So finally, after about a year, I have now seen every movie on AFI's list of the 100 greatest movies (view the completed checklist here). The reason I did this was to discover great movies I would never otherwise watch, and in that aspect this list was very helpful.

I sat here for a few minutes and thought, 'Why not rearrange these into a top 100 of MY picking?' I began doing so, and after about twenty movies I had to stop because there's so many fantastic movies on this list it's literally impossible to rank them against each other fairly. How do you compare 'Vertigo' to 'The Searchers?' They're two completely different movies. 'Singin' in the Rain' versus 'The Maltese Falcon.' Two very different genres, yet they're both probably the best of the best within those areas.

Which movie do you rank higher -- the innovative movie that set the bar for a whole movement, or the movie that perfected those elements a few years later? Each movie is unique and special by its own criteria.

For that reason, I will instead split the movies into three categories. The first category will be 'Perfect Movies.' These will be movies that should be on everyone's must-see list. They age like wine. Their importance to film cannot possibly be understated.

So, the Perfect Movies list (in alphabetical order):

12 Angry Men (1957)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
All About Eve (1950)
Annie Hall (1977)
The Apartment (1960)
Apocalypse Now (1979)
Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
Casablanca (1942)
Chinatown (1974)
Citizen Kane (1941)
City Lights (1931)
The Deer Hunter (1978)
Double Indemnity (1944)
Dr. Strangelove (1964)
The General (1927)
The Godfather (1972)
The Godfather, Part II (1974)
Gone With the Wind (1939)
The Graduate (1967)
It Happened One Night (1934)
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
Jaws (1975)
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
M*A*S*H (1970)
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
Network (1976)
On the Waterfront (1954)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
The Philadelphia Story (1940)
Psycho (1960)
Raging Bull (1980)
Rear Window (1954)
Rocky (1976)
Schindler's List (1993)
The Searchers (1956)
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Singin' in the Rain (1952)
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
Some Like It Hot (1959)
Star Wars (1977)
A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
Sunset Boulevard (1950)
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Vertigo (1958)


Next, I guess would be 'Great Movies.' These are the movies that should also not be ignored. They probably rank around a 4.5/5 rating, and definitely not below a 4/5. There are two reasons a movie may fall here. The first is that while some of these movies are loved by a majority of movie historians/film critics, they just don't hit me like the best of them. I understand why some of these movies are great, and while I learned things from watching them, they just don't do it for me. The second reason may just be that the movie is very solid (i.e. 'King Kong'), but I mean it's still maybe only a 9/10. It doesn't have that little extra thing that separates goodness from greatness.

Here's the Great Movies list:

All the President's Men (1976)
The African Queen (1951)
Ben-Hur (1959)
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
Bringing Up Baby (1938)
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
Duck Soup (1933)
Easy Rider (1969)
E.T. -- The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
The French Connection (1971)
The Gold Rush (1925)
Goodfellas (1990)
The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
High Noon (1952)
In the Heat of the Night (1967)
Intolerance (1916)
King Kong (1933)
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
Midnight Cowboy (1969)
Modern Times (1936)
Nashville (1975)
North by Northwest (1959)
Platoon (1986)
Pulp Fiction (1994)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Shane (1953)
Sophie's Choice (1982)
The Sound of Music (1965)
Sunrise (1927)
Swing Time (1936)
Taxi Driver (1976)
Titanic (1997)
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
Tootsie (1982)
Toy Story (1995)
Unforgiven (1992)
West Side Story (1961)
The Wild Bunch (1969)

And last, I'll have the 'Other List.' This list will be movies that I either did not enjoy at all, I don't think were very culturally important (or, were done better in other ways in other movies), or I think should just be completely off the list. And if those three aren't enough, it may be that I am annoyed these movies are on the list, but great movies like 'Amadeus' and 'Fargo' were cut. So here's the Other List:

American Graffiti (1973)
Blade Runner (1982)
Cabaret (1972)
Do the Right Thing (1989)
Forrest Gump (1994)
The Last Picture Show (1971)
A Night at the Opera (1935)
The Sixth Sense (1999)
Spartacus (1960)
Sullivan's Travels (1941)
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)


These lists are really hard, as I was saying. I know some people who would kill me for having 'High Noon' and 'Taxi Driver' and 'Lawrence of Arabia' not under perfection. But what's the point in making a list like this if I'm not completely honest? I can go around all day telling you why 'The Grapes of Wrath' was a great movie, but if I don't love it, why should I pretend to?

