Saturday, December 24, 2011

Works Cited

The boy who rode on slightly before him sat a horse not only as if he'd been born to it which he was but as if were he begot by malice or mischance into some queer land where horses never were he would have found them anyway. Would have known that there was something missing for the world to be right or he right in it and would have set forth to wander wherever it was needed for as long as it took until he came upon one and he would have known that that was what he sought and it would have been.

Cormac McCarthy, All the Pretty Horses

Monday, November 14, 2011

Works Cited

Thus, if you liked a girl, you gave her a nickname. Elmore Weldon, for instance: a pretty, sturdy thing with whom he flirted furiously for weeks. He called her Elmo, after St. Elmo's Fire, that miraculous light seen about the masts and yardarms of ships during a storm. He liked to picture himself as a mariner in peril on the seas of life, while she illuminated the dark skies for him. Indeed, he almost became engaged to Elmo; but then, after a while, he didn't.

He was also much concerned at this time about nocturnal emissions, which had featured little in the Morte d'Arthur.

Julian Barnes, Arthur and George

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Works Cited

Now that I'm more or less safe from him, and him from me, I can recall him with fondness and even in some detail, which is more than I can say for several others. Old lovers go the way of old photographs, bleaching out gradually as in a slow bath of acid: first the moles and pimples, then the shadings, then the faces themselves, until nothing remains but the general outlines. What will be left of them when I'm seventy? None of the baroque ecstasy, none of the grotesque compulsion. A word or two, hovering in the inner emptiness. Maybe a toe here, a nostril there, or a mustache, floating like a little curl of seaweed among the other flotsam.

Margaret Atwood, Cat's Eye

Tuesday, November 08, 2011

Shuulinjii-in: A Practical, Phonetic Means of English Spelling

I've created my own orthography for the English language. Many people have done this before, and it wasn't adopted, not even when Shaw gave it a go, nor will this be. Nonetheless, my orthography is eminently practical and sensible.

As anyone who's learned a foreign language knows, it takes a while to learn an alien way of representing sounds, no matter how simple the rules underlying it. Which means, this will sound more complicated than it is.

Attractive features of my spelling system include: (1) it uses less letters than the current English alphabet; (2) it uses no new letters; (3) it's entirely phonetic; (4) each letter, digraph, or trigraph represents a single sound; (5) the sounds of the letters are largely derived from traditional English spelling; (6) it has a sensible arrangement of voiced and unvoiced consonants.

Let us begin with the consonants. The consonants come in the following groups (1) the stops; (2) the fricatives; (3) combinations; and (4) the liquids. We start with the stops as they are generally regarded as the "strongest" consonants.

A stop is any consonant that completely stops the flow of air in the mouth. We'll present them based on where they are formed in the mouth (the so-called "point of articulation"), starting at the back of the mouth and moving forward.

Velar stops.

These are formed with the tongue touching the back of the mouth.

Without a pitch, the sound is of the "c" in "car." This is represented by "k." (A pitched sound is one when the vocal cords vibrate. Hold a finger over your throat. Make a "k" sound. Now make a "g" sound. Hear the difference?)

With a pitch, the sound is of the "g" in "gun." This is represented by "g."

Finally, with the nasal passages opened, the sound is of the "ng" in "hang." We represent this with "ng."

So this gives us the series: k, g, ng. All are articulated at the same point in the mouth, with the first non-voiced, the second voiced, and the last nasalized.

Now at a different part of the mouth.

Alveolar stops.

These are formed with the tongue touching the alveolar ridge, behind the teeth, and occur in the same order.

Unvoiced: "t" as in "ton." Represented by "t."

Voiced: "d" as in "dam." Represented by "d."

Nasal: "n" as in "note." Represented by "n."

Finally.

Labial stops.

These are formed with the lips.

Unvoiced: "p" as in "pit." Represented by "p."

Voiced: "b" as in "beat." Represented by "b."

Nasal: "m" as in "moose." Represented by "m."

This completes the collection of stops. It forms this pleasantly ordered square.

k g ng
t d n
p b m

The first column is unvoiced, the second column is voiced, the third column is nasalized.

The first row is velar, the second is palatal, the third is labial.

The next group is the fricatives. Again, we group this by point of articulation, starting farthest back in the mouth.

Glottal fricative.

There is only one fricative at this location, the "h" as in "hot." It is formed in the throat, and is unvoiced, and is represented by "h."

In some languages this fricative also occurs voiced, Sanskrit, for example, but in English we only have the unvoiced version. Moving forward towards the lips, we arrive at the palatal.

Palato-alveolar fricatives.

Unvoiced: The "sh" sound in "shin." This is represented by "sh."

Voiced: The "sh" sound in "measure." This is represented by "zh." Note that as "z" is typically the voiced variant of "s," so "zh" is the voiced variant of "sh."

Alveolar fricatives.

Unvoiced: The "s" sound in "sin." This is represented by "s."

Voiced: The "z" sound in "zoo." This is represented by "z."

There's a slight difference in the position of the tongue here (it reaches back for "z") but the location is pretty close.

Dental fricatives.

Unvoiced: "th" as in "thin." This is represented by "th."

Voiced: "th" as in "the." This is represented by "dh." These two sounds, typically spelled the same in English, have to be distinguished. As "d" is the voiced variant of "t," it makes sense that "dh" would be the voiced variant of "th."

Finally, as we move forward, we reach the lips.

Labial fricatives.

Unvoiced: "f" as in "fun." This is represented by "fun."

Voiced: "v" as in "vine." This is represented by "vine."

This completes the fricatives.

h
sh zh
s z
th dh
f v

Combinations.

There are two sounds in English that are combinations of a fricative and a stop. They occur in a voiced unvoiced pair and are articulated at the alveolar ridge. One option would be to simply write these consonants as a combination of the fricative and the stop that make them up, but since (1) it's closer to current English usage and (2) it's easier to type one letter than two or three, I've represented them as single letters.

Unvoiced: "ch" as in "cheer." This is represented by "c." This is a combination of the stop "t" and the fricative "sh," and thus could be written "tsh." But I've chosen "c."

Voiced: "j" as in "judge." This is represented by "j." This is a combination of the stop "d" and the fricative "zh" and thus could be written as "dzh." But I've chosen "j."

This gives us the following combinations.

c j

Liquids.

The final group of consonants is the liquids, which are tougher to order, so here they are in no particular order.

"r" as in "run." This is represented by "r." "r" is a weird consonant, since after a vowel it consists of bending your tongue backward, but in front of a vowel, it's more done with the lips. This "r" represents the front of vowel version.

"l" as in "laugh." This is represented by "l."

That completes the consonants.

Vowels.

We could arrange the vowels by where they are in the mouth, but it's generally easier just to go by the typical English arrangement, which roughly goes from the top to the bottom of the mouth anyway. The vowels are as follows.

"a" represents the vowel in "fun."
"aa" represents the vowel in "watt."
"e" represents the vowel in "fed."
"ee" represents the vowel in "they."
"i" represents the vowel in "bid."
"ii" represents the vowel in "meat."
"o" represents the vowel in "caw."
"oo" represents the vowel in "foe."
"u" represents the vowel in "wood."
"uu" represents the vowel in "food."

Generally speaking the double vowels in the list are farther forward than the single vowels. In the cases of "ee" and "oo" they actually represent diphthongs, but few English speakers have any sense of diphthongs vs. monopthongs, so the distinction isn't terribly important.

Unfortunately this doesn't exhaust the vowels.

The vowel sound in "cat" was represent in Old English by the letter "æ." This isn't easy to reach on a modern keyboard though, so it's easier to just spell it as "ae."

The vowel sound in "fight" is represented by "ai." This vowel is a diphthong, and the spelling makes phonetic sense, since, using the vowels we've already established, it's a combination of "a" and "ii." I've simply omitted an "i" for simplicity's sake.

The vowel sound in "five" is represented by "aai." This vowel is a diphthong, and the spelling makes phonetic sense, since, using the vowels we've already established, it's a combination of "aa" and "ii." I've simply omitted an "i" for simplicity's sake.

The vowel sound in "boy" is represented by "oi." This vowel is a diphthong, and the spelling makes phonetic sense, since, using the vowels we've already established, it's a combination of "o" and "ii." I've simply omitted an "i" for simplicity's sake.

The vowel sound in "south" is represented by "au." This vowel is a diphthong, and the spelling makes phonetic sense, since, using the vowels we've already established, it's a combination of "aa" and "u." I've simply omitted an "a" for simplicity's sake.

To my ear, a vowel plus an "r" produces a sound so different from the vowel and consonant that makes the sound up, that we might as well just count the combination as a new vowel, in much the same way in French we count nasalized vowels as a new vowel.

So, the r-vowels, or "rhotic vowels" are the following.

The vowel sound in "car." This is represented by "ar."

The vowel sound in "wear." This is represented by "er."

The vowel sound in "fear." This is represented by "ir."

The vowel sound in "core." This is represented by "or."

The vowel sound in "fur." This is represented by "ur."

The vowel sound in "bower." This is represent by "aur."

The vowel sound in "foyer." This is represent by "oir."

The vowel sound in "fire." This is represent by "air."

So that completes the consonants and the vowels. This leaves the so-called semi-vowels, which are vowels used like consonants. That means that the vowel is said very quickly while leading to another vowel. Again we'll start from the back of the mouth forward.

The "y" sound in "yarn" is represented by "y."

