THE ARTS & FAITH 100: Spiritually Significant Films
Eliminated Titles
(Apr 12, 2004 - slightly revised from initial posting)

The following 108 nominees received either no votes or one vote in the first round of our selection process. As a result, they are no longer eligible for the 2004 Top 100 List, unless selected by one of the three final round juries.

There are a number of really wonderful and fitting titles here which probably coulda been contenders if they were better known to board participants. (There are also some titles which likely only got nominated because the parameters for the list hadn't yet been set clearly enough: I've got to think that some of these are simply personal faves, rather than being considered Spiritually Significant. Of course, I'm willing to be convinced – which is part of the reason for this whole excercise....)

Hopefully this list will provide a starting place for some great discoveries over the coming year, and some of these titles may very well make the cut a year from now. I encourage people to use this thread to comment on some of these films that people ought to know more about.

25th Hour
Adventures of Baron Von Munchausen
Amore, l'
Au Revoir, Les Enfants
Bishop's Wife, The
Blaise Pascal
Blood Of Jesus, The
Burmese Harp, The
Burnt By The Sun
Celine & Julie Go Boating
City Of Angels
City Of Lost Children
Cold Heaven
Confessional, le
Count Of Monte Cristo
Cry Freedom
Cry The Beloved Country
Dancing at Lughnasa
Dead Man
Devil & Daniel Webster
Devil Probably
Diary of a City Priest
Donnie Darko
Entertaining Angels
Eureka
Europa 51
Exotica
Field
Fountainhead
Francesco
Funny Bones
Gertrud
Get On The Bus
Good, The Bad & The Ugly
Great Dictator
Green Room
Harold & Maude
I Confess
Idiot
Inn Of The Sixth Happiness
Inspector Calls, An
Interview with a Vampire
Island of Lost Souls
Jacob's Ladder
Jeremiah Johnson
Joe vs. The Volcano
Joseph
Joshua
Keys of the Kingdom
Last Wave, The
Liam
Life of Oharu
Lillies Of The Field
Lilya 4-Ever
Love Affair
Luther
Man Who Would Be King
Mary Poppins
Matewan
Meet John Doe
Metropolitan
Monsieur Vincent
Music Room
Painted Desert
Personal Velocity
Peter and Paul
Phone Booth
Picture of Dorian Gray
Priest
Promesse, La
Pure Formality, A
Quills
Raging Bull
Ran
Red Beard
Repentance
Rite of Spring
Rivers & Tides
Rollerball
Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead
Sansho Dayu
Saving Grace
Savior
Scarlet Pimpernel
Seventh Sign, The
Shadowlands (BBC)
Simon of the Desert
Sister Act
Sphere
Stan Brakhage Shorts
Stars In My Crown
Strange Cargo
Stromboli
Tale of Two Cities
Tears Of The Sun
Testament
Tilai
Trial of Joan of Arc, The
Truly, Madly, Deply
Utamaro & His Five Women
Vertigo
Voyage to Italy
Werckmeister Harmonies, The
Whale Rider
Wrong Man, The
Xmen
Yentl
You Can't Take It With You

: Promesse, La

Crap crap crap crap crap.

Dale

Overall, Ron, major kudos to you! I think your system is working as designed. Of course, I'm not thrilled to see some films excluded, but that's something we can address as we continue to improve the process.

Great job!!

[quote]: Promesse, La

Crap crap crap crap crap.[/quote]
I feel your pain.

Cold Heaven
Cry In The Dark, A
Inspector Calls, An
Jacob's Ladder
Joe vs. The Volcano
Last Wave, The
Metropolitan
Personal Velocity
Rapture, The
Saving Grace

Okay, COLD HEAVEN is a really really bad movie, with even worse acting. But an absolutely fascinating mess, full of intriguing spiritual stuff. A CRY IN THE DARK is the brilliantly acted story of a Seventh Day Adventist woman accused of murdering her own child. AN INSPECTOR CALLS is loaded with moral and spiritual stuff - a real classic that people ought to see. JACOB'S LADDER gets no votes? I'm surprised, shocked, appalled. JOE VS THE VOLCANO is one of the freshest and most original entries in the "carpe diem" genre, and with lots of explicitly Christian language - and hey, a comedy to boot! Our list could use more comedies. I've gotta think nobody's seen THE LAST WAVE, or else it would have gotten at least some votes - surely Peter Weir's most explicitly spiritual film! And how do DISCO and BARCELONA make the cut, but not Whit Stillman's lead-off (and maybe best) film, METROPOLITAN? It's got just as many hymns and crosses as DISCO, just as much miracle and grace and reconciliation as BARCELONA. Not to take away from either of those - all three are wonderful, though my personal fave would still be MET. And surely the third segment in PERSONAL VELOCITY should have figured very high on our list? Grace, miracle, sacrifice, God, and rendered in such utterly cinematic, artistic, understated ways - what's not to like? And, yes, THE RAPTURE and SAVING GRACE are each flawed in their own way, but I'll tell you, if they'd been released in the last couple years, I guarantee they'd be way up there on the list.

