ILX All-Time Film and Morbsies Poll: RESULTS Thread for ILX's Favorite Movies, Films, Cinema, Flicks & Moving Pictures

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73. BEING JOHN MALKOVICH (Spike Jonze, 1999, USA) [700.6 points; 10 votes]
S&S: 1,176 | TSPDT: 1,105 | BOXD: DNP

MORBS SEZ: (asked about what his recent-ish nominees for the ILX comedy films poll would be) "I'll give you freebies: Groundhog Day, Being John Malkovich, Eternal Sunshine"

Malkovich hasn't aged well.
― milo z (mlp), Saturday, May 6, 2006 4:39 PM

Charlie Kaufman scripts are never quite as good as you want them to be for the simple reason that movies, like most stories, operate best from inside the heart, and Kaufman's anti-romances are really only concerned with your mind. But before the plot kicks in, and before things start making "sense," Jonze sets up a brilliant showcase for the plot's built-in disorientation, and Catherine Keener's Stanwyck-on-steroids turn.
-- Pete Scholtes

And Being John Malkovich I downright loved. I thought that movie was underrated even by a lot of people who liked it -- it got a lot of, "Oh, it's so zany, so fresh, so FUN" reviews, when I actually thought it was an intensely philosophical and deeply considered film. I think that movie grapples with some things (about the nature of existence and identity, the perennial struggle for transcendence via the Other, blah blah blah) that don't turn up in many films this side of Bergman. And it's funnier than Bergman.
-- JesseFox

Being John Malkovich was even better, and I think in both cases the PoMo games are not empty flourishes but ways that make very good sense to me as ways of addressing some genuinely interesting subjects.
-- Martin Skidmore

malkovich is maybe a 5 on the comedy scale, feel like it has cohen brothers syndrome where its more just a weirdo mindspace w/elements of black comedy w/o being an actual comedy, they try to say too much abt life to be an actual comedy, the end of malkovich is srsly p dire and not funny too for the record
― lag∞n, Tuesday, March 6, 2012 12:59 PM

guys, I could drop the screenplay for malkovich on the table and point to every other line as a joke. one of the few movies I laugh out loud at. Not only is it a comedy by definition & intended as a comedy by it's creators, but it is hilarius and has tons of classic scenes like the monkey flashback, the dude punching cusack, "let's have sex on the table an make malkovich eat eggs off it." "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO", "Think fast, Malkovich.", or the whole Charlie Sheen scene.
― (he did what!) (Austerity Ponies), Tuesday, March 6, 2012 1:16 PM

I also loved "Being John Malkovich" and I'm not emo.
― Dan (Bah) Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, May 8, 2006 9:22 AM

malkovich was just way too dark for me. as in: i had trouble actually seeing what was going on at times.
― scott seward (scott seward), Monday, May 8, 2006 10:10 AM

really though this movie is way too much concept not enough heart
― HOOS next aka won't get steened again (Hurting 2), Friday, August 9, 2013 9:47 AM

the first half of Being John Malkovich is ingenious. Although based on an extraordinary premise, the film doesn't just indulge in it, but instead uses it to explore themes such as identity, manipulation and celebrity. Strangely, much of this is thrown into the trashcan after we hear the explanation why there is a portal into Malkovich's mind (in my opinion, there was no need for explanation, and the one given was stupid and incoherent). After that, the film is nothing more than a battle of who controls John Malkovich; it suffers the exact fate it kept avoiding for its first half. The last 30 minutes of the film are nothing more than an intellectual masturbation with no direction nor a deeper meaning. The ending, albeit quirky, is unsatisfying and does little to save the movie. A minor letdown in the film is John Cusack. His literary lines and over-the-top acting would work well if Being John Malkovich were just a comedy. But when he tries to play the tragic character and display inner conflicts he simply isn't credible. This is hardly Cusack's fault, though; the dialogue, the characters and their emotional reactions are not crafted in a believable way (the only exception being John Malkovich himself). Whether this is deliberate or not, it ruins much of the films dramatic tension.
― Tuomas (Tuomas), Monday, February 21, 2005 4:51 PM

[after BJM landed #21 in the ILX comedy movie poll]
LOL looking forward to ILX's #1 Comedy of All Time, Eraserhead.
― I will transmit this information to (Viceroy), Tuesday, April 3, 2012 12:03 PM

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malkovich, malkovich, malkovich

it made my list!

classic scott seward comment

Malkatraz! MaSheen!

