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

If by “anime” you mean Miyazaki, that’s … an awfully reductive way to talk about arguably the greatest feature-length animator ever. It’s basically writing off animation altogether.

Never connected with any of it.

Have you met our friend xyzzzz__ before, tipsy?

the death of the romantic comedy outside of outliers like The Big Sick and a few Netflix productions is something I've seen discussed a lot lately.

Just adding to that, but most Hallmark productions qualify as RomComs too. It does seem like the genre--outside of odd exceptions like Crazy Rich Asians*--has been totally been surrendered to streamers and cable.

*Which was a best-selling book

*Which was a best-selling book

And a not especially good movie.

And the Halloween weekend hits continue ...

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45. THE THING (John Carpenter, 1982, USA) [815 points; 10 votes]
S&S: 418 | TSPDT: 244 | BOXD: 75

MORBS SEZ: "I probably read Kael in '82, so I've never seen this. how many of you saw the '51 Thing?"

I'm sure Kael's review had something to do with me never having seen it; next time I see a used copy, I'll give it try.
― clemenza, Thursday, May 24, 2012 4:49 PM

love kael, but that review misses the stoic, western-style appeal of the thing's plotting and characters
― spextor vs bextor (contenderizer), Thursday, May 24, 2012 4:52 PM

if the thing wins this poll too i swear to god
― I want L'interieur chicken, not Hausu chicken (jjjusten), Thursday, May 24, 2012 4:02 PM

basically at this point I assume that 80% of the board has masturbated while watching The Thing
― that is a weird thing to bring up over lean cuisine (DJP), Thursday, May 24, 2012 3:21 PM

Wilford Brimley's awesome in The Thing -- NOBODY GETS IN OR OUT OF HERE! {GUNSHOT} NOBODY! {CRASH}
― Peppermint Patty Hearst (VegemiteGrrl), Thursday, May 24, 2012 4:55 PM

Spider- head followed by "You've got to be fockin kiddin me?" line one of the great scene's in cinematic history.
― Omar, Wednesday, October 31, 2001 7:00 PM

Every time I hear about Sarah Palin shooting wolves I think of the first scene of this movie.
― cant go with u too many alfbrees (Abbott), Tuesday, May 26, 2009 10:08 PM

The Thing is so damn manly with all those guys & their beards. Fans of this need to see the 80s The Blob, which deserves much more love than it gets.
― The Thnig, Thursday, May 24, 2012 4:53 PM

It is totally a sausage party.
― carl agatha, Thursday, May 24, 2012 4:55 PM

Yeah, me too.

Thought this would be higher tbh given previous genre polls

I mean it’s awesome

I am on the Carpenter bandwagon, but this is like sixth or seventh for me.

I would rank this very highly in the monster movie canon for sure.

Watching the o.g Halloween last night and I'd forgotten the kids watch the o.g. Thing in it

I'd have Halloween and Prince of Darkness at least ahead of this but forgot to vote for any of them

I'm starting to worry that there aren't enough spots left for all the good movies.

fondly remembering when i was compiling my ballot and wondering if there would be a consensus straub-huillet pick

one very bad take of wrongness I saw earlier was In The Mouth of Madness is Carpenter's best movie.. no it isn't!

Feel like this poll might turn out exactly the way Morbius would have thought it would, if I may indulge myself with such a speculation.

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44. BLUE VELVET (David Lynch, 1986, USA) [822 points; 15 votes]
S&S: 61 | TSPDT: 89 | BOXD: DNP

MORBS SEZ: "Inland Empire is his most relentlessly daring feature, much more mature than Blue Velvet … never a big Blue Velvet fan."

Blue Velvet, only slightly better than The Blues Brothers because of Dennis Hopper.
― hstencil (hstencil), Friday, June 25, 2004 8:42 AM

I watched blue velvet this week and it was thoroughly meh
― Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ (dyao), Wednesday, February 24, 2010 10:43 AM

Blue Velvet (made by a Reagan fan, don't forget) is all the bullshit of '80s Americana, not just exposed (that's easy) but celebrated. Wallowed in. Lynch wants it both ways, the robins AND the beetles, Laura Dern's simpering blondie by day AND Isabella's fuck-me-hit-me brunette by night. And it lets its hero have both. It is a stupendously fucked-up movie, hypocritical and callow, like a Disneyland S&M weekend tour package. And like America, its hypocrisy is what makes it work. It's what makes it honest. I like to imagine Frank Capra emerging from a screening of Blue Velvet, horrified and blinking into the Hollywood sun, and Lynch hollering in his ear, "It's great, isn't it? Just like one of yours!" (Also, on a technical level, the colors and sound and blah blah blah, Lynch is a genius but you already knew that.)
-- gypsy mothra

Blue Velvet was the first movie that made me want to make movies. Do the Right Thing was the second.
― Pete Scholtes, Tuesday, August 2, 2005 5:21 PM

I hated Blue Velvet.
― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Friday, January 24, 2003 4:25 AM

BV is expertly paced. My problem with IE is he seems to have lost -- temporarily, on the evidence of the new Twin Peaks -- the ability to know when a scene runs too long.
― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, August 16, 2017 9:06 PM

How cuet was MacLachlan in BV tho??!
― W4LTER, Monday, August 20, 2007 6:18 PM

Switched my Lynch vote because of last minute influence of tipsy mothra but I am a fan of this one.

I'm with Morbs on this one. Everything Lynch is about is done much better and fuller in other (later) works.

I know we did them ages ago, but the #1's of both the '90s & '80s polls have now already placed (as have the #2 & #3 of the '60s poll).

