Team Top Ten: Best Sci-Fi Films (Post-1977)
Wednesday, April 29, 2015 at 6:19PM 
Welcome back to April’s Team Top Ten. If you missed our show last week, we chose the best science fiction films made before 1977, the landmark year when both Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Star Wars were released. This week, the masterworks after that milestone.
Although you won’t be shocked to find that we managed yet again to have a tie at number 10 – a three-way tie, no less – our selection otherwise sprang a few surprises. There were omissions of high profile titles – David Cronenberg's The Fly *sniffle* – but we did otherwise cover all decades, multiple genres and even animated films. Long-time readers will not win bonus points for guessing what film came first. Still the margin by which it won was unexpected. It topped half of all ballots and won more points than the second and third films combined. Without further ado…
Team Experience Top Ten
Best Science Fictions Film Produced After 1977...
10. The Iron Giant (1999)
Even fifteen years after I have first seen it The Iron Giant is still one of those films that will light up my face with excitement when I read its name, or see an image from it somewhere. And it's no doubt the same excitement that so many people feel about Brad Bird's first film that has secured its lasting presence in popular culture, and now on this list. I have always been thrilled to introduce new audiences to The Iron Giant - watching it with friends who haven't seen it has become a bit of a tradition for me - so to think that its inclusion on this list might prompt a few of you to see it for the first time, or see it again with someone who doesn't know it yet, fills me with great joy.
–Sebastian Nebel
replicants, extra-terrestrials, and time travellers after the jump...
10. Minority Report (2002)
The year is 2054 and all crime has been eliminated from Washington with the help of a state of the art psychic technology program which arrests and convicts people before they commit their crimes. On the eve of the program going nationwide, Captain Anderton (Tom Cruise) is singled out by the program: he will kill someone named Leo Crow in 36 hours. Can it be true? Or is there a minority report (an alternate vision of the future seen by the female precognitive being that fuels the program) out there that says otherwise, thus clearing Anderton’s name? A haunting study of grief, a beautifully lensed neo-noir, a relentlessly entertaining man-on-the-run thriller and just an all-out ace adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s short story, Minority Report is, to my mind, Spielberg’s most accomplished film of this century and a modern sci-fi classic.
–Manuel Betancourt
10. Back to the Future (1985)
As long as science and science fiction have been around, so has the idea of time travel. While it may not be the granddaddy of all time travel stories, Back to the Future sure feels like it. Nearly all of its iconography has become cultural shorthand for time travel: plutonium, the Delorean, the picture from the future in which people slowly fade away, our hero bringing about a change in the popular culture, Christopher Lloyd's nutty professor hairdo. There isn't another time travel story that has had such a seismic impact on the popular culture. And when we have one as perfectly entertaining as this, do we really need another?
–Daniel Bayer
9. Under the Skin (2014)
Much of sci-fi over the years has been dedicated to exploring the ways that aliens (literal and metaphorical) are more like us than different. That's not the approach taken in Jonathan Glazer's third film, which may be the youngest title on this list, but has already staked out its place as one of the genre's boldest works ever. That has a great deal to do with its sublime, well, alien-ness, from the geometrically abstract and thoroughly unsettling opening sequence to the pitch-perfect Scarlett Johansson as an Other like none other. The paradox and genius of the film is that it then uses this perfect inhuman as the vessel for terrifying, moving meditations on the most human subjects: gender, desire both sexual and otherwise (that cake!), safety in an arbitrary world, and the most basic questions of identity: who am I, and do I have a part in choosing that?
–Tim Brayton
8. The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
If good science fiction immerses the viewer in an alternate world that seems at once alien and familiar, The Empire Strikes Back ranks among the best. Expanding the universe of Star Wars, it creates new worlds that feel like manifestations of our collective unconscious - from the icy brutality of Hoth to the physically and psychologically dense, misty swamps of Dagobah to the fragile suspension of Cloud City, as tenuous as its leader’s false promises. Against this rich visual and emotional landscape, what began as a jaunty space romp morphs into a harrowing journey of the soul, as our heroes discover that their destiny lies not in the stars or the strength of their arms, but in the balance of good and evil within themselves. It's a common message in sci fi, both before and since Empire, but seldom delivered on such an epic scale.