The "w" sound in "warm" is represented by "w."

That's it, the complete palette of English sounds.

Leftover letters.

"x" wasn't used, but it could be used as a substitute for "ks" for the sake of speed, or alternatively represent foreign glottal sounds, like German "ich" or "nach" or Scottish "loch." "q," since it always occurs as "qu," which we can spell just as easily "kw," is completely superfluous and not to be used.

Hiatus.

It may be necessary at times to distinguish between two separate vowel sounds and diphthongs. In this case, as has historically been done, an umlaut can be used. This is somewhat difficult in modern keyboards, so feel free to substitute an n-dash.

Allophones.

Certain sounds are different in English but the difference is generally ignored by native speakers. The "t" sound in "ton," for example, is aspirated, meaning it is followed by a puff of air. The "t" sound in "stun," on the other hand, has no aspiration. Yet we spell them the same, and unless made of aware the distinction, native speakers are generally unable to distinguish the two. This is to be contrasted with, for example, Sanskrit, where the distinction between the two sounds is perceived by speakers.

As native speakers ignore the distinction, it hardly seems necessary to represent it. However, for foreigners learning to properly pronounce the language, the distinction might be beneficially marked, in which case, an apostrophe could easily be used, as in Ancient Greek.

"Pun" would thus be spelled "p'an." "Spun" would be spelled "span."

There's also the matter of the dark and bright "l" sounds, but that's far too abstruse to be represented as this level.

Stress.

Another distinction that isn't typically marked in English is the stress of a word. Again, this needn't be marked, but for purposes of teaching foreigners, an accent mark on the vowel can easily be used.

Alphabet.

For the purposes of ordering the alphabet, using digraphs as actual letters (e.g., treating "sh" as a letter by itself rather than simply a combination of "s" and "h") simply makes things more difficult. So to order the alphabet, we will simply use single monographs, and organize them by phonological position and quality.

Kk Gg Tt Dd Nn Pp Bb Mm Hh Ss Zz Ff Vv Cc Jj Ll Rr Yy Ww Aa Ee Ii Oo Uu

The order being:


Consonants
Stops (Velar[Unvoiced, Voiced], Alveolar[Unvoiced, Voiced, Nasal], Labial[Unvoiced, Voiced, Nasal]),
Combinations,
Fricatives(Glottal, Alveolar[Unvoiced, Voiced], Labial[Unvoiced, Voiced]),
Liquids,
Semivowels,
Vowels

Summary.

k, as the "c" in "cat."
g, as the "g" in "gun."
ng, as the "ng" in "ring."
t, as the "t" in "ton."
d, as the "d" in "dirt."
n, as the "n" in "not."
p, as the "p" in "pear."
b, as the "b" in "bear."
m, as the "m" in "mile."

c, as the "ch" in "chop."
j, as the "j" in "joke."

h, as the "h" in "hoe."
sh, as the "sh" in "shoe."
zh, as the "sh" in "measure."
s, as the "s" in "soap."
z, as the "z" in "zoo."
th, as the "th" in "thin."
dh, as the "th" in "that."
f, as the "f" in "fun."
v, as the "v" in "vote."
l, as the "l" in "loan."
r, as the "r" in "row."
y, as the "y" in "yell."
w, as the "w" in "woke."
a, as the vowel in "fun."
aa, as the vowel in "watt."
e, as the vowel in "pet."
ee, as the vowel in "they."
i, as the vowel in "pin."
ii, as the vowel in "sheet."
o, as the vowel in "raw."
oo, as the vowel in "show."
u, as the vowel in "book."
uu, as the vowel in "lewd."
ae, as the vowel in "cat."
ai, as the vowel in "fight."
aai, as the vowel in "five."
au, as the vowel in "cow."
oi, as the vowel in "toy."
ar, as the vowel in "car."
er, as the vowel in "care."
ir, as the vowel in "cheer."
or, as the vowel in "sore."
ur, as the vowel in "fur."
aur, as the vowel in "tower."
air, as the vowel in "fire."
oir, as the vowel in "sawyer."

A Robert Frost Poem.

Sam see dha wurld wil end in fair.
Sam see in ais.
Fram wat aaiv teestid av dazair
Aai hoold widh dhooz huu feevur fair.
Bat if it haed tuu perish twais,
Aai thingk aai noo iinaf av heet
Tuu noo dhaet for distrakshan ais
Iz olsoo greet
End wud safais.

Raaburt Frost

Note how easy it is to tell which lines rhyme.

Skaat Shuul

Saturday, September 03, 2011

Works Cited

One clue that there’s something not quite real about sequential time the way you experience it is the various paradoxes of time supposedly passing and of a so called present that is always unrolling into the future and creating more and more past behind it. As if the present were this car--nice car by the way--and the past is the road we have just gone over, and the future is the headlit road up ahead we have not yet gotten to, and time is the car’s forward movement, and the precise present is the car’s front bumper as it cuts through the fog of the future, so that it is now and then a tiny bit later a whole different now, etc. Except if time is really passing, how fast does it go? At what rate does the present change? See? Meaning if we use time to measure motion or rate--which we do, it is the only way we can--95 miles per hour, 70 heartbeats a second, etc.--how are you supposed to measure the rate at which time moves? One second per second? It makes no sense. You can’t even talk about time flowing or moving, without hitting up against paradox right away. So think for a second: What if there is really no movement at all? What if this is all unfolding in the one flash you call the present, this first, infinitely tiny split-second of impact when the speeding car’s front bumper’s just starting to touch the abutment, just before the bumper crumples and displaces the front end and you go violently forward and the steering column comes back at your chest as if shot out of something enormous? Meaning that what if in fact this now is infinite and never really passes in the way your mind is supposedly wired to understand pass, so that not only your life but every single humanly conceivable way to describe and account for that life has time to flash like neon shaped into those connected cursive letters that businesses’ signs and windows love so much to use through your mind all at once in the literally immeasurable instant between impact and death, just as you start forward to meet the wheel at a rate no belt ever made could restrain--THE END.


David Foster Wallace, Good Old Neon

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Works Cited

Everyone's heard the supposed fact that if you take the English idiom "It's Greek to me" and search for equivalent idioms in all the world's languages to arrive at a consensus as to which language is the hardest, the results of such a linguistic survey is that Chinese easily wins as the canonical incomprehensible language. (For example, the French have the expression "C'est du chinois", "It's Chinese", i.e., "It's incomprehensible". Other languages have similar sayings.) So then the question arises: What do the Chinese themselves consider to be an impossibly hard language? You then look for the corresponding phrase in Chinese, and you find Gēn tiānshū yíyàng 跟天书一样 meaning "It's like heavenly script."


David Moser, Why Chinese is So Damn Hard

Thursday, July 07, 2011

Works Cited

The emphatic period

English V2.72 introduced the multiple shriek stop, intended to allow subtle distinction in emphasis. In practice this facility has been abused, and has lost its force. In the following dialogue, it is not clear whose presence is more surprising, Julie’s or Wayne’s:

Who did you see on the High Road???

It was Julie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Who was she with?????

She was with Wayne!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Long term users will recall English V2.96 attempted to persuade heavy emphasisers to group their emphatic punctuation in bunches of five for easy counting

It was Julie !!!!! !!!!! !!!!! !!!!! !!!!! !!!!! !!!


and a V3.03 offered system using a suffix convention to denote the intended repetition

It was Julie !33


but neither has ever been much taken up by the big public.

Now, top punctuation boffins have come up with a solution that reintroduces the power of exclamation but has a built-in mechanism that defeats attempts at repeated-stop hyperbole. Here is the emphatic period in action:

It. Was. Julie.


Ooof. Pretty emphatic stuff, eh? Now watch what happens when the user attempts to introduce more emphasis by tripling the number of full stops used:

It... Was... Julie...

Instead of increasing the impact, the repetition activates the safety feature and introduces an effect of hesitancy—not what the writer intended at all.

However, I have to warn you that this feature may not make the final release of V3.31. There has been a legal challenge from the telcos, who stand to lose many £millions per annum if it goes through. Apparently a significant proportion of text traffic comprises teenagers sending !!!s to each other.

Verity Stob, "Excuse me, Miss, but your pronouns need upgrading," Speculative Grammarian, Volume CLXII, Number 2, July 2011

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Works Cited

One need not go far to find examples of completely unpredictable semantic shifts which would no doubt be rejected as far-fetched were they not verifiable by phonology or historical circumstances. A few English examples will suffice: fascist, based ultimately on Lat. fascis ‘‘bundle (of twigs or straw)’’, which refers to a bundle of rods bound around a projecting axe-head that was carried before an ancient Roman magistrate by an attendant as a symbol of authority and power; fornicate, based on Lat. fornix ‘‘arch’’, where prostitutes lingered in Republican Rome; fiasco ‘‘complete failure’’, based on the Italian word for ‘‘flask’’ in an obscure stage allusion; go ‘‘say’’ (in narrative); and finally bus ‘‘vehicle of mass transportation’’, ultimately the dative plural inflection which remains after the clipping of the Lat. omnibus ‘‘for everyone’’.


Baldi, Philip and B. Richard Page, "Review: Europa Vasconica-Europa Semitica..." Available at: http://www.cls.psu.edu/pubs/pubs/LINGUA1158.pdf

Monday, March 14, 2011

WWI Vet Dies: Reminds Me of a Mamet Joke

Faithful readers will recall several entries since November about a line in David Mamet's Heist that I [Roger Ebert] said was the funniest he had ever written. Gene Hackman is a thief who wants to retire. Danny DeVito wants him to do one more job, for the money. Hackman says he doesn't like money. DeVito replies: ''Everybody needs money! That's why they call it money!''...

