Reaching the pinnacle of lazy blogging with this one, I’ve grabbed one of AFI’s lists of The 100 Best Movies of All Time (since they seem to do a list, like, every 6 months) and bolded the ones I haven’t seen.
I kind of wish I hadn’t done this because now I feel bad about myself and it’s my God-given right to never feel bad about myself or so I hear. Oh, I’ve also italicized the ones that I haven’t seen that I have no intention of ever seeing, thus ensuring that I can never feel entirely good about myself. But nyaaah to you, Movies I have an Irrational Prejudice Against. I’m sure you’ll survive my rejection to be listed for posterity in a meaningless list yet again someday.
1.CITIZEN KANE (1941)
2.CASABLANCA (1942)
3.GODFATHER, THE (1972)
4.GONE WITH THE WIND (1939)
5.LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (1962)
6.WIZARD OF OZ, THE (1939)
7.GRADUATE, THE (1967)
8.ON THE WATERFRONT (1954)
9.SCHINDLER’S LIST (1993)
10.SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN (1952)
11.IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946)
12.SUNSET BOULEVARD (1950)
13.BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI, THE (1957)
14.SOME LIKE IT HOT (1959)
15.STAR WARS (1977)
16.ALL ABOUT EVE (1950)
17.AFRICAN QUEEN, THE (1951)
18.PSYCHO (1960)
19.CHINATOWN (1974)
20.ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST (1975)
21.GRAPES OF WRATH, THE (1940)
22.2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968)
23.MALTESE FALCON, THE (1941)
24.RAGING BULL (1980)
25.E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL (1982)
26.DR. STRANGELOVE (1964)
27.BONNIE & CLYDE (1967)
28.APOCALYPSE NOW (1979)
29.MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON (1939)
30.TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE (1948)
31.ANNIE HALL (1977)
32.GODFATHER PART II, THE (1974)
33.HIGH NOON (1952)
34.TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (1962)
35.IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (1934)
36.MIDNIGHT COWBOY (1969)
37.BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES, THE (1946)
38.DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944)
39.DOCTOR ZHIVAGO (1965)
40.NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959)
41.WEST SIDE STORY (1961)
42.REAR WINDOW (1954)
43.KING KONG (1933)
44.BIRTH OF A NATION, THE (1915)
45.STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, A (1951)
46.CLOCKWORK ORANGE, A (1971) Shut up, Kubrick. I don’t even know what about, but just shut up.
47.TAXI DRIVER (1976)
48.JAWS (1975)
49.SNOW WHITE & THE SEVEN DWARFS (1937)
50.BUTCH CASSIDY & THE SUNDANCE KID (1969)
51.PHILADELPHIA STORY, THE (1940)
52.FROM HERE TO ETERNITY (1953)
53.AMADEUS (1984)
54.ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT (1930) Guess you’ve already shut up, then. Thank you.
55.SOUND OF MUSIC, THE (1965)
56.M*A*S*H(1970)
57.THIRD MAN, THE (1949) I can only handle so much of Orson Welles’ face, actually. Those wine commercials destroyed it for me.
58.FANTASIA (1940)
59.REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE (1955)
60.RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981)
61.VERTIGO (1958)
62.TOOTSIE (1982)
63.STAGECOACH (1939)
64.CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND (1977)
65.SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, THE (1991)
66.NETWORK (1976)
67.MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE, THE (1962)
68.AMERICAN IN PARIS, AN (1951)
69.SHANE (1953)
70.FRENCH CONNECTION, THE (1971)
71.FORREST GUMP (1994)
72.BEN-HUR (1959)
73.WUTHERING HEIGHTS (1939)
74.GOLD RUSH, THE (1925)
75.DANCES WITH WOLVES (1990)
76.CITY LIGHTS (1931)
77.AMERICAN GRAFFITI (1973)
78.ROCKY (1976)
79.DEER HUNTER, THE (1978)
80.WILD BUNCH, THE (1969)
81.MODERN TIMES (1936)
82.GIANT (1956)
83.PLATOON (1986)
84.FARGO (1996)
85.DUCK SOUP (1933) I despise Groucho Marx.
