Film Rebellion

Damn these lists.  AFI releases top 100 lists every year, starting with their top American movies of all time, top heroes/villains, top thrillers, and so on.  Now those lists are based on a panel of people putting their votes in, tallying the numbers from a group of old codgers and spitting out a definitive list.  The criteria for nomination included: length of at least 60 minutes, had to be American (hate this), critical recognition, popularity over time, historical significance (odd), cultural impact (a mix of popularity over time and historical significance really), and major award winner.  I really hate that last one.  The politicking of the Academy somehow decides the quality of a film. Absurd. I could write 10 blog posts on the various glaring omissions in this list, but that’s neither here nor there.

The list I’m concerned with is this one: http://www.theyshootpictures.com/gf1000_all1000films.htm.

1000 Films, folks.  One freaking thousand.  The list is based on critical ranking and industry insiders regardless of length, country of origin, awards won, or any of the other criteria put forth by the AFI.  The site uses a mathematical equation to come up with a numeric ranking for each film based on the reliability of the source. For instance, the opinions of Roger Ebert and Todd McCarthy will hold more weight than that of a new internet movie critic with no real history.

My quest is to see at least half of these films. It’s a modest goal.  Trying to see the entire list could lead to my insanity, and I don’t need that. As I see a movie on the list, I’ll post it here.  This weekend I saw a few and decided it was time to catalogue this business. Here’s the list I’ve watched so far, including overall rank out of 1000:

#1  Citizen Kane (1941)

#2  Vertigo (1958)

#3  The Rules of the Game (1939)

#4  2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

#5  8 1/2 (1963)

#6  The Godfather (1972)

#7  The Searchers (1956)

#8  The Seven Samurai (1954)

#9  Singin’ in the Rain (1952)

#10  Battleship Potemkin (1925)

#11  Tokyo Story (1953)

#14  Bicycle Thieves (1948)

#15  The Godfather Part II (1974)

#17  Casablanca (1942)

#18  Rashomon (1950)

#19  Raging Bull (1980)

#20  The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)

#21  Touch of Evil (1958)

#22  Some Like it Hot (1959)

#23  La Dolce Vita (1960)

#24  La Grande Illusion (1937)

#26  Taxi Driver (1976)

#27  The General (1926)

#28  Psycho (1960)

#29  Les Enfants du Paradis (1945)

#30  The Third Man (1949)

#31  Sunset Boulevard (1950)

#32  The Gold Rush (1925)

#33  Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)

#34  Breathless (1959)

#35  Apaocalypse Now (1979)

#36  Chinatown (1974)

#37  The Night of the Hunter (1955)

#41  The 400 Blows (1959)

#42  Persona (1966)

#43  Andrei Rublev (1943)

#44  Rear Window (1954)

#45  It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)

#47  Ugetsu (1953)

#48  M (1931)

#49  Jules et Jim (1961)

#53  The Seventh Seal (1957)

#56  Wild Strawberries (1957)

#57  North By Northwest (1959)

#58  Rio Bravo (1959)

#59  The Apartment (1960)

#66  The Wizard of Oz (1939)

#70  All About Eve (1950)

#76  Amarcord (1973)

#77  Notorious (1946)

#79  Ikiru (1952)

#81  Pickpocket (1959)

#83  Stagecoach (1939)

#87  Sansho the Bailiff (1954)

#89  Jaws (1975)

#90  A Clockwork Orange (1971)

#91  The Battle of Algiers (1965)

#94  On the Waterfront (1954)

#96  Goodfellas (1990)

#97  Double Indemnity (1944)

#99  Blue Velvet (1986)

#101  The Man With The Movie Camera (1929)

#103  Nosferatu (1922)

#104  Star Wars (1977)

#105  Annie Hall (1977)

#106  His Girl Friday (1940)

#116  Ran (1985)

#117  The Exterminating Angel (1962)

