{"id":15387,"date":"2011-05-13T12:00:15","date_gmt":"2011-05-13T19:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.highdefdigest.com\/blog\/?p=15387"},"modified":"2017-05-02T05:28:08","modified_gmt":"2017-05-02T12:28:08","slug":"roundtable-afi-top-100-omissions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.highdefdigest.com\/blog\/roundtable-afi-top-100-omissions\/","title":{"rendered":"Weekend Roundtable: Movies the AFI Top 100 Ignored"},"content":{"rendered":"

This week’s Roundtable spun out of last week’s topic<\/a>. Specifically, it was prompted by a comment from reader Brian H, who suggested that we should put together our own list of 100 films that didn’t make the AFI Top 100 Movies list<\/a>. I don’t know that we have the wherewithal to do a hundred titles all on our own, but perhaps we can get the ball rolling. We’ll give you our picks for movies that the AFI inexplicably ignored, and you can fill in the rest. Let’s see how far we get.
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One ground rule: Since the AFI is the American<\/em> Film Institute, the Top 100 list is meant to include only American films. (I’m not sure how ‘The Third Man<\/a>‘ qualifies as an American film, but it slipped in there somehow.) We’ll do our best to stick to the original intent. Foreign films unfortunately do not qualify for this topic. <\/p>\n

[Disclaimer: When I sent out this week’s assignment to the staff, I erroneously included a link to the AFI’s 1997 Top 100 list<\/a>, not the more recent 2007 version. As a result, a couple of our contributors picked movies (‘Toy Story’ and ‘Do the Right Thing’) that actually are on the AFI’s current list. I take full responsibility for this mistake and any confusion it may have caused. Mea culpa. \u2013JZ]<\/em><\/p>\n

Josh Zyber<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

It’s no secret that I am \u2013 or at least, used to be \u2013 a fan of director David Lynch. I proudly list his much-reviled ‘Dune<\/a>‘ as my favorite movie of all time, and ‘Twin Peaks’ as my favorite TV show. No, much as I may love it, I wouldn’t be crazy enough to suggest that the deeply-flawed ‘Dune’ should make the Top 100 list. However, Lynch’s masterpiece ‘Blue Velvet<\/strong>‘ certainly should. Bouncing right back from the failure of his sci-fi epic, this is the movie that established Lynch as a true auteur, and allowed his cinematic voice to bloom.<\/p>\n

Compared to some of the director’s later works, the murder mystery narrative in ‘Blue Velvet’ may seem almost curiously straightforward and (dare I say it?) conventional. There are no dream sequences or backwards-talking dwarves here. This is Lynch’s attempt to put his own spin on the ‘Hardy Boys’ novels he read as a youth. Yet the film is all about looking below the surface. Dig into it a little, and you’ll find a deeply strange story about the dark underbelly of the placid, idyllic face of America. The movie proved to be very divisive when it was released in 1986 (Roger Ebert was one of its most vocal detractors), but it has stood the test of time and proven itself one of the most important American films of the last three decades. <\/p>\n

Nate Boss<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Since we’re only talking about American films, some great stuff has to be left off. I refuse to put anything with Tom Hanks up here (sorry, ‘Philadelphia’), solely due to how awful he’s been this last decade. So, I’m going to go with ‘Terminator 2: Judgment Day<\/a>‘. Yeah, a sequel, in the list to end all lists (when not even ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ made it!). This film has everything it needs to be on the list here: iconic characters, memorable lines, and the ability to stand apart from its peers as the face of an era. Cutting edge special effects (and not just for one scene), long tense sequences, and a child actor you don’t want to strangle only make it even sweeter. If Stallone can make it on the list, so too can Schwarzenegger, damn it. I know Josh would be happy to know that I’d boot ‘Forrest Gump’ off the list to make room. <\/p>\n

Aaron Peck<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The AFI Top 100 films boast a wide variety of movies that are, yes, quite good. However, I think they overlooked one important film among the 400 that were nominated for the list. That movie is ‘A Christmas Story<\/a>‘. I can’t think of another movie out there that has become such a phenomenon that we as a country watch it religiously at the same time every year. Heck, TBS plays it on a loop for 24 hours starting every Christmas Eve. It’s a classic in every sense of the word. It’s become part of Americana. People far and wide know the story of the leg lamp. You can even buy replicas of it to stick in your front window to celebrate the season. The American Film Institute celebrates American films, and it doesn’t get anymore American than ‘A Christmas Story’.<\/p>\n

Luke Hickman<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

I love Quentin Tarantino. My university required me to write a 20+ page “capstone” paper prior to graduating. Mine was on Tarantino. I love that ‘Pulp Fiction’ made its way into the AFI Top 100 list, but where is ‘Reservoir Dogs<\/a>‘? Don’t get me wrong, ‘Pulp Fiction’ is amazing \u2013 but so is ‘Reservoir Dogs’. If films make the Top 100 list for doing cinematic things that hadn’t been done before, ‘Reservoir Dogs’ deserves to be on it. Watch the Blu-ray special feature “Playing It Fast and Loose.” It describes the impact the unforgettable ear slicing sequence has had on American filmmaking. Storytelling-wise, does it get any better than watching Mr. Orange practice his “Cops in the Restroom” dialogue?<\/p>\n

Mike Attebery<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

I seem to bring up Billy Wilder films quite a lot in these Roundtables, but the man made some truly classic films. ‘Sabrina<\/strong>‘ comes from what I’ve called his Sgt. Pepper period<\/a> (1950 – 1960). Even though Humphrey Bogart was clearly showing his age at this point, the film features two stars (Audrey Hepburn and William Holden) at their most radiant. This fairy tale, which takes place “Once upon a time, on the north shore of Long Island…”<\/em> offers some of Wilder’s all-time best lines (he and Samuel A. Taylor adapted Taylor and Ernest Lehman’s play “Sabrina Fair” for the screen). This is a tale of wit, style, class, and heart. I challenge you to watch it and not want to spend a summer on Long Island’s Gold Coast. I spent my own childhood summers there, and while I have many a fond memory from those years, they were, alas, nothing like the world of ‘Sabrina’. If I could add film #101 to AFI’s list, this would definitely be it.<\/p>\n

Adam Tyner (DVDTalk<\/a>)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Maybe it’s just because director William Wyler already held several slots elsewhere on AFI’s list, but otherwise, I’m kind of puzzled about why ‘Roman Holiday<\/strong>‘ didn’t make the cut for “100 Years, 100 Movies.” Even for a snarky writer like myself who recoils at “romantic comedy” like some kind of four-letter word, I find ‘Roman Holiday’ completely enchanting and perhaps the single best the genre’s ever delivered. This is, after all, the film that made an entire country fall head over heels for Audrey Hepburn. It’s no wonder that she took home an Academy Award for her work here (among several the film earned), even though this was the young actress’ first leading role. Who else could make viewers kind of forget that Gregory Peck is standing in front of the camera too? Even throughout the nearly six decades that have since passed, not all that many films have made such wonderful use of location photography as ‘Roman Holiday’ either. The Eternal City itself is very much a character in its own right, and I can’t imagine watching the film and not<\/em> being desperate to catch the next flight to Rome immediately afterwards. This to my mind is exactly what a romantic comedy ought to be: a cute, infectiously fun, and… well, romantic<\/em> escape without feeling cloying, formulaic, or dumb. Although the AFI did snub ‘Roman Holiday’ on “100 Years, 100 Movies,” they did rank the film near the top of the “100 Passions” list<\/a>, so at least they wised up eventually.<\/p>\n

David Vaughn (Ultimate AV<\/a>)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The one movie that deserves a spot on the AFI Top 100 list is ‘Toy Story<\/a>‘. The wildly entertaining story about friendship and loyalty is great family entertainment in and of itself, but it deserves placement based upon the technology shift that Pixar pioneered. One thing I’ve always admired about Pixar is that the studio continues to move forward with technological advances in animation, but never forgets the most important aspect of any movie: the story!<\/p>\n

Mrs. Z<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

I think the AFI list, and indeed Hollywood in general, would benefit from a bit more diversity. I admit that I haven’t researched all 100 films on the list, but on a cursory overview, it looks as if they are mostly, if not all, directed by white men. To me, that’s a pretty narrow view of the American experience. I feel strongly that Spike Lee’s ‘Do the Right Thing<\/a>‘ truly deserves a spot on this list, and not just in the name of diversity. The film has a distinctive visual style, and it explores provocative issues of race that are still relevant more than 20 years later. But don’t just take my word for it; the film has been deemed “culturally significant” by the Library of Congress and was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in its first year of eligibility. It holds a 96% “certified fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes<\/a> and is one of the highest rated films on Metacritic<\/a>. I appreciate many of the great films included on the AFI list, but in light of a few of the titles that did make the cut (I’m looking at you, ‘Dances with Wolves<\/a>‘), it’s hard to understand this omission.<\/p>\n

Dick Ward<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

It’s been a long time since I’ve sat and watched the original ‘Star Wars’ trilogy, but I decided to pop in ‘The Empire Strikes Back<\/strong>‘ over the weekend, and I can honestly say that I was surprised at how good it was. It’s not like I didn’t love ‘Empire’ in the first place, but after being inundated with low quality prequels and dismal TV shows, I think my standards for what ‘Star Wars’ should be were extremely low. As it turns out, ‘Empire Strikes Back’ holds up beautifully and still manages to capture my imagination, even though I know most of the lines by heart. It’s also a sequel leaps and bounds better than the original. ‘A New Hope’ sits at number 15 on the AFI’s Top 100 list, while the far superior sequel is nowhere to be found.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This week’s Roundtable spun out of last week’s topic. Specifically, it was prompted by a comment from reader Brian H, who suggested that we should put together our own list of 100 films that didn’t make the AFI Top 100 Movies list. I don’t know that we have the wherewithal to do a hundred titles…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":15386,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[132],"tags":[661,2928,2316,2912,1819,387,317,2931,530,543,2926,2930,2927,1152,264,1833,500,551,2929],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.highdefdigest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15387"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.highdefdigest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.highdefdigest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.highdefdigest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.highdefdigest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15387"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.highdefdigest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15387\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28067,"href":"https:\/\/www.highdefdigest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15387\/revisions\/28067"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.highdefdigest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.highdefdigest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.highdefdigest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.highdefdigest.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}