AFI's Top 100 Movies--How Many Have You Seen?

[DavidW]

btw, no Kurosawa? Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!!!!! 

The American Film Institute.  Seriously it's an all American list from the people that celebrate and restore American films.

[Cato]

80-89 for me due to a wasted youth!   

Yes, Shane is highly recommended! 

Ben-Hur barely makes the cut, below nonsense like Do the Right Thing, In the Heat of the Night, Easy Rider (Extremely dated and laughable), The Sixth Sense (Talk about a one-trick pony!) and  Tootsie (TOOTSIE?!  Really?) ?   

I have never watched The Godfather movies in toto.  Does the original really deserve #2 above e.g.  Gone With the Wind,  Vertigo, The Searchers, or Intolerance?

Clark Gable's performance in Gone With the Wind is phenomenal: we watched the movie this past summer, and it was astounding how his Rhett Butler remains timeless, in contrast to the stilted Leslie Howard.

Speaking of a timeless, astonishing performance, under-rated for decades, is Robert Armstrong's high-voltage impresario in King Kong.

And the bias against silent movies in the list is obvious: where are e.g. Buster Keaton's Steamboat Bill, Jr. or  Lon Chaney's The Unholy Three and Phantom of the Opera?  Replaced by what?  Rocky, Silence of the Lambs or Titanic? 

(Cue Celine Dion's Celtic-tinged twirblings!) 

[ibanezmonster]

The American Film Institute.  Seriously it's an all American list from the people that celebrate and restore American films.

Oh, I missed that somehow. No wonder I was wondering, "What, are all of these American films?"

[Renfield]

I have never watched The Godfather movies in toto.  Does the original really deserve #2 above e.g.  Gone With the Wind,  Vertigo, The Searchers, or Intolerance?

Clark Gable's performance in Gone With the Wind is phenomenal: we watched the movie this past summer, and it was astounding how his Rhett Butler remains timeless, in contrast to the stilted Leslie Howard.

I dare say it is better than Gone With the Wind, and raise you possibly Al Pacino's best role, as the young Michael Corleone.

(I say, the young Michael Corleone. He was considerably less impressive in the sequel; and the third one didn't happen. )

[Cato]

I dare say it is better than Gone With the Wind, and raise you possibly Al Pacino's best role, as the young Michael Corleone.

(I say, the young Michael Corleone. He was considerably less impressive in the sequel; and the third one didn't happen. )

Better than...




"Say hello to my little friend!"     ?

[Renfield]

Better than...




"Say hello to my little friend!"     ?

No! My weak spot has been exposed! *Supervillain cry of exasperation*

I haven't seen Scarface.


(Hence 'possibly'. If I had, I think I'd know for sure.)

[DavidRoss]

Shawshank and Silence are not worth your time at all.

I beg to differ.  Shawshank is a sleeper, a polished gem of a movie, with unforgettable characters fleshed out by terrific performances in virtually every role.  My choice for Best Picture that year.  It got Gumped, along with Four Weddings and a Funeral, Pulp Fiction, and Quiz Show--each much better than the one that took the prize.

Silence transcends genre.  No ordinary slasher film, it's a modern monster movie, a compelling drama, and a densely plotted character study that is masterfully crafted, including great performances.

[DavidW]

I beg to differ.  Shawshank is a sleeper, a polished gem of a movie, with unforgettable characters fleshed out by terrific performances in virtually every role.  My choice for Best Picture that year.  It got Gumped, along with Four Weddings and a Funeral, Pulp Fiction, and Quiz Show--each much better than the one that took the prize.

Silence transcends genre.  No ordinary slasher film, it's a modern monster movie, a compelling drama, and a densely plotted character study that is masterfully crafted, including great performances.

Those were all great movies (not Gump of course)!

[Hollywood]

I have seen 99 of the top 100 films listed. The one I haven't seen is INTOLERANCE (1916). 

[Grazioso]

Yes, Shane is highly recommended! 

One of the great westerns. The original novel is quite good, too, bearing in mind it's for "young adult" audiences.

Clark Gable's performance in Gone With the Wind is phenomenal: we watched the movie this past summer, and it was astounding how his Rhett Butler remains timeless, in contrast to the stilted Leslie Howard.

Rhett was the original Han Solo 

And the bias against silent movies in the list is obvious: where are e.g. Buster Keaton's Steamboat Bill, Jr. or  Lon Chaney's The Unholy Three and Phantom of the Opera?  Replaced by what?  Rocky, Silence of the Lambs or Titanic? 

Re: Keaton, the list's sop to silent comedies is City Lights, which I find overrated, other than the touching ending.

[Sergeant Rock]

Re: Keaton, the list's sop to silent comedies is City Lights, which I find overrated, other than the touching ending.

Keatons's The General is on the list.

Sarge

[jwinter]

81. Haven't seen

THE GRAPES OF WRATH
MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON
THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES
THE SOUND OF MUSIC
KING KONG
INTOLERANCE
NASHVILLE
DUCK SOUP
NETWORK
WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?
FORREST GUMP
TITANIC
A NIGHT AT THE OPERA
12 ANGRY MEN
THE SIXTH SENSE
SWING TIME
SOPHIE'S CHOICE
DO THE RIGHT THING
TOY STORY

52 for me; I like movies, but I wouldn't consider myself a serious movie buff.

Drasko, you really ought to check out Duck Soup, one of my all-time faves.  We should have a Marx Brothers vs the 3 Stooges thread.... 

[Grazioso]

Keatons's The General is on the list.

Sarge

Good catch. I loved that one.

52 for me; I like movies, but I wouldn't consider myself a serious movie buff.

