Re: Movie Forums Top Foreign Language Films Countdown - Preliminary Th
 

I intended to submit my ballot early before the rush towards the deadline, but it's proving too hard to narrow down any further than 35 at the moment.

Currently, we have enough films to make a top 50. Thanks to everyone who has sent in a ballot so far.

Whether you are deliberating over which films to cut from your list, or watching more to try to bulk it out, the deadline is one month from tomorrow.

Fingers crossed for enough ballots to make a creditable top 100.

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I've started on my voting ballot, I was hoping to see a few more greats before I submitted it. Think I'll try and work on it some today.

Same. I put together a preliminary ballot. Will tinker with it a bit before submitting it by the end of this month. Or maybe sooner

I've been working on my list as I watch the movies. I have a tentative list ready, but I'm still trying to watch some more movies before finalizing it.

But to be honest, I'm not sure how many more foreign movies I can watch. The movies are good, but I'm still not a fan of subtitles.

Perhaps this is where Hubby need to step up to the plate by reading them pesky words out to you so you can concentrate purely on the visuals ;)

Seriously though, if you don't get on with them then you don't get on with them - at least you have been perfectly willing to go out of your comfort zone and try which is far more some would ever do :up:

Maybe try and squeeze a look at Cyborg She (aka My Girlfriend Is A Cyborg) before you run out of steam entirely though ;)

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I've got a working list of 25 but still want to see a few more before I submit. The biggest problem I have is trying to not have multiple films by the same Director(s).

Re: Movie Forums Top Foreign Language Films Countdown - Preliminary Th
 

I'm so busy these days that Ive not been watching as many films, or even getting on here. Usually I leave it late, to get my list in but I'll probably get it it soon. Not started the elimination process yet but I'll be happy with the films Ive chosen for sure. No restrictions on my list, so as many Fellini, Bergman etc as I want.

So far only four directors with two films on my preliminary ballot; Kitano, Woo, Kurosawa and Melville.

I know that you're joking, but if I could get him to do that, it might actually help. :lol:


I haven't given up yet. I'm still trying to get through more of the movies on my watchlist before I submit my list. I'm just being a little bit more picky, and trying to watch the movies that I think might have a better chance to make my Top 25 list.

Cyborg She sounds like it might be one of those movies, (sci-fi and rom-com :up:). I think I found it on YouTube, so I'll definitely bump it to the top of my list.

Thanks for the recommendation. :)

Would the words "air hockey" not still buy you a little credit ;)

Sorry, didn't mean to imply you'd given up, was actually praising the effort you are putting in despite finding it challenging.

Sadly I suspect that the same aspects that harmed Cyborg She for me will also knock it down for you so I wouldn't necessarily bump it to the top of your list, even though purely in terms of genre it's a perfect fit for you .... just think it would be worth you giving it a try before the deadline in the (probably unlikely) event that you are that much more forgiving than I.

Maybe. He still feels guilty about hitting me with the air hockey paddle, (but I try not to bring it up because it upsets him more than me).


No apology is necessary. I knew what you meant. I was just clarifying that I'm still watching foreign movies for as long as I can. :)

I'm hit or miss with being forgiving of minor issues in movies, depending on how much I like the rest of the movie. But I'll definitely try to give this movie a chance. (I've been watching a lot of heavy dramas, so a sci-fi/rom-com will be a nice change of pace. :))

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Just submitted my ballot! It hurt to leave Mall Cop out, but oh well. What can you do?

@Thursday Next

Would The Flowers of War (Zhang Yimou 2011) 'Jin ling shi san chai (original title)' be eligible for the countdown? Both English and Mandarin are spoken, as well as Japanese. Wiki says this:

It is a Chinese made film by a Chinese director.

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I sent mine a few months ago, and just kinda bumping this up as a reminder to those who haven't.

Seems like they would be eligible.

Thanks, just coming here to do the same!

We are up to 17 lists now. I know there are a whole lot of people who have said they will submit a list. There are around 3 weeks to go, so don't forget! We need as many lists as possible to make a really good countdown.

