2006 Xixax DEKAPENTICON Returns: The Nominations Are In!

Started by modage, December 29, 2005, 09:46:24 AM

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modage



Xixax will create a list of the 15 best movies ever made.

The nominations are in and now it's up to YOU to decide which films will make the final 15.  Due to a number of ties we have 57 nominations instead of 50, but it's a great list with a handful of differences from our last Dekapenticon 2 years ago.  We will also be allowing campaigning for this final round so be sure to check the Campaign Rules below. So without further adeiu, here is the list!

THE NOMINATIONS

2001: A Space Odyssey
400 blows
8 1/2
Adaptation
Amelie
American Beauty
Annie Hall
Apocalypse Now
Back to the Future
Barry Lyndon
Barton Fink
Big Lebowski, The
Blue Velvet
Boogie Nights
Brazil
Casablanca
Citizen Kane
Clockwork Orange
Dancer in the Dark
Do the Right Thing
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Eyes Wide Shut
Fargo
Fight Club
Godfather
Godfather: Part II
Goodfellas
Graduate, The
It's a Wonderful Life
Jackie Brown
La Dolce Vita
Magnolia
Manhattan
Modern Times
Mulholland Drive
Network
Once Upon a Time in the West
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Passion of Joan of Arc
Persona
Psycho
Pulp Fiction
Punch Drunk Love
Raging Bull
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Requiem For A Dream
Royal Tenenbaums
Rushmore
Schindler's List
Shining, The
Short Cuts
Singin In The Rain
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
Sunset Boulevard
Taxi Driver
Vertigo

It's almost time to vote!

From the 57 nominations, you will choose 10. Those votes will count for the final list of 15.

RULES
You must pick exactly 10 movies.
The 10 movies must all come from the list we have provided and be written exactly as they appear.
They must be numbered in order of preference. From 1 the best, to 10.
Once a vote is submitted, there will be no changes granted.
Anyone who posts on xixax can vote (doesn't matter whether you voted in the first round).
Do not display your votes publicly (yet).

CAMPAIGNING RULES
In this round you can only campaign ONE movie. If you want to campaign, you must do so in your AVATAR. You may have seen other people use this technique in the past. Be creative if you want. The campaign thread from the previous round will be locked because it is no longer needed as it would defeat the purpose in this round to have everyone mention a bunch of films from the shortlist as all 57 would be covered eventually. You can discuss films as usual, even the ones you have chosen to campaign, but postwhoring will not be tolerated. That is, replying to everything like it's a chat room, that has never been allowed.  The logic of the avatar campaign is simple: basically you are supporting whatever you think needs the support. There is little danger of rigging because the rest of your choices remain unknown. And telling people what to vote for, or listing your top 10, has never been the point of the dekapenticon. as always, go with what you like the best based on your own reasons.

If your username begins begins with A-D, send your ballot to Cinephile

If your username begins begins with E-H, send your ballot to ©brad

If your username begins begins with I-L, send your ballot to modage

If your username begins begins with M-P, send your ballot to Pubrick

If your username begins begins with Q-T, send your ballot to picolas

If your username begins begins with U-X, send your ballot to Ravi

If your username begins begins with Y-Z (or a #), send your ballot to RegularKarate


Please put "10 Best" in the subject line.

VOTES WILL BE ACCEPTED BEGINNING JANUARY 1ST UNTIL JANUARY 15TH

Have any questions about the voting process? Ask them here.
Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

Brazoliange

any chance the full submission list will be posted in the future? just curious.
Long live the New Flesh

JG

any chance we'll get to see how many votes each of top 57 recieved? 

Gamblour.

any chance battle of algiers will find its way onto this afi list?

/complaining
WWPTAD?

RegularKarate

Quote from: JimmyGator on December 29, 2005, 02:45:15 PM
any chance we'll get to see how many votes each of top 57 recieved? 

No, this will sway the voting.

