Getting Away from Things That Get Bad: The ILX Road-Movie Poll Results Thread

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"A road movie is a film genre in which the main characters leave home on a road trip, typically altering the perspective from their everyday lives." -- Wikipedia

"They were drifters and searchers and they looked for something. The journey was a state of mind for them...In a road movie you really go into the adventure, you go into the unknown, and you are faced with the unknown." -- Wim Wenders

"You know, it’s funny--you come to someplace new, and everything looks just the same." -- Eddie, Stranger Than Paradise

http://i1059.photobucket.com/albums/t427/sayhey1/title_zps2cg1tklc.jpg

I just wanted to get this opened up--I’m not going to start until tomorrow, sometime close to noon. Twenty voters listed 157 different films. Two films, including the winner, showed up on half the ballots. There’s a film in the Top 10 with four votes, and a film with five votes that finished 67th. Travels with Anna finished 51st, just outside the countdown, and I’m not sure if it exists--is it the same thing as The Art of Travel?

clemenza, Wednesday, 17 May 2017 02:42 (six years ago) link

Les rendez-vous d'Anna/The Meetings of Anna: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078152/

by the light of the burning Citroën, Wednesday, 17 May 2017 02:52 (six years ago) link

Okay...Google kept taking me to The Art of Travel.

clemenza, Wednesday, 17 May 2017 03:01 (six years ago) link

50. Children of Men
27 points/3 votes

http://phildellio.tripod.com/50-children.jpg

clemenza, Wednesday, 17 May 2017 11:17 (six years ago) link

Lol missed the vote

The Remoans of the May (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 17 May 2017 11:23 (six years ago) link

I'll post two or three before work starts today, another five-ten during the day, and finish the first 20 when I get home. Sporadic, I know.

I've only seen Children of Men once, on DVD. I didn't really connect with it, but I understand why people do; I do have that connection with Michael Radford's Nineteen Eighty-Four, which has the same washed-out look. As a road film, I can see that.

clemenza, Wednesday, 17 May 2017 11:25 (six years ago) link

A true road-movie character--aimless, ducking in and out of life--would miss the vote, so that okay.

clemenza, Wednesday, 17 May 2017 11:28 (six years ago) link

it's a fine film but I wouldn't file it under road movies - I get why you could, but it's not platonically the right form

The Remoans of the May (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 17 May 2017 11:35 (six years ago) link

I missed this too.

the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 17 May 2017 11:39 (six years ago) link

49. Thelma & Louise
28 points/4 votes

http://phildellio.tripod.com/49-thelma.jpg

clemenza, Wednesday, 17 May 2017 12:01 (six years ago) link

I wanted to get a still of them line-dancing but couldn't. I remember a fair amount of commentary on this when I came out...I think it held up pretty well when I went back to it a few years later.

clemenza, Wednesday, 17 May 2017 12:02 (six years ago) link

"when it came out"--I've Kevin Kline'd myself!

clemenza, Wednesday, 17 May 2017 12:03 (six years ago) link

I love how T&L still angries up the blood of all the right misogynists

The Remoans of the May (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 17 May 2017 12:48 (six years ago) link

48. Sideways
28 points/7 votes

http://phildellio.tripod.com/48-sideways.jpg

"Angries up the blood"--Satchel Paige!

Sideways got as many or more votes than four films in the Top 10. Nebraska, which finished 67th, received 5 votes. The points for the two Payne films went like this: 1, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 8. I think I voted for both myself. They're liked, just not passionately.

clemenza, Wednesday, 17 May 2017 13:02 (six years ago) link

Or, they're hated.

insidious assymetrical weapons (Eric H.), Wednesday, 17 May 2017 13:09 (six years ago) link

By some people, sure. To state the obvious, not by the people who voted for them here.

clemenza, Wednesday, 17 May 2017 13:16 (six years ago) link

Voted for this. Balances humor and melancholic truth on middle age and friendships/loneliness and habit gone bad.

Need to see Nebraska.

by the light of the burning Citroën, Wednesday, 17 May 2017 13:49 (six years ago) link

Aw, shame about Nebraska. I said this on another thread but while the rest of Payne's ouevre doesn't move me (I don't hate any of the ones I've seen, I just don't care about them), Nebraska completely won me over. But I went for the option of giving loads of points to my top five, so everything else suffered with small points.

emil.y, Wednesday, 17 May 2017 14:25 (six years ago) link

47. The Sugarland Express
29 points/4 votes

http://phildellio.tripod.com/47-sugarland.jpg

I liked Nebraska fine (better than the album, I think). Been meaning to watch it again.

