AFI Top 100 (The first 10)

Betsy and I decided a while back to go through and watch AFI's Top 100 Films. To be more cultural and stuff with our Netflix, rather than just watching old TV shows and silly comedies. I had seen most of the movies on the list, but there's still a few I haven't seen. AFI came out with a new list a few years ago, a 10th Anniversary edition, where they re-voted and most of the movies shifted up or down and a few were added or deleted. I like the older list(from 1998) a lot more, so we're starting with that one. Once we're done, we can go back and catch the newer additions. For now, I'm going to review the first 10, then review the rest as we go along later, in increments.

100. Yankee Doodle Dandy - I never really liked this film. James Cagney comes off as a douche the whole time, from when he was a kid, then even when he was an adult. He's usually a douche in movies, but it's okay because he's usually playing a gangster. And since it's a bio-pic there isn't much in the area of character growth or story development. There's just a bunch of tap dancing and singing. People love it, though, and it made the list. (Barely at #100)




99. Guess Who's Coming To Dinner - I do love this movie. It's so simple, it's written and acted like a stage play. And what it spoke about at the time was tremendous. Today it would be so heavy-handed and cliche, but back then it was landmark. And even today it stands up as a legacy against racism. I also love Spencer Tracy. He's funny without being a clown. He steals scenes with his looks and his wit. One of my favorite films is Father of the Bride, and he is so hilarious in it. Steve Martin took a lesson from him in the remake. Even the horrible sequel, Father's Little Dividend, which I picked up at a gas station somewhere in the $2 bin, is still awesome because Tracy is in it. I look forward to seeing all of his films.



98. Unforgiven - I've never been a real fan of the western genre. Westerns have always been slightly boring. So with Unforgiven, I don't like it because it's a western, but then I do like it because it blows the top off of every other action western film. At least the ending does. Most of the movie moseys along like any other slow western.
It is meaningful and it does say a lot, and has interesting characters and scenes. But still. I don't care for it much. I know you need a better explanation if you're going to do a review, but that's where I'm at.










97. Bringing Up Baby - What a screwball comedy! And that's not a compliment. This film makes no sense whatsoever. If it were made today it would be filed in the ranks of "Dude, where's my car."
Both of the leads are horribly annoying, the plot maneuvers who knows where, and the comedy falls all over itself. Cary Grant is playing this huge dork. And it's so weird, because it's Cary Grant, he's supposed to be a dashing hunk, but he's running around like his no-no areas are in a vice. And they are, because Katherine Hepburn(already her second film on this list), has them and she won't let go. And it's all supposed to be so funny. In the end, you've have some laughs, played along with it's silliness and are just happy it's all over.


96. The Searchers - Remember when I was saying how I didn't like westerns? Well, for this movie I make an exception. I loved it. Maybe it's because of John Wayne. He plays a bad ass in everything, and taught the likes of Harrison Ford how to do it. He is master of his domain and he won't take the likes of no Indian or Mexican or drunkard. This was one I hadn't seen before, but only heard about, and it lived up to the reputation. It's just such a grand movie of the genre, I think it could be John Ford's best. The cinematography is great, the story is interesting, if not a lil bit unrealistic, as well as the scenery, where in west Texas is Monument Valley? Most of all, I wasn't bored while watching it. I don't remember if Betsy was. Maybe.







95. Pulp Fiction - Quite a jump between movies on the list, we go from John Wayne to this. But there is a link; The Searchers is a perfect genre film, that so many others take from and Pulp Fiction, and Tarantino in general, are more about the art of film than film itself, if that makes any sense. He makes films with dynamic shots and unique editing, all while paying homage to the filmmaking art and process. This film is a masterpiece of that art. Every shot is perfect and planned. The dialogue is so crisp and the story, (all the intertwining stories), move so quick, it's hard to keep up. I can't say that I love Tarantino. I enjoy his films, I like what he's doing, but I think he spends too much time paying tribute to the films he grew up on and not enough on making real art. What does a painting of a museum look like? Who cares, it's much more interesting seeing an impressionist painting of a field.