–Lynn Lee
7. Wall-E (2008)
From its opening moments, Wall-E inspires the particular thrill that predicts one is watching a new classic. The story sees a wordlessly expressive robot tangle with the delicate issues of love, loneliness, and humanity, soundtracked by lesser-known numbers from the 1969 movie musical Hello Dolly! To describe it as a studio picture from a juggernaut distributor or as the fifth highest-grossing movie of its year might belie its artistic originality, and certainly its intimacy. Wall-E is a high-wire act: that it hits all of the requisite notes for a moneymaking animated feature -- lovable (read: merchantable) characters, broad humor, bald sentimentality -- while maintaining a level of complexity and virtuosity that few films can claim, is a small miracle. It sets a high bar for Pixar, for children's entertainment, for science fiction, and for all creative storytelling.
–Margaret de Larios
6. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
Sarah Connor is not a woman who lies to herself. If anything, she’s a mad prophet for a truth nobody believes or wants to hear. Given my well-known proclivities, you’d imagine Terminator 2 might fall outside my personal canon, but for a period of time, I was practically raised by this movie, walking a mile across an Army base in Germany almost every night it played the summer before ninth grade to mainline it again. Liquid metal had a lot to do with it, as did that foxy cop I sometimes had to remind myself not to root for. But mostly it was the film’s visual and formal elegance, streamlined without being short or slick and without dulling its fearsome, skull-crushing, ash-spewing, shrieking-from-the-sidelines premonition of total apocalypse. I’ve taught Terminator 2 at Northwestern, invoked it in graduation speeches, and seen it more often than I’ve met some of my relatives.
–Nick Davis
5. Blade Runner (1982)
Director Ridley Scott entered the cinema with an art degree, first working in set design and commercials - it's not hard to see that training in his work. His extraordinary eye insures that though there's plentiful detail in each frame, the impact is instant and never cluttered. That's true even when the environment is as cluttered as Blade Runner's polluted nightmare vision of urban living... and dying. Scott's visual gift reached its zenith in this hugely influential movie about artificial humans ("Replicants") and the lonely man hunting them down who finds that they're not so unalike. As with its absolutely perfect opening macro image of an eyeball seeing wonders (attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion?) Blade Runner remains at once human and abstract. So potent are its visuals that its easy to imagine that our world worked to conform itself to this vision of the future (only four years away - the film is set in 2019!) rather than a case of the movie merely being prophetic. Though its anything but timeless, its synthetic 1980s vision of the phantasmogorical future of the rapidly approaching 2020s as filtered through the doomed soul of 1940s noir have made it a source of endless time-sensitive fascination; no one knows how much time they have left and everyone, whether they're sad eyed lonely men or mysterious femme fatales, synthetics or biologicals, is ultimately unknowable.
-Nathaniel R
4. Children of Men (2006)
Some of the most effective science-fiction conjures up a world that seems disturbingly plausible, and so it is with Children of Men, Alfonso Cuaron’s masterful adaptation of P.D. James’ novel, which seems more and more like an eventual reality with each passing news item. James’ ingenious conceit removes the creation of life from our future, imagines what this does to the doomed society, and then pushes the glimmer of hope back into the world. Children of Men doesn’t really strike as science fiction as you watch it unfold, firmly held as you are within the world by Emmanuel Lubezki’s remarkable cinematography. This is quite simply one of the most stunning pieces of cinema ever made, and one that warns us, as the best sci-fi typically does, about appreciating and guarding the preciousness of the life we are in the process of destroying.
-David Upton
3. Alien (1979)
Ridley Scott's "Alien" seems to have been designed to fail, it was only the director's second film and he decided he would combine the two genres most detested by critics: horror and sci-fi. To make matters worse he assembled an eclectic cast and had most of their characters killed off, leaving behind practical unknown Sigourney Weaver to battle a nightmare-ish creature designed by H.R. Giger. Originally dismissed by critics as nothing but smoke and mirrors, "Alien" slowly carved its way into our collective nightmares, its primal horrors becoming even more real as we welcomed the digital age which has made us less prone to be affected by the woes of others. Scott's direction contains elements that became standards of both genres, his "realistic" take on industrial space travel itself inspired an entire generation of filmmakers who preferred raw over glossy.