Yet on the other hand, I really enjoy watching 'All the President's Men' and 'Butch Cassidy' and 'Pulp Fiction,' but I would feel like I'm toying with my standards if I grouped them with 'Some Like It Hot.'

And it's hard to clump everything into three groups like this. Of course I love 'All About Eve' a lot more than '12 Angry Men,' and while 'Eve' is probably the better movie, they're both great and enjoyable. Hell, I liked 'Swing Time' more than 'The Searchers,' but I know 'Swing Time' isn't the better movie.

But with that said, I also can't help somewhat contradicting myself. If I had to pick only ten from this list to be a 'Top 10,' in alphabetical order, they would be...

All About Eve
Annie Hall
The Apartment
Casablanca
Citizen Kane
Dr. Strangelove
The Godfather
It's a Wonderful Life
Psycho
The Wizard of Oz

There. There it is. Be happy.

Honestly, I recommend everyone tries to see at least half the AFI list. You'll learn so much and be entertained. What can be better than that?

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It's been a while so I feel obligated to post something. I've been pretty busy.

I've hit 90 movies on my quest to see all of AFI's 100 Movies. Getting close.

Also been writing quite a bit and forming plot ideas in my head. Not reading as much as I need to, but hey, whatever....

Yesterday I watched Swing Time, which was great. Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers are about as good as it gets. But then today in my History of Motion Pictures class we watched Singin' in the Rain, so now I'm really uppity and want to dance everywhere I go. Of course that won't happen outside the privacy of my own home, but it's fun to think about.

I ordered Purple Rose of Cairo online today because I couldn't find it anywhere. I also need to buy, Match Point, It Happened One Night, Children of Men, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, and 2001. If only I was rich.

Marlon Brando is the greatest actor of all time, but Jimmy Stewart is still my favorite.

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Oh man, so AFI finally redid their 100 movies list! I haven't looked at it yet, but I've been on a quest to see them all. Right now I'm at 82 (see the old list here).

I had a long post here ranting about movies I like being dropped numerous spots to make way for inferior movies, but things like that aren't ever good. Sure, American Beauty was snubbed and movies like Forrest Gump, which shouldn't be anywhere near that list, remain, but what can you do? Fargo being kicked is very, very sad.

I like the first list a lot better. Oh well, time to tally.

80. So I lose 2 movies. Still, what a terrible new list. Ten years from now until they fix it...

Oh, you can check the full list on the AFI site but you have to log in, so do it here.

And courtesy of some people at AwardsDaily, here's a couple lists:

All the movies that are NEW:

18 The General (1927)
49 Intolerance (1916)
50 Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
59 Nashville (1975)
61 Sullivan’s Travels (1941)
63 Cabaret (1972)
67 Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
71 Saving Private Ryan (1998)
72 The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
75 In the Heat of the Night (1967)
77 All the President’s Men (1976)
81 Spartacus (1960)
82 Sunrise (1927)
83 Titanic (1997)
85 A Night at the Opera (1935)
87 12 Angry Men (1957)
89 The Sixth Sense (1999)
90 Swing Time (1936)
91 Sophie’s Choice (1982)
95 The Last Picture Show (1971)
96 Do the Right Thing (1989)
97 Blade Runner (1982)
99 Toy Story (1995)

All the movies that have been DROPPED:

(39) Doctor Zhivago (1965)
(44) The Birth of a Nation (1915)
(52) From Here to Eternity (1953)
(53) Amadeus (1984)
(54) All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
(57) The Third Man (1949)
(58) Fantasia (1940)
(59) Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
(63) Stagecoach (1939)
(64) Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
(67) The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
(68) An American in Paris (1951)
(73) Wuthering Heights (1939)
(75) Dances With Wolves (1990)
(82) Giant (1956)
(84) Fargo (1996)
(86) Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
(87) Frankenstein (1931)
(89) Patton (1970)
(90) The Jazz Singer (1927)
(91) My Fair Lady (1964)
(92) A Place in the Sun (1951)
(99) Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner (1967)

Sad they went: My Fair Lady, Amadeus, Fargo, Manchurian Candidate, Fantasia.
Glad they joined: Shawshank Redemption, 12 Angry Men ... and that's it.

I'll have to just make my own damn list.

Edit: And as one last note, why is LotR: Fellowship on there, and not LotR: Return of the King? The third was a much better movie....

Okay, and here's my new list:

AFI 100 Movies. I got some movies to watch.

