The MoFos Top 100 of the 90s Countdown - Redux

i don't know nothing about either of these besides the titles.

Okay, this was a tangled web, a 4-way tie - Election found its way ahead of Remains of the Day based on highest position on ballots (they were still tied on a first pass with #1 rankings - on the second highest - Election took it, 3rd to 6th)

* Close-Up was on more ballots than Election, 6 to 5, but behind tomorrows entry (8 to 6)

So, we had a Mohsen Makhmalbaf film yesterday (A Moment of Innocence) and now fellow Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami joins the list, with a true tale about a man who was arrested and sent to trial for pretending to be Makhmalbaf - the real director even shows up in the movie at the end and gives the Faux Mohsen a ride on his bike, to make amends to the people he fooled. Close-Up is considered by many one of the, if not 'the' greatest Iranian film, which always ranks high on the Sight and Sound polls (#17 on the last critics poll).

* We had a brief but lively conversation about Election on the "Countdown Group Watch" thread - funny, a couple of its defenders admitted that they wouldn't be voting for it, but it did find its way on 5 ballots, with 1 first place vote and a 3rd, to help propel it into the hot 100.

Trivia - Part of the story was inspired by a real-life incident (there's your theme of the day), in which a pregnant student at a High School in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, was elected homecoming queen, but staff announced a different winner and burned the ballots to cover it up.

Both movies are part of the Criterion Collection, Close-Up is Spine #519, while Election is #904


On the original 90s countdown, Close-Up came in at #80, while Election was unranked

Seen both, like 1 (Election)

Seen both. Election is good. Close Up I didn't care for although I like Kiarostami decently.

This is the fourth appearance of Close-Up. It was #80 on that initial MoFo '90s list as well as #48 on the MoFo Top 100 Foreign Films and #59 on the MoFo Top 100 Documentaries. Somehow this is the first MoFo list for Election. Probably Mr. McAllistser up to his usual vote counting shenanigans.

__________________
"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra

Not only haven't the last four been on my list, I haven't even seen them. Getting kinda sad now

Interesting Close-Up shows up today. I started Moment of Innocence last night (don’t judge me, old fat men get tired at night and fall asleep), and with about 20 minutes left to watch am definitely feeling like it’s a slighter version of Close-Up. I consider myself a pretty big Kiarastomi fan, but Close-Up is in that second tier for me. I didn’t end up having a Kiarastomi on my list. Desperately tried to cram Taste Of Cherry on there, but it didn’t happen. Thinking this will be his only entry, feels like his most well regarded. Not my choice, but I’m glad he has something here. Excellent, unique director.

I could gush on Payne a bit too. I really love him, but didn’t make room for Election either. Really due for a rewatch of this one, but I’m certainly glad it’s here.

__________________
Letterboxd

“Except for markf, you’re all a disgrace to cinema.”

74. Election (1999) - Been enjoying this film for a long time, it has such an interesting take on so much to do with personality, morals, fairness, class, education, intelligence and popularity. I love the way it winds many complex issues right back to high school, and how it puts us in the mind of Matthew Broderick's teacher - we agree with his point of view, but he's the ultimate flawed protagonist who ends up doing all the cheating, despite his subjective moral superiority to his arch nemesis. Such a great performance from Matthew Broderick, and also Reese Witherspoon. Amazing screenplay and direction from Alexander Payne. This came out of nowhere one day - it just looked like your everyday comedy, but it's smart and very observant and really launched Payne's career. I had to have it on my ballot - it's one of my favourite films, and it's probably been too long since I last watched it. I had it at #18.

73. Close-Up (1990) - I think I watched this because it came up during the Foreign Language Countdown - that was around three years ago. It was my first taste of how filmmakers like Kiarostami and Makhmalbaf mix real life documentary filmmaking with conventional narrative to produce something completely new, weird and complex. I scored it 4/5 and used words like "compelling" to describe my experience with it, but I feel I should really go back and see it again now that I'm fully used to this unusual style - I think I was still a little resistant despite being in no doubt as to how inventive and brilliant it was. I have another Iranian film on my ballot that hovers around the Moment of Innocence/Close-Up zone, but it might not make the countdown. I still have a little hope - but not much!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seen : 28/28
I'd never even heard of : 0/28
Movies that had been on my radar, but I haven't seen yet : 0/28
Films from my list : 4 + 1 pointer

#74 - My #18 - Election (1999)
#78 - My #2 - The Blair Witch Project (1999)
#81 - My #22 - Before Sunrise (1995)
#96 - My #15 - Fallen Angels (1995)
1-pointer - Deep Crimson (1996)

__________________

Election: Love this. Not on my list, and wondering why. Sheesh ... looks like I left it off my spreadsheet. Could have been a contender for sure. Reese Witherspoon's expressions are just scary good. And Matthew Broderick was perfect as the teacher who can't get anything right.