–Jose Solis
2. E.T. (1982)
Perhaps because the discipline of science is so rooted in “fact” over “myth”, the public opinion on science fiction films generally tend to be that they’re more cerebral than emotional. I’m not sure how much our Top Ten this month manages to deny that perception, but it’s the very fact that the very science-fiction-y E.T. is also the film which sees Steven Spielberg at what his dissenters would probably call his sentimental worst. I love the cerebral, but really the best thing about E.T. is how it approaches the complex idea of extra terrestrial and science fiction becomes just another word for magic, because that’s how I also think of E.T., functioning like a film about magic. And like magic E.T. despite its legend as being syrupy in its child friendly ways is also disconcerting and unnerving in its own way.It sounds banal, but E.T. works, and works so well, because it’s not just showing off with its science fiction aspect (in fact the alien life aspect sometimes defies logic) but it’s wonderfully used to tell a story that is warm and effective.
-Andrew Kendall
1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
There is a poetic balance in Eternal Sunshine of Spotless Mind being paired with 2001 at the tops of our modern and classic sci-fi polls. Both movies explore the idea of what it means to be human but head toward opposite extremes to do so. Where Arthur C. Clarke placed humanity in vastest possible expanses of space and time, Charlie Kaufman heads inward, swirling through the disintegrating memories of Joel and Clementine’s fading love affair, examining each fragment until a picture emerges that is greater than the sum of its scattered parts. Other sci-fi films may expand minds to greater effect, but none have used the tropes of science fiction to map the ineffable nature of the human heart as poignantly as Gondry's masterpiece, which in its own intimate way is as awe-inspiring as anything in Kubrick’s epic vision.
–Michael Cusumano
And there you have it. Our sci-fi journey for April, both imagined future and mnemonic "long time ago" fantasy, is at an end. We'd love to hear your thoughts on the highlights of this genre, films you wish were on the list, and these 12 pictures in particular in the comments.
Reader Comments (50)
"Edge of Tomorrow" definitely makes my list. I know it hasn't been a year, but the fact that I saw it 7 times in theaters and can't even count the times I've watched it in DVD doesn't make me doubt that I'll keep loving it for years.
I would put Blade Runner at number one. It's also one of my favourite films ever.
eXistenZ (1999)
Crash (1996)
Strange Days (1995)
Safe (1995)
12 Monkeys (1995)
The Abyss (1992 Special Edition)
Total Recall (1990)
RoboCop (1987)
Brazil (1985)
Videodrome (1983)
No Stalker (1979)?
The Empire Strikes Back would definitely be my #1, but I like your pick of Eternal Sunshine. It's a great movie. I'd probably follow with The Matrix at #2.
Some others I would consider that weren't mentioned:
Jurassic Park
Dark City
Looper
Total Recall (original)
A.I.: Artificial Intelligence
Aliens
Edward Scissorhands
Videodrome
Robocop (original)
As much as I like some of your picks, y'all crazy for leaving off The Matrix.
I very much like every entry on this list, but it's borderline unforgivable to leave off Aliens and The Matrix. Way too soon to say that Under the Skin is a top 10 sci-fi entry of the past 40 years and while Back to the Future is a ton of fun, it also doesn't quite earn the distinction.
Steven- It was really close.
Excellent list. I wanna throw in a shout out to Code 46 a Michael Winterbottom film from 2004. It's a good'n.
I wonder how close Gattaca, Moon and Aliens came in at? Wall-E falls apart for me towards the end, I'd probably replace it with Aliens and Empire Strikes Back is way too low. Edge of Tomorrow and Looper are two other good recent releases that could conceivably move up if this list was done in a few years.
I like this list except for Under the Skin. That film is a pretentious bore and excruciatingly dull.
I don't really agree with this list although I enjoyed reading it - I love lists! And you have some pretty great films listed.
1. I would have cried death if you left off: Blade Runner, Alien & T2. Although they should all be ranked higher IMO.
2. Three biggest snubs that absolutely deserved this list: Aliens (I mean, come on), 12 Monkeys & The Matrix. Honorable mention: Gattaca (But I understand why)
3. Least happy about:
a. Under the Skin - this is waay to soon to list over some of the classics you skipped over. Plus it is crap.
b. Eternal Sunshine is NOT a sci-fi film. Maybe 2% sci-fi with the remaining 98% split evenly between Drama, Comedy & Romance. You are not celebrating the genre by including it.
c. Walle: Good but overrated.