Many readers said they did not see anything funny about this line. I quoted Louis Armstrong: ''There are some folks that, if they don't know, you can't tell 'em.'' More protest. I quoted Gene Siskel: ''Comedy and eroticism are not debatable. Either it works for you or it doesn't.'' This also failed to satisfy many readers.

In desperation I sent the whole correspondence to David Mamet himself, and have received the following reply:

Thank you for your update on the Heist controversy. A lot of people didn't even think 'World War One' was funny. So it just shows to go you.

Friday, March 11, 2011

Works Cited

The English word 'defeatism' is formed from the French word défaitisme current in 1915, which is not officially French: that is to say, in the early Twenties Marshal Foch, as a member of the Académie Française, vetoed its adoption into the Dictionary, on the ground that it was an un-French concept and intolerable.

Graves and Hodge, The Reader Over Your Shoulder

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Works Cited

That I am the Man in the Cloak. In other words, I am by no manner of means the Man of the Cloak, or the Man under the Cloak. The Germans call me "Der Mensch mit dent Mantel", the Man with the Cloak. This is a deplorable error in the nomenclature of that otherwise intelligent people; and I am speechless with astonishment that they should have fallen into it. Why? Because my cloak is not part and parcel of myself. The cloak is outside, and the man is inside, as Goldsmith said of the World and the Prisoner; but each is a distinct entity; of that I am satisfied; on that point I, as the Persians would say, tighten the girdle of assurance round the waist of my understanding, though, perhaps, there is no waste of my understanding whatever. I admit that you may say, "The Man with the Greasy Countenance," or "The Chap with the Swivel Eye;" thus, also, Slawkeiivbergina (vide Tristram Shandy) calls his hero ''The Stranger with the Nose," and reasonably enough; for, although it was at one period conjectured that the nose in question might extend to five hundred and seventy-five geometrical feet in longitude, not even the most incredulous amongst the Faculty of Strasburgh were found to advance an opinion that the nose was not an integral portion of the individual. With me the case is a horse of another colour. I do not put my cloak on and off, I grant, but I can do so when I please by a mere exercise of volition and muscle; and therefore it is obvious to the meanest capacity (I like original tours de phrase) that I am just the Man in the Cloak, and no mistake.

James Clarence Mangan, My Bugle and How I Blow It

Monday, March 07, 2011

Works Cited

"All right," said the major. His eyes twinkled. "Maybe you aren't so dumb as you let on. Maybe. We got one last question. This here's a cultural type matter ... listen up close. What effect would the death of Ho Chi Minh have on the population of North Vietnam?"

"Sir?"

Reading slowly from his paper, the major repeated it. "What effect would the death of Ho Chi Minh have on the population of North Vietnam?"

Paul Berlin let his chin fall. He smiled.

"Reduce it by one, sir."

Tim O'Brien, Going After Cacciato

Tuesday, March 01, 2011

The Elegiac Couplet

The elegiac couplet was one of the most common forms of Latin poetry. It consists of two lines, one hexameter followed by a pentameter. An example is Martial's 1.38, here without macrons:

Quem recitas meus est, o Fidentine, libellus;
sed male cum recitas, incipit esse tuus!


Latin poetic forms are adaptations of forms originating in Greece, and thus, like Greek, the Latin forms are based on syllabic length (English poetry, as a contrast, is based on accent strength). To understand this, let's first investigate the basics of Latin meter.

The most common unit (or foot) is the dactyl, which consists of one long syllable (the thesis) followed by two short syllables (the arsis), with long syllables being roughly twice the length of a short syllable.* "Dactyl" is, incidentally, the Greek word for digit --you can figure out the connection between the meanings by looking at the length of the segments of one of your fingers.


The two short syllables may usually be replaced by a single long syllable -- this makes sense, since one long syllable is the same length as two short syllables: the result is called a spondee. This gives us two possibilities (- represents a long syllable, u a short one) for a foot.

Dactyl: - u u

Spondee: - -

We can refer to both of these with the following short hand:

- U

Where U indicates either a long syllable, or two shorts.

When we refer to a hexameter, the prefix tells us how many feet (dactyls or spondees) we find in a given line: six. So the following are some examples of a hexameter line:

- - | - u u | - - | - - | - u u | - -
- u u | - - | - - | - u u | - u u | - u u

And so on.

(Note that u u - (called an anapest), though metrically the same length, does not occur.)

Now we can understand the typical elegiac meter. The first line is a hexameter, with the following pattern:

- U | - U | - U | - U | - u u | - -

So, as you can see, in the first four feet either a spondee or dactyl is possible. The fifth foot is always a dactyl, and the last a spondee: this gives the last two feet the rhythm of "Shave and a haircut."

The latter line is a pentameter with the following pattern:

- U | - U | - || - u u | - u u | -

The double line indicates a pause, called the caesura. In the elegiac couplet, it sets up the punchline. As you can see, the first two feet can be either dactyls or spondees. After those two a half-foot occurs, a single long syllable. The caesura is then followed by two dactyls and another half-foot long syllable.

Now, before we apply this to Martial's couplet, we have to know a few rules of determining the length of a syllable.

1. A long vowel (in Latin, some vowels always occurred long, just as in English some vowels are always diphthongs) or a diphthong is always long (it's long by nature).

2. A short vowel, if it's in a syllable that ends in a consonant, is also long (long by position). Generally consonants attach to the following vowel, if possible. If a consonant cluster occurs the first consonant remains with the preceding vowel, the latter with the second. (It's actually a bit more complicated. See note ** at the bottom.)

Here's the couplet again, with the long vowels marked.


Quem recitās meus est, ō Fīdentīne, libellus;
sed male cum recitās, incipit esse tuus!

We can now tell which vowels are long.

Long by nature: the ā in "recitās" is long, as is the ō, and the two ī's in "Fīdentīne."

Long by position: "Quem" has a long vowel, because the syllable ends in a consonant, as does "est". Similarly the first "e" in "Fidentine" is long because the syllable ends in "n", as does the "e" in libellus, because the syllable ends in "l". The "us" in "libellus" must be long because the syllable ends in "s". "Sed" ends in a consonant, so must be long. Likewise with "cum". The first syllable of "incipit" is long, ending in a consonant. The last syllable is not long however, because as we've noted, the consonant goes with the following vowel if possible (even across word boundaries!), so here it attaches to the first syllable of "esse". The first syllable in "esse" is long, as it ends in a consonant (it's impossible to move both consonants of a double consonant to the next syllable: Martialis serpens non erat). The "us" in "tuus" is long: there's no following vowel for the consonant to move to!

So, knowing that, let's break the couplet into its feet with their length marked:


Quem recit | ās meus | est, ō | Fīden | tīne, li | bellus

- u u | - u u | - - | - - | - u u | - -


sed male | cum recit | ās, || incipit | esse tu | us!

- u u | - u u | - || - u u | - u u | -

Altogether, this give us:

- u u | - u u | - - | - - | - u u | - -
- u u | - u u | - || - u u | - u u | -

Compare this to the prescribed pattern of the elegiac couplet:

- U | - U | - U | - U | - u u | - -
- U | - U | - || - u u | - u u | -

It matches perfectly (Greek poets would frequently break the "rules," the Golden Age Latin poets less so, and the later Latin poets seldom if ever).

I mentioned the caesura being the break before the punchline. Here's the same couplet translated into English with the caesura marked to give you an idea what this means:

What you recite, Fidentinus, is mine
But when you recite badly || it begins to be yours!

Let's try another Martial. This is 1.47:

Nūper erat medicus, nunc est vespillo Dialus.
Quod vespillo facit, fēcerat et medicus.

Scanned:

- u u | - u u | - - | - - | - u u | - -
- - | - u u | - || - u u | - u u | -

Note this meter is identical to the last couplet, save the first foot of the second line was before a dactyl, but here has had a spondee substituted, which we know is acceptable in the meter. Our "Shave and a haircut" ending is: "... illo Diaulus"

And translated (with the flexible Latin word order shuffled a bit to sound more natural), with the caesura marked.

Diaulus was recently a doctor, now he's an undertaker.
What the undertaker does ||

(Wait for it.)


the doctor also did!


One of the benefits of the strict meter is it aids in memorization, which may be one of the reasons for its strict adherence in a time where poetry was written to be recited, not read. These are just couplets, but the Iliad, written in dactylic hexameter, is over 15,000 lines long, and began as an oral tradition, only written down by Homer later on.

In fact, I was surprised a few days ago to find that I had, without intending to, memorized the first Martial couplet just by having spent some time figuring out how it scanned.

* When it comes to dactyls, spondees, anapests, etc., these are all also used in languages that rely on stress rather than length, with the long syllables corresponding to stressed syllables, the short syllables to unstressed ones.

** Nothing's easy. First h's don't count as consonants, so "ch", "th" and "ph" are just one breathy consonant that moves together to the next vowel if possible. "Gn" and "qu" are likewise considered one consonant and move as a group. A stop (b, p, d, t, g, c) plus a liquid (l, r) can move together as well, or they may be broken apart if the poet wants to.

