Red Planet Films (Essential Cinema/Film Canon) - Nominations [CLOSED]

Fergenaprido · #1

Red Planet Films

Welcome to icm Forum's take on the essential film canon. A hybrid between Desert Island Discs and Film School curricula, this fun project is intended to showcase the films that the forum holds in the highest esteem, whether for their technical prowess, aesthetic beauty, engaging plot, or general warm-fuzziness.

How do I submit a list? Each person may submit up to 50 films. All lists will be unranked. You can submit an imdb list, icm list, letterboxd list, or post a list of imdb urls in a spoiler tag.

Which films should I include on my list? The premise is you have been selected to join the first Terran colony on Mars, the red planet. One of your responsibilities will be teaching film studies to the first generation of Martians. You are allowed to bring 50 films with you to teach about in your classes, which will also double as a preservation service should anything catastrophic happen on Earth before the next scheduled colonization. You are encouraged to pick the films of cultural, historical, and/or technical excellence/importance, that best exemplify what the medium of film has to offer. Since streaming from Earth won't be possible, these will be the only 50 films available to everyone on the planet.

How will the list be calculated? Films will be ranked by the number of lists they appear on. List length is to be determined, but a tentative goal is around 96 films. Why? Because a Martian year has 96 weeks, so one film per week. If there are too many ties, I may have a second round where users rank the films that make the cutoff to decide the final ranking.

When is the deadline for submissions? 11:59:59 p.m. July 18th, 2021, Hawaiian Standard Time.

Original Discussion Thread: here

28 Participants

Mysterious Dude · #2

Fergenaprido wrote: ↑June 19th, 2021, 2:37 am Since streaming from Earth won't be possible, these will be the only 50 films available to everyone on the planet.

Are we rationing hard drive space? I've got more than 50 movies on my laptop!

https://www.imdb.com/list/ls505139088/

hurluberlu · #3

Mysterious Dude wrote: ↑June 19th, 2021, 11:45 am
Fergenaprido wrote: ↑June 19th, 2021, 2:37 am Since streaming from Earth won't be possible, these will be the only 50 films available to everyone on the planet.
Are we rationing hard drive space? I've got more than 50 movies on my laptop!

https://www.imdb.com/list/ls505139088/

Nothing worth since 1996 ?

Dolwphin · #4

My list: https://www.icheckmovies.com/lists/dolw ... /dolwphin/

Mysterious Dude · #5

hurluberlu wrote: ↑June 19th, 2021, 2:18 pm Nothing worth since 1996 ?

For this poll, I selected movies that I know are widely considered great or important. 1998 is the year I started "seriously" watching movies and learning about great movies, and for some reason, it's hard for me to see movies from after that as being part of the canon. There are a lot of post-1998 movies that I love dearly, but when I look at the titles, I just don't see them as "canon".

gromit82 · #6

I'm not going to make any great claims for my list, but here is what I'm submitting:
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls505164227/

Perception de Ambiguity · #7

https://www.imdb.com/list/ls505166369/

Lilarcor · #8

My selection is heavily weighted towards the teaching aspect, and like Mysterious Dude nothing after the 1990s (because I would be inclined to teach film history). 1 film per director. Unranked, chronological.

https://www.icheckmovies.com/lists/red+ ... /lilarcor/

murnaunosferatu · #9

Chronological:

https://www.icheckmovies.com/lists/top+ ... nosferatu/

russa03 · #10

https://www.icheckmovies.com/lists/essential/russa03/

Carmel1379 · #11

https://www.imdb.com/list/ls505371410/

Onderhond · #12

https://www.icheckmovies.com/lists/mars+50/onderhond/

AB537 · #13

https://www.icheckmovies.com/lists/ab53 ... lms/ab537/

My list is in chronological order. As others have observed, narrowing down to 50 is really difficult.

beasterne · #14

Here's my chronological list. It's only drawn from movies that I've seen, so I know I'm likely missing some films that are important to film history and should be included. But it's my list, so I have to judge the entries based on what I've actually seen: https://www.icheckmovies.com/lists/icmf ... beasterne/

I started with a short list of 68 films, and made some brutal cuts down to 56 films. Still have to figure out what those last 6 cuts will be. I really want to include Total Recall, if only for the line, "get your ass to Mars!", but that may have to be one of the last cuts--we will see...

