Getting Away from Things That Get Bad: The ILX Road-Movie Poll Results Thread

I don't know how many of these films fall into the love-it-or-hate-it category, but this one would be near the top of that list. I loved it, helped immensely by the Yo La Tengo soundtrack; absent that, very doubtful.

43. The Passenger
33 points/3 votes

http://phildellio.tripod.com/43-passenger.jpg

I'd have to check, but I think Nicholson handily accumulated the most acting points for this poll. He personifies roadiness.

Wanted to watch this one but didn't get round to it. In fact, I've only seen two of the list so far, hence me not commenting much, sorry!

I've seen The Passenger two or three times. For me, kind of a slog, although I like the Michael Snow-influence final shot. Maria Schneider is such a '70s icon.

Someone will make a documentary about her at some point.

42. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia
33 points/5 votes

http://phildellio.tripod.com/42-alfredo.jpg

I'll be honest, this one had me giggling the one time I saw it--the conversations with the head. Maybe that's the intended reaction, I don't know. I was probably influenced by its inclusion in that first Harry Medved book. Greil Marcus mentioned it recently:

"Alfredo Garcia is one of a kind--hypnotic, fatalistic, cruel, hard to take, impossible to forget."

need to rewatch this, remember really liking it but not much else.

41. Aguirre, the Wrath of God
36 points/4 votes

http://phildellio.tripod.com/41-aguirre.jpg

Sorry to say I've never seen this. I've had a DVD on the shelf for a couple of years, but I'll only see it for the first time if it's in a theatre. It screened here a few months ago--I know that whatever it was that prevented me from going was something I couldn't duck out of.

39. (tie) Midnight Cowboy
37 points/4 votes

http://phildellio.tripod.com/39-midnight.jpg

39. (tie) Dead Man
37 points/4 votes

http://phildellio.tripod.com/39-dead.jpg

I still waver a bit on the idea of Midnight Cowboy as a road film, so I put it somewhere in the middle of my ballot, below films I'd rank lower if I were just listing favourites. I tried to balance the two: "How much do I like this film?" with "How well does it capture what I think a road movie is?"

I like Dead Man, although it took a second try. I remember some interesting millennial commentary on it at the time.

Never seen the Dead Man but the soundtrack is road movie as hell.

Oh yay, two of mine - Aguirre and Midnight Cowboy.

I tried to balance the two: "How much do I like this film?" with "How well does it capture what I think a road movie is?"

Yeah, this was my approach too, and I also bumped down Midnight Cowboy because of it. Though I'm sure you'd get some people thinking a lot of my top votes are not really 'classic style' road movies and so I shouldn't talk - even though I respect the American car movie as the Platonic version of a road movie I think 'expansive philosophical journey films' are my preferred angle to take. Aguirre for instance, I felt completely sure about including as a road movie, but as I wasn't able to give it a re-watch it fell out of my top five, and I'm kind of regretting that now.

I want a road, but I don't need a car--tractor, bus, by foot, they're all good.

In my own life, I have more peace of mind when I'm driving (around dusk, no traffic) that at any other time.

Aguirre, Alfredo Garcia and Dead Man are incredible (although I didn't vote for Aguirre). The rape in Alfredo Garcia is v unpleasant and the one thing that really bugs me about the film. the rest is k-lassic.

https://templinbrand.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/aguirre.png

good example of a trope key to the genre: the characters pass by something bizarre or unexplainable but make no comment on it.

haha yes

Great image, don't recognize it.

No one nominated The Wild Bunch...That has a some road-film in it, no? (I did put up a post early expressing skepticism as to whether most any western is inherently a road film, and that this would then turn into a greatest western poll.)

36. (tie) Vagabond
38 points/4 votes/one #1

http://phildellio.tripod.com/36-vagabond.jpg

36. (tie) Down by Law
38 points/4 votes

http://phildellio.tripod.com/36-law.jpg

xp it's a shot from Aguirre.

Realised Hell or High Water should have been nominated as well.

Haven't seen Down by Law, which is strange in view of much I love Stranger Than Paradise. Maybe Excitable Italian Man has kept me away. The thing I remember about Vagabond is thinking that the ending may have partly inspired Twin Peaks.

"how much"

Benigni is fine in the movie. Perhaps assisted by the other characters treating him as the inconvenient annoyance that he is

I have a lifetime grudge against the man for stealing Nick Nolte's Academy Award.

good example of a trope key to the genre: the characters pass by something bizarre or unexplainable but make no comment on it.

Oh yes, definitely. Also made me lol @ RPG memory where I was GMing and made the characters drive past a Jurassic Park minigolf for literally no reason (this is probably only funny to me).

