I'm not sure I agree with you 100% on your police work there, Lou.
And speaking of film lists, of course, the AFI aired its new special and released its new, updated list of the best 100 films. The list is very different from the previous list, reflecting either a new set of voters or a new sense of what is great -- not sure which.
Here is the new 2007 list:
1. Citizen Kane, 1941.
2. The Godfather, 1972.
3. Casablanca, 1942.
4. Raging Bull, 1980.
5. Singin' in the Rain, 1952.
6. Gone With the Wind, 1939.
7. Lawrence of Arabia, 1962.
8. Schindler's List, 1993.
9. Vertigo, 1958.
10. The Wizard of Oz, 1939.
11. City Lights, 1931.
12. The Searchers, 1956.
13. Star Wars, 1977.
14. Psycho, 1960.
15. 2001: A Space Odyssey, 1968.
16. Sunset Blvd., 1950.
17. The Graduate, 1967.
18. The General, 1927.
19. On the Waterfront, 1954.
20. It's a Wonderful Life, 1946.
21. Chinatown, 1974.
22. Some Like It Hot, 1959.
23. The Grapes of Wrath, 1940.
24. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, 1982.
25. To Kill a Mockingbird, 1962.
26. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, 1939.
27. High Noon, 1952.
28. All About Eve, 1950.
29. Double Indemnity, 1944.
30. Apocalypse Now, 1979.
31. The Maltese Falcon, 1941.
32. The Godfather Part II, 1974.
33. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, 1975.
34. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, 1937.
35. Annie Hall, 1977.
36. The Bridge on the River Kwai, 1957.
37. The Best Years of Our Lives, 1946.
38. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, 1948.
39. Dr. Strangelove, 1964.
40. The Sound of Music, 1965.
41. King Kong, 1933.
42. Bonnie and Clyde, 1967.
43. Midnight Cowboy, 1969.
44. The Philadelphia Story, 1940.
45. Shane, 1953.
46. It Happened One Night, 1934.
47. A Streetcar Named Desire, 1951.
48. Rear Window, 1954.
49. Intolerance, 1916.
50. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, 2001.
51. West Side Story, 1961.
52. Taxi Driver, 1976.
53. The Deer Hunter, 1978.
54. M-A-S-H, 1970.
55. North by Northwest, 1959.
56. Jaws, 1975.
57. Rocky, 1976.
58. The Gold Rush, 1925.
59. Nashville, 1975.
60. Duck Soup, 1933.
61. Sullivan's Travels, 1941.
62. American Graffiti, 1973.
63. Cabaret, 1972.
64. Network, 1976.
65. The African Queen, 1951.
66. Raiders of the Lost Ark, 1981.
67. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, 1966.
68. Unforgiven, 1992.
69. Tootsie, 1982.
70. A Clockwork Orange, 1971.
71. Saving Private Ryan, 1998.
72. The Shawshank Redemption, 1994.
73. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, 1969.
74. The Silence of the Lambs, 1991.
75. In the Heat of the Night, 1967.
76. Forrest Gump, 1994.
77. All the President's Men, 1976.
78. Modern Times, 1936.
79. The Wild Bunch, 1969.
80. The Apartment, 1960.
81. Spartacus, 1960.
82. Sunrise, 1927.
83. Titanic, 1997.
84. Easy Rider, 1969.
85. A Night at the Opera, 1935.
86. Platoon, 1986.
87. 12 Angry Men, 1957.
88. Bringing Up Baby, 1938.
89. The Sixth Sense, 1999.
90. Swing Time, 1936.
91. Sophie's Choice, 1982.
92. Goodfellas, 1990.
93. The French Connection, 1971.
94. Pulp Fiction, 1994.
95. The Last Picture Show, 1971.
96. Do the Right Thing, 1989.
97. Blade Runner, 1982.
98. Yankee Doodle Dandy, 1942.
99. Toy Story, 1995.
100. Ben-Hur, 1959.
Here are the "new entries" that I have not seen and therefore need to watch post haste:
Sullivan's Travels, Cabaret, In The Heat of the Night, Spartacus, Sunrise, A Night at the Opera, Swing Time, Sophie's Choice, and The Last Picture Show.
