Todd okayed it, and I feel up to it, so away we go! I'm posting this on all of the boards, but let's post any questions or comments on the post on the Arthouse, World & Hollywood Cinema board. (You can also email any questions to me.)

Every year we take a poll of the members' favorite movies and DVD releases. I would encourage everyone to participate. List your top 10 theatrical releases and top 10 DVD releases. Comments on your selections are encouraged.

You should only list DVD releases from 2007. If you have a question on when a DVD was released, an easy way to check is to look it up on amazon.

Movies are a little trickier, as we have voters in smaller towns and outside the US. The rule is you may vote for movies that opened in the city you lived in during 2007. That includes festival screenings. Also eligible are films that either debuted on DVD or never got a theatrical screening in your town.

Films are assumed to be listed in order of preference, unless you state otherwise (they can be weighed equally). I use the method of assigning 15 points to the first item, 14 points to the second item, all the way down to 6 points for the tenth item, arriving at a total of 105 points. For the few people that ranked all of their choices equally, I assign 10.5 points to each, to arrive at the total of 105.

You don't have to come up with 10 in either category, and you can certainly comment about more than 10 movies in your ballot. However, I won't include more than 10 movies in the poll. If you voted elsewhere, you can also vote on Mobius! You can get the range of various ballots submitted in the past by looking at the two previous poll results posted on the General Board.

Deadline will be Sunday, January 20, at midnight. I will try to post the results within a week.

Please send all of your ballots to me. You can click on my name on this thread as "Topic Starter", which will then bring up my Viewing Profile. Click on "Click Here" by "Email" in the right column and send to me.

Am I the only one having trouble coming up with a strict top ten for Cinema or DVD, particularly the latter? Both categories are (thankfully) suffering from a glut of way too many beloved candidates. Once again there will be plenty of runner-ups that I really wanted in my top ten, and I'm feeling forced to choose personal faves over other outstanding and excellent choices. But I'm especially having trouble with the DVD list, as we have a lot of related DVD releases, box sets, etc.

Does a vote for the Blade Runner DVD (which I assume will be deservedly popular) mean the 2-disc set, the 4-disc set, or one of the briefcases? Do they all count under one category?

What about high-def versions? Are they seperate releases?

Can the AB Mario Bava Box Sets count as one vote, or must they be voted for seperately? And what about poor little Eric The Conqueror, left out in the cold? Doesn't he count along with the boxes?

There are a few other releases where I want to put two in the same slot as a tie, but I don't want to screw things up, such as the two Hellboy Animated discs, the Criterion Yojimbo/Sanjuro box set, the Classic Media Godzillas, and the Double Dragon Shaw Bros releases.

2007 has been quite a year for film. I don't want to put down the excellent work you're doing here, Erik... but a TOP 15 would be more fun.

I think restricting people to "movies that opened in the city you lived in during 2007" is a bit much. A few of my favorites I watched at home, because, well, they came and went in New York, Chicago, Sundance, etc., but never got to my town (and never will).

Thanks to the 'wonder of the internets', seek and ye shall find....that's what I say.
Just check IMDB to see when the (U.S.) release date was, right (Unless there's a more accurate source I don't know about)?

And another question I didn't answer myself:
Is it already assumed that one has actually WATCHED the DVD that is on a list?
Maybe I'm being dumb, but I can think of a lot of releases I know are great, but haven't had the money or time to prove for sure.....

Questions.....sheesh.

"Does a vote for the Blade Runner DVD (which I assume will be deservedly popular) mean the 2-disc set, the 4-disc set, or one of the briefcases? Do they all count under one category?"

Hmmmm.... That's a good one. I'm guessing the "Ford at Fox" set is a comparable situation. I can throw that out for other opinions. The King Kong sets and the Superman sets from 2005 and 2006 were comparable releases, and we got very few votes for the individual releases.