As I've said many times, my favourite Spielberg film, also my favourite of Goldie Hawn's (would take her over Gena Rowlads for the Academy Award that year...not even nominated). Twenty-five when he made it, I think.

clemenza, Wednesday, 17 May 2017 15:31 (six years ago) link

The first #1 vote is coming up. I assigned #1s to 14 of the 20 ballots, where there was a clear ranking. With the other six, there would be a group of films at the top with the most points--I wasn't sure if the first one listed was #1 or not. I broke ties by most voters.

clemenza, Wednesday, 17 May 2017 15:34 (six years ago) link

45. (tie) No Country for Old Men
30 points/5 votes/one #1

http://phildellio.tripod.com/45-country.jpg

45. (tie) Alice in the Cities
30 points/5 votes

http://phildellio.tripod.com/45-alice.jpg

Busy day at work--I'll finish up to #31 when I get home.

Love both these films.

clemenza, Wednesday, 17 May 2017 17:39 (six years ago) link

No Country and Children both made my ballot at the 'oh yeah i guess this kind of is a road movie' tier.

devvvine, Wednesday, 17 May 2017 18:01 (six years ago) link

44. Old Joy
32 points/4 votes

http://phildellio.tripod.com/44-joy.jpg

Squeeze in one before I head home. I think three of the images are screenshots of my own; wish I'd learned how simple this was a long time ago.

clemenza, Wednesday, 17 May 2017 19:49 (six years ago) link

I don't know how many of these films fall into the love-it-or-hate-it category, but this one would be near the top of that list. I loved it, helped immensely by the Yo La Tengo soundtrack; absent that, very doubtful.

clemenza, Wednesday, 17 May 2017 19:50 (six years ago) link

43. The Passenger
33 points/3 votes

http://phildellio.tripod.com/43-passenger.jpg

I'd have to check, but I think Nicholson handily accumulated the most acting points for this poll. He personifies roadiness.

clemenza, Wednesday, 17 May 2017 21:40 (six years ago) link

Wanted to watch this one but didn't get round to it. In fact, I've only seen two of the list so far, hence me not commenting much, sorry!

emil.y, Wednesday, 17 May 2017 21:44 (six years ago) link

I've seen The Passenger two or three times. For me, kind of a slog, although I like the Michael Snow-influence final shot. Maria Schneider is such a '70s icon.

clemenza, Wednesday, 17 May 2017 21:48 (six years ago) link

Someone will make a documentary about her at some point.

clemenza, Wednesday, 17 May 2017 21:51 (six years ago) link

42. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia
33 points/5 votes

http://phildellio.tripod.com/42-alfredo.jpg

I'll be honest, this one had me giggling the one time I saw it--the conversations with the head. Maybe that's the intended reaction, I don't know. I was probably influenced by its inclusion in that first Harry Medved book. Greil Marcus mentioned it recently:

"Alfredo Garcia is one of a kind--hypnotic, fatalistic, cruel, hard to take, impossible to forget."

clemenza, Wednesday, 17 May 2017 21:58 (six years ago) link

need to rewatch this, remember really liking it but not much else.

devvvine, Wednesday, 17 May 2017 22:01 (six years ago) link

41. Aguirre, the Wrath of God
36 points/4 votes

http://phildellio.tripod.com/41-aguirre.jpg

Sorry to say I've never seen this. I've had a DVD on the shelf for a couple of years, but I'll only see it for the first time if it's in a theatre. It screened here a few months ago--I know that whatever it was that prevented me from going was something I couldn't duck out of.

clemenza, Wednesday, 17 May 2017 22:10 (six years ago) link

39. (tie) Midnight Cowboy
37 points/4 votes

http://phildellio.tripod.com/39-midnight.jpg

39. (tie) Dead Man
37 points/4 votes

http://phildellio.tripod.com/39-dead.jpg

clemenza, Wednesday, 17 May 2017 22:24 (six years ago) link

I still waver a bit on the idea of Midnight Cowboy as a road film, so I put it somewhere in the middle of my ballot, below films I'd rank lower if I were just listing favourites. I tried to balance the two: "How much do I like this film?" with "How well does it capture what I think a road movie is?"

clemenza, Wednesday, 17 May 2017 22:27 (six years ago) link

I like Dead Man, although it took a second try. I remember some interesting millennial commentary on it at the time.

clemenza, Wednesday, 17 May 2017 22:35 (six years ago) link

Never seen the Dead Man but the soundtrack is road movie as hell.

devvvine, Wednesday, 17 May 2017 22:41 (six years ago) link

Oh yay, two of mine - Aguirre and Midnight Cowboy.

I tried to balance the two: "How much do I like this film?" with "How well does it capture what I think a road movie is?"

