A few words regarding the newly published and updated AFI Top 100.
First, my great disappointment that Citizen Kane has once again come out on top of another film-classics list. Don't misunderstand. I have nothing but respect and admiration for Orson Welles' masterpiece, but it doesn't and probably never will fit comfortably in my Top 10. A film-school classic and a wonderful bit of movie-movie, it's becoming a bit like the the world champ who won't relinquish belt: after a while it's boring and people want to see a changing of the guard. The story becomes less about the winning and more about when will he lose?
Because I'm me, I had to crunch the new list a little. In doing so, I scored each movie on the basis of its rank in the list (#1 was given 100 points, #2 - 99 points and so on until #100 was given with 1 point). Looking at a weighted ranking, here's some of the highlights that struck me as interesting:
- Biggest gainers are two films very near and dear to my heart that ironically enough, leapt onto my own list of favourites within the last year. John Ford's The Searchers has jumped from #96 to #12 (!) while Buster Keaton's note-perfect The General has appeared on the list for the first time at #18. Vertigo also made a pretty shocking climb from #62 all the way to the top 10 (#9).
- Almost two dozen movies fell off the AFI list, but the biggest drops came from Doctor Zhivago (was #39), Birth of a Nation (#44) and From Here to Eternity (#52). It's already been pointed out elsewhere that the revolutionary but racist Birth of a Nation was conveniently replaced by D.W. Griffith's 1916 follow-up Intolerance as though the AFI conscience could no longer bear to celebrate the earlier film. Hmmm.
- Notable new additions to the 2007 list include Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (which I assume to be an informal proxy for the entire trilogy?) at #51, Robert Altman's Nashville at #59 and Preston Sturges' Sullivan's Travels (#61). Shawshank Redemption and Titanic have also - finally - cracked the list, appearing at #72 and #83 respectively.
- The AFI list continues to love the 1970's, which is perhaps a symptom of the dominant generation of critics and filmmakers voting on this list. While there haven't been any seismic changes in this regard, the 70's still lead the list with 20 movies, followed by the 60's (17 movies) and 50's (16 movies). In fact, only 20 movies appear on the list after 1979 (8 in the 80's, 11 in the 90's and 1 in the 00's).
- Most celebrated years are 1969 (Midnight Cowboy, Butch Cassidy, Wild Bunch, Easy Rider), 1976 (Taxi Driver, Rocky, Network, All the President's Men) and 1982 (E.T., Tootsie, Sophie's Choice, Blade Runner) with four movies apiece. However in terms of actual point scores, the winners are 1939 (Gone With the Wind, Wizard of Oz, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington) and 1941 (Citizen Kane, Maltese Falcon, Sullivan's Travels) which have long been reputed to be the most golden years of Hollywood's Golden Age.
- As much as he is still oft-maligned by critics and arthouse snoots, Spielberg is unquestionably on top of the survey (for the second time). The only director with 5 movies on the list (280 points), he is clearly the AFI's MVP and as a dedicated fan of his golden run in the late-70's/early-80's, this warms my heart. I don't think Saving Private Ryan (#71) belongs on the list (time will tell) but I'm equally certain that Munich should someday replace it. Director #2 is Hitchcock (4 movies and 278 points) and #3 is Billy Wilder (4 movies and 257 points) - particularly interesting given that outside of movie-enthusiasts and the film community, your average joe probably couldn't identify 2 or 3 Wilder films.
- While it may be universally acknowledged among fans, filmmakers and even critics that The Empire Strikes Back is the superior Star Wars film and the high-point of Lucas' space-saga, it is still plain-old Star Wars that holds the premium spot in the top 20. No one, and least of all me, will ever argue against Star Wars' impact and importance on a list like this, but can we all just agree that it's the dorky, moppy-haired younger brother of the vastly more effective Empire?
- I won't quibble over titles not included on the list as I think that overall, it's quite solid but for the record, just allow me this: Still no Howard the Duck. Still no Pee Wee's Big Adventure. Still no Weird Science.
- Personally, as someone always working to "finish the list" with respect to my own viewing, the updated list has put me just over the 2/3 mark - I've seen 69 films on the updated list, 66 on the previous incarnation. But there's still some shockers on my to-do list...not the least of which are those errant titles in the top 10...?
Here's the complete list with asterixes next to the movies I've seen:
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 Boulevard (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. 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. MASH (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)
No comments:
Post a Comment