Classical music, from Mozart to Stokowski to Gershwin, is out. Except for Verdi, via the Marx Brothers.
Well, there's also Barber's Adaggio For Strings in Platoon, Mascagni's Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana in Raging Bull and Mozart's Letter Duet in The Shawshank Redemption (celebrated in the show, it certainly must rank as one of the cringe-worthiest false scenes in movie history).
"...it is the weak who are cruel, and...gentleness is only to be expected from the strong." - Leo Reston
"Cruelty might be very human, and it might be cultural, but it's not acceptable." - Jodie Foster
most happy to see added to the list: NASHVILLE and THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION
most pissed to see added to the list: THE SIXTH SENSE and IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT
most happy to not see added to the list: RAIN MAN and CRASH
most pissed to not see added to the list: L.A. CONFIDENTIAL and ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND
most happy to see dropped from the list: MY FAIR LADY and AN AMERICAN IN PARIS
most pissed to see dropped from the list: ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT and GIANT
most happy to see not dropped from the list: NETWORK and REAR WINDOW
most pissed to see not dropped from the list: ROCKY and FORREST GUMP
most happy to see rise on the list: RAGING BULL and THE SEARCHERS
most pissed to see rise on the list: ROCKY and UNFORGIVEN
most happy to see fall on the list: BEN HUR and THE AFRICAN QUEEN
most pissed to see fall on the list: BONNIE AND CLYDE and ALL ABOUT EVE
most happy to see not rise on the list: IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT and RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK
most pissed to see not rise on the list: TAXI DRIVER and APOCALYPSE NOW
should be way higher on the list: GOODFELLAS and THE WILD BUNCH
should be way lower on the list: IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE and E.T.
overall, i would say the good outweights the bad. they corrected some mistakes, made a few more, and really thrust RAGING BULL in the spotlight again. i personally think scorsese's trifecta of brilliant cinema (RAGING BULL, GOODFELLAS, and TAXI DRIVER) should always be somewhere in the top 25 of any film list.
someone else already said it, but i agree the first list seemed chosen more from a historical poin of view while this list seems more based on pure enjoyment of cinema.
i will never be able to engage with CITIZEN KANE on a personal level, but i certainly can admire it as an amazing piece of visual storytelling. i suggest all you RAGING BULL haters do the same.
p.s. if you look at the list on wikipedia (as of writing this) someone has replaced CITIZEN KANE with DEEP THROAT as the number one film.
"When it comes to the subject of torture, I trust a woman who was married to James Cameron for three years."
-- Amy Poehler in praise of Zero Dark Thirty director Kathryn Bigelow
I couldn't help myself spending a little time dissecting the list this afternoon (my day off). I matched up each of the new arrivals with a departing title. Some of them are a bit of a stretch, but I don't mind.
D.W. Griffith:
INTOLERANCE (1916) replaces THE BIRTH OF A NATION (1915)
War films from the losing side's POV:
THE GENERAL (1927) replaces ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT (1930)
1927 and the coming of sound:
SUNRISE (1927) replaces THE JAZZ SINGER (1927)
1935 films set partially on ships:
A NIGHT AT THE OPERA (1935) replaces MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY (1935)
George Stevens:
SWING TIME (1936) replaces A PLACE IN THE SUN (1951)
Road movies ca. 1940:
SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS (1942) replaces STAGECOACH (1939)
The juvenile delinquent problem:
12 ANGRY MEN (1957) replaces REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE (1955)
1960s old-fashioned epics:
SPARTACUS (1960) replaces DR. ZHIVAGO (1965)
Mid-1960s films adapted from Broadway:
WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRIGINA WOOLF? (1966) replaces MY FAIR LADY (1964)
Sidney Poitier in 1967:
IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT (1967) replaces GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER (1967)
Texas:
THE LAST PICTURE SHOW (1971) replaces GIANT (1956)
Musicals for Minnelli fans:
CABARET (1972) replaces AN AMERICAN IN PARIS (1951)
Musicals of a different stripe:
NASHVILLE (1975) replaces AMADEUS (1984)
Presidential thrillers:
ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN (1976) replaces THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (1962)
Noir-ish films with Brit-ish directors:
BLADE RUNNER (1982) replaces THE THIRD MAN (1949)
Gloomy romances I haven't seen yet:
SOPHIE'S CHOICE (1982) replaces WUTHERING HEIGHTS (1939)
Race relations in the USA:
DO THE RIGHT THING (1989) replaces DANCES WITH WOLVES (1990)
Mid-1990's darlings:
THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION (1994) replaces FARGO (1996)
Goddamn cartoons:
TOY STORY (1995) replaces FANTASIA (1940)
Locked lips and sinking ships:
TITANIC (1997) replaces FROM HERE TO ETERNITY (1953)
Steven Spielberg:
SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (1998) replaces CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND (1977)
Horror:
THE SIXTH SENSE (1999) replaces FRANKENSTEIN (1931)
Gigantic war epics:
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING (2001) replaces PATTON (1970)
Some general observations from these comparisons:
Comedy fared better. Westerns fared worse.