Sigh. Maybe next year....

So, Dale. What's LA PROMESSE?

Ron wrote:
: The following 119 nominees failed to receive any further votes beyond
: their original nomination.

: Brief History of Time
: Cry In The Dark, A
: Funeral, The
: Joseph
: Moses
: Peter and Paul
: Quills
: Rapture, The
: Shadowlands (BBC)
: Son Of Man
: Tree Of Wooden Clogs, The
: Widow of St. Pierre, The

That's funny, I remember putting all these films on my list (and perhaps one or two others). Since I boiled my list down to 100 and then marked 51 films as films that I was especially in favour of, I thought maybe you had simply deleted my nomination of the other 49 -- but then I saw Peter and Paul on this list, which was definitely one of the 51.

Any chance you could fix this?

: That's funny, I remember putting all these films on my list (and perhaps
: one or two others). Since I boiled my list down to 100 and then marked
: 51 films as films that I was especially in favour of, I thought maybe you
: had simply deleted my nomination of the other 49 -- but then I saw
: Peter and Paul on this list, which was definitely one of the 51.

Yes, but if I'm reading Ron correctly, if you the person who nominated them for the original list, and you were the only person who voted for those films in this new voting, then too bad so sad.

La Promesse is the Dardenne Brothers' film two prior to The Son, and just as explicitly and interestingly moral as Le Fils is. It's undoubtably one of my two Part 6 films, along with A Moment of Innocence, which I apparently forget to nominate at all, crap crap crap crap crap.

Dale

M. Dale Prins wrote:
: Yes, but if I'm reading Ron correctly, if you the person who nominated
: them for the original list, and you were the only person who voted for
: those films in this new voting, then too bad so sad.

Is he really keeping track of who nominated what, though? Cuz I don't think I actually DID nominate all of those films in the first place.

[quote]Ron wrote:
: The following 119 nominees failed to receive any further votes beyond
: their original nomination.

: Brief History of Time
: Cry In The Dark, A
: Funeral, The
: Joseph
: Moses
: Peter and Paul
: Quills
: Rapture, The
: Shadowlands (BBC)
: Son Of Man
: Tree Of Wooden Clogs, The
: Widow of St. Pierre, The

That's funny, I remember putting all these films on my list (and perhaps one or two others). Since I boiled my list down to 100 and then marked 51 films as films that I was especially in favour of, I thought maybe you had simply deleted my nomination of the other 49 -- but then I saw Peter and Paul on this list, which was definitely one of the 51.

Any chance you could fix this?[/quote]
Sure. When I read your "ballot" email, I interpreted it to mean that the films you were actually voting for were only those marked with a "Y." Now I see that you intended them all to be tabulated, and that the "Y" designations were, well, just for fun. But I'll add your votes for the other films, and rearrange the results accordingly.

It's still not going to help JOSEPH, for example, since you were the original nominator, and nobody else offered up a vote on its behalf. And as for PETER & PAUL, you were the only voter. One vote just isn't enough for a movie to survive that first round of elimination.

Back to the drawing board... Er, spreadsheet.

Ron wrote:

: : Since I boiled my list down to 100 and then marked 51 films as films
: : that I was especially in favour of . . .
:
: Now I see that you intended them all to be tabulated, and that the "Y"
: designations were, well, just for fun.

Actually, I mis-spoke. I actually put the "Y" designations there FIRST, to indicate the films I really really wanted to keep on the list, and then I went through the remaining films trimming out titles until I had got the entire list down to 100. Hope that makes more sense.

[quote]Ron wrote:

: : Since I boiled my list down to 100 and then marked 51 films as films
: : that I was especially in favour of . . .
:
: Now I see that you intended them all to be tabulated, and that the "Y"
: designations were, well, just for fun.

