Recently, I mentioned I never agree with the AFI on anything. Well, that’s not really true. I agree with them quite a bit, actually. I just also vehemently disagree with them on occasion.
Here are AFI’s top hundred movies in the last hundred years. I’ve decided to go all color coded, meme style for this list. Purple means I liked the movie. Green means I had mixed feelings or was otherwise ambivalent about the movie. Red — always the choice of critics and harsh editors — means I disliked the movie. If I have not changed the font color, I haven’t seen the film, at least not in full. (The Godfather is a prime example of this. I’ve seen the beginning and the end — and the horse head scene, of course — but never all in one go.)
1. Citizen Kane
2. The Godfather
3. Casablanca
4. Raging Bull
5. Singin’ in the Rain
6. Gone With the Wind
7. Lawrence of Arabia
8. Schlinder’s List
9. Vertigo
10. The Wizard of Oz
11. City Lights
12. The Searchers
13. Star Wars
14. Psycho
15. 2001: A Space Odyssey
16. Sunset Boulevard
17. The Graduate
18. The General
19. On the Waterfront
20. It’s a Wonderful Life
21. Chinatown
22. Some Like it Hot
23. The Grapes of Wrath
24. E.T. The Extra Terrestrial
25. To Kill a Mockingbird
26. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
27. High Noon
28. All About Eve
29. Double Indemnity
30. Apocalypse Now
31. The Maltese Falcon
32. The Godfather Part II
33. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
34. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
35. Annie Hall
36. The Bridge on the River Kwai
37. The Best Years of Our Lives
38. The Treasure of Sierra Madre
39. Dr. Strangelove
40. The Sound of Music
41. King Kong (1933)
42. Bonnie and Clyde
43. Midnight Cowboy
44. The Philadelphia Story
45. Shane
46. It Happened One Night
47. A Streetcar Named Desire
48. Rear Window
49. Intolerance
50. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
51. West Side Story
52. Taxi Driver
53. The Deer Hunter
54. M*A*S*H
55. North by Northwest
56. Jaws
57. Rocky
58. The Gold Rush
59. Nashville
60. Duck Soup
61. Sullivan’s Travels
62. American Graffiti
63. Cabaret
64. Network
65. The African Queen
66. Raiders of the Lost Ark
67. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
68. Unforgiven
69. Tootsie
70. A Clockwork Orange
71. Saving Private Ryan
72. The Shawshank Redemption
73. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
74. The Silence of the Lambs
75. In the Heat of the Night
76. Forrest Gump
77. All the President’s Men
78. Modern Times
79. The Wild Times
80. The Apartment
81. Spartacus
82. Sunrise
83. Titanic
84. Easy Rider
85. A Night at the Opera
86. Platoon
87. 12 Angry Men
88. Bringing Up Baby
89. The Sixth Sense
90. Swing Time
91. Sophie’s Choice
92. Goodfellas
93. The French Connection
94. Pulp Fiction
95. The Last Picture Show
96. Do the Right Thing
97. Blade Runner
98. Yankee Doodle Dandy
99. Toy Story
100. Ben-Hur
There’s considerably more purple than red, which is good at least, but there are definitely some big gaps in my movie knowledge. I’d work on that, really I would, but . . . well . . . these Justice League episodes won’t watch themselves, you know? Intolerance will just have to wait.
My Geek Blasphemy 
Woah, woah, woah.
Woah.
You have mixed feelings about “Raiders of the Lost Ark”????
Yeah, um, that one made me “WHAAAAT?” out loud.
And Cabaret. There’s a flaw in Cabaret? I must be blind to it!
You know, it’s been a while since I’ve seen Cabaret, so I’m having trouble remembering exactly what I didn’t love about the movie, only that it wasn’t my favorite. I DO love some of the songs, though, and sing them (badly) on a fairly regular basis. I also remember enjoying the play itself a little more than the actual film.
I actually do like Raiders of the Lost Ark, or at least a good chunk of it, and I thought about putting it in purple . . . but the truth is, I don’t love it the way other people love it, and it certainly isn’t my favorite of the Indiana Jones movies. Every few years I feel like I have to give it another go, and I do . . . and it’s still just okay for me — with some awesome moments and some moments where I’m like, eh. This could be done better. As a character, I absolutely love Indiana Jones. Sometimes, though, I struggle with the actual movies themselves.
