Ahira's Hangar

AFI, recently came out with their lists of ten bests. The list for ten best SF movies is:

1. 2001: A Space Odyssey, 1968

2. Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, 1977

3. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, 1982

4. A Clockwork Orange, 1971

5. The Day The Earth Stood Still, 1951

6. Blade Runner, 1982

7. Alien, 1979

8. Terminator 2: Judgment Day, 1991

9. Invasion Of The Body Snatchers ,1956

10. Back To The Future, 1985

And the fantasy film list is:

1. The Wizard Of Oz, 1939

2. The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring, 2001

3. It's A Wonderful Life, 1946

4. King Kong, 1933

5. Miracle On 34th Street, 1947

6. Field Of Dreams, 1989

7. Harvey, 1950

8. Groundhog Day, 1993

9. The Thief Of Bagdad, 1924

10. Big, 1988

I was just going to make a thread about this!

link:


my stats (how many I have seen):
animation 10/10
romantic ocmedy: 4/10
westerns: 1/10
sports: 7/10
mystery: 3/10
fantasy: 7/10
science fiction: 4/10
mobster: 0/10
courtroom: 3/10
epic: 6/10

my comments:
animation: I would jetison Cinderella in favor of the much better art and musical score of Sleeping Beauty

westerns: give me break! if Clint Eastwood's Spaggheti westerns do not count becaue they are not American made, you still haven't accounted for classics like True Grit, Silverado, and Dances with Wolves!

sports: Jerry Maguire is one of the most overrated movies ever, filled with epic fail as both a sports movie and a romance - how about pretty much any sports film in its place - and for horse movies, Seabiscuit is a million times better than National Velvet

epic: where in the heck are Braveheart and Dr. Zhivago????? get rid of the lame Ten Commandments and boring Reds and replace them with those two much better classics

And why is there not an action movie category???

I love lists! Or love to disagree with them.

I'll follow duchess's lead:

my stats
animation: 3/10
romantic comedy: 2/10
western: 2/10
sports: 2/10
mystery: 2/10
fantasy: 2/10
science fiction: 7/10
gangster: 1/10
courtroom drama: 1/10
epic: 5/10

comments
animation - would you believe I've never seen any of Disney's animated classics in their entirety? They're just not that important to me. However, I enjoyed Toy Story 1 and 2, and Shrek (though I haven't seen the sequels).

romantic comedy - I don't go out of my way to see romantic comedies, but I do cherish Chaplin's City Lights. I also really like Woody Allen's comedies, it's just that I've not seen Annie Hall.

western - what caught my eye on the list was Cat Ballou. I had never heard of this movie! I bet this is a very controversial pick by the AFI. Oh, and I would put in a vote for Dances With Wolves, too.

sports - uh...what is Caddyshack doing here? I think it's funny, but is it really a sports movie? Also surprised to see Jerry Maguire on the list, even though I have not seen the movie.

fantasy - The Wizard of Oz isn't my cup of tea, so for me, Fellowship of the Ring is #1 all the way!

sci fi - I can't complain about most of the choices, but I'd slip in The Matrix somewhere, although it might be considered more fantasy than sci fi, or more action...and yeah, I echo the sentiment: NO ACTION CATEGORY???

epic - I think Dr. Zhivago should be on the list, too. Gladiator also deserves a spot. I think it stands with the best of them.

NO HORROR FILMS?? NO WAR FILMS??

Oh gosh yes! Gladiator! All the way!

As my husband calls it - the ultimate thinking man's action movie!

Yes, where are the war movies? Horror? Action?

Yes, where is The Matrix??? Not just because it is such a great movie, but also because it has influenced so many other films in visual style???

Well, I guess for the sake of the "10 Top 10" idea, they wanted to keep it to ten categories. Let's see if they come up with 10 Top 10 - The Sequel! Maybe then they'll explore those other genres we mentioned.

To Duchess and Moonwatcher. I can tell you exactly why Dances with Wolves might be excluded (FYI, it's one of my favorites). Many in the movie evaluation business (critics and such, people the AFI listen to) find its PC theme that underlies the plot very, very problematic. What PC theme you might ask? The theme that says Native American is good, noble, generous, White Man is wicked, base (common, vulgar), selfish. In the opinion of many that theme is bashed over the movie viewer's head, and in the opinion of some others (including me) that theme is present but not overly so.

Additionally, I recognize the movie for its excellence of using the cinematic form, beautiful visuals, excellence in story telling, good directing, integration of music into the plot, etc.

Well, to be honest, I did think it was part of the american guilt trip myself...still enjoyed it, but I did notice the theme. And I'm not a particularly critical viewer.

(Nice to see you around Taras. )

--A

It's sad to think they would exclude Dances With Wolves because of that theme. If anything, you'd think the film would be applauded for dealing with that issue. I mean, wasn't that at least one of the reasons why it won the Best Picture Oscar?

Hmmm...good point. Not that I was saying it should be excluded, just that the theme was apparent to me.

--A

I think myself The Fifth Element should be on that list and as for Westerns,The Unforgiven, was one of the better Westerns.