AB537 · #15

beasterne wrote: ↑June 23rd, 2021, 4:07 pm Here's my chronological list. It's only drawn from movies that I've seen, so I know I'm likely missing some films that are important to film history and should be included. But it's my list, so I have to judge the entries based on what I've actually seen: https://www.icheckmovies.com/lists/icmf ... beasterne/

I started with a short list of 68 films, and made some brutal cuts down to 56 films. Still have to figure out what those last 6 cuts will be. I really want to include Total Recall, if only for the line, "get your ass to Mars!", but that may have to be one of the last cuts--we will see...

That's the downside to this exercise in that none of us (to my knowledge) are professional critics or, maybe more relevant, film historians, so we all have limitations in regions/languages/genres, whether through what we've been able to find or personal taste. Hopefully combining all of our lists will minimize this issue. As a result, I consciously skipped over some regions where I'm just not familiar enough with the key films to really be able to make an informed contribution (e.g. sub Saharan Africa, Middle East, south Asia). I also reluctantly included one musical and one animated film, even though neither genre is really my cup of tea.

Trying to balance quality and checking boxes as many boxes as possible also leads to interesting results in what seems either impossible to include or to leave out, especially in comparison with my actual favourites list. For example, Night of the Living Dead (outside my top 300) seemed essential because it checks several helpful boxes, and Andrei Rublev was a notably painful cut for similar reasons. Meanwhile, North by Northwest (#3) and The Conformist (#10) were relatively easy cuts, and Visconti's The Leopard (top 30) didn't even make my initial longlist of over 100 since there was no hope of space for any of them given other inclusions.

If I was presenting my list as part of a course in film studies, I'd likely supplement it by adding a list of additional recommendations to the syllabus.

beasterne · #16

AB537 wrote: ↑June 23rd, 2021, 9:07 pm
beasterne wrote: ↑June 23rd, 2021, 4:07 pm Here's my chronological list. It's only drawn from movies that I've seen, so I know I'm likely missing some films that are important to film history and should be included. But it's my list, so I have to judge the entries based on what I've actually seen: https://www.icheckmovies.com/lists/icmf ... beasterne/

I started with a short list of 68 films, and made some brutal cuts down to 56 films. Still have to figure out what those last 6 cuts will be. I really want to include Total Recall, if only for the line, "get your ass to Mars!", but that may have to be one of the last cuts--we will see...
That's the downside to this exercise in that none of us (to my knowledge) are professional critics or, maybe more relevant, film historians, so we all have limitations in regions/languages/genres, whether through what we've been able to find or personal taste. Hopefully combining all of our lists will minimize this issue. As a result, I consciously skipped over some regions where I'm just not familiar enough with the key films to really be able to make an informed contribution (e.g. sub Saharan Africa, Middle East, south Asia). I also reluctantly included one musical and one animated film, even though neither genre is really my cup of tea.

Trying to balance quality and checking boxes as many boxes as possible also leads to interesting results in what seems either impossible to include or to leave out, especially in comparison with my actual favourites list. For example, Night of the Living Dead (outside my top 300) seemed essential because it checks several helpful boxes, and Andrei Rublev was a notably painful cut for similar reasons. Meanwhile, North by Northwest (#3) and The Conformist (#10) were relatively easy cuts, and Visconti's The Leopard (top 30) didn't even make my initial longlist of over 100 since there was no hope of space for any of them given other inclusions.

If I was presenting my list as part of a course in film studies, I'd likely supplement it by adding a list of additional recommendations to the syllabus.

This resonated a lot with me. I tried very hard to give at least some representation to the major regions, but I know I still fell short.

Your examples really highlight what I find interesting about this exercise. Night of the Living Dead wouldn't make my favorites list. It would be far down on my list of "best films ever". But I still gave it1 slot of 50 because of the essential boxes it helps to fill. These types of decisions are what I find interesting about a canon/essential films project, and what I'm hoping our consensus list will include as well.

My list is finally at 50. I decided to add Manila in the Claws of Light because it's an excellent film and I realized I had no Southeast Asia representation. My last few cuts were for Total Recall (the memes didn't save it), Sans Soleil (I felt the combo of Baraka and My Winnipeg gave some coverage in this space), and A Matter of Life and Death (a beautiful film, but maybe too Eurocentric and at least I have The Third Man for a British lens on post-WW2 Europe. Still, brutal).

Final list, chronological: https://www.icheckmovies.com/lists/icmf ... beasterne/

Onderhond · #17

Am I the only one who tried to think of the students?

beasterne · #18

You're sending them the scariest movie of all. If any of those Mars kids watch Gravity they'll never feel safe in their homes again!