I'll get right on it.
Of course I have a few things to say about the new list:
Buster Keaton's 1927 silent comedy The General did not even make the list last time, but this time is ranked #18. That is quite a leap. But this is a great film, and coincidentally, I just watched it yesterday afternoon for the first time. It does deserve a spot.
Robert Altman's Nashville (#59) is also a new entry, and I am glad to see it getting some love.
Here are the more recent films that made the list this time around:
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (#50) -- OK, this is a good entry (though Return of the King is clearly the better film)
Saving Private Ryan (#71) -- This should be much, much higher on the list.
The Shawshank Redemption (#72) -- Great film, but there are some films ranked lower that are better.
Titanic (#83) -- Umm . . .
The Sixth Sense (#89) -- One of the hundrend best films EVER? I am going to say "no."
Do the Right Thing (#96) -- This is a great film, but I am not sure it merits the top 100.
Toy Story (#99) -- Again, a good one, but not really top 100 material.
Some movies made big leaps:
Raging Bull jumped from #24 in 1998 to #4 on the new list. I am not sure how I feel about this. But Vertigo leaping up to #9 is definitely a great thing. This movine is a masterpiece.
The biggest move was for The Searchers, which rocketed from #96 all the way to #12. I would put it somewhere in the middle I think.
Now some words about the films that dropped off the list:
- Some films were bumped off, even though they deserve to stay on the list: Doctor Zhivago, Rebel Without a Cause, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Manchurian Candidate, Giant, and Guess Who's Coming To Dinner.
- And some films deserve to be kicked off the list: Wuthering Heights, Stagecoach, An American in Paris, and Dances With Wolves.
But the saddest part, of course, and the thing that invalidates it all, is that Fargo is no longer on the list. What kind of nonsensical list-making jackassery is this?
offered up to the world by CoachDub @ 7:52 PM
6 comments
6 Comments:
i cant help but imagine that one dude who lectured you for liking pulp fiction a long time ago give the same spiel to the AFI. but i digress.
True, but I am sure he was angry that Fargo was ever on there in the first place. The fact that there are any films from after 1922 would have pissed him off.
John,
First, I can't believe you haven't seen In the Heat of the Night. The opening sequence of that movie is simply incredible! See it, see it on a hot muggy summer evening . . .
Second, Return of the King is better than Fellowship? On what, pray tell, do you base that argument scurvy knave?
Issue the third: Zounds! I can't believe they took Rebel Without a Cause OFF the list -- that's an amazing movie. Perhaps they felt it was too 50s loaded already.
Finally, you think Saving Private Ryan should be Higher on the list? Alas, I feel that you have become addled. This piece of jingoist crap should not be here at all - and don't even get me started on Forrest Gump!
Yours in Christ,
Trevor
Trevor, do you seriously think Saving Private Ryan is "crap?" I'd like to hear how you justify that one.
My biggest gripe with the list is the inclusion of The Sixth Sense. I can understand Titanic since that won the most Academy Awards in history, and I don't see what you could possibly have against Toy Story making the list. It was the first fully computer-animated film and still (in my humble opinion) the best one to date.
PS: Fellowship was my favorite LOTR movie too. I have to agree with Trevor on that one.
Trevor,
What can I say?
First, I am a failure.
Second, I am crazy.
Issue the third: I am in full agreement.
Finally, I have no taste.
God loves you,
John
So here's how big of a LOTR movies nerd I am:
My favorite is The Two Towers theatrical release, but number two is the Return of the King extended edition on DVD.
All the extra crap slows down TTT and breaks a lot of the rhythm, but it just makes RotK more majestic.
And dub, don't you think this whole film list analysis thing is awfully derivative? I'd rather just go back and read the FIRST post you had like this. In fact, I'm sure someone did it before you, and probably did it better. Why bother trying it again?
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