Mastodawn

Sargoth Jul 22, 2025

I realized that it has been a while since I updated the list of previous winners, so I updated it. If you find yourself in want of an extremely selective list of movie recs for a rainy day, here is one

*This list is incomplete. You can help by adding to it

https://longersky.com/2025/01/16/a-semi-randomized-list-of-movies-to-maybe-watch-sometime/

A semi-randomized list of movies to maybe watch sometime

A while back I started a thread on Mastodon, wherein I every week post a poll where four movie titles duke it out. I then watch the winner under ritualistic and ceremonial forms on friday evenings.…

More longer friend see that sky?

Sargoth Jul 29, 2025

Genderfluids, gendersolids and gendergasses! The time has come to put the heavy duty mining equipment aside and vote in this week's #FridayMovie poll, the outcome of which will determine the fate of one singular evening

OMG you haven't seen that one?!

23.5%

Tumbleweed thumpers

11.8%

Salacious samurai

35.3%

Noir noir

29.4%

Poll ended at Aug 1, 2025 at 3:33pm.

Sargoth Aug 5, 2025

Hwaet! Hear ye, hear ye! Let it be known that the #FridayMovie poll is on, with alternatives shorter and more unpredictable than ever!

Old

20%

New

0%

Song

60%

Goof

20%

Poll ended at Aug 8, 2025 at 2:45pm.

Sargoth Aug 12, 2025

Incongruous instantiations of the Nous! The eternal recurrence is recurring, and so here is this week's #FridayMovie poll. I present to you these four verbose verisimilar vermillion options

So that's where that sample is from

60%

You really haven't seen that one? For realsies?

13.3%

An egg boiled so hard the shoe leather seemed soft

20%

Please watch something from this century for once

6.7%

Poll ended at Aug 15, 2025 at 2:39pm.

Sargoth Aug 19, 2025

Assorted elemental beings from the material plane! We have tabled this motion many a time, but the period of waiting is finally over! Thus, this #FridayMovie poll is all about picking a lucky number

10

15.8%

47

47.4%

50

15.8%

79

21.1%

Poll ended at Aug 22, 2025 at 2:25pm.

Sargoth Aug 26, 2025

Aetheric arithmeticians! It is time to succumb to the temptation of becoming a number station! And so we enumerate this week's #FridayMovie poll options

5

5.9%

12

17.6%

39

41.2%

123

35.3%

Poll ended at Aug 29, 2025 at 2:33pm.

Sargoth Sep 2, 2025

Harboring herbivore haberdashers! Hark now, and channel your immense powers of name recognition into picking one of the four options in this week's #FridayMovie poll. Heave ho!

Tilda Swinton

53.8%

Elliot Page

15.4%

Maggie Smith

30.8%

Oscar Isaac

0%

Poll ended at Sep 5, 2025 at 2:32pm.

Sargoth Sep 9, 2025

Fellow wayfarers! I am in need of directions! And so I ask you to pick one of these directors for this week's #Fridaymovie shenanigans. Forward! No, the other forward!

Rosselini

16.7%

Coen (one or several)

25%

Godard

8.3%

Fellini

50%

Poll ended at Sep 12, 2025 at 2:33pm.

Sargoth Sep 16, 2025

Loquacious locations! Enable your geolocators and fire up your geoguesser turbines, for it is time to vote in the weekly #FridayMovie poll. The winner gets a geo!

Taipei

0%

Budapest

0%

New York

0%

...SPAAACE!

100%

Poll ended at Sep 19, 2025 at 2:43pm.

Sargoth Sep 23, 2025

Magnificent monstrosities! We have the fortune and privilege of being able to choose the monster of this week in the #FridayMovie poll. Give it your best dramatic and/or cheesy scream!

Plants

29.4%

Zombies

5.9%

Ants (one or several)

41.2%

Amoeba (one or several)

23.5%

Poll ended at Sep 26, 2025 at 2:53pm.

Rumtumrugging rumtumtuggers! It has been a while since the #FridayMovie poll simply featured four unadorned titles, so this week we are doing just that. Think once, think twice, then vote hard!

Rebels of the neon god (1992)

23.1%

La vie en rose (2007)

30.8%

Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)

7.7%

The grand Budapest hotel (2014)

38.5%

Poll ended at Oct 3 at 3:05pm.