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72. PIERROT LE FOU (Jean-Luc Godard, 1965, France) [705 points; 6 votes]
S&S: 56 | TSPDT: 63 | BOXD: DNP

MORBS SEZ: "God, I hate this board … I'd think you guys could at least bond w/ him over how much he hates Spielberg and Truffaut"

pierrot le fou is hilarious if you're a misanthrope like me
― dean! (deangulberry), Thursday, March 18, 2004 3:36 PM

I rewatched Pierrot recently, and it was definitely longer than I'd remembered, and tougher to get through. A thing I think is important to remember re: France/Vietnam is that they themselves were thrown out of Indochina in the fifties. You know: History repeats itself, as tragedy, then comedy. There is a certain cynicism on Vietnam, which I don't think is there when they discuss Algiers.
― Frederik B, Monday, February 3, 2014 4:52 AM

JLG's 60s run has some very strong use of colour, when he decides to use it.
― xyzzzz__, Thursday, January 23, 2020 4:06 AM (one year ago) bookmarkflaglink

Overdoes it a bit in "Pierrot le Fou" tbh. Overdoes everything a bit in "Pierrot le Fou" tbf.
― Frozen Mug (Tom D.), Thursday, January 23, 2020 4:58 AM

Other than Breathless and Band of Outsiders and maybe Pierrot le Fou, his films have as many dull or awful moments as wondrous ones.
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Tuesday, October 23, 2007 6:16 PM

Pierrot le Fou: So wonderful. A Jules Verne fantasyland.
― -8-(*_*)-8-, Tuesday, March 4, 2003 9:27 AM

would rather watch the Lost Boys than Pierrot le Fou again tbqh
― whyte mayne (corey), Tuesday, September 7, 2010 10:26 AM

my god is Belmondo sexy here

xposty but days of heaven was my #1 and i *like* how surfacey it is. it's distilled cinema and it's incredibly breezy for malick all things considered. the movie ends up feeling almost like an accident and i love that about it -- you can just feel how they found it in the editing process

PLF is p sick tbh

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71. MIRROR (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1975, USSR) [708.38 points; 8 votes; Morbs gold]
S&S: 13 | TSPDT: 29 | BOXD: 85

MORBS SEZ: "my favorite (Tarkovsky) is The Mirror fwiw, but Andrei Rublev not far behind"

The Mirror is the best film ever made.
― Frederik B, Wednesday, November 1, 2017 6:23 PM

The Mirror is one of my all time favorite movies
― Dan S, Wednesday, November 1, 2017 6:46 PM

The Mirror is just moments of genius, wall-to-wall - I don't claim to understand it, but I view it more as a toolkit of scenes that the viewer must put together in their own way to form a unique emotional response. (That sounds rather cold and technical, but that's how it worked for me.)
― Girolamo Savonarola, Thursday, September 2, 2004 11:44 AM

I like Tarkovsky, but his theories on time don't scan to me (has any filmmaker taken them seriously?), some of the symbolism is cool when you first encounter them at an impressionable age but it can get tiresome. The films are often great, his dodging of the censors to make the kind of the thing he wanted almost miraculous - but I'm far more agnostic on the overall achievement. Parajanov is far more concrete with his flights of imagination. I like Mirror almost as much for the parts that allude to Soviet politics of a period. It just grounds things, in a way, making the symbolism richer.
― xyzzzz__, Thursday, November 2, 2017 5:17 AM

And so Day 3 comes to a close.

100. ROSEMARY'S BABY (Roman Polanski, Roman 1968, USA) [620 points; 10 votes]
99. LA JETÉE (Chris Marker, Chris 1962, France) [623.33 points; 9 votes; 1 first-place vote; Morbs silver]
98. MY NEIGHBOUR TOTORO (Miyazaki Hayao, 1988, Japan) [623.9 points; 10 votes]
97. SEVEN SAMURAI (Kurosawa Akira, 1954, Japan) [624.67 points; 9 votes]
96. MESHES OF THE AFTERNOON (Maya Deren & Alexander Hammid, 1943, USA) [625.71 points; 7 votes]
95. SHOWGIRLS (Paul Verhoeven, 1995, USA) [628 points; 4 votes]
94. ONCE UPON A TIME IN ANATOLIA (Nuri Bilge Ceylan, 2011, Turkey) [636 points; 6 votes]
93. ERASERHEAD (David Lynch, 1977, USA) [636.9 points; 10 votes]
92. THE GODFATHER (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972, USA) [643.4 points; 10 votes]
91. LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD (Alain Resnais, 1961, France) [645.82 points; 11 votes]