"What about high-def versions? Are they seperate releases?" I don't think so, for items coming out simultaneously in all formats. If people want to vote for a release that just came out on high-def, but was released previously on regular DVD, they certainly can.

"Can the AB Mario Bava Box Sets count as one vote, or must they be voted for seperately? And what about poor little Eric The Conqueror, left out in the cold? Doesn't he count along with the boxes?"

ERIK THE CONQUEROR should be voted on separately (and I don't have a clue why AB didn't include it in one of the sets). I also believe you should vote on the MARIO BAVA BOX SETS separately. (They were released a couple of months apart, right?)

"such as the two Hellboy Animated discs, the Criterion Yojimbo/Sanjuro box set, the Classic Media Godzillas, and the Double Dragon Shaw Bros releases."

The HELLBOY ANIMATED were separate releases. The Criterion Yojimbo/Sanjuro box set could be voted for as one set or individual releases. You can vote for the individual classic media Godzilla releases that came out in 2007 or vote for the set. I'm not sure what your question is with the Double Dragon Shaw Brothers releases - one vote for the series?? (If so, no.)

"but a TOP 15 would be more fun." Probably so, but there's something to be said for tradition. In addition, I've already got a couple of lists. ALSO, people can comment on however many movies they want to; see the ballots from previous years for the range of submissions.

"I think restricting people to "movies that opened in the city you lived in during 2007" is a bit much. A few of my favorites I watched at home, because, well, they came and went in New York, Chicago, Sundance, etc., but never got to my town (and never will)."

Sorry for the confusion. I stated: "Also eligible are films that either debuted on DVD or never got a theatrical screening in your town." I've included a couple of films that I didn't have the possibility of seeing in a theater on my lists in the past. "Movies that opened in the city that you lived in 2007" is a rough guideline. For example, THERE WILL BE BLOOD is appearing on a lot of 10 best lists, but I wouldn't include it on my list, as it didn't open in my town in 2007, and the only way I could have seen it is at a sneak preview or bootleg DVD. On the other hand, PAN'S LABYRINTH is a contender for my theatrical 2007 list, as it didn't open until 2007 in Houston. Believe me, it's a LOT more complicated for people living outside of the US.

"Is it already assumed that one has actually WATCHED the DVD that is on a list?
Maybe I'm being dumb, but I can think of a lot of releases I know are great, but haven't had the money or time to prove for sure....." Yeah, that's always been my criteria. Again, if you look at the previously posted lists, that's a pretty common caveat (for me too). Also, Andrew Sarris pretty much had the same disclaimer in his recent best film list, pointing out that there were over 500 theatrical releases debuting in New York City in 2007.

I think one advantage of our poll over the years is that we give people the opportunity to see the flood of quality theatrical (and DVD) releases that always hit at the end of the year.

I also find the list more entertaining and valuable for the individual ballots and comments than the tabulation. I don't want to be too dogmatic about what people can and can not include in their lists, but it's good to have a little structure.

One more thing - I'll send out an acknowledgement email within 48 hours of receiving your ballot. If you don't get one from me, please try again.

I'm guessing that "something" will remain traditionally mysterious. :) But you're running the show, and the effort's still appreciated.

More dumb questions... Since Black Book and The Host didn't officially open in NYC until this year, I'm counting them as 2007 releases. But I believe some people voted for one or two of those last year, as they are technically "old". You basically answered this already, but as those two titles are currently at the top of my list, I want to make sure my voting is kosher.

Again, this has basically been covered, but I want to clarify things. Are tie votes discouraged or banned? I'm currently tying Assassination Of Jesse James and There Will Be Blood, two acclaimed and excellent films that will get more powerful votes than mine. I am equally impressed with these similar American historical epics without being nearly as passionate about them as Movies 1-8. I'm okay with them getting 3.5 points each if you are.

"More dumb questions..."

No such thing!