Actually, I mis-spoke. I actually put the "Y" designations there FIRST, to indicate the films I really really wanted to keep on the list, and then I went through the remaining films trimming out titles until I had got the entire list down to 100. Hope that makes more sense.[/quote]
Not especially.

All that matters to me is that you want me to count all 100 as "votes" - which is the case, is it not?

(And yes, for what it's worth, I did keep track of nominators. I decided it was important that someone beside the nominator would also vote for a film: I was looking for a "second" to the nomination, I guess you could say. But the way it ends up playing out, having only one vote for a film - by nominator OR other person - means the title drops from the list.)

I'm beginning to think that BC must be the Canadian version of Florida when it comes to counting votes. :crazy3:

Ron wrote:
: All that matters to me is that you want me to count all 100 as "votes" -
: which is the case, is it not?

Yes.

[quote]I'm beginning to think that BC must be the Canadian version of Florida when it comes to counting votes. :crazy3:[/quote]
See, we don't have elections all that much. The queen pretty much just tells us what to do.

:wink:

Okay, taking into account The Chattaway Adjustment, CRY IN THE DARK and THE RAPTURE made the cut. Groovy. Those particular whines are now officially withdrawn.

All I can say is, "UGH!!"

Oh, and "Do you actually listen to the Queen?"

asher wrote:
: Oh, and "Do you actually listen to the Queen?"

Yes, my father made sure we all listened to her Christmas message when it came on the telly each year.

Gah. Kicking myself for being so busy this weekend. Sore am I, sore SORE I say.



Peter and Paul, gone. Jacob's Ladder, gone. I am sick.

No Raging Bull makes SoNowThen a sad panda.

Jason Bortz wrote:
: Peter and Paul, gone.

Yeah, come to think of it, I remember thinking that I was NOT the one who nominated this film originally (though I certainly cast a vote for it last weekend) ...

You sure you were keeping track of the film's nominators, Ron?

I nominated it originally, I believe...

Ok, so what's left...

QUOTE

You sure you were keeping track of the film's nominators, Ron?

In the final analysis, I didn't worry about that. So long as a film got two votes from the respondents, it stayed in the running. P&P got only one, apparently. I can check the spreadsheet again tomorrow if you like.

PETER & PAUL isn't necessarily lost forever, by the way. The Biblical Films Jury may elect to include it in the final selection phase. That last round is sort of our safety net, so we can catch a few that fall through the net in the first rounds.

QUOTE

Adventures of Baron Von Munchausen City Of Lost Children Dead Man   Diary of a City Priest Exotica Gertrud Harold & Maude Peter and Paul Promesse, La Raging Bull Ran Rivers & Tides Stan Brakhage Shorts Whale Rider

So does that mean that none of these films have a shot at being on the list? That would be unfortunate, at the very least it would be silly to make a list like this and not include the following five on it:

Dead Man
La Promesse
Peter and Paul
Rivers & Tides
Stan Brakhage Shorts

QUOTE

QUOTE Adventures of Baron Von Munchausen City Of Lost Children Dead Man   Diary of a City Priest Exotica Gertrud Harold & Maude Peter and Paul Promesse, La Raging Bull Ran Rivers & Tides Stan Brakhage Shorts Whale Rider So does that mean that none of these films have a shot at being on the list?

Not exactly. They can't be voted for in the upcoming General Election, but any of them could be reinstated by one of the three juries that will be adding a few overlooked films to the list once the general voting is completed. You really do need to read the Selection Process posting. :wink:

QUOTE

That would be unfortunate, at the very least it would be silly to make a list like this and not include the following five on it: Dead Man La Promesse Peter and Paul Rivers & Tides Stan Brakhage Shorts

Well sir, I hate to break it to you, but you were the only one who felt that way about DEAD MAN or RIVERS & TIDES. And, silly as it may have been, even you, Mr Leary, did not see fit to include LA PROMESSE, PETER & PAUL or STAN BRAKHAGE among your list of 100 "Must Haves." (I, in fact, was the only person to record a vote for the unfortunate Mr Brakhage, and I haven't even seen his shorts.)

The moral to this story: If you want them to get voted for, you have to vote for 'em!

*

By the way, PETER & PAUL found its way onto the list because Jason brought it up in the biblical films thread, and I figured that was good enough reason to add it to the list of nominees. Peter did in fact cast a ballot for the film, but Jason was too busy betraying Christ to submit a ballot, thereby betraying two of His best apostles as well. Matt Page, also a noteworthy advocate for the film (if I remember correctly), also failed to designate this film on the ballot he submitted. You can only hope the Bible Movie Jury has mercy on the lot of you!

