While it was fascinating to see the results of the 2022 Sight & Sound poll, we’re just as curious to see what lies outside the established canon. As part of a comprehensive project at the essential resource They Shoot Pictures, Don’t They?, Ángel González polled nearly 839 critics on the best films that didn’t receive a single vote on the Sight & Sound poll, which they’ve now compiled into a massive Beyond the Sight & Sound Canon, which initially features 1,030 films but expands to a whopping 14,558 total films.
As a preview, we’ve collected the films that received at least 20 votes in this new poll, which is 263. Led by Spike Jonze’s Her, they’ve also noted the directors that were most represented. Fritz Lang leads the pack with eight films mentioned, while François Truffaut has seven, and Anthony Mann, Clint Eastwood, Eric Rohmer, John Ford, Samuel Fuller, and Woody Allen all have six, then David Cronenberg, Ernst Lubitsch, Frank Capra, Ingmar Bergman, Jean-Luc Godard, Jean-Pierre Melville, René Clair, Steven Spielberg, William Wyler, and Yasujiro Ozu each nabbed five.
Check out the most-voted-for films in ascending order below, with more here, and happy watching.
Votes | Title | Year | Director
20Christmas in July1940Preston Sturges20Eastern Promises2007David Cronenberg20Gattaca1997Andrew Niccol20Ghostbusters1984Ivan Reitman20Gran Torino2008Clint Eastwood20Jour de fête1949Jacques Tati20Boyfriends and Girlfriends1987Éric Rohmer20Le Doulos1962Jean-Pierre Melville20Sparrow2008Johnnie To20Moneyball2011Bennett Miller20Murder by Contract1958Irving Lerner20Pandora and the Flying Dutchman1951Albert Lewin20Park Row1952Samuel Fuller20The Card Counter2021Paul Schrader20The Forbidden Room2015Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson20The Neon Demon2016Nicolas Winding Refn20To the Wonder2012Terrence Malick20What We Do in the Shadows2014Taika Waititi, Jemaine Clement20You Only Live Once1937Fritz Lang21A Zed & Two Noughts1985Peter Greenaway21Offside2006Jafar Panahi21Bull Durham1988Ron Shelton21Dead Poets Society1989Peter Weir21Downfall2004Oliver Hirschbiegel21Du côté d’Orouët1971Jacques Rozier21Gentleman Jim1942Raoul Walsh21The Bird with the Crystal Plumage1970Dario Argento21Dirty Ho1979Chia-Liang Liu21The Four Times2010Michelangelo Frammartino21Love and Death1975Woody Allen21Midnight Run1988Martin Brest21mother!2017Darren Aronofsky21Nocturama2016Bertrand Bonello21We Won’t Grow Old Together1972Maurice Pialat21Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith2005George Lucas21Return of the Jedi1983Richard Marquand21The Bank Dick1940Edward F. Cline21The Big Combo1955Joseph H. Lewis21The Devil Is a Woman1935Josef von Sternberg21The French Dispatch2021Wes Anderson21The Muppet Movie1979James Frawley21True Romance1993Tony Scott21True Stories1986David Byrne21Sanjuro1962Akira Kurosawa21Upstream Color2013Shane Carruth21You Can Count on Me2000Kenneth Lonergan22Adam’s Rib1949George Cukor22Blackhat2015Michael Mann22Casino Royale2006Martin Campbell22Deja Vu2006Tony Scott22Drowning by Numbers1988Peter Greenaway22Knives Out2019Rian Johnson22Le Million1931René Clair22Les Dames du bois de Boulogne1945Robert Bresson22Man’s Favorite Sport?1964Howard Hawks22Marriage Story2019Noah Baumbach22Pi1998Darren Aronofsky22Primer2004Shane Carruth22Wild Tales2014Damián Szifron22Speed1994Jan de Bont22Spellbound1945Alfred Hitchcock22Tange Sazen and the Pot Worth a Million Ryo1935Sadao Yamanaka22The Fog1980John Carpenter22The Shooting1966Monte Hellman22The Wrestler2008Darren Aronofsky22United 932006Paul Greengrass2342nd Street1933Lloyd Bacon23Mr. Thank