The Lists Project

[Michael]

denti alligator, many thanks. About the "all time" list, a member proposed that so I asked around for feedbacks, etc. There was not enough of enthusiasm so I'm not going to bother doing that.
Once again, denti, thank you very much.

[denti alligator]

Ok, Michael. You've done a terrific job. Not sure I can live up to that.

I want to repeat that I'm not committed to do the whole thing through to the noughties, but would like to do the Silent Era and 1930s lists. By the time we get through these (7 months from now) I would hope someone else will have stepped up to take over for the 1940s list and maybe beyond. Start thinking about it if you're interested.

Deadline for the Silent Era lists: May 31.

This should give everyone plenty of time to re-watch some old favorites and hunt down some others.

[Michael]

Many new titles added to the "voted-for" list on the previous page.

If no one wants to take cover for the 1940s list and beyond, then I will consider about returning. It's just that I need a break while I'm relocating. Thanks again.

[Michael]

Up to now:

myself, bufordsharkley, yoshimori, colinr0380, ptmd, kieslowski_67, kambei, henryfoool, scotty, zedz, souvenir, Dylan, Langlois68, Brian Oblivious, Andre Jurieu

1 more day to go.

[Michael]

The 2000s List

1. In The Mood For Love (Wong, 2000) 698
2. Mulholland Dr. (Lynch, 2001) 654
3. The Werckmeister Harmonies (Tarr, 2000) 423
4. Punch Drunk Love (Anderson, 2002) 389
5. Talk to Her (Almodovar, 2002) 340
6. 2046 (Wong, 2004) 335
7. Yi Yi (Yang, 2000) 323
8. Spirited Away (Miyazaki, 2001) 307
9. Elephant (Van Sant, 2003) 301
10. Tropical Malady (Weerasethakul, 2004) 294
11. Goodbye, Dragon Inn (Tsai, 2003) 292
12. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Gondry, 2004) 270
13. Cache (Haneke, 2005) 268
14. The Royal Tenenbaums (Anderson, 2001) 256
15. Dancer in the Dark (vonTrier, 2000) 255
16. A History of Violence (Cronenberg, 2005) 231
17. What Time Is It There? (Tsai, 2001) 228
18. Russian Ark (Sokurov, 2002) 227
19. Before Sunset (Linklater, 2004) 217
20. Lost in Translation (Coppola, 2003) 216
21. The World (Jia, 2004) 214
22. Notre Musique (Godard, 2004) 212
23. Eureka (Aoyama, 2000) 208
24. The Son (Dardenne, 2002) 206
25. Adaptation (Jonze, 2002) 203
Demonlover (Assayas, 2002) 203
27. Dogville (von Trier, 2003) 202
28. Y Tu Mama Tambien (Cuaron, 2001) 196
29. Amelie (Jeunet, 2001) 193
30. The Heart of the World (Maddin, 2000) 189
31. City of God (Meirelles, 2002) 188
32. Platform (Jia, 2000) 185
33. The Saddest Music in the World (Maddin, 2003) 179
34. Ten (Kiarostami, 2002) 177
35. Almost Famous (Crowe, 2000) 175
36. Far From Heaven (Haynes, 2002) 169
37. Distant / Uzak (Ceylan, 2002) 156
38. Memento (Nolan, 2000) 155
39. Cafe Lumiere (Hou, 2003) 153
To Be and To Have (Philibert, 2002) 153
The Pianist (Polanski, 2002) 153
42. Nobody Knows (Koreeda, 2004) 152
Sideways (Payne, 2004) 152
44. The Aviator (Scorsese, 2004) 150
45. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (Anderson, 2004) 145
Spider (Cronenberg, 2002) 145
47. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Lee, 2000) 134
Irreversible (Noe, 2002) 134
49. The Gleaners and I (Varda, 2000) 133
Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Jackson, 2001) 133
Virgin Stripped Bare By Her Bachelors (Hong, 2000) 133
52. Best in Show (Guest, 2000) 129
In Praise of Love (Godard, 2001) 129
Traffic (Soderbergh, 2000) 129
55. Ghost World (Zwigoff, 2001) 123
56. The Man Who Wasn't There (Coen, 2001) 122
57. Grizzly Man (Herzog, 2005) 120
58. Solaris (Soderbergh, 2002) 118
59. Amores Perros (Inarritu, 2000) 116
60. Decasia (Morrison, 2002) 115
61. Distance (Koreeda, 2001) 114
62. The Dreamers (Bertolucci, 2003) 112
63. Kill Bill Vol. 1 (Tarantino, 2003) 111
64. Bad Education (Almodovar, 2004) 110
65. Code Unknown (Haneke, 2000) 108
The Hand (Wong, 2004) 108
Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Jackson, 2003) 108
68. George Washington (Green, 2000) 107
69. Mysterious Skin (Araki, 2004) 104
70. Vertical Ray of the Sun (Tran, 2000) 102
71. The Squid and the Whale (Baumbach, 2005) 101
72. All About Lily Chou-Chou (Iwai, 2001) 99
I'm Going Home (Oliveira, 2001) 99
Moolaade (Sembene, 2004) 99
75. Munich (Spielberg, 2005) 98
76. I Heart Huckabees (Russell, 2004) 95
Mystic River (Eastwood, 2003) 95
78. AI: Artificial Intelligence (Spielberg, 2001) 94
79. Songs from the Second Floor (Andersson, 2000) 93
Waking Life (Linklater, 2001) 93
81. American Splendor (Berman & Pulcini, 2003) 90
Cowards Bend the Knee (Maddin, 2003) 90
83. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Jackson, 2002) 88
Rivers and Tides (Riedelsheimer, 2001) 88
85. Blissfully Yours (Weerasethakul, 2002) 85
86. Mysterious Object at Noon (Weerasethakul, 2000) 84
87. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter and Spring (Kim, 2003) 82
88. L' Intrus (Denis, 2004) 81
The New World (Malick, 2005) 81
90. Requiem for a Dream (Aronofsky, 2000) 80
91. The Incredibles (Bird, 2004) 79
92. La Commune [Paris, 1891] (Watkins, 2000) 79
93. All the Real Girls (Green, 2003) 77
The Bourne Identity (Liman, 2002) 77
95. Saraband (Bergman, 2003) 76
The Station Agent (McCarthy, 2003) 76
97. Unbreakable (Shyamalan, 2000) 75
98. The Captive (Akerman, 2000) 74
99. Faithless (Ullmann, 2000) 73
100. The Fog of War (Morris, 2003) 71