Seeing how it is spooktober, and that I haven't witnessed any movies with Bela Lugosi (except for Plan 9, which doesn't count), I figure - let's give the #FridayMovie pollsters the unmitigated power of deciding just which kind of first impression I'm gonna get. Spook choosily!

Dracula (1931)

60%

White zombie (1932)

20%

The black cat (1934)

6.7%

Ninotchka (1939)

13.3%

Poll ended at Oct 10 at 2:55pm.

Spooktober spooktinues! Seeing as how I haven't witnessed any Vincent Price movies, I thought it a prudent moment to allow the wise #FridayMovie voters the honor of deciding my first impression

House of wax (1953)

30%

House on haunted hill (1959)

40%

House of Usher (1960)

30%

House of the long shadows (1983)

0%

Poll ended at Oct 17 at 2:45pm.

It is a truth universally recognized that a week needs a monster. So does this one. Ergo, the #FridayMovie poll this week asks: which monster should grace us with its unmistakable presence?

Plants

0%

Zombies

0%

Spooky futuristic architecture

100%

Birds

0%

Poll ended at Oct 24 at 2:49pm.

I can feel the Halloween spirit grow inside me! And around me! And me! This week's #FridayMovie poll is all about spooky plants, who may or may not secretly be more spirited than they ought to be

The thing from another world (1951)

16.1%

Invasion of the body snatchers (1956)

25.8%

Attack of the mushroom people (1963)

9.7%

Day of the triffids (1963)

48.4%

Poll ended at Oct 31 at 3:45pm.

Gamers! Movie buffs! Curious fellas who like to see what this button does! Your wisdom is required. For this week's #FridayMovie, I have found four movies that are referenced - more or less explicitly - in video games. Thus, the question is: from which game shall we follow the not so subtly pointed finger?

Fallout New Vegas

19%

Mass Effect

23.8%

Red Dead Redemption 2

14.3%

XCOM: Enemy Unknown

42.9%

Poll ended at Nov 7 at 3:46pm.

Life events conspired to cancel the #FridayMovie poll this week

but, fear not dear viewer, this low-stakes ancient tradition will return next week, at full strength and with undiminished signal, so stay tuned and feed your friends

Heavenly bodies! Since I recently saw Angel's Egg, I got inspired to make a bewinged #FridayMovie poll. Thus, I present to you these four befeathered and bechoired options. Follow your divine inspiration and choose wisely

Heaven can wait (1943)

40%

Der himmel über Berlin / Wings of desire (1987)

50%

Fallen angels (1995)

0%

Angel-A (2005)

10%

Poll ended at Nov 21 at 3:57pm.

I dreamt I posted it, but didn't post it
aka
there is no #FridayMovie poll this week, and next week is sidetracked by me watching Princess Mononoke on the biggest screen in town

this seems like the way

a reminder that there will be no poll this week
but stay tuned, for the future is yet arriving, and we have an infinite amount of fridays ahead

Meows to the meow god! We rejoice as the #FridayMovie poll returns in full glory, wasting no time in shedding unimaginable amounts of floof on unsuspecting bystanders. And why would anyone suspect anything, seeing as how this lineup is all full of cats!

When the cat comes (1963)

12.5%

That darn cat (1965)

37.5%

The cat returns (2002)

33.3%

Legend of the demon cat (2017)

16.7%

Poll ended at Dec 12 at 4:41pm.

Toot that horn! It was suggested that this #FridayMovie be unicorn--themed, and lo! It is in fact unicorn-themed. So toot those horns, bang those drums and honk those stonks!

Black moon (1975)

7.1%

The last unicorn (1982)

42.9%

Legend (1985)

35.7%

Unicorn store (2017)

14.3%

Poll ended at Dec 19 at 4:10pm.

Liminal salutations! This week's #FridayMovie falls in the nebulous, ambiguous, polyvalent days between christmas and new year's. These are days defined by a diffuse blend of indeterminacy and a definite sense that things are definitely coming to an end. Thus, I present to you, four ways to end all years

On the beach (1959)

15.8%

The day the earth caught fire (1961)

15.8%

Fail safe (1964)

26.3%

Silent running (1972)

42.1%

Poll ended at Dec 26 at 3:49pm.