90. MANDY (Panos Cosmatos, 2018, USA) [646.5 points; 8 votes]
89. THIS IS SPINAL TAP (Rob Reiner, 1984, USA) [650.91 points; 11 votes]
88. JOHNNY GUITAR (Nicholas Ray, 1954, USA) [651 points; 6 votes]
87. THE SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE (Victor Erice, 1973, Spain) [652 points; 8 votes]
86. A BRIGHTER SUMMER DAY (Edward Yang, 1991, Taiwan) [655.5 points; 6 votes; 1 first-place vote]
85. THE LADY EVE (Preson Sturges, 1941, USA) [656.4 points; 10 votes; Morbs silver]
84. CELINE AND JULIE GO BOATING (Jacques Rivette, 1974, France) [658.57 points; 7 votes]
83. THE KING OF COMEDY (Martin Scorsese, 1983, USA) [659.82 points; 11 votes; Morbs gold]
82. WILD STRAWBERRIES (Ingmar Bergman, 1957, Sweden) [661.5 points; 6 votes]
81. IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (Frank Capra, 1946, USA) [661.63 points; 8 votes]

80. CALIFORNIA SPLIT (Robert Altman, 1974, USA) [663 points; 6 votes]
79. UNDER THE SKIN (Jonathan Glazer, 2014, UK) [665 points; 12 votes]
78. THE WICKER MAN (Robin Hardy, 1973, UK) [668.5 points; 8 votes]
77. THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY (Sergio Leone, 1966, Italy) [670 points; 12 votes; Morbs silver]
76. DAISIES (Vera Chytilová, 1966, Czechoslovakia) [674.29 points; 7 votes; 1 first-place vote]
75. THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE (John Ford, 1962, USA) [683.63 points; 8 votes; Morbs gold]
74. DAYS OF HEAVEN (Terrence Malick, 1978, USA) [683.63 points; 8 votes; 1 first-place vote]
73. BEING JOHN MALKOVICH (Spike Jonze, 1999, USA) [700.6 points; 10 votes]
72. PIERROT LE FOU (Jean-Luc Godard, 1965, France) [705 points; 6 votes]
71. MIRROR (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1975, USSR) [708.38 points; 8 votes; Morbs gold]

WOW. Didnt expect it. I prefer Study Guide Tarkovsky to the epics.

Into which of those buckets do you classify Mirror?

Both if necessary.

Too low

Only Tarkovsky epics on my ballot, but Mirror is something else for sure. Visionary.

I like its focus on memory and time. In his words “no other art can compare with cinema in the force, precision and starkness with which it conveys awareness of facts and aesthetic structures existing and changing within time"

Godard and Tarkovsky are my two favourite directors!
Still, Mirror is the one film of his that I don't get on an emotional level. It seems too private to approach, even if you read about it to understand the personal and cultural references. I think in a way his work was helped by having some superficially corny or cliched genre elements - making an historical film, war film or sci-fi gave him a grounding that he lost when he turned to pure artistic self-expression.

it does seem very private and abstract

the story keeps shifting - between his failing health, his childhood reminiscences, dream sequences, and our collective memories expressed through archival footage

The first time I watched Mirror I was kind of perpetually dazed, not in a bad way. The second time I could follow the structure a lot more.

Anyone anticipating any silent films appearing in the countdown?

i put one in my top 10 but not counting on it tbh

https://boxd.it/dPPzw

updated the letterboxd list and reposting the link for anyone who missed it late last night

xp Sunrise, The Passion of Joan of Arc, L'Atalante, Battleship Potemkin, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

First two above + Sherlock Jr. would be my guess.

L'Atalante wasn't a silent film, but it felt like one

Yes, if any silent films appear on the list, I would expect some comedies.
Do people really rate Potemkin as a personal favourite these days? I'd have thought it's been strictly "historically important" for decades.

I love Sunrise and Joan of Arc, but my most thrilling experience with silent film was seeing Safety Last! at the Castro Theater

with pipe organ accompaniment!

j.lu is the expert on silent cinema

I had two silents in my top 25, and four overall. I'm pretty sure one of them will place.

