AFI re-100

OK, one more movie thing. Schmidtty pointed me towards the re-evaluated AFI rankings of the top 100 (American) (narrative non-documentary feature) films of all time. Only one movie from the the Aughts is in the new ranking (versus seven from the 90s on the 1997 list). That movie is LOTR: Fellowship of the Rings. A decent choice for the epic Aughts, but I'd think Eternal Sunshine and maybe Million Dollar Baby or possibly even Requiem for a Dream would deserve some mention. I'd put movies like Waking Life, Spider-Man 2 or Memento on my shortlist of consideration too. Let's not forget that they put Dances With Wolves on the list last time (a movie that has not aged well at all).

Right, things about the list I'm happy about: the rises of Raging Bull and American Graffiti as well as the inclusion of Nashville, Shawshank, Do the Right Thing, and Blade Runner. The descent of Forrest Gump (but not far enough!), the near-removal of Ben-Hur, and Gone With the Wind out of the top five.

Removals that blew my mind: All Quiet on the Western Front, The Third Man, (come on, when we talk about "most influential," how can we leave that out?), Jazz Singer, Doctor Zhivago, Manchurian Candidate, and Fantasia. Also, Fargo. Come on.

Additions that blew my mind: Titanic (higher than Pulp Fiction?! higher than Do The Right Thing?!), Intolerance replacing Birth of a Nation (by the AFI's standards, Birth certainly had more influence, historical impact, and long-lasting popularity. I like Intolerance more, but Birth is more justly Griffith's American "classic"), Cabaret (this one doesn't blow my mind so much as I didn't like it), including Toy Story at the expense of Fantasia. (Does a list of great American movies only deserve two animated ones? Not that I don't love Toy Story, but why couldn't they have made room for both?), Sixth Sense (I'd give it another decade), Saving Private Ryan (same).

Undeserved bump-ups: The Searchers (Is this really going to be canonized as the great American western? God, I hope not. It's not bad, but there's plenty better, even on the list.) The Sound of Music. (I love this movie to death, but really, #40?) Rocky. Yeah. No. (Can anyone believe that Stallone was nominated for the screenplay Oscar?

Undeserved knock-downs (there were a lot): On the Waterfront down 11 spots, Clockwork Orange down 24 spots, and French Connection down 23 spots. One trend was that movies which once set the bar for "edgy" (Bonnie and Clyde, Jaws, Midnight Cowboy, The Graduate, Clockwork, Manchurian, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, Taxi Driver, etc.) were deemed somehow weaker after the passing of time. (There are exceptions: Deer Hunter comes to mind.) I suppose it's fair that since we see the violence of Bonnie and Clyde, the sex taboos of The Graduate, or the psychosis of Taxi Driver magnified enormously in rather bland contemporary studio movies for the masses, it's hard to find it shocking any more, which admittedly lent much of those films' power.

Also, knocking It's A Wonderful Life down 9 spots? Not cool.

Movies that continue to be excluded for reasons passing understanding: Anatomy of a Murder, Night of the Hunter, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, any Lynch film (Eraserhead? Blue Velvet? Mullholland Drive? Take your pick.), L.A. Confidential, Saturday Night Fever (yeah, you read that right.), Lady from Shanghai, Dog Day Afternoon, Man Who Shot Liberty Valance or Red River.

OK, that's my spiel. Obviously, as Schmelee says, these lists are best for consideration by others and inspiring debate. I definitely give the list props for accepting changes and searching further rather than defining film greatness concretely. Still, many of the weaknesses of the first list remain, just updated for newer films.

P.S. Here's the grand Canonizer Ebert's take on the AFI list.