AFI’s Top 100 Films List Forum Challenge (Part 3) (1 Viewer)

[Dome Vongvises]

I have seen:
1. Citizen Kane
2. Casablanca
3. The Godfather
4. Gone With The Wind
5. Lawrence of Arabia
6. The Wizard of Oz
7. The Graduate
8. On The Waterfront
9. Schindler's List
11. It's A Wonderful Life
13. The Bridge on the River Kwai
15. Star Wars
18. Psycho
19. Chinatown
20. One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest
22. 2001: A Space Odyssey
24. Raging Bull
25. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial
26. Dr. Strangelove
28. Apocalypse Now
29. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
30. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
31. Annie Hall
32. The Godfather Part II
33. High Noon
39. Doctor Zhivago
40. North by Northwest
41. West Side Story
42. Rear Window
46. Clockwork Orange
47. Taxi Driver
48. Jaws
49. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
50. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
53. Amadeus
55. The Sound of Music
57. The Third Man
58. Fantasia
60. Raiders of the Lost Ark
61. Vertigo
64. Close Encounters of the Third Kind
65. The Silence of the Lambs
70. The French Connection
71. Forrest Gump
72. Ben-Hur
75. Dances With Wolves
77. American Graffiti
78. Rocky
79. The Deer Hunter
80. The Wild Bunch
83. Platoon
84. Fargo
89. Patton
94. Goodfellas
95. Pulp Fiction
98. Unforgiven
If I can still count

, that's 56 films. So whenever you update the list, add me to it.
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"I don't know, Marge. Trying is the first step towards failure." - Homer J. Simpson

 

[Scott Merryfield]

The countdown continues...
Wuthering Heights -- any film with Sir Laurence Olivier gets two stars just for his acting abilities. This story of lifelong love was well done, with some fine acting performances. This was far from my favorite in the AFI 100, but it was still a worthwhile film.

(out of five).
Guess Who's Coming To Dinner? -- This film, on the other hand, really was something special. The performances were some of the best I have seen on film, and the story is as relavent today as it was in 1967. I had not seen either Sidney Poitier or Spencer Tracy in anything before, and their performances were both quite moving. Discovering films of this quality is what this journey is all about.

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My DVD Collection
AFI 100 Films to watch: 40 -> 7

 

[Seth Paxton]

Well, Ryan, I guess that is a bit of taste as well since I enjoy the songs.
And guys, I'm 33 not 53 so WSS is not quite my era.
Now SNFever is and I do enjoy the music...I think disco had some qualities to it but that like most things it got taken to extremes and we overdosed on it. I even like Kiss' disco song.
I will say this without knowing everyone's ages, but I think I have found that as I grow older I have learned to appreciate musicals and that style of song much more than I did at 19. Back then it was all REM and U2 or maybe some Quiet Riot or Zep. I still love all of that (yes, the QR too) but have also begun to love jazz, classical, swing, blues, and musical standards. Not sure why, but I do.
Now liking the style doesn't mean I like bad songs. But I love the dancing of "When you're a Jet" and love the songs "American" and "Play it Cool". In fact the choreography between camera and dancers in the opening number is pure genius IMHO.
If you are my age or older and just don't like musicals, then maybe it just wasn't meant to be. But if you are younger it might be that you will find your tastes changing as you get older. It's not a smarts thing, but more of a "tired of the same old, same old" I think that comes with hanging around Earth longer.

The key to all of this I have found is that we are really discovering how valid this list is. While we all have films that we would remove, it strikes me that many of us love the same film that someone else would yank off the list first. That tells you that the list is covering a lot of tastes with films that people of each taste truly love.
I actually think the AFI top 100 is a roaring success and better than most could do without making the list too exclusive to one taste.
Or maybe I just went coo-coo for Cocoa Puffs.

 

[ryan_m]

But if you are younger it might be that you will find your tastes changing as you get older.

Finally watched the last 2/3s of West Side Story. I think it did get better after the first hour, though the songs still continued to annoy me. I'm not saying the songs are bad. I mean I had heard them a million times before and you see tons of references to WSS so they obviously had an impact. I just don't get anything out of them. I'm glad I saw the movie, I'm just sure I'll never want to watch it again. Maybe I should test out your theory in 7 years though and see if my tastes have changed, nah. I do agree your tastes do indeed change after your teen years, but I've read (who knows where) that the music you like when you're 24 is what you'll like the rest of your life. I'd be pretty happy with that.

 

[george kaplan]

the music you like when you're 24 is what you'll like the rest of your life. I'd be pretty happy with that.