QUOTE

Peter did in fact cast a ballot for the film, but Jason was too busy betraying Christ to submit a ballot, thereby betraying two of His best apostles as well.

(Hoarse whisper through noose)

I repent!

Please note that I've created a topic here for users to post their list of excluded films (IE oversights/mistakes, not voting controversies) for consideration next year...

[quote][quote]Peter did in fact cast a ballot for the film, but Jason was too busy betraying Christ to submit a ballot, thereby betraying two of His best apostles as well.[/quote]

(Hoarse whisper through noose)

I repent![/quote]
Cut the confessions, forget the excuses...

: Matt Page, also a noteworthy advocate for the film (if I remember
: correctly), also failed to designate this film on the ballot he submitted

Unfortunately you remember incorrectly. I haven't in fact seen the film (not available in the UK) and so I couldn't vote for it.

Matt

[quote]: Matt Page, also a noteworthy advocate for the film (if I remember
: correctly)...

Unfortunately you remember incorrectly. I haven't in fact seen the film ...[/quote]

Well, that's the first time I've ever made a mistake like that. If I remember correctly...

[quote]
Well sir, I hate to break it to you, but you were the only one who felt that way about DEAD MAN or RIVERS & TIDES. And, silly as it may have been, even you, Mr Leary, did not see fit to include LA PROMESSE, PETER & PAUL or STAN BRAKHAGE among your list of 100 "Must Haves." (I, in fact, was the only person to record a vote for the unfortunate Mr Brakhage, and I haven't even seen his shorts.)
[/quote]

I didn't vote for a few because I figured they were a shoe-in and thought I would cast votes elsewhere. The Brakhage thing can slide, we don't really talk about him much anyway. Oh well, it isn't like the list we have now is "bad" or anything.

Ron.

It's a Wonderful Life is not eliminated, or at least it's not on this thread which contains eliminations, yet it's not in the Top 181 from the sticky thread which shows films that are still alive. What happened to this film? It's like in limbo, dude. And don't you dare say it got eliminated cuz it's not in this thread. And if it's not in this thread it plainly DIDN'T get eliminated or it would clearly be in this thread. Don't make me get all Rob from Survivor on you here. It's not elminated, GET IT?

-s.

Stef, is this film like the Amber to your Boston Rob? (Revealing my low-brow taste in television here.)

Obviously I'm not Ron, but I hate to see people in distress. So, just to ease your worried mind, look here to see that the film in question has already secured a spot on the list.

That's what I love about you guys (in the non-gender-specific sense) - that I'm surrounded by people who actually care whether IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE is on our list or not.

After a rough day at work, I sign in here and it feels like coming home.

As Alan says, movies matter.

: And, silly as it may have been, even you, Mr Leary, did not see fit to
: include LA PROMESSE...among your list of 100 "Must Haves."

Bad Mr. Leary. Bad bad.

Mr. Prins

[quote]: And, silly as it may have been, even you, Mr Leary, did not see fit to
: include LA PROMESSE...among your list of 100 "Must Haves."

Bad Mr. Leary. Bad bad.

Mr. Prins[/quote]

Others were voting too. As I said, I thought it was a shoe-in so I let that one slide.

I am certainly going to come across as a rabble-rouser, but it is interesting that there is not one Iranian film on the first 32. Maybe I missed one, it just seems interesting.

I don't want to second guess people's reasoning, but maybe it is because most Iranian films are more social than "spiritual" in nature. (Excuse my terrible false-dichotomy here, I personally don't subscribe to the previous sentence.)

[quote]Stef, is this film like the Amber to your Boston Rob? (Revealing my low-brow taste in television here.)[/quote]

Two weeks ago it would have been the Amber to my Boston Rob. Now it's just the film equivalent of "that chick that got kicked off" to my Boston Rob.

Well, in all seriousness, Ron is much bigger than me and only here in cyberspace can i make assertions about "going all anything" anyway. AND in all seriousness, It's a Wonderful Life must have been the first film i ever cried to. And it was a spiritual thing. And in years since, i find myself crying in the first 15 minutes. Geez Louise, sob sob, i'm such a girl, why don't i just go back to the crib and pin on some pampers.

AHE-AHEM HOW ABOUT THEM BEARS.