I did think about nominating Wise Blood as there's a lot of driving, but he doesn't ever actually manage to go anywhere. The line "a man doesn't need to be justified if he's got a good car" is A++ material for the poll, though.

35. Sullivan’s Travels
39 points/4 votes

http://phildellio.tripod.com/35-sullivan.jpg

I want to finish this up before 8:00...Thought this was great the one time I saw it years ago--clearly the blueprint for Bill Forsyth's great Comfort and Joy. Veronica Lake...sigh.

Wise Blood's another one I've got revisit.

I'm in typos-every-other-word mode.

Was thinking about A Good Man is Hard to Find as stuff in other mediums that would fit.

I remember reading a short story that I think was Flannery O'Connor--a mom and her adult son on a bus, arguing the whole way. It's not that, is it?

34. Inside Llewyn Davis
40 points/3 votes

http://phildellio.tripod.com/34-llewyn.jpg

xp that's Everything That Rises Must Converge.

Love Llewyn <3

Woah, didn't realize that we started this!

Catching up: Thelma and Louise and Sideways both came in towards the end of my ballot. The former might of ranked a little higher had I seen it more recently, and the latter I had already designated as the last film on my ballot because I see it as something as a thematic bookend to my #1 film (but more on that later, hopefully).

Aguirre, Children of Men and No Country For Old Men are all movies I love, but they didn't fit my own personal criterial for a road movie for one reason or another. I like Sullivan's Travels well enough, but didn't vote for it.

Need to see all the others.

As for Llewyn, I still haven't really warmed to it after a couple of re-watches in which I was expecting to do just that, but I'll likely give it another whirl some time down the, er, road.

(xpost) Right--memorable story.

Great film, although the explicitly road-film 20 minutes is my least favourite part.

Just checked your list--I haven't seen your #1, but the Sideways connection is intriguing.

32. Goin’ Down the Road
42 points/3 votes

http://phildellio.tripod.com/32-goin.jpg

Too many Canadians voting in this poll...The woman in the still, Sheila White, died within a year or two of Goin' Down the Road's release. If you ever see it, whatever you think of the film itself, you will never forget her or the one scene she's in.

Not enough road for me, but I adore it. And yes, that scene is absolutely gorgeous and haunting.

missed 33?

33. Kings of the Road
40 points/4 votes

http://phildellio.tripod.com/33-kings.jpg

Oops--you're right! Too anxious to get to Goin' Down the Road.

I had this pretty high. I think it's almost too self-conscious about its roadiness--Wenders clearly set out to make the definitive road film--but so many great moments and images.

31. Pierrot le Fou
42 points/5 votes

http://phildellio.tripod.com/31-pierrot.jpg

One of four directors to place three films, I think.

I'll resume tomorrow with #30-11. Same sporadic posting schedule during the day.

Nicholson's commentary track on The Passenger DVD is a model of intelligence. He shuts up when necessary, and can discuss shots and dissolves.

He also sounds like he's getting over the flu.

I didn't realize we had to designate a #1, and I gave equal high points to three films, so let the record show Kings of the Road had at least one #1. I thought it would place higher.

That was an easy fix the way I set up images.

If anyone else meant for something to be #1 and I didn't count it as such, let me know and I'll drop a revised image in there.

Um...I also missed #38 yesterday.

38. Into the Night
38 points/2 votes

http://phildellio.tripod.com/38-night.jpg

Good thing I meticulously set up a chart the night before, with everything that needed to be cut-and-paste all set ahead of time, including the image links. That way there'd be no foul-ups. (Other than skipping two spots, the results have been correct.)

This was the hardest image for me to figure out. I haven't seen the film, and I don't really have any sense of it. And a search didn't turn up anything that striking.

Here's #50-31:
50. Children of Men
49. Thelma and Louise
48. Sideways
47. The Sugarland Express
45. (tie) No Country for Old Men
          Alice in the Cities
44. Old Joy
43. The Passenger
42. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia
41. Aguirre, the Wrath of God
39. (tie) Midnight Cowboy
          Dead Man
38. Into the Night
36. (tie) Down by Law
          Vagabond
35. Sullivan’s Travels
34. Inside Llewyn Davis
33. Kings of the Road
32. Goin' Down the Road
31. Pierrot le Fou

30. It Happened One Night
42 points/6 votes

http://phildellio.tripod.com/30-happened.jpg

I think it's been 40 years since I saw this--likely on Elwy Yost's show (Canada's venerable Robert Osborne-type movie host) in the late '70s. Don't remember much except the most famous scene (which I tried to avoid for the image).