Classical music, from Mozart to Stokowski to Gershwin, is out. Except for Verdi, via the Marx Brothers.
Spike Lee and M. Night Shyamalan prove directors with films on this list don't have to be white males anymore. But if they are, it's sure helpful for them to be named Alan Pakula.
Then there's the gay or bisexual directors. Bye bye Nicholas Ray, Vincente Minnelli, and James Whale. Hello F.W. Murnau, you join John Schlesinger and George Cukor, both of whom remain on the list (though Cukor's now down to one film).
Kubrick, by adding SPARTACUS to his other three AFI 100 titles, now ties Spielberg as the director with the biggest slice of the list to himself. But Spielberg's titles are ranked higher (8, 24, 66, 71) than Kubrick's (15, 39, 70, 81).
No, THE GENERAL had its L.A. premiere in late 1926, and was apparantly not considered for awards that first year, whether because of eligibility issues or simply because it was consdered a flop. Anyway, it's not listed in Inside Oscar alongside also-rans from the first Oscar year (METROPOLIS, A GIRL IN EVERY PORT, LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT, etc.)
I just finished watching my TiVo copy of the special, and have to agree that the AFI has put together their best list yet. There are still some weak spots (Shawshank Redemption? Forrest Gump? Rocky?), but they got rid of quite a few weaker choices from last time with some fabulous additions (esp. The General, Cabaret, Do the Right Thing and Nashville...all three of which were painfully left off last time).
I have a soft spot for these AFI lists because the first one came out just as I was starting to discover the world of "classic" film (i.e. movies made before 1990) not made by Steven Spielberg or George Lucas. I used the AFI list as my template (I had seen 14 of them when the list came out), and over the next couple of years finished off all 100. While that meant I had to sit through some dreck, it also led me to discover films of John Ford, Hitchcock, Chaplin, Jimmy Stewart, Humphrey Bogart and Vincente Minnelli for the first time, all of whom have become favorites of mine. If this list means there is another 16 year old out there who will now watch The Searchers, Annie Hall, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Nashville or even Citizen Kane for the first time, this list is worth it.
"Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good."
- Minor Myers, Jr.
Big Magilla wrote:My Fair Lady, An American in Paris and Fantasia may be gone, but they have been replaced by Cabaret, Nashville and Swing Time.
In terms of trades, that ranks with Ernie Broglio for Lou Brock as one of the most lopsided of all time -- a bunch of white elephants (almost literally, in Fantasia's case) for three all-time greats.
Mister Tee wrote:Many of the big droppers and outright off-the-list-ers belong to the utterly impersonal, why do people like this so much? category, and alot of the additions are personal favorites (Nashville, Cabaret and Sunrise, most notably).
I suspect the reason is the recent popularity of DVD.
Yes, more people are discovering films since the advent of DVD. I take heart that my ten year old nephew's favorite film, after Beauty and the Beast, is Duck Soup which I showed him for the first time.
Some supposed film historian opined that the new list does a dis-serivce to musicals. I disagree. My Fair Lady, An American in Paris and Fantasia may be gone, but they have been replaced by Cabaret, Nashville and Swing Time. The Sound of Music moved up 15 points and Singin' in the Rain has entered the top five.
Larry, I suspect Touch of Evil, Blue Velvet and Notorious are lurking near the top 100. I, too, was surprised (shocked?) to see The Third Man dropped. I suspose the fact that it is ranked as the number one British film in Britain gave pause to some of the voters though they had no problem considering Lawrence of Arabia, The Bridge on the River Kwai and A Clockwork Orange as American films.
