The Lists Project

[Ishmael]

Why not just post the lists alphabetically until the deadline? That way certain films get mentioned as a reminder, but no one has to think about positions. If someone has Nashville on their list and notices it's mentioned by a bunch of other people, they won't exclude the film since they don't know if Nashville is ranked higher or lower by other members. I'm thinking about this far more than I should, considering I'm not even sending in lists.

Absolute genius. Andre, I'm also thinking about this far more than I should, because I probably won't send a list in either.

[Andre Jurieu]

Absolute genius.

Actually, it's more like boredom while at work.

[backstreetsbackalright]

Actually, it's more like boredom while at work.

As was my contention.

If people are interested in seeing this, I'll happily post an alphabetical list of my 75 or so contenders for the 1980s list. Maybe we should do that in another 80s-dedicated thread, so as not to clutter this one too much. I mean, if people are actually interested.

[Michael]

1980s films that received at least 2 votes but didn't make the final cut


The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
Airplane!
An American Werewolf in London
And The Ship Sails On
A Nos Amour
Ariel
The Asthenic Syndrome
Atlantic City
The Atomic Cafe
Babette's Feast
Bad Taste
Bad Timing
Balance
Ballad of Narayama
Batman
Beetlejuice
A Better Tomorrow
Betty Blue
The Big Red One
Body Double
Body Heat
Born on the Fourth of July
Boy Meets Girl
The Breakfast Club
Burden of Dreams
Castle in the Sky
City of Sadness
Colonel Redl
Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean
Corp de Torchon
Creature Comforts
The Crimson Permanent Assurance
The Cyclist
Damnation
Dangerous Liasions
Danton
The Dark Crystal
Days of Eclipse
The Dead
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
Demons
Die Hard
Distant Voices, Still Lives
Diva
Dressed to Kill
Drugstore Cowboy
Dust in the Wind
Epidemic
Element of Crime
Escape from NY
ET the Extra Terrestrial
Evil Dead
The Falls
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Field of Dreams
A Fish Called Wanda
Forbidden Zone
Full Moon in Paris
Gremlins
Hairspray
Heathers
Henry V
Hopscotch
Horse Thief
Jean De Florette
L'Amour a Mort
Law of Desire
Leningrad Cowboys Go America
Life Lessons (from New York Stories)
Local Hero
Love Streams
The Man Who Planted Trees
Manon of the Spring
Maurice
Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence
Mon Oncle d'Amerique
Mona Lisa
Moonstruck
Next of Kin
Night of the Shooting Stars
Nightmare on Elm Street
Once Upon a Time in America
One From the Heart
Opera
Ordinary People
Querelle
Passion
Peking Opera Blues
Pelle the Conqueror
Pennies From Heaven
Planes, Trains & Automobiles
Platoon
Police
Polyester
Powaqatsi
The Princess Bride
Radio Days
Red Sorghum
Reds
Rehearsals for Extinct Anatomies
Rendez-Vous
The Right Stuff
The Road Warrior
Roger & Me
Salaam Bombay!
Salvador
Santa Sangre
Say Anything
Scanners
Secret Honor
September
Shadows in Pardise
She's Gotta Have It
A Short Film About Killing
A Short Film About Love
Sid & Nancy
The Singing Detective
Sixteen Candles
Slow Motion
Stand By Me
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
Story of Women
A Summer at Grandpa's
Sunday in the Country
Tales of the Gimli Hospital
Tanner '88
Tenenbre
The Terminator
They Live
Time of the Gypsies
To Live and Die in LA
Toute une Nuit
The Unbelievable Truth
The Untouchables
The Verdict
Vernon, Florida
Vincent
What Have I Done to Deserve This?
Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
Withnail & I
Witness
The Woman Next Door
The Year of the Dragon
Yellow Earth
A Zed and Two Noughts

[yoshimori]

Eight of my top ten aren't even on that list! Uh-ohh! I'll send the list asap to "remind" y'all about Mr Greenaway, Schrader, Morris, Mamet, Morita, Carax, Godard, Costa-Gavras. Bresson, Klimov, and others. :)

[flambeur]

Wow, every other Woody save for Crimes and Misdemeaners??

Not an 80's movie?

[denti alligator]

So The Dekalog counts as one film? And the Short Films about Love and Killing too? Won't this create some strange overlap?

[Michael]

denti alligator, regarding to the Dekalog controversy take a look at page 8 of this thread.

[zedz]

Well that was relatively depressing. My list looks more futile than ever now. The only title I'd overlooked was The Company of Wolves, but I don't think that would have made my top 50 anyway.

I'm not ready to send my finalised list, but since we're spilling the beans, I would like to remind everyone about the great Edward Yang, Jan Svankmajer, Raul Ruiz, Ross McElwee, Kira Muratova, Quay Brothers, Alan Clarke, Hou Hsiao-hsien, Agnes Varda and Chris Marker films inexplicably missing from the list to date.

No Heimat? No Superstar?? No Totoro??!!!

[Brian Oblivious]

I guess it's too late to put in my two cents that if you need a reminder to put a film on your list maybe it doesn't deserve to be there in the first place, and that it would be nice for each decade's list to be generated with a certain amount of consistency; nobody claimed that these were going to be official, final, Criterion Forum Lists, and in fact it was suggested that after the 00's we'd go back and do the silent era again.

oh well.

