The Movie Forums Top 100 of All-Time Refresh: Countdown

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I started this forum 20 years ago. A decade into its existence we held a countdown to try to quantify which films were the most loved by the community. Now, a decade later, we're doing it again to see how our tastes have changed, both as a community (with plenty of new people), and as individuals.


The Numbers

To that latter point, exactly 10 people participated in both lists: rauldc14, honeykid, Yoda, sarah f, mark f, Miss Vicky, TheUsualSuspect, Iroquois, Thursday Next, and Powdered Water.

In total we ended up with 96 ballots and 988 films. That's over twice as many submissions as the last incarnation of this list. To give you a sense of the scale, the #1 film last time had a point total that would've barely cracked the Top 10 this time around. And this time, it wasn't even possible to make the list unless at least three people chose you...and that's if they put you 1st, 1st, and 5th. Anything less just wasn't good enough.




I am grateful to each and every person who submitted a list. I know it was hard to choose, to whittle down, and to rank our favorites, but we got through it, somehow. It's gonna be okay. Until a film you like doesn't make the cut or isn't as high as you'd like, at which case, you should definitely fly off the handle and call everyone a troglodyte. Mostly because it's just a fun word to say.

A huge thanks, in particular, to @TheUsualSuspect for tabulating everything. I'd say it was a thankless task, but here I am thanking him so I guess it's a not. It's a one-thank task, unless some of you thank him, too (which you should). His efforts let me focus on all the fun stuff like presentation and arguing. I am grateful.


The Panel

TUGG, Holden Pike, Hey Fredrick, The Rodent, donniedarko, WrinkledMind, Diehl40, matt72582, Skepsis93, Tramuzgan, Guaporense, martyrofevil, Cobpyth, SpelingError, ahwell, mojofilter, John Dumbear, cricket, Citizen Rules, John W Constantine, Kaplan, Olivier Parent, KeyserCorleone, seanc, Rauldc14, The Samoan Lawyer, Captain Spaulding, Gandalf26, Miss Vicky, Thursday Next, HollowMan, neiba, pahaK, edarsenal, Siddon, Steve Freeling, John-Connor, Cobra, Torgo, Urkillinmesmalls, ScarletLion, Jinnistan, HashtagBrownies, SmudgeEFC1985, Rockatansky, re93animator, ApexPredator, dadgumblah, Deschain, Thunderbolt, Fabulous, Takoma11, sawduck, crumbsroom, Powdered Water, Mr Minio, John McClane, Yoda, Agrippinax, 7thson, GulfportDoc, Iroquois, CosmicRunaway, CiCi, Nemanja, MovieMeditation, honeykid, WHITBISSELL!, Okay, Raven73, Frightened Inmate No. 2, Wyldesyde19, kgaard, ynwtf, Wooley, Derek Vinyard, Pussy Galore, gbgoodies, moongirl, Sedai, Maaann, Austruck, Taz, MovieFan1988, resopamenic, StanleyKubrick, IrishSansRed, TONGO, rbrayer, mark f, TheUsualSuspect, sarah f, JayDee, cat_sidhe, Daniel M, Thief




There's a few small technical things for me to work on and polish, so I'll give you guys this evening to make predictions and whip yourselves into a frenzy.

Tomorrow I'll post the "one pointers." For those who don't know, those are the films who...yeah, you get the idea. They got one point, which means they were 25th on one person's ballot and not on any other lists. It's popular among panelists to put hopeless causes here so they get a little extra attention, and we're going to continue to reward that shameless gaming of our system.

Thanks for your patience. Won't be long now.



The List


100. Brazil (69 points)
99. Suspiria (70 points)
98. Cabaret (71 points)
97. The Searchers (71 points)
96. Enter the Dragon (71 points)
95. Ikiru (72 points)
94. Her (73 points)
93. Braveheart (73 points)
92. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (74 points)
91. Rosemary's Baby (75 points)



90. Harold and Maude (75 points)
89. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (75 points)
88. Akira (76 points)
87. Toy Story (76 points)
86. Dazed and Confused (77 points)
85. To Kill a Mockingbird (77 points)
84. The Apartment (77 points)
83. Saving Private Ryan (77 points)
82. 8 ½ (77 points)
81. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (78 points)



80. West Side Story (79 points)
79. American Beauty (79 points)
78. Star Wars: A New Hope (79 points)
77. Young Frankestein (80 points)
76. Stand By Me (81 points)
75. Paris, Texas (82 points)
74. Magnolia (83 points)
73. Metropolis (83 points)
72. A Woman Under the Influence (85 points)
71. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (85 points)



70. Heat (86 points)
69. American History X (89 points)
68. Pan's Labyrinth (89 points)
67. Andrei Rublev (91 points)
66. Mulholland Drive (91 points)
65. Forrest Gump (94 points)
64. Singin' in the Rain (94 points)
63. Die Hard (94 points)
62. The Tree of Life (95 points)
61. City of God (95 points)



