Back in 1998, the American Film Institute (AFI) released their list of America’s 100 Greatest Movies.
At that time I decided I would attempt to watch all of these great movies. I already had a bit of a head start, because a few years before I had taken up watching the Oscar winners for Best Picture. There is a good amount of overlap. So, over the course of the next 2-3 years I watched a good chunk of the 100 Greatest Movies, but my interest waned after awhile, and my task was left incomplete (on both fronts).
Fast forward to 2008, when AFI released a 10th Anniversary Edition of America’s 100 Greatest Movies, updating the original list with new rankings and 23 new movies (goodbye to the 23 that dropped off). It seems the only thing that didn’t change on the new list was Citizen Cane still at #1.
To me the AFI list now comprises 123 movies (100 original + 23 new). I’ve decided to take up the task again and finish watching all these movies. Only 25 to go. But in the meantime, here are some handy lists.
Five to watch first
- The Godfather Part 1 – (New rank = 2, Old rank = 3)
- Pulp Fiction – (New rank = 94, Old rank = 95)
- Raiders of the Lost Ark – (New rank = 66, Old rank = 60)
- Casablanca – (New rank = 3, Old rank = 2)
- Schindler’s List – (New rank = 9, Old rank = 8 )
Five originals that should not have dropped off
- See ya suckas!
Five excellent new additions
- The Shawshank Redemption – (New rank = 72, Old rank = N/A)
- Toy Story - (New rank = 99, Old rank = N/A)
- Saving Private Ryan – (New rank = 71, Old rank = N/A)
- Spartacus – (New rank = 81, Old rank = N/A)
- The Sixth Sense - (New rank = 89, Old rank = N/A)
Random stats on 123 greatest movies
- Decade with the most movies - 1st place: the 1970’s (22 movies); 2nd place: a tie between the 1950’s and the 1960’s (21 movies each).
- Decade that added the most movies in the new rankings – the 1990’s (5 new movies for a total of 13)
- Harrison Ford sightings – 5 movies
- Katharine Hepburn sightings – 4 movies
- Biggest jump in rankings – 84 spots, The Searchers (New rank = 12, Old rank = 96)
- Biggest fall in rankings – 48 spots, The African Queen (New rank = 65, Old rank = 17)
- Highest ranked new entry – The General (say what?) (New rank = 18, Old rank = N/A)
- Biggest plummet off the list – 61 spots, Doctor Zhivago (New rank = N/A, Old rank = 39)
- Best year – 1939 (5 movies)
You’ve been told.
