sight & sound | 2002 poll results

In about 15 minutes, Sight & Sound magazine will begin announcing the results of their once-a-decade poll of critics and directors - certainly the most significant of the cinephile lists (as opposed to more populist tallies such as IMDb).

 Advance word is that Citizen Kane has been dislodged from the top slot on one of the two lists - first time since the inaugural poll in 1952, where Kane didn't make the Top Ten.

Also worth keeping an eye on are the Godfather films: while "The Godfather and The Godfather II" placed high on both critics' and directors' polls, landing at the number three spot overall, it's hard to know how those votes were tallied. Some critics voted for the two films as a unit, others voted separately for the two films, and some voted for "The Godfather Trilogy." In 2012, the rules have been clarified: separate voting for each. Another factor is that the field of "voters" was expanded significantly this year, with 1000 critics invited to submit their lists, including many online critics not previously polled. Which bodes well for The Godfather. (And Star Wars...)

 Here's a rundown of how the films fared in the last poll (2002). I've combined the votes from critics and directors to see how the list would look without that distinction: the red and blue columns provide the placements on the two separate polls.