60. There Will Be Blood (96 points)
59. Rocky (97 points)
58. The Night of the Hunter (104 points)
57. North by Northwest (106 points)
56. The Terminator (107 points)
55. Gone With the Wind (109 points)
54. Come and See (109 points)
53. Sunset Boulevard (111 points)
52. Fight Club (112 points)
51. No Country for Old Men (113 points)



50. Amadeus (114 points)
49. Raging Bull (115 points)
48. The Third Man (115 points)
47. The Exorcist (117 points)
46. The Silence of the Lambs (118 points)
45. Persona (120 points)
44. Halloween (127 points)
43. Unforgiven (127 points)
42. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (129 points)
41. Schindler's List (129 points)



40. Rear Window (129 points)
39. Spirited Away (130 points)
38. It's A Wonderful Life (132 points)
37. Aliens (139 points)
36. The Wizard of Oz (143 points)
35. The Godfather: Part II (145 points)
34. Back to the Future (147 points)
33. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (149 points)
32. A Clockwork Orange (150 points)
31. Once Upon a Time in the West (154 points)



30. Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (159 points)
29. Se7en (160 points)
28. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (164 points)
27. Psycho (168 points)
26. Seven Samurai (177 points)
25. Stalker (178 points)
24. The Matrix (178 points)
23. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (181 points)
22. 12 Angry Men (183 points)
21. The Shining (183 points)



20. The Thing (205 points)
19. Vertigo (212 points)
18. The Big Lebowski (217 points)
17. Chinatown (223 points)
16. The Shawshank Redemption (230 points)
15. Lawrence of Arabia (258 points)
14. Taxi Driver (261 points)
13. Alien (263 points)
12. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (266 points)
11. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (270 points)






The Top 10


10. Citizen Kane (284 points)
9. Apocalypse Now (290 points)
8. Raiders of the Lost Ark (313 points)
7. Blade Runner (343 points)
6. Jaws (349 points)
5. Pulp Fiction (367 points)
4. Casablanca (390 points)
3. Goodfellas (478 points)
2. The Godfather (531 points)
1. 2001: A Spacy Oddyssey (538 points)






The Entire List

Here is the spreadsheet of every film receiving any votes. It's roughly a thousand films. We're aware of a handful of duplicate entries and other minor clerical errors, most of which would have been consolidated when double-checked if they could have plausibly influenced the list.





One Pointers are films that received exactly one point, which means a single person had them in the last spot on their ballot (25th), and they received no other votes from anyone else.

Many panelists use this spot to give oddball films a little spotlight before the countdown starts in earnest. Here's what we ended up with this time:



Throw Away Your Books, Rally in the Streets (1971)
The Saddest Music in the World (2003)
Irreversible (2002)
Fursonas (2016)
The House on Haunted Hill (1959)
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)
Che? (1972)
Malena (2000)
In This Corner of the World (2016)
Cyrano de Bergerac (1950)



Dead Poets Society (1989)
Clay Pigeons (1998)
Zerograd (1989)
Donnie Brasco (1997)
Poison for the Fairies (1984)
Lupin the Third: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979)
Sunday in New York (1963)
The Impostors (1998)
A Man For All Seasons (1966)
A Ghost Story (2017)



We Are Marshall (2006)
Coraline (2009)
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)
The Florida Project (2017)
Elite Squad: The Enemy Within (2010)
Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987)
The Day of the Jackal (1973)
Some Kind of Wonderful (1987)
Army of Darkness (1992)
Dangerous Liaisons (1988)



Good Manners (2017)
Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (1991)
The 10th Victim (1965)
Lolita Torture Vibrator (1987)
My Favorite Year (1982)
Step Brothers (2008)
Dallas Buyers Club (2013)



Yay, here we go

Faildictions (Eternal vsn 1.0):
100. Robocop (1987)
99.The Titfield Thunderbolt (1953)

Ta to both the lil green one and TUS for making it happen.



988 different noms, at least everyone didn't pick the same thing



Without giving anything away I'll just say some of the predictions, either in here or in the other thread, of one of the first films to show up on the list...is at least kinda close.



Without giving anything away I'll just say some of the predictions, either in here or in the other thread, of one of the first films to show up on the list...is at least kinda close.
Yay - wtg Titfield, I knewed ya could do it eventually!!!!!



Faux predictions...

100. Citizen Kane
99. Master of Disguise
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Yay, here we go

Faildictions (Eternal vsn 1.0):
100. Robocop (1987)
99.The Titfield Thunderbolt (1953)

Ta to both the lil green one and TUS for making it happen.
RoboCop better be higher than 100th place



Faux predictions...

100. Holy Motors
99. Holy Motors 2: Electric Boogaloo
You might be unto something with Holy Motors, it gets a lot of love here. I've not seen it myself, but I'll keep my fingers crossed anyway