April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
Entertainment Column
What happened to Fred?
First of all, I would delete "Fargo" and "Pulp Fiction" in order to make room for far better movies, such as a Fred Astaire musical or "The Miracle Worker."
As the end of both the century and the millennium approaches, we're going to get more and more lists of the best and worst of everything. I'll probably do one of my own about television.
Until then, let's contemplate the catalogue of the 100 best American movies that was compiled by the American Film Institute and revealed on a recent three-hour CBS special.
Criteria
The AFI, which preserves films and trains film-makers, drew up a list of 400 top movies and sent it to 1,500 screenwriters, directors, critics and others for their votes to determine the best 100. The criteria were pretty loose: historical significance, critical recognition and popularity.Selecting a film for its historical significance means that "The Jazz Singer" (1927), starring Al Jolson as a cantor's son, is ranked number 90. It's a fairly dreadful movie, but it certainly merits notice for being the first talkie.
Including flicks for their popularity means that the rankings had to make room for inferior movies like "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," which was released once and then re-released with a revised ending. Counting popularity also explains how "Star Wars" ends up at number 15 between "Some Like It Hot" and "All About Eve." The adventures of Luke Skywalker and Han Solo are fun, but they don't deserve to be that high in the ratings.
Losers
Out of the films, which were chosen to mark the 100th anniversary of American movies, there are very few I would argue against. "The Silence of the Lambs" (number 65) and "Pulp Fiction" (95) don't belong there at all. They'd have a hard time making my list of the top 1,000 movies of all time.I didn't like "Unforgiven," but it's not a horrible movie. While "Fargo" (84) was good, it doesn't deserve mention anywhere near "The Wizard of Oz" (6) and "Sunset Boulevard" (12). And I doubt that the inclusion of "Rebel Without A Cause" (59) and "Giant" (82) reflects anything more than residual sorrow over James Dean's early demise.
But the list is subjective, which makes objecting to it sort of pointless -- with one exception: How could they not include Astaire at all?
The top American film, according to this vote, is "Citizen Kane." I agree with that, as most critics and movie fans do. I remember watching it on TV for the first time when I was a child and marveling at how different it seemed from the other films I had ever seen.
Religion on film
However, the movie that made me love movies was "Ben Hur." It made the list at 72 but deserves to be far higher. When I visited the AFI website, I was happy to see that the general public had voted it into the top ten.Only a few of the films on the list, including "Ben Hur," have overtly religious content. "On the Waterfront" (8), for example, has a prominent role for a priest and religious imagery, and the main theme is a man's struggle with his conscience. Other movies with religious elements are "Schindler's List" (9), "It's A Wonderful Life" (11) and "The Sound of Music" (55).
That paucity demonstrates Hollywood's frequent hesitation to include religion in movies. Still, many of the films do deal with spiritual issues. Some examples are "The Bridge on the River Kwai" (13), "The Grapes of Wrath" (21), "E.T." (25) and "To Kill A Mockingbird" (34).
The really disturbing thing about the list is that I have seen 99 of the 100 best American movies. That may explain my waistline. I can start dealing with that as soon as I go out and rent "Amadeus" (53).
Who's bringing the buttered popcorn?
(If you have seen the list and have some suggestions for improving it, write me in care of The Evangelist, 40 N. Main Ave., Albany, NY 12203; or e-mail me: [email protected]. The American Film Institute web site is www.afionline.org.) (07-02-98)
[[In-content Ad]]
Comments:
You must login to comment.