Second, if a word ends in a vowel and the following word begins in a vowel, the first vowel disappears. Thus, "vita est" (3 syllables) is pronounced "vit-ast" (two syllables). That's easy to buy, but somewhat more surprising is that the same rule holds if the first word ends in an "m". So "vitam est" is also pronounced "vit - ast."

Why? Probably because Latin had started to develop a degree of nasalization, whereby the "m" simply nasalized the preceding vowel in certain positions but didn't sound by itself at all. This may be why so many words with "m" endings in Latin ended up with vowel endings in the daughter Romance languages. (After those endings were gone, French and Portuguese underwent a secondary nasalization, using "m" and "n" to nasalize another set of vowels. It may have been something like this: "Bonum" (Classic Latin) --> "Bono~" (Later Classic Latin) --> "Bono" (Proto-Romance) --> "bon" (Old French) --> "bo~ɔ̃" (Modern French). The clear significance is the French will eventually express approval of something by a loud "b" sound.)

Note that the poet could also avoid this elision at his discretion.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Works Cited

He didn't know who was right. or what was right; he didn't know if it was a war of self-determination or self-destruction, outright aggression or national liberation; he didn't know which speeches to believe, which books, which politicians; he didn't know if nations would topple like dominoes or stand separate like trees; he didn't know who really started the war, or why, or when, or with what motives; he didn't know if it mattered; he saw sense in both sides of the debate, but he did not know where truth lay; he didn't know if communist tyranny would prove worse in the long run than the tyrannies of Ky or Thieu or Khanh -- he simply didn't know. And who did? Who really did? Oh, he had read newspapers and magazines. He wasn't stupid. He wasn't uninformed. He just didn't know if the war was right or wrong or somewhere in the murky middle. And who did? Who really knew? So he went to the war for reasons beyond knowledge. Because he believed in law, and law told him to go. Because it was a democracy, after all, and because LBJ and the others had a rightful claim to their offices. He went to the war because it was expected. Because not to go was to risk censure, and to bring embarrassment on his father and his town. Because, not knowing, he saw no reason to distrust those with more experience. Because he loved his country and, more than that, because he trusted it. Yes, he did. Oh, he would rather have fought with his father in France, knowing certain things certainly, but he couldn't choose his war, nobody could. Was this so banal? Was this so unprofound and stupid? He would look the little girl with gold earrings straight in the eye. He would tell her these things. He would ask her to see the matter his way. What would she have done? What would anyone have done, not knowing? And then he would ask the girl questions. What did she want? How did she see the war? What were her aims--peace, any peace, peace with dignity? Did she refuse to run for the same reasons he refused--obligation, family, the land, friends, home? And now? Now, war ended, what did she want? Peace and quiet? Peace and pride? Peace with mashed potatoes and Swiss steak and vegetables, a full-tabled peace, indoor plumbing, a peace with Oldsmobiles and Hondas and skyscrapers climbing from the fields, a peace of order and harmony and murals on public buildings? Were her dreams the dreams of ordinary men and women? Quality-of-life dreams? Material dreams? Did she want a long life? Did she want medicine when she was sick, food on the table and reserves in the pantry? Religious dreams? What? What did she aim for? If a wish were to be granted by the war's winning army--any wish--what would she choose? Yes! If LBJ and Ho were to rub their magic lanterns at war's end, saying, "Here is what it was good for, here is the fruit," what would Quang Ngai demand? Justice? What sort? Reparations? What kind? Answers? What were the questions: What did Quang Ngai want to know?

Tim O'Brien, Going After Cacciato

Monday, February 21, 2011

Sequels

SCOTT: I have an idea for a movie: "The Social Network 2: The Rise of FarmVille."

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Works Cited

"Ah! Then you have found an answer?" Li Van Hgoc beamed. He looked genuinely relieved. "Our difficulty has been solved?"

"A piece of cake."

"Marvelous! Honestly, I cannot tell you how happy it makes me. Please, what is the solution to our puzzle?"

"This," the lieutenant said softly.

Li Van Hgoc frowned. "I must be mistaken. That appears to be a rifle."


Tim O'Brien, Going After Cacciato

Friday, January 28, 2011

Works Cited

Our team of linguist-translator-statisticians assures us (with 99.99897% certainty), that the Future English Bible represents the dominant dialect of world English of the 22nd century.


King James Version of 1611 Future English Bible

10 And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples.


10 Latron, Jesus was sittin ta eat n’t’house, wen lookit! holelotta blingblingers n other huài guys came n hobnobbed with’m n his posse.

11 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners?


11 Wen t’faruppities saw all round this, they asked his posse: Aya! Wy your main man eat with blingblingers n huài guys?

12 But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.


12 Wen Jesus heard all that, he told’m: t’users that got no virisses on t’seepeeyou donno need ta call t’cusstomber service lines, but those pobrecitos with fragged hard drives need it sumtimes.

13 But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.


13 You faruppities drive off now and figgerout wat that is bout. I want merced and not malitos. Cause I didn’ come here ta organize t’goodytwoshoeses. I come here ta tell t’blingblingers ta makenice.



