The AFI 100 -- Part II: What To Leave Out
OK, now, here are the movies that I think have no business being on a top 100 list of the best movies ever. Not that I think they're bad, just that if you're going to count down to 100, they'd get crowded out:
11. "City Lights," (1931): There are three Charlie Chaplin films on the list, and that's two too many. I think Chaplin is overrated and aged very badly. The only one that should be on a top 100 list is "Modern Times." I don't dislike "City Lights," but I think it's too sentimental for its own good.
49. "Intolerance," (1916): D.W. Griffith's Ku Klux Klan valentine "Birth of a Nation" was on the original list, but it dropped off and this Griffith film replaced it, in an apparent sign of political correctness. They got it right the first time, sadly. I can't defend the racism in "Nation," but it's a better, more exciting film that "Intolerance," a slow-moving, confusing morality piece that's practially unwatchable today. Better to leave both movies off than to stick an unworthy movie on the list.
58. "The Gold Rush," (1925): The other Chaplin that shouldn't be on the list. I don't dislike it, and it's got some great bits to it, such as him eating his shoe and the dinner roll dance, but it hasn't aged well, certainly not as well as some Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd comedies have. It's maybe 101 or 102, but it shouldn't be this high.
64. "Network," (1976): It was cutting edge 31 years ago, and it certainly was prophetic, but I watched it a year or so ago and now I find it too over the top and preachy. It's got one of the greatest performances ever with Peter Finch as Harold Beale, going completely around the bend and straight to the moon as the cracked-up anchorman. The rest ... not so much.
83. "Titanic," (1997): This one is the easiest to kick off the list. It's entertaining, and for guys with a Kate Winslet fixation such as myself it has the greatest scene in all of cinema history (you know the one I'm talking about). But one of the greatest films of all time? Does one of the greatest films of all time have a loogie-hocking scene? Billy Zane as a villain straight out of "Dudley Do-Right"? Blaming the whole disaster on the lookouts being transfixed by the sight of Rose and Jack kissing? The scene where in the midst of everybody dying and the biggest ship in the world is sinking, Rose tells Jack, "This is where we met"? Nah.
84. "Easy Rider," (1969): I'm sure this meant a lot to voters of a certain age, and it was a revolutionary film. But coming from the generation that grew up after that one, I have to say ... the 1960s are over, folks. This one's overrated. Jack Nicholson's the best thing in the movie, but it's time to let the rest go. I'll give you "The Graduate," but this one ... let it go.
97. "Blade Runner," (1982): Which "Blade Runner" are we talking about here, because if it's the one that actually came out in 1982, it has no business being on this list. The narration by Harrison Ford kills the movie and completely mucks up the ending. If we're talking about one of the several director's cuts that have come out since then, we need to be specific. Until that's cleared up, this has to be eliminated for clarity's sake.
100. "Ben-Hur," (1959): I like "Ben-Hur" a lot, especially after I heard that Gore Vidal wrote the Judah/Masala relationship as if the two were lovers at one point and the reason Masala ruins Judah's life is because he rejected his advances. Gives the whole thing a new context. And through the chariot race it's a great movie. Then ... it drops off the edge. The last hour or so is dull. Deathly dull. Watching ruins crumble to the ground dull. I think the same thing about "Gone With the Wind" after the intermission, but it's got Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh to carry you through. Charlton Heston isn't up to the task.
Next time, the movies I would put in.
11. "City Lights," (1931): There are three Charlie Chaplin films on the list, and that's two too many. I think Chaplin is overrated and aged very badly. The only one that should be on a top 100 list is "Modern Times." I don't dislike "City Lights," but I think it's too sentimental for its own good.
49. "Intolerance," (1916): D.W. Griffith's Ku Klux Klan valentine "Birth of a Nation" was on the original list, but it dropped off and this Griffith film replaced it, in an apparent sign of political correctness. They got it right the first time, sadly. I can't defend the racism in "Nation," but it's a better, more exciting film that "Intolerance," a slow-moving, confusing morality piece that's practially unwatchable today. Better to leave both movies off than to stick an unworthy movie on the list.
58. "The Gold Rush," (1925): The other Chaplin that shouldn't be on the list. I don't dislike it, and it's got some great bits to it, such as him eating his shoe and the dinner roll dance, but it hasn't aged well, certainly not as well as some Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd comedies have. It's maybe 101 or 102, but it shouldn't be this high.
64. "Network," (1976): It was cutting edge 31 years ago, and it certainly was prophetic, but I watched it a year or so ago and now I find it too over the top and preachy. It's got one of the greatest performances ever with Peter Finch as Harold Beale, going completely around the bend and straight to the moon as the cracked-up anchorman. The rest ... not so much.
83. "Titanic," (1997): This one is the easiest to kick off the list. It's entertaining, and for guys with a Kate Winslet fixation such as myself it has the greatest scene in all of cinema history (you know the one I'm talking about). But one of the greatest films of all time? Does one of the greatest films of all time have a loogie-hocking scene? Billy Zane as a villain straight out of "Dudley Do-Right"? Blaming the whole disaster on the lookouts being transfixed by the sight of Rose and Jack kissing? The scene where in the midst of everybody dying and the biggest ship in the world is sinking, Rose tells Jack, "This is where we met"? Nah.
84. "Easy Rider," (1969): I'm sure this meant a lot to voters of a certain age, and it was a revolutionary film. But coming from the generation that grew up after that one, I have to say ... the 1960s are over, folks. This one's overrated. Jack Nicholson's the best thing in the movie, but it's time to let the rest go. I'll give you "The Graduate," but this one ... let it go.
97. "Blade Runner," (1982): Which "Blade Runner" are we talking about here, because if it's the one that actually came out in 1982, it has no business being on this list. The narration by Harrison Ford kills the movie and completely mucks up the ending. If we're talking about one of the several director's cuts that have come out since then, we need to be specific. Until that's cleared up, this has to be eliminated for clarity's sake.
100. "Ben-Hur," (1959): I like "Ben-Hur" a lot, especially after I heard that Gore Vidal wrote the Judah/Masala relationship as if the two were lovers at one point and the reason Masala ruins Judah's life is because he rejected his advances. Gives the whole thing a new context. And through the chariot race it's a great movie. Then ... it drops off the edge. The last hour or so is dull. Deathly dull. Watching ruins crumble to the ground dull. I think the same thing about "Gone With the Wind" after the intermission, but it's got Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh to carry you through. Charlton Heston isn't up to the task.
Next time, the movies I would put in.
posted by T.C. at 10:05 AM
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