If I Had a Sight & Sound Ballot

Sight and Sound releases a Top Ten Films of All-Time list every ten years and, lucky us!, this is that year. I believe ballots are still being tallied, but the results should be out soon. Here's where you can check out historical results of the poll.

I'm not in the business on commenting on this sort of thing. I'm in the business of stealing ideas. So, with that, I'm bringing to you my list of greatest films of all-time. There are a few considerations I'm going to have to make. Obviously, just because a movie is a favorite of mine, doesn't mean that it's necessarily one of the most accomplished movies ever (sorry The Brothers Solomon). Also, there are many lauded films that I simply don't believe are that good (hello most of Woody Allen's filmography). Perhaps most significantly, a lot of films that are deemed "classics" I haven't seen that many times. It's hard for me to vote for The Godfather or 8 1/2 when I've only seen them once. Also, I don't believe in limiting filmmakers to one spot. If they have two of the best movies, then there's nothing I can do but include it (as of now, I haven't made my list so I don't know if that will be an issue).

Away we go (that movie doesn't make the list)! Judge me appropriately. And as always, I reserve the right to change my list at any time.

1. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb -- Stanley Kubrick
My default for favorite movie ever. And my buddy Paul just introduced me to this epic trailer:


2. The General -- Buster Keaton, Clyde Bruckman

3. Rear Window -- Alfred Hitchcock

4. Lawrence of Arabia -- David Lean
Remarkably, it doesn't feel remotely 3.5 hours long. Also features some of the best cuts in film history. How I yearn to see a 70mm print...


5. Alien -- Ridley Scott

6. M  -- Fritz Lang


7. Brazil -- Terry Gilliam

8. The Exorcist -- William Friedkin

9. 12 Angry Men -- Sidney Lumet

10. La grande illusion -- Jean Renoir

Top Ten Presidential Names

A while ago, I tweeted that I don't think that people appreciate how awesome the name "Barack Obama" is, regardless of politics. It has a great flow, and miss of hard and soft sounds, and just sounds like a powerful name. This made me think about the names of other presidents. The most common are:

George (3)

John (4)

James (5... though 6 if we include Jimmy Carter)

Those may be the most frequently occurring names, but most of the names of our presidents have been horribly conventional. This is my list of the best presidential monikers. I tried my best to divorce politics from the equation, but I'm blessed with a lack of intimate knowledge of some of these people. 

1. Barack Obama

2. Rutherford B. Hayes

3. Ulysses S. Grant

4. Millard Fillmore

(the only president to have consecutive consonants, maybe even letters, in his first and last name)

5. Grover Cleveland

6. Theodore Roosevelt

(may rank so high because I can't divorce his awesomeness from his name)

7. Martin van Buren

8. Abraham Lincoln

9. Chester A. Arthur

10. Dwight D. Eisenhower

Lesson taken from this list: Including your middle initial goes along to making your name sound badass.