86.MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY (1935)
87.FRANKENSTEIN (1931)
88.EASY RIDER (1969)
89.PATTON (1970)
90.JAZZ SINGER, THE (1927) Just can’t get on board. Mazeltov on being the first talking feature.
91.MY FAIR LADY (1964)
92.PLACE IN THE SUN, A(1951)
93.APARTMENT, THE (1960)
94.GOODFELLAS (1990)
95.PULP FICTION (1994)
96.SEARCHERS, THE (1956)
97.BRINGING UP BABY (1938)
98.UNFORGIVEN (1992)
99.GUESS WHO’S COMING TO DINNER (1967) Eh. I love Katharine Hepburn, but Sidney Poitier seems so self-important that he bugs me. Sorry, Sid.
100. YANKEE DOODLE DANDY (1942) I can’t explain my prejudice except the title makes me feel weird. I don’t like the song either. I think it’s the “Doodle Dandy” part that kills it for me. See? Completely irrational.
So go ahead, pippa. Tell me you’ve seen them all. I can take it.
Dude, for real? I’ve never even seen The Godfather! I just saw Die Hard a MONTH ago. Out of the top 10 of these? I’ve seen four.
I’ll see your 87 and slap down my 37. This is like golf right? the lower the better?
And honestly of the 37 about five of them I’m not sure I saw all the way through.
No idea how many I’ve seen and I kind of understand most of your italicized ones, but you should see Yankee Doodle Dandy. It’s a fun flick. Yes, the name’s weird and I’m not fond of the song either, but it’s a biographical film and Cagney’s great in it.
Really? You despise Groucho Marx? I love Duck Soup. And A Night at the Opera. Actually, I think I like Harpo the best.
But I’m with you on A Clockwork Orange. Never seen it, never want to.
I have only seen 34 of those movies. I’m feeling very culturally deprived in the movie department. Plus, it may just be me, but I don’t understand why Citizen Kane is always #1 on these lists. I thought that was such a boring movie. And, I love that Silence of the Lambs is on there. That was one of the best creepy and disturbing movies ever.
I enjoyed Citizen Kane, but I suspect it’s number one because it’s alwas number one– it’s a safe choice.
I can’t believe Forrest Gump made the cut. Overlong, overwrought, treacly crap. I hate that movie.
Patrick — Hi Patrick! How’s it going? Nice to see you again.
roo — Yes, it’s true. I have an irrational hatred of Groucho Marx. I found him frightening as a child and I’ve never gotten over it.
But I absolutely agree with you on Forrest Gump. What a piece of crap. I despise Forrest Gump, too.
Lisa — Hahahahahaha. Gettin’ caught up on her Die Hard watchin’. You kill me.
I’m with Kathi – only seen 34 of these, and would only see about 10 of them again! Also don’t understand why Forrest Gump and Citizen Kane always seem to make these lists.
56 for me— Wow, no movies of late have made the list….
I’ve seen them all, surprise surprise.
Your comment on Kubrick made me laugh out loud.
I almost threw my computer out the window when I saw Forrest Gump on there. Movies rarely make me angry but that one did.
C’est la vie!
and I’m glad to see there are other Gump-haters. When i first wrote about my hate on my site, I encountered anger and disbelief. People wrote me pleading emails to “give it another try.”
Honey, there ain’t enough money in the world to make me watch that thing again.
Actually, that’s not true.
I would definitely watch it again if you paid me. I’m soulless like that.
I am totally confused and dismayed as to why BLUE HAWAII is not on this list.
Only 41 – nine of which are only partial, and maybe another half-dozen or so that I really regret seeing.
I think roo is right about Citizen Kane; it’s best because it’s always been best. I loved it when I saw it and I see what the fuss is about, but yes, it’s dated now. For its time though? Holy moly.
sheila — What?? You’ve seen them ALL????
I’d watch Gump again too, but only for the moola, as you said. I’m not sure Robin Wright Penn’s career has ever recovered. I’m mean, Tom Hanks is Tom Hanks and for whatever reason people forgive him everything but it’s almost like RWP couldn’t afford that movie.