29. Sightseers
43 points/4 votes/one #1

http://phildellio.tripod.com/29-sightseers.jpg

Hadn't even heard of this film until this poll--looked into ordering it, but a little pricey on Amazon.

28. The Wizard of Oz
43 points/5 votes

http://phildellio.tripod.com/28-wizard.jpg

Before my own munchkins arrive...I have seen this one.

I Travel Because I Have To, I Come Back Because I Love You*
*My go for broke passion vote. A Brazilian movie from 2009 that I saw (twice!) at a festival, on paper this looks like a boilerplate quirky road pic: a recently divorced geologist is sent out for an environmental impact research study Re:the building of a canal, which he semi-derails by going on a lengthy bender. What sets it apart is the execution. The whole thing is presented as a collage of home movies, faux-found footage, and POV shots, with most of the dialog being log entries read in voiceover by the unseen protagonist, a mixed bag of travelog descriptions of what's happening, memories of his wife, and fragments of the study he's supposed to be conducting. One of the best films I've ever seen on the function of memory, and a refreshingly successful genre de/reconstruction.

This sounds brilliant, btw.

Sad Midnight Run didn't make it.

I really wanted to rewatch it for the poll, but couldn't find it anywhere. Haven't seen it since it whenever it was last in regular rotation on cable.

http://i1059.photobucket.com/albums/t427/sayhey1/wanda_zpsxcrjmeyg.png
http://i1059.photobucket.com/albums/t427/sayhey1/badlands_zpsyo4g7clj.jpg

Maybe road films are primarily about the secret contempt women harbor for the men they find themselves stuck in cars with.

1. The Straight Story – 23
2. The Sugarland Express – 20
3. Lost in America – 18
4. Goin’ Down the Road – 16
5. Five Easy Pieces – 13
6. Wendy and Lucy – 12
7. Stranger Than Paradise – 11
8. Kings of the Road – 10
9. American Honey – 9
10. Paris, Texas – 8
11. Midnight Cowboy – 7
12. Alice in the Cities – 6
13. Stroszek – 6
14. Wanda – 6
15. Jesus’ Son – 5
16. Almost Famous – 5
17. Aloha, Bobby and Rose – 4
18. Old Joy – 4
19. Bonnie and Clyde – 4
20. Sideways – 3
21. Lolita – 3
22. The Last Detail – 2
23. Harry and Tonto – 2
24. Nebraska – 2
25. Gerry – 1

I thought Jesus’ Son might sneak into the top 40 or 50. I'll post the full list shortly.

Am I the only one who voted for Into The Wild and Sherman's March? I expected the former to make the 20s or 30s rank.

ctrl+f dumb and dumber "Not found" ノಠ_ಠノ

Nick: each had you plus one other vote. Nothing for Dumb and Dumber.

I'm heading out right now, so I won't have the full list till later--sorry.

Shout Factory TV, of all places, has a ton of Herzog films free to watch — I'll try to catch Stroszek sometime soon.

Seriously, the print (if that's the right word) on YouTube is perfect.

My list. I judged based on having seen it (duh, but this eliminated a lot of them), how much I liked it (also duh, but qualified by how much it affected me at the time, so Vanishing Point, which I saw as a 14-year old, got a boost), and how "roady" it was. Several films I had seen and loved but couldn't remember what made them road movie worthy (L'Avventura), or disagreed with that status (Midnight Cowboy, Alice's Restaurant, Drugstore Cowboy).

Bless the Beasts I saw in high school, so is a sentimental YA favorite, and Crystal Fairy I watched on cable at random and was impressed by, though it's not a better movie than any of my lower-ranked movies. I just think it's very roady, and needs more publicity.

24 films, 200 points.

