Oh yeah — almost forgot. What do you think of the American Film Institute’s updated, re-calibrated 10th Anniversary Edition of their 100 Greatest Movies list? I thought it was a helluva improvement over the AFI list from 1997, if only for the way that its 1,500 voters booted Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner out of the high 90′s and essentially installed a much better movie about race relations, Do the Right Thing, in its place.
At the other end of the list, isn’t it sort of amazing that Citizen Kane (pictured) held on to the No. 1 slot? I figured for sure The Godfather would usurp it, if only for the way pop culture (especially The Sopranos) has indirectly managed to keep Francis Ford Coppola’s masterpiece at the top of everybody’s brain for the past eight years, even as black-and-white film classic seemed to be drifting further and further into the past. In fact, I was actually rooting for The Godfather to come out ahead. I love Kane, I’ve seen it all the way through at least a half-dozen times, but I’m not sure I would’ve voted for it over The Godfather. Kane, deep down, is a movie you study; The Godfather is more emotionally involving, a slightly richer experience.
Still, for an old-movie hound like me, it’s great to see a 66-year-old geezer like Kane take the top prize in our 18-to-49 youth-culture age. And this list feels more in tune with wider film scholarship than the last one did — witness the ascension up the charts of Raging Bull (now at No. 4), Vertigo (No. 9), City Lights (No. 11), and The Searchers (No. 12), movies that (even ten years ago) anybody with film sense knew belonged higher up on the AFI’s list than No.’s 24, 61, 76, and 96, respectively.
Another good thing: the list of movies that got added this year — which includes The General, Nashville, Sullivan’s Travels, A Night at the Opera, Swing Time, and The Last Picture Show — is stronger than the list of movies that got 86′ed to make room for them, including Mutiny on the Bounty, Wuthering Heights, Amadeus, Doctor Zhivago, Rebel Without a Cause, and The Jazz Singer. My man Roger Ebert is disappointed Fargo didn’t survive the new cut, but I always thought Fargo was overrated; I’d much rather see The Big Lebowski on the list.
As for other movies that came out within this decade, only Saving Private Ryan, Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring, Titanic, and The Sixth Sense were squeezed on. I wouldn’t put any of these on my own personal best-of-the-last-decade list (well, maybe Titanic; that movie gets to me), but they do already seem "classic" in a way that fits in with the AFI’s stately ethos. Can you imagine Boogie Nights getting the buff-and-shine of an AFI slot?
What do you think? Is there a movie you’re sad still hasn’t made the AFI cut? I’d pick the neglected His Girl Friday, maybe the greatest, fastest romantic comedy of all time.
I don’t care what’s on the list, just as long as “Kane” is king. That movie is phenomenal (sp???). It wrenches my heart every time I watch it, which is by now like three million.
They still can’t make room for This is Spinal Tap? Is it because it looks like they’ve got armadillos in their trousers?
I was surprised that they picked Fellowship over Return of the King for the LOTR pick – King, after all, won a slew of Oscars and is an amazingly moving epic while Fellowship, not surprisingly, spends a lot of its time on exposition. And I missed what the experts had to say about it because I had to, ya know, be a Mom at that precise moment (major bunk bed crisis). Can anyone fill me in?
Otherwise, I agree with everything you said. Thrilled to see Raging Bull move into the Top 10 and agree wholeheartedly about Fargo – I never got why the critics swooned so much over that film.
I fully agree with the inclusion of LOTR, but am still highly pissed that Rebel Without A Cause was axed to make way for such cinematic greatness such as…Titanic? When did that become more than an overblown love story? And, yes, I admit it makes me cry and yes, I do enjoy it but better than Rebel? Or even Pulp Fiction, Blade Runner, & Bringing Up Baby? I think not! For shame AFI, for shame ::shakes index finger sternly::
I love Citizen Kane. Rosebud has been said to be a reference to someone’s body part, which really surprised me. I know the sled had the name on it, but as it goes, with a hidden meaning. Stories such as this one had good acting, and because of censorship, the imagination played a big part in film. This lead writers, producers, etc. to be quite creative.
Guess who’s coming to dinner is still one of my favorites. I loved the look on Katharine Hepburn’s face when she was told of the budding romance. The meddlesome clergy friend was a nice touch to the story.
titanic being on there….no
Where is The Color Purple? Where is Audrey Hepburn this time? The Godfather…TWICE? I think this list turned out to be an overblown tribute to Italians in American cinema.
Kane still works brilliantly. I think it deserves the title. Indeed, I think it gets better with age. A lot of people talk about the puzzle structure of Kane, or the technical innovations, but forget all that. It’s an endlessly engaging yarn: briskly paced, full of clever dialogue and enigmatic, complex characterizations… The Godfather owes a debt to Citizen Kane but it lacks Kane’s energy… As for Raging Bull, I’m sorry, but I just don’t get it. I think Scorsese, while he seems like a great guy and a great film scholar, is vastly over-rated as a director. Goodfellas is his best movie, and even that’s lost something over time.
As a Disney fan, I am sad to see that Fantasia was dropped from th;e list, but at least they brought in Toy Story, an equally worthy cinematic achievement. Still, I can’t help feeling that the AFI has little love for Pinocchio, which I feel is a much better film than Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Not that Snow White doesn’t belong up there, quite the contrary. It was, and still is, an extraordinary film, especially for being someone’s debut feature. It’s just that I consider Pinocchio to be more mature artistically. As for Toy Story, I like it better than Snow White, yet it’s not even my favorite Pixar film. That would be Finding Nemo.
Casablanca is my favorite film, but you can’t argue with Citizen Kane. And while it’s nice to see Toy Story on the list, it doesn’t belong way down in the 90s any more than “The Searchers” did on the last list. You could make the case that “Toy Story” is the most influential movie since “Jaws” and “Star Wars” helped shaped Hollywood’s blockbuster mentality.
I want both Fargo and Lebowski on there but that’s me. I find it a bummer that no Coen work is on there considering the amount of great films they have made.
How is it that a movie can move up on this list? I mean I know that a new movie can come in above an old movie thus knocking it down a peg, but how does one movie rise 20 spaces…Rocky was in the 70′s on the last list, now it’s in the 50′s. Don’t get me wrong, Rocky is my favorite movie of all time…but I don’t understand how it gets better with age?!
Pretty good list but in what world is the Sixth Sense better than Pulp Fiction? Also, I’m totally with you on giving a nod to His Girl Friday – maybe the best screenplay of all time.
movies move up the list with their staying power and relevancy in current culture. Some may move down perhaps because rave reviews lose support through time.
I was pulling for Casablanca to be #1 this time. Citizen Kane is a masterpiece artistically. But once you get past studying frames and camera angles, it’s boring. Casablanca isn’t only artistically wonderful, but it’s got an emotional story that captivates you from almost the beginning. As for The Godfather usurping it? Well, I can’t be too upset about that because The Godfather is amazing too. I really do feel bad for thinking Citizen Kane is boring. I appreciate it for its artistic merit and what it did for filmmaking, but a film has to enthrall me at the same time.
So happy Singing in the Rain made it higher! It really is the best musical ever. I was a little upset On the Waterfront dropped so much, but it still made the top 20. And even though I knew it didn’t have a chance, I think Eternal Sunshine should have been on the list. But then again, all the more recent films on the list had a significant cultural impact and Sunshine hasn’t yet. And Top Hat is a better than Swingtime.