You1936Hiroshi Shimizu23Ballad of a Soldier1959Grigoriy Chukhray23Big Trouble in Little China1986John Carpenter23Climax2018Gaspar Noé23Columbus2017Kogonada23Diva1981Jean-Jacques Beineix23Dracula1931Tod Browning23Ponyo2008Hayao Miyazaki23Heathers1988Michael Lehmann23To Live1994Yimou Zhang23I’m Thinking of Ending Things2020Charlie Kaufman23The Skin I Live In2011Pedro Almodóvar23Match Point2005Woody Allen23Matinee1993Joe Dante23The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice1952Yasujirô Ozu23Once2007John Carney23The Trial of Joan of Arc1962Robert Bresson23All About Lily Chou-Chou2001Shunji Iwai23Scott Pilgrim vs. the World2010Edgar Wright23The Big Red One1980Samuel Fuller23The Evil Dead1981Sam Raimi23The Man from Laramie1955Anthony Mann23The Others2001Alejandro Amenábar23The Pawnbroker1964Sidney Lumet23Traffic2000Steven Soderbergh24Blood and Black Lace1964Mario Bava24Babette’s Feast1987Gabriel Axel24Deep Cover1992Bill Duke24Gerry2002Gus Van Sant24Duck, You Sucker1971Sergio Leone24Hedwig and the Angry Inch2001John Cameron Mitchell24Ocean’s Eleven2001Steven Soderbergh24Only Lovers Left Alive2013Jim Jarmusch24A Fistful of Dollars1964Sergio Leone24The Curse of the Cat People1944Robert Wise, Gunther von Fritsch24Tokyo Godfathers2003Satoshi Kon, Shôgo Furuya24Portrait of a Young Girl at the End of the 60s in Brussels1994Chantal Akerman25Red Angel1966Yasuzô Masumura25Big Fish2003Tim Burton25Burn After Reading2008Joel Coen, Ethan Coen25Forty Guns1957Samuel Fuller25Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer1986John McNaughton25Hail Mary1985Jean-Luc Godard25Mr. Arkadin1955Orson Welles25Mystery Train1989Jim Jarmusch25Spartacus1960Stanley Kubrick25The Day the Earth Stood Still1951Robert Wise25Under the Bridges1946Helmut Käutner25A Better Tomorrow1986John Woo26Man Bites Dog1992Rémy Belvaux, André Bonzel, Benoît Poelvoorde26Cosmopolis2012David Cronenberg26Le Notti Bianche1957Luchino Visconti26Munich2005Steven Spielberg26Naked Lunch1991David Cronenberg26Nightcrawler2014Dan Gilroy26Nostos: The Return1989Franco Piavoli26Pee-wee’s Big Adventure1985Tim Burton26Sleuth1972Joseph L. Mankiewicz26Tangerine2015Sean Baker26The African Queen1951John Huston26The Man Who Sleeps1974Bernard Queysanne26Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory1971Mel Stuart277 Men from Now1956Budd Boetticher27Babe1995Chris Noonan27Day of the Outlaw1959André De Toth27Face/Off1997John Woo27Heaven Can Wait1943Ernst Lubitsch27Invasion of the Body Snatchers1978Philip Kaufman27The Hunt2012Thomas Vinterberg27Judgment at Nuremberg1961Stanley Kramer27The Wolf House2018Cristóbal León, Joaquín Cociña27Rachel Getting Married2008Jonathan Demme27The Last Waltz1978Martin Scorsese27Eureka2000Shinji Aoyama27Zero Dark Thirty2012Kathryn Bigelow28Awaara1951Raj Kapoor28Cutter’s Way1981Ivan Passer28Day of the Dead1985George A. Romero28Ashes of Time1994Kar-Wai Wong28Le Corbeau1943Henri-Georges Clouzot28Midnight in Paris2011Woody Allen28Nightmare Alley1947Edmund Goulding28Pink Floyd: The Wall1982Alan Parker28The Long Good Friday1980John Mackenzie28The Outlaw Josey Wales1976Clint Eastwood28Transit2018Christian Petzold28Eat Drink Man Woman1994Ang Lee29Ball of Fire1941Howard Hawks29Happy-Go-Lucky2008Mike Leigh29Love in the Afternoon1972Éric Rohmer29My American Uncle1980Alain Resnais29Center Stage1991Stanley Kwan29The Face of Another1966Hiroshi Teshigahara30Cool Hand Luke1967Stuart Rosenberg30Two Days, One Night2014Luc Dardenne, Jean-Pierre Dardenne30Divorce Italian Style1961Pietro Germi30Fail Safe1964Sidney Lumet30Gaslight1944George Cukor30In Bruges2008Martin