Mass PM mailings:yup:

They're coming....

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I've only been here a month, that's not long enough to be eligible, right?

If I'm correct, you need to be a member for at least a month to be eligible to participate in these, so wait a couple more days and you should be good, I think.

The rules say "You must have been a member here for at least a month to submit a list." So if it has been a month and you're going to stick around for the countdown, feel free to submit :)

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Yeah, and it never hurts to ask if it's close, either! I can't speak for anyone running any list, but that rule is mostly to stop tricksy stuff where people flood ballots with dummy accounts or campaigns or whatever. We want as much participation as possible, but a few rules like that are necessary just to make sure it's fair. Nobody's ever tried to mess with this stuff before, though.

I'd like to submit a list, but it would be a sham because I've probably seen less than 100 foreign films. By far my largest blind spot.


I'm embarrassed by typing that...

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Submit away.

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Just wanna say that the submission method is a freaking brilliant idea! Well done, Yoda!

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There's a few blind spots I want to take care of before I submit

So pick the 25 of those 100 that you like best, rank them, and submit. Nobody's required to be an expert to participate.

I haven't seen all that many foreign language films either. Some but not a ton...I almost have my list ready to send it but had to cut so many worthy films:( So if you send a list in maybe some of those that I cut will end up on your list!

I know how you feel. I have a huge blind spot when it comes to foreign movies too. You've probably seen more foreign movies than I have, but I'm going to submit a list. I'm just watching as many foreign movies as I can before submitting my list.

I've been following your foreign language recommendation thread and you've watched a lot of them recently! Very impressive:)

Thanks. I'm trying to watch enough foreign movies to make a list of 25 movies that I really like, rather than 25 movies that were just good enough to make my list because I haven't seen enough movies.

I'm starting to slow down a little bit, but I'm not done yet. I even bought a few foreign movie DVDs at a garage sale last week. :)

There's no rule saying you have to have watched a certain number of foreign films to participate. As others have said, just pick the 25 you like best out of those 100. If there aren't 25 you like, you can submit a partial ballot of between 10 and 25.

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Your ballot also isn't going to be made public against your will or anything. Most people like to share them, but you don't have to. :)

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With 21 ballots submitted, we have just about enough films to make a top 75. Keep those lists coming!

As it stands there is only one point between first and second place, so every point counts.

Just a reminder as well to please check your submission carefully before you submit it. The ballot submission tool is wonderful, but it is easy to accidentally click on the wrong film, especially if it has the same title, and end up voting for a re-make rather than the original, for example. Nobody wants the English language remake of Oldboy appearing on the countdown...

Right, nobody... :suspicious:

Or the remake of Solaris:eek:

Because of my lack of knowledge, just submitted a list of ten.

I thought the remake of Solaris was better than expected, but it definitely doesn't belong on this list.

I actually liked the remake too and thanks to it I watched the original then.

Sorry...I haven't seen it.

Has anyone figured out how to add Ran?

Also Panahi's The Mirror?

I clicked the "not listed" button and entered the IMDB URL. Here it is:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089881

Awesome Torgo, thank you. Reading is hard. ;)

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Besides being the typical slacker, there are a few films I'd like to get in before putting in my List just before the deadline of the 10th. Though, most likely, I'll still be doing a Rectification List during the Countdown as well. And with Thursday Hosting, should be all kinds of wonderful fun as they always are for me.

I'm also pretty excited to try out the new Submission Tool, thanks again for that, @Yoda!!

List submitted........ I think.

Not showing up on this end, but if you PM me we can debug.

Best guess: filling out the list without hitting the button?

Yeah, I had just sent an Email to Thursday. After the list was completed I hit the "submit" button, but I kept getting a popup message asking whether I'd like to leave the page; and if I did, I might lose some of the information. I stayed a couple of times, then went ahead and exited.

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If it's a tech issue like that you can just send it right to me, since Thursday's just going to have to forward it my way anyway. If you can forward me whatever you sent them we can try to figure it out.