Prefigured futurities! Seeing how this is the first #FridayMovie poll of the year, we will follow tradition and vote for which mood will set the tone for the months to come. Therefore I present to you four mood pieces, each radically yet subtly distinct

All that heaven allows (1955)

27.3%

The 400 blows (1959)

45.5%

Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, (1975)

0%

5 centimeters per second (2007)

27.3%

Poll ended at Jan 2 at 4:36pm.

Waxed poetics! As this year is already over the moon in all categories, metaphorically speaking, I reckon this week's #FridayMovie poll should be all about our beloved lunar orb. And so, I present to you, these stellar options, which may or may not include hints of extraplanetary skullduggery

Capricorn one (1977)

44.4%

Moonstruck (1987)

44.4%

Interstellar (2014)

11.1%

Fly me to the moon (2024)

0%

Poll ended at Jan 9 at 3:52pm.

Stellar stochastics! Last week's poll was disturbed by the dual interference of network difficulties (it was literally DNS), sunspots (probably not DNS), and the fact that the result was a tie. Thus, for this week's #FridayMovie poll, we will redo the last one, albeit slightly remixed. Behold! The sky is full of stars!

Capricorn one (1977)

20%

Moonstruck (1987)

50%

Interstella 5555 (2003)

30%

Poll ended at Jan 16 at 4:19pm.

Malleable marylebones! We are approaching the cool zone and somehow someone has already given us a residence permit. As such, we have all been given a (1) vote in this week's #FridayMovie poll. Choose, and shiver!

Westworld (1973)

23.1%

Dark star (1974)

38.5%

The taking of Pelham 123 (1974)

30.8%

Cloud (2024)

7.7%

Poll ended at Jan 23 at 4:38pm.

Fabulous phantasms! This week we take a detour on the #FridayMovie poll into the domain of prominent and unsubdued fashion icons of the recent past, with these four unparallelizable options:

Barbarella (1968)

12.5%

Zardoz (1974)

45.8%

Tank girl (1995)

25%

Spice world (1997)

16.7%

Poll ended at Jan 30 at 3:51pm.

Mycelial musicality! We continue our fashionable #FridayMovie detour by veering into the uncharted lands of 30s musicals. Choose which manner of centennial earworm will live on in me, and do it with impeccably choreographed style

42nd street (1933)

22.2%

The gay divorcee (1934)

55.6%

Top hat (1935)

11.1%

Show boat (1936)

11.1%

Poll ended at Feb 6 at 3:56pm.

Sensorious sentimentalists! We fought the law, and it is not altogether unfair to say that the law won, albeit barely. The winner of this week's #FridayMovie poll, however, is fair and just and emotionally well-regulated indeed

Rebel without a cause (1955)

0%

12 angry men (1957)

38.5%

Butch Cassidy and the sundance kid (1969)

30.8%

Rebels of the neon god (1992)

30.8%

Poll ended at Feb 13 at 4:03pm.

A fun part about this being a once a week thing is that each entry on the list happened at a specific time, and so when I read it I go
oh yeah, that movie was that week, when such and such happened

History truly is a process in the present
https://longersky.com/2025/01/16/a-semi-randomized-list-of-movies-to-maybe-watch-sometime/

A semi-randomized list of movies to maybe watch sometime

A while back I started a thread on Mastodon, wherein I every week post a poll where four movie titles duke it out. I then watch the winner under ritualistic and ceremonial forms on friday evenings.…

More longer friend see that sky?

Frolicking fromages! In order to make an omelet, you have to crack some eggs. And in order to decide the outcome of the #FridayMovie poll - the highest-stake election of any week - you have to vote for at least one of these potentially French titles. Bon mot!

Cléo de 5 à 7 (1962)

46.7%

Le samouraï (1967)

53.3%

Vive l'amour (1994)

0%

La vie en rose (2007)

0%

Poll ended at Feb 20 at 4:08pm.

Canonical classicists! This week's #FridayMovie poll hones in on a particular time, exactly 87 years ago, for arbitrary reasons. Your vote, however, is not arbitrary, and so I ask you to choose with random precision

The cat and the canary (1939)

20%

Dark victory (1939)

50%

Gone with the wind (1939)

20%

The wizard of Oz (1939)

10%

Poll ended at Feb 27 at 4:09pm.

