated or watched anything for this list, so I feel a little odd submitting, but I cobbled a list together of 25 first features that I like, so if it's in danger of not getting enough lists to merit a tally I can throw mine in.
I hardly watched anything new and only revisited a couple films on my list for this project. My rule of thumb is: If I feel like I can throw a list together with films on it that I feel passionate about, then I do it (which is always the case). If participation weren't an issue, perhaps I'd skip some (for instance, I don't really feel compelled to revisit Fassbinder's oeuvre at this point in my life, and I've forgotten a lot of his works that I watched many, many years ago- enough so where it'll be impossible to concoct a list from memory) but it's worthwhile in order to keep them alive, colorful, and interesting. Plus if you have just one film on your list that hasn't been discussed or is obscure, as a valuable contributor on this forum some of us will certainly seek it out, so that's a W right there. You can always go back and offer a defense after the fact too!

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senseabove
Joined: Wed Dec 02, 2015 3:07 am

Re: The First Features List

#181 Post by senseabove » Thu Jul 29, 2021 11:09 pm

Oh, I know participation isn't required... just feels weird to me to only lurk and then submit. But I'd rather keep list projects alive, so list submitted.

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therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: The First Features List

#182 Post by therewillbeblus » Fri Jul 30, 2021 12:59 am

List submitted. I had to weed out about six titles that I still feel conflicted leave off- some might be glaring considering my championing of the films/directors, but I ultimately went with zedz' strategy, and will make peace with my choices eventually. My demographics weren't nearly as diverse though:

Decades breakdown
1940s- 1
1950s- 0
1960s- 4
1970s- 3
1980s- 5
1990s- 3
2000s- 6
2010s- 2
2020- 1

Country
USA- 19
France- 4
Sweden- 1
Argentina- 1

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swo17
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Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 10:25 am
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Re: The First Features List

#183 Post by swo17 » Fri Jul 30, 2021 1:13 am

I too had a really hard time paring down from 30 to 25. For what it's worth, I tended to favor films that are far and away my favorite by that director. (So for instance, Breathless loses points because it's not Pierrot le fou.)

Am I the only one to vote for any silents?

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therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: The First Features List

#184 Post by therewillbeblus » Fri Jul 30, 2021 1:44 am

Zorns Lemma is mostly silent...

I had a primarily different process where I ranked my list according to how impressive I found the debut within the context of a 'first feature'- so even though Breathless doesn't rank so highly for me within Godard's body of work (or compared to the majority of my list in terms of my affections, to be frank), it still came in as #1 because it's such an innovative and singular first feature that changed both cinema and my own methods of digesting art. I also felt compelled to place other historically significant debuts that started respective movements (i.e. Soderbergh, Bujalski). I admittedly did consider your own process in terms of cuts though, tossing off Lonergan's You Can Count on Me partly because I feel like he just gets better with each feature, but also because that film's greatest strengths lie in the writing and acting. It's a solid director's job putting those pieces into place, but something wildly tonally unique like Repo Man felt more appropriate to include when push came to shove. Then there was the nostalgia factor, which kept the Cox and Coens films on the list.. Blood Simple had such a profound effect on child-me and influenced so many of my lame middle-school scripts, I couldn’t leave it off.

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domino harvey
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Re: The First Features List

#185 Post by domino harvey » Fri Jul 30, 2021 1:26 pm

Nine lists. We didn't make it!

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swo17
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Re: The First Features List

#186 Post by swo17 » Fri Jul 30, 2021 1:29 pm

What if we can get one more person to submit a list today?

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domino harvey
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Re: The First Features List

#187 Post by domino harvey » Fri Jul 30, 2021 1:31 pm

I'll give the board a week to come up with a few more lists, as even ten is pretty slim (though preferable to nothing)

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swo17
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Re: The First Features List

#188 Post by swo17 » Fri Jul 30, 2021 1:33 pm

Thanks for that. I'm really interested to see the results, so I hope we get a few more takers

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therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: The First Features List

#189 Post by therewillbeblus » Fri Jul 30, 2021 3:05 pm

domino harvey wrote:
Fri Jul 30, 2021 1:26 pm
Nine lists. We didn't make it!
Image

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domino harvey
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Re: The First Features List

#190 Post by domino harvey » Sat Jul 31, 2021 1:24 am

We have reached ten. Let's see if we can get any more in the next week

Nw_jahrles
Joined: Fri May 11, 2018 1:52 pm

Re: The First Features List

#191 Post by Nw_jahrles » Sat Jul 31, 2021 7:32 pm

I had it in my head the deadline was the 31st. Hopefully others made the same mistake. Submitted my list.

