85 ballots submitted for All-Time Greatest Film polling on Monday Morning Diary (November 14)

 

by Sam Juliano

Authors. University professors. Film critics. Film scholars. Filmmakers. Collectors. Impassioned cinephiles. Film fanatics who have watched upwards of 5,000 films in their lives. (Kendal College cum laude, the Briton Allan Fish, who authored a film book like no other -and whose ballot here is the only posthumous one submitted – saw double that number, easily, but this group is so prolific that associating with them is a humbling affair.) Film lovers who compile annual lists of the best they saw in years where they watched in the hundreds. Inveterate list makers. International movie denizens. Proctors of movie blog sites. And even a small sprinkling of the more modest movie watcher. They are all here for this Mother of all Pollings. (Yes, we still need to complete our Best American Films poll in our nearly-completed International balloting, but this present poll does stand alone). And for Tabulator Extraordinaire Bill Kamberger, this is truly the Mother of All Tabulations. It requires about one hour of his time to tabulate just one ballot, and we now have a grand total of eighty-five (85) ballots submitted.  The deadline passed today. This is a staggering total when you consider that the overwhelming majority of the ballots feature 100 films on them. This means the respective authors of those lists spent considerable time on crafting them.

We are not the final word on anything, not remotely. Yet, I am so proud of this group, and over the past several years have gotten to know most. This is as tasteful and as expert a group of cineastes I could ever hope to be associated with, and in behalf of Bill and myself I’d like to thank you for mustering up the energy and passion to complete this challenging task. The end results (concensus) will surely justify the time and effort that went into the project. To all those submitting ballots, thank you a million times over!

This past week was quiet on the movie front, but the coming week we plan to see a few more, including the highly-praised new Spielberg film.  I’ve been tinkering with the manuscript of Irish Jesus in Fairview, as I await the editing of the first-half of the book from my first-stage editor.  Meanwhile I have been outlining some ideas for the third novel, Roses for Saiorse. 

Wishing everyone a great week, as we move closer to Turkey Day, 2022.

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