Submit your pick for The Canon's Ultimate Listener's Choice!

[DaltonMaltz 1119]

Nominate your pick for The Canon's Ultimate Listener's Choice! The top recommendations in this thread will go head to head for a live call-in show on Friday, July 13th.

[A.V. 1]

this is weird. i totally want to throw my favorite movie (see avatar) into the fray but in a group head-to-head that's likely to only have one winner, i don't think it's going to fare well. so i guess i'll request movies i love but don't necessarily intertwine with my personal identity. the overarching theme of these i guess is people talking to each other about normal stuff, but with wit sparkling the shit out of the dialog. any one of these would be fun to battle:

 

—metropolitan (1990)

—friends with money (2006)

—they all laughed (1981)

 

or... maybe a documentary?

 

—sherman's march (1985)

[TheFanon 8]

Edit: If I had to choose just one film to be discussed on the show, it might be This Is Spinal Tap. Its affect on modern comedy cannot be understated.

 

Other suggestions: Videodrome, Paris is Burning, Persona, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (We've heard Amy mention BVD so much that I figure it's finally time to hear her discuss it for an hour long episode)

Edited June 25, 2018 by TheFanon

[sycasey 2.0 2301]

I think we need to discuss a Kubrick that actually has a prayer of getting in (Lolita not so much), but maybe one that will spark some controversy.

 

A Clockwork Orange

[MNance 1]

Solo: After Hours, The Crowd, Eyes Wide Shut, The Long Goodbye and Duck Soup.

Together: 42nd Street vs. Gold Diggers of 1933, and Magnolia vs. Short Cuts.

 

If I had to choose only one of my choices, I’d go with After Hours.

[gloriacassidy1999 6]

there are so many I could pick, but I will go with three: Soapdish, Dressed to Kill (De Palma version), and Jean Luc Godard's Week-End.

[AbeFroman 70]

My top pick would be LA Confidential. It simply needs more recognition as of the truly great films of the 90s. Also, one of the very last mainstream studio films aimed squarely at adults.

 

Wish list:

Three Kings

Trading Places vs. Coming to America

To Live and Die In LA

Hot Fuzz vs Shaun of the Dead

[andyradicalpossumtackler 17]

 

—they all laughed (1981)

 

 

That inspires me - how about "What's up Doc?" (1972).

 

How does this work - do we put one per comment so we can tally the "likes"?

[andyradicalpossumtackler 17]

My other candidates:

"Charade"; "Night of the Hunter"; "Leave her to Heaven".

[FictionIsntReal 79]

I'll second Night of the Hunter. I think 2001 is a more canonical Kubrick film than Clockwork Orange. Hitchcock was the one pointed out as neglected, and I think for him we can nominate Vertigo. Psycho is another possibility, but I don't want that to run against it because they both belong in the canon. I don't think Kurosawa has been nominated yet, and while there are many samurai films of his that could get in, I would nominate Ikiru. I hesitate to nominate a Tarkovsky film, because my favorite of his is Andrei Rublev and I don't think that would get in. I'm surprised Bicycle Thieves hasn't been nominated, as that's an obvious one. I would also go with 8 1/2 over La Dolce Vita even if the self-reflexive filmmaker thing is done to death by now. Going more modern, I think Charlie Kauffman belongs in, and Synecdoche NY is probably the most Kauffman movie but might have a harder time getting in. Paddy Chayefsky also belongs in, with Network the most obvious nominee.

[sycasey 2.0 2301]

I think 2001 is a more canonical Kubrick film than Clockwork Orange.

 

Oh, it is, but it's also a slam-dunk. A Clockwork Orange is a more interesting discussion in this context.

[bleary 333]

I don't understand what this call-in show is. When Amy mentioned it on the podcast, it was in the context of clearly Canon-worthy work that hasn't been discussed on the show. So then is the point to put up five slam dunk movies, give them 10 minutes of conversation rather than a whole episode, and then send all five into the Canon? Or is this going to be a battle royale in which only one film makes the Canon? If that's the case, then I don't see the incentive to nominate clearly Canon-worthy work.

 

So then are we going to put forward a few different big-name directors and give them each a nominee, sort of like FictionIsntReal is alluding to? If so, should we then be looking at their most traditionally lauded films, or should we look at more borderline films in their repertoire, as sycasey 2.0 suggests?

 

Or is this the fan version of the indulgence picks Devin and Amy made, where we put forth out-of-the-box films that we find interesting but that wouldn't be found on an AFI or IMDb top films list?

 

Any of those options are interesting to me, but I don't know which one is going to be used.

[docxen 3]

First choice was Top Secret! but that might be a bit out of date for the younger people. I'm going with The Dust Factory. It appealed to me mainly cause i also quit talking for a while as a child when my grandmother died. So i could relate to Ryan. Also Hayden Panettiere is in it how do you not love that. So lets all go hang in a different dimension. I hope you guys will consider it.

[andyradicalpossumtackler 17]

I don't understand what this call-in show is. Any of those options are interesting to me, but I don't know which one is going to be used.

 

Fair point. If this is a five-contender, only one wins scenario - that's not much incentive to nominate our favs. That leads to less discussion time for each, and 4 movies that are then presumably put on ice/won't be up for their own episode anytime soon.

[mercy_croft 4]

Also seconding Night of the Hunter.

 

Some other thoughts: What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, Carrie, Night of the Living Dead, In the Mood for Love, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

[phred2321 57]

Ikiru

Vertigo

Hoop Dreams

The Palm Beach Story

Boyhood

Red River

A Brighter Summer Day

[alt0782 29]

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp

[Shrew 6]

I wonder if an easier approach would be to pick one major auteur (e.g.,Hitchcock, Bergman, Kubrick, Kurosawa) with many canonical titles and hash out which one most belongs in the canon/best represents that director? Or just five of that director's films? That might be more structured than wading through 50 different idiosyncratic favorites.