AB537 · #19

beasterne wrote: ↑June 23rd, 2021, 10:05 pm
AB537 wrote: ↑June 23rd, 2021, 9:07 pm
beasterne wrote: ↑June 23rd, 2021, 4:07 pm Here's my chronological list. It's only drawn from movies that I've seen, so I know I'm likely missing some films that are important to film history and should be included. But it's my list, so I have to judge the entries based on what I've actually seen: https://www.icheckmovies.com/lists/icmf ... beasterne/

I started with a short list of 68 films, and made some brutal cuts down to 56 films. Still have to figure out what those last 6 cuts will be. I really want to include Total Recall, if only for the line, "get your ass to Mars!", but that may have to be one of the last cuts--we will see...
That's the downside to this exercise in that none of us (to my knowledge) are professional critics or, maybe more relevant, film historians, so we all have limitations in regions/languages/genres, whether through what we've been able to find or personal taste. Hopefully combining all of our lists will minimize this issue. As a result, I consciously skipped over some regions where I'm just not familiar enough with the key films to really be able to make an informed contribution (e.g. sub Saharan Africa, Middle East, south Asia). I also reluctantly included one musical and one animated film, even though neither genre is really my cup of tea.

Trying to balance quality and checking boxes as many boxes as possible also leads to interesting results in what seems either impossible to include or to leave out, especially in comparison with my actual favourites list. For example, Night of the Living Dead (outside my top 300) seemed essential because it checks several helpful boxes, and Andrei Rublev was a notably painful cut for similar reasons. Meanwhile, North by Northwest (#3) and The Conformist (#10) were relatively easy cuts, and Visconti's The Leopard (top 30) didn't even make my initial longlist of over 100 since there was no hope of space for any of them given other inclusions.

If I was presenting my list as part of a course in film studies, I'd likely supplement it by adding a list of additional recommendations to the syllabus.
This resonated a lot with me. I tried very hard to give at least some representation to the major regions, but I know I still fell short.

Your examples really highlight what I find interesting about this exercise. Night of the Living Dead wouldn't make my favorites list. It would be far down on my list of "best films ever". But I still gave it1 slot of 50 because of the essential boxes it helps to fill. These types of decisions are what I find interesting about a canon/essential films project, and what I'm hoping our consensus list will include as well.

My list is finally at 50. I decided to add Manila in the Claws of Light because it's an excellent film and I realized I had no Southeast Asia representation. My last few cuts were for Total Recall (the memes didn't save it), Sans Soleil (I felt the combo of Baraka and My Winnipeg gave some coverage in this space), and A Matter of Life and Death (a beautiful film, but maybe too Eurocentric and at least I have The Third Man for a British lens on post-WW2 Europe. Still, brutal).

Final list, chronological: https://www.icheckmovies.com/lists/icmf ... beasterne/

The degree of overlap between our lists is striking. Yours also contains quite a few of my favourites that I considered - and would have liked to include - for the very niche(s) I suspect they fill on your list, especially The Night of the Hunter and War & Peace. And I actually included both A Matter of Life and Death and The Third Man, even though both are British films from a similar timeframe, as to me they cover so much ground between them that I could justify leaving them in (although that of course required difficult cuts elsewhere).

matthewscott8 · #20

Carmel1379 wrote: ↑June 22nd, 2021, 4:59 pm https://www.imdb.com/list/ls505371410/

nice username on IMDb list

russa03 · #21

Onderhond wrote: ↑June 23rd, 2021, 10:07 pm Am I the only one who tried to think of the students?

Carmel1379 · #22

matthewscott8 wrote: ↑June 25th, 2021, 2:09 pm
Carmel1379 wrote: ↑June 22nd, 2021, 4:59 pm https://www.imdb.com/list/ls505371410/
nice username on IMDb list

Thank you!

tommy_leazaq · #23

My mood is currently shitty depressed so if I compile a list now, I might include all those documentaries about Wars, War crimes, holocaust, ethnic genocides with few Hanake and von Trier in between to show those Martian kids life in Earth kinda sucked

So, No. i'll wait for 10 more days to do this and hope I'll be in better frame of mind then

TraverseTown · #24

https://www.icheckmovies.com/lists/trav ... versetown/

I'm pretty pleased with how it came out.

Torgo · #25

Onderhond wrote: ↑June 23rd, 2021, 10:07 pm Am I the only one who tried to think of the students?

LOL

Fergenaprido · #26

OP Updated. 15 Participants so far.