The Future English Bible, The Speculative Grammarian

Friday, January 21, 2011

1001 Movies to See Before You Die


A Trip to the Moon (Le Voyage Dans La Lune) (1902)
The Great Train Robbery (1903)
The Birth of a Nation (1915)
Les Vampires (1915)
Intolerance (1916)
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Das Kabinett des Doktor Caligari) (1920)
Broken Blossoms (1919)
Within Our Gates (1920)
Way Down East (1920)
Orphans of the Storm (1921)
The Phantom Carriage (Körkarlen) (1921)
The Smiling Madame Beudet (La Souriante Madame Beudet) (1922)
Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler (Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler) (1922)
Nanook of the North (1922)
Nosferatu, A Symphony of Terror (Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens) (1922)
Häxan (1923)
Foolish Wives (1922)
Our Hospitality (1923)
The Wheel (La Roue) (1923)
The Last Laugh (Der Letzte Mann) (1924)
Strike (Stachka) (1924)
Sherlock, Jr. (1924)
The Great White Silence (1924)
Greed (1924)
The Thief of Bagdad (1924)
The Eagle (1925)
The Phantom of the Opera (1925)
The Battleship Potemkin (Bronenosets Potyomkin) (1925)
The Gold Rush (1925)
The Big Parade (1925)
Seven Chances (1925)
The Adventures of Prince Achmed (Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed) (1926)
Metropolis (1927)
Sunrise (1927)
The General (1927)
The Unknown (1927)
October (Oktyabr) (1927)
The Jazz Singer (1927)
Napoléon (1927)
The Kid Brother (1927)
The Crowd (1928)
The Docks of New York (1928)
The Passion of Joan of Arc (La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc) (1928)
An Andalusian Dog (Un Chien Andalou) (1928)
Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928)
Storm Over Asia (Potomok Chingis-khana) (1928)
A Throw of Dice (Prapancha Pash) (1929)
The Man with the Movie Camera (Chelovek S Kinoapparatom) (1929)
Pandora's Box (Die Büchse der Pandora) (1929)
Blackmail (1929)
Little Caesar (1931)
The Blue Angel (Der Blaue Engel) (1930)
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
The Age of Gold (L'Âge d'or) (1930)
Earth (Zemlya) (1930)
Freedom for Us (À Nous la Liberté) (1931)
Limite (1931)
Tabu (1931)
City Lights (1931)
Dracula (1931)
Frankenstein (1931)
The Public Enemy (1931)
M (1931)
The Million (Le Million) (1931)
The Bitch (La Chienne) (1931)
The Vampire (Vampyr) (1932)
I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang (1932)
Boudu Saved from Drowning (Boudu Sauvé des Eaux) (1932)
Love Me Tonight (1932)
Shanghai Express (1932)
Trouble in Paradise (1932)
Scarface: The Shame of a Nation (1932)
Freaks (1932)
Me and My Gal (1932)
42nd Street (1933)
Footlight Parade (1933)
The Bitter Tea of General Yen (1933)
She Done Him Wrong (1933)
Duck Soup (1933)
Zero for Conduct (Zéro de Conduite) (1933)
Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933)
King Kong (1933)
Land Without Bread (Las Hurdes) (1933)
Sons of the Desert (1933)
Queen Christina (1933)
Triumph of the Will (Triumph des Willens) (1934)
It's a Gift (1934)
The Goddess (Shen nu) (1934)
It Happened One Night (1934)
L'Atalante (1934)
The Black Cat (1934)
The Thin Man (1934)
 Judge Priest (1934)
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
The 39 Steps (1935)
A Night at the Opera (1935)
Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
Captain Blood (1935)
Top Hat (1935)
Peter Ibbetson (1935)
Modern Times (1936)
Swing Time (1936)
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
My Man Godfrey (1936)
The Story of a Cheat (Le Roman d'un Tricheur) (1936)
Camille (1936)
Things to Come (1936)
Dodsworth (1936)
A Day in the Country (Une Partie de Campagne) (1936)
Sabotage (1936)
Pépé le Moko (1937)
Make Way for Tomorrow (1937)
Grand Illusion (La Grande Illusion) (1937)
Stella Dallas (1937)
Midnight Song (Ye Ban Ge Sheng) (1937)
Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (1937)
Captains Courageous (1937)
The Awful Truth (1937)
The Life of Emile Zola (1937)
Jezebel (1938)
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
The Baker's Wife (La Femme du Boulanger) (1938)
Bringing Up Baby (1938)
Olympia Part 1: Festival of the Nations (Olympia 1. Teil: Fest der Völker) (1938)
Olympia Part 2: Festival of Beauty (Olympia 2. Teil: Fest der Schönheit) (1938)
The Lady Vanishes (1938)
Wuthering Heights (1939)
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
Stagecoach (1939)
Only Angels Have Wings (1939)
Destry Rides Again (1939)
Gone With the Wind (1939)
Daybreak (Le jour se lève) (1939)
Gunga Din (1939)
Ninotchka (1939)
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
The Rules of the Game (La Régle du Jeu) (1939)
The Story of the Late Chrysanthemums (Zangiku Monogatari) (1939)
Babes in Arms (1939)
His Girl Friday (1940)
Fantasia (1940)
Rebecca (1940)
The Philadelphia Story (1940)
The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
The Mortal Storm (1940)
The Bank Dick (1940)
Pinocchio (1940)
Dance, Girl, Dance (1940)
Citizen Kane (1941)
Sergeant York (1941)
The Lady Eve (1941)
The Wolf Man (1941)
High Sierra (1941)
How Green Was My Valley (1941)
Sullivan's Travels (1941)
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
Dumbo (1941)
The Palm Beach Story (1942)
Now, Voyager (1942)
To Be Or Not To Be (1942)
The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
Mrs. Miniver (1942)
Casablanca (1942)
Cat People (1942)
Fires Were Started (1943)
The Ox-Bow Incident (1943)
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)
Meshes of the Afternoon (1943)
The Seventh Victim (1943)
The Man in Grey (1943)
Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
Ossessione (1943)
I Walked with a Zombie (1943)
Laura (1944)
Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
To Have and Have Not (1944)
Gaslight (1944)
Henry V (1944)
Double Indemnity (1944)
Murder, My Sweet (Farewell My Lovely) (1944)
Ivan the Terrible, Part I (Ivan Groznyj) (1944)
Ivan the Terrible, Part II: The Boyars’ Plot (Ivan Groznyj: Skaz Vtoroy – Boyarskiy Zagovor) (1958)
Mildred Pierce (1945)
Detour (1945)
I Know Where I'm Going! (1945)
The Lost Weekend (1945)
The Children of Paradise (Les Enfants du Paradis) (1945)
The Battle of San Pietro (1945)
Brief Encounter (1945)
Rome, Open City (Roma, Città Aperta) (1945)
Spellbound (1945)
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
Paisan (Paisà) (1946)
The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
Beauty and the Beast (La Belle et la Bête) (1946)
The Killers (1946)
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
The Big Sleep (1946)
Gilda (1946)
A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
Great Expectations (1946)
My Darling Clementine (1946)
Notorious (1946)
Black Narcissus (1946)
The Stranger (1946)
Out of the Past (1947)
Monsieur Verdoux (1947)
Odd Man Out (1947)
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947)
The Bicycle Thief (Ladri di Biciclette) (1948)
Letter From an Unknown Woman (1948)
Secret Beyond the Door (1948)
Force of Evil (1948)
Spring in a Small Town (Xiao Cheng Zhi Chun) (1948)
Red River (1948)
The Paleface (1948)
The Snake Pit (1948)
The Lady From Shanghai (1948)
Rope (1948)
The Red Shoes (1948)
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
Louisiana Story (1948)
Gun Crazy (1949)
The Reckless Moment (1949)
White Heat (1949)
Adam's Rib (1949)
The Heiress (1949)
The Third Man (1949)
Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)
Whiskey Galore! (1949)
On the Town (1949)
Orpheus (Orphée) (1950)
The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
Rashomon (1950)
All About Eve (1950)
Winchester '73 (1950)
Rio Grande (1950)
Sunset Blvd. (1950)
The Young and the Damned (Los Olvidados) (1950)
In a Lonely Place (1950)
The Big Carnival (Ace in the Hole) (1951)
Strangers on a Train (1951)
A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
An American in Paris (1951)
Pandora and the Flying Dutchman (1951)
The African Queen (1951)
A Place in the Sun (1951)
The Lavender Hill Mob (1951)
Diary of a Country Priest (Journal d'un Curé de Campagne) (1951)
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
The Quiet Man (1952)
Forbidden Games (Jeux Interdits) (1952)
Europa '51 (1952)
Singin' In the Rain (1952)
The Bad and the Beautiful (1952)
To Live (Ikiru) (1952)
Umberto D (1952)
High Noon (1952)
The Golden Coach (Le Carrosse d'or) (1953)
Angel Face (1952)
The Big Sky (1952)
Summer with Monika (Sommaren med Monika) (1953)
Pickup on South Street (1953)
The Band Wagon (1953)
Mr. Hulot's Holiday (Les Vacances de M. Hulot) (1953)
The Earrings of Madame De... (Madame De...) (1953)
Wages of Fear (Le Salaire de la Peur) (1953)
The Bigamist (1953)
The Naked Spur (1953)
Tokyo Story (1953)
From Here to Eternity (1953)
Tales of Ugetsu (Ugetsu Monogatari) (1953)
Voyage in Italy (Viaggio in Italia) (1953)
Shane (1953)
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)
Roman Holiday (1953)
The Big Heat (1953)
Beat the Devil (1953)
On the Waterfront (1954)
The Road (La Strada) (1954)
Les Diaboliques (1954)
A Star is Born (1954)
Rear Window (1954)
The Wanton Countess (Senso) (1954)
Silver Lode (1954)
The Barefoot Contessa (1954)
Seven Samurai (Shichinin no Samurai) (1954)
Sansho the Baliff (Sanshô Dayû) (1954)
Carmen Jones (1954)
Johnny Guitar (1954)
Salt of the Earth (1954)
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)
Animal Farm (1954)
The Sins of Lola Montes (Lola Montès) (1955)
Pather Panchali (1955)
Ordet (1955)
Marty (1955)
Artists and Models (1955)
Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
The Mad Masters (Les Maîtres Fous) (1955)
