My Top 50: A Response To The Sight and Sound Poll

Vertigo topped Sight and Sound's 2012 poll

At first I was pissed off. Then I decided to write an angry response to it. And then I thought about it for a bit and now I'm ok again. What on Earth am I talking about? The Sight & Sound Poll of course. I was all prepared to come out all guns blazing and talk about how this poll was as meaningless as any other poll and how film critiscm is just opinion and can never be fact. And while I still think that is all true, it's not really doing me any good to just rant about these things. So instead I've made a top 50 list. Here's how it works:



1: I can only pick films not on the current Sight and Sound list
2: I can only pick films I've seen, not ones I think will impress people or ones I want to see (like A Separation from 2011)
3 There is a limit of 2 films per director so I can't "fanboy" too much
4: I will probably leave out great films I really love just because I can't remember them right now. Feel free to shout at me if I do.

So this is an alternative list of 50 films. I'd love to have Taxi Driver, Inception or Citizen Cane in there but I can't and thems-the-rules. Leave any comments at the bottom, feel free to insult me or the list. I can take it. Remember there is no science to this list. It's just a list made by some bloke.

*since completing the list I have finally got round to watching Take Shelter.It's a masterpiece. But I'm too lazy to adjust the list now. It would have made the top 10 though.*

1 City of God                               -   2002- Director: Fernando Meirelles

2 A Prophet                                  -   2009 - Director: Jacques Audiard

3 Schindler's List                          -  1993 - Director: Steven Spielberg

4 The Shawshank Redemption     -  1994 - Director: Frank Darabont

5 Children of Men                        -   2006 - Director: Alfonso Cuarón

6 Pan's Labyrinth                          -   2006 - Director: Guillermo del Toro

7 Magnolia                                    -  1999 - Director: Paul Thomas Anderson

8 Goodfellas                                  -  1990 - Director: Martin Scorsese

9 Fargo                                          -  1996 - Director: Joel Coen

10 Lost in Translation                   -  2003 - Director: Sophia Coppola

11 Rear Window                           - 1954 - Director Alfred Hitchcock

12 Adaptation                                - 2002 - Director: Spike Jonze

13 There Will Be Blood                - 2007 - Director: Paul Thomas Anderson

14 No Country For Old Men         - 2007 - Directors: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen

15 Up                                             - 2009 - Directors: Pete Docter, Bob Peterson

16 Pulp Fiction                              - 1994 - Director: Quentin Tarantino

17 Memento                                   - 2000 - Director: Christopher Nolan 

18 L.A Confidential                       - 1997 - Director: Curtis Hanson

19 Network                                    - 1976 - Director: Sidney Lumet

20 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest 1975 - Director: Milos Forman

21 Casablanca                                - 1942 - Director: Michael Curtiz

22 Alien                                         - 1979 - Director: Ridley Scott

23 Donnie Darko                           - 2001 - Director: Donnie Darko

24 Toy Story 2                               - 1999 - Directors: John Lasseter, Ash Brannon, Lee Unkrich

25 The King's Speech                    - 2010 - Director: Tom Hooper    

26 Blue Velvet                               - 1986 - Director: David Lynch

27 The King of Comedy                - 1983 - Director: Martin Scorsese

28 The Artist                                  - 2011 - Director: Michel Hazanavicius

29 Life is Beautiful                        - 1997 - Director: Roberto Benigni

30 Blade Runner                            - 1982 - Director: Ridley Scott

31 Fight Club                                 - 1999 - Director: David Fincher

32 Zodiac                                       - 2007 - Director: David Fincher

33 Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind - 2004 - Director: Michel Gondry

34 12 Angry Men                           - 1957 - Director: Sidney Lumet

35 The Wrestler                              - 2008 - Director: Darren Aronofsky

36 Singin' in the Rain                     - 1952 - Directors: Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly

37 The Dark Knight                        - 2008 - Director: Christopher Nolan

38 Back to the Future                      - 1985 - Director: Robert Zemeckis

39 American Beauty                       - 1999 - Director: Sam Mendes

40 Ed Wood                                    - 1994 - Director: Tim Burton

41 Trainspotting                              - 1996 - Director: Danny Boyle

42 The Usual Suspects                    - 1995 - Director: Bryan Singer

43 All The Presidents Men              - 1976 - Director: Alan J. Pakula

44 Heat                                            - 1995 - Director: Michael Mann

45 Requiem For A Dream               - 2000 - Director: Darren Aronofsky

46 The Graduate                              - 1967 - Director: Mike Nichols

47 Annie Hall                                  - 1977 - Director: Woody Allen

48 Edward Scissorhands                 - 1990 - Director: Tim Burton

49 Gladiator                                    - 2000 - Director: Ridley Scott

50 Hero                                           - 2002 - Director: Yimou Zhang