Yeah, this was my approach too, and I also bumped down Midnight Cowboy because of it. Though I'm sure you'd get some people thinking a lot of my top votes are not really 'classic style' road movies and so I shouldn't talk - even though I respect the American car movie as the Platonic version of a road movie I think 'expansive philosophical journey films' are my preferred angle to take. Aguirre for instance, I felt completely sure about including as a road movie, but as I wasn't able to give it a re-watch it fell out of my top five, and I'm kind of regretting that now.

emil.y, Wednesday, 17 May 2017 22:42 (six years ago) link

I want a road, but I don't need a car--tractor, bus, by foot, they're all good.

clemenza, Wednesday, 17 May 2017 22:46 (six years ago) link

In my own life, I have more peace of mind when I'm driving (around dusk, no traffic) that at any other time.

clemenza, Wednesday, 17 May 2017 22:50 (six years ago) link

Aguirre, Alfredo Garcia and Dead Man are incredible (although I didn't vote for Aguirre). The rape in Alfredo Garcia is v unpleasant and the one thing that really bugs me about the film. the rest is k-lassic.

Οὖτις, Wednesday, 17 May 2017 22:52 (six years ago) link

https://templinbrand.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/aguirre.png

good example of a trope key to the genre: the characters pass by something bizarre or unexplainable but make no comment on it.

devvvine, Wednesday, 17 May 2017 22:53 (six years ago) link

haha yes

Οὖτις, Wednesday, 17 May 2017 22:57 (six years ago) link

Great image, don't recognize it.

No one nominated The Wild Bunch...That has a some road-film in it, no? (I did put up a post early expressing skepticism as to whether most any western is inherently a road film, and that this would then turn into a greatest western poll.)

clemenza, Wednesday, 17 May 2017 22:58 (six years ago) link

36. (tie) Vagabond
38 points/4 votes/one #1

http://phildellio.tripod.com/36-vagabond.jpg

36. (tie) Down by Law
38 points/4 votes

http://phildellio.tripod.com/36-law.jpg

clemenza, Wednesday, 17 May 2017 23:00 (six years ago) link

xp it's a shot from Aguirre.

Realised Hell or High Water should have been nominated as well.

devvvine, Wednesday, 17 May 2017 23:00 (six years ago) link

Haven't seen Down by Law, which is strange in view of much I love Stranger Than Paradise. Maybe Excitable Italian Man has kept me away. The thing I remember about Vagabond is thinking that the ending may have partly inspired Twin Peaks.

clemenza, Wednesday, 17 May 2017 23:09 (six years ago) link

"how much"

clemenza, Wednesday, 17 May 2017 23:09 (six years ago) link

Benigni is fine in the movie. Perhaps assisted by the other characters treating him as the inconvenient annoyance that he is

Οὖτις, Wednesday, 17 May 2017 23:12 (six years ago) link

I have a lifetime grudge against the man for stealing Nick Nolte's Academy Award.

clemenza, Wednesday, 17 May 2017 23:15 (six years ago) link

good example of a trope key to the genre: the characters pass by something bizarre or unexplainable but make no comment on it.

Oh yes, definitely. Also made me lol @ RPG memory where I was GMing and made the characters drive past a Jurassic Park minigolf for literally no reason (this is probably only funny to me).

I did think about nominating Wise Blood as there's a lot of driving, but he doesn't ever actually manage to go anywhere. The line "a man doesn't need to be justified if he's got a good car" is A++ material for the poll, though.

emil.y, Wednesday, 17 May 2017 23:18 (six years ago) link

35. Sullivan’s Travels
39 points/4 votes

http://phildellio.tripod.com/35-sullivan.jpg

I want to finish this up before 8:00...Thought this was great the one time I saw it years ago--clearly the blueprint for Bill Forsyth's great Comfort and Joy. Veronica Lake...sigh.

Wise Blood's another one I've got revisit.

clemenza, Wednesday, 17 May 2017 23:21 (six years ago) link

Badlands is interesting, but not one I really treasure. I've always felt a detachment from its fantasy.

jmm, Friday, 19 May 2017 17:29 (six years ago) link

i guess i will admit when i first saw Badlands in my late teens i thought it was just decent, but really fell in love with it on rewatch a few years later. has grown in stature with each successive viewing.

circa1916, Friday, 19 May 2017 17:35 (six years ago) link

basically saying if you saw this at 17 and thought "whatever" you are missing out

circa1916, Friday, 19 May 2017 17:36 (six years ago) link

parents teachers and association

in a soylent whey (wins), Friday, 19 May 2017 17:36 (six years ago) link

My first allegiance was to the platonic ideal of the road movie rather than great film, period, so there are a few that couldn't show up on any other list (Leningrad Cowboys), but here's my ballot and points.