Please no late Malick everyone!

― xyzzzz__, Wednesday, October 27, 2021 4:15 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

;) fuck off, TO THE WONDER would have threatened to make my list

the DAYS OF HEAVEN quotes are funny. honestly ilx quotes pre 2007 about *anything* are embarrassing to read these days

Days of Heaven was on my list, also a late Malick

Lots of great stuff in this batch!

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly I first saw at such a young age that I think on some level it's still my go-to for what movies are "supposed" to be like. Rate Once Upon A Time In The West higher but both are perfect to me. Love Tuco so much.

The Man Who Shot Liberty Vallance is really great. I will have to shamefully admit I don't like Ford in general much - he has been far too big an influence on so many of my fave directors (Kurosawa, Hawks, Welles, Leone) for me to just dismiss him altogether but his corny moralizing and one of the worst senses of humour in classic Hollywood make him very hard to take. Liberty Vallance though I love because it pulls back the curtain on his mythology in such an honest way; I may not agree with the final message (is he convinced by it himself?) but I can respect it. That scene in the school with Woody Strode tho, urgh.

Pierrot Le Fou is my fave Godard. The anger in it is laser-focused and at the same time it's a great Summer movie!

Really need to get around to Mirror. I've only seen Solaris, Stalker and Ivan's Childhood but those are all bangers.

oh man this finally started. voted for these:

A BRIGHTER SUMMER DAY (Edward Yang, 1991, Taiwan) [655.5 points; 6 votes; 1 first-place vote] - 1st
JOHNNY GUITAR (Nicholas Ray, 1954, USA) [651 points; 6 votes] - 7th
LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD (Alain Resnais, 1961, France) [645.82 points; 11 votes] UNRANKED
MESHES OF THE AFTERNOON (Maya Deren & Alexander Hammid, 1943, USA) UNRANKED

mandy placing higher than marienbad, disgraceful stuff

oh and THE LADY EVE - unranked

Designating Mandy as the "Drive circa early 2010s slot" entry is so devastatingly true.

i lolled

j.lu is the expert on silent cinema

― Dan S, Wednesday, October 27, 2021 10:53 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

And if any of the silents on my ballot (shoot, any films period from my ballot) place anywhere on this poll, I'll be surprised.

Designating Mandy as the "Drive circa early 2010s slot" entry is so devastatingly true.

― Milm & Foovies (Eric H.), Thursday, 28 October 2021 10:20 (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

this is a lamentable misreading of mandy's merits obv

winding refn doesn't even touch cosmatos' grasp of the psychedelic, nor the sincere and emotive sentiments that inform his work

winding refn is in the gaspar noe bracket and neither belong here

I hold Climax above anything I've seen by either of the other two...

Maybe he found his niche later. I've only seen Irreversible

Anyway, save us Eric, lol

Don't mind if I do!

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70. M (Fritz Lang, 1931, Germany) [708.67 points; 9 votes]
S&S: 58 | TSPDT: 56 | BOXD: 103

MORBS SEZ: "I rewatched M this week, now knowing that FL did 20 takes of the hoods throwing Lorre down the stairs. Lang couldn't figure out why Lorre was cool to him in the Hollywood years … Also if you're going to call (Fury) a "social issue" movie, you might as well call M one too. Lang usually gets at something existential in addition."

M is my favourite film ever. Amongst many wonderful things, it pre-empts modern Policiers with a vengeance.
― Noodle Vague, Thursday, September 6, 2007 5:29 PM

so awesome. another one I saw really young that I found surprisingly haunting and disturbing. Lorre's confession scene at the end is amazing.
― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, May 18, 2012 1:58 PM

Just saw M for the first time. Damn, that's a film.
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, February 17, 2009 10:38 PM

M and Testament are both monuments to how to convey information via a combination of off-screen action and sound or lack thereof.
― Ned Raggett, Friday, July 23, 2010 9:29 AM

M is my favourite film ever. Amongst many wonderful things, it pre-empts modern Policiers with a vengeance.
― Noodle Vague, Thursday, September 6, 2007 5:29 PM

M was my first Fritz Lang. Walked into it as an obligation. Walked away with a full-body buzz and a sense of euphoria that I only get from a very few great movies.
― He's sick of the Swiss. He don't like em. (Austerity Ponies), Friday, May 18, 2012 2:03 PM

Good morning!

so true i said it twice

anyway TOO LOW but