[toiletduck!]

I'd been flirting with the idea of picking up Decasia for a good long while now, but this seals the deal. I had no idea that it was this well-respected. Anyone care to give some comments? I only know what Plexifilm has told me.

-Toilet Dcuk

[denti alligator]

Really interesting list!

I would've bet my whole DVD collection that Mulholland Drive would be no. 1. Guess I was wrong there.

I'm completely surprised with no. 3 and no. 4: that Punch Drunk Love ranked so high is more of a shocker than that Werkmeister Harmonies got the recognition it deserves.

On the whole I like this list, though I'm a bit peeved that my no. 1 ranked no. 99....

[souvenir]

Observation after looking through 90s and 00s lists: the Forum voters love P.T. Anderson and don't care much for Spike Lee. Of course that might have something to do with socioeconomic makeup of the Forum as much as anything.

[backstreetsbackalright]

Observation after looking through 90s and 00s lists: the Forum voters love P.T. Anderson and don't care much for Spike Lee. Of course that might have something to do with socioeconomic makeup of the Forum as much as anything.

I'm sure I wouldn't go that far. It's not as though low-income blue-collar America is Lee's bread and butter.

[souvenir]

I'm sure I wouldn't go that far. It's not as though low-income blue-collar America is Lee's bread and butter.

True. I wasn't implying he was some sort of cinematic Springsteen, but I'm not sure the members of this forum community can identify with Spike's films on a cultural level as much as they might with those of Anderson. "Low-income blue-collar America" is not the specific socioeconomic class I had in mind. I was thinking more along the lines of those living in urban, lower-middle class areas who might share some of the problems found in the themes of Spike's work as being underrepresented in these lists.

[Andre Jurieu]

I would've bet my whole DVD collection that Mulholland Drive would be no. 1. Guess I was wrong there.

Really? I would have guessed In the Mood for Love was a lock for #1.

The biggest surprise for me is that enough people have watched La Commune [Paris, 1891] in order to have it place on the list.

[backstreetsbackalright]

Pretty amazing how big the vote gap is between positions 2 and 3!

No Birth, huh? (Or did I miss it?) With all the discussion of that film on these boards, I would've figured it a ferocious contender.

I think it's also interesting that Haneke's newest places so impressively high (esp. considering the very recent arrival of its general release in the US), while Piano Teacher and Time o'the Wolf are no-shows.

I'm very excited for the darling defending....

[Michael]

No Birth, huh? (Or did I miss it?) With all the discussion of that film on these boards, I would've figured it a ferocious contender.

Birth received 54 points.

Anyway, 20 lists were submitted in total.

[Andre Jurieu]

... while Piano Teacher and Time o'the Wolf are no-shows.

The just missed making my list.

[zedz]

I would have bet good money that this would have been the most embarrassing list yet (after the rank awfulness of the 90s list), but it turns out to be maybe the best. Very heartening. Thanks to everyone who voted and extra thanks to Michael for yet another speedy collation. I will assemble my darlings as usual, but I suspect they'll feel far less aggrieved this time round.

[Brian Oblivious]

Thanks again for compiling, Michael. I like this list much better than the last two. Only 19 of my choices on the list, and I haven't seen quite a few of the others. But it's nice that most of the (in my opinion) overrated Oscar contenders are left to the lower rungs of the list, and even if I don't like all the films in the top 25 that well, at least there's no completely boneheaded selections there (you have to go a few notches down).

Happy that enough people saw and liked the New World for it to barely make the list. Very happy that three Apichatpong films made it (though Blissfully Yours, my #1, would surely have rated even higher if this poll was made after its upcoming Enlish-subbed, uncut DVD debut). A bit disappointed in the showing for shorts, once again. One Maddin film, as great as it is, and one segment from an omnibus, just isn't enough for my liking.

One note: I'm 99.5% sure that the family name of the director of Platform and the World is Jia, not Zhang.

[Michael]

One note: I'm 99.5% sure that the family name of the director of Platform and the World is Jia, not Zhang.

Now corrected. Thanks.

[GringoTex]

I was very happy to see Bourne Identity make it, which I think is the best Hollywood action flick in years. Loved the fight scenes and appreciated the no-frills emotional tone. Too bad Liman was kicked off the crapfest sequel.

[souvenir]

I was very happy to see Bourne Identity make it, which I think is the best Hollywood action flick in years. Loved the fight scenes and appreciated the no-frills emotional tone. Too bad Liman was kicked off the crapfest sequel.

I wholeheartedly agree and had it quite high on my list. I'm not a big action movie fan but there's something about that one that entertains me to no end.

[backstreetsbackalright]

Hey I kinda like The Bourne Supremacy....

[Christian]

Some of these lists alternate between insightful and disturbing.

For the 2000's, we need to add KANDAHAR (Makhmalbaf, 2001) to the list.

[denti alligator]

Just a reminder: the Silent Era lists will be due in just about 3 months.

The lists are to conform to the same rules as the last run-through. The "Silent Era" is any film from the birth of cinema through to the end of 1929. It does not mean only silent films. Silent films not released until after 1929 (e.g. Earth, City Lights) will not be counted; talkies released before 1930 (e.g. Applause, The Love Parade) will be counted.

Start thinking about your favorites and maybe rewatching or watching for the first time some others....

[HerrSchreck]

I haven't gone thru enough to know if it;s in there but I thought Valli's HIMALAYA was absolutely superb. A distant cousin of TABU, Flaherty, and very specifically Cooper & Schoesdacks GRASS.

[zedz]

Here's a poser we should probably try to sort out before the vote.

After a very rough draft, it looks like I'll be including the silent version of Hitchcock's Blackmail on my list, as I think it's considerably more successful than the sound version. We've had the multiple versions issue before (original vs director's cuts etc) and counted them as single films, but this seems to me one of the most extreme examples of versioning, as Hitchock completely rethought and reshot key sequences of the film for sound. The result is two very divergent versions of the same scenario, quite different in intent and effect. The sound version has got some brilliant sequences showing ambitious sound design, but it's also weighed down by clunky dialogue scenes and stiff performances, which is why I prefer the silent. If any vote for Blackmail will automatically go to the sound version, then I'll find a place for something else on my list (no big deal - it's not in my top ten or anything).

So, can we have a ruling on this? And are there other films of the era with multiple versions different enough to require consideration in the same manner?

[Brian Oblivious]

I haven't even seen the sound version, but almost certainly will include the title on my own list on the strength of a screening of the silent version I caught a year ago.

If separating the two versions in the balloting is too much of a hassle, why is it a given that any vote for Blackmail would automatically go to the sound version? They could just as easily all automatically go the silent version too, couldn't they?