AFI Top 100

This is not sports related, but I know that a lot (read: a few) people who hear about the new AFI list are going to wonder what I think about it. If you didn't know, back in 2002 I knocked off the whole AFI 100 from 1998. Here is the old list. And if you haven't seen the new list , here it is. And now, here are my extremely lengthy thoughts...

• There are a ton of quality films on this list, and bunch of those quality films I discovered because of the list. I'd never watched Citizen Kane, but when I did, I decided it was NOT quality. I was not entertained, which I think is the number one criteria for judging a film. I also couldn't relate to the characters or the story. I wasn't particularly moved by the story. The acting didn't blow me away enough to make me forget that I didn't like the story. Most of all, I just don't get what's so great about it. Apparently, it was pretty innovative. But other movies on this list that I don't like, I get why people might think they're great. Gone With the Wind, for example. Maybe all those innovations merit a spot on the list. But a fictional biopic about a publisher (allegedly based on Hearst) is the greatest movie of all time? To me, the greatest movie should be ageless, should have mass appeal, should be tremendously entertaining, and be a landmark achievement in movie-making. In my mind, CK only fills the last of those criteria. This is why I actually think the IMDB top 250 is a better list. Not perfect, but better. CK is a more reasonable 23rd. OK, I'll stop.
• Godfather leapfrogs Casablanca to number 2. I don't have a problem with that, though I'm a huge Casablanca fan. I had it at the top of my re-ranking of the AFI's top 100. (Not my favorite movie of all time, that is, but my favorite out of those 100.) Since then I've backed off slightly - the action is admittedly a tad dated. This brings me to my other complaint with the AFI's list. It doesn't acknowledge that, despite the vast amounts of lowest common denominator crap churned out by Hollywood, good movies have actually gotten better over the history of movie making. Modern movies are better than older movies. I won't debate this. Technology, well-applied, makes a better film. So why shouldn't a best movies list be heavy on more recent films, as the imdb list is? I'll take a little of the "historical significance" criteria argument, but only so far. I liked Lawrence of Arabia. It's my favorite big budget film of that era of big budget films. But is it really better than Lord of the Rings? I think it's a safe bet that Lord of the Rings is probably going to have at least as big an affect on the history of movie making as Lawrence of Arabia. OK, I'll stop. Too much negativity.
• Into the top 10 go Raging Bull and Vertigo, replacing On the Waterfront and The Graduate which both fell sharply. I was just listening to DVD commentary on The Simpsons and Matt Groening et al were talking about how influential. The Graduate was to them. I think it was Groening who said that someone ELSE once said that The Graduate contains every type of humor there is. Which is something I'd NEVER thought was true about a movie that I consider a drama. Anyway, I think one great scale would be to measure how often the Simpsons have parodied these movies. Out of these four, The Graduate clearly wins that contest. Long story short, I don't approve of The Graduate dropping to 17 but I do approve of On the Waterfront dropping and Raging Bull rising. Speaking of The Simpsons, there was an entire episode that parodied Citizen Kane, brilliantly placing Mr. Burns in place of the title role. Great stuff.
• The two biggest jumps were City Lights and The Searchers. GREAT MOVIES. I discovered both via the AFI Odyssey. City Lights is Chaplin, and Chaplin is excellent and still amusing. But The Searchers is even better. Possibly John Wayne's best.
• Interesting stat: the AFI made a list of 400 movies to choose the 100 from. 43 of those movies were made after 1998. Which is just about right, if you assume there have been 100 years of film. The problem is, only 4 of those made the list. Titanic and Saving Private Ryan shouldn't have been 2 of the 4. OK, I've never seen Titanic. I once vowed never to see that movie in my life, but I might have to go back on that now that the AFI thinks so highly on it. How about this? If the Titanic is still in the top 100 in 2018, I'll go see it. Saving Private Ryan has the great Normandy invasion scene, and an equally excellent final 20 minutes, but when you think about it, the whole point of the movie is kind of small and has very little to do with World War II or war in general. You know what it was? I just figured it out! Saving Private Ryan was a western set during World War II! Think about it... rag tag bunch sets off on a thankless suicidal journey through wild territory. Bottom line: it shouldn't be rated above Platoon. However, Sixth Sense and LOTR: Fellowship of the Ring made the list. Two excellent selections. Sixth Sense is like the "All Star" of movies. They were both way overplayed, and Shyamalan and Smashmouth haven't again quite reached that pinnacle since, but when you go back and actually watch Sixth Sense and listen to All Star and you remember how you felt when you first saw Sixth Sense and when you first got the lyrics to All Star, you remember their greatness.
• Besides those four, there are lots of other new additions. The only one I've seen out of them is Toy Story. I approve of that making the list and I will get to work on all those other ones...
• Out of the films that were dropped, Thumbs Down to dropping... Amadeus, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, My Fair Lady, Patton, Giant, The Manchurian Candidate.
  
• Thumbs Up to dropping... Dr. Zhivago, Dances with Wolves, the Jazz Singer, A Place in the Sun, Wuthering Heights, An American in Paris.
  
• Most of all, a HUGE THUMBS DOWN for dropping Fargo from the list. Are you kidding me? Is this a joke? Mom? Dad? Buzz? Is this a joke? Buzz? Buzz? (Home Alone should NOT make the list, but should be in the top 100 comedies, by the way.)
  
• Just noticed that Unforgiven shot up from 98 to 68... I had it in my top 5 for my re-rank.
• Just noticed that the two most recent movies in the top 10, Raging Bull (1980) and Schindler's List (1993) were both done in black and white. Both are great films, but I think that says something about the way this list is skewed towards older movies.
  
• OK, I'm going to finish up by picking five movies, one from each fifth of the list that I think everyone should see. These aren't necessarily my favorites. Rather, they are movies that I don't think most 25-year-olds have seen but that I think they should see AND might really enjoy.
  

1-20: We've already talked about a bunch of these. I'm going to assume many of my peers have seen the Graduate and pick Casablanca to recommend. (I was going to suggest Lawrence of Arabia until I remembered it was 220 minutes! Casablanca is only 105.)

21-40: Double Indemnity is the ultimate film noir. Snappy dialogue, trench coats, and a gret tale. At the very least, I guarantee you'll enjoy the way the main character lights a match.

41-60: Again, I'm assuming many have seen the Deer Hunter and going with Bonnie and Clyde. Good acting from an excellent cast.

61-80: Holy cow! I think I like this bunch of 20 better than any other. Unforgiven...Forrest Gump...Raiders of the Lost Ark...Shawshank...Butch Cassidy...All the President's Men... yup, this is the best group of 20. I like it so much, I'm going to pick two movies, both of which I went out and bought after I watched them during the original AFI Odyssey: American Graffiti, possibly George Lucas's best movie ever (yes, I know what I just said), and The Wild Bunch, my second favorite western after Unforgiven.

81-100: The French Connection is famous for its car chase scene, which still holds up. What stands out in my mind is the way this story is told with minimal dialogue, and the fact that the sweet hero doesn't quite win in the end.