The AFI 100 -- Part III: What To Put In
All right, I've dropped eight movies from the list. What would I put in to take their places?
Let's start with two movies that dropped off the list that shouldn't have dropped off the list:
The Third Man (1949)
"Don't be so gloomy. After all it's not that awful. Like the fella says, in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock. So long Holly." -- Harry Lime
The best Orson Welles movie not directed by Orson Welles (and maybe even by him, though no one seems sure). When you watch it, you're transported to a specific time (right after World War II), a specific place (Vienna) and a specific mindset (trust no one). It's the most egregious omission on the list.
Fargo (1996)
"So that was Mrs. Lundegaard on the floor in there. And I guess that was your accomplice in the wood chipper. And those three people in Brainerd. And for what? For a little bit of money. There's more to life than a little money, you know. Don't you know that? And here ya are, and it's a beautiful day. Well, I just don't understand it." -- Marge Gunderson
The Coen brothers must have at least one movie on this list. "O Brother, Where Are Thou?" "The Big Lebowski" and "Raising Arizona" would easily be in my top 200 list. But as for their best, it's clearly "Fargo." The Coens sometimes get so involved in making a technically perfect movie that sometimes they don't put as much heart into it as they should ("Hudsucker Proxy," I'm looking at you). "Fargo" has a great big pregnant beating heart named Marge in it. So while Steve Buscemi and William H. Macy's characters dredge the bottom of humanity and greed, Frances McDormand's Marge not only solves the crime, but asks the question we all want to ask those who step outside the lines to cheat and harm their fellow humans: "There's more to life than a little money, you know. Don't you know that?"
That leaves me six spots to fill.
"The Right Stuff" (1983): The only flaw I've ever found in this movie is there isn't anything for Deke Slayton, Wally Schirra and Scott Carpenter to do. I guess something had to give so they could spend time on Chuck Yeager, but this is supposed to be about the Mercury 7, so I feel slighted by not getting to know them all. Aside from that, this is the quintessential American movie. Envelopes are pushed, males bond, things go fast, things go boom ... why this movie doesn't have a bigger following has always surprised me.
"The Empire Strikes Back" (1980): If you're going to put "Star Wars" on the list, you have to put "Empire," because it's a better movie, period. The characters are more developed, the acting is better, the action is well done. If you can give two slots to the "Godfather" films, you can give two to "Star Wars."
"The Quiet Man" (1952): How did this get left off this year and in 1998? Come to think of it, there's only two John Ford movies on the list, "The Searchers" and "The Grapes of Wrath," Now, I admire those two as much as the next guy, but come on. "The Quiet Man" has more humanity than "The Searchers." It's got John Wayne's best acting in it AND a great fight scene. I can also make arguments that "She Wore A Yellow Ribbon," "The Man Who Shot Liberty Vallance" and "Stagecoach" belong in the top 100, but I'll try not to get carried away. Let's just point out that John Ford won more directing Oscars than anyone else and leave it at that.
"The Ten Commandments" (1956): I'll swap this in for "Ben Hur." It's cheesy and the dialogue is so far over the top you need a ladder to reach some of it ("Oh Moses, Moses, you stubborn, splendid, adorable fool!"), but you gotta give it this: It's never boring.
"The Matrix" (1999): The sequels sucked, no doubt. But since the point of the last two movies seemed to be that the Matrix had started over several times before and Neo kept showing up, that means it could happen again, with a different (and hopefully, more conclusive and less confusing) ending. In the meantime, the first one stands on its own. It's revolutionary in its special effects and storytelling, and the kick you get when you start thinking, "Hmm ... if I were living in the Matrix right now, would I be able to tell?" remains.
"Sherlock Jr." (1924): There's as much invention and creativity in this 44-minute film than in all of "The Matrix." I think the AFI voters were so busy trying to squeeze Charlie Chaplin movies in they forgot about this one.
Now I'll start working on my top 100. Considering there's 10 movies on the list that I can't honestly judge, I will presume at least five of them would make the list if I saw them in their entirety. That gives me five more spots to play with.