[backstreetsbackalright]

if you need a reminder to put a film on your list maybe it doesn't deserve to be there in the first place

I wouldn't necessarily go that far. If I were to submit a list for each period, I'd be talking about 450 films. It'd be pretty easy to neglect a few worthy titles in the process.

[Michael]

Keep in mind that the listed titles were derived from only 4 submissions. There will be more to come. If you folks wish to see that list removed, then I can do it easily and immediately.

[backstreetsbackalright]

7 of my top 10 aren't rep'd here either. But then this is only like three people, no? Ommissions that haven't been talked about include Eric Rohmer, Aki Kaurismaki, and Harun Farocki - all of whom had an amazingly strong decade in the 1980s. Jarmusch too, but I doubt he'll struggle to make the list. Far as individual films go, no Ran? no Vagabond? There are some American films I was surprised not to see also, some of which will appear on my list: Ordinary People, Robocop, The Road Warrior, Die Hard, The Princess Bride, Dressed To Kill, Fast Times At Ridgemont High, Repo Man, and Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, to name a few. (Debate away on the merits of those titles...) And for music videos, let's not forget Express Yourself and Thriller!

[zedz]

And for music videos, let's not forget Express Yourself and Thriller!

No, let's.

[Michael]

Now I'm debating whether to remove the list or not. It certainly worked up some folks here because some titles didn't make it. This is not the final list. We still have three weeks till the deadline and I'm definite that the list will be monstrously different than the one you saw on here today.

[Andre Jurieu]

And for music videos, let's not forget Express Yourself and Thriller!

No, let's.

No, let's not. I'm with the Backstreet Boys fan on this one.... and yeah, that's the first time I've ever stated those words in any form. Actually, I'm indifferent to Thriller (though the kid in me remembers it fondly), but Fincher deserves his spot (and I'm not a Madonna fan).

[Brian Oblivious]

if you need a reminder to put a film on your list maybe it doesn't deserve to be there in the first place

I wouldn't necessarily go that far. If I were to submit a list for each period, I'd be talking about 450 films. It'd be pretty easy to neglect a few worthy titles in the process.

I wouldn't necessarily go that far either. It's just a thought. (though I do think that any title that didn't come to mind without a reminder probably would, or at least should, place at #46 or so, not that big a deal unless we're trying for mathematical precision, which is impossible anyway.)

I guess I'm just a little ruffled that the idea of posting an unprecedented reminder list was implemented after only a few elapsed hours of discussion, and that not everybody (namely, me) had a chance to weigh in first. Not that I think the list should be taken down now that the cat's out of the bag (though I don't plan on perusing the titles myself. I'd be too tempted to let it affect my own selections). I'm just being grumpy.

[flambeur]

Wow, every other Woody save for Crimes and Misdemeaners??

Not an 80's movie?

Aha, released in Oct of 89!! Better than any Fincher video, definately

[denti alligator]

I think we should keep this preliminary list running. I found it useful to jog my memory. I won't be submitting (if at all) until the last minute, but here are a few title to add to the list above: Ghostbusters, The Draughtsman's Contract, Talking Heads: Stop Making Sense, Day of the Dead, The Empire Strikes Back, Street of Crocodiles, Rehearsals for Extinct Anatomies, The Dante Quartet, sex, lies & videotape. But I'm sure there are plenty more I'm forgetting.

[flyonthewall2983]

3 more which should be added that have not been mentioned so far that should be, IMO.

Thief
Back To The Future
The Untouchables

[Michael]

Brian Oblivious, I don't think the "reminder list" that I posted above is going to make much difference. In the end, it all depends on the number of votes and points. Hundreds of the submitted titles fail to make the final list every time anyway. I'm going to refrain from updating the "reminder" list during the few days or week prior to the Oct. 31st deadline because I will be very busy tallying and completing the much more important final list.

Up to now: myself, kieslowski_67, Annie Mall, yoshimori, Dylan.

[scotty]

I may not submit a list, but I wanted to mention a few mainstream titles I'm toying with in case it helps anyone: 1984 (version with Eurythmics soundtrack), A Soldier's Story, Stand by Me, Three Men and a Cradle (Fr.), Pauline at the Beach, The French Lieutenant's Woman, 84 Charing Cross Road, Matewan, Platoon, The Year of Living Dangerously, Glory.

[Kambei]

just did a quick look at my preliminary list, and i have 21 movies not on the above list. Nice! (pauline at the beach is there). Any other takers for a fish called wanda, withnail & i, aliens, decline of the american empire, or the time to live and the time to die? Still have a few to watch before i make my final list. would you believe i've never seen platoon?

[scotty]

Would you believe I've never seen Platoon?

This may be an excuse to finally watch a bunch of films I've been eyeing for years (decades?), including a couple of other military offerings: Breaker Morant and Gallipoli.

[kieslowski_67]

So The Dekalog counts as one film? And the Short Films about Love and Killing too? Won't this create some strange overlap?

The "Dekalog" has to be counted as one film because the creators wanted them to be grouped as a whole. And realistically, they can not be divided into 10 films. The two short films used the source materials from the "Dekalog", but they are significantly extended to become feature length films. You can argue that 'a short film about love' is very different from "DeKalog" VI on many levels, including the ending.