Voting on the Empire top 500

Well thats me done. I expected to feel a sensation of crushing regret as I started to type, mabe just after clicking submit. But no. Even the fact they've allowed for people to login and change their vote did not tempt me. I find myself in the bizzare position of being completely satisfied with the top 10 I contributed to their poll, having cut it down from 18 favourite films.

1 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
2 Signs
3 Zulu
4 Fellowship of the Ring
4.5 Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
5 The Godfather
6 Reservoir Dogs
7 Lost Boys
8 L.A. Confidential
9 Hero
10 Donnie Darko
11 School of Rock
12 Brazil
13 Guns of Navarone
14 Constantine
15 Hot Fuzz
16 Apocalpse Now
17 Blade Runner

Here's my motivation for what went, and what stayed:

Apocalypse Now and Blade Runner
A lot of semi-favourite movies hang around my list, such as Velvet Goldmine or Legend of 1900, and every now and then I'll be writing it out (I'm cool like that), and suddenly one will slip on and fit perfectly. These are two such movies, films I've raved about for so long it seems pointless to leave them off. But as new additions, I decided not to put them on my top ten. Its not like they need the votes.

The Godfather, Reservoir Dogs and Fellowship of the Ring
"It's not like they need the votes" was my mantra for initially cutting down my list. The idea of voting is so you can't bitch when you don't like the results, and when it came to making up the gaps, it suddenly struck me that a vote for these two would be a futile blow against two things that always get on my nerves. That is, whenever they are beaten by their inferior sequels - Godfather 2 and Pulp Fiction and, although this makes me less mad, Two Towers and Return of the King. So here's hoping it'll nudge them higher. It would also be colossaly unfair for me to deny three films which I have, at one time or another, loved with every fibre of my being, merely to clinically advance the hopes of things I have loved less.

Brazil and L.A. Confidential
When I look at top 100s, I'm not just on the eye for my favourites - I want films which deserve to be there to be there. Rififi, Run Lola Run, Brazil and L.A. Confidential come in this catagory. It's out of 500, so I have no doubt both will get on (L.A.C is often on these things, and Brazil missed out on the Total Film top 100 by only a few places), but this is a protest vote.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is also a film that deserves to be on the list, but however clinically I'm voting, I certainly can't deny my favourite film of all time. Same goes for Signs, which might be in with a chance, and Zulu, that could squeak in at the very top.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
Wasted vote. I love it, but I can't kid myself for a moment it would be worthwhile. Total Film's 100 had a stats section, where it listed some unlikely films nominated - but its sufficiently obscure no one would list it there either.

School of Rock, Lost Boys and Constantine
School and Lost Boys were the first to be crossed off the list - pointless votes, and I didn't feel too bad about it either. Constantine was hard. For a while it was there, with the same grace of disbelief that had kept Guns and Zulu there. I wanted it to make the list, and I'm proud to be a minority fan, so I wanted to publicly give it some affection. Common sense prevailed - it had to go.

Hero and Donnie Darko
They blew me away at the time. Do I still love them as much as I did? I haven't seen them for a while, and the idea of it doesn't fill me with the same excitement as others on the page.

Guns of Navarone and Hot Fuzz
They're at the top end of my list, when one or two points can't make any real significant difference. Hot Fuzz is certainly in with a chance; I'll be suprised if Guns makes it, but like Zulu, its a possibility. However small.

It's not a bad list. Take a look at my sister's contribution, a bizzare mix of well recieved modern films, but hardly classics, and scarily respectable things:

1 Brick - Good call
2 Run Lola Run - see what i mean about alarmingly highbrow?
3 Enchanted - I quite liked this, but I was disappointed that the satire did not go so deep as I'd liked.
4 Spy Game - ach, a favourite of mine, and a film I can't watch too often.
5 Inconvenient Truth - see what I mean?! She has a documentary! I don't have a documentary...
6 The Two Towers - she's picked a different Ring from me, but it's still a good'n.
7 Signs - yay! See, we need a few more votes like this!
8 Phonebooth - very good piece of moviemaking indeed, but it hasn't earnt itself a reputation as a film to be voted for, if you know what I mean.
9 Spirited Away - yays!
10 Trois Coleurs: Rouge - Oh I'm chuffed about this, I'm very impressed.


What'll be at the top? Well, with the turbulence of the last few weeks, I'm expecting The Dark Knight Returns will be alarmingly highly placed. EMPIRE doesn't have pretentious voters, so while Citizen Kane will be there, it'll be lower. Pulp Fiction and Fight Club are, of course, going to do well, as will the Godfathers (but which one will come higher?)

Voting is open on the Empire website until September sometime.