AFI Update

[Greg]

I'm waiting for AFI to celebrate the porn industry with "100 Years. . . 100 Genital Piercings."

[Eric]

Bump.

[Big Magilla]

I thought we would have to wait until Ira Gershwin's widow died for Porgy and Bess to make it to DVD.

Didn't the Widow Gershwin die a number of years ago?

I once handed her a hot water bottle.

Now that I think about it, she probably did. According to the imdb they were married in 1926, which assuming she was at least 18 at the time, would make her at least 98 now.

I guess we could ask Michael Feinstein. :O

[Damien]

I thought we would have to wait until Ira Gershwin's widow died for Porgy and Bess to make it to DVD.

Didn't the Widow Gershwin die a number of years ago?

I once handed her a hot water bottle.

[Chuckster]

So says the American Film Institute, which first compiled its "100 Years ... 100 Movies" list in 1998.

"100 Years ... 100 Movies -- 10th Anniversary Edition"

2007-1998 = 10?

I hope someone different is counting the votes.

[Big Magilla]

We'll see how much this list mirrors tectonic shifts in critical concensus by seeing how many spots Vertigo advances. It has dominated the Senses of Cinema top ten list for a while, and quite possibly will take the Citizen Kane position as Greatest Film Ever in another decade or two. Assuming such canon exercises still exist in the form that we know & love.

Ah, something to look forward to at last!

I thought we would have to wait until Ira Gershwin's widow died for Porgy and Bess to make it to DVD. Ira hated the movie and successfully kept it from being seen during his lifetime.

[Johnny Guitar]

Magilla, I saw Porgy and Bess in 35mm last year. I believe a DVD is "in the works." And as these AFI lists are made up in large part to promote DVD sales and the like, I wouldn't be shocked if that was a major reason for the film's inclusion on the original checklist ...

We'll see how much this list mirrors tectonic shifts in critical concensus by seeing how many spots Vertigo advances. It has dominated the Senses of Cinema top ten list for a while, and quite possibly will take the Citizen Kane position as Greatest Film Ever in another decade or two. Assuming such canon exercises still exist in the form that we know & love.

[Big Magilla]

I could throw up. Not only are the pieces of crap Penelope cited way inferior to those he listed as being dropped so are some of the pre-1997 films now under consideration in lieu of previous pre-1997 films taken off the list. Here are 18 that don't belong anywhere near a top 100 list:

Airplane!; The Breakfast Club; Bull Durham; A Christmas Story; Groundhog Day; Halloween; Hoosiers; Jezebel; The King of Comedy; The Pink Panther (which only looks good compared to the ludicrous remake); Porgy and Bess (has anyone besides Halle Berry in her research for Introducing Dorothy Dandrige actually seen this in the last 48 years?); The Shining; Stormy Weather; This is Spinal Tap; When Harry Met Sally...; and A Woman Under the Influence; The Usual Suspects and Young Franenstein.

Here are 18 that are still relevant:

Anatomy of a Murder; Boys Town; The Caine Mutiny; David Copperfield; East of Eden (dumped in favor of A Face in the Crowd?, couldn't both be included?); Elmer Gantry; Hail the Conquering Hero; Hannah and Her Sisters (they dumped this for Sleeper?); Hud; Imitation of Life (either version); In Cold Blood; Intruder in the Dust; Judgment at Nuremberg; Melvin and Howard; Oliver! (unless they now consider it a British film); Only Angels Have Wings; The Player; A Star is Born (1937) and Tom Jones (another too British film?)

The smart replacements: A Face in the Crowd; The King and I; Queen Christina and Sweet Smell of Success in lieu of Babes in Arms; The Broadway Melody; Oklahoma! and the excrutiating Seven Year Itch.

[OscarGuy]

I'll at least give them props for including Requiem for a Dream. It's a startlingly good choice and I'm shocked they would include it.

[The Original BJ]

Oh, thanks for catching! I'll update my post.

[FilmFan720]

BJ, I just did the same thing, and there are a couple missing from your lists. The Goodbye Girl was also taken off the ballot, and The Great Dictator, The Great Escape and The Usual Suspects were all added.

[Penelope]

Oh, well, you know, Austin Powers, Harry Potter, Crash, Ray and Pirates of the Caribbean are SO MUCH better than East of Eden, Imitation of Life, A Letter to Three Wives, Oliver! and Salt of the Earth. :O

[The Original BJ]

Also, there are some new titles from pre-1997. In addition to the ones FilmFan has starred, here are the new titles on the list:

Ace in the Hole
Airplane!
Boyz N the Hood
The Breakfast Club
Broken Blossoms
Bull Durham
A Christmas Story
A Face in the Crowd
The Freshman
The Great Dictator
The Great Escape
Groundhog Day
Halloween
Harold and Maude
Hoosiers
Jezebel
The King and I
The King of Comedy
Mildred Pierce
The Pink Panther
Porgy and Bess
The Postman Always Rings Twice
Queen Christina
Roman Holiday
Sherlock Jr.
The Shining
Sleeper
Stand by Me
Stormy Weather
Sweet Smell of Success
The Thing From Another World
This is Spinal Tap
The Usual Suspects
When Harry Met Sally...
A Woman Under the Influence
Young Frankenstein

[The Original BJ]

Only because I have too much time on my hands . . .

The films on the old list that have been replaced this time around:
The Americanization of Emily
Anatomy of a Murder
Around the World in 80 Days
Babes in Arms
Barefoot in the Park
Bataan
Batman
Beverly Hills Cop
Boys Town
The Broadway Melody
Bullitt
The Caine Mutiny
Carmen Jones
Casino
Cavalcade
Children of a Lesser God
El Cid
Cimarron
Cleopatra (1963)
Dangerous Liaisons
David Copperfield
East of Eden
Elmer Gantry
Fantastic Voyage
Fiddler on the Roof
From Russia With Love
The Fugitive
The Goodbye Girl
The Great Ziegfeld
The Greatest Show on Earth
The Gunfighter
Hail the Conquering Hero
Hannah and Her Sisters
Hud
Imitation of Life
In Cold Blood
Intruder in the Dust
The Joy Luck Club
Judgment at Nuremberg
The Jungle Book
Lady and the Tramp
The Last Temptation of Christ
Leaving Las Vegas
Lethal Weapon
A Letter to Three Wives
Little Big Man
The Little Colonel
Local Hero
The Mark of Zorro
Medium Cool
Melvin and Howard
Missing
Mister Roberts
Morocco
El Norte
Oklahoma!
Oliver!
On the Beach
One Hundred and One Dalmatians
Only Angels Have Wings
The Player
Pretty Woman
Rambling Rose
Return of the Jedi
Richard III
Run Silent, Run Deep
Salt of the Earth
Sands of Iwo Jima
The Seven Year Itch
Shadows
A Star is Born (1937)
Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo
Tom Jones
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Two for the Road
The Untouchables
The War of the Worlds
Within Our Gates
The Yearling

[FilmFan720]

I'll bite. I'll go through and post it in a little bit.