20 Kings of the Road (my #1, though not noted as such in my ballot)
20 Vanishing Point
20 Walkabout

15 Into the Wild
15 Sherman’s March
15 Two-Lane Blacktop

8 Badlands
8 Bless the Beasts and Children
8 Crystal Fairy & the Magical Cactus
8 Detour
8 Easy Rider

5 Duel
5 Lost in America
5 Old Joy
5 Stranger Than Paradise
5 The Passenger
5 Two for the Road
5 Wanda
5 Wendy and Lucy

3 Buffalo ‘66
3 Freeway
3 Electra Glide in Blue
3 Five Easy Pieces
3 The Milky Way

1. Badlands (114 points/10 votes)
2. Stalker  (105/4)
3. Bonnie and Clyde  (98/9)
4. Walkabout  (93/7)
5. Easy Rider  (82/10)
6. The Straight Story  (82/8)
7. Y Tu Mamá También  (73/8)
8. Stroszek  (72/7)
9. L’Avventura  (69/5)
10. Lost In America  (68/8)
11. Five Easy Pieces  (67/9)
12. Weekend  (67/6)
13. Paris, Texas  (64/8)
14. Wanda  (64/6)
15. Something Wild  (63/5)
16. Two-Lane Blacktop  (62/7)
17. Wendy and Lucy  (62/6)
18. La Strada  (60/5)
19. American Honey  (58/4)
20. O Brother, Where Art Thou?  (56/6)
21. Breathless  (54/4)
22. The Wages of Fear  (51/7)
23. Stranger Than Paradise  (49/7)
    Wild Strawberries  (49/7)
25. The Last Detail  (47/6)
26. The Milky Way  (45/4)
27. Vanishing Point  (44/5)
28. The Wizard of Oz  (43/5)
29.  Sightseers  (43/4)
30. It Happened One Night  (42/6)
31. Pierrot le Fou  (42/5)
32. Goin’ Down the Road  (42/3)
33. Kings of the Road  (40/4)
34. Inside Llewyn Davis  (40/3)
35. Sullivan’s Travels  (39/4)
36. Down by Law  (38/4)
    Vagabond  (38/4)
38. Into the Night  (38/2)
39. Dead Man  (37/4)
    Midnight Cowboy  (37/4)
41. Aguirre, the Wrath of God  (36/4)
42. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia  (33/5)
43. The Passenger  (33/3)
44. Old Joy  (32/4)
45. Alice in the Cities  (30/5)
    No Country for Old Men  (30/5)
47. The Sugarland Express  (29/4)
48. Sideways  (28/7)
49. Thelma and Louise  (28/4)
50. Children of Men  (27/3)
------------------------------------------------------------------
51. Travels with Anna  (26/2)
52. The Bird People in China  (25/1)
53. Drugstore Cowboy  (24/3)
54. The Muppet Movie  (24/2)
55. Planes, Trains and Automobiles  (21/4)
56. Pee Wee’s Big Adventure  (21/3)
    The Grapes of Wrath  (21/3)
58. Broken Flowers  (21/1)
    Going Places  (21/1)
60. Taste of Cherry  (20/3)
61. Into the Wild  (20/2)
    Sherman's March  (20/2)
    The Road Warrior  (20/2)
64. I Travel Because I Have To, I Come Back Because I Love You  (20/1)
65. Midnight Run  (19/2)
66. Roadside Prophets  (19/1)
67. Nebraska  (18/5)
68. Paper Moon  (18/3)
69. Stand by Me  (17/3)
70. Almost Famous  (16/3)
    El Topo  (16/3)
72. Death Proof  (16/2)
    Mad Max: Fury Road  (16/2)
74. Festival Express  (15/2)
75. Goodbye Pork Pie  (15/1)
76. Scarecrow  (14/2)
    Stagecoach  (14/2)
78. Repo Man  (13/2)
79. Entertainment  (13/1)
80. The Darjeeling Limited  (12/1)
    Traffic  (12/1)
82. Harry and Tonto  (11/3)
    Freeway  (11/3)
84. Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert  (11/2)
    Detour  (11/2)
    Hair  (11/2)
    Je Tu Il Elle  (11/2)
    Withnail & I  (11/2)
89. 12 Monkeys  (10/2)
    Adventures in Babysitting  (10/2)
    Jesus’ Son  (10/2)
    The Brave Little Toaster  (10/2)
    Two for the Road  (10/2)
94. Corridor of Faces  (10/1)
    El Norte  (10/1)
    Güeros  (10/1)
    Man Push Cart  (10/1)
    The Night of the Hunter  (10/1)
    The Trip  (10/1)
    True Romance  (10/1)
    Until the End of the World  (10/1)
102. Duel  (9/1)
103. Electra Glide in Blue  (8/2)
    Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas  (8/2)
    Fitzcarraldo  (8/2)
    Leningrad Cowboys Go America  (8/2)
    National Lampoon’s Vacation  (8/2)
108. Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore  (8/1)
    Bless the Beasts and the Children  (8/1)
    Crystal Fairy & the Magical Cactus  (8/1)
    Natural Born Killers  (8/1)
112. Certified Copy  (7/2)
    Kill List  (7/2)
    Rain Man  (7/2)
115. Smoke Signals  (7/1)
116. Gerry  (6/2)
    It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World  (6/2)
    Slow West  (6/2)
119. Gallivant  (6/1)
    My Own Private Idaho  (6/1)
121. Borat  (5/2)
    Lolita  (5/2)
123. Beavis and Butt-head Do America  (5/1)
    Carnival of Souls  (5/1)
    Collateral  (5/1)
    Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!   (5/1)
    Follow That Bird  (5/1)
    Highway 61 (5/1)
    Kikujiro  (5/1)
    Life of Pi  (5/1)
    Messidor  (5/1)
    Radio On  (5/1)
    Raising Arizona  (5/1)
    Road to Singapore  (5/1)
    Road Trip  (5/1)
    The Hitch-Hiker  (5/1)
    Under the Skin  (5/1)
    Zabriskie Point  (5/1)
    Wrong Move  (5/1)
140. Aloha, Bobby and Rose  (4/1)
    Flirting with Disaster  (4/1)
    Hideous Kinky  (4/1)
    Landscape in the Mist  (4/1)
    Simple Men  (4/1)
    The Getaway  (4/1)
    They Drive by Night  (4/1)
147. Buffalo '66  (3/1)
    The Sure Thing  (3/1)
149. Journey to Italy  (2/1)
    Little Miss Sunshine  (2/1)
    Smokey and the Bandit  (2/1)
    Starman  (2/1)
153. Branded to Kill  (1/1)
    Embrace of the Serpent  (1/1)
    Magical Mystery Tour  (1/1)
    The Blues Brother  (1/1)
    Twentynine Palms  (1/1)

