AFI's and BFI's greatest films - How many have you seen?

[filmmusic 3,017]

STAR WARS is a landmark in American film history (and i would say in the global film history), so it totally deserves that place it got in AFI's list.

I can't think of another film ever that had this huge follow-up with other films, merchandise etc. etc...

(not to mention the various analyses, books and academic research on the subject)

[hornist 1,242]

But is it a good film, is the acting great. How about the story?

Merchandise is not a proof of anything.

But I do love the score.

[filmmusic 3,017]

But is it a good film, is the acting great. How about the story?

Merchandise is not a proof of anything.

But I do love the score.

As I see it, the greatest films of all time doesn't mean that they have the greatest story of all time or that they include the best performances of all time..

Their greatness can be found in the overall atmosphere, the look of the film, the directing, the sense of an "achievement!" etc..

And i think many of those films included in that list, are also considered great due to the impact they had at the time they were released.(and the quality of the "timeless" they have).

And noone can deny the great impact of Star Wars. It was something old and new together!

[mrbellamy 7,882]

AFI - Haven't seen Sophie's Choice, Yankee Doodle Dandy, or In the Heat of the Night (add Giant, The Jazz Singer, and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner from the 1997 list)

BFI - Haven't seen Le Mepris, Jeanne Dielman, Satantango, Journey to Italy, or Histoire du cinema.

[Glóin the Dark 1,777]

On 1/25/2014 at 6:27 PM, filmmusic said:

I'd like to see Dr. Strangelove because I love Kubrick, but i don't know, it seems a bit silly to me, like a parody or something.

 

I don't think that Dr. Strangelove is a parody. It's a satire and, as such, employs a heightened sense of the ridiculous. But it's hilariously funny, brilliantly clever and deadly serious. (Among other laudatory adverb-adjective combinations.)

[Koray Savas 2,259]

Yes.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 11,812]

It's hilarious because everyone in it seems to deadpan serious.

One of the actors didnt even know it was a satirical comedy.

[Sharkissimo 1,977]

Which one?

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 11,812]

Slim Pickings. He thought he was doing a straight war film, and no one told him otherwise.

[Sharkissimo 1,977]

A serious war film, in which he straddles an atomic bomb?

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 11,812]

Yep.

Sellers was supposed to play the role, but broke his ankle. Pickings was brought in, and since he was only show "his" part of the script, he assumed it was a straight war film.

[mrbellamy 7,882]

It's hilarious because everyone in it seems to deadpan serious.

Not Scott...or Sellers (as Strangelove)...or Pickens for that matter.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 11,812]

Pickens plays it straight!

[mrbellamy 7,882]

I might be misremembering his performance. But Scott definitely goes pretty over-the-top (and apparently it was against his own wishes!)

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 11,812]

It was.

[AIFan 16]

Hi all,

It looks like I've seen 59 of the AFI list, and 10 of the BFI list. I thought the differences were quite interesting. The Europeans, it seems, are pretty taken with Alfred Hitchcock, though I consider Psycho and possibly North by Northwest better than Vertigo. I'll have to watch Vertigo, or possibly all three again, just to make sure. Some other observations:

-As was pointed out by other posters, I think what is being seen is that the poll's different contributors each time this comes around means that the slate is cleared again and that the demographics tend to skew toward a later time period. That's definitely reflected by some of the newer films on the list. If the old results were grandfathered in, perhaps some of the classics would have stayed on there, but I don't see any major disagreements, at least as far as I can tell. There are some surprises, such as the inclusion of The Sixth Sense and the exclusion of films like Memento and Mulholland Dr., which I'm sure will be added as the younger generation makes up a larger percentage of the contributors.

-I realized that I really need to see Singin' in the Rain and The Searchers. They keep showing up on these lists!

-The BFI list ranks Apocalypse Now higher than The Godfather, looking at films done by Francis Ford Coppola. I know the general consensus is that Apocalypse Now is a great film (I think it's somewhat of a mess, but features brilliant cinematography and performances, especially by Duvall and Brando), but how many would rank it higher than The Godfather (or GFII, for that matter)? The AFI list has The Godfather above Apocalypse Now above The Godfather Part II. I would rank them: GFII, GFI, then AN.

Anyway, this was a good topic, reminding me of how many films I'd still like to see...

