AFI Celebrates 100 Years Of Movies

By Josh Tyler: 2007-06-20 22:56:08

Tonight the American Film Institute sucked up a couple of hours worth of viewing time on CBS, doing what they do best: listing movies. On this, their 100 year anniversary they’re not just listing movies, but listing the greatest movies of all time… at least as they see them.

Normally I’m bored by lists, but AFI has a knack for paying homage to great films. Watching all those great movies go by is more about your memories of seeing the films than the films themselves. Ok, maybe Vertigo and Rear Window should have switched places on the list, and yeah Citizen Kane is a pretty cliché and boring pick at number one; but agree or disagree with the order, there’s no denying that in their own way, each and every movie listed is a brilliant film. And half the fun of watching is in picking up the patterns. For instance, it’s amazing to realize how many truly amazing, brilliantly classic films Jimmy Stuart has been in. Every time I looked at the TV, it seemed like it was his face up on it staring back at me.

Great movies make great TV watching, even if you’re only seeing them in snippets. Actually, especially when you’re seeing them in snippets. Watching them this way washes away the impurities and leaves you with only the memories.

If there was any problem with AFI’s list, it was the presence of Halle Berry up there talking about movies as if she’s some great thespian authority. Scratch that. She has an Oscar, at least that gives her some credibility. Eva Mendes on the other hand, what the hell was she doing up there? Being hot I suppose.

Luckily, the other guest speakers were much better. Like ghosts from the past Jack Lemmon and Billy Wilder showed up to talk about their films. Steven Spielberg was there to talk about E.T., and other great luminaries sat around and talked just what it was that’s so important, so wonderful, about AFI’s Top 100 movies.

If you missed it, we’ll have the complete, ordered list below in just a minute. But it’s just a list. The magic is in the movies:

AFI's Top 100 Movies Of All Time

100. Ben-Hur (1959)
99. Toy Story (1995)
98. Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
97. Blade Runner (1982)
96. Do the Right Thing (1989)
95. The Last Picture Show (1971)
94. Pulp Fiction (1994)
93. The French Connection(1971)
92. Goodfellas (1990)
91. Sophie’s Choice (1982)
90. Swing Time (1936)
89. The Sixth Sense (1999)
88. Bringing Up Baby (1938)
87. 12 Angry Men (1957)
86. Platoon (1986)
85. A Night at the Opera (1935)
84. Easy Rider (1969)
83. Titanic (1997)
82. Sunrise (1927)
81. Spartacus (1960)
80. The Apartment (1960)
79. The Wild Bunch (1969)
78. Modern Times (1936)
77. All the President’s Men (1976)
76. Forest Gump (1994)
75. In the Heat of the Night (1967)
74. Silence of the Lambs (1991)
73. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
72. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
71. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
70. A Clockwork Orange (1971)
69. Tootsie (1982)
68. Unforgiven (1992)
67. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (1966)
66. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
65. The African Queen (1951)
64. Network (1976)
63. Cabaret (1972)
62. American Graffiti (1973)
61. Sullivan’s Travels (1941)
60. Duck Soup (1933)
59. Nashville (1975)
58. The Gold Rush (1925)
57. Rocky (1976)
56. Jaws (1975)
55. North By Northwest (1959)
54. M*A*S*H* (1970)
53. The Deer Hunter (1978)
52. Taxi Driver (1976)
51. West Side Story (1961)
50. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
49. Intolerance (1916)
48. Rear Window (1954)
47. A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
46. It Happened One Night (1934)
45. Shane (1953)
44. The Philadelphia Story (1940)
43. Midnight Cowboy (1969)
42. Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
41. King Kong (1933)
40. The Sound of Music (1965)
39. Dr. Strangelove (1964)
38. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
37. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
36. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1941)
35. Annie Hall (1977)
34. Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (1937)
33. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Next (1975)
32. The Godfather, Part II (1974)
31. The Maltese Falcon (1941)
30. Apocalypse Now (1979)
29. Double Indemnity (1944)
28. All About Eve (1950)
27. High Noon (1952)
26. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
25. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
24. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
23. The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
22. Some Like it Hot (1959)
21. Chinatown (1974)
20. It’s A Wonderful Life (1946)
19. On the Waterfront (1954)
18. The General (1927)
17. The Graduate (1967)
16. Sunset Blvd (1950)
15. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
14. Psycho (1960)
13. Star Wars (1977)
12. The Searchers (1956)
11. City Lights (1931)
10. Wizard of Oz (1939)
9. Vertigo (1958)
8. Schindler’s List (1993)
7. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
6. Gone with the Wind (1939)
5. Singing in the Rain (1952)
4. Raging Bull (1980)
3. Casablanca (1942)
2. The Godfather (1972)
1. Citizen Kane (1941)

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Rich Knight
June 21, 2007 at 11:19

Apocalypse Now at number 30?! WTF!