I'm baffled once again that Touch of Evil, Blue Velvet, and Notorious have been left off the list. And when I look at some of the films that made it ahead of these films (All the President's Men? Sophie's Choice? 12 Angry Men?), it leaves me even more confused.
Most disappointing omission: I'd say The Third Man, if it weren't primary a British film. So I'll go with The Manchurian Candidate.
Most delightful omission: Birth of a Nation. For obvious reasons. It had its recognition (along with Jazz Singer) for its place in history. But this time around the list was a little more about quality of content.
Most disappointing addition: The Sixth Sense. Even though I dislike them, I understand why Titanic and Forrest Gump made the list. But with The Sixth Sense -- even though it's a good film, I didn't think anyone was interested in anointing it a classic. Now or ever.
Most delightful addition: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is probably the best stage-to-screen adaptations ever. I am constantly in awe of how Mike Nichols and that cast of four were able to elevate that screenplay into one of the most intense dramas ever made.
Mister Tee wrote:Many of the big droppers and outright off-the-list-ers belong to the utterly impersonal, why do people like this so much? category, and alot of the additions are personal favorites (Nashville, Cabaret and Sunrise, most notably).
I suspect the reason is the recent popularity of DVD.
Here's a list of the AFI 100 films and all the various Oscars they've won. I've no idea if this will tell us anything, but I hope it will be interesting. At the very least, it should be useful for reference. An asterisk denotes a Best Picture winner:
1 CITIZEN KANE 1941
Best Screenplay
*2 THE GODFATHER 1972
Best Picture
Best Actor (Marlon Brando)
Best Screenplay
*3 CASABLANCA 1942
Best Picture
Best Director
Best Screenplay
4 RAGING BULL 1980
Best Actor (Robert DeNiro)
Best Editing
5 SINGIN' IN THE RAIN 1952
No Oscars
*6 GONE WITH THE WIND 1939
Best Picture
Best Director
Best Actress (Vivien Leigh)
Best Supporting Actress (Hattie McDaniel)
Best Screenplay
Best Cinematography
Best Editing
Best Art Direction
Thalberg Award (Selznick)
Honorary Oscar (William Cameron Menzies - Color design)
Technical Achievement (R.D. Musgrave)
*7 LAWRENCE OF ARABIA 1962
Best Picture
Best Director
Best Cinematography
Best Editing
Best Score
Best Art Direction
Best Sound
*8 SCHINDLER'S LIST 1993
Best Picture
Best Director
Best Screenplay
Best Cinematography
Best Editing
Best Score
Best Art Direction
9 VERTIGO 1958
No Oscars
10 THE WIZARD OF OZ 1939
Best Score
Best Song ("Over the Rainbow")
11 CITY LIGHTS 1931
No nominations
12 THE SEARCHERS 1956
No nominations
13 STAR WARS 1977
Best Score
Best Art Direction
Best Costume Design
Best Sound
Best Visual Effects
14 PSYCHO 1960
No Oscars
15 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY 1968
Best Visual Effects
16 SUNSET BLVD. 1950
Best Screenplay
Best Score
Best Art Direction
17 THE GRADUATE 1967
Best Director
18 THE GENERAL 1927
Preceded the Academy Awards
*19 ON THE WATERFRONT 1954
Best Picture
Best Director
Best Actor (Marlon Brando)
Best Supporting Actress (Eva Marie Saint)
Best Screenplay
Best Cinematography
Best Art Direction
20 IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE 1946
No Oscars
21 CHINATOWN 1974
Best Screenplay
22 SOME LIKE IT HOT 1959
Best Costume Design
23 THE GRAPES OF WRATH 1940
Best Director
Best Supporting Actress (Jane Darwell)
24 E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL 1982
Best Score
Best Sound
Best Visual Effects
Best Sound Effects Editing
25 TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD 1962
Best Actor (Gregory Peck)
Best Screenplay
Best Art Direction
26 MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON 1939
Best Original Story
27 HIGH NOON 1952
Best Actor (Gary Cooper)
Best Score
Best Song ("Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darling")
Best Editing
*28 ALL ABOUT EVE 1950
Best Picture
Best Director
Best Supporting Actor (George Sanders)