Stalker - 30
Walkabout - 25
Easy Rider - 25
The Straight Story - 20
O Brother, Where Art Thou? - 15
Dead Man - 8
Paris, Texas - 8
Stagecoach 8
Two-Lane Blacktop - 8
Wild Strawberries - 7
Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure - 6
The Brave Little Toaster - 5
Badlands - 4
Leningrad Cowboys Go America - 4
Planes, Trains and Automobiles - 3
Lost in America - 3
Alice in the Cities - 3
The Sugarland Express - 3
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - 3
Down by Law - 2
Rain Man - 2
Taste of Cherry - 2
Smokey and the Bandit - 2
The Wages of Fear - 2
Slow West -2

20-lol pileup (WilliamC), Friday, 19 May 2017 17:40 (six years ago) link

Thanks for voting, everyone. Really enjoyed looking around for the images (sizing them and whatnot is a lot of work, for sure). I'll put the full list and a few extra stats up later...And my own ballot, which I don't have here.

clemenza, Friday, 19 May 2017 17:53 (six years ago) link

still want to know who the other Into the Night voter was lol
― Οὖτις

The other person had it in his/her Top 5, each film getting 20 points. I'll leave it up to whomever to post if he/she wants to.

clemenza, Friday, 19 May 2017 18:06 (six years ago) link

Thanks for the Letterboxd list, cryptosicko. I've seen 44, although again, a handful so long ago they may as well not even count.

clemenza, Friday, 19 May 2017 18:19 (six years ago) link

My 15:

Y Tu Mamá También
The Grapes of Wrath
Lost in America
Paper Moon
Planes, Trains and Automobiles
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Wild Strawberries
The Wizard of Oz
The Last Detail
Five Easy Pieces
The Wages of Fear
Bonnie and Clyde
National Lampoon's Vacation
Thelma and Louise
Sideways

some sad trombone Twilight Zone shit (cryptosicko), Friday, 19 May 2017 18:21 (six years ago) link

Funny that After Hours didn't place but Into The Night did after the discussion at the top. I like AH but it doesn't qualify enough for me and I haven't seen ITN.

nickn, Friday, 19 May 2017 18:31 (six years ago) link

Here's mine

Stroszek
Stalker
The passenger
Aguirre the wrath of god
Weekend
Midnight run
Five easy pieces
Two-lane blacktop
Badlands
Taste of cherry
L'avventura
Walkabout
Kill list
Gallivant
Radio on
No country for old men
The wages of fear
American honey
Duel
Sightseers
Certified copy
Wanda
Paris, Texas
Planes trains and automobiles
Twentynine palms

Didn't contribute anything beyond a ballot but looking forward to checking out some of the list, Goin Down the Road is on Youtube I notice

Sad Midnight Run didn't make it. That being an 18 is v lol 80s

i know kore-eda (or something), Friday, 19 May 2017 18:41 (six years ago) link

Stroszek - 20
American Honey - 20
Paris, Texas - 20
Wild Strawberries - 15
Wendy & Lucy - 15
Stalker - 15
Five Easy Pieces - 15
Inside Llewyn Davis - 15
L’Avventura - 15
Badlands - 15
Messidor - 5
Stranger than Paradise - 5
Children of Men - 5
Aguirre, The Wrath of God - 5
No Country for Old Men - 5
La Strada - 5
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia - 1
Embrace of the Serpent - 1
Branded to Kill - 1
Mad Max: Fury Road - 1
Fitzcarraldo - 1

devvvine, Friday, 19 May 2017 18:46 (six years ago) link

Mine:

Stalker - 40
The Milky Way - 20
Walkabout - 20
Wanda - 20
Weekend - 20
Aguirre, the Wrath of God - 5
El Topo - 5
Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! - 5
Breathless (À bout de souffle) - 5
Easy Rider - 5
Midnight Cowboy - 5
Nebraska - 5
Carnival of Souls - 5
Sightseers - 5
Bonnie and Clyde - 5
Vanishing Point - 5
The Straight Story - 5
Y Tu Mamá También - 5 <---- not actually the right film b/c I am an idiot
Zabriskie Point - 5
The Hitch-Hiker - 5
Stroszek - 1
Paper Moon - 1
O Brother, Where Art Thou? - 1
Stand by Me - 1
Kill List - 1

I would've like to have more of an arc to my points distribution but my maths is bad so I just went with one of clemenza's suggestions of blocks of the same points for a load of them.

emil.y, Friday, 19 May 2017 18:54 (six years ago) link

*liked

emil.y, Friday, 19 May 2017 18:54 (six years ago) link

Stranger Than Paradise
Breathless (1960)
La Strada
L’Avventura
Withnail and I
Something Wild
Corridor of Faces
The Trip (2010)
Badlands
Paris, Texas
Sullivan's Travels
The Milky Way
Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore
Drugstore Cowboy
Sideways
Easy Rider
Lost in America
Kings of the Road
Stagecoach
Pierrot le Fou
Leningrad Cowboys Go America
Flirting with Disaster
The Wages of Fear
Harry and Tonto
Bonnie and Clyde

Also thought about voting for: Stalker, La Nuit de Varennes, Palm Beach Story, Buffalo ‘66 (but, ugh, gallo), Wild Strawberries, Scarecrow, Aguirre, Ride the High Country, It Happened One Night.