It has been a few years since my last, “I’m going to try this again and maybe THIS time I’ll get the magic” viewing. Maybe a review is in order, if only for the outraged comments and general weeping. 🙂
1. Citizen Kane – haven’t seen
2. The Godfather – saw too long ago to remember
3. Casablanca – haven’t seen
4. Raging Bull – saw too long ago to remember
5. Singin’ in the Rain – Like it
6. Gone With the Wind – haven’t seen
7. Lawrence of Arabia – haven’t seen
8. Schlinder’s List – Love it (never want to see it again, though!)
9. Vertigo – haven’t seen
10. The Wizard of Oz – Dislike it, Love the book
11. City Lights – haven’t seen
12. The Searchers – haven’t seen
13. Star Wars – Love it
14. Psycho – Like it
15. 2001: A Space Odyssey – saw too long ago to remember
16. Sunset Boulevard – haven’t seen
17. The Graduate – Love it
18. The General – haven’t seen
19. On the Waterfront – haven’t seen
20. It’s a Wonderful Life – Love it
21. Chinatown – Like it, definitely difficult to watch
22. Some Like it Hot – Love it
23. The Grapes of Wrath – haven’t seen
24. E.T. The Extra Terrestrial – Love it
25. To Kill a Mockingbird – haven’t seen
26. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington – Love it
27. High Noon – haven’t seen
28. All About Eve – haven’t seen
29. Double Indemnity – haven’t seen
30. Apocalypse Now – haven’t seen
31. The Maltese Falcon – saw too long ago to remember
32. The Godfather Part II – saw too long ago to remember
33. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest – haven’t seen
34. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs – Like it (appreciate the grand accomplishment that it was)
35. Annie Hall – saw too long ago to remember
36. The Bridge on the River Kwai – Love it
37. The Best Years of Our Lives – haven’t seen
38. The Treasure of Sierra Madre – haven’t seen
39. Dr. Strangelove – Love it
40. The Sound of Music – Like it
41. King Kong (1933) – haven’t seen
42. Bonnie and Clyde – haven’t seen
43. Midnight Cowboy – haven’t seen
44. The Philadelphia Story – Love it
45. Shane – haven’t seen
46. It Happened One Night – haven’t seen
47. A Streetcar Named Desire – haven’t seen
48. Rear Window – Love it
49. Intolerance – haven’t seen
50. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring – Love it
51. West Side Story – haven’t seen
52. Taxi Driver – haven’t seen
53. The Deer Hunter – haven’t seen
54. M*A*S*H – Love it
55. North by Northwest – Like it
56. Jaws – Love it
57. Rocky – Eh
58. The Gold Rush – haven’t seen
59. Nashville – haven’t seen
60. Duck Soup – saw too long ago to remember
61. Sullivan’s Travels – haven’t seen
62. American Graffiti – Love it
63. Cabaret – Love it
64. Network – haven’t seen
65. The African Queen – haven’t seen
66. Raiders of the Lost Ark – Love it
67. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? – haven’t seen
68. Unforgiven – haven’t seen
69. Tootsie – Love it
70. A Clockwork Orange – Problematic, not very enjoyable
71. Saving Private Ryan – haven’t seen
72. The Shawshank Redemption – Love it
73. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid – Love it
74. The Silence of the Lambs – Love it
75. In the Heat of the Night – haven’t seen
76. Forrest Gump – haven’t seen
77. All the President’s Men – haven’t seen
78. Modern Times – haven’t seen
79. The Wild Times – haven’t seen
80. The Apartment – haven’t seen
81. Spartacus – haven’t seen
82. Sunrise – haven’t seen
83. Titanic – Like it
84. Easy Rider – haven’t seen
85. A Night at the Opera – haven’t seen
86. Platoon – haven’t seen
87. 12 Angry Men – haven’t seen
88. Bringing Up Baby – Love it
89. The Sixth Sense – Love it
90. Swing Time – haven’t seen
91. Sophie’s Choice – haven’t seen
92. Goodfellas – haven’t seen
93. The French Connection – haven’t seen
94. Pulp Fiction – Love it
95. The Last Picture Show – haven’t seen
96. Do the Right Thing – haven’t seen
97. Blade Runner – Problematic, but mostly enjoyable
98. Yankee Doodle Dandy – haven’t seen
99. Toy Story – Love it
100. Ben-Hur – haven’t seen
Shocked that you haven’t seen E.T. I thought that was a staple of everyone’s childhood.
I have some weird childhood gaps. E.T., The Dark Crystal, Sesame Street, any of the Charlie Brown specials. I didn’t see The Grinch until I was in high school. There may have been a few alien abductions in my past.
I would love to read a review of Dr. Strangelove.
“Gentlemen, you can’t fight in here! It’s the war room.”
I figure I’ll get around to it eventually. I do like that quote. But my luck with Kubrick has been . . . well. Not that great.
But it is James Earl Jones’s first movie! And they have a Texan gung-ho fighter pilot whose actor didn’t even know he was in a comedy.