My personal top 5 would be a mix of: Alien, Aliens, T2, Blade Runner & 12 Monkeys
I'm way more familiar with the post-1977 titles, but there are still major ones that I haven't seen and I'm always confused as to what actually counts as Sci-fi. For instance, I struggled with whether something like Videodrome fit, but other people mentioned it so I kept it on there.
At the moment, I think my Top Ten would probably look something like this (no particular order):
Gattaca
Children of Men
Under the Skin
A.I.
Videodrome
Blade Runner
Her
X-2
The Fountain
Wall-E
I audibly gasped when Blade Runner was outside the top 3, then I saw #1 and I didn't feel so bad.
Whoa - tough task. Blade Runner would easily be my #1. My top 10 would also include Children of Men, Her, The Matrix, 2046, Never Let Me Go, Melancholia, and Sunshine. But as to the last 2 films - no idea how I'd get down to 2 out of eXistenZ, Gattaca, Inception, Dark City, Looper, Snowpiercer, Galaxy Quest, and maybe Ghost in the Shell 2. I remember loving The Iron Giant, but I don't remember it very well. I guess this post will spur me to watch it again.
oh God, E.T.? No, no, no...
Of those not on the list, I'll add my support for A.I., Aliens, Avatar, and Cloud Atlas.
Beautiful list!!! Some of my all-time favorites are on this list (specifically the Top 2 and Wall-E). It's hard to think about Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind as a sci-fi film, but when you stop to think about it, the film is inventing a world where this company exists, and the procedure that makes the whole film possible is science fiction. Either way, I love it!
i am STUNNED that Blade Runner wasn't number !. I thought it would be an easy call
You have listed some interesting films, but NO way that is close to a rational list for the last quarter century.
1. Way too soon for Under the Skin to be on the list.
2. Eternal Sunshine & ET - agree with others that this isn't Sci-Fi, & Wall E is over-rated.
3. Top 4 - should be the films everyone else has imitated and learned from: Blade Runner,
Alien, & T2, and Aliens
4. Final 6 - 12 Monkeys, Inception, Gattaca, Children of Men, Minority Report, AI,
and The Matrix.
Honourable Mentions: Sunshine, Moon, Through the Scanner Darkly. I stand by my choices because they include the best directors: Ridley Scott, James Cameron, Steven Speilberg, Terry Gilliam, Alfonso Cauron, Christopher Nolan.
I'm shocked that The Matrix is not there! The movie has and still is highly influential
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind? Yeah right
Also no 12 monkeys, Akira, Ghost in the Shell
Honestly, I've never been a fan of Blade Runner (the book is infinitely better) and loved the Cloud Atlas adaptation. The fact that I am in the cultural minority on both though may reveal something about my taste... Still, I am excited to see Spotless Mind at #1. The fact that people don't consider it overt sci-fi (as he been said in the comments) speaks to its expressiveness and subtlety.
There was at least one vote for Dark City. I am curious if mine was the only one. Amir?
LadyEdith: Great list! I think my list would be pretty darn close although I'd bring 12 Monkeys into the top 5 and consider booting Inception and/or AI for a Star Wars and/or a Galaxy Quest and/ or a Existenz.
@Anonny - same back at you - Happy to see that we are in agreement on most choices.
While I love Galaxy Quest and enjoy Star Wars, I don't see them as Sci-Fi - they are more fantasy/adventure. I consider Inception & AI to be more thought provoking (for me), so I rated them higher. 12 Monkeys is fifth on my list. (Not sure about Existenz - I've never seen it.)
There are so many good films choosing just 10 is very hard.
But at least most of us agree that Blade Runner should be #1.
To everyone saying it's "too soon" for Under the Skin to be on a list like this:
I do agree that recency bias can skew results in such polls. If it were up to me I would have probably made it the Top 10 Sc-Fi Films (1977-2012), but I get why that just wouldn't be as exciting for people.
(Full disclosure: I voted for Interstellar, which was the most recent sci-fi film I had seen when I sent in my ballot. I stand by that choice, but I recognize that it carries less weight now than it would if I had a few years to mull it over.)