Didn't think about Walkabout, but that likely would have bumped its way in.

by the light of the burning Citroën, Friday, 19 May 2017 18:57 (six years ago) link

Oh, I didn't vote, but Stalker is possibly the best movie ever so

ban violent jinks (imago), Friday, 19 May 2017 19:06 (six years ago) link

I did not vote but had I voted stranger than paradise and Wendy & Lucy would've got some big bumps up the ladder

Clay, Friday, 19 May 2017 19:11 (six years ago) link

My ballot:

Vagabond / 30
Sullivan's Travels / 16
Two Lane Blacktop / 11
Pierrot le Fou / 11
Paris, Texas / 10
La Strada / 10
It Happened One Night / 10
Je Tu Il Elle / 6
Stranger than Paradise / 6
Withnail & I / 6
The Straight Story / 6
Alice in the Cities / 6
Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert / 6
The Wizard of Oz / 6
My Own Private Idaho / 6
Repo Man / 6
Stroszek / 6
The Last Detail / 6
Weekend / 6
Five Easy Pieces / 6
Dead Man / 6
Les rendez-vous d'Anna / 6
Wanda / 6
Y Tu Mama Tambien / 3
Easy Rider / 3

one way street, Friday, 19 May 2017 19:15 (six years ago) link

I bashed this out in five minutes just before the deadline on a day where I'd lived a mini-road movie in rural Texas

20 Point Films:

Two-Lane Blacktop
Something Wild
I Travel Because I Have To, I Come Back Because I Love You*
Travels With Anna
Pierrot le fou

5 Point Films:

Easy Rider
Vanishing Point
Paper Moon
Wrong Move
Alice In The Cities
Paris, Texas
The Last Detail
La strada
Five Easy Pieces
Stranger Than Paradise
Y tu mama tambien
Bring Me The Head of Alfredo Garcia
The Straight Story
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
Harry and Tonto
Lost In America
Je Tu Il Elle
The Sugarland Express
Two For The Road
Weekend

*My go for broke passion vote. A Brazilian movie from 2009 that I saw (twice!) at a festival, on paper this looks like a boilerplate quirky road pic: a recently divorced geologist is sent out for an environmental impact research study Re:the building of a canal, which he semi-derails by going on a lengthy bender. What sets it apart is the execution. The whole thing is presented as a collage of home movies, faux-found footage, and POV shots, with most of the dialog being log entries read in voiceover by the unseen protagonist, a mixed bag of travelog descriptions of what's happening, memories of his wife, and fragments of the study he's supposed to be conducting. One of the best films I've ever seen on the function of memory, and a refreshingly successful genre de/reconstruction.

to fly across the city and find Aerosmith's car (C. Grisso/McCain), Friday, 19 May 2017 19:19 (six years ago) link

xp

Oh, nice that you were the #1 for Vagabond, ows - I'd love to see it, partly because as of now I've only watched one Agnes Varda film, but also I usually trust your taste in things.

emil.y, Friday, 19 May 2017 19:22 (six years ago) link

didn't vote, but would probly have included this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXGXOeBw8ZQ

Supercreditor (Dr Morbius), Friday, 19 May 2017 19:32 (six years ago) link

Thanks, emil.y: for the same reason, yr ballot reminds me how much I need to finally see Walkabout.

Xp

one way street, Friday, 19 May 2017 19:36 (six years ago) link

Also, thanks for running this poll, clemenza! Since you mentioned being interested in reading more about Wanda, it might be worth looking at Nathalie Léger's Suite for Barbara Loden, an excerpt from which is available here:

https://www.theparisreview.org/letters-essays/6820/barbara-wanda-nathalie-leger

one way street, Friday, 19 May 2017 19:36 (six years ago) link

I Travel Because I Have To, I Come Back Because I Love You*
*My go for broke passion vote. A Brazilian movie from 2009 that I saw (twice!) at a festival, on paper this looks like a boilerplate quirky road pic: a recently divorced geologist is sent out for an environmental impact research study Re:the building of a canal, which he semi-derails by going on a lengthy bender. What sets it apart is the execution. The whole thing is presented as a collage of home movies, faux-found footage, and POV shots, with most of the dialog being log entries read in voiceover by the unseen protagonist, a mixed bag of travelog descriptions of what's happening, memories of his wife, and fragments of the study he's supposed to be conducting. One of the best films I've ever seen on the function of memory, and a refreshingly successful genre de/reconstruction.