#122  E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

#127  Mean Streets (1973)

#130  Pulp Fiction (1994)

#137  The Shining (1980)

#145  The Philadelphia Story (1940)

#146  Black Narcissus (1946)

#149  One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)

#153  The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1919)

#163  Brazil (1985)

#166  The Conversation (1974)

#169  The Maltese Falcon (1941)

#173  The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972)

#175  Le Belle et la Bete (1946)

#179  Do the Right Thing (1989)

#183  Vampyr (1932)

#184  Nights of Cabiria (1957)

#185  The Exorcist (1973)

#188  Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

#191  Paths of Glory (1957)

#196  Throne of Blood (1957)

#203  Schindler’s List (1993)

#206  The Wages of Fear (1952)

#214  Night of the Living Dead (1968)

#215  The Graduate (1967)

#216  Alien (1979)

#229  Le Samourai (1967)

#234  The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

#235  To Kill A Mockingbird (1962)

#243  Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)

#246  In the Mood for Love (2000)

#255  High Noon (1952)

#259  The Terminator (1984)

#268  Fargo (1995)

#275  The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

#276  Dawn of the Dead (1978)

#279  The Big Sleep (1946)

#288  Laura (1944)

#293  Strangers on a Train (1951)

#303  Aliens (1986)

#306  The Asphalt Jungle (1950)

#318  Eraserhead (1976)

#327  Hign and Low (1963)

#336  Yojimbo (1961)

#361  Back to the Future (1985)

#365  Groundhog Day (1993)

#367  Halloween (1978)

#372  Reservoir Dogs (1991)

#374  Mulholland Dr. (2001)

#375  The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

#387  Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)

#395  Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

#396  JFK (1991)

#420  Full Metal Jacket (1987)

#421  This is Spinal Tap (1984)

#422  A Hard Day’s Night (1964)

#426  Toy Story (1995)

#427  Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

#442  Evil Dead II (1987)

#459  Rocky (1976)

#460  Cool Hand Luke (1967)

#471  L.A. Confidential (1997)

#473  12 Angry Men (1957)

#476  Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)

#484  Suspiria (1977)

#488  The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)

#496  All the President’s Men (1976)

#504  Winter Light (1962)

#510  Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

#514  Midnight Run (1988)

#516  Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1992)

#517  Bande a Part (1964)

#523  Boogie Nights (1997)

#532  Forrest Gump (1994)

#535  Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

#538  Barton Fink (1991)

#548  Alphaville (1965)

#550  Fight Club (1999)

#574  Die Hard (1988)

#583  The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

#591  Ivan’s Childhood (1962)

#614  Smiles of a Summer Night (1955)

#620  City of God (2002)

#626  Blood Simple (1984)

#637  Edward Scissorhands (1990)

#657  The Matrix (1999)

#665  National Lampoon’s Animal House (1978)

#673  The Magnificent Seven (1960)

#680  The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)

#689  The Usual Suspects (1995)

#706  Oldboy (2003)

#707  The Virgin Spring (1960)

#712  The Princess Bride (1987)

#714  Red Beard (1965)

#727  Hour of the Wolf (1967)

#739  Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)

#755  Lost in Translation (2003)

#768  Miller’s Crossing (1990)

#780  Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

#783  Crash (1996)

#785  There Will Be Blood (2007)

#787  Dazed and Confused (1993)

#790  Memento (2000)

#794  Starship Troopers (1997)

#804  Requiem for a Dream (2000)

#850  Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988)

#872  Second Breath (1966)

#875  Punch-Drunk Love (2002)

#883  Charade (1963)

#890  The Dark Knight (2008)

#914  Se7en (1995)

#935  Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

#937  Million Dollar Baby (2004)

#943  Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)

#976  Kill Bill Vol. 1 (2003)

#987  American Beauty (1999)

#998  The Truman Show (1998)

That’s 183 out of 1000.  Not so hot, really.  Time to get to work.