AFI's Annual Film List - 2008

[RobertR]

Some general thoughts on the lists. I got 5 of 10 of the list toppers right. I can do better.

 

Animation

Boy, what an unimaginative set of choices. Nothing really jumps out at me as wrong, , although Shreck seems the least groundbreaking of the films on the list. (Part of that might be the after effects of two subpar sequels for me.) The Nightmare Before Christmas as an example of stop motion strikes me as a glaring omission

 

Fantasy

I like the fact that they took an inclusive view of fantasy. I was surprised, in a good way, by some of the choices. Heck, there are overt fantasy elements in Big, Groundhog Day, and It's a Wonderful Life. Harvey and Miracle on 34th Street are different kinds of fantasy and I'm not sure there's anything overt about either of them. Wizard of Oz was a fine choice to top the list.

 

Glad it was included: Groundhog Day, The Thief of Bagdad

Surprised this wasn't on the list: Heaven Can Wait, Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone (for importance)

 

Science Fiction

I'm glad 2001: A Space Odyssey topped the list. Forgot all about A Clockwork Orange when thinking about the list so, bad on me.

 

I second the sentiment on Back to the Future. An enjoyable film, but hardly a prime example of science fiction.

 

Glad it was included: The Invasion of the Body Snatchers

What's this doing on the list: Back to the Future

Replacement Choices: Close Encounters of the Third Kind, 12 Monkeys, Forbidden Planet, Sleeper, Frankenstein

 

Western

I've no complaints with the top 9. But what the heck is Cat Ballou doing on this list? Blazing Saddles and Destry Rides Again are better comedies and there certainly are better serious westerns. Really odd choice there.

 

Glad it was included: McCabe and Mrs. Miller

What's this doing on the list: Cat Ballou

Replacement Choices: Destry Rides Again, Blazing Saddles, Dances With Wolves, The Magnificent Seven (and plenty more)

 

Sports

National Velvet and Jerry Maguire seem like odd choices. Especially Jerry Maguire which really only uses sport as a backdrop . You could change the sport with little change to the plot.

 

Glad it was included: Caddyshack

What's this doing on the list: Jerry Maguire

Replacement Choices: Slapshot, Chariots of Fire

 

No real issues with the top 8. I think the editors had a little fun with this section as after a bunch of mostly serious clips they led off Caddyshack with Ted Knight getting hit in the groin with a golf ball.

 

Gangster

No surprises at the top. I'm more surprised at the inclusion of DePalma's Scarface than anything else. And Pulp Fiction barely qualifies.

 

Glad it was included: Scarface: Shame of a Nation

What's this doing on the list: Pulp Fiction, Scarface

Replacement Choices: Mean Streets, Donnie Brasco

 

More later.

 

Robert

[JoeHova]

Speaking of this list, did anyone notice Kevin Garnett quote "White Heat" last night after the Celtics won the title? "Made it Ma! Top of the world!"

[pitchleague]

Interesting lists, for sure.

 

I defeated my wife in our "movies that we've actually seen" contest when we watch these shows. 40-37. Boy, we're pitiful.

 

Not surprisingly, she swept animation 10-for-10 and doubly not surprising is that I had seen NONE of the romantic comedies.

 

EDIT: Forgot to mention how many of the clips showed the end of the movies! If you haven't seen the movies but really had wanted to and you happened to be watching, you just had the ending ruined for you. Or if you didn't know that was the ending, some blabber mouth watching with you might spoil it! Can't they find better scenes than the ending of the movies?

 

Sorry for the mini-rant.

[EdgarDiazRocks]

For the life of me, I can't figure out the fascination with Vertigo.

[RobertR]

Leave it to Entertainment Weekly to make AFI look serious and thoughtful. EW's top 100 films of the last 25 years is beyond embarrasing.

 

Getting back to finishing up the list.

 

Mystery

Hitchcock dominating the list isn't surprising, although I'd classify his films more as "suspense" than mystery. What really surprised me about the list was Dial M for Murder being included. I like the film a great deal, but it barely makes it in to the top 10 of Hitchcock's American films and there's no more mystery in it than there is in Strangers on a Train or Shadow of a Doubt or Rebecca.

 

I'm 100% glad that Blue Velvet was chosen. One of my favorites. And I have to get around to watching Laura one of these days.

 

Perhaps the strongest category top to bottom, but I have to ask, where's The Big Sleep?

 

Glad it was included: Blue Velvet

What's this doing on the list: Dial M for Murder

Replacement Choices: The Big Sleep, Strangers on a Train, The Silence of the Lambs

 

Romantic Comedy

No Lubitsch = fail. Even though I'm 100% with the choice of City Lights to top the list. And Sleepless in Seattle? Really? The top 5 are reasonable choices, I'll give them that.

 

Glad it was included: City Lights, Harold and Maude

What's this doing on the list: Sleepless in Seattle, Moonstruck

Replacement Choices: The Shop Around the Corner, Manhattan, The Apartment, Ninotchka, Pillow Talk

 

Courtroom Drama

Is this really a genre? Or at least a genre big enough to be included? Revisionist Western might be a bigger category. Or 50s Sci Fi. And including it as a category over the likes of Musical, Horror, War, or Film Noir is really curious.

 

Is In Cold Blood really a "courtroom drama"? Seems like a general crime movie to me. And A Cry in the Dark seems like a curious choice. I'm a big fan of Meryl Streep, but it seems like more than a little stretch. Especially over a film like Inherit the Wind which actually has some cultural significance. Heck, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is arguably a courtroom drama.

 

The rest of the choices seem fine. I'd recommend that people check out Anatomy of a Murder if they get a chance. Really terrrific movie and Jimmy Stewart and George C. Scott squaring off in court is a real treat. And, for local interest, it's set in the U.P.

 

Glad it was included: Anatomy of a Murder

What's this doing on the list: A Cry in the Dark

Replacement Choices: Inherit the Wind, Philadelphia

 

Epic

Well I can't complain about Lawrence of Arabia topping the list.

 

This really looked like an ill defined category. I'd never have classified Saving Private Ryan as an Epic, let alone one of the 10 greatest epics of all time. Same with All Quiet on the Western Front. Great war movies, especially the latter, but epics? I'd be more apt to call The Bridge on the River Kwai an epic than those war movies. And I'm surprised that Dr. Zhivago was left off. Heck, where's something like Intolerance?

 

I think you could make the argument that this is the worst category on the list.

 

FWIW, I've seen 70 of these movies from beginning to end. And good chunks of at least half a dozen others.

 

Robert