I have two problems with that theory. First of all, when I was 21, I pretty only much had listened or cared about classic rock. Then in grad school I started broadening my musical taste, and now have and love, in addition to tons of classic rock, a lot of classical, blues, soul, gospel, reggae, opera, country, jazz, world, etc., etc.
If you'd asked me before that if I was happy only listening to the Beatles, etc., I'd have said, "yes", but I would have been wrong.
Second, I don't know how old you are, but have you (or did you) ever make fun of your parents for being so out of it musically? If you stop with what you like now, not only are you going to be missing out on a ton of great music that came before, but you'll miss any great music yet to come (although I have to admit, it's coming more and more infrequently these days )
And for what it's worth, I use to put down a lot of the music that I now appreciate. So I was guilty of it myself.
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13-time NBA world champion Lakers: 1949, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1972, 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988, 2000, 2001

 

[Bill Buklis]

I've finally finished Lawrence of Arabia. I have to say it is quite a tremendous flick. But, I don't think it deserves to be anywhere near as high as number 5. It's not in the same league as Ben Hur. Now that should be #5 with Lawrence maybe at 72.
Interestingly enough I thought the first part was better than the second part. Perhaps that was because Lawrence seemed larger than life, while in the second part he was more down to earth.
My rating for LOA:

Next up: Guess Who's Coming to Dinner.
[Edited last by Bill Buklis on July 10, 2001 at 10:24 AM]

 

[Bill Buklis]

Does anyone know if TCM or AMC or any other channel will be showing some of the AFI movies (especially the older stuff) that aren't on DVD any time soon. Those two channels will often show movies in their true aspect ratio. So, I'd rather do that than rent it on VHS. For those that were originally academy ratio, I guess it doesn't matter too much either way.

 

[teapot2001]

Bill, TCM shows a lot of movies on the AFI list. You should check their website and look at the monthly TV schedule. I think The African Queen is on one of those channels tonight or sometime this week.
~T

 

[Seth Paxton]

And for what it's worth, I use to put down a lot of the music that I now appreciate. So I was guilty of it myself.

For me, the biggest growth I made was in learning to differentiate my feelings for the stereotypical FAN of a band from the music itself. You may not be the "typical" person to enjoy a certain band, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't enjoy them (or at least not make fun of them).
I remember not appreciating AC/DC because it was just stoners/metalheads music. But of course plenty of "smart" people enjoy the band as well. The truth was that the are a great blues-based hard rock band, and you don't have to be a caveman to enjoy them.
I was a real prick in that way.
And don't worry, I also learned not to judge "stoners/metalheads" so harshly either.

But when I was 19 I really thought the world was full of black and white, obvious opinions and understandings of things, and that you either understood those things or you were dumb. Shows how much I knew. Life turned out to be much more subtle than that (although it's still loaded with brainless twits unfortunately, usually they're the ones least likely to give someone an even break).

 

[ryan_m]

Does anyone know if TCM or AMC or any other channel will be showing some of the AFI movies

Both channels play AFI movies quite frequently. Tivo is VERY handy for making sure you catch movies. Every two weeks or so I scan through the list of upcoming movies and tell it to record some. Just this past week or so I recorded Yankee Doodle Dandy and some other old movies I've wanted to see like The Magnificent Ambersons (the host mentioned that many people thought this movie should be on the AFI list), Oceans Eleven and Breathless. TCM (which I've only had for about a month) seems to be more reliable as far as OAR is concerned.

 

[Stu Rosen]

Move me into category # 3 -- only 18 to go!

 

[george kaplan]

Just saw The French Connection. Overall I thought it was a very good movie, and it's on my to buy list when the dvd comes out this year.
Now, I must say that there was a sense in which it reminded me of All The President's Men. That movie came out in 1976 and if you didn't know all about Watergate, you were living in a cave. But, if you showed it to someone today who didn't know anything about Watergate, they'd sure get a limited view of what that was all about.
I know the French Connection is based on a true story, but I have to say after watching this film, I get the feeling that I don't know a whole lot about what really happened. The story had a lot of stakeouts and surveillance, but very little detecting or exposition. There's one scene where they get very excited about what they hear on a wiretap, but I didn't really understand what it was all about. The film let us see things from both sides, so we can follow what happened, but how the hell Doyle ever figured things out is beyond me.
One question: who was it that was killed in the car crash? The one that they spent some time on showing the bloody bodies. At first I thought it was the guy who owned the store, but he was still alive. Was it someone integral to the story?
I think I'll probably understand some of this better on repeated viewings, although I'm definitely waiting for the dvd (the vhs I rented was pan & scan).
The other film that this is like, in a way, is the Big Sleep. That story wasn't very clear, but the great dialogue makes it a keeper. The French Connection wasn't very clear, but the great action (such as the car chase) makes it a keeper.
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13-time NBA world champion Lakers: 1949, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1972, 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988, 2000, 2001