This sounds brilliant, btw.

emil.y, Friday, 19 May 2017 19:47 (six years ago) link

Sad Midnight Run didn't make it.

I really wanted to rewatch it for the poll, but couldn't find it anywhere. Haven't seen it since it whenever it was last in regular rotation on cable.

some sad trombone Twilight Zone shit (cryptosicko), Friday, 19 May 2017 19:47 (six years ago) link

http://i1059.photobucket.com/albums/t427/sayhey1/wanda_zpsxcrjmeyg.png
http://i1059.photobucket.com/albums/t427/sayhey1/badlands_zpsyo4g7clj.jpg

Maybe road films are primarily about the secret contempt women harbor for the men they find themselves stuck in cars with.

clemenza, Friday, 19 May 2017 20:00 (six years ago) link

1. The Straight Story – 23
2. The Sugarland Express – 20
3. Lost in America – 18
4. Goin’ Down the Road – 16
5. Five Easy Pieces – 13
6. Wendy and Lucy – 12
7. Stranger Than Paradise – 11
8. Kings of the Road – 10
9. American Honey – 9
10. Paris, Texas – 8
11. Midnight Cowboy – 7
12. Alice in the Cities – 6
13. Stroszek – 6
14. Wanda – 6
15. Jesus’ Son – 5
16. Almost Famous – 5
17. Aloha, Bobby and Rose – 4
18. Old Joy – 4
19. Bonnie and Clyde – 4
20. Sideways – 3
21. Lolita – 3
22. The Last Detail – 2
23. Harry and Tonto – 2
24. Nebraska – 2
25. Gerry – 1

I thought Jesus’ Son might sneak into the top 40 or 50. I'll post the full list shortly.

clemenza, Friday, 19 May 2017 22:33 (six years ago) link

Am I the only one who voted for Into The Wild and Sherman's March? I expected the former to make the 20s or 30s rank.

nickn, Friday, 19 May 2017 22:52 (six years ago) link

ctrl+f dumb and dumber "Not found" ノಠ_ಠノ

-_- (jim in vancouver), Friday, 19 May 2017 22:58 (six years ago) link

Nick: each had you plus one other vote. Nothing for Dumb and Dumber.

I'm heading out right now, so I won't have the full list till later--sorry.

clemenza, Friday, 19 May 2017 23:05 (six years ago) link

Shout Factory TV, of all places, has a ton of Herzog films free to watch — I'll try to catch Stroszek sometime soon.

20-lol pileup (WilliamC), Friday, 19 May 2017 23:07 (six years ago) link

Seriously, the print (if that's the right word) on YouTube is perfect.

clemenza, Friday, 19 May 2017 23:08 (six years ago) link

My list. I judged based on having seen it (duh, but this eliminated a lot of them), how much I liked it (also duh, but qualified by how much it affected me at the time, so Vanishing Point, which I saw as a 14-year old, got a boost), and how "roady" it was. Several films I had seen and loved but couldn't remember what made them road movie worthy (L'Avventura), or disagreed with that status (Midnight Cowboy, Alice's Restaurant, Drugstore Cowboy).

Bless the Beasts I saw in high school, so is a sentimental YA favorite, and Crystal Fairy I watched on cable at random and was impressed by, though it's not a better movie than any of my lower-ranked movies. I just think it's very roady, and needs more publicity.

24 films, 200 points.

