The BFI Sight & Sound Poll and Flickchart

Last year the British Film Institute released the results of their latest decennial poll and got some attention for Vertigo "overthrowing" Citizen Kane at the top of the list. They posted the results and ballots all online, which makes for some interesting searching. There are two sets, one for film directors and one for critics, and I was a little surprised to see that critics have nothing from the last 10 years in their top 50 save the excellent Mulholland Drive. The average year of their top 10 is 1946! Did film really hit its peak in its first 50 years?

In recent years I've put together my own list, using the neat system at Flickchart. I spent quite a while comparing the BFI results with my own top movies and didn't find much in common: among the top 250 critics list, I have seen only 34 and of the director's top 100, I have seen a mere 18. My own top film shows up on only one list, from the Farrelly brothers, and several of my favorites (Adaptation, Total Recall, Holy Grail, Naked Lunch) don't appear on anybody's list. Of all the ones I looked thru (and it was a lot), I have to say I liked director Matthew Vaughn's list the best and was pleased that at least one person put Starship Troopers, a film with a very serious message I think many viewers didn't catch, on their list.