Eternal Sunshine? You're stretching the concept a lot, like Brokeback Mountain is not a western because it has cowboys and it is set in the West.
I disagree that it’s too soon for Under The Skin to be included on this list. Sometimes a film works its way into your life through repeat watches like a Gattaca or a Galaxy Quest, and others you know immediately that you’ll be watching again and again for a long time, and I think it’s fair to say that of Under The Skin, especially from a filmmaker as singular as Jonathan Glazer. I’d have added Aliens, like a lot of other people, and although it might not make my Top 10, I’d give a shout out to Starship Troopers.
From Merriam-Webster:
That fits Eternal Sunshine one-hundred percent.
Michael - Tim also voted for that one.
Sebastian - I'm totally with you. I'm surprised that anybody wouldn't consider Eternal Sunshine a sci-fi. Genres are malleable and just because it's also a romantic film and a drama, doesn't mean it can't be science fiction.
Everyone - This list was our favourite films, not the most influential. In the case of The Matrix, I think it's reputation has (unfairly) taken a hit because of the sequels and the rest of Washowskis' output. Similarly, I think Aliens might have been left out because not everyone wants to give two spots of then to the same series. (Just a guess, not my personal opinion. I think it's a radically different film than Alien. I just didn't vote for it cause I like ten other films more.) As for Under the Skin being too recent, I'm not sure what to say. I first saw it two years ago at TIFF and have seen it several times since, so it doesn't feel recent to me at all. As for the complaint that it's crap, oh well... let's just say we disagree a bit.
Hmm I guess I buy that argument about it being scifi. Some other lists out there also consider it as such. It's just a bit counter intuitive as, unlike the other films, you'd never see it in the SCIFI section at the movie store.
While I was disappointed to not see my #1, Brazil, or the underappreciated City of Lost Children (my #4) make the list, I can't say I was surprised that they weren't included. And I also find it difficult to argue with any of the films on this list. Yeah, Under the Skin is maybe too recent, but it's also brilliant (in my opinion). And while I think that Eternal Sunshine absolutely qualifies as sci-fi, I am a bit shocked to see it take the top spot. The loss that hurts the most? Galaxy Quest, a brilliant parody that's also a great sci-fi flick in its own right.
For what it's worth, this is how I voted:
1. Brazil
2. Alien
3. Galaxy Quest
4. City of Lost Children
5. Back to the Future
6. Minority Report
7. The Matrix
8. The Fifth Element
9. Total Recall
10. Avatar
With apologies to: Blade Runner, Contact, Gattaca, WALL-E, and The Terminator/T2 (I left them both off since I couldn't choose between them, and went with Total Recall instead). I disqualified Her and Under the Skin for being too recent, and Empire Strikes Back because, for me, including any Star Wars film would be unfair to all the rest.
Funny how people don't consider ETERNAL SUNSHINE sci-fi given the entire movie is about science, which is more than can be said for most films with the label "sci-fi".
I never questioned whether Eternal Sunshine was sci-fi. The fact that it feels so unlike other sci-fi is part of what makes it great.
The film I did go back and forth on was Ghostbusters, ultimately deciding against its inclusion.
Inspired list. Only one huge exception - although it's a pleasant enough film, I will never understand the devotion for Wall-E. It pales in comparison to the two Pixars that bookend it - Ratatouille and Up. Hard to believe this could be 7th while movies like A.I. and Contact are omitted.
Kind of sounds like Team Experience doesn't really like sci-fi (or get it for that matter). That Under the Skin and The Iron Giant were included over Wall-E or The Matrix or The Fifth Element or Galaxy Quest or Gattaca or AI or Jurassic Park or Total Recall or Robocop or Starship Troopers just reeks of pretentiousness. Shit if we're going with such a loose definition to include Eternal Sunshine, then where's Winter Soldier?
Must have been a "everyone try to impress Nick Davis at the expense of actual entertainment" email thread. Sometimes the general taste pattern here feels so try-hard and embarrassing.
I see Sunshine's number one spot on this list as reinforcing the queer identity of the site and most of its contributors. Since Total Recall started the very premise of Sunshine I never questioned its sci-fi-ness, even though like others I never think about the movie as sci-fi.