JG


ono

At first glance, it doesn't seem like there's too much of a difference.  I was beginning to think Xixax failed to come up with an original, interesting list.  But there are some good things to note.  First, a breakdown:

[ADDITIONS]
American Beauty
Back to the Future
Dancer in the Dark
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
The Graduate
It's A Wonderful Life
La Dolce Vita
Manhattan
Modern Times
Network
Once Upon A Time In The West
Passion of Joan of Arc
Persona
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Schindler's List
Short Cuts
Sunset Boulevard

[OMISSIONS]
Being John Malkovich
Casino
Donnie Darko
The Elephant Man
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
The Matrix
My Life To Live
The Seven Samurai
The Shawshank Redemption

My opinion: All additions except for The Graduate are very welcome.  No comment on Raiders.  I guess this is reverse backlash from last year, where Spielberg got snubbed.  It's A Wonderful Life is questionable.  The only reason I think this one has surged in popularity is the world has become an increasingly depressing place, and this film reiterates that.  It's not that great a film, though, and is more nihilistic than anything.  La Dolce Vita, upon first viewing, seems a little slight, even with its three hour length, but it's one of those films that sits with you, and my appreciation for it has increased greatly recently as a result.  I'd take it over 8 1/2 any day.  It's good to see American Beauty get its due here.  For a while it seemed there was a lot of backlash here against it because it beat out Magnolia in so many ways.  A long while ago, I promised Fernando I'd post saying why American Beauty is so great for me.  I never got to it because I've been so busy, but don't worry... I will someday.

All subtractions are welcome, too, as all these are decent movies, but nowhere near stellar enough to fit our best-of list.  I think support for Seven Samurai somehow just faded.  Sad, because Kurosawa, like Welles, is responsible for so much.  I'm just happy My Life To Live was omitted if anything.  I'm glad we came to our senses and LOTR is nowhere to be found.

I know there is a lot of PTA backlash here, but the more I watch his films, the more I am convinced of their value, especially in repeated viewings.  Punch-Drunk Love, though simplistic on the surface, only grows in appreciation for me.  Magnolia should reclaim the number one spot, though I'm suspecting that 2001 will push it back because of the backlash, and it'll fall to number two.  I'm confident Eyes Wide Shut and Persona will make appearances on the top 15 this time around.  I think they're finally starting to come into their own as far as appreciation goes.  There is backlash against Pulp Fiction, too, but not enough to keep it down.  And it's reassuring to see Jackie Brown recognized again.  It would be Tarantino's best film if Pulp never happened.  But then again, Pulp made everything seem so easy, and changed the face of cinema, so it's no wonder Jackie pales even if it is such a great flick.

Mainstays: I still don't know what the fuck Adaptation. is doing on the list.  It's a broken film that starts great, then crashes and burns.  I saw it on opening night and laughed until my cheeks ached, yes.  But Kaufman then didn't know how to write a third act.  Eternal Sunshine fixed that, yet the only thing keeping that movie back from being great was Gondry's cold direction.  Eternal Sunshine will find a place on the top 15, but it doesn't deserve it.

Wes Anderson is a good director (I originally wrote "second-rate", but that's too harsh) who still hasn't told a story to match his stylistic flares.  I love him, but his films aren't "best-of-all-time" material.  Rushmore comes closest but breaks about halfway through.  Tenenbaums is too caught up in style, and as a result holds its audience at a distance, much like Eternal Sunshine.  At least there was no Crowe on the list.  That would've invalidated the list more than anything.

Darkhorses: You don't hear much talk about The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly or One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, yet they always creep onto these lists.  Interesting.  There are always films like this, that don't get much talk, always get nominated, and then never make it onto the final list.