Check back soon.
Let's start with two movies that dropped off the list that shouldn't have dropped off the list:
The Third Man (1949)
"Don't be so gloomy. After all it's not that awful. Like the fella says, in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock. So long Holly." -- Harry Lime
The best Orson Welles movie not directed by Orson Welles (and maybe even by him, though no one seems sure). When you watch it, you're transported to a specific time (right after World War II), a specific place (Vienna) and a specific mindset (trust no one). It's the most egregious omission on the list.
Fargo (1996)
"So that was Mrs. Lundegaard on the floor in there. And I guess that was your accomplice in the wood chipper. And those three people in Brainerd. And for what? For a little bit of money. There's more to life than a little money, you know. Don't you know that? And here ya are, and it's a beautiful day. Well, I just don't understand it." -- Marge Gunderson
The Coen brothers must have at least one movie on this list. "O Brother, Where Are Thou?" "The Big Lebowski" and "Raising Arizona" would easily be in my top 200 list. But as for their best, it's clearly "Fargo." The Coens sometimes get so involved in making a technically perfect movie that sometimes they don't put as much heart into it as they should ("Hudsucker Proxy," I'm looking at you). "Fargo" has a great big pregnant beating heart named Marge in it. So while Steve Buscemi and William H. Macy's characters dredge the bottom of humanity and greed, Frances McDormand's Marge not only solves the crime, but asks the question we all want to ask those who step outside the lines to cheat and harm their fellow humans: "There's more to life than a little money, you know. Don't you know that?"
That leaves me six spots to fill.
"The Right Stuff" (1983): The only flaw I've ever found in this movie is there isn't anything for Deke Slayton, Wally Schirra and Scott Carpenter to do. I guess something had to give so they could spend time on Chuck Yeager, but this is supposed to be about the Mercury 7, so I feel slighted by not getting to know them all. Aside from that, this is the quintessential American movie. Envelopes are pushed, males bond, things go fast, things go boom ... why this movie doesn't have a bigger following has always surprised me.
"The Empire Strikes Back" (1980): If you're going to put "Star Wars" on the list, you have to put "Empire," because it's a better movie, period. The characters are more developed, the acting is better, the action is well done. If you can give two slots to the "Godfather" films, you can give two to "Star Wars."
"The Quiet Man" (1952): How did this get left off this year and in 1998? Come to think of it, there's only two John Ford movies on the list, "The Searchers" and "The Grapes of Wrath," Now, I admire those two as much as the next guy, but come on. "The Quiet Man" has more humanity than "The Searchers." It's got John Wayne's best acting in it AND a great fight scene. I can also make arguments that "She Wore A Yellow Ribbon," "The Man Who Shot Liberty Vallance" and "Stagecoach" belong in the top 100, but I'll try not to get carried away. Let's just point out that John Ford won more directing Oscars than anyone else and leave it at that.
"The Ten Commandments" (1956): I'll swap this in for "Ben Hur." It's cheesy and the dialogue is so far over the top you need a ladder to reach some of it ("Oh Moses, Moses, you stubborn, splendid, adorable fool!"), but you gotta give it this: It's never boring.
"The Matrix" (1999): The sequels sucked, no doubt. But since the point of the last two movies seemed to be that the Matrix had started over several times before and Neo kept showing up, that means it could happen again, with a different (and hopefully, more conclusive and less confusing) ending. In the meantime, the first one stands on its own. It's revolutionary in its special effects and storytelling, and the kick you get when you start thinking, "Hmm ... if I were living in the Matrix right now, would I be able to tell?" remains.
"Sherlock Jr." (1924): There's as much invention and creativity in this 44-minute film than in all of "The Matrix." I think the AFI voters were so busy trying to squeeze Charlie Chaplin movies in they forgot about this one.
Now I'll start working on my top 100. Considering there's 10 movies on the list that I can't honestly judge, I will presume at least five of them would make the list if I saw them in their entirety. That gives me five more spots to play with.
Check back soon.
posted by T.C. at 2:53 PM
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