First off, let us all admit it: Lists are fun. People like lists, and even more than lists, people like second-guessing lists. But the more the Siren thought about the American Film Institute's 100 Greatest American Films, the more she thought, isn't this a bit wrong-headed? Movie lovers, no matter what their spiritual leanings, are evangelical about the movies they love. Here the AFI had a golden opportunity to promote something a little different, and instead there they are, telling us all to watch Vertigo again.
The whole list isn't like that, of course, and if even a few people put Sunrise on the Netflix queue then the AFI exercise was not in vain. Still, there was an element of inevitability about the selections that was irksome. So the Siren spent a couple of hours this weekend amassing some alternatives. Her one requirement was that the film must not only have missed the AFI Final 100, it also must be missing from the ballot of 400 eligible films. (The one exception to the ballot rule is The Crowd, which I couldn't bear to leave off. Note: AND The Magnificent Ambersons. That was on the ballot too, but on it stays. Thanks, Michael.)
This list is not, most definitely not, a gathering of the All-Time Greats, though there are certainly some that could qualify. I'm just saying that if you have a big soapbox, you could shout about a few orphans. Besides Sunrise.
So, organized by category, here are 100 American films the Siren would love to see get some love from the AFI. She admits right off the bat that this group tilts heavily to pre-1960 because come on, so does the Siren.
Should Have Made the Final List, Never Mind the Ballot:
The Crowd
Letter from an Unknown Woman
The Magnificent Ambersons
Nightmare Alley
Crimes and Misdemeanors
The Asphalt Jungle
Scarlet Street
Shampoo
The Shop Around the Corner
Famous, But Where Is the Love?:
The 25th Hour
Some Came Running
Dressed to Kill
A Letter to Three Wives
Point Blank
Faces
Being There
The Bad and the Beautiful
The Lady from Shanghai
They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
Dinner at Eight
The Roaring 20s
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
Casualties of War
The Last Detail
North Dallas Forty
Shock Corridor
Captain Blood
Advise and Consent
Scaramouche
The Molly Haskell Honorary "Where the Hell Are the Women's Pictures?" Corner:
Shanghai Express
The Enchanted Cottage
One-Way Passage
Portrait of Jennie
Stage Door
Back Street (1941)
Love Affair
Random Harvest
Dance, Girl, Dance
The Old Maid
The Letter
Imitation of Life (Sirk)
People like Noir, and They Would Like These, Too:
Pickup on South Street
The Woman in the Window
The Big Clock
Brute Force
Crime Wave
His Kind of Woman
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers
Detour
Angel Face
Dark Passage
In a Lonely Place
The Hitch-Hiker (Lupino)
Edge of the City
Darn Sight Wittier Than Forrest Gump:
Ball of Fire
Easy Living
Midnight
Bombshell
Libeled Lady
One, Two, Three
Design for Living
Unfaithfully Yours
Replace Rocky With:
Body and Soul
The Kevin Brownlow "Silence, Please" Corner:
Street Angel
Seventh Heaven
The Unknown
Way Down East
Show People
He Who Gets Slapped
Do-Re-Mi Has Been Done-Done-Done:
The Pirate
Yolanda and the Thief
Hallelujah!
The Gay Divorcee
Les Girls
On the Town
Footlight Parade
It's Always Fair Weather
We've Already Seen Saving Private Ryan:
The whole list isn't like that, of course, and if even a few people put Sunrise on the Netflix queue then the AFI exercise was not in vain. Still, there was an element of inevitability about the selections that was irksome. So the Siren spent a couple of hours this weekend amassing some alternatives. Her one requirement was that the film must not only have missed the AFI Final 100, it also must be missing from the ballot of 400 eligible films. (The one exception to the ballot rule is The Crowd, which I couldn't bear to leave off. Note: AND The Magnificent Ambersons. That was on the ballot too, but on it stays. Thanks, Michael.)
This list is not, most definitely not, a gathering of the All-Time Greats, though there are certainly some that could qualify. I'm just saying that if you have a big soapbox, you could shout about a few orphans. Besides Sunrise.
So, organized by category, here are 100 American films the Siren would love to see get some love from the AFI. She admits right off the bat that this group tilts heavily to pre-1960 because come on, so does the Siren.