The “too soon” concern didn't bother me. You could just as easily argue that established canon titles have an unfair advantage because their big reputations inflate their actual merits. I had Under the Skin at number 4 on my ballot because that’s what I thought it deserved. My opinion may change over time, but that's true of any film.
And if you think that's too soon, know that I was sorely tempted to include Don Hertzfeldt's World of Tomorrow on my ballot.
Uh, Wall-E was on the list (#7) - though it didn't make mine. It's a good film, but has never been my favorite Pixar (that would be Ratatouille).
And after thinking about this for a while, I've concluded the definition of "science fiction" is fluid enough that every one of these choices (including, yes, Eternal Sunshine, though it just missed my own top 10) qualifies.
For the record, my own ballot included A.I., The Matrix, Gattaca, and Jurassic Park. I'm saddest about the omission of A.I.
Also, Under the Skin is an exceptional film, but I do think it needs more time to jell before it displaces any of my favorites. Plus there's something a tad off-putting about how little it caters to audience expectations re: pacing, plot, etc.
Fuck Yeah!! on the Iron Giant. I am not even an avid animated watcher but I remember that The Iron Giant was so good. I saw it with my grandparents and uncle and aunt and I remember we all loved it. They weren't even trying to make me feel good they genuinely loved it. Great Film, but i wish there was a Blu Ray release. Possibly Vin Diesel's best role besides Find Me Guilty. Great List!!!
No Aliens? Wow.
Under the Skin--what a dreadful movie.
Gattaca! I demand Gattaca!
@Right - kinda sounds like you're the one who doesn't "get" that the genre is a lot broader than what you're comfortable with.
Michael C.: Honestly, I think there's a bit too much sci-fi for "77-now" to have much, if any, meaning. Instead, how about dividing it between 10 calendar year chunks? So, 77-86, 87-96, 97-06 and 07-now?)
Guessing each of those?:
77-86:
10. Repo Man
10. Ghostbusters (The (justified) debate over it due to it's para-sci concept not really even BEING any kind of sci-fi would hold it back from the higher positions, but it'd probably get on that specialized a list.)
9. Star Wars Ep. 4
8: The Road Warrior
7: Aliens
6: Back to the Future
5: Brazil
4: Star Wars Ep. 5
3: Blade Runner
2: Alien
1: E. T.
87-96:
10. Bad Taste
9. Total Recall
8. Predator
7. Jurassic Park
6. Tetsuo: The Iron Man
5. RoboCop
4. 12 Monkeys
3. Delicatessen
2. Akira
1. T2
97-06:
10. The Fountain
10. Lilo and Stitch
9. Battle Royale
8. Songs From the Second Floor
7. Men in Black
6. The Truman Show
5. Gattaca (I never exactly got that movie and substantially prefer Men in Black, honestly.)
4. Minority Report
3. The Iron Giant (Honestly, I've never read either of these as more than pretty good B+ movies.)
2. Children of Men
1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
07-Now:
10. Avatar
10. Pacific Rim
9. Hugo
8. Limitless
7. Her
6. Guardians of the Galaxy
5. Looper
4. Melancholia
3. The World's End
2. Under the Skin
1. WALL-E
Happily surprised to see E.T. ranked so highly. Despite the backlash against its perceived sentimentality, I've always found that the film evokes genuine emotion. It's still the best depiction of childhood that I've ever seen and remains Spielberg's best film. (It's certainly better than the serious dramas in his later career, however good they may be.)
Also happy to see Eternal Sunshine at #1. One of my favorite films of all time.
Blade Runner should be #1. Gattacca should be there somewhere and I will throw in a vote for Inception.
Good to see ALIEN in over the overrated ALIENS.
Surprised nobody has mentioned the 2nd most overrated SF film of the era - Carpenter's THE THING.
GATTACA should be there over both UNDER THE SKIN (geez, I really really wanted to like it, but it bored me to death and it really doesn't say anything that Carpenter's underrated STARMAN didn't already (see, I'm not a Carpenter hater!), and ETERNAL SUNSHINE (like every other Kaufman script it falls apart in the 2nd half). I'll put in INTERSTELLAR over SKIN.
Right, we don't need to impress Nick Davis in our emails. We need to impress ourselves. I'm glad the team didn't just go with the same ol' titles you would always see on a list such as this. It's what makes TFE what it is.