20 Kings of the Road (my #1, though not noted as such in my ballot)
20 Vanishing Point
20 Walkabout

15 Into the Wild
15 Sherman’s March
15 Two-Lane Blacktop

8 Badlands
8 Bless the Beasts and Children
8 Crystal Fairy & the Magical Cactus
8 Detour
8 Easy Rider

5 Duel
5 Lost in America
5 Old Joy
5 Stranger Than Paradise
5 The Passenger
5 Two for the Road
5 Wanda
5 Wendy and Lucy

3 Buffalo ‘66
3 Freeway
3 Electra Glide in Blue
3 Five Easy Pieces
3 The Milky Way

nickn, Saturday, 20 May 2017 03:05 (six years ago) link

1. Badlands (114 points/10 votes)
2. Stalker (105/4)
3. Bonnie and Clyde (98/9)
4. Walkabout (93/7)
5. Easy Rider (82/10)
6. The Straight Story (82/8)
7. Y Tu Mamá También (73/8)
8. Stroszek (72/7)
9. L’Avventura (69/5)
10. Lost In America (68/8)
11. Five Easy Pieces (67/9)
12. Weekend (67/6)
13. Paris, Texas (64/8)
14. Wanda (64/6)
15. Something Wild (63/5)
16. Two-Lane Blacktop (62/7)
17. Wendy and Lucy (62/6)
18. La Strada (60/5)
19. American Honey (58/4)
20. O Brother, Where Art Thou? (56/6)
21. Breathless (54/4)
22. The Wages of Fear (51/7)
23. Stranger Than Paradise (49/7)
Wild Strawberries (49/7)
25. The Last Detail (47/6)
26. The Milky Way (45/4)
27. Vanishing Point (44/5)
28. The Wizard of Oz (43/5)
29. Sightseers (43/4)
30. It Happened One Night (42/6)
31. Pierrot le Fou (42/5)
32. Goin’ Down the Road (42/3)
33. Kings of the Road (40/4)
34. Inside Llewyn Davis (40/3)
35. Sullivan’s Travels (39/4)
36. Down by Law (38/4)
Vagabond (38/4)
38. Into the Night (38/2)
39. Dead Man (37/4)
Midnight Cowboy (37/4)
41. Aguirre, the Wrath of God (36/4)
42. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (33/5)
43. The Passenger (33/3)
44. Old Joy (32/4)
45. Alice in the Cities (30/5)
No Country for Old Men (30/5)
47. The Sugarland Express (29/4)
48. Sideways (28/7)
49. Thelma and Louise (28/4)
50. Children of Men (27/3)
------------------------------------------------------------------
51. Travels with Anna (26/2)
52. The Bird People in China (25/1)
53. Drugstore Cowboy (24/3)
54. The Muppet Movie (24/2)
55. Planes, Trains and Automobiles (21/4)
56. Pee Wee’s Big Adventure (21/3)
The Grapes of Wrath (21/3)
58. Broken Flowers (21/1)
Going Places (21/1)
60. Taste of Cherry (20/3)
61. Into the Wild (20/2)
Sherman's March (20/2)
The Road Warrior (20/2)
64. I Travel Because I Have To, I Come Back Because I Love You (20/1)
65. Midnight Run (19/2)
66. Roadside Prophets (19/1)
67. Nebraska (18/5)
68. Paper Moon (18/3)
69. Stand by Me (17/3)
70. Almost Famous (16/3)
El Topo (16/3)
72. Death Proof (16/2)
Mad Max: Fury Road (16/2)
74. Festival Express (15/2)
75. Goodbye Pork Pie (15/1)
76. Scarecrow (14/2)
Stagecoach (14/2)
78. Repo Man (13/2)
79. Entertainment (13/1)
80. The Darjeeling Limited (12/1)
Traffic (12/1)
82. Harry and Tonto (11/3)
Freeway (11/3)
84. Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (11/2)
Detour (11/2)
Hair (11/2)
Je Tu Il Elle (11/2)
Withnail & I (11/2)
89. 12 Monkeys (10/2)
Adventures in Babysitting (10/2)
Jesus’ Son (10/2)
The Brave Little Toaster (10/2)
Two for the Road (10/2)
94. Corridor of Faces (10/1)
El Norte (10/1)
Güeros (10/1)
Man Push Cart (10/1)
The Night of the Hunter (10/1)
The Trip (10/1)
True Romance (10/1)
Until the End of the World (10/1)
102. Duel (9/1)
103. Electra Glide in Blue (8/2)
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (8/2)
Fitzcarraldo (8/2)
Leningrad Cowboys Go America (8/2)
National Lampoon’s Vacation (8/2)
108. Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (8/1)
Bless the Beasts and the Children (8/1)
Crystal Fairy & the Magical Cactus (8/1)
Natural Born Killers (8/1)
112. Certified Copy (7/2)
Kill List (7/2)
Rain Man (7/2)
115. Smoke Signals (7/1)
116. Gerry (6/2)
It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (6/2)
Slow West (6/2)
119. Gallivant (6/1)
My Own Private Idaho (6/1)
121. Borat (5/2)
Lolita (5/2)
123. Beavis and Butt-head Do America (5/1)
Carnival of Souls (5/1)
Collateral (5/1)
Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (5/1)
Follow That Bird (5/1)
Highway 61 (5/1)
Kikujiro (5/1)
Life of Pi (5/1)
Messidor (5/1)
Radio On (5/1)
Raising Arizona (5/1)
Road to Singapore (5/1)
Road Trip (5/1)
The Hitch-Hiker (5/1)
Under the Skin (5/1)
Zabriskie Point (5/1)
Wrong Move (5/1)
140. Aloha, Bobby and Rose (4/1)
Flirting with Disaster (4/1)
Hideous Kinky (4/1)
Landscape in the Mist (4/1)
Simple Men (4/1)
The Getaway (4/1)
They Drive by Night (4/1)
147. Buffalo '66 (3/1)
The Sure Thing (3/1)
149. Journey to Italy (2/1)
Little Miss Sunshine (2/1)
Smokey and the Bandit (2/1)
Starman (2/1)
153. Branded to Kill (1/1)
Embrace of the Serpent (1/1)
Magical Mystery Tour (1/1)
The Blues Brother (1/1)
Twentynine Palms (1/1)

clemenza, Saturday, 20 May 2017 05:03 (six years ago) link

Enthusiasm (two or more votes):

