The AFI 100 Years List for 2008... (2 Viewers)

isn't exactly what you might be expecting.

This time out, the AFI is doing a list called the "10 Top 10". As the concept states, there will be 10 Top 10 lists, each one devoted to a genre that, while important to cinema, doesn't necessarily have enough notable titles to devote an individual list of 100 movies to.

The ballots are on their way out now...I should be receiving mine soon.

Here's the link with more info: AFI's 10 TOP 10

Sincerely,

John Kilduff...

This could conceivably be the final chance for "Back To The Future" and "The Little Mermaid" to get any respect from the AFI.

Might be decent. I was thinking it may have been top ten for each decade.

Looking over the list, it seems there's some considerable leeway over what genre a movie falls into. For example, why is "Brazil" considered fantasy while "Back to the Future" is considered sci-fi? Is "The Last Picture Show" really a western? Is "The Big Lebowski" really a mystery movie? Further complicating matters is some movies make more than one list.

And are the voters choosing the best movies of the bunch or what best represents the genre?

No love for "The Empire Strikes Back", I see. :frowning:

Also no "3:10 to Yuma" (1957) for western. :frowning:

"Cinderella Man" can't get on the list for sports movies, but gems like "Cool Runnings", "The Mighty Ducks", and "Mystery, Alaska" can?!

I was surprised they didn't have a War movie section, but they confirmed my fear by putting essentially every war movie in the Epic section, regardless of scope.

Biggest crime of the whole list: How did they overlook the Lord of the Rings movies in the epics list?! They make a good 3/4 of the movies they have listed there look like domestic dramas.

WOW!

This was the concept that I came up with two years ago. I posted in one of these threads and got absolutely ZERO feedback, so I thought I was crazy.

Although, they only chose 4-5 of the same sub-genres that I originally listed.

I would rather have seen one for "Silent Movies", "Biopics", "Horror", etc...

There is too much of a gray area between "Fantasy" & "Sci-Fi", so that's going to be a problem. Also, epic is too generic of a term. What are the qualifications? Is runtime or content more important? I've seen short films that could be considered epic stories and I've seen movies of epic length that could have fit in a 90 minute timeframe. HMMMMMMM?

the distinction on fantasy and scifi is basically the old rivits versus trees distinction. Actually it's fairly clear cut. Fantasy entails 'magic' sci-fi uses technology.

for example, Being John Malkovich is nominated under fantasy and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is nominated under sci-fi. We're given a technological explanation in Eternal Sunshine, but Being John Malkovich has no explanation, it's simply a 'magic' portal.

Epic is described as taking place in a historical period.

The only sequel nominated when the original was also nominated is The Godfather Part II. since Empire STrikes Back was honored for villain it hasn't shown up anywhere, I think George Lucas may have requested to the AFI that they only include Star Wars from the Original Trilogy since he dislikes Empire most.

I imagine mostly sequels weren't nominated in these genres because they wanted a diverse representation on the final list. Empire strikes Back and Star Wars are both guaranteed final spots if both are nominated, likewise for FOTR and ROTK if both are nominated.

correction, both Shrek 2 and Toy Story 2 are included.

“Animation isn't the illusion of life—it is life!”
— Chuck Jones
AFI defines “animated” as a genre in which the film’s images are primarily created by computer or hand and the characters are voiced by actors.
A skillful combination of caricature and artistry, animation amplifies reality, offering stories that are visually stylized, but emotionally truthful.
Whether it’s a minimalist black squiggle or a full-blown tour-de-force of color and movement, animation allows imaginary characters and inanimate objects to spring vividly to life.