Best Screenplay
Best Costume Design
29 DOUBLE INDEMNITY 1944
No Oscars
30 APOCALYPSE NOW 1979
Best Cinematography
Best Sound
31 THE MALTESE FALCON 1941
No Oscars
*32 THE GODFATHER PART II 1974
Best Picture
Best Director
Best Supporting Actor (Robert DeNiro)
Best Screenplay
Best Score
Best Art Direction
*33 ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST 1975
Best Picture
Best Director
Best Actor (Jack Nicholson)
Best Supporting Actress (Louise Fletcher)
Best Screenplay
34 SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS 1937
Honorary Oscar
*35 ANNIE HALL 1977
Best Picture
Best Director
Best Actress (Diane Keaton)
Best Screenplay
*36 THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI 1957
Best Picture
Best Director
Best Actor (Alec Guinness)
Best Screenplay
Best Cinematography
Best Editing
Best Score
*37 THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES 1946
Best Picture
Best Director
Best Actor (Frederick March)
Best Supporting Actor (Harold Russell)
Best Screenplay
Best Score
38 THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE 1948
Best Director
Best Supporting Actor (Walter Huston)
Best Screenplay
39 DR. STRANGELOVE 1964
No Oscars
*40 THE SOUND OF MUSIC 1965
Best Picture
Best Director
Best Sound
Best Adapted Score
Best Sound
41 KING KONG 1933
No nominations
42 BONNIE AND CLYDE 1967
Best Supporting Actress (Estelle Parsons)
Best Cinematography
*43 MIDNIGHT COWBOY 1969
Best Picture
Best Director
Best Screenplay
44 THE PHILADELPHIA STORY 1940
Best Actor (James Stewart)
Best Screenplay
45 SHANE 1953
Best Cinematography
*46 IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT 1934
Best Picture
Best Director
Best Actor (Clark Gable)
Best Actress (Claudette Colbert)
Best Screenplay
47 A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE 1951
Best Actress (Vivian Leigh)
Best Supporting Actor (Karl Malden)
Best Supporting Actress (Kim Hunter)
48 REAR WINDOW 1954
No Oscars
49 INTOLERANCE 1916
Preceded the Academy Awards
50 THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING 2001
Best Cinematography
Best Visual Effects
Best Makeup
Best Score
*51 WEST SIDE STORY 1961
Best Picture
Best Director
Best Supporting Actor (George Chakiris)
Best Supporting Actor (Rita Moreno)
Best Cinematography
Best Editing
Best Score
Best Costume Design
Best Sound
52 TAXI DRIVER 1976
No Oscars
*53 THE DEER HUNTER 1978
Best Picture
Best Director
Best Supporting Actor (Christopher Walken)
Best Editing
Best Sound
54 M*A*S*H 1970
Best Screenplay
55 NORTH BY NORTHWEST 1959
No Oscars
56 JAWS 1975
Best Editing
Best Score
Best Sound
*57 ROCKY 1976
Best Picture
Best Director
Best Editing
58 THE GOLD RUSH 1925
Preceded the Academy Awards
59 NASHVILLE 1975
Best Song ("I'm Easy")
60 DUCK SOUP 1933
No nominations
61 SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS 1941
No nominations
62 AMERICAN GRAFFITI 1973
No Oscars
63 CABARET 1972
Best Director
Best Actress (Liza Minelli)
Best Supporting Actor (Joel Grey)
Best Art Direction
Best Cinematography
Best Editing
Best Song Score
64 NETWORK 1976
Best Actor (Peter Finch)
Best Actress (Faye Dunaway)
Best Supporting Actress (Beatrice Straight)
Best Screenplay
65 THE AFRICAN QUEEN 1951
Best Actor (Humphrey Bogart)
66 RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK 1981
Best Art Direction
Best Visual Effects
Best Editing
Best Sound
67 WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? 1966
Best Actress (Elizabeth Taylor)
Best Supporting Actress (Sandy Dennis)
Best Art Direction
Best Cinematography
Best Costume Design
*68 UNFORGIVEN 1992
Best Picture
Best Director
Best Supporting Actor (Gene Hackman)
Best Editing
69 TOOTSIE 1982
Best Supporting Actress (Jessica Lange)
70 A CLOCKWORK ORANGE 1971
No Oscars
71 SAVING PRIVATE RYAN 1998
Best Director
Best Cinematography
Best Sound
Best Sound Effects Editing
Best Editing
72 THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION 1994
No Oscars
73 BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID 1969
Best Screenplay
Best Cinematography
Best Score