Hill 24 Doesn't Answer (1955)
Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)
Night and Fog (Nuit et Brouillard) (1955)
The Phenix City Story (1955)
The Man with the Golden Arm (1955)
Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
Guys and Dolls (1955)
The Night of the Hunter (1955)
The Ladykillers (1955)
Oklahoma! (1955)
Smiles of a Summer Night (Sommarnattens Leende) (1955)
Bob the Gambler (Bob le Flambeur) (1955)
All That Heaven Allows (1955)
The Man From Laramie (1955)
The Ten Commandments (1956)
The Searchers (1956)
The Burmese Harp (Biruma no Tategoto) (1956)
Forbidden Planet (1956)
Written on the Wind (1956)
A Man Escaped (Un Condamné à Mort s'est Échappé ou le Vent Souffle où il Veut) (1956)
Bigger Than Life (1956)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
Giant (1956)
The Wrong Man (1956)
High Society (1956)
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
Throne of Blood (Kumonosu Jo) (1957)
Paths of Glory (1957)
An Affair to Remember (1957)
The Seventh Seal (Det Sjunde Inseglet) (1957)
12 Angry Men (1957)
Wild Strawberries (Smultronstället) (1957)
The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957)
Nights of Cabiria (Le Notti di Cabiria) (1957)
The Cranes are Flying (Letjat Zhuravli) (1957)
The Unvanquished (Aparajito) (1957)
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
Mother India (Bharat Mata) (1957)
Touch of Evil (1958)
Gigi (1958)
The Defiant Ones (1958)
Man of the West (1958)
Vertigo (1958)
Ashes and Diamonds (Popiól i Diament) (1958)
Cairo Station (Bab el Hadid) (1958)
The Music Room (Jalsaghar) (1958)
My Uncle (Mon Oncle) (1958)
Some Came Running (1958)
Dracula (1958)
Some Like It Hot (1959)
North by Northwest (1959)
The 400 Blows (Les Quatre Cents Coups) (1959)
Pickpocket (1959)
Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959)
Ride Lonesome (1959)
Black Orpheus (Orfeu Negro) (1959)
Ben-Hur (1959)
Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
Shadows (1959)
The World of Apu (Apur Sansar) (1959)
Rio Bravo (1959)
Floating Weeds (Ukigusa) (1959)
Eyes Without a Face (Les Yeux Sans Visage) (1960)
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960)
La Dolce Vita (1960)
The Hole (Le Trou) (1960)
Rocco and his Brothers (Rocco e i Suoi Fratelli) (1960)
The Adventure (L'Avventura) (1960)
Breathless (A Bout de Souffle) (1960)
Spartacus (1960)
The Apartment (1960)
 The Housemaid (Hanyeo) (1960)
The Cloud-Capped Star (Meghe Dhaka Tara) (1960)
Psycho (1960)
Shoot the Piano Player (Tirez sur le Pianiste) (1960)
Peeping Tom (1960)
Black Sunday (La Maschera del Demonio / Revenge of the Vampire) (1960)
The Young One (La Joven) (1960)
Splendor in the Grass (1961)
Viridiana (1961)
The Pier (La Jetée) (1962)
Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
Lola (1961)
The Exiles (1961)
The Night (La Notte) (1961)
West Side Story (1961)
The Hustler (1961)
The Ladies Man (1961)
Through a Glass Darkly (Såsom i en Spegel) (1961)
Chronicle of a Summer (Chronique d'un Été) (1961)
Last Year at Marienbad (L'Année Dernière à Marienbad) (1961)
One-Eyed Jacks (1961)
Cleo From 5 to 7 (Cléo de 5 à 7) (1962)
Dog Star Man
My Life to Live (Vivre sa Vie: Film en Douze Tableaux) (1962)
An Autumn Afternoon (Sanma no Aji) (1962)
Lolita (1962)
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
Heaven and Earth Magic (1962)
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
Keeper of Promises (O Pagador de Promessas) (1962)
The Eclipse (L'Eclisse) (1962)
A Dog's Life (Mondo Cane) (1962)
The Exterminating Angel (El Ángel Exterminador) (1962)
Jules and Jim (Jules et Jim) (1962)
The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)
8 1/2 (1963)
The Birds (1963)
Passenger (Pasazerka) (1963)
The Servant (1963)
Flaming Creatures (1963)
The House is Black (Khaneh Siah Ast) (1963)
Hud (1963)
The Leopard (Il Gattopardo) (1963)
Barren Lives (Vidas Secas) (1963)
Shock Corridor (1963)
Contempt (Le Mépris) (1963)
Blonde Cobra (1963)
The Cool World (1963)
The Nutty Professor (1963)
The Great Escape (1963)
Méditerranée (1963)
An Actor's Revenge (Yukinojo Henge) (1963)
The Haunting (1963)
Winter Light (Nattvardsgästerna) (1963)
Goldfinger (1964)
My Fair Lady (1964)
The Red Desert (Il Deserto Rosso) (1964)
Woman in the Dunes (Suna no Onna) (1964)
Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (Tini Zabutykh Predkiv) (1965) 
Scorpio Rising (1964)
Marnie (1964)
The Masque of the Red Death (1964)
Before the Revolution (Prima Della Rivoluzione) (1964)
Dr. Strangelove, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
Black God, White Devil (Deus e o Diabo na Terra do Sol) (1964)
A Hard Day's Night (1964)
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Les Parapluies de Cherbourg) (1964)
Gertrud (1964)
Mary Poppins (1964)
The Demon (Onibaba) (1964)
The Gospel According to St. Matthew (Il Vangelo Secondo Matteo) (1964)
The Shop on Main Street (Obchod na Korze) (1965)
Doctor Zhivago (1965)
The War Game (1965)
Tokyo Olympiad (Tokyo Orimpikku) (1965)
Juliet of the Spirits (Giuletta Degli Spiriti) (1965)
The Battle of Algiers (La Battaglia di Algeri) (1965)
The Sound of Music (1965)
 The Man Who Had His Hair Cut Short (De man die Zijn Haar Kort Liet Knippen) (1965)
Alphaville (Alphaville, une Étrange Aventure de Lemmy Caution) (1965)
Chimes at Midnight (Campanadas a Medianoche) (1965)
Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965)
Vinyl (1965)
The Saragossa Manuscript (Rekopis Znaleziony w Saragossie) (1965)
Repulsion (1965)
Pierrot Goes Wild (Pierrot le Fou) (1965)
Golden River (Subarnarekha) (1965)
Hold Me While I'm Naked (1966)
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
Blowup (1966)
Daisies (Sedmikrasky) (1966)
Come Drink With Me (Da Zui Xia) (1966)
Seconds (1966)
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (Il Buono, il Brutto, il Cattivo) (1966)
Persona (1966)
Balthazar (Au Hasard Balthazar) (1966)
Masculine-Feminine (Masculin, Féminin) (1966)
Report (1967)
Two or Three Things I Know About Her (2 ou 3 Choses Que je Sais D'elle) (1967)
Belle de Jour (1967)
Cool Hand Luke (1967)
Playtime (1967)
The Red and the White (Csillagosok, Katonák) (1967)
The Graduate (1967)
Point Blank (1967)
The Young Girls of Rochefort (Les Demoiselles de Rochefort) (1967)
Week End (1967)
The Godson (Le Samouraï) (1967)
Wavelength (1967)
Closely Watched Trains (Ostre Sledované Vlaky) (1967)
Earth Entranced (Terra em Transe) (1967)
In the Heat of the Night (1967)
Marketa Lazarová (1967)
The Fireman's Ball (Horí, Má Panenko) (1967)
The Jungle Book (1967)
Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
Viy (1967)
Hombre (1967)
The Cow (Gaav) (1969)
Once Upon a Time in the West (C'era una Volta il West) (1968)
Faces (1968)
Planet of the Apes (1968)
Rosemary's Baby (1968)
If... (1968)
David Holzman's Diary (1968)
Memories of Underdevelopment (Memorias del Subdesarrollo) (1968)
High School (1968)
Hour of the Wolf (Vargtimmen) (1968)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Targets (1968)
Shame (Skammen) (1968)
The Producers (1968)
Z (1969)
Fellini Satyricon (1969)
Andrei Rublev (Andrei Rublyov) (1966)
The Color of Pomengranates (Sayat Nova) (1968)
Midnight Cowboy (1969)
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
A Touch of Zen (Hsia Nu) (1969)
Easy Rider (1969)
Kes (1969)
Lucía (1969)
In the Year of the Pig (1969)
The Wild Bunch (1969)
My Night at Maud's (Ma Nuit Chez Maud) (1969)
Tristana (1970)
The Conformist (Il Conformista) (1970)
The Butcher (Le Boucher) (1970)
El Topo (1970)
Five Easy Pieces (1970)
Deep End (1970)
The Spider's Stratagem (La Strategia del Ragno) (1970)
The Ear (Ucho) (1970)
Little Big Man (1970)
Patton (1970)
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (L'uccello Dalle Piume de Cristallo) (1970)
M*A*S*H (1970)
Zabriskie Point (1970)
Performance (1970)
Woodstock (1970)
Gimme Shelter (1970)
The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (Il Giardino dei Finzi-Contini) (1970)
Dirty Harry (1971)
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971)
The Sorrow and the Pity (La Chagrin et la Pitié) (1971)
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)
The Devils (1971)
The Hired Hand (1971)
W.R.: Mysteries of the Organism (W.R.: Misterije Organizma) (1971)
Walkabout (1971)
Klute (1971)
Harold and Maude (1971)
The French Connection (1971)
Red Psalm (Még Kér a Nép) (1972)
Get Carter (1971)
Shaft (1971)
Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971)
The Last Picture Show (1971)
Wanda (1971)
Murmur of the Heart (Le Souffle au Coeur) (1971)
Straw Dogs (1971)
Two-Lane Blacktop (1971)
Wake in Fright (1971)
Deliverance (1972)
Aguirre, the Wrath of God (Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes) (1972)
Cabaret (1972)
Solaris (Solyaris) (1972)
Cries and Whispers (Viskingar och Rop) (1972)
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (Le Charme Discret de la Bourgeoisie) (1972)
The Godfather (1972)
Last Tango in Paris (Ultimo Tango a Parigi) (1972)
The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant (Die Bitteren Tränen der Petra Von Kant) (1972)
Fat City (1972)
The Heartbreak Kid (1972)
Frenzy (1972)
Pink Flamingoes (1972)
Sleuth (1972)
Superfly (1972)
The Sting (1973)
The Mother and the Whore (La Maman et la Putain) (1973)
High Plains Drifter (1973)
Badlands (1973)
American Graffiti (1973)
Papillon (1973)
The Long Goodbye (1973)
The Wicker Man (1973)
Enter the Dragon (1973)
Serpico (1973)
Don't Look Now (1973)
Day for Night (La Nuit Américaine) (1973)
Mean Streets (1973)