Aladdin 1992 Alice in Wonderland 1951 American Pop 1981 American Tale, An 1986 Antz 1998 Aristocats, The 1970 Bambi 1942 Beauty and the Beast 1991 Bug's Life, A 1998 Cars 2006 Charlotte's Web 1973 Cinderella 1950 Corpse Bride 2005 Dumbo 1941 Fantasia 1940 Finding Nemo 2003 Happy Feet 2006 Hunchback of Notre Dame 1996 Ice Age 2002 Incredibles, The 2004 Iron Giant, The 1999 Jungle Book, The 1967 Lady and the Tramp, The 1955 Lion King, The 1994 Little Mermaid, The 1994 Madagascar 2005 Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, The 1977 Monster House 2006 Monsters Inc. 2001 Mulan 1998 Nightmare Before Christmas, The 1993 101 Dalmations 1961 Peter Pan 1953 Pinocchio 1940 Pocahontas 1995 Polar Express, The 2003 Rescuers, The 1977 Robin Hood 1973 Robots 2005 Secret of NIMH 1982 Shrek 2001 Shrek 2 2004 Sleeping Beauty 1959 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 1937 South Park: Bigger Longer and Uncut 1999 Sword in the Stone, The 1963 Tarzan 1999 Toy Story 1995 Toy Story 2 1999 Waking Life 2001

“Still round the corner there may wait, a new road or a secret gate.”
— J. R. R. Tolkien
AFI defines “fantasy” as a genre where live-action characters inhabit imagined settings and/or experience situations that transcend the rules of the natural world.
By presenting dreamlike realms where fairies flourish, witches scheme and pigs fly, fantasy demand s that audiences believe in magic and hopefor wishes to come true.

Babe 1995 Batman 1989 Beetlejuice 1988 Being John Malkovich 1999 Big 1988 Brazil 1985 Brigadoon 1954 Canterville Ghost, The 1944 Chronicles of Narnia, The: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe 2005 Clash of the Titans 1981 Conan the Barbarian 1982 Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, A 1949 Dark Crystal, The 1982 Devil and Daniel Webster, The 1941 Edward Scissorhands 1990 Field of Dreams 1989 Ghost 1990 Ghost and Mrs. Muir, The 1947 Groundhog Day 1993 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban 2004 Harvey 1950 Heaven Can Wait 1978 Here Comes Mr. Jordan 1941 I Married a Witch 1942 It's a Wonderful Life 1946 Jason and the Argonauts 1963 King Kong 1933 Labyrinth 1986 Lord of the Rings, The: The Fellowship of the Ring 2001 Lost Horizon 1937 Lost World, The 1925 Mary Poppins 1964 Mask, The 1994 Miracle on 34th Street 1947 Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid 1948 Peggy Sue Got Married 1986 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl 2003 Pleasantville 1998 Portrait of Jennie 1948 Princess Bride, The 1987 Purple Rose of Cairo, The 1985 7th Voyage of Sinbad, The 1958 Spider-Man 2 2004 Splash 1984 Superman 1978 Thief of Bagdad, The 1924 Topper 1937 Who Framed Roger Rabbit 1988 Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory 1971 Wizard of Oz, The 1939

“You can go a long way with a smile. You can go a lot further
with a smile and a gun.”
— Al Capone
AFI defines the “gangster film” as a genre that centers on organized crime or maverick criminals in a twentieth century setting.
Profit-minded and highly entrepreneurial, the American gangster is the dark side of the American dream. The gangsters’ lifestyles are portraits in extremes, with audiences cheering their excesses and reveling in their demise.

Al Capone 1959 Angels with Dirty Faces 1938 Atlantic City 1980 Big Heat, The 1953 Bloody Mama 1970 Bonnie and Clyde 1967 Boyz in the Hood 1991 Bronx Tale, A 1993 Brother Orchid 1940 Bugsy 1991 Bugsy Malone 1976 Bullets Over Broadway 1994 Casino 1995 City Streets 1931 Dead End 1937 Departed, The 2006 Donnie Brasco 1997 Force of Evil 1948 G' Men 1935 Get Shorty 1995 Godfather, The 1972 Godfather Part II, The 1974 Goodfellas 1990 Gun Crazy 1949 Heat 1995 History of Violence, A 2005 Key Largo 1948 Killers, The 1946 Little Caesar 1930 Miller's Crossing 1990 New Jack City 1991 On the Waterfront 1954 Once Upon a Time in America 1984 Out of Sight 1998 Prizzi's Honor 1985 Public Enemy, The 1931 Pulp Fiction 1994 Reservoir Dogs 1992 Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond, The 1960 Roaring Twenties, The 1939 Scarface: The Shame of a Nation 1932 Scarface 1983 Scarlet Street 1945 Some Like it Hot 1959 Thieves Like Us 1974 Touch of Evil 1958 Underworld 1927 Untouchables, The 1987 Usual Suspects, The 1995 White Heat 1949