McDonagh30Your Name.2016Makoto Shinkai30Like Someone in Love2012Abbas Kiarostami, Banafsheh Modaressi30Mystic River2003Clint Eastwood30Letter Never Sent1960Mikhail Kalatozov30Norte, The End of History2013Lav Diaz30Pépé le Moko1937Julien Duvivier30Tenebre1982Dario Argento30The Great Escape1963John Sturges31Excalibur1981John Boorman31Hud1963Martin Ritt31The Man Without a Past2002Aki Kaurismäki31Real Life1979Albert Brooks31Scarface1983Brian De Palma31Snowpiercer2013Bong Joon Ho31Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?1957Frank Tashlin32Finding Nemo2003Andrew Stanton, Lee Unkrich32Glengarry Glen Ross1992James Foley32Good Time2017Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie32The Insider1999Michael Mann32The Last Detail1973Hal Ashby33Dressed to Kill1980Brian De Palma33King of New York1990Abel Ferrara33Knife in the Water1962Roman Polanski33The Blues Brothers1980John Landis33The Man Who Wasn’t There2001Joel Coen33The Rocky Horror Picture Show1975Jim Sharman33The Set-Up1949Robert Wise33Tokyo Drifter1966Seijun Suzuki33Three Colours: White1994Krzysztof Kieslowski34Beauty and the Beast1991Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise34Dial M for Murder1954Alfred Hitchcock34Decision to Leave2022Park Chan-wook34Hereditary2018Ari Aster34In Cold Blood1967Richard Brooks34The Diving Bell and the Butterfly2007Julian Schnabel34Mommy2014Xavier Dolan34Oslo, August 31st2011Joachim Trier34Purple Noon1960René Clément34The Invisible Man1933James Whale35American Beauty1999Sam Mendes35Bringing Out the Dead1999Martin Scorsese35Fury1936Fritz Lang35sex, lies, and videotape1989Steven Soderbergh35Angel’s Egg1985Mamoru Oshii35The Killers1946Robert Siodmak36Bob le Flambeur1956Jean-Pierre Melville36Green Snake1993Hark Tsui36Le Deuxième Souffle1966Jean-Pierre Melville36Spider-Man 22004Sam Raimi36The Incredibles2004Brad Bird37Touchez Pas au Grisbi1954Jacques Becker38It Follows2014David Robert Mitchell39Bad Day at Black Rock1955John Sturges39Black Christmas1974Bob Clark39Claire’s Knee1970Éric Rohmer39Little Women2019Greta Gerwig39Manchester by the Sea2016Kenneth Lonergan39Ride Lonesome1959Budd Boetticher40Collateral2004Michael Mann40The Lighthouse2019Robert Eggers41A Fish Called Wanda1988Charles Crichton41Before Midnight2013Richard Linklater41Insiang1976Lino Brocka41The Lusty Men1952Nicholas Ray42A Nightmare on Elm Street1984Wes Craven42Ex Machina2014Alex Garland42Roman Holiday1953William Wyler42The Sixth Sense1999M. Night Shyamalan43Election1999Alexander Payne43Through a Glass Darkly1961Ingmar Bergman44The Florida Project2017Sean Baker44The Witch2015Robert Eggers44Total Recall1990Paul Verhoeven45Aftersun2022Charlotte Wells45Canyon Passage1946Jacques Tourneur46Hot Fuzz2007Edgar Wright47Metropolitan1990Whit Stillman47The Naked Spur1953Anthony Mann48My Man Godfrey1936Gregory La Cava48Prince of Darkness1987John Carpenter48Othello1951Orson Welles48Trust1990Hal Hartley50My Winnipeg2007Guy Maddin52Blade Runner 20492017Denis Villeneuve52The Princess Bride1987Rob Reiner54Fallen Angels1995Kar-Wai Wong54To Live and Die in L.A.1985William Friedkin56Safety Last!1923Fred C. Newmeyer, Sam Taylor56Spring Breakers2012Harmony Korine57Paterson2016Jim Jarmusch59Reservoir Dogs1992Quentin Tarantino60Pickup on South Street1953Samuel Fuller60The Big Heat1953Fritz Lang63Audition1999Takashi Miike70Uncut Gems2019Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie71L.A. Confidential1997Curtis Hanson75Rififi1955Jules Dassin77Her2013Spike Jonze
The post The Best Films That Didn’t Receive a Single Sight & Sound Vote first appeared on The Film Stage.