Yes. All. Many times over. I saw most of these movies before the age of 16. I was a weirdo. Also, we had a kick-ass local television that showed old movies throughout the week – and that’s how I saw everything.
I never found Citizen Kane boring – but, as with a lot of films, context is decisive. It was the Star Wars of its day (that is: if Star Wars was too controversial to even warrant a public release, as was the case with Citizen Kane). The use of newsreel footage, the “mockumentary” style is still so ahead of its time as to be uncannily psychic – and also Welles’ playfulness with technology (primarily deep focus – the main innovation of Citizen Kane) – these are things that were revolutions in cinema, absolute revolutions. A 20-something first-time director waltzed into Hollywood with a crazy contract for him and all of his friends, saying, “let’s make it look like this” and let’s have an optical illusion in almost every shot, and let’s have the camera do this thing it’s never done before, and let’s have the lighting be such that it doesn’t look like anything else … and let’s show CEILINGS in our shots (something that had never been done before – they had to put the camera below the floor in order to capture the ceilings) – and then : deep focus.
If you don’t know about “deep focus”, that’s fine, but it would be worth your while to look it up to see why this film is always #1, and why it is still so revered today.
And ugh, Forrest Gump. A celebration of mediocrity and ignorance – THAT was my problem with it. That was why it makes me angry. Let’s elevate an ignorant dumbbell to a mythical level.
It still makes me see red.
and tracey – YMMV, but i seriously think you would fliiiiiiiiiiip over Yankee Doodle Dandy.
Probably including the partial viewings (film class in college), I’ve seen fewer than half. I would’ve seen even less had I not started my Oscars Project a couple years back. I should pick that up again sometime.
BTW another Gump-hater here. I’d hate it more if I hadn’t seen it at a Dollar Theater near my college. The only way I’d watch it again is if I was offered enough dough to take care of the vet bills (past, present, and future) AND buy me a nice little cottage where I could watch all the non-Gump movies I wanted.
I am very willing to suspend my disbelief– I’ll do a lot of work to follow a movie and buy into it emotionally if it’s at least trying to meet me halfway.
But Forrest Gump? I can tell you the exact moment my underwhelmed but supportive feelings turned to contempt.
Oh, so you met the President? Well, that’s a stretch but I’m with you. A war hero? Well, it could happen. Running across the country multiple times? Well…
Wait. What did you just do? You wiped the mud off your face and it was the original smiley face?
No. You are a liar, Forrest Gump. That didn’t happen.
I think I’ve seen 63. Unless I counted wrong.
You know, I’m really glad Tootsie made the list. That movie… other people have attempted a similar scenario with god-awful results. But this was really sensitive and warm and funny. And even though it’s very much a product of its era, the movie wears well. I saw it again a few months ago, and it didn’t seem dated.
// No. You are a liar, Forrest Gump. That didn’t happen. //
hahahahahahahahahaha
For me, it was the John Lennon moment. Puh-leeze.
Re: Forrest Gump
I haven’t read it, but apparently the book is much worst about “Forrest is in every pivotal moment in American History ever,” like a freaking one-man Butterfly Effect.
I don’t HATE the movie; I can take it or leave it, but I do like the love story between him and Jenny (because I love love love Robin Wright helloooo Princess Bride and Santa Barbara). And “sometimes there aren’t enough rocks”? Preach.
I loved Santa Barbara.
What other soap opera had a pregnant ex-nun crushed under a the giant letter C that spelled her lover’s family name, on top of a hotel?
And, the ex-nun was Helen! The one Billy Crystal sang “Surrey with a Fringe on Top” in front of. Well, her and Ira, of course.
sheila — Hahahaha. I knew the minute I posted this that you’d seen them all. I needed to add a winky face. 😉
roo — same moment for me. the smiley face? WTF????
Also, it was his hands on his womanly hips when he says: “I’m not a smart maa-an, but I know what love is.”
Ugh. My uterus shriveled.
Notorious should have made the list too 🙂
I have to look up deep focus now…..