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Dave Makoff
June 21, 2007 at 11:20

What happened to Bullet with Steve McQueen? Got to be in the top 100 of all time!

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Titus
June 21, 2007 at 16:20

The greatest movie of all time isn't even in the top 100?

What a dumb list.

Fight Club is the best movie ever without question!!!

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t
June 21, 2007 at 18:02

For me, there are only 3 films that could possibly hold the distinction of the greatest of all time:

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Min
Chinatown
Stalag 17

at least one of them made the list. Too bad it didnt crack the top 20

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www.SITHCLAN.net
June 21, 2007 at 18:03

congratulation Star Wars ;-)

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EigaFan
June 22, 2007 at 10:41

The Last Picture Show--at last! Still, it's hard to believe there are 94 films better than Bogdanovich's 1971 classic.

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Jay
June 28, 2007 at 02:23

AMERICAN FILM INSTITUTE MOVIE BUFF POLL 6/23/07 - TOP 100 (compiled from their website; shocking that Brokeback Mountain didn't make the "official" list, considering it won the most Best Picture/Director awards ever for a single year (despite the still shocking Oscar loss - then again, Kane lost too), it was a cultural phenom, was ranked #1 box office story of 2005 by boxofficemojo.com,etc.). Here are the results as of 6/23/07

1. Brokeback Mountain - 124
2. The Godfather - 76
3. Gone with the Wind - 44
4. Star Wars - 43.
5. Casablanca - 42
6. The Shawshank Redemption - 42
7. Lord of the Rings Trilogy - 34 [note: Return of the King - 11]
8. Titanic - 34
9. To Kill a Mockingbird - 21
10. Citizen Kane - 20
11. The Sound of Music - 20
12. The Empire Strikes Back - 20
13. It’s a Wonderful Life - 19
14. Lawrence of Arabia - 17
15. American Beauty - 17
16. 2001: A Space Odyssey - 16
17. Schindler’s List - 16
18. The Godfather II - 15
19. Raiders of the Lost Ark - 15
20. Pulp Fiction - 15
21. Doctor Zhivago - 15
22. Goodfellas - 13
23. Vertigo - 12
24. The Third Man - 11
25. The Best Years of Our Lives - 10
25. On the Waterfront - 10
25. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest - 10
25. Fight Club - 10
25. Jaws - 10
30. The Graduate - 9
30. Singin’ in the Rain - 9
30. The Quiet Man - 9
30. Memento - 9
30. The Color Purple - 9
35. Sunset Boulevard - 8
35. All About Eve - 8
35. Breakfast at Tiffany’s - 8
35. Rocky - 8
35. The Princess Bride - 8
35. Gladiator - 8
35. Braveheart - 8
35. Back to the Future - 8
43. Chinatown - 7
43. Raging Bull - 7
43. A Clockwork Orange - 7
43. Fargo - 7
43. Blade Runner - 7
43. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - 7
43. Moulin Rouge - 7
43. Forrest Gump - 7

51 - 59 [6 votes each]
Almost Famous, Amadeus, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Deer Hunter, Patton, Psycho, Some Like It Hot, Taxi Driver, The Wild Bunch

60-66 [5 votes each]
Annie Hall, E.T., The Green Mile, Out of Africa, Rear Window, The Searchers, The Sting

67-90 [4 votes each]
The Adventures of Robin Hood, Aliens, Ben-Hur, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Crash, Dances with Wolves, The Exorcist, A Few Good Men, Field of Dreams, Good Will Hunting, Heat, It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, King Kong, LA Confidential, Magnolia, The Matrix, Requiem for a Dream, The Right Stuff, Roman Holiday, Saving Private Ryan, Scarface, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Ten Commandments, The Usual Suspects

91-122 [3 votes each]
First 10: "Official" Selections for Top 100:
American Graffiti, City Lights, The General, The Grapes of Wrath, Network,
North By Northwest, Notorious, Shane, Silence of the Lambs,
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Next 22: The Adventures of Robin Hood, Airplane, Apollo 13, Becket, The Big Lebowski, The Breakfast Club, The English Patient, Full Metal Jacket,Funny Farm, Ghostbusters, Gunga Din, Inherit the Wind, Local Hero, Mary Poppins, Million Dollar Baby, Mulholland Drive, Philadelphia, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Shining, Splendor in the Grass, Superman

INELIGIBLE [2006]
The Departed - 18
V for Vendetta - 7

High Vote-getters among non American (or British) Films
Spirited Away - 7
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - 5
4 apiece: Once Upon a Time in the West, Passion of the Christ, Pan’s Labyrinth, The Good, The Bad and the Ugly
2 apiece: City of God, Ikiru, Life is Beautiful, The Motorcycle Diaries,
The Passion of Joan of Arc, The Pianist

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