 

[Bill Buklis]

You're right, TCM does show a lot of the AFI films. With a little digging I've compiled a list of the AFI films that are NOT currently on DVD that are scheduled for TCM or AMC.
All times are in EDT. I've only listed the first showing of the movie. Both these channels tend to offer repeat showings, so there may be a more convienent time. Note that TCM's schedule goes through October, while AMC seemed to have only July. So, check AMC later to see if anything has been added.
I don't know if these will be shown OAR or not. TCM tends to air in widescreen more often than AMC, but then for this list that only applies to The Apartment and the Godfather films (which will be on DVD in October).
RankMovieTCMAMC1.Citizen KaneOct 7 6:00pm-3.The Godfather
-Jul 28 2:30pm17.The African Queen-Jul 31 4:00pm30.Treasure of the Sierra MadreAug 12 6:00pm-
32.The Godfather Part II-Jul 29 11:30am
43.King KongJul 20 10:00pm-82.GiantAug 1 1:15pm-86.Mutiny on the BountyJul 31 10:00pm-93.The ApartmentSep 22 9:30pm-97.Bringing Up BabyAug 5 8:00am

 

[Hugh Jackes]

Thanks Bill Buklis,
To all, please be aware that AMC does edit movies that it shows for content.

 

[ryan_m]

Bill,
Thanks for the list. There are a few there that I have yet to watch. Hafta tell my Tivo to be on the look out for them.
FYI The Apartment is out on DVD and I believe Giant is in widescreen.

 

[Sarah S]

Just came back from seeing West SIde Story. I don't know about the others on this forum, but I loved it. I have to admit that I'm a sucker for Romeo and Juliet, plus I loooove Steven Soundheim (who did the lyrics for this movie). I have to say that I really admired Jerome Robbins cheorgraphy also. Everyone's performance was really strong, but Natolie Wood could have used a lot more time with the voice coach. But on the whole 4 out of 4.
I have to say that this movie was probably one of the first to feature modern dance. The other musicals on the list tend to feature dance that is a lot more easily put into a catagory (waltzes, comic, balletic) and this movie was probably a breakthrough because it featured a more modern style than audiences of that time would have been used to seeing on the big screen. Just my unresearched opinion.
Edwin, please put me at 34 to go. Thanks!
[Edited last by Sarah S on July 13, 2001 at 01:22 AM]
[Edited last by Sarah S on July 13, 2001 at 01:25 AM]

 

[Bill Buklis]

Oh, cool. The Apartment finally is out. Last time I checked it still was not released.
Yeah, and Giant is widescreen. It's at 1.66:1 ratio. Sorry for missing that.
Also I noticed that unfortunately I just missed Doctor Zhivago on TCM. I think it was on last week. Plus it's not scheduled again anytime soon.

This is on my yet to see list.
Also I noticed there were a few other AFI films showing soon on TCM, but I didn't list them since they are out on DVD already. Personally I'd rather watch them that way.

 

[Bob_L]

A couple things:
First -- Natalie Wood didn't do her own singing in "West Side Story." I think Marni Nixon "ghost sang" for her as she did for Audrey Hepburn in "My Fair Lady."
Second -- I just revisited all three "Godfather" movies.
In retrospect, "Godfather 3" is a much better movie than it gets credit for. It's biggest flaw is that it followed two of the most admired films in American film history.
However, what really struck me this time around -- watching with my wife who is not American -- was that all these films really require a fair amount of knowledge about the actual history and workings of organized crime. I had to keep explaning things to my wife regarding Vegas, Meyer Lansky, the senate hearings on organized crime, etc. She enjoyed the movies; but without ANY of that background, some of which I think is fairly common among Americans, she had some trouble following the films.

 

[William Ward]

Finally got around to seeing my first official AFI challenge film. Before starting the challenge I had only seen 16. I finished Bridge on the River Kwai and thought it was pretty good. Fine performances all around with Guiness being well....Guiness....

I get to watch Lawrence of Arabia next. That's an extremely long film...Oh well...Only 83 more to go!!

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William
Go Bucs!!
MyDVDs

 

[Mariano]

I'm *only* 29 to go, so i'm up to category #4 !!
I've been watching a lot of AFI films lately :
I loved "It's a wonderful life", i was amazed by "The third man" and "King Kong" and a little bored by "Lawrence of Arabia".
I had to watch more than 80 films when the challenge, and now i'm just at 29.
Thanks Edwin for this challenge. I don't know if i'm gonna make it by December 31, but i'm having a great time.