“Sometimes I think we're alone in the universe, and sometimes I think we're not. In either case the idea is quite staggering.”
— Arthur C. Clarke
AFI defines “science fiction” as a genre that marries a scientific or technological premise with imaginative speculation.
Whether it’s a flying saucer whirling through space or a gleaming city on a distant planet, at the core of all science fiction is the provocative question, “What if…?” Science fiction presents stories and situations that tap our brightest hopes and darkest fears about what might, one day, turn out to be true.

A.i. Artificial Intelligence 2001 Alien 1979 Alter 1980 Andromeda Strain, the 1971 Back to the Future 1985 Beast from 20,000 Fathoms 1953 Blade Runnder 1982 Children of Men 2006 Clockwork Orange, A 1971 Close Encounters of The Third Kind 1977 Cocoon 1985 Contact 1997 Day the Earth Stood Still, The 1951 Destination Moon 1950 E.T. - The Extra Terrestrial 1982 Escape From New York 1981 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind 2004 Fantastic Voyage 1966 Fly, The 1986 Forbidden Planet 1956 Frankenstein 1931 Incredible Shrinking Man, The 1957 Independence Day 1996 Invasion of the Body Snatchers 1956 Invisible Man, The 1933 It Came From Outer Space 1953 Jurassic Park 1993 Mad Max Beyond the Thunderdome 1985 Matrix, The 1999 Men in Black 1997 Minority Report 2002 Planet of the Apes 1968 Repo Man 1984 Robocop 1987 Rollerball 1975 Silent Running 1972 Soylent Green 1973 Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan 1982 Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope 1977 Starman 1984 Stepford Wives, The 1975 Terminator 2: Judgement Day 1991 Them! 1954 Thing From Another World, The 1951 Time Machine, The 1960 Total Recall 1990 Tron 1982 2001: A Space Odyssey 1968 War of the Worlds, The 1953 Westworld 1973

“The Old West is not a certain place in a certain time; it's a state of mind.”
— Tom Mix
AFI defines “western” as a genre of films set in the American West that embodies the spirit, the struggle and the demise of the new frontier.
Brimming with subtext and mythology, westerns offer iconic images of a time gone by and perhaps a time that never was. A man of action with an unspoken code of honor, the western hero faces gun-toting opponents, hostile natives, lawless towns, the harsh forces of nature, and the encroachment of civilization. But the westerner keeps going, drawn to the freedom of the open plains and the promise of a new life.

Bend of the River 1952 Big Country, The 1958 Blazing Saddles 1974 Broken Arrow 1950 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid 1969 Cat Ballou 1965 Cheyenne Autumn 1964 Dances with Wolves 1990 Destry Rides Again 1939 Duel in the Sun 1946 Fort Apache 1948 Giant 1956 Gunfighter, The 1950 High Noon 1952 High Plains Drifter 1973 How the West Was Won 1962 Iron Horse, The 1924 Jeremiah Johnson 1972 Johnny Guitar 1954 Last Picture Show, The 1971 Little Big Man 1970 Lone Star 1996 Lonely are the Brave 1962 Magnificent Seven, The 1960 Major Dundee 1965 Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, The 1962 McCabe and Mrs. Miller 1971 My Darling Clementine 1946 Outlaw Josey Wales, The 1976 Ox-Bow Incident, The 1943 Pale Rider 1985 Plainsman, The 1936 Red River 1948 Ride the High Country 1962 Rio Bravo 1959 Rio Grande 1950 Searchers, The 1956 Shane 1953 She Wore a Yellow Ribbon 1948 Shootist, The 1976 Silverado 1985 Stagecoach 1939 Tall T, The 1957 True Grit 1969 Tumbleweeds 1925 Unforgiven 1992 Union Pacific 1939 Westerner, The 1940 Wild Bunch, The 1969 Will Penny 1968

“It ain’t over ‘til it's over.”
— Yogi Berra
AFI defines “sports” as a genre of films with protagonists who play
athletics or other games of competition.
Whether smashing a ball into the outfield, landing a right hook in the
final round or crossing a finish line to the roar of a crowd, sports movies
create myths and larger-than-life heroes. The stakes in sports may be
simple—someone wins and someone loses—but cheering for a character
who faces adversity and aims for the top is an exhilarating reminder of
the power of the human spirit.