Disappointments: Mike Leigh's Naked.  I just recently saw this film since the Criterion was released, and I was hoping it would get its due considering some of the talk here.  I get the feeling it just came up short, and next year it'll finally be recognized.  If you haven't seen this film, do so.  You've seen nothing like it before.  It and Dancer in the Dark are two films that will change your perceptions of what film can be.  I say this because of bluejaytwist's recent response to seeing Dancer for the first time.  Dancer just made an appearance on this list.  Naked will next year.  The Ice Storm was overlooked, but that can be forgiven.  And for all their support at Xixax, it's surprising that films like Spirited Away, 21 Grams, The Dreamers, George Washington, My Own Private Idaho, and Red didn't appear (my guess is that Blue might have split the vote).

Bottom line: 17 films I nominated are on the list.  I'll have a hard time choosing 10.  One final prediction: the list will have the same films except add Eternal Sunshine, subtract My Life to Live and The Seven Samurai (two films that were on the list last time, not even nominated this time). The list will remain generally the same, sad but true, though there are a few changes to take note of.  I don't see any way around it, though I'd love to see Eyes Wide Shut, Persona, and The Big Lebowski up there.

Question/suggestion for the admins: it would seem to me as if it would be easier for you if you asked people to assign point values to each movie, instead of ranking them from 1-10.  It'd save you work.  If they rank them 1-10, you'll have to transpose all those values manually.  But if they give their favorite movie 10 points, half of the work is done for you.  Just something to think about.

polkablues

Whoever didn't vote for Die Hard can go straight to hell.
My house, my rules, my coffee

tpfkabi

what's your beef with The Graduate?
considering our age group and the amount that it's influenced so many films, i'm surprised it's not near the top.

did i miss something or is there no Godard?
i got a feeling he may have gotten a lot of nominations, just probably for different films, so not enough to make the 50 list.

my disappointment: Fight Club. i think Seven spanks it.
I am Torgo. I take care of the place while the Master is away.

Pubrick

Quote from: onomabracadabra on December 29, 2005, 04:10:46 PM
Bottom line: 17 films I nominated are on the list.

and i'm sure u just name dropped all of them. :ponder:

if u want to discuss the graduate go to the graduate thread, if u want to support it, do sumthing interesting with ur avatar. otherwise no more discussion, this isn't a thread for disparaging or campaigning. read the rules.
under the paving stones.

Brazoliange

Quote from: polkablues on December 29, 2005, 04:37:18 PM
Whoever didn't vote for Die Hard can go straight to hell.

The Dreamers and The Life Aquatic are both missing too...
Long live the New Flesh

Pubrick

Quote from: Brazoliange on December 29, 2005, 06:59:39 PM
The Dreamers and The Life Aquatic are both missing too...

so are 603 other films that didn't make the list.. AMAZING.

THREAD TEMPORARILY LOCKED. ANY QUESTIONS PM AN ADMIN RE: DEKA - see original post for direct links.
under the paving stones.

SoNowThen

No Godard films, and no Tarkovsky films.

Either people have not seen their movies, or they have not seen them enough times. As a movie-lover, you are doing yourself a disservice neglecting these two.
Those who say that the totalitarian state of the Soviet Union was not "real" Marxism also cannot admit that one simple feature of Marxism makes totalitarianism necessary:  the rejection of civil society. Since civil society is the sphere of private activity, its abolition and replacement by political society means that nothing private remains. That is already the essence of totalitarianism; and the moralistic practice of the trendy Left, which regards everything as political and sometimes reveals its hostility to free speech, does nothing to contradict this implication.

When those who hated capital and consumption (and Jews) in the 20th century murdered some hundred million people, and the poster children for the struggle against international capitalism and America are now fanatical Islamic terrorists, this puts recent enthusiasts in an awkward position. Most of them are too dense and shameless to appreciate it, and far too many are taken in by the moralistic and paternalistic rhetoric of the Left.

modage

It's time to vote!

2 weeks to get your votes in everyone!  There will be no extensions this time so VOTE OR DIE.  :yabbse-grin:
Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

MacGuffin

"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


Skeleton FilmWorks