Best Song ("Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head")
*74 THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS 1991
Best Picture
Best Director
Best Actor (Antony Hopkins)
Best Actress (Jodi Foster)
Best Screenplay
*75 IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT 1967
Best Picture
Best Actor (Rod Steiger)
Best Screenplay
Best Editing
Best Sound
*76 FORREST GUMP 1994
Best Picture
Best Director
Best Actor (Tom Hanks)
Best Screenplay
Best Visual Effects
Best Editing
77 ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN 1976
Best Supporting Actor (Jason Robards)
Best Screenplay
Best Art Direction
Best Sound
78 MODERN TIMES 1936
No nominations
79 THE WILD BUNCH 1969
No Oscars
*80 THE APARTMENT 1960
Best Picture
Best Director
Best Screenplay
Best Art Direction
Best Set Direction
81 SPARTACUS 1960
Best Supporting Actor (Peter Ustinov)
Best Art Direction
Best Costume Design
Best Cinematography
82 SUNRISE 1927
Best Artistic Production
Best Actress (Janet Gaynor)
Best Cinematography
*83 TITANIC 1997
Best Picture
Best Director
Best Art Direction
Best Cinematography
Best Costume Design
Best Sound
Best Sound Effects Editing
Best Visual Effects
Best Editing
Best Score
Best Song ("My Heart Will Go On")
84 EASY RIDER 1969
No Oscars
85 A NIGHT AT THE OPERA 1935
No nominations
*86 PLATOON 1986
Best Picture
Best Director
Best Editing
Best Sound
87 12 ANGRY MEN 1957
No Oscars
88 BRINGING UP BABY 1938
No nominations
89 THE SIXTH SENSE 1999
No Oscars
90 SWING TIME 1936
Best Song ("The Way You Look Tonight")
91 SOPHIE'S CHOICE 1982
Best Actress (Meryl Streep)
92 GOODFELLAS 1990
Best Supporting Actor (Joe Pesci)
*93 THE FRENCH CONNECTION 1971
Best Picture
Best Director
Best Actor (Gene Hackman)
Best Screenplay
Best Editing
94 PULP FICTION 1994
Best Screenplay
95 THE LAST PICTURE SHOW 1971
Best Supporting Actor (Ben Johnson)
Best Supporting Actress (Cloris Leachman)
96 DO THE RIGHT THING 1989
No Oscars
97 BLADE RUNNER 1982
No Oscars
98 YANKEE DOODLE DANDY 1942
Best Actor (James Cagney)
Best Score
Best Sound
99 TOY STORY 1995
Special Achievement Award (John Lasseter)
*100 BEN-HUR 1959
Best Picture
Best Director
Best Actor (Charlton Heston)
Best Supporting Actor (Hugh Griffith)
Best Art Direction
Best Cinematography
Best Costume Design
Best Visual Effects
Best Editing
Best Score
Best Sound
Many of the big droppers and outright off-the-list-ers belong to the utterly impersonal, why do people like this so much? category, and alot of the additions are personal favorites (Nashville, Cabaret and Sunrise, most notably). But I do lament the omission of The Third Man, The Manchurian Candidate, and, though it's not on an esthetic par with those, From Here to Eternity.
I've long argued that Raging Bull was perfectly well appreciated in 1980 -- it was considered among the better offerings of a mostly dismal year, and managed to win one critics' prize, LA (though even they chose Polanski as best director. It was in 1989, when critics looked back at the wasteland that had been 80s cinema, that the film came to be egregiously overrated. Siskel & Ebert, unsurprisingly, led the pack in proclaiming it the decade's best film, and many fell in line with surprisingly un-vigorous debate. My feeling was, the passage of a decade (the worst for American film ever), and memories that over-emphasized the film's technical prowess while glossing over its narrative shortcomings, led to this never-really-challenged elevation of Raging Bull to the pantheon.
As I say, I thought 1980 was a crap year, worse than any in the 70s (though 1985 later gave it a run for irs money). The only film that really excited me all year was Schlondorff's The Tin Drum. Of the Academy-eligible films, I like Lynch's The Elephant Man the best, and The Stunt Man after that, but both with significant reservations. So, the Raging Bull or Ordinary People debate has always struck me irrelevant and uninteresting (the same with Gump/Pulp Fiction and Pvt. Ryan/Shakespeare in Love -- give me Nobody's Fool and The Butcher Boy in those respective years).