Sleeper (1973)
The Exorcist (1973)
F for Fake (Vérités et Mensonges) (1973)
Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973)
Turkish Delight (Turks Fruit) (1973)
The Spirit of the Beehive (El Espíritu de la Colmena) (1973)
The Harder They Come (1973)
Fantastic Planet (La Planéte Sauvage) (1973)
Amarcord (1973)
The Towering Inferno (1974)
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974)
Dersu Uzala (1975)
The Godfather: Part II (1974)
The Conversation (1974)
The Mirror (Zerkalo) (1974)
Chinatown (1974)
A Woman Under the Influence (1974)
Young Frankenstein (1974)
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
Blazing Saddles (1974)
Celine and Julie Go Boating (Céline et Julie Vont en Bateau) (1974)
Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (Angst Essen Seele Auf) (1974)
Barry Lyndon (1975)
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975)
The Travelling Players (O Thiassos) (1975)
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
The Wall (Deewaar) (1975)
Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
Manila in the Claws of Brightness (Maynila: sa Mga Kuko Ng Liwanag) (1975)
Fox and his Friends (Faustrecht der Freiheit) (1975)
Nashville (1975)
Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom (Salò o le Centoventi Giornate di Sodoma) (1975)
Cria! (Cría Cuervos) (1975)
Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)
India Song (1975)
Jaws (1975)
The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)
All the President's Men (1976)
The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976)
The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976)
Network (1976)
Carrie (1976)
Taxi Driver (1976)
Rocky (1976)
In the Realm of the Senses (Ai no Corrida) (1976)
1900 (Novecento) (1976)
Ascent (Voskhozhdeniye) (1977)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
The Last Wave (1977)
Star Wars (1977)
Stroszek (1977)
Ceddo (1977)
The American Friend (Der Amerikanische Freund) (1977)
Annie Hall (1977)
Suspiria (1977)
Sleeping Dogs (1977)
Last Chants for a Slow Dance (1977)
Man of Marble (Czlowiek z Marmuru) (1977)
Saturday Night Fever (1977)
Killer of Sheep (1977)
Eraserhead (1977)
Soldier of Orange (Soldaat van Oranje) (1977)
The Hills Have Eyes (1977)
Days of Heaven (1978)
Halloween (1978)
The Tree of Wooden Clogs (L'albero Degli Zoccoli) (1978)
The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (1978)
The Deer Hunter (1978)
Dawn of the Dead (1978)
Up in Smoke (1978)
Grease (1978)
Shaolin Master Killer (Shao Lin San Shi Liu Fang) (1978)
Five Deadly Venoms (Wu Du) (1978)
My Brilliant Career (1979)
The Marriage of Maria Braun (Die Ehe der Maria Braun) (1979)
Nosferatu: Phantom of the Night (Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht) (1979)
Stalker (1979)
Life of Brian (1979)
Real Life (1979)
Breaking Away (1979)
Alien (1979)
Being There (1979)
Manhattan (1979)
Apocalypse Now (1979)
All That Jazz (1979)
The Muppet Movie (1979)
Christ Stopped at Eboli (Cristo si è Fermato a Eboli) (1979)
Mad Max (1979)
The Tin Drum (Die Blechtrommel) (1979)
The Jerk (1979)
Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)
Ordinary People (1980)
Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Atlantic City (1980)
The Last Metro (Le Dernier Métro) (1980)
The Shining (1980)
The Elephant Man (1980)
The Big Red One (1980)
Loulou (1980)
Raging Bull (1980)
Airplane! (1980)
An American Werewolf in London (1981)
Diva (1981)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
The Boat (Das Boot) (1981)
Gallipoli (1981)
Chariots of Fire (1981)
Body Heat (1981)
Man of Iron (Czlowiek z Zelaza) (1981)
Reds (1981)
Three Brothers (Tre Fratelli) (1981)
E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
The Evil Dead (1982)
Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)
Too Early, Too Late (Zu Früh, Zu Spät / Trop Tôt, Trop Tard) (1982)
Poltergeist (1982)
Yol (1982)
Blade Runner (1982)
Diner (1982)
Tootsie (1982)
Fitzcarraldo (1982)
Gandhi (1982)
The Thing (1982)
Fanny and Alexander (Fanny och Alexander) (1982)
The Night of the Shooting Stars (La Notte di San Lorenzo) (1982)
A Question of Silence (De Stilte Rond Christine M.) (1982)
The Draughtsman's Contract (1982)
A Christmas Story (1983)
Money (L'Argent) (1983)
The Right Stuff (1983)
The Big Chill (1983)
Sunless (Sans Soleil) (1983)
Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)
The Ballad of Narayama (Narayama Bushi-ko) (1983)
Terms of Endearment (1983)
El Norte (1983)
The Fourth Man (De Vierde Man) (1983)
Videodrome (1983)
Koyaanisqatsi (1983)
Scarface (1983)
The King of Comedy (1983)
Local Hero (1983)
Once Upon a Time in America (1983)
The Last Battle (Le Dernier Combat) (1983)
The Terminator (1984)
The Natural (1984)
Ghostbusters (1984)
Paris, Texas (1984)
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
This is Spinal Tap (1984)
A Passage to India (1984)
Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
The Killing Fields (1984)
Stranger than Paradise (1984)
Amadeus (1984)
Utu (1984)
Prizzi's Honor (1985)
The Time to Live and the Time to Die (Tong Nien Wang Shi) (1985)
The Breakfast Club (1985)
Come and See (Idi i Smotri) (1985)
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985)
Out of Africa (1985)
Ran (1985)
Back to the Future (1985)
Brazil (1985)
Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985)
The Quiet Earth (1985)
The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)
Vagabond (Sans Toit ni Loi) (1985)
Shoah (1985)
The Color Purple (1985)
A Room with a View (1985)
The Official Story (La Historia Oficial) (1985)
Manhunter (1986)
Blue Velvet (1986)
Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
She's Gotta Have It (1986)
Children of a Lesser God (1986)
Caravaggio (1986)
Salvador (1986)
Platoon (1986)
Down By Law (1986)
The Decline of the American Empire (Le Déclin de l'Empire Américain) (1986)
Peking Opera Blues (Do Ma Daan) (1986)
Aliens (1986)
Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
The Fly (1986)
Top Gun (1986)
Sherman's March (1986)
Stand By Me (1986)
Tampopo (1985)
The Horse Thief (Dao Ma Zei) (1986)
Goodbye Children (Au Revoir les Enfants) (1987)
Raising Arizona (1987)
Brightness (Yeelen) (1987)
Project A, Part II ('A' Gai Waak Juk Jaap) (1987)
Wings of Desire (Der Himmel Über Berlin) (1987)
Withnail and I (1987)
The Princess Bride (1987)
A Chinese Ghost Story (Sinnui Yauman) (1987)
Full Metal Jacket (1987)
Broadcast News (1987)
Babette's Feast (Babbetes Gaestebud) (1987)
Good Morning, Vietnam (1987)
Moonstruck (1987)
Wall Street (1987)
The Untouchables (1987)
Red Sorghum (Hong Gao Liang) (1987)
Fatal Attraction (1987)
The Dead (1987)
Housekeeping (1987)
Bull Durham (1988)
Hotel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie (Hôtel Terminus: Klaus Barbie et Son Temps) (1988)
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (Mujeres al Borde de un Ataque de Nervios) (1988)
The Vanishing (Spoorloos) (1988)
Alice (Neco z Alenky) (1988)
Ariel (1988)
The Thin Blue Line (1988)
Akira (1988)
A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
A Tale of the Wind (Une Histoire de Vent) (1988)
The Naked Gun (1988)
Cinema Paradiso (Nuovo Cinema Paradiso) (1988)
Grave of the Fireflies (Hotaru no Haka) (1988)
Big (1988)
Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988)
The Decalogue (Dekalog) (1988)
Rain Man (1988)
Die Hard (1988)
Dangerous Liaisons (1988)
Dead Ringers (1988)
RoboCop (1987)
Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988)
Landscape in the Mist (Topio Stin Omichli) (1988)
The Story of Women (Une Affaire de Femmes) (1988)
The Accidental Tourist (1988)
Drowning By Numbers (1988)
When Harry Met Sally (1989)
Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)
Batman (1989)
Field of Dreams (1989)
Glory (1989)
The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, & Her Lover (1989)
My Left Foot (1989)
The Killer (Die Xue Shuang Xiong) (1989)
Drugstore Cowboy (1989)
The Asthenic Syndrome (Astenicheskij Sindrom) (1989)
Do the Right Thing (1989)
The Unbelievable Truth (1989)
Roger & Me (1989)
Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989)
A City of Sadness (Beiqing Chengshi) (1989)
Say Anything (1989)
Trust (1990)
No Fear, No Die (S'en Fout la Mort) (1990)
Goodfellas (1990)
Close-Up (Nema-ye Nazdik) (1990)
King of New York (1990)
Pretty Woman (1990)
Dances with Wolves (1990)
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1990)
Archangel (1990)
Total Recall (1990)
Edward Scissorhands (1990)
Europa Europa (Hitlerjunge Salomon) (1990)
Reversal of Fortune (1990)
Jacob's Ladder (1990)
Boyz 'N the Hood (1991)
The Beautiful Troublemaker (La Belle Noiseuse) (1991)
The Rapture (1991)
A Brighter Summer Day (Guling Jie Shaonian Sha Ren Shijian) (1991)
JFK (1991)
Slacker (1991)
Once Upon a Time in China (Wong Fei-Hung) (1991)
Thelma & Louise (1991)
My Own Private Idaho (1991)
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
Delicatessen (1991)
The Double Life of Veronique (La Double Vie de Véronique) (1991)
Tongues Untied (1989)
Raise the Red Lantern (Da Hong Deng Long Gao Gao Gua) (1991)
Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse (1991)
Naked Lunch (1991)
Romper Stomper (1992)
Strictly Ballroom (1992)
The Player (1992)
Reservoir Dogs (1992)
Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)
A Tale of Winter (Conte D'hiver) (1992)
Unforgiven (1992)
The Actress (Yuen Ling-Yuk) (1992)
Man Bites Dog (C'est Arrivé Près de Chez Vous) (1992)
The Crying Game (1992)
Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)
Candyman (1992)
Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer (1992)
The Blue Kite (Lan Feng Zheng) (1993)
Philadelphia (1993)
The Puppetmaster (Hsimeng Jensheng) (1993)
Short Cuts (1993)
Schindler's List (1993)
Three Colors: Blue (Trois Couleurs: Bleu) (1993)
Farewell My Concubine (Ba Wang Bie Ji) (1993)
Groundhog Day (1993)
The Piano (1993)
The Wedding Banquet (Hsi Yen) (1993)
Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould (1993)
Jurassic Park (1993)
The Age of Innocence (1993)
The Lion King (1994)
The Last Seduction (1994)
The Wild Reeds (Les Roseaux Sauvages) (1994)
Crumb (1994)
Heavenly Creatures (1994)
Pulp Fiction (1994)
Three Colors: Red (Trois Couleurs: Rouge) (1994)
Natural Born Killers (1994)
Muriel's Wedding (1994)
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994)
Hoop Dreams (1994)
Sátántangó (1994)
Clerks (1994)
Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)
Forrest Gump (1994)
Through the Olive Trees (Zire Darakhatan Zeyton) (1994)
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Dear Diary (Caro Diario) (1994)
Chungking Express (Chong Qing Sen Lin) (1994)
The Kingdom (Riget) (1994)
Braveheart (1995)
Deseret (1995)
Babe (1995)
Se7en (1995)
Smoke (1995)
The White Balloon (Badkonake Sefid) (1995)
Underground (1995)
The Brave-Hearted Will Take the Bride (Dilwale Dulhaniya le Jayenge) (1995)
Cyclo (Xich Lo) (1995)
Clueless (1995)
Safe (1995)
Heat (1995)
Toy Story (1995)
Toy Story 2 (1999)
Toy Story 3 (2010)
Dead Man (1995)
The Usual Suspects (1995)
Zero Kelvin (Kjærlighetens Kjøtere) (1995)
Casino (1995)
Strange Days (1995)
Trainspotting (1996)
Fargo (1996)
Gabbeh (1996)
Three Lives and Only One Death (Trois Vies & Une Seule Mort) (1996)
Shine (1996)
Scream (1996)
Secrets & Lies (1996)
The English Patient (1996)
Lone Star (1996)
Breaking the Waves (1996)
Independence Day (1996)
The Pillow Book (1996)
The Ice Storm (1997)
Hana-Bi (1997)
Boogie Nights (1997)
L.A. Confidential (1997)
Funny Games (1997)
Open Your Eyes (Abre Los Ojos) (1997)
The Sweet Hereafter (1997)
Titanic (1997)
Taste of Cherry (Ta'm e Guilass) (1997)
Deconstructing Harry (1997)
Happy Together (Cheun Gwong Tsa Sit) (1997)
Princess Mononoke (Mononoke Hime) (1997)
Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control (1997)
The Butcher Boy (1997)
Kundun (1997)
Mother and Son (Mat' i Syn) (1997)
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Run Lola Run (Lola Rennt) (1998)
Rushmore (1998)
The Celebration (Festen) (1998)
Buffalo '66 (1998)
Ring (Ringu) (1998)
Happiness (1998)
The Thin Red Line (1998)
Tetsuo (1989)
Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)
Pi (1998)
The Idiots (Idioterne) (1998)
Sombre (1998)
There's Something About Mary (1998)
The Big Lebowski (1998)
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Being John Malkovich (1999)
The Sixth Sense (1999)
Three Kings (1999)
Magnolia (1999)
Fight Club (1999)
Audition (Ōdishon) (1999)
American Beauty (1999)
Beau Travail (1999)
All About My Mother (Todo Sobre mi Madre) (1999)
The Matrix (1999)
Taboo (Gohatto) (1999)
Rosetta (1999)
The Wind Will Carry Us (Bād mā rā Khāhad Bord) (1999)
Time Regained (Le Temps Retrouvé) (1999)
Attack the Gas Station (Juyuso Seupgyeok Sageon) (1999)
Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
The Gleaners and I (Les Glaneurs et la Glaneuse) (2000)
In the Mood for Love (Dut Yeung Nin Wa) (2000)
Gladiator (2000)
Kippur (2000)
A One and a Two (Yi Yi) (2000)
Requiem for a Dream (2000)
Amores Perros (2000)
Memento (2000)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Wo Hu Cang Long) (2000)
Nine Queens (Nueve Reinas) (2000)
The Captive (La Captive) (2000)
Ali Zaoua, Prince of the Streets (Ali Zaoua, Prince de la Rue) (2000)
Meet the Parents (2000)
Signs & Wonders (2000)
Traffic (2000)
Dancer in the Dark (2000)
O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Spirited Away (Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi) (2001)
No Man's Land (2001)
Amélie (Le Fabuleux Destin d' Amélie Poulain) (2001)
What Time Is It There? (Ni na Bian Ji Dian) (2001)
Y Tu Mama Tambien (2001)
Kandahar (Safar e Ghandehar) (2001)
The Piano Teacher (La Pianiste) (2001)
The Son's Room (La Stanza del Figlio) (2001)
Moulin Rouge (2001)
Monsoon Wedding (2001)
Fat Girl (A Ma Soeur!) (2001)
Mulholland Drive (2001)
The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
Lantana (2001)
A.I.: Artificial Intelligence (2001)
Gangs of New York (2002)
Russian Ark (Russkij Kovcheg) (2002)
Bowling for Columbine (2002)
City of God (Cidade de Deus) (2002)
Talk to Her (Hable Con Ella) (2002)
The Pianist (2002)
Adaptation. (2002)
Far from Heaven (2002)
Chicago (2002)
Hero (Ying Xiong) (2002)
Distant (Uzak) (2002)
Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002)
Irreversible (2002)
Bus 174 (2002)
Elephant (2003)
Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer (2003)
Oldboy (2003)
Good Bye, Lenin! (2003)
Osama (2003)
The Barbarian Invasions (Les Invasions Barbares) (2003)
Kill Bill, Vol. 1 (2003)
The Best of Youth (La Meglio Gioventù) (2003)
Lost in Translation (2003)
Head-On (Gegen Die Wand) (2004)
The Consequences of Love (Le Conseguenze dell’Amore) (2004)
Moolaadé (2004)
Downfall (Der Untergang) (2004)
Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)
The Passion of the Christ (2004)
Collateral (2004)
The Aviator (2004)
Million Dollar Baby (2004)
3-Iron (Bin-Jip) (2004)
Crash (2004)
Sideways (2004)
A Very Long Engagement (Un Long Dimanche de Fiançailles) (2004)
Tsotsi (2005)
Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Go, See, and Become (Va, Vis et Deviens / Live and Become) (2005)
Paradise Now (2005)
Hidden (Caché) (2005)
The Constant Gardener (2005)
Pan's Labyrinth (El Laberinto del Fauno) (2006)
The Lives of Others (Das Leben der Anderen) (2006)
Apocalypto (2006)
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006)
Once (2006)
The Queen (2006)
The Host (Gwoemul) (2006)
The Prestige (2006)
Children of Men (2006)
United 93 (2006)
The Last King of Scotland (2006)
Babel (2006)
Volver (2006)
Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
The Departed (2006)
Paranormal Activity (2007)
There Will Be Blood (2007)
La Vie en Rose (2007)
Into the Wild (2007)
Atonement (2007)
Surfwise (2007)
The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
No Country for Old Men (2007)
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Le Scaphandre et le Papillon) (2007)
The Hurt Locker (2008)
Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
The Dark Knight (2008)
Let the Right One In (Låt den Rätte Komma In) (2008)
Wall-E (2008)
The Good, the Bad, the Weird (Joheun nom Nabbeun nom Isanghan nom) (2008)
The Wrestler (2008)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
The Class (Entre les Murs) (2008)
Anvil! The Story of Anvil (2008)
Gomorrah (Gomorra) (2008)
District 9 (2009)
Avatar (2009)
An Education (2009)
Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire (2009)
The Hangover (2009)
In the Loop (2009)
Fish Tank (2009)
Inglourious Basterds (2009)
The White Ribbon (Das Weisse Band: Eine Deutsche Kindergeschichte) (2009)
Nostalgia for the Light (Nostalgia de la luz) (2010)
Black Swan (2010)
Inception (2010)
The Social Network (2010)
Monsters (2010)
Four Lions (2010)
True Grit (2010)
Of Gods and Men (Des Hommes et des Dieux) (2010)
The King's Speech (2010)
Senna (2010)
Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010)
The Artist (2011)
A Separation (Jodái-e Náder az Simin) (2011)
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)
War Horse (2011)
The Descendants (2011)
Hugo (2011)
Le Havre (2011)
Shame (2011)
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)
Bridesmaids (2011)
The Tree of Life (2011)
The Kid with a Bike (Le Gamin au vélo) (2011)
Drive (2011)
The Cabin in the Woods (2012)
Wadjda (2012)
Lincoln (2012)
Life of Pi (2012)
Les Misérables (2012)
Argo (2012)
Skyfall (2012)
Blancanieves (2012)
Amour (2012)
Django Unchained (2012)
The Act of Killing (2012)
Gravity (2013)
The Great Beauty (La grande bellezza) (2013)
Blue Is the Warmest Color (La vie d’Adèle - Chapitres 1 et 2) (2013)
12 Years a Slave (2013)
Nebraska (2013)
Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)
American Hustle (2013)
A Touch of Sin (Tian zhu ding) (2013)
Ida (2013)
Under the Skin (2013)
The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
Leviathan (Leviafan) (2014)
Boyhood (2014)
Birdman: Or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)
Whiplash (2014)
The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
Citizenfour (2014)
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
The Theory of Everything (2014)
The Look of Silence (2014)
Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)
The Revenant (2015)
Son of Saul (Saul fia) (2015)
Bridge of Spies (2015)
The Big Short (2015)
Spotlight (2015)
Tangerine (2015)
Straight Outta Compton (2015)
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Victoria (2015)
La La Land (2016)
Hell or High Water (2016)
The Jungle Book (2016)
Jackie (2016)
Toni Erdmann (2016)
Under the Shadow (2016)
Manchester by the Sea (2016)
I, Daniel Blake (2016)
13th (2016)
Arrival (2016)
Moonlight (2016)
The Handmaiden (2016)
Dawson City: Frozen Time (2016)
Lady Macbeth (2016)
Lady Bird (2017)
The Shape of Water (2017)
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)
Call Me by Your Name (2017)
Mother! (2017)
Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
Get Out (2017)
Black Panther (2018)