Thoughts on the new AFI Top 100

The American Film Institute's list of the top 100 American movies of all time is a big deal to me, probably a bigger deal than it should be. I periodically count how many on the list I've seen, and taking into account the absolute subjectivity of any type of list, I respect it as one of the more authoritative lists out there. The original list was compiled in 1997/8, and they've just released a revamped edition for the new milennium, which is available here. Reading this new list caused me, at various intervals, to literally scream with joy, anger, or shock. Mostly though, I prefer the old list. Here are my thoughts.

Things that make me happy

- Singin' in the Rain moved up five spots, from 10 to 5. Nice.

- There were some overdue and previously overlooked additions, such as Cabaret, 12 Angry Men, and In the Heat of the Night.

- Crash was not added, as threatened.

Things that make me unhappy

- Prior to this new list, I read the list of the 400 nominees they were considering, available here. In addition to the usual suspects, there were a bunch of old movies deemed worth reconsidering, plus movies released since the first list. Of the newcomers, I knew they would add at least one Lord of the Rings movie, which they did. I was praying for them to add Rushmore, which they didn't. There were several other very respectable candidates, such as A Beautiful Mind, Lost in Translation, Mystic River, and Saving Private Ryan (which was added). But do you know what were the only other newbies to get added? TITANIC and THE FUCKING SIXTH SENSE. I will deal with each of these separately.

- The Sixth Sense. You see dead people. We get it. This movie gave the world some thrills and chills, and Haley Joel Osment. But these are the greatest American movies EVAR. Over half a century after Gone With the Wind, people still quote "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn" - will people really be saying "I see dead people" in 68 years? A good genre piece it may be, a legendary classic it is not. Another thing that made me angry: in the corresponding TV special for this list, Stephen Spielberg said, "Psycho was the original Sixth Sense," which in addition to being blasphemous is just illogical. Just because they're both suspenseful? I don't walk around saying that Some Like It Hot is the original Norbit just because they're both comedies!

- Titanic. This film was significant for three reasons: it was inexplicably nominated for a shitload of Oscars, it won Leonardo DiCaprio a shitload of fans, and it made a shitload of money worldwide. But seriously guys, this movie is SOOOO CHEESY. It was a sensation at the time, but can anyone watch this now without a healthy sense of irony? Who still cries when Jack dies, instead of laughs? There are other cheesy movies on the list too, such as Jaws. But Jaws has two key things to augment its cheesiness: a sense of humor, and the nostalgia factor. Titanic is just a bloated joke that has been deservedly forgotten (until now).
- Some of the films that dropped off the list are absolutely criminal: Rebel Without a Cause is a brilliant piece of cinema that made a star out of James Dean and brought teenage angst to light as a real issue; An American in Paris is beautiful, fun, and revolutionized the American musical; Fantasia changed animation forever; From Here to Eternity is a star-studded and Oscar-laden epic that brought up deep questions about morality and war. But the worst omission this time around is Birth of a Nation. It could be included for historical and social influence alone, but it is also a technically and cinematically amazing masterpiece. Maybe Griffiths' battle scenes don't stand up to modern-day ones, and the acting methods seem overwrought compared to the nuanced methods favored today, but for the time, this stuff was incredible, and still packs a punch.

Things that just completely baffle me

- The AFI's sudden and inexplicable boner for Westerns. Most notable is The Searchers' jump from 96 to 12, but Shane, High Noon and Unforgiven also had big jumps. This is pretty random, considering that there's no apparent Western revival now or anything.

- Why did some things move up or down one or two spots? That's just silly.
- I noticed that a lot of the films that dropped off the list deal with "big issues": Guess Who's Coming To Dinner tackles interracial romance, The Manchurian Candidate deals with government brainwashing, Birth of a Nation is still controversial for its racism, From Here to Eternity and All Quiet on the Western Front paint decidedly unglamorous depictions of war, Rebel Without a Cause legitimizes teen problems, etc. A lot of a new additions can be considered "safe" by comparison.
- Sullivan's Travels added? Weird.

Another impact this new list will have on my life is the necessary reorganization of our AFI Top 100 section at the video store where I work. And they're all numbered - grunt. Wish me luck.