 

Hitchcock or Kubrick might be the most accesable, but Bergman's 100th birthday would be July 14th, so he'd be appropriate to discuss. Most of his films are on Filmstruck. If you wanted to focus on just five films, then maybe Fanny and Alexander, Seventh Seal, Persona, Winter Light... Scenes from a Marriage? That would give a good broad outline of his career. (You could also make arguments for Wild Strawberries, Shame, Cries and Whispers, Virgin Spring.)

[JeffBurnett 3]

Viable candidates

-Spider-Man 2: I'm sure some will say Superman and The Avengers is enough superheroes for the Canon, but this is legit the best of the genre. (Also it's my favorite movie so I have to throw it in.)

-Psycho: No Hitchcock yet! None!

-The Incredibles: I know it's superheroes again, but the Canon is very light on animation, and this is one of Pixar's best. Maybe Toy Story is a better option for historical purposes. (Though Incredibles 2 makes both these films look super outdated to me now.)

-Inglourious Basterds: I just really like it so much better than Pulp Fiction (the film I think most will say) and Reservoir Dogs (which is already in).

-Scream: It revived the slasher genre! And it's super fun, but not talked about!

 

Stretches, but I still love them

-Zodiac: I know most love it, but it's still hardly been seen, so you can't make the historical argument that it launched this recent interest in true-crime. And there is more "exciting" Fincher films for people I think.

-The Lego Movie: Again, not a lot of animation and this was a classic right out the gate.

-GoldenEye: The first time 007 was successfully rebooted before Casino Royale. I know people let there feelings on the later Brosnan films and dated '90s stuff get to them, but I think this is a really well crafted movie with an actual good Bondgirl with her own story. It does a lot of things CR does. (Even though CR would do it better.)

 

Also, I have a friend who adores animated films, and she suggests:

-An American Tail

-Anastasia

-The Great Mouse Detective

-All Dogs Go To Heaven

 

Lastly, a fun verses I thought of the other day: Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story vs. Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping. I know that it won't be done, but it just sounded fun to me. The Canon could also use some comedy.

 

I'm very excited about a new co-host. I miss the show sounding like lawyers intensely litigating.

[Dale Cooper Black 340]

Ali: Fear Eats the Soul

[HoldenMartinson 221]

Ikiru

Vertigo

Hoop Dreams

The Palm Beach Story

Boyhood

Red River

A Brighter Summer Day

All of these. Especially Boyhood and A Brighter Summer Day. I'd also go with Stray Dog, Rear Window, Three Colors: Red, Only Yesterday, and Police Story.

[pomattovich 75]

I have so many films that I want to submit for The Canon. How to choose? The show has been covering a lot of newer films lately, or at least ones made during my lifetime. So I'd probably go back to the first half of the 20th century. So many to choose from. What are some of The Canon's blindspots. We certainly could do with some more westerns in The Canon. ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST? THE OX BOW INCIDENT? STAGECOACH? MY DARLING CLEMENTINE? RED RIVER? THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE? Or if I'm going to get so hung up on John Ford, why not one of his films set across the pond, like HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY or THE QUIET MAN. Ok. Enough of that. Perhaps a classic animated film. We don't have many of those. PINOCCHIO? BAMBI? We certainly could use some Kurosawa, Bergman, or Fellini in The Canon. Or another musical. THE BAND WAGON. SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS. GOLD DIGGERS OF 1933. YANKEE DOODLE DANDY. A STAR IS BORN. All fine choices. But the kind that I'd have to fight for. No, I think I'm going to go with a layup. We need a Preston Sturges movie in The Canon. My personal favorite is THE LADY EVE, though I could also argue the case for THE PALM BEACH STORY or MIRACLE AT MORGAN CREEK. But the easy choice is to nominate his most popular film that still resonates today with younger audiences. So I'm going to submit SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS to The Canon. Who could ever refuse it?

[MSUBear 8]

What would make this episode interesting is discovering what gold-standard classics Amy or the cohost don't actually like. I nominate:

Singin in the Rain

Casablanca

8 1/2

Wild Strawberries

Psycho

The Graduate

The Mirror

The Shining

Cabaret

Apocalypse Now

My Own Private Idaho

Mulholland Drive

 

These are all movies that I enjoy and have received substantial acclaim but each could be divisive to viewers.

[mercy_croft 4]

Opened up this thread again to add Singin' in the Rain, but you beat me to it! Seconding that suggestion. I'd also thought of listing Mulholland Drive. I'd definitely be curious how some of the other major films listed above would fare against each other.

 

Agreed, too, with the previous comment that coming back to some older movies would be a lot of fun.

 

A few more ideas: Story of a Three Day Pass (Melvin Van Peebles), Possession (Andrzej Zulawski - which has come up in conversations & forum posts), maybe some Haneke

[DavidAustin 10]

This list needs some kung fu, and not just Crouching Tiger. Either some King Hu - Dragon Gate Inn, A Touch of Zen or Come Drink With Me, all stone cold classic masterpieces. Or something less arty but equally influential, Bruce Lee's Fist of Fury aka Chinese Connection or Chang Cheh's Five Deadly Venoms or One-Armed Swordsman, Jackie Chan's Police Story.

 

Or hell, let's get some Heroic Bloodshed in there - how about John Woo's The Killer vs Hard Boiled?

 

Every movie above is worthy of the Canon.