1. Stalker (26.25 points/vote)
2. Into the Night (19.00)
3. American Honey (14.50)
4. Goin' Down the Road (14.00)
5. L'Avventura (13.80)
6. Breathless (13.50)
7. Inside Llewyn Davis (13.33)
8. Walkabout (13.29)
9. Travels with Anna (13.00)
10. Something Wild (12.60)

clemenza, Saturday, 20 May 2017 05:14 (six years ago) link

Too lazy to do directors. I know Wenders led with five of his films getting votes, and I think Jarmusch, Godard, and the Coens all had three. Pretty sure Nicholson led actors--four lead roles, one supporting--unless there's someone who was in all five Wenders.

clemenza, Saturday, 20 May 2017 05:22 (six years ago) link

Wenders - 5

Jarmusch - 4

Godard - 3
Coens - 3
Gus Van Sant - 3
Antonioni - 3
Herzog - 3

Go to bed, dummy.

clemenza, Saturday, 20 May 2017 05:33 (six years ago) link

I see Duel has 9 points but only one voter. I voted for it but I only gave it 5 points.

nickn, Saturday, 20 May 2017 05:42 (six years ago) link

I see or something also had it in his/her list.

nickn, Saturday, 20 May 2017 05:45 (six years ago) link

Yeah, that should say 9/2--you gave it 5, someone else 4. The points and the placement are right, though.

clemenza, Saturday, 20 May 2017 11:32 (six years ago) link

Since you mentioned being interested in reading more about Wanda, it might be worth looking at Nathalie Léger's Suite for Barbara Loden

Thanks--ordered a copy from Abe.

clemenza, Sunday, 21 May 2017 14:31 (six years ago) link

Second viewing of Certain Women, this time in a theatre. Felt about the same--great movie, wish I felt more strongly about it. It did really come through this time how much of a road movie it is. Lots of drivin', on four wheels and on four legs. Best shot is of Michelle Williams after they leave the guy with all the sandstone, everything reflected in the passenger window as she and her husband mildly argue. Can't find it online.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/films/2017/03/02/JS121527482_Handout-small_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqpiVx42joSuAkZ0bE9ijUnGH28ZiNHzwg9svuZLxrn1U.jpg

clemenza, Thursday, 1 June 2017 04:23 (six years ago) link

one month passes...

Went to a rep screening (sort of--they played the Criterion disc) of Something Wild tonight, first time I've seen it in 25 years at least. Liked it fine then and still do, although I like Married to the Mob even more.

Total road-movie material, with many requisite shots of rolling scenery. The darker, Ray Liotta section of the film was longer than I remembered. Affinities I felt with Blue Velvet at the time were still there. I'm sure the film has something to do with the Reagan moment, but seeing as I don't have any feel for that, the connection escapes me. I've seen Demme criticized for his weird treatment of African-Americans, but I think there's a basic generosity there.

So much music. There are only three or four things that really stood out for me, though. The one appearance of the Troggs is great, with Daniels sprawled all over the front seat and an overhead shot, timed to the music, as they pull out of frame. Beyond the reunion, there's some actual Feelies music--something really good from The Good Earth--as they're driving along. And Sister Carol.

clemenza, Thursday, 6 July 2017 04:24 (six years ago) link

Prompted by that ugly first post, I just looked around a bit and Photobucket is now asking you to pay $399 a year for third-party hosting.

Will get on that right away, Photobucket.

clemenza, Thursday, 6 July 2017 04:32 (six years ago) link

(xpost) "Slipping (Into Something)," my favourite song on The Good Earth.

http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/90772/Something-Wild/music.html

clemenza, Thursday, 6 July 2017 13:22 (six years ago) link

three years pass...

TCM has The Rain People, Harry and Tonto, and Lost in America tonight; taking a wild guess that the theme is road movies .

clemenza, Saturday, 19 September 2020 01:40 (three years ago) link

I wish they were showing Joseph Strick’s Road Movie (1974), which is brilliant and has never had a video release in its proper aspect ratio

beamish13, Saturday, 19 September 2020 01:44 (three years ago) link

This poll was great. I have now seen Vagabond and would definitely have voted for it.

emil.y, Saturday, 19 September 2020 02:33 (three years ago) link

I remember liking <i>Fandago</i> when I was in high school. Yeah, it's Costner, but it's a good road movie.

Andy the Grasshopper, Saturday, 19 September 2020 02:42 (three years ago) link

Fandango is wonderful. One of Costner’s best performances. I’m very fond of the USC thesis film it was born from as well, Proof (1981)

beamish13, Saturday, 19 September 2020 02:49 (three years ago) link


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