Citizens of the universe! This week's #FridayMovie poll presents you with these four spectacular space extravaganzas, specifically selected to sound spuriously and speculatively scientific!

Airplane! (1980)

22.2%

The adventures of Buckaroo Banzai (1984)

36.1%

Repo man (1984)

13.9%

Galaxy quest (1999)

27.8%

Poll ended at Mar 6 at 4:09pm.

Estranged Isfahanis! This week's #FridayMovie poll features four films from Iran, in the hopes that current events will transition into past tense sooner rather than later. But, we are still living in time, and so you can still affect the outcome by voting

Taste of cherry (1997)

26.7%

The circle (2000)

6.7%

Persepolis (2007)

40%

A girl walks home alone at night (2014)

26.7%

Poll ended at Mar 13 at 4:10pm.

Salutations, salacious snakecharmers! This week we celebrate not only the greenest day of the year, but also the fact that the #FridayMovie poll has reached its furthest and mostest point in the history of the universe (so far). And so: four options, one vote.

The cat and the canary (1939)

13.3%

The court jester (1955)

26.7%

Cat Ballou (1965)

33.3%

A funny thing happened on the way to the forum

26.7%

Poll ended at Mar 20 at 3:55pm.

Fondue phantasms! Last week I received a suggestion to work my way through the Jane Fonda filmography, which led me to thinking - yes, the #FridayMovie poll could stand two Jane Fonda movies in a row. Said and done - all except for the voting, that is!

They shoot horses don't they (1969)

30%

The China syndrome (1979)

30%

Nine to five (1980)

40%

On golden pond (1981)

0%

Poll ended at Mar 27 at 4:36pm.

and the winner is
Jane Fonda!
and also Dolly Parton
in
9 to 5

opening moment: haha, yes

opening moment, mere seconds later: haha, yes, YES

the battlefront of the early 80s:
the open office floor plan

I am very much reminded of the fact that if you plopped me into even a 90s office, I wouldn't know what even half of the doodads are or do

this is also the most late 70s office decor possible
and also an early instantiation of what we might call heterosexual sitting

it's true
I do want to see the xerox room

the xerox is larger than I thought it would be
relatedly
if this is the ambient atmosphere that is gradually and recently introduced in the late 70s, it makes all the more sense that Kraftwerk's vision of a future utopia where you could drive down the autobahn with a green steering wheel - could catch hold of the middle class imaginary

the key to good moderation is to ban people as soon as they begin to engage in social anti-patterns, such that -
oh, they're talking about substance use, sorry, different timeline

Andor (1980)

I think this movie, starring famous union activist Dolly Parton, might have some subtle, difficult to hermeneut pro-union messages, hidden deep within its subtext

this is not her first rodeo

"long time thread runner sargoth"
yeas?
"what even is the context here?"
it is my long-standing duty to leave readers confused but mildly interested in what even is happening, so I present to you this frame as-is, taken directly from the movie and transposed onto your screen

okay, now, remember:
the flagon with the dragon,
not to be confused with the vessel with the pestle,

me: did they have Alphaville in mind when they made this movie?
movie: so here's mr Lemmy Caution himself, in a hat, without makeup, smoking
me: ...gotta admire a movie that flaunts its influences

mr Lemmy Caution himself, for comparison

That's Beaumont

In the olden days, before they allowed labor unions, labor negotiations mainly consisted of workers ganging up on their bosses and beating them up until conditions improved

Stay tuned for more lessons in labor history with Dolly Parton

the key to a good labor negotiation strategy comes down to preparation. that is why all planning sessions begin with a trip to the hardware store, to make sure the equipment is good and in proper working order

presented without comment
except in the alt text
the alt always comments on the darnedest things

the archetypical 70s kitchen doesn't exis-

we have arrived in the future
they have daycare centers there

I love me a good ending slide

remember, kids:
be kind, rewind

Will Deakin 1d ago

@sargoth one of the best things about this film* is that, while there is a lot to commend Dolly Parton and Jane Fonda here, for me Lily Tomlin is sublime.

* which is perhaps less a hot takeaway and more a microwave reheated naan kebab after an night-out on the tiles...

@wnd no notes