"Since Black Book and The Host didn't officially open in NYC until this year, I'm counting them as 2007 releases. But I believe some people voted for one or two of those last year, as they are technically "old". You basically answered this already, but as those two titles are currently at the top of my list, I want to make sure my voting is kosher."

Yes, definitely kosher.

"Again, this has basically been covered, but I want to clarify things. Are tie votes discouraged or banned? I'm currently tying Assassination Of Jesse James and There Will Be Blood, two acclaimed and excellent films that will get more powerful votes than mine. I am equally impressed with these similar American historical epics without being nearly as passionate about them as Movies 1-8. I'm okay with them getting 3.5 points each if you are."

Yes, that's happened before, and I'll rank / score per instructions.

Because of some situations at work, I failed to post a reminder about the poll a couple of days ago.

Therefore, I'll extend the deadline for the poll another six days, Saturday 26, at midnight.

I would encourage everyone to vote.

If you have any questions about the poll, you can ask on the post on the Arthouse, World & Hollywood Cinema board. (You can also email any questions to me.)

Reminder that the deadline for the poll is Saturday, January 26, at midnight (more or less!).

If you have any questions about the poll, you can ask on the post on the Arthouse, World & Hollywood Cinema board. (You can also email any questions to me.)

I've enjoyed reading the various submissions so far, but several familiar voices haven't voted yet.

This is the site I use. You can determine whether it's more convenient for you than Amazon.

Ballot sent. Sorry so last minute, boss. 2007 was a special year for movies, so I took extra time with this one. Let me know about the formatting issue.

I had a problem receiving at least two ballots, so just to make sure, here are the ballots I received. If you are not on the list, send me an im through the board, and I'll send you my email address.
Sowers
Hertzberg
Blanton
Garrett
B.C. Smith
Moore
Rome
Teh
Black
McKee
Maxwell (two separate submissions)
Young
howard
Camp
Rosinger
Dillaman
Tucker
Bassett
W.S. Wilson
Pereira
Skolnick

Hope to tally everything within a week. Thanks again to everyone who voted.

I sent in a ballot, and am crestfallen not to see my name. OK already, I'll take RESIDENT EVIL: EXTINCTION off my Top Ten. :)

Bob, sent you my email address. Sorry for the hassle!

Erik... are you saying my poll is too big for your box? Yikes, I guess I went all Mortensen and extended myself too much! Considering my ballot is over 4 pages in Word, I'm not too surprised. The email is on the way.

So... the Academy Awards are the Oscars. And the Classic Horror Boards have the Rondos. What should we call our awards? The "Mobys" don't work too well for me, conjuring up images of the musician or a white whale. Hmmm... maybe a crazed white whale with a greedy mouthful of film reels and DVDs would represent us well? Or should we pick some iconic film actor or character to represent our (non-existant) trophies?

As a Wild Bunch fan (and I know I'm not the only one here) I like the idea of... THE GORCHES!

Any suggestions?

Oh, my prediction for this year's poll is that Zodiac and the Blade Runner box will take the top slots. Not everyone will vote them #1, but like Casino Royale last year, a lot of people will vote for them.

Erik, I didn't get it. Then again, I haven't gottten any Mobius notifications in a long while; good thing I stop by so often. (And, no, I don't know what the deal is, either.)

Me too! :o

Even when I enable email notification of replies, I haven't received topic update notifications since last September, and I don't know why? :unsure:


http://z8.invisionfree.com/MHVF/index.php?showtopic=8337

Ah, so it's not just me. I've checked and rechecked settings, and nada. I'll love GRINDHOUSE if that's what it takes to get my replies.

You're welcome, and I hope so too! B)

Update. I'm halfway through the tabulation, and I will post the results in a couple of days. Very sorry for the delay, but among a couple of other things, I've had several fraudulent checks written to my checking account (with all the headaches associated with addressing that).

Oh, I was gonna tell you about that, Erik..Seriously, best with the mess. :P