[quote]Obviously I'm not Ron, but I hate to see people in distress. So, just to ease your worried mind, look here to see that the film in question has already secured a spot on the list. [/quote]

Aaaah, thank you.

And yes, Ron. We do care. Thank you for your service.

-s.

PS I don't even watch Survivor, i've probably seen 45 minutes of it this season. I'm just trying to look like i know all about it because someone around here is a closet HUGE FAN.

-s.

[quote]I am certainly going to come across as a rabble-rouser, but it is interesting that there is not one Iranian film on the first 32. Maybe I missed one, it just seems interesting.
[/quote]

I am almost absolutely sure i voted for a Majidi film. Most likely The Color of Paradise.

-s.

[quote]AND in all seriousness, It's a Wonderful Life must have been the first film i ever cried to. And it was a spiritual thing. And in years since, i find myself crying in the first 15 minutes. Geez Louise, sob sob, i'm such a girl, why don't i just go back to the crib and pin on some pampers.[/quote]

ZuZu's petals! Who doesn't get at least a little emotional during It's a Wonderful Life? I'm seriously glad it's on our list.

[quote][quote]I am certainly going to come across as a rabble-rouser, but it is interesting that there is not one Iranian film on the first 32. Maybe I missed one, it just seems interesting.
[/quote]

I am almost absolutely sure i voted for a Majidi film. Most likely The Color of Paradise.

-s.[/quote]

Well, I was even thinking something classic like The Cyclist or The Silence. Films like this just strike me as "spiritual" in the same way the Kieslowski Trilogy is.

As mentioned before, I voted for The Wind Will Carry Us, and I would have voted for Taste of Cherry, Leila (although the moral decisions in that film are more cultural than religious) and A Moment of Innocence had they been nominated (which I'm at fault for not doing so).

Dale

[quote]Well, in all seriousness, Ron is much bigger than me...[/quote]

And now we're making comments about Ron's weight, are we? You break my heart! I lost one of my running shoes, okay? I can't very well go to the gym with only one running shoe...

[quote]As mentioned before, I voted for The Wind Will Carry Us,
Dale[/quote]

Duly noted. I just saw that and still haven't pieced it all together, very moving film.

[quote]And now we're making comments about Ron's weight, are we? You break my heart! I lost one of my running shoes, okay? I can't very well go to the gym with only one running shoe...[/quote]

Heh. To be honest, no i didn't know if you are a big man. I just assumed you were bigger than me. Most grown adults are.

-s.

[quote]Heh. To be honest, no i didn't know if you are a big man. I just assumed you were bigger than me. Most grown adults are.[/quote]

And now I'm being labelled a "grown adult." You really have a warped perception of me, Mr Stef! I'm as infantile as the next guy...

Um, heh.

(consider this a no-post)

I would argue passionately for any of these titles--I think these in particular are major losses:

Blaise Pascal

One of Rossellini's acclaimed historical films made for Italian television, it builds a fantastic portrait of Pascal's intregrative approach to science and faith.

Blood Of Jesus, The

Made for black audiences by black filmmakers in the '40s, the film is a genuine and perceptive reflection of an underrepresented faith culture. From Facets: "Spencer Williams directed this absorbing work about the scandal that envelops a small rural community when a weak husband accidentally shoots his religious wife, unleashing his own tormented faith and quest for redemption."

Burmese Harp, The

This is one of the most spiritual films I've seen, but it is rooted in more Buddhist ideals, though its pacifism and dedication to personal service have obvious Christian parallels. Kon Ichikawa is a major Japanese filmmaker.

Entertaining Angels

A Catholic production that fars outshines most evangelical ones in terms of quality of writing, performances, and thematic ambition. It presents the passion and calling of Dorothy Day, a major figure of 20th century Christianity.

Eureka (2000)

The best Japaense film I've seen in years, it's an astonishingly beautiful 4-hour film shot in sepia tones that represents an act of terrorism and the long journey of healing among the survivors afterward. Totally overlooked in this country because of its length (at a time when it was sorely needed), director Aoyama has talked about the film specifically in terms of rebirth and resurrection.

Europa 51

Rossellini's major statement on postwar materialism and the sort of Christianity that is so radically called to social justice and renewal that it becomes a threat to middle class notions of the status quo and even sanity. Another major work, starring Ingrid Bergman.