94. Goodfellas - One of my personal favorites, though, not my favorite gangster film, which is my favorite genre. Gangster films are about two things in story telling that is key; action and redemption. Stories without some form of action are dull and inconsequential. You need action. Story is action. And the greatest stories usually have to do with either redemption or tragedy. Gangster films are always either one of those. At their best they are metaphors for life, at their worst they are only means to show guns, girls and guys getting whacked. Goodfellas falls somewhere in between. I don't think it's the best gangster film, and I don't even think it's Scorsese's best gangster film. (I think Casino is better, but that's a different review.) This film is really about failed redemption, and even about failing at failed redemption since Henry Hill fell out of witness protection and is living on the streets now. So I guess it's a real tragedy then. But then if so, the tragedy goes all the way back to his childhood when he was drawn in by the rich lifestyle of the gangsters. And then, it shows the tragedy of American life, that this went on for so long. All of this is shown under the layers of the film, which make it great. Martin is so good with the tenseness of it; Who's going to get whacked, and what's going to happen to Hill? I can't forget Joe Pesci. The whole scene with him asking why Henry thinks he's funny is so perfect. That's the tenseness, right there. What is this firecracker going to do, that was the life, and Marty is so good at drawing it out.

93. The Apartment - And then there's this piece of crap. This movie is so stupid, I hate it. I hate it so much. What gets me is that so many people love it, when it should have been Billy Wilder's bomb. This is like 1960's "Avatar," because everyone loved it, and it was a landmark film, yadda yadda. It was supposed to be landmark because it was a hybrid between comedy and drama. Except what we have for comedy is one of the most overrated comedians of all time; Jack Lemmon. Jack Lemmon only played one good character his whole life, the old man in Grumpy Old Men. In this he plays the likes of Cary Grant in Bringing Up Baby; a total dork. And we have to follow him around for 2 hours! Ugh. And then Shirley Maclaine somehow ends up with him. And you know why, because Fred MacMurray, the douche of the world, screwed her over so much she attempted suicide and Jack Lemmon is so kind and helps her. So I guess if it's between the douche of the world and the dork of the world, she chooses death. Which is what I choose instead of watching this movie again.

92. A Place in the Sun - It's hard for me to remember this because it's so forgettable. At least the lead is, he plays an average guy who somehow gets caught up into high society. It's the women who are actually easier to remember. Elizabeth Taylor is being Elizabeth Taylor, and then we have her opposite Shelley Winters, a freakin' crazy head that the lead guy got pregnant. It's all dramatic from that point, and the poor stiff gets tried for murder even though he was only thinking about murdering Winters, but didn't. That's all there is to say. I don't know why this made AFI's list, I don't know how anyone remembered it was even made.








91. My Fair Lady - I remember what Betsy thought of this one. She hated it. And I have to side with her. It's sooooo long. It clocks in at 171 minutes. I did the math, that's 3 hours and 11 minutes. And most of it is singing. And some dancing. And only a little bit of story. I saw the play version, Pygmalion, and that was at least 2 hours and there were no songs in it at all, so you can imagine how much story is supposed to be there. But this film guts all that out and fills it with useless songs. Audrey Hepburn is adorable and so is Rex Harrison, he's like Indiana Jones, except he doesn't carry a whip or have Asian sidekicks.
I would like it, though, if it was way shorter, because I like the story, which has been remade into so many other versions ("She's All That", ring a bell?).
And then the ending. Betsy was super pissed. 3 plus hours and they don't even kiss? But that's what George Bernard Shaw wanted, he didn't want it to be a love story. So you got to give it to Hollywood for sticking to the writer's ideas.



P.S. - A few additions about how Betsy felt. She likes The Apartment, and didn't hate My Fair Lady, she just didn't like it.
P.P.S. - Betsy did the math and My Fair Lady is actually 2 hours and 51 minutes.