Enthusiasm (two or more votes):

1. Stalker (26.25 points/vote)
2. Into the Night (19.00)
3. American Honey (14.50)
4. Goin' Down the Road (14.00)
5. L'Avventura (13.80)
6. Breathless (13.50)
7. Inside Llewyn Davis (13.33)
8. Walkabout (13.29)
9. Travels with Anna (13.00)
10. Something Wild (12.60)

Too lazy to do directors. I know Wenders led with five of his films getting votes, and I think Jarmusch, Godard, and the Coens all had three. Pretty sure Nicholson led actors--four lead roles, one supporting--unless there's someone who was in all five Wenders.

Wenders - 5

Jarmusch - 4

Godard - 3
Coens - 3
Gus Van Sant - 3
Antonioni - 3
Herzog - 3

Go to bed, dummy.

I see Duel has 9 points but only one voter. I voted for it but I only gave it 5 points.

I see or something also had it in his/her list.

Yeah, that should say 9/2--you gave it 5, someone else 4. The points and the placement are right, though.

Since you mentioned being interested in reading more about Wanda, it might be worth looking at Nathalie Léger's Suite for Barbara Loden

Thanks--ordered a copy from Abe.

Second viewing of Certain Women, this time in a theatre. Felt about the same--great movie, wish I felt more strongly about it. It did really come through this time how much of a road movie it is. Lots of drivin', on four wheels and on four legs. Best shot is of Michelle Williams after they leave the guy with all the sandstone, everything reflected in the passenger window as she and her husband mildly argue. Can't find it online.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/films/2017/03/02/JS121527482_Handout-small_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqpiVx42joSuAkZ0bE9ijUnGH28ZiNHzwg9svuZLxrn1U.jpg

Went to a rep screening (sort of--they played the Criterion disc) of Something Wild tonight, first time I've seen it in 25 years at least. Liked it fine then and still do, although I like Married to the Mob even more.

Total road-movie material, with many requisite shots of rolling scenery. The darker, Ray Liotta section of the film was longer than I remembered. Affinities I felt with Blue Velvet at the time were still there. I'm sure the film has something to do with the Reagan moment, but seeing as I don't have any feel for that, the connection escapes me. I've seen Demme criticized for his weird treatment of African-Americans, but I think there's a basic generosity there.

So much music. There are only three or four things that really stood out for me, though. The one appearance of the Troggs is great, with Daniels sprawled all over the front seat and an overhead shot, timed to the music, as they pull out of frame. Beyond the reunion, there's some actual Feelies music--something really good from The Good Earth--as they're driving along. And Sister Carol.

Prompted by that ugly first post, I just looked around a bit and Photobucket is now asking you to pay $399 a year for third-party hosting.

Will get on that right away, Photobucket.

(xpost) "Slipping (Into Something)," my favourite song on The Good Earth.

http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/90772/Something-Wild/music.html

TCM has The Rain People, Harry and Tonto, and Lost in America tonight; taking a wild guess that the theme is road movies .

I wish they were showing Joseph Strick’s Road Movie (1974), which is brilliant and has never had a video release in its proper aspect ratio

This poll was great. I have now seen Vagabond and would definitely have voted for it.

I remember liking <i>Fandago</i> when I was in high school. Yeah, it's Costner, but it's a good road movie.

Fandango is wonderful. One of Costner’s best performances. I’m very fond of the USC thesis film it was born from as well, Proof (1981)