Should Have Made the Final List, Never Mind the Ballot:
The Crowd
Letter from an Unknown Woman
The Magnificent Ambersons
Nightmare Alley
Crimes and Misdemeanors
The Asphalt Jungle
Scarlet Street
Shampoo
The Shop Around the Corner
Famous, But Where Is the Love?:
The 25th Hour
Some Came Running
Dressed to Kill
A Letter to Three Wives
Point Blank
Faces
Being There
The Bad and the Beautiful
The Lady from Shanghai
They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
Dinner at Eight
The Roaring 20s
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
Casualties of War
The Last Detail
North Dallas Forty
Shock Corridor
Captain Blood
Advise and Consent
Scaramouche
The Molly Haskell Honorary "Where the Hell Are the Women's Pictures?" Corner:
Shanghai Express
The Enchanted Cottage
One-Way Passage
Portrait of Jennie
Stage Door
Back Street (1941)
Love Affair
Random Harvest
Dance, Girl, Dance
The Old Maid
The Letter
Imitation of Life (Sirk)
People like Noir, and They Would Like These, Too:
Pickup on South Street
The Woman in the Window
The Big Clock
Brute Force
Crime Wave
His Kind of Woman
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers
Detour
Angel Face
Dark Passage
In a Lonely Place
The Hitch-Hiker (Lupino)
Edge of the City
Darn Sight Wittier Than Forrest Gump:
Ball of Fire
Easy Living
Midnight
Bombshell
Libeled Lady
One, Two, Three
Design for Living
Unfaithfully Yours
Replace Rocky With:
Body and Soul
The Kevin Brownlow "Silence, Please" Corner:
Street Angel
Seventh Heaven
The Unknown
Way Down East
Show People
He Who Gets Slapped
Do-Re-Mi Has Been Done-Done-Done:
The Pirate
Yolanda and the Thief
Hallelujah!
The Gay Divorcee
Les Girls
On the Town
Footlight Parade
It's Always Fair Weather
We've Already Seen Saving Private Ryan:
Beach Red
The Big Red One
They Were Expendable
Attack
Lifeboat
And We Saw High Noon Too:
Forty Guns
Johnny Guitar
Ride the High Country
The Gunfighter
Bad Day at Black Rock
The Last Hunt
The Sixth Sense? Are You Kidding Me?:
The Black Cat
I Walked With a Zombie
The Picture of Dorian Gray
In Order to Admire These Movies, the General Public Needs to Know They Exist:
Cotton Comes to Harlem
The Strawberry Blonde
History Is Made at Night
The Southerner
Lilith
Medium Cool
Juarez
Three Comrades
Hold Back the Dawn
Note: The Siren was, as she usually is, a bit sleep-deprived when she made this list, so if she accidentally included something (besides The Crowd) that was on the AFI ballot, do let her know. She's got plenty more where this came from.
Edward Copeland has his own top 100 list up, and it's a honey. The Siren loves his number 1.
The Big Red One
They Were Expendable
Attack
Lifeboat
And We Saw High Noon Too:
Forty Guns
Johnny Guitar
Ride the High Country
The Gunfighter
Bad Day at Black Rock
The Last Hunt
The Sixth Sense? Are You Kidding Me?:
The Black Cat
I Walked With a Zombie
The Picture of Dorian Gray
In Order to Admire These Movies, the General Public Needs to Know They Exist:
Cotton Comes to Harlem
The Strawberry Blonde
History Is Made at Night
The Southerner
Lilith
Medium Cool
Juarez
Three Comrades
Hold Back the Dawn
Note: The Siren was, as she usually is, a bit sleep-deprived when she made this list, so if she accidentally included something (besides The Crowd) that was on the AFI ballot, do let her know. She's got plenty more where this came from.
Edward Copeland has his own top 100 list up, and it's a honey. The Siren loves his number 1.
My first forehead-smacking moment, of which there will be many, I am sure: Ivan G's wonderfully iconoclastic list reminds me of the existence of the splendid Seconds, a peerless futuristic chiller and the definitive riposte to those who say Rock Hudson never gave a good performance. That one is the perfect example of the sort of film I wish the AFI would promote.
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét