Sight & Sound
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Robin Davies
- Joined: Sat Sep 22, 2007 6:00 am
Re: Sight & Sound
Michelangelo Frammartino sure likes Rossellini.
- Lemmy Caution
- Joined: Wed Mar 29, 2006 7:26 am
- Location: East of Shanghai
Re: Sight & Sound
The two lists that have made the most sense to me (so far):
Whit Stillman
with Sturges, Lubitsch, McCarey and Truffaut, etc. His Hitchcock pick is rather unexpected.
&
Atom Egoyan
with choices focusing on the mystery of selfhood/uncertainty of identity
Vertigo, Kane, 8.5, Persona, Vagabond.
I like that he has Paradjanov's Colour of Pomegranates in his mix.
Pomegranates, Battle of Algiers and I am Cuba are my three favorite inclusions on lists so far.
Whit Stillman
with Sturges, Lubitsch, McCarey and Truffaut, etc. His Hitchcock pick is rather unexpected.
&
Atom Egoyan
with choices focusing on the mystery of selfhood/uncertainty of identity
Vertigo, Kane, 8.5, Persona, Vagabond.
I like that he has Paradjanov's Colour of Pomegranates in his mix.
Pomegranates, Battle of Algiers and I am Cuba are my three favorite inclusions on lists so far.
- Maltic
- Joined: Sat Oct 10, 2020 5:36 am
Re: Sight & Sound
No Rohmer though:Lemmy Caution wrote: Fri Mar 03, 2023 2:28 pm The two lists that have made the most sense to me (so far):
Whit Stillman
with Sturges, Lubitsch, McCarey and Truffaut, etc. His Hitchcock pick is rather unexpected.
The Awful Truth 1937 Leo McCarey
I SOLITI IGNOTI 1958 Mario Monicelli
The Gay Divorcee 1934 Mark Sandrich
Howards End 1992 James Ivory
The Palm Beach Story 1942 Preston Sturges
The Shop around the Corner 1940 Ernst Lubitsch
BAISERS VOLÉS 1968 François Truffaut
Stranger than Paradise 1984 Jim Jarmusch
Young and Innocent 1937 Alfred Hitchcock
Wagon Master 1950 John Ford
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rrenault
- Joined: Wed Nov 17, 2010 7:49 pm
Re: Sight & Sound
I was curious to know whether Kent Jones' and Dan Sallitt's ballots should count towards the directors' or critics' poll or both (?), considering they've both directed full-length features. One of Sallitt's full-length films even streamed on the Criterion Channel for a while.
- tolbs1010
- Joined: Wed Oct 21, 2020 11:01 pm
Re: Sight & Sound
Did David Hare work it as both critic and director or are there two David Hares?
No Tarantino and no John Waters this time around is disappointing. Waters was the only hope for me to see a Losey film on any list, most likely. Maybe there is a vote or two for The Servant somewhere in there. Someone else mentioned missing the filtering by film or director option that was there previously. Agreed!
No Tarantino and no John Waters this time around is disappointing. Waters was the only hope for me to see a Losey film on any list, most likely. Maybe there is a vote or two for The Servant somewhere in there. Someone else mentioned missing the filtering by film or director option that was there previously. Agreed!
- MichaelB
- Joined: Fri Aug 11, 2006 10:20 pm
- Location: Worthing
- Contact:
Re: Sight & Sound
The director David Hare (Wetherby, Paris By Night, Strapless) is much better known as a playwright and occasional screenwriter.
- therewillbeblus
- Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 7:40 pm
Re: Sight & Sound
Dan Sallitt has written some worthy criticism, but the inexplicably-lauded Fourteen might take the cake as the most offensive, masturbatory film tackling addiction I've ever seen, so I try to pretend he just writesrrenault wrote: Fri Mar 03, 2023 4:13 pm I was curious to know whether Kent Jones' and Dan Sallitt's ballots should count towards the directors' or critics' poll or both (?), considering they've both directed full-length features. One of Sallitt's full-length films even streamed on the Criterion Channel for a while.
- Toland's Mitchell
- Joined: Sun Nov 10, 2019 6:42 pm
- yoloswegmaster
- Joined: Tue Nov 01, 2016 7:57 pm
Re: Sight & Sound
Why are we posting shitty articles from Jordan Ruimy/WOR? What a nothingburger of an article.
- dekadetia
- was Born Innocent
- Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 3:57 am
- Location: Pennsylvania, USA
Re: Sight & Sound
I'm attempting to scrape the ballots into an spreadsheet as I imagine the bird's-eye view and filtering capabilities will be useful. Will share here when it's ready.
- mystic_matahari
- Joined: Thu May 19, 2022 9:46 pm
Re: Sight & Sound
I'm actually in the process of doing the same! I can't wait to see what you come up with. So far, I've only done a comparison between the number of voters from each country.dekadetia wrote: Sat Mar 04, 2023 1:10 am I'm attempting to scrape the ballots into an spreadsheet as I imagine the bird's-eye view and filtering capabilities will be useful. Will share here when it's ready.

- swo17
- Bloodthirsty Butcher
- Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 2:25 pm
- Location: SLC, UT
Re: Sight & Sound
That sounds like so much thankless work--Jeanne Dielman would be proud!
- ryannichols7
- Joined: Mon Jul 16, 2012 6:26 pm
Re: Sight & Sound
I got a peek over her shoulder while she was working on it - the most harrowing piece of information I saw: Costa Gavras' Z received exactly one vote, while You Were Never Really Here got a handful. I'm curious to see what else she pulls from it
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Robin Davies
- Joined: Sat Sep 22, 2007 6:00 am
Re: Sight & Sound
Does anyone know what a "voting consultant" actually does?Toland's Mitchell wrote: Fri Mar 03, 2023 5:56 pm https://www.worldofreel.com/blog/2022/1 ... jaiorwfbbc
Here's what one of the 'voting consultants' selected.
- barbarella satyricon
- Joined: Fri Jun 21, 2019 11:45 am
Re: Sight & Sound
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Last edited by barbarella satyricon on Fri Sep 12, 2025 3:42 pm, edited 2 times in total.
- Lemmy Caution
- Joined: Wed Mar 29, 2006 7:26 am
- Location: East of Shanghai
Re: Sight & Sound
In the running for worst list, Whelan Barzey's is limited to 1994-2013 (Shawshank to Wolf of Wall St). Undoubtedly a young'un.
- dekadetia
- was Born Innocent
- Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 3:57 am
- Location: Pennsylvania, USA
Re: Sight & Sound
I haven't done any visualizations or anything, but here's the raw data for download if anyone would like to play around with it.mystic_matahari wrote: Sat Mar 04, 2023 6:51 amI'm actually in the process of doing the same! I can't wait to see what you come up with. So far, I've only done a comparison between the number of voters from each country.dekadetia wrote: Sat Mar 04, 2023 1:10 am I'm attempting to scrape the ballots into an spreadsheet as I imagine the bird's-eye view and filtering capabilities will be useful. Will share here when it's ready.
- mystic_matahari
- Joined: Thu May 19, 2022 9:46 pm
Re: Sight & Sound
Speaking of our good friend Jeanne...there was a 17 pt. difference between Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles and Vertigo.swo17 wrote: Sat Mar 04, 2023 7:29 am That sounds like so much thankless work--Jeanne Dielman would be proud!
---
While cleaning the data as much as I can, here are some fascinating (creative) answers I've found:
- All of Lars von Trier's Movies
- Stan Brakhage's Short Films from '72-'75
- Twin Peaks (TV Series)
- Dekalog
- Vikings (TV Series)
- The Name of the Game (Season 2): The Perfect Image
- The Bill Douglas Trilogy
- Toland's Mitchell
- Joined: Sun Nov 10, 2019 6:42 pm
Re: Sight & Sound
I only posted the article for the critic's embedded tweet, which corresponds to his ballot.yoloswegmaster wrote: Fri Mar 03, 2023 6:03 pm Why are we posting shitty articles from Jordan Ruimy/WOR? What a nothingburger of an article.
I was wondering that myself until the individual lists were released. I'm not sure if there were 'consultants.' Girish Shambu was supposedly a hired consultant, but wasn't he simply a participant like the others? Perhaps 'consultant' simply meant critic or director who participated, who also rejected the canonized classics?Robin Davies wrote: Sat Mar 04, 2023 1:15 pmDoes anyone know what a "voting consultant" actually does?
If anyone's interested, a patron over at LB expanded the director's list by compiling every ballot. The notes section includes how many votes each film received and which directors voted for them:
https://letterboxd.com/alexanderson/lis ... tors-list/
- tolbs1010
- Joined: Wed Oct 21, 2020 11:01 pm
Re: Sight & Sound
BIG thanks for doing this. Some thoughts after filtering and scrolling:dekadetia wrote: Sat Mar 04, 2023 4:37 pmI haven't done any visualizations or anything, but here's the raw data for download if anyone would like to play around with it.mystic_matahari wrote: Sat Mar 04, 2023 6:51 amI'm actually in the process of doing the same! I can't wait to see what you come up with. So far, I've only done a comparison between the number of voters from each country.dekadetia wrote: Sat Mar 04, 2023 1:10 am I'm attempting to scrape the ballots into an spreadsheet as I imagine the bird's-eye view and filtering capabilities will be useful. Will share here when it's ready.
It's reassuring to see that someone like, say, Altman, really did receive a lot of votes but over a wide range of films. Props to Carolyn Funk for choosing California Split, question marks for Richard Combs choosing A Prairie Home Companion.
Great to see a handful of votes for Losey. More than I expected. Criterion's release of Mr. Klein must've had an impact on a few voters as I don't recall it getting votes in past polls.
Only three votes for Jan Troell despite Criterion highlighting his wonderful work. Really thought The Emigrants/The New Land would have more votes. Still hoping Criterion releases Hamsun at some point.
I really need to dive into Hou Hsiao-Hsien's work. Have only seen one of his films and it's not one of the ones that got votes.