There is indeed a safeguard to warn people before leaving (but it only triggers if they've started working on the list), just in case they accidentally click and lose progress.

I know you've had a reply, but for anyone else struggling to find films fromthe drop down list or worried about clicking on the wrong version, it is best to copy and paste the imdb link into the 'movie you want not showing up' bit. It then gives you a prompt to check it is the right movie.

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It's funny. I've seen enough classics from around the world to have a good top 25, but this thread's motivating me to watch more Chinese classics. The problem is, there are so many I want to watch and I have to be careful about it because of my big list of every movie I've ever seen. I gotta make sure I don't frontload it with great movies or else it'll give off the impression that I like every movie I watch. So to fill this up I watch movies on MST3K/Rifftrax or movies related to those ones. Example: Watched Ator before I went onto the Ator 2 episode. There are too many I gotta see and I haven't even gotten around to A Brighter Summer Day yet. I'm also sticking with lesser-known movies by big-name directors I've already seen some movies from, that way I can more thoroughly explore the giants.

@Thursday Next, a question about the new ballot submitting tool. When you receive a copy of the ballot does it automatically place the movies in a spreadsheet for you? Or do you still have to copy and paste the movie titles into a spreadsheet yourself?

I want a Jose-central movie so badly.

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Reminder: if you're having a tech issue (or just a question), just PM me directly.

It's not a spreadsheet, but it automatically lists them in order of points received. Shiny, huh? :)

Re: Movie Forums Top Foreign Language Films Countdown - Preliminary Th
 

With 27 ballots in we now have 376 separate movies on the long list. We have enough movies with the required points to make a top 89.

There has been a change at the top, with the current front runner now 17 points clear of #2. But with your top film getting 25 points, that could change in the blink of an eye.

Keep those lists coming!

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Design help wanted!

We are looking at how to make the countdown posts unique (hopefully in a way that reflects the theme) but in an idiot-proof and non-image-heavy way. If anyone has any ideas or expertise they would like to share, feel free to share here or PM me.

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Submitted my list. As usual, I did end up watching almost nothing for this and I'm unhappy with my ballot even at the moment of submitting it. Also skipped the majority of the Italian cinema as I had zero interest in pondering which are eligible and which aren't.

Re: Movie Forums Top Foreign Language Films Countdown - Preliminary Th
 

10 DAYS TO GO!

Get those lists submitted :)

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Ballot sent, can't see me watching anything new that's gonna crack my personal Top 25 in the next few days.

Hoping The Shawshank Redemption is eligible - I did watch a French dubbed version of it on dvd :goof:

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I sent my list in. Can't wait to get 0/25.

Well I can't guarantee you the 0. Your #1 is a fairly popular film and you aren't the first person to vote for it. We'll have to wait and see if it makes the countdown in the end though.

Sorry, the other people to vote for Shawshank specified the Dutch dub and the Swedish dub so it's looking unlikely ;)

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My #1 is a fairly perfect film, so I will take it as an affront if it doesn't make the list.

Re: Movie Forums Top Foreign Language Films Countdown - Preliminary Th
 

I'll be sitting this one out since I'm not a fan of foreign films and plus it would be late for me to do a list since I'm recently working on my 2000's movies list. I'll be checking in and out on the countdown though when it starts.

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This should be pretty exciting. I'll be sending mine in a few days before the deadline.

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Just realised Ive been here 8 1/2 years

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35 lists in now, and we have enough films with 25+ points on 2+ ballots to make a top 100.

The more lists, the merrier, keep them coming!

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i did my list other day and got ur msg aswell!!

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Has anyone asked about silent films with foreign subtitles yet?

If so, just point me in the right direction to look.

Point ;)

More point ;)

I’ll have my list sent in later today.
Just need to settle on the ranking....

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I got my 25, but I have to sort mine too

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I just started to compile my list. Should we ask here about eligibility for certain films?

From the first page of this thread...

Yes, but I was more curious about certain films that feature two languages. For example, Villeneuve's Polytechnique.

To be more clear, there's just certain films that are foreign but I know feature two or three languages. However, I haven't seen them in a while so I'm not entirely sure of the ratio of English vs. the other languages.