Drasko, you really ought to check out Duck Soup, one of my all-time faves.  We should have a Marx Brothers vs the 3 Stooges thread.... 

The Star Trek vs. Star Wars thread has gotten quite heated. I could just imagine the bloodshed that would ensue if the Marx Bros. went up against the Stooges

[mc ukrneal]

We should have a Marx Brothers vs the 3 Stooges thread.... 

We have several - they are just called something else!! 

[mc ukrneal]

My choice for Best Picture that year.  It got Gumped, along with Four Weddings and a Funeral, Pulp Fiction, and Quiz Show--each much better than the one that took the prize.

Have to disagree somewhat. Shawshank was never going to win, though I can agree with you it is better than Gump. But as much as I like Quiz Show and Four Weddings, I think Gump is better than those. Pulp Fiction is, and this just my opinion, the one film I'd kick off the top 100 list. I have never understood what others see in it. In any case, thought Gump far, far, far, far superior to that one. Gump gets a bad rap for all the 'Life is a box of chocolate' sayings and such. Beyond that is an interesting film, and I particularly like the clever ways that the Gump character ends up in what are otherwise history reels.

[Grazioso]

Have to disagree somewhat. Shawshank was never going to win, though I can agree with you it is better than Gump. But as much as I like Quiz Show and Four Weddings, I think Gump is better than those. Pulp Fiction is, and this just my opinion, the one film I'd kick off the top 100 list. I have never understood what others see in it. In any case, thought Gump far, far, far, far superior to that one. Gump gets a bad rap for all the 'Life is a box of chocolate' sayings and such. Beyond that is an interesting film, and I particularly like the clever ways that the Gump character ends up in what are otherwise history reels.

A good rule of thumb: any film that teens go around quoting incessantly is overrated.

[DavidW]

A good rule of thumb: any film that teens go around quoting incessantly is overrated.

As someone who teaches teenagers I can assure that they don't go around quoting Pulp Fiction.  In fact the movies they've seen usually only go back a few years.  All of the funny stuff that they quote they've seen on youtube.  If there was one movie they would quote it would probably be the The Room due to it being hilariously bad.

[Brahmsian]

I don't really have a problem with most movies that are on this list (although I've only seen 36 of them).  This is great, because there is a lot for me yet to discover!

The only one movie I wish would have been recognized was The Exorcist.  Absolutely wonderful acting by Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Jason Miller and Linda Blair.  And the soundtrack, ambience and of course how can anyone forget the blood curdling voice of the demon Pazuzu, by Mercedes McCambridge.

Yes, of course putting aside the fake pea soup puke, it is a film that continues to make me uneasy, and it is actually difficult for me to watch it all the way through, because I have to have enough courage to do so (honest to goodness).  It never fails to strike some fear inside me.

When they re-released The Exorcist back into the theatres for its 25th Anniversary, my sister and I went (we had both watched the film before in our youth on a number of occassions), I was awestruck when the movie ended.   When they turned the lights on, I saw a group of teenagers or young 20 somethings, who looked sickly pale and yes, frightened out of their wits.  I got a huge kick out of that, because it confirmed for me that this film can resonate, shock and frighten as much when it first came out in 1973 and then similarly to a brand new audience in 1998.  Now THAT is how powerful a movie can be, and it doesn't have to be brand new and CGI effects, etc to be meaningful and poignant.

The novel by William Peter Blatty is even chillier, and one of the very few books I have read more than once.  I must have read the book at least 1/2 dozen times, and it chills me to the bone each time.

[DavidRoss]

Have to disagree somewhat. Shawshank was never going to win, though I can agree with you it is better than Gump. But as much as I like Quiz Show and Four Weddings, I think Gump is better than those. Pulp Fiction is, and this just my opinion, the one film I'd kick off the top 100 list. I have never understood what others see in it. In any case, thought Gump far, far, far, far superior to that one. Gump gets a bad rap for all the 'Life is a box of chocolate' sayings and such. Beyond that is an interesting film, and I particularly like the clever ways that the Gump character ends up in what are otherwise history reels.

Pulp Fiction was great filmmaking. It's all about style. The content is too dismaying for some to enjoy. Turning such trash into a compelling story, largely through narrative tricks that keep the first time viewer guessing about what's going on here and how these seemingly disjointed vignettes tie together, is quite an accomplishment.

I don't know that Gump has gotten a bad rap. Seems to me that it was much beloved and will continue to be beloved for some time to come.  The novel on which it was based was brilliant, a wickedly funny social critique that literally had me laughing out loud.  I was a huge fan.  The movie missed the point entirely, turning insightful satire into insipid sentimentality. For fans of the novel, it was a huge disappointment.  (Though not as big a disappointment as Starship Troopers.) 

Of course Shawshank was never going to win (it did poorly at the box office), no more than any of the other nominees that got Gumped.  A smart foreign comedy with plenty of wit but no big (in America at the time) stars? A smart literary tale about private corruption and public gullibility, with no big (in America at the time) stars?  A smart but trashy gangster flick featuring slasher-flick gore, homosexual rape, and the most foul-mouthed protagonists in Hollywood history?

[DavidRoss]

The only one movie I wish would have been recognized was The Exorcist.  Absolutely wonderful acting by Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Jason Miller and Linda Blair.  And the soundtrack, ambience and of course how can anyone forget the blood curdling voice of the demon Pazuzu, by Mercedes McCambridge.

Good call, Ray! And it followed Rosemary's Baby as an "A" class movie that treated a supernatural theme with dignity and first-rate production values--and was also a big box office success that became a cultural touch stone of the times.