Gertrud

Carl Dreyer's last film and one of the most carefully-wrought and composed films ever made, it details a life with such high ideals and an inability to compromise that it inevitably ensures its own tragic unfulfillment.

I Confess

Though it's not as spiritually intense as The Wrong Man, Hitchcock's Catholic worldview is on full display here.

Idiot

Tragically reduced to about half of its original running time by its distributor, this is another powerful Kurosawa adaptation of Dostoevsky, though it's unavoidably choppy.


Life of Oharu

One of Mizoguchi's most lauded films, it follows the life of a respected woman in feudal Japan as society slowly siphons her into a life of prostitution. Slow and magesterial with a profound sense of compassion, few films have suggested the life of the spirit as it endurs unending hardship.

Love Affair

Leo McCarey's Catholicism gives this famous Hollywood love story (remade several times) a transcendental lift as it contextualizes its central relationship as manifestation of the lovers' individual spiritual lives.

Music Room (Jalsaghar)

Another major classic of world cinema, Satyajit Ray's contemplative depiction of a rich man's final days is, in many ways, Ecclesiastes on film.

Promesse, La

The Dardennes' first fictional feature is a profound and rigorously ethical tale about a young man's crisis of values and personal development. One of the best films of recent years.

Red Beard

Next to Ikiru and Dersu Uzala, this is probably Kurosawa's most sensitive and passionate evocation of the inner life and the strength of character needed to navigate life's turmoil and pain.

Repentance

A favorite of Russell Lucas' and mine, it was the major film of Gorbachev's glasnost, telling a tale of the totalitarian persecution of a Christian artist and his family, and the cultural renewal necessary to atone for the past. It played to sellout crowds in Russia for months and months.

Sansho Dayu (Sansho the Bailiff)

In my opinion, Mizoguchi's most lyrical, visceral, and affecting statement about suffering and perseverance and the need to retain a moral compass and a clear eye toward humanity. A major world classic. One of my Top Ten films of all time, cinema doesn't get any better than this.

Stars In My Crown

Jacques Tourneur, famous for horror masterpieces like Cat People and I Walked with a Zombie, here tells a tale of small town racism and a pastors' efforts to combat it. Beautiful and compelling. We also should have included Tourneur's later Night of the Demon.

Strange Cargo

Widely lauded for the spiritual intensity of his romantic films, Frank Borzage's classic Hollywood film is one of his most overt parables starring Clark Gable, Joan Crawford, and Peter Lorre. It presents a prison escape through the jungle and identifies the spiritual as well as physical journey of each of the escaping convicts, with a mysterious Christ figure aiding them along the way.

Stromboli

Another major work by Rossellini, about a woman's attempts to flee her own sense of captivity and attain peace with the world around her on a remote volcanic island.

Voyage to Italy

Rossellini's other major masterpiece with Ingrid Bergman depicts a crumbling marriage juxtaposed with the ancient and mysterious spirituality of Southern Italy and its rejuvenating effect on the couple's relationship. A landmark of cinematic modernism.

Werckmeister Harmonies, The

Bela Tarr's astonishing, atmospheric portrait of small town Hungary and the metaphysical force a travelling circus act exerts on the townspeople. J Robert will talk about this one for hours.

Wrong Man, The

A verityable statement of faith from Alfred Hitchock, it is also paradoxically his most "realistic" and documentary-like film about (what else?) a man wrongly accused of a crime. Rosenbaum says it's the only bona fide art film Hitchcock ever made, and the filmmaker actually introduces the film somewhat apologetically in order to warn the audience that this is a different kind of film for him. Tremendously moving in many ways.

Guess I should have used those extra five votes...


No, really, it's shaping up to be a very good list!

Doug, let's keep those firmly in our sights for next year's list. This year is our first attempt, and I think we all agree there are lots of films that fell through the cracks. (For me, the Human Condition trilogy's absence is an issue.)

Crap -- somehow cutting the girlfriend's hair last night must have distracted me from my obligations to this list. So, while I don't know if my votes would have made any difference, I am particularly sad to see these films eliminated from the second round of votes:

Pulp Fiction
Rashomon
Life Of Brian, The
Songs From The Second Floor
Yi-Yi
Fiddler On The Roof
Dersu Uzala
Believer, The
Koyaanisqatsi
Man Without A Past, The
Not Of This World
Memento
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Dreamlife Of Angels, The
After Life
Pi
Insider
Rapture, The
Funeral, The
Last Days of Disco, The

Juries, you know what to do.