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So when I was in Vegas, I learned that supposedly AFI also did the 100 best movie posters. Here's a site where you can see them all:

moviegoods.com

I haven't seen a number of these, actually... Well, here's some of my favorite posters from this list (emphasis on 'posters,' with the quality of the movie having no weight). Also, ignore the terrible MovieGoods logo, I guess.

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Wow, I haven't mentioned movies in three posts. That must be some kind of record.

I went and saw Grindhouse again, and it was even better than the first time. Still think Planet Terror was the better of the two, but I enjoyed Death Proof a lot more during round two.

I watched The Godfather earlier today. That movie only gets better with subsequent viewings, though this time I noticed something freaking weird. During the funeral, when Al Pacino stands up and sits down, there's some woman's face that randomly appears in the bottom right of the screen. After some research, it's his mother, and is because of some lens reflecting or whatever. Odd...

The Queen comes out on DVD Tuesday and I'm excited.

I've been slacking on the viewings, but here's some lightning reviews:

Mutiny on the Bounty - Gable is obviously amazing, and this movie is obviously great as well. I almost want to see the remake with Brando, but who knows if I ever will (probably will). 8.5/10
Modern Times - Charlie Chaplin is also, obviously, amazing. 9/10
Volver - Almodovar disappoints with his most recent. Penelope Cruz delivers, but it's not enough. 6/10
Top Hat - Fred Astaire? Ginger Rogers? I actually kind of want to buy this movie.... 8/10
Scoop - Woody Allen's latest is terrible, I'm sad to say.... wait, I already reviewed this one. Ok, guess I can stop now.

Slowly chipping away at AFI's 100... though they're updating it soon. I wish they'd hurry up and do that so Toy Story and American Beauty and LotR3 and maybe a few others can bump some of the ones I'm dreading. I'm also looking for an All About Eve bump up, fingers crossed. Why do I place so much on this list? AFI isn't really that great (especially since they didn't put The Departed in their Top Ten of 2007). I think their list is just the best overall. Maybe once I finish the whole list I'll reorder it. Yeah, I get that bored. It's fun to think about, though...

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The semester has been winding down, and this week is finals week. I have two tests on Friday, and both are pretty important (obviously?). I also have a DVD buying addiction, and have these movies in my possession, still unopened: Being John Malkovich, Amelie, and Cabin Fever.

Now, I've seen BJM and Amelie before, but not Cabin Fever. I bought it because it was like $4.50 at Wal Mart, and I kind of wanted to see it, and I figured that was close to the price of renting it anyway. So what does all this have to do with anything?

Tonight at about ten o'clock, since I'm doing all my studying tomorrow, I figured I'd finally get around to watching Cabin Fever. But then at around eleven, one of my friends said I should come to the library to study. I did. So in conclusion, I'm anticipating Cabin Fever to be so bad that I'd rather study than sit through its 90 minute runtime, even though I did buy it. Maybe it will be one of those things I always say I'll do, but never actually do.

In other very important news (so important that it's at the bottom of my post...), today I've reached somewhat of a milestone in my movie viewing quest. I've now seen 66/100 of AFI's 100 Greatest Movies (you can see my checklist here). That's two-thirds down (I round decimals down, shut the fuck up), one-third to go.

Most recent viewing: 'My Fair Lady'
Rating: 9/10
Notes: Yay Audrey Hepburn, though I got sick of her Dad pretty fast. Some pretty catchy songs, too. Also, some scenes dragged on a bit too long, but it gives time to take in the amazing costumes and scenery, so it's all right.

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Some Like It Hot IMDb

AFI voted it the #1 comedy of all time... I don't know about that, but there are many laughs to be had while watching this classic. Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis do outstanding jobs as the cross-dressing band members, and the scenes with Curtis playing 'Junior' are some of the funniest I have ever witnessed. I'm talking 'Peter Sellers as Jacques Clouseau in "A Shot in the Dark" and "The Pink Panther"' funny. Definitely the highlights of this movie.

Aside from those two, Marilyn Monroe, as expected, is gorgeous - playing the 'not very bright' girl perfectly (probably because it's true?).

Ok, I'm short on time. I might edit this later with more (but probably not). But seriously, if you can find a copy (I now have one, so yay), see this movie.

Rating: 9/10

Edit 9/2/08: 9/10? What was I thinking? This movie is a definite 10/10, and one of the few films that no matter how I feel, I know will always cheer me up.

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