Jun 21 2007AFI Re-Decides Best Movies
Citizen Kane again won "Least Surprising Choice for Best Movie."
Ten years after creating the first definitive list of the best movies, the American Film Institute has re-examined the list, deciding many movies are either much better or worse than originally thought. Surprisingly, something called Citizen Kane retained the top position, with something called A Godfather and the nonsensically titled Casablanca pulling in second and third. Like weather phenomena? This Gone With the Wind flick might be something you should check out--it's the sixth best movie ever! They've really made some unpredictable, out-there choices this year.
See what was added or removed under the cut, and the full list here.
Removed from the list were Doctor Zhivago, Birth of a Nation, From Here to Eternity, Amadeus, All Quiet on the Western Front, The Third Man, Fantasia, Rebel Without a Cause, Stagecoach, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Manchurian Candidate, An American in Paris, Wuthering Heights, Dances With Wolves, Giant, Mutiny on the Bounty, Frankenstein (1931), Patton, The Jazz Singer, My Fair Lady, A Place in the Sun, Guess Who's Coming To Dinner, and Fargo. AFI experts commented, "What were we smoking, man? Seriously, Birth of a Nation didn't even have sound!"
Added to the list were The General, Intolerance, Nashville, Sullivan's Travels, Cabaret, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Shawshank Redemption, In The Heat of the Night, All the President's Men, Spartacus, Sunrise, A Night at the Opera, 12 Angry Men, Swing Time, Sophie's Choice, The Last Picture Show, Blade Runner, Toy Story, and Do the Right Thing. AFI experts added, "Did you notice Do the Right Thing? We're not just a bunch of out-of-touch old white guys. We like this one thing with black people because it was critically praised."
Reader Comments
1. Amphetadex - June 21, 2007 1:17 PM
Okay, how the fuck did they cut Birth of a Nation??? Are they ahasmed because of its racial tones and feel that destroys any historical significance of the film? I just don't get how they could take out what broke so much ground for everything to come after it.
2. J-Dogg - June 21, 2007 1:33 PM
Who directed A Godfather? Does it have anything to do with Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather?
3. Sisco - June 21, 2007 2:11 PM
They fucked up HARDCORE.
I can't even comment, I'm that confused by their choices.
4. Beelzebub - June 21, 2007 2:22 PM
Wow, is the AFI biased to older films, or what? I'm begining to think it's just a big group dedicated to nostalgia.
No Matrix? Star Wars over Empire? No City of God? No Seven? No Holy Grail? No Aliens?
Instead we get plenty of Marx Brothers and Fred Astaire?
I don't mean to take anything away from the classics, but why ignore monumental modern films, or comedies, or genre films?
5. Connor Crews - June 21, 2007 4:37 PM
I agree with Beezlebub, and I think Fight Club should be on that list.
AFI has once again done it and collect a huge list of movies that put me to sleep.
Fuck.
6. Gnomey - June 21, 2007 4:43 PM
Hey, Vince, did you change your font? The letters look different...maybe I need to layoff the Pabst Blue Ribbon before lunch.
7. mike - June 21, 2007 5:59 PM
hey beelzebub and connor, AFI isn't perfect, but they're a helluva lot smarter than you two dorks. matrix? fight club? seven?
seriously? just because a movie is "neat-o" or "kewl" or "omygod, ed norton was brad pitt the whole time!!!????" doesn't make it one of the best of all time. fincher doesn't make good movies, just cool movies.
AFI may have added some old movies, but every movie they removed was old too (except fargo). it looks to me like they got rid of the ones they thought were good on principle and tried to pay more attention to actual cinematic quality. (sorry, that means no matrix). retards.
8. forman - June 21, 2007 7:20 PM
it's because of things like this that I don't see the point in anyone feeling they should make such lists.
9. MargeAggedon - June 21, 2007 7:44 PM
Let's see we need another AFI tv special to fill time and sell ads.
I know let's remake the list we put on last time and do it again.
And again,
and again,
and again.
It's all new so that makes it good. Right?
10. Connor Crews - June 21, 2007 10:04 PM
I never agreed with Matrix, even though I agree with Seven and Fight Club, but the whole thing I'm saying is that they completely ignore modern movies for the first part.
And you don't really need to call someone a retard becuase of their opinion.
11. Matt - June 22, 2007 2:46 AM
I can't believe they cut Amadeus. One of the best films ever made. And in place of what? Toy Story???
12. Muvies - June 22, 2007 8:28 AM
I'm just glad they removed 'fargo'. That has to be one of the WORST movies of all time. I didn't see it until it finally came on TV and I'm glad I didn't waste any money on it.
That movie made me feel like I needed a bath and a brillo pad to wash off the stink afterward. UGH! There are no words to truly express my bile.
In my opinion it should be on the top 100 WORST movies. Very near the top.
13. Muvies - June 22, 2007 8:32 AM
'birth of a nation' was a racist piece of shit. The only thing going for it is the fact that it is one of the earliest films. That doesn't make it good. That just makes it a historical reality. Nothing about it deserves mention other than that.
14. Chris - June 22, 2007 10:35 AM
Was 'The Hustler' on the last list? Cause it sure as hell belongs on this one.
15. mac - June 22, 2007 11:18 AM
I've only seen about 1/5 of the movies on this list.
16. Vince - June 22, 2007 2:29 PM
Gnomey
Mark actually wrote this one (probably because I had too much Pabst before lunch). But I don't know what's up with the font change. I let the smart people handle the technical issues; making poopy jokes is too hard for me to be able to concentrate on both.
17. databody - June 23, 2007 12:36 AM
seriously, who gives one single shit about birth of a nation?
also, fight club.
18. memphisto - June 24, 2007 10:24 AM
The list was best movies of ALL TIME. So naturally most of them will have been made sometime other than the last 10 years. Think about it.
Best is relative term. I think "most influential" might have been better. Empire may have been a better movie that Star Wars but SW was arguably the most influential film of the last 30 years.
Likewise Birth of a Nation. It was basically the first film to be shot like a film rather than like a filmed stage play (with cuts, close ups. pans, etc). Every film since has used Griffith's vocabulary. Racist or not, it was a landmark and a masterpiece.