10 days until the deadline.

Panunzio · #27

Really cool project, Ferg. Here's my submission. Bringing it down to just 50 was a really tough exercise!

https://www.imdb.com/list/ls505241196/

sushantv10 · #28

Here:
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls505246111/

3eyes · #29

tommy_leazaq wrote: ↑July 1st, 2021, 7:21 pm My mood is currently shitty depressed so if I compile a list now, I might include all those documentaries about Wars, War crimes, holocaust, ethnic genocides with few Hanake and von Trier in between to show those Martian kids life in Earth kinda sucked So, No. i'll wait for 10 more days to do this and hope I'll be in better frame of mind then

LOL! You inspire me. (Cue the Blue Nightclub scene from Naked Gun 2 1/2)

I had to do some poking around the web to figure out how you got 96 Martian weeks. As for months aka lunar cycles....

Jimi Antiloop · #30

would become a dual study there on mars, philosophy and film.

https://www.imdb.com/list/ls505284207/

Perception de Ambiguity · #31

Jimi Antiloop wrote: ↑July 4th, 2021, 8:53 pm https://www.imdb.com/list/ls505284207/

Thanks for highlighting 'Kopfleuchten'. I watched it yesterday and it turned out to be a nicely authentic film about fascinating people who make for divergent thinkers but whose voices most of us very rarely get to hear. Nowadays especially, only 25 years ago I'd see people with those type of extreme conditions often in public, now they seem to have almost completely vanished off the face of the Earth, presumably locked away somewhere, shielded from the public eye, out of sight, out of mind. Do you have a personal connection to the subject matter given that you regard this documentary as essential?

Gordon_Gekko · #32

Is it possible to give one more week for posting the list? I try to make a list of 25 films of important epochs / influences and 25 films of film technology development / breaking in style. But it really takes time...

First 25 (21 epochs / 4 technology development)
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls505423728/

outdoorcats · #33

Almost forgot to post my list.

sol · #34

https://www.icheckmovies.com/lists/redplanet/sol-/

Chronological and no directors listed more than twice.

To be honest, I thought about submitting a list that included The Martian, Mission to Mars, Ghosts of Mars, Total Recall, etc.

3eyes · #35

outdoorcats wrote: ↑July 9th, 2021, 5:48 am Almost forgot to post my list.

404

OldAle1 · #36

Gordon_Gekko wrote: ↑July 7th, 2021, 1:40 pm Is it possible to give one more week for posting the list? I try to make a list of 25 films of important epochs / influences and 25 films of film technology development / breaking in style. But it really takes time...

First 25 (21 epochs / 4 technology development)
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls505423728/

Ditto to this. I've had too many other things to focus on, and I'm going to be away for the next 3 days with no time for anything here. Been meaning to work on the list, but it's not something I want to just toss off.

Torgo · #37

3eyes wrote: ↑July 9th, 2021, 2:03 pm
outdoorcats wrote: ↑July 9th, 2021, 5:48 am Almost forgot to post my list.
404

Because it's the (successful) edit URL, again ..

This is outdoorcats' list: https://www.icheckmovies.com/lists/film ... tdoorcats/

Fergenaprido · #38

Gordon_Gekko wrote: ↑July 7th, 2021, 1:40 pm Is it possible to give one more week for posting the list? I try to make a list of 25 films of important epochs / influences and 25 films of film technology development / breaking in style. But it really takes time...

First 25 (21 epochs / 4 technology development)
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls505423728/

OldAle1 wrote: ↑July 9th, 2021, 2:12 pm Ditto to this. I've had too many other things to focus on, and I'm going to be away for the next 3 days with no time for anything here. Been meaning to work on the list, but it's not something I want to just toss off.

I have no problem with extending the deadline a bit... there's no pressing urgency to wrap this up immediately.

I'll extend the deadline one week to Sunday, July 18th.

outdoorcats · #39

3eyes wrote: ↑July 9th, 2021, 2:03 pm
outdoorcats wrote: ↑July 9th, 2021, 5:48 am Almost forgot to post my list.
404

Whoops! Should be fixed now.

3eyes · #40

outdoorcats wrote: ↑July 9th, 2021, 10:20 pm
3eyes wrote: ↑July 9th, 2021, 2:03 pm
outdoorcats wrote: ↑July 9th, 2021, 5:48 am Almost forgot to post my list.
404
Whoops! Should be fixed now.

Torgo posted link that works (see post #37). The link on your latest still doesn't work. Thanks, Torgo.