Ali 2001 Angels in the Outfield 1951 Any Given Sunday 1999 Bad News Bears, The 1976 Bang the drum Slowly 1973 Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings 1976 Body and Soul 1947 Breaking Away 1979 Bull Durham 1988 Caddyshack 1980 Champion 1949 Chariots of Fire 1981 Color of Money, The 1986 Cool Runnings 1993 Damn Yankees! 1958 Downhill Racer 1969 Eight Men Out 1988 Fear Strikes Out 1957 Field of Dreams 1989 Freshman, The 1925 Friday Night Lights 2004 Great White Hope, The 1970 Heart Like a Wheel 1983 Hoosiers 1986 Horse Feathers 1932 Hurricane, The 1999 Hustler, The 1961 Jerry Maguire 1996 Karate Kid, The 1984 Knute Rockne - All American 1940 League of Their Own, A 1992 Longest Yard, The 1974 Major League 1989 Mighty Ducks, The 1992 Million Dollar Baby 2004 Miracle 2004 Mystery, Alaska 1999 National Velvet 1944 Natural, The 1984 North Dallas Forty 1976 Pat and Mike 1952 Personal Best 1982 Pride of the Yankees, The 1942 Raging Bull 1980 Rocky 1976 Rudy 1993 Seabiscuit 2003 Slap Shot 1977 Somebody Up There Likes Me 1956 White Men Can't Jump 1992

“Where there is mystery, it is generally suspected there must also be evil.”
— Lord Byron
AFI defines “mystery” as a genre that revolves around the solution of a
crime.
Steeped in the unpredictability of human nature and wrapped in a
tangle of plot twists, mysteries inhabit a world where the secrets are dark
and the agendas well hidden. Unlike the open-endedness that
characterizes so much of real life, a movie mystery delivers the ultimate
satisfaction of a solution in the final reel.


And Then There Were None 1945 Big Easy, The 1987 Big Heat, The 1953 Big Lebowski, The 1998 Big Sleep, The 1946 Blow Out 1981 Blue Velvet 1986 Bourne Identity, The 2002 Charade 1960 Chinatown 1974 Conversation, The 1974 D.O.A. 1950 Devil in a Blue Dress 1995 Dial M For Murder 1954 Fugitive, The 1993 Game, The 1997 Gaslight 1944 Gosford Park 2001 Hound of the Baskervilles, The 1939 House of Games 1987 In a Lonely Place 1950 In The Heat of the Night 1967 Kiss Me Deadly 1955 Klute 1971 L.A. Confidential 1997 Lady from Shanghai, The 1948 Last of Sheila, The 1973 Laura 1944 List of Adrian Messenger, The 1963 Maltese Falcon, The 1941 Man Who Knew Too Much, The 1956 Memento 2001 Mulholland Dr. 2001 Murder on the Orient Express 1974 Naked City, The 1948 North By Northwest 1959 Postman Always Rings Twice, The 1946 Rear Window 1954 Rebecca 1940 Se7en 1995 Sea of Love 1989 Shot in the Dark, A 1964 Sleuth 1972 Spellbound 1945 Suspicion 1941 Thin Man, The 1934 Third Man, The 1949 To Catch a Thief 1955 Usual Suspects, The 1995 Vertigo 1958

“Where there is mystery, it is generally suspected there must also be evil.”
— Lord Byron
AFI defines “mystery” as a genre that revolves around the solution of a
crime.
Steeped in the unpredictability of human nature and wrapped in a
tangle of plot twists, mysteries inhabit a world where the secrets are dark
and the agendas well hidden. Unlike the open-endedness that
characterizes so much of real life, a movie mystery delivers the ultimate
satisfaction of a solution in the final reel.