Close-Up: Gosh, another I've not seen and, in this case, not heard of. Feeling somewhat inadequate in my knowledge of non-English-language films.

Seen: 16/28
Ballot: 2/25
Sleepless in Seattle: #91 / My #3
Office Space: #95 / My #23

__________________
Scarecrow: I haven't got a brain ... only straw. Dorothy: How can you talk if you haven't got a brain? Scarecrow: I don't know. But some people without brains do an awful lot of talking, don't they? Dorothy: Yes, I guess you're right.

Close-Up is a masterpiece and my #1 of the decade. I've rewatched it quite a few times recently, as well as other films by Kiarostami, and his work is undeniable. The more I revisit the more I'm bumping up my ratings. I get why some might not think so and that's fine...but you're wrong and that's fine too. I could have had three of his films on my list.

One of if not the greatest moment in cinema. Spoilers (I guess haha?)


As for Election, there's one more thing about Tracy I think you should know. Her movie gets so good. Just outside of my top 25. Top 50 for sure.

1. Close-Up (1990)
12. A Moment of Innocence (1996)
20. Sonatine (1993)

The three of mine to show up so far are all non-English language. Cool!

__________________
"Don't be so gloomy. After all it's not that awful. Like the fella says, in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."

A Moment of Innocence? Hadn't Seen It.

The Remains of the Day? Hadn't Seen It, but younger me would have avoided those stiff upper lip would be romancers if someone dared to utter an emotion, a feeling about how they felt for each other.

Election? Good film, but not on the list

Close-Up? Hadn't Seen It.

Seen: 15/28

I'm very happy to see Election come up, after it missing the Comedy Countdown a few years back. Like I said back then, this is a film that I saw a long time ago, and even though I didn't revisit it for a long time, it kinda always stuck with me. I revisited it a couple of years ago, before that countdown, and that's when its brilliance hit me. Here is my full review, but here's also a snippet of it:

If there's any fan here, I recommend you seek the alternate ending on YouTube. Even though I like the actual ending a lot, I think this alternate ending has so many interesting layers to both lead characters, and ends the film in a more pensive note that I quite liked. An interesting curiosity. Anyway, I love it. I had it at #13.

I haven't seen Close-Up. Kiarostami is a big blind spot for me. I haven't seen anything.



SEEN: 14/28
MY BALLOT: 4/25

__________________

Here is the alternate ending...

I watched Election for Group Watch and it wasn't my kind of movie.

I haven't seen Close Up. I just read the synopsis on IMDb: "The true story of Hossain Sabzian, a cinephile who impersonated the director Mohsen Makhmalbaf to convince a family they would star in his so-called new film." Interesting that it shows up so soon after A Moment of Innocence. It's under two hours so maybe I'll give it a shot.

Seen: 23/28
My Balllot:
9. Point Break (#79)
12. True Romance (#94)
24. Interview With the Vampire (#92)
25. Untamed Heart (One Pointer)

__________________

I probably should watch Election again--I liked it fine when I watched it back in the day, but I didn't love it, and I've never entirely warmed up to Payne. But it's so well-regarded that I think I should give it another watch. Not on my list.

Love Kiarostami, love Close-Up. In some ways reminiscent of another great documentary-esque film, F for Fake, I think it's just a wonderful way of playing with the nature of reality and identity. This was my #15.

Also, meant to post these facts yesterday when we hit our first 25, but here they are anyway...

At this point, our highest ranked entries on Rotten Tomatoes are:

• Before Sunrise - 100%
• Three Colors: Red - 97%
• The Remains of the Day - 96%
• Porco Rosso - 96%
• Beauty and the Beast - 95%
• Fallen Angels - 95%

The only "rotten" entry so far, has been Gummo, which has a 39% approval on RT.



As usual, a friendly reminder that the RT Score is not a measure of quality, but an aggregate that tells you the percentage of critics that were positive on a film. So by that measure, pretty much every critic had a positive reaction to Before Sunrise, but that positive reaction could go from "This is amazing!" to "meh, twas Ok". On the other hand, this also means that there are a "few" critics that were positive towards Gummo.

---

As far as IMDb goes, the highest ranked entries have been:

• Close-Up - 8.2
• Before Sunrise - 8.1
• Beauty and the Beast - 8.0
• The Celebration - 8.0
• True Romance - 7.9

On the other hand, the lowest ranked entries on IMDb are:

• Election - 7.2
• Strange Days - 7.2
• Sleepless in Seattle - 6.8
• The Blair Witch Project - 6.5
• Gummo - 6.6

So some overlaps between both groups. Take from that what you may.

Also remember, the IMDb rating is supposed to be a measure of "perceived quality" based on user's ratings. So also, take from that what you may.

---

More list facts:

• There have been nine (9) ties so far.
• The point gaps between films have been minimal, with the biggest one so far being three (3) points each between The Blair Witch Project, Beauty and the Beast, and A Moment of Innocence.

Ditto.