Well, Edward Copeland has released the results of the nominating committee and those films receiving three or more votes make it to the final selection. 121 films got three or more votes. Below is the list of 25 (in alphabetical order) that I submitted for my part. Those bolded are my selections that did not make the final cut. My reactions below the list. Au hasard Balthazar (1966)
Amarcord (1974)
Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972)
Babette's Feast (1987)
Battle of Algiers (1968)
Beauty and the Beast (1946)
Belle de Jour (1967)
The Blue Angel (1930) German version
Blood of a Poet (1930)
Bicycle Thief (1948)
Breathless (1960)
Carmen (1983) the version by Carlos Saura, NOT the opera
The Conformist (1970)
Day for Night (1973)
Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972)
Fitzcarraldo (1982)
Grand Illusion (1938)
Ikiru (1952)
M (1931)
Playtime (1967)
Rules of the Game (1939)
Tokyo Story (1953)
Viridiana (1961)
Wild Strawberries (1958)
Wings of Desire (1987)
As for Carmen and Babette's Feast I had no illusions that either would garner enough votes to make the final cut but Eddie specifically called for favorites (not necessarily what would be 
considered the all-time best) so that the list would be more diverse than a by rote ranking of the usual Sight and Sound selections. And those two are two of my favorites. And Blood of a Poet was iffy either way: One of the qualifications for submissions was that the film be of feature length. Blood of a Poet is 55 minutes. Most festivals and awards organizations (Cannes, The Oscars) consider a film over 30 minutes to be ineligible for "Short Subject" consideration yet consider 60 minutes to be feature length leaving a nebulous area in the 31 to 59 minute range where no one knows what type of movie it is. I wasn't sure if 55 minutes would make the cut or not so I gave it a try. Then there's Fitzcarraldo. I knew Herzog would be represented on the list because of Aguirre, the Wrath of God but I thought the story of an obsessed Caruso fan having thousands of men pull a massive river boat over a mountain would pique a little more interest.
My Choices that Made the Cut
Most were of little surprise as they are so commonly admired (and made me feel as if I submitted a somewhat run-of-the-mill list) but a few I was happily surprised to find others had voted for as well. For instance, I had no confidence that Viridiana would get enough votes to make it. I figured The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie would be it for Bunuel and that Lang's M had a much better chance than Viridiana. As for Day for Night I picked that as a personal favorite that I saw when I was very young and just starting to fully explore my love of film. It told a great story of movie making but I didn't think many other people would care for it.
On to the Final Selection
So now we vote for the final round. Obviously, everyone voting will be voting for those they submitted that made the final cut so it's deciding on those films one didn't rank that will make some of the difference. Also the films will be weighted as to their position. I think that's necessary but it also makes me nervous. There's always the temptation of pushing a favorite to the top of the list to ensure it gets 25 points while nudging a great film down to lessen its impact. Of course, with the 121 films still standing almost all are great works of art and I could honestly see in a quick glance at least 50 or 60 that could be ranked number one with little objection from anyone. So I look forward to submitting my vote and seeing the final cut. And now I have an excuse to highlight those four films that didn't make the cut.