I am a fan of this one too. One of too-many Lynches on my long list. Rewatched it recently and while I don’t take back much in that quote above, I think it’s a deeper experience than all that suggests. Seen in the context of a whole career of endless pursuit of mystery, Blue Velvet is about that more than anything else — the idea of mystery, hidden things, the way things change in the dark. That can seem like a juvenile impulse but I think Lynch’s instincts go beyond the juvenile, in search of some kind of buried roots.

Also just a bravura filmmaking performance, and the whole cast nails the tricky tone. The scene in Dean Stockwell’s apartment alone could be a brilliant short.

But I also agree he did more with all of that later.

I marvel again at the perfection of the interior design. Example: Dorothy's apartment.

Who was it that called "Musicology" Prince's "Still Rock & Roll To Me"? That's what Velvet is to Lynch so far as I'm concerned.

I haven't been tracking how this poll's placers did in the earlier decade polls, but having taken a fresh look, there are definitely some surprise omissions in store.

Not that it'll assuage KJB any, but I think the only horror movie that showed up in my ranked top 25 was Texas Chain Saw Massacre. So don't blame me.

(Oh wait, I thought of another.)

Who was it that called "Musicology" Prince's "Still Rock & Roll To Me"? That's what Velvet is to Lynch so far as I'm concerned.

Doesn’t really track developmentally though. I’d put Lost Highway in that slot for Lynch. His most (only?) going-thru-motions movie. If we need a Prince analogy I’d say Blue Velvet is more 1999 — an early, arguably immature masterwork that was eclipsed by more mature ones.

I marvel again at the perfection of the interior design. Example: Dorothy's apartment.

― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn),

Flawless and the shot at the end with the Yello Man enhances the design.

Jacques Rivette was a fan of that bit of design:

I took a long time to appreciate Lynch. In fact, I didn’t really start until Blue Velvet (1986). With Isabella Rossellini’s apartment, Lynch succeeded in creating the creepiest set in the history of cinema. And Twin Peaks, the Film is the craziest film in the history of cinema. I have no idea what happened, I have no idea what I saw, all I know is that I left the theater floating six feet above the ground.

as usual rivette otm

I have trouble imagining Rivette lifting off the ground.

Maybe he took a little levitation pill beforehand to help him with that.

Doesn’t really track developmentally though.

I know, it's just such an efficient burn tho.

Pretty sure Rivette lifted a little upon seeing Showgirls iirc.

I marvel again at the perfection of the interior design. Example: Dorothy's apartment.

― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, October 31, 2021 9:52 AM (twenty-one minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

something from the doc on the dvd that’s always stuck with me: david lynch microadjusting the dust bunnies underneath the chair in dorothy’s apartment, which don’t even show up on film

Pretty sure Rivette lifted a little upon seeing _Showgirls_ iirc.

I’d put Lost Highway in that slot for Lynch. His most (only?) going-thru-motions movie

hard disagree, but it is a rough draft for mulholland dr.

Trying to think of one, I meant to say.

Blue Velvet is perfect in every way. So exquisitely repulsive and horrifying. A high-wire act.

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we've all had those Friday nights

that purple-brown is the most disgusting colour.

His conception of 80s stand-up comedy in the BV deleted scenes might be weirder than anything in the final cut.

hard disagree, but it is a rough draft for mulholland dr.

I’ll buy that but still don’t rate LH, except for a few scenes.

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43. SANS SOLEIL (Chris Marker, 1983, France) [825.25 points; 8 votes]
S&S: 71 | TSPDT: 101 | BOXD: DNP

MORBS SEZ: "I recall liking Sans Soleil... and don't remember anything from it."

There's no other director on whose wavelength I feel more at home.
― Tarr Yang Preminger Argento Carpenter (Eric H.), Wednesday, January 17, 2018 4:42 PM

fail.
― history mayne, Friday, September 4, 2009 6:27 PM

tried to watch Sans Soleil, but it was boring and Momus-y so I had to turn it off.
― Dan I., Sunday, April 6, 2008 4:01 AM

i could watch sans soleil every day of the year
― clouds, Saturday, September 29, 2012 11:01 AM

i like the zen fry cook in "sans soleil"
― amateur!!!st (amateurist), Monday, October 25, 2004 1:34 AM

i think sans soleil is one of like three movies where ive gone back and watched the bits i fell asleep through
― plax (ico), Friday, January 21, 2011 7:12 PM

I've tried to hack Sans Soleil a couple of times but it always puts me to sleep; I ought to rectify that sometime soon.
― Simon H., Monday, July 30, 2012 12:34 PM

Man, Sans Soleil. I could watch this forever.
― pun lovin criminal (polyphonic), Thursday, September 27, 2012 1:43 AM

ha i felt like i WAS watching it forever the first time but maybe i was in a bad place.
― jed_, Thursday, September 27, 2012 3:48 AM

gygax! once told me his favorite movie was either Sans Soleil or Muriel's Wedding, I have no idea how that fits into all that.
― Steve Shasta (Steve Shasta), Thursday, March 2, 2006 11:20 PM

Sans Soleil is my favorite movie of all time.
― gygax! (gygax!), Thursday, October 21, 2004 3:31 PM

sans soleil is a romantic comedy when you think about it
― noballs (wins), Tuesday, August 12, 2014 1:48 PM

Those deleted scenes are p good but it’s better they were cut, particularly the prologue scenes which are like 20 mins I think? & then you look at how perfect the opening is as a piece of storytelling/editing right up to the finding of the ear, there just is no place for those scenes

I guess we aren’t seeing IE but holding out for another lynch

Lol at typical NRQ post

Yes, but it's the invocation of Momus that's peak chef's kiss ILX there.

XPs Mulholland Dr. was #1 in the different '00s polls we did, so it's definitely coming up.