And Then There Were None 1945 Big Easy, The 1987 Big Heat, The 1953 Big Lebowski, The 1998 Big Sleep, The 1946 Blow Out 1981 Blue Velvet 1986 Bourne Identity, The 2002 Charade 1960 Chinatown 1974 Conversation, The 1974 D.O.A. 1950 Devil in a Blue Dress 1995 Dial M For Murder 1954 Fugitive, The 1993 Game, The 1997 Gaslight 1944 Gosford Park 2001 Hound of the Baskervilles, The 1939 House of Games 1987 In a Lonely Place 1950 In The Heat of the Night 1967 Kiss Me Deadly 1955 Klute 1971 L.A. Confidential 1997 Lady from Shanghai, The 1948 Last of Sheila, The 1973 Laura 1944 List of Adrian Messenger, The 1963 Maltese Falcon, The 1941 Man Who Knew Too Much, The 1956 Memento 2001 Mulholland Dr. 2001 Murder on the Orient Express 1974 Naked City, The 1948 North By Northwest 1959 Postman Always Rings Twice, The 1946 Rear Window 1954 Rebecca 1940 Se7en 1995 Sea of Love 1989 Shot in the Dark, A 1964 Sleuth 1972 Spellbound 1945 Suspicion 1941 Thin Man, The 1934 Third Man, The 1949 To Catch a Thief 1955 Usual Suspects, The 1995 Vertigo 1958

“One is very crazy when in love.”
— Sigmund Freud
AFI defines “romantic comedy” as a genre in which the development of
a romance leads to comic situations.
Romantic comedy spares no one in chronicling the horror and
humiliation, the hope and despair, the agony and ecstasy of Cupid’s
arrow. Wrapped in fantasy and charm, laced with funny little truths
about the human condition, romantic comedies remind us that we’re all
susceptible to that crazy thing called love.

Adam's Rib 1949 American President, The 1995 Annie Hall 1977 Apartment, The 1960 As Good as it Gets 1997 Awful Truth, The 1937 Ball of Fire 1941 Barefoot in the Park 1967 Born Yesterday 1950 Bridget Jones's Diary 2001 Bringing up Baby 1938 Bull Durham 1988 City Lights 1931 Clueless 1995 Design for Living 1933 40 Year-Old Virgin, The 2005 Goodbye Girl, The 1977 Harold and Maude 1971 His Girl Friday 1940 It Happened One Night 1934 Jerry Maguire 1996 Lady Eve, The 1941 Moonstruck 1987 My Best Friend's Wedding 1997 My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2002 My Man Godfrey 1936 Ninotchka 1939 Nothing Sacred 1937 Palm Beach Story, The 1942 Philadelphia Story, The 1940 Pillow Talk 1959 Pretty Woman 1990 Roman Holiday 1953 Roxanne 1987 Sabrina 1954 Say Anything… 1989 Shakespeare in Love 1998 Shop Around the Corner 1940 Sixteen Candles 1984 Sleepless in Seattle 1993 Something's Gotta Give 2003 Splash 1984 10 1979 There's Something About Mary 1998 Trouble in Paradise 1932 Wedding Singer, The 1998 What's Up, Doc? 1972 When Harry Met Sally… 1989 Woman of the Year 1942 Working Girl 1988

“Justice has nothing to do with what goes on in a courtroom;
justice is what comes out of a courtroom.”
— Clarence Darrow
AFI defines “courtroom drama” as a genre of film in which a system
of justice plays a critical role in the film’s narrative.
Innocent until proven guilty. These four words inspire stories where the
outcome may be the difference between life and death. The drama
inherent in the theatre of a courtroom—the accused enters, prosecution
and defense state their case, and a jury deliberates—all build to the
moment when a verdict is read.