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bottled spider
Joined: Thu Nov 26, 2009 2:59 am

Re: The First Features List

#192 Post by bottled spider » Sun Aug 01, 2021 2:08 pm

I think I accidentally participated in this project last night. She's Got to Have It is referred to as Lee's first feature, although I see from IMDb that he does have a preceding film of 60 minutes duration. I liked it for being fun and amiable, but the premise is too thin for a feature length film. It's no Killer of sheep.

Is the situation still desperate list-wise?

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domino harvey
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Re: The First Features List

#193 Post by domino harvey » Sun Aug 01, 2021 2:11 pm

Not desperate, but the more voices the better

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Maltic
Joined: Sat Oct 10, 2020 1:36 am

Re: The First Features List

#194 Post by Maltic » Sun Aug 01, 2021 2:48 pm

I'll submit one before the new deadline

Rewatching Black Sunday tonight

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bottled spider
Joined: Thu Nov 26, 2009 2:59 am

Re: The First Features List

#195 Post by bottled spider » Sun Aug 01, 2021 5:57 pm

I have family visits going on right now, but within the next few days I'm going to try to watch The Company of Strangers, the first and only film by Canadian Cynthia Scott. I'll submit a list whether I can fit that in or not.

Daughters of the Dust (Julie Dash). IMDb indicates a 50min documentary Working Models of Success (1973) preceding Daughters of the Dust, but doesn't give any information about it. Was it made for television, or a student film never commercially released, or does it legitimately scupper Daughters of the Dust as first feature? Wikipedia also lists it without supplying any details.

The Anniversary Party (Jennifer Jason Leigh). Co-drected by Cummings, counting as a first feature for both.

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swo17
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Re: The First Features List

#196 Post by swo17 » Sun Aug 01, 2021 7:07 pm

You can vote for the first film that's over 40 minutes or the first film that's more like feature length, so you can definitely vote for Daughters of the Dust

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domino harvey
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Re: The First Features List

#197 Post by domino harvey » Sun Aug 01, 2021 7:09 pm

Anniversary Party is eligible

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therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: The First Features List

#198 Post by therewillbeblus » Sun Aug 01, 2021 7:27 pm

I mean, I probably wasted a vote on The Mother and the Whore, which is technically Eustache's sixth work over 40 minutes, but to me it's undeniably his 'first feature', a massive regurgitation of all his postured themes and interests in those micro-works expanded into existential pandemonium via inverted banality. Go with your gut

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domino harvey
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Re: The First Features List

#199 Post by domino harvey » Thu Aug 05, 2021 4:48 pm

I will continue to accept lists until tomorrow AM when I wake up. Participation looks much heartier now, proving guilt works

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bottled spider
Joined: Thu Nov 26, 2009 2:59 am

Re: The First Features List

#200 Post by bottled spider » Fri Aug 06, 2021 2:20 am

The Company of Strangers (Cynthia Scott). "The highest grossing film ever produced by the National Film Board [of Canada]", directed by "Oscar-winner Cynthia Scott"! Seven elderly women, and a younger one driving their chartered school bus, are stranded by a breakdown in the remote countryside. What sort of excursion they were on, and why they don't know each other isn't explained. They set up house in an abandoned cottage or farmhouse and forage for food as best they can, and chat about life and death. The dialog is mostly improvised. Well, it's a nice enough film, but one is a little too aware of non-actors acting out the little scenes they've been told to do.

EVERBODY REMEMBER TO INCLUDE MIRACLE MILE ON YOUR LISTS WHILE YOU STILL CAN!!!

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