Sight and Sound's Greatest Movies Poll 2012

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courtesy of blogs.indiewire.com

Every ten years, the British magazine Sight and Sound conducts a poll among a large selection of qualified critics and film directors to ask them what they qualify as the greatest films of all time. Since 1962, the #1 film has consistently been Citizen Kane. It finally happened. Another film broke the trend and overtook the top spot. Below are the top ten - one set from critics, one set from directors - the rest of the top 50 are after the cut and I've provided some thoughts afterward.

Critics' Top Ten	Directors' Top Ten
Vertigo (1958) Citizen Kane (1941) Tokyo Story (1953) The Rules of the Game (1939) Sunrise (1927) 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)  The Searchers (1956) Man With a Movie Camera (1929) The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) 8 1/2 (1963)	Tokyo Story (1953) 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) Citizen Kane (1941) 8 1/2 (1963) Taxi Driver (1976) Apocalypse Now (1979) The Godfather (1972) Vertigo (1958) Mirror (1974) Bicycle Thieves (1948)

The rest of the top 50 after the cut.
Based on critic votes...

courtesy of wsj.net

11. Battleship Potemkin(1925)
12. L’Atalante(1934)
13. Breathless(1960)
14. Apocalypse Now (1979)
15. Late Spring(1949)
16. Au Hasard Balthazar(1966)
17. (tie) Seven Samurai(1954)
17. (tie) Persona (1966)

19. Mirror(1974)
20. Singin’ in the Rain(1951)

21. (tie) L’avventura(1960)
21. (tie) Le Mépris(1963)
21. (tie) The Godfather(1972)

courtesy of altfg.com

24. (tie) Ordet(1955)
24. (tie) In the Mood for Love(2000)

26. (tie) Rashomon(1950)
26. (tie) Andrei Rublev(1966)

28. Mulholland Dr.(2001)
29. (tie) Stalker(1979)
29. (tie) Shoah(1985)

31. (tie) The Godfather Part II(1974)
31. (tie) Taxi Driver(1976)

33. Bicycle Thieves(1948)
34. The General(1926)
35. (tie) Metropolis(1927)
35. (tie) Psycho(1960)
35. (tie) Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce 1080 Bruxelles (1975)
35. (tie) Sátántangó (1994)

courtesy of thereflectedlife.com

39. (tie) The 400 Blows(1959)
39. (tie) La dolce vita(1960)

41. Journey to Italy(1954)
42. (tie) Pather Panchali(1955)
42. (tie) Some Like It Hot(1959)
42. (tie) Gertrud(1964)
42. (tie) Pierrot le fou(1965)
42. (tie) Play Time(1967)
42. (tie) Close-Up(1990)

48. (tie) The Battle of Algiers(1966)
48. (tie) Histoire(s) du cinéma(1998)

50. (tie) City Lights(1931)
50. (tie) Ugetsu monogatari(1953)
50. (tie) La Jetée(1962)

My Thoughts

• In a sad revelation, I have only seen 20 of these...I have work to do.
• There have been no films made between now and 2002 (the last time this poll was taken) that have been added to the list. In fact, only two movies made this millennium are on the list (In the Mood for Love and Mullholland Dr.)
• There are only two Best Picture winners on the list - both Godfathers. Shows how much those awards mean...
• There are only 13 American films on the list, and some of those are also British productions
• I have seen half of the Critics' Top Ten and eight of the Directors' Top Ten. I watched the first 30 minutes of The Rules of the Game, but got sidetracked and never finished it.
• It's interesting the films that sit in both top tens - Citizen Kane, Vertigo, 8 1/2, 2001:A Space Odyssey; Kane and 2001 are typically thought of as "director films"...I would consider 8 1/2 a "writer film" and Vertigo is somewhere in between.
• Lots of love for Coppola, Tarkovsky, and plenty of French directors

The films I see as contenders for being added to the 2022 top 50 and why:

• The Tree of Life - it sits on the same plain as 2001, which has received more and more love as time has gone on
• Lord of the Rings - In the past, they combined the two Godfathers, so if they take that approach, it may jump on; especially when Jackson starts releasing Hobbit films.
• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - it's a critically loved film and Jim Carrey may begin "acting" again, which would give it more life
• There Will Be Blood - Depending on the success of The Master and Paul Thomas Anderson's ongoing work, his masterpiece may eventually be looked at with more love