Absence of Malice 1981 Accused, The 1988 Adam's Rib 1949 Advise & Consent 1949 Amistad 1997 Anatomy of a Murder 1959 …And Justice for All 1979 Beyond a Reasonable Doubt 1956 Caine Mutiny, The 1954 Children's Hour, The 1961 Client, The 1994 Compulsion 1959 Crucible, The 1996 Cry in the Dark, A 1988 Erin Brockavich 2000 Few Good Men, A 1992 Fury 1936 Ghosts of Mississippi 1996 I Confess 1953 I Want to Live! 1958 In Cold Blood 1967 Inherit the Wind 1960 Insider, The 1999 Jagged Edge 1985 Judgement at Nuremberg 1961 Kramer vs. Kramer 1979 Legally Blonde 2001 Libel 1959 Madame X 1966 Man For All Seasons, A 1966 My Cousin Vinny 1992 Onion Field, The 1979 Paths of Glory 1957 Pelican Brief, The 1993 People Vs. Larry Flynt, The 1996 Philadelphia 1993 Presumed Innocent 1990 Primal Fear 1996 Rainmaker, The 1997 Reversal of Fortune 1990 Soldier's Story, A 1984 Suspect 1987 Talk of the Town, The 1942 Time to Kill, A 1996 To Kill a Mockingbird 1962 12 Angry Men 1957 Verdict, The 1982 Witness for the Prosecution 1957 Young Mr. Lincoln 1939 Young Philadelphians, the 1959

“I came, I saw, I conquered.”
— Julius Caesar
AFI defines “epic” as a genre of large-scale films set in a cinematic
interpretation of the past. Their scope defies and demands—either
in the mode in which they are presented or their range across time.
A bloody sword fight in an ancient coliseum; carnage on an open
battlefield; a country on the eve of revolution. With sweeping
interpretations of turbulent times, epics depict characters that,
whether nobly heroic or shamefully depraved, are living life on the grandest of scales.



All Quiet on the Western Front 1930 Apocalypse Now 1979 Ben-Hur 1926 Ben-Hur 1959 Big Parade, The 1925 Birth of a Nation, The 1915 Braveheart 1995 Bridge on the River Kwai, The 1957 El Cid 1961 Cleopatra 1963 Dances With Wolves 1990 Doctor Zhivago 1965 Forrest Gump 1994 Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, The 1921 Gandhi 1982 Giant 1956 Gladiator 2000 Glory 1989 Godfather Part II, The 1974 Gone With the Wind 1939 Greatest Story Ever Told, The 1965 How the West Was Won 1962 Intolerance 1916 Julius Caesar 1953 King of Kings, The 1927 Last Emperor, The 1987 Last of the Mohicans, The 1992 Last Temptation of Christ, The 1988 Lawrence of Arabia 1962 Letters from Iwo Jima 2006 Longest Day, The 1962 Malcolm X 1992 Man Who Would Be King, The 1975 Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World 2003 Once Upon a Time in America 1984 Passion of the Christ, The 2004 Patton 1970 Queen Christina 1933 Quo Vadis? 1951 Reds 1981 Robe, The 1953 Samson and Delilah 1949 Saving Private Ryan 1998 Schindler's List 1993 Sign of the Cross, The 1932 Spartacus 1960 Ten Commandments, The 1923 Ten Commandments, The 1956 Titanic 1997 War and Peace 1956

AFI's rules state the film must be in the English language, which should DQ Letters from Iwo Jima and Passion of the Christ, not sure why they were nominated.

One Write in candidate per category is allowed, so we may see Ratatouille show up on the final list.

I would have liked to seen Since you went Away on the Epics list and Naked Spur on the Westerns list

There's a 'Courtroom Drama' category and no category for horror movies? I know most people look down on horror movies but it would be nice if the American Film Institute didn't fall victim to that type of snobbery too.

I don't see why they would name one of the categories "Gangster" and "Crime" is a bit more general and fits better, but I'm not running the show...

I also noticed Excalibur didn't make their fantasy list. :frowning:

You have to remember that "critics" and "normal people" will put any horror film they like into the mystery or thriller catagory. No critic will admit that there's a good horror film.

As for the lists, I find them fun for those wanting to search out these films but blah for other things. I'm going to guess TO KILL... will win the courtroom one. Epic should be an interesting one since both BEN HUR movies are on the list as well as other silent films.