The American Film Institute have celebrated 100 years of their existence by revealing their picks for the 100 greatest movies of all time. I’ve posted the Top 20 and linked them to IMDB (the rest you will have to copy and paste yourself you lazy bastards!!)…
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)
Click here to see the full list over at Cinema Blend.
It’s an absolute crime to myself that I still haven’t seen Casablanca isn’t it?
Love that Raging Bull is so high up and of course The Godfather and Citizen Kane are great picks for numbers 1 and 2, if rather predictable.
Schlinder’s List number 8? I mean it’s a god damn spectacular movie but there’s no way in the world you can convince me it should be that high.
By my reckoning The Godfather Part II at number 38 is the only sequel on the list.
Some controversial decisions from where I sit…
89. The Sixth Sense – I like M. Night’s movie and yes it’s great but it’s not one of the 100 greatest movies of all time.
83. Titanic – I love Titanic, but I can imagine this angering many people.
94. Pulp Fiction – Quentin Tarantino’s only entry is way back at 94? Lower than The Sixth Sense? That’s a joke!
Some movies that are missing from the list that really should be included… are TOUCH OF EVIL, ALIEN, THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE and any more?
7 Comments
WTF, devastated! Are you telling me Short Circuit 2 just missed the list?
Well, at least Birth of a Nation isn’t #1 anymore. AFI had that crap listed as the greatest movie of all time for years. Now, when are they going to finally swallow their pride and remove Gone With the Wind?
Actually, AFI is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. It has not been around for 100.
No Seven Samurai? How’s that possible?
Thanks for the update Jennifer, I actually meant to write 40 but I guess I got confused with writing 100.
I believe the reason Seven Samurai isn’t in is because the list is made up of American movies as it’s the American Film Insitute.
I’m actually surprised and a bit ticked off that “Amadeus” has been dropped off the list and replaced by “The Sixth Sense” which is good but not in the same league. A bit disheartening.
And is it a bad thing that even after watching “Citizen Kane” 3 times, I’m still not 100% sure why people love it so much?
You know, looking at that photo of Orsen Wells on top of all those newspapers, I’m struck by how great a photo and composition that is. You never see stuff like that from other movies of the period. And you KNOW Welles, being the contol-freak he was, orchestrated this pic to the last detail. i
It’s hard to believe that he was only 25 years-old when he wrote, directed and starred in arguably the greatest movie of all time. Today twenty-somethings have all the books, media and news you could want to draw inspriation from and the kids who write scripts today can’t tell a story with even a tenth of the power and originality that he did. And all he had were books to draw from, and his experieces in the theater.
I saw Citizen Kane was the amazed at how modern it felt. From the camera angles, the choice of compositions (especially the opening scence where one of the studio guys is standing up, backlit by the film projector’s light) and the pace at which he told the story. I watched a lot of movies from the late-thirties, early-to-mid forties, and Citizen Kane feels nothing like any of them. The best of them, like The Maltese Falcon, were great stories and well-told, but they felt like period pieces.
Orsen Welles was born WAY before his time. If he has come along during the 70’s, then nobody would have known or cared who Spielberg, Coppolla, Scorcese or Lucas was. Damned shame.
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