July 21, 2010... Amendment to the list... It was kindly brought to our attention by a reader that The Last Moment (1928) by Pál Fejös is indeed a lost film. The Silent Era website diagnoses its survival status as 'presumed lost.' Despite the acknowledged difficulty in seeing many of the films within this collection, we certainly didn't plan on making it completely impossible for you. Therefore, The Last Moment has sadly been removed, and has been replaced by Pen-Ek Ratanaruang's Last Life in the Universe (2003).

For the most part, TSPDT’s 1,000 Greatest Films project has garnered a generally positive reaction amongst the net’s film-list lovers. It seems to be reasonably well-liked. However, after the most recent update of the list in January 2010 many began to question that the list was becoming a little tired and predictable. There was a whiff of discontent in the air. The punters began to argue that the list was starting to swell with films that were too well-known (Saving Private Ryan, The Blues Brothers, etc) and/or too popular for their liking (The Dark Knight, Robocop, etc). Many of the ‘smaller’ films (My Love Has Been Burning, Blast of Silence, Mother India, etc) had fallen off the list, replaced by films that have for one reason or another connected more favourably (usually due to greater consumer exposure) with critics and filmmakers. The question beginning to arise was, “Is too much consensus a bad thing?” To poach from a post I made on Shooting Down Pictures (in response to the 2010 1,000 Greatest Films listing), "I can only agree that the 1,000 list seems to be becoming more mainstream with each passing edition. The more consensus included, the more middle-ground seems to be reached."

So then, does the middle-ground suck? Is too much consensus really a bad thing? Well, I guess it can be. But, with respects to the 1,000 Greatest Films listing, my answer is a reasonably emphatic no. The TSPDT 1,000 Greatest Films listing is what it is. It is a consensus list based on over 3,000 critic and filmmaker lists, and it will remain so. So this left the question, what about those films that receive a little bit of love, but not very much? Shouldn’t these films be championed as much as those that have already been championed by TSPDT and by many other institutions, websites and publications? The answer, this time, was a resounding yes, of course they should be.

So we thought, let’s do it. Let’s make up a subsidiary list of films that didn’t quite make the 1,000 Greatest listing. This would complement the TSPDT 1,000 nicely. But then we thought, well actually, that’s not going far enough. Many of the films we had in mind are on the cusp of the 1,000 and are (for the most part) pretty well-known films, and pretty well-regarded anyway. Films that closely match the DNA of many films within the 1,000. So screw that idea.

Then the answer suddenly became clear, and our indecisiveness ground to a halt. We decided that we needed to dig deeper and dig out films that barely get a mention in list circles. Films that have vanished from our minds (or never entered our minds to begin with). Films that, frankly-speaking, may be awful or may deservedly be unloved. Films that have for some reason connected with at least one person who was asked to contribute or voluntarily contributed his or her list of favourite films. So we dived into our database and extracted all the films that have only ever been cited once, and once only (amongst the 3,000-plus lists we have compiled). Then we reduced this initial list of films from 1,025 to 250 using a fairly random process and bingo, Ain’t Nobody’s Blues But My Own was born (or, should we say, re-born*). The only rule we set was strictly one choice per critic/filmmaker. Therefore, this list comprises of 250 films as chosen by 250 critics/filmmakers.

Some critics/filmmakers whose unique choices we've used include Ari Folman, Miranda July, Mike Leigh, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Fred Camper, Nancy Savoca, Alexander Payne, D.A. Pennebaker, James Quandt, Dina Iordanova, Charles Burnett, Terry Jones, Pierre Rissient, Jean-Louis Leutrat, Adrian Martin, Julian Graffy and Andy Medhurst.

In summary, Ain’t Nobody’s Blues But My Own is a listing of 250 films that have only ever featured once on any critic’s or filmmaker’s list of favourites (that we have compiled to date). Please keep in my mind that these films (many of which we haven't seen) are not recommended by TSPDT. We are not endeavouring to 'sell' you these films. We are merely bringing them to your attention.

This is an extremely eclectic group of 250 films. They genuinely veer all over the place, touching base with countless film genres, styles and techniques. From Stan Brakhage to Barbra Streisand - diversity reigns supreme at this web address. Though not planned, over half the list comprises films from the 60s, 70s and 80s. A fertile period for hard-to-define cinema and much of it is represented here. A word of warning though, some of the films listed are, well to put it kindly, interesting. Dr. Otto and the Riddle of the Gloom Beam anyone?

However, if you are keen to take an odd journey through cinema's forgotten/underappreciated history then this list may be for you. Sadly, TSPDT acknowledges that many of the titles are not currently available on DVD and therefore may be hard to track down.

We intend to update this list on an annual basis, probably in February or thereabouts. Films currently on  the list that are cited on any future lists we compile between now and next year’s update will be removed, and replaced by other once-cited films.

Please note that although our selection process may be somewhat unique, we are by no means breaking any new ground here. Iain Stott at his One-Line Review website has devoted much of his recent time to championing lesser known films. The polls he has conducted (The Obscure, the Forgotten, and the Unloved and Beyond the Canon) have become essential reading. And, of course, there have been many other lists and publications highlighting obscure films, cult films, B-films, etc. Far too many to mention here.

Most of the quotes included (for each film entry) were sourced from Chicago Reader, Time Out and Allmovie. These invaluable resources are highly recommended for your ongoing research and  reference.

We hope you enjoy Ain’t Nobody’s Blues But My Own and please send your thoughts to: bill@theyshootpictures.com.

*Some of you may remember that we had a smaller list of obscure films on TSPDT a few years ago also entitled "Ain’t Nobody’s Blues But My Own." This new listing, though similar in concept, is not related to that one. However, we liked the name and therefore decided to re-adopt it. By the way, "Ain't Nobody's Blues But My Own" is a song title from Wayne Hancock's classic album "Thunderstorms and Neon Signs."

● A spreadsheet listing of all 250 films can be downloaded from here (Microsoft EXCEL format).