Not much love for Danny Boyle. Somewhat surprising given that the UK dominates the list of respondents.
Appreciation for Costa-Gavras has really diminished over the years.
George Cukor gets a large handful of votes but not a single one for Gaslight. Kind of surprising.
Several votes for Gerwig's Lady Bird? Average age of respondents must be much younger than previous polls.
Friedkin's Cruising continues to enjoy a slight critical renaissance.
Loved seeing a couple votes for Ghost World. Please make another film, Terry Z. I'm sure you've been trying.
Single worst film chosen: Eastwood's Cry Macho by Luke Aspell. Trolling?
Last edited by tolbs1010 on Sat Mar 04, 2023 8:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- diamonds
- Joined: Sun Apr 24, 2016 6:35 pm
Re: Sight & Sound
Taken from a transcript of an October panel in which this was discussed:Toland's Mitchell wrote: Sat Mar 04, 2023 5:22 pmI was wondering that myself until the individual lists were released. I'm not sure if there were 'consultants.' Girish Shambu was supposedly a hired consultant, but wasn't he simply a participant like the others? Perhaps 'consultant' simply meant critic or director who participated, who also rejected the canonized classics?Robin Davies wrote: Sat Mar 04, 2023 1:15 pmDoes anyone know what a "voting consultant" actually does?
>> Devika Girish: Girish, correct me if I'm wrong, you were a diversity advisor for this year's Sight & Sound poll. I wonder if you can tell us what that entailed. How exactly do you address diversity in a list that is sourced from hundreds of people? Is it just a matter of expanding the pool of voters or is there something more to it?
>> Girish Shambu: Yes, so I was asked to be an advisor and my only task was to suggest people to add to the voter pool, to expand the voter pool. that was my only task, so I sent them dozens of suggestions of people, mostly women, mostly people of color, mostly queer people, disabled critics, trans critics and scholars and people's work that I kind of knew and knew it would result in a diverse set of lists. I was not partied to any discussions about this. I sent them lists.
- mystic_matahari
- Joined: Thu May 19, 2022 9:46 pm
Re: Sight & Sound
Mmmmm...more data!dekadetia wrote: Sat Mar 04, 2023 4:37 pm I haven't done any visualizations or anything, but here's the raw data for download if anyone would like to play around with it.
Yes! I've been trying to think of how to use AI magic to get demographics data and compare the findings.tolbs1010 wrote: Sat Mar 04, 2023 6:51 pm Several votes for Gerwig's Lady Bird? Average age of respondents must be much younger than previous polls.
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Meanwhile, 1971 had the most films voted for with a total of 89!
Link to Graph: https://imgur.com/a/xsKJGIz
*I feel like I should clarify that the graphs and analysis are only as good as the data. I tried my best to clean up what I could and chose certain assumptions. So, 100% have errors (more likely than not)!
- MichaelB
- Joined: Fri Aug 11, 2006 10:20 pm
- Location: Worthing
- Contact:
Re: Sight & Sound
I was asked to recommend people with good contacts in various Eastern European countries, and there’s every reason to believe that they also fell under the “consultant” umbrella. But the aim certainly wasn’t to slant the poll in a particular direction, it was to invite qualified contributors who might otherwise have passed under the radar.diamonds wrote:Taken from a transcript of an October panel in which this was discussed:Toland's Mitchell wrote: Sat Mar 04, 2023 5:22 pmI was wondering that myself until the individual lists were released. I'm not sure if there were 'consultants.' Girish Shambu was supposedly a hired consultant, but wasn't he simply a participant like the others? Perhaps 'consultant' simply meant critic or director who participated, who also rejected the canonized classics?Robin Davies wrote: Sat Mar 04, 2023 1:15 pmDoes anyone know what a "voting consultant" actually does?
>> Devika Girish: Girish, correct me if I'm wrong, you were a diversity advisor for this year's Sight & Sound poll. I wonder if you can tell us what that entailed. How exactly do you address diversity in a list that is sourced from hundreds of people? Is it just a matter of expanding the pool of voters or is there something more to it?
>> Girish Shambu: Yes, so I was asked to be an advisor and my only task was to suggest people to add to the voter pool, to expand the voter pool. that was my only task, so I sent them dozens of suggestions of people, mostly women, mostly people of color, mostly queer people, disabled critics, trans critics and scholars and people's work that I kind of knew and knew it would result in a diverse set of lists. I was not partied to any discussions about this. I sent them lists.
- bad future
- Joined: Sat Apr 14, 2018 10:16 pm
Re: Sight & Sound
Thank you; this is invaluable! I've already lost a good hour perusing it. (Am I correct in seeing that it only includes contributors A through C so far? Not complaining, just making sure I'm not doing something wrong in accessing the data)dekadetia wrote: Sat Mar 04, 2023 4:37 pm I haven't done any visualizations or anything, but here's the raw data for download if anyone would like to play around with it.
- spectre
- Joined: Thu Dec 29, 2011 8:52 am
Re: Sight & Sound
I thought I saw that too (might have just been on my phone though!). The complete list is here, in any case: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/8eb5x6go ... Sound.xlsx