AIFan

[JoeinAR 1,955]

I love North by Northwest much better than Vertigo or Rear Window.

Psycho is a film that is like watching a study in film. And it's a class we should all take.

[Sharkissimo 1,977]

I love North by Northwest much better than Vertigo or Rear Window.

Same here, though PSYCHO and THE BIRDS are still Hitch's masterpieces. VERTIGO has been massively overpraised by the cinephile 'smart about movies' crowd in the last decade or two. Terrific score and cinematography, but greatest film of all time it is not.

[Koray Savas 2,259]

Of course, that belongs to Once Upon A Time In The West.

[JoeinAR 1,955]

No, but it is a great epic western

[Code 000. Destruct. 0. 4,262]

The greatest film of all time was released in 1968.

[Sharkissimo 1,977]

Yep. CHIMES OF MIDNIGHT by Orson Welles.

[FBC Director 10,732]

The greatest film of all time was released in 1968.

Planet of the Apes?

[Sharkissimo 1,977]

THE LION IN WINTER

[Glóin the Dark 1,777]

Live a Little, Love a Little by Elvis.

[JoeinAR 1,955]

ET came out in 68??? I'm pretty sure it was 82.

[Code 000. Destruct. 0. 4,262]

We have a winner.

Live a Little, Love a Little by Elvis.

[KK 3,310]

Romeo and Juliet?

[Code 000. Destruct. 0. 4,262]

But of course the serious answer....

[Glóin the Dark 1,777]

That was your 1999th post. Just two away from a most delightful coincidence...

[Code 000. Destruct. 0. 4,262]

Damn it. I don't even want to ruin my nice round number now.

[Sharkissimo 1,977]

He's quickly catching up. Must spam more.

[Code 000. Destruct. 0. 4,262]

I knew you were trying to outrun me.

[FBC Director 10,732]

Daaaaa... daaaahhhhh-duhhhhhhhhh--Da-DAAAAAAAHHHH!!! BOM-BOM, BOM-BOM, BOM-BOM!

[Glóin the Dark 1,777]

I've got a really funny Million Dollar Baby reference planned for when my post count reaches seven digits.

[Code 000. Destruct. 0. 4,262]

Hilarious film.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 11,812]

But of course the serious answer....

YES!

[FBC Director 10,732]

I was being serious... :-/

[publicist 4,650]

Same here, though PSYCHO and THE BIRDS are still Hitch's masterpieces.

BIRDS is fucking boring. FRENZY is a better film than that. THE SEARCHERS i really tried 3 times...always fell asleep. But i will go at it again...

[Sharkissimo 1,977]

Same here, though PSYCHO and THE BIRDS are still Hitch's masterpieces.

BIRDS is fucking boring. FRENZY is a better film than that.

FRENZY is tedious, nasty trash. BIRDS is a great social allegory, and never boring.

[publicist 4,650]

Allegory all you want, it just goes on forever without nothing happening. Tedious, nasty trash wipes the floor with THE BIRDS!!

[mstrox 7,312]

27 from AFI.

9 from BFI's, and didn't care for several of them. I don't think this type of list is for me.

[JoeinAR 1,955]

The Birds needed a score. The Birds NEEDS a score.

[publicist 4,650]

I think that it had no score was the only thing i liked about it. And the scene with the kids leaving the school house...

[FBC Director 10,732]

Allegory all you want, it just goes on forever without nothing happening.

If it goes on "without nothing happening", then something must happen!

[filmmusic 3,017]

I didn't like the ending in BIRDS.

it was like the film ended in the middle!

[Sharkissimo 1,977]

Because they didn't flamethrow the birds James Cameron-style, and form one happy nuclear family?

Allegory all you want, it just goes on forever without nothing happening.

Clearly you're a Gen X sucker for instant gratification!

[mrbellamy 7,882]

Funnily enough, I never noticed that it didn't have a score when I saw it. Months later, I finally realized it after reading an article on the Hitchcock/Herrmann collaboration that explained he was a "sound consultant."

Not one of my favorite Hitchcocks, though, but that "Risseldy Rosseldy" scene is one for the ages.

[JoeinAR 1,955]

I didn't like the ending in BIRDS.

it was like the film ended in the middle!

not if you look at it as a film about a bizarre event.