Re: Movie Forums Top Foreign Language Films Countdown - Preliminary Th
 

If you vote for Polytechnique, it will count.

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Ah well, it seems that one won't crack my Top 25 anyway :laugh:

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Submitted, looking forward to it

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Me, right now...

https://media1.tenor.com/images/b08a...7e21/tenor.gif

If you have eligibility questions then feel free to ask.

I was sure Polytechnique had been discussed and deemed eligible, but that discussion may well have happened in another thread if someone else raised it. I'll add it to the eligibility post.

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It's ok. It was on the edge of my 25, but missed the cut. Had some doubts about a couple, but it's all good. Just sent it.


EDIT: For what it's worth, I went with a mixture of classic favorites, films I love and think are great, and others that I want to elevate or put the spotlight on, in case they get in. I ended up cutting a handful that were certainly deserving of being on the Top 25, but that I don't think will need my help getting in, in favor of some more "obscure" or "little known" ones.

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40 lists, 542 separate movies and the top 4 all have over 200 points each.

*sigh*

I wrote down my list on a piece of paper at work, and had it ready. All I had to do was type it and send it.

I get home and....it’s nowhere to be found....probably at work. Who ever finds it is going to have questions.

Going to check my car in case it fell out of my pocket

Update: I found it! It was in my car! List being sent in shortly.....

Just so you know, I can't accept postal ballots ;)

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Is the Apu Trilogy considered a single entry or three films? I've seen it listed both ways on here (for example, on the Ebert list)

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Three films, I would assume. If you were to list the trilogy, it would probably have to take up three entries on your list unless I'm mistaken.

Three films. That's generally how trilogies are treated for our list purposes. Obviously Roger Ebert follows his own rules.

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I accidentally submitted a list with one of the top movies being the wrong one because I didn't check the year, and the incorrect one is English. I sent a replacement one. Is that alright?

Re: Movie Forums Top Foreign Language Films Countdown - Preliminary Th
 

You should only be able to submit one ballot, so by "replacement" do you mean you just sent a PM manually with a new list? If so, then no, that won't count as-is. You'll need to PM me the specifics so I can manually fix it on the backend.

To that end, and for everyone yet to submit: there've been a few issues already, and as mentioned there's no good/super easy way for me to fix them, so I'd urge everyone to be very careful about their ballots. Double check the year, in particular: you might be surprised how many films have the exact same title as yours (and remakes tend to show up first).

Yes. I had to use the IMDb link for a couple of the films on my list as the "ballot system" never seemed to find the correct one otherwise.

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I had issues with some of the films from China or Japan. Some wouldn't appear by the English title, so I had to go to Wikipedia and copy/paste the Chinese or Japanese title for it to appear in the drop-down.

I was the one who asked about Polytechnique. You can read the whole conversation about it starting here, but this was the final answer about it:

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Looking forward to seeing this. I expect I won't have seen more than 40 films in it so lots of opportunity to discover new films.


@Yoda since you have TMDB APIs all set, it would be interesting to get some stats after the conclusion. (number of different countries, decades genres etc)

Yeah, foreign titles are the ones most likely to need that link tool. But the link tool works really well, so definitely use that if you don't find the film right away!

Yup, that's part of the idea.

I actually did something like this with the refresh list, I just had to build a script to take the titles and link them up to the DB after, and got some great stats out of it. This time I'm just doing it initially so I won't have to do that intermediate step.

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Submitted my list. Highly doubt any of them will be serious top contenders but still fun none the less.

Re: Movie Forums Top Foreign Language Films Countdown - Preliminary Th
 

Just submitted my list. Used the one film per director rule (with one exception) to cut it down. Left out any Italian horror as it felt like cheating (I usually watch the English dubs) and tried not to overthink the order.


Not too many surprises for those that know my taste, but would be a pleasant surprise to see a few of them show up in the countdown.

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48 lists!

And another change at the top. So interesting to see how the list is shaping up. So many good films just outside the top 100 as well.