63. CABARET
This is the point that I admit that the 2007 list is so much better than the 1998 list. I mean, it didn’t make it for my list, but compared to say, YANKEE DOODLE DANDY, this is an edgy motherfucking film.
64. NETWORK
Yeah…hard to fault anyone for loving this, although it’s easy to overrate. Really easy. By the way, I deliberately ignored this movie on my list.
65. THE AFRICAN QUEEN
Jeepers, from the teens last time to this. Maybe in 2017, it will be gone entirely, and what a great day that will be.
For the record: WHITE HUNTER, BLACK HEART is five times the movie this dreams of being
66. RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK
Yay for Indiana Jones! This is, as I may or may not have mentioned, my desert-island movie. And I ranked it at like 63, so I’d be a hypocrite to complain.
Spielberg count: 2
67.WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINA WOOLF
I’ve never seen it. And I know I probably should, but I’ve never felt very enthusiastic. Somewhere on the internet there’s a really awesome drinking game for this movie.
68. UNFORGIVEN
Hey! Nice improvement from the last list. Great movie, and pretty good rank. Again, it’s going to wind up better than about 90% of what precedes it.
69. TOOTSIE
Yeah…no.
Oh, right, it’s a masterpiece because it has a method actor in drag.
Wow, Hoffman gets really. into the movie. Calm down, pumpkin.
70. A CLOCKWORK ORANGE
Kubrick gets the first second movie of the night. The first British movie on this American list, as well.
What can I say? It’s a great movie. Although Malcolm McDowell has an extremely problematic understanding of this film’s themes.
71. SAVING PRIVATE RYAN
The greatest cinematic lie of the 1990s! Hey, you know what wasn’t on the longlist: THE THIN RED LINE, THE BIG RED ONE, THEY WERE EXPENDABLE
Spielberg Count: 1
72. THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION
My opinion that this is one of the most overrated movies in history is well-expressed. How anyone who knows anything about the art of cinema could think this is better than just decent is beyond me.
Case in point: Shyamalan adores it.
*****
73. BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID
Okay, it’s fun. It’s not one of the 100 best movies of all time, and I’m really sad to think of all the better Westerns that won’t make the list. But I’m not such a crank to pretend I don’t enjoy this movie.
Ben Stiller likes it, though. It MUST be good!
74. THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS
Wow, 74, wow. Really? I mean, I like the movie. but wow. 74. It’s not that good. Foster and Hopkins are that good.
75. IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT
Our first “Mediocre movie with warm & fuzzy politics” of the night.
Being important doesn’t make it a good movie, Oscar or not.
76. FORREST GUMP
Blow me. At least it’s not higher. That was a strong risk. Do people still like this? Obviously.
Watching the clips from this film, I’d forgotten how violently it manipulated the audience.
77. ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN
I came really close to including this on mine. I went with THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR instead. Still, a fine example of the ’70s thriller, and well-ranked.
78. MODERN TIMES
Already, Chaplin is doing better than the last list – this was 83, City Lights was 81 (I think). Just about right, I think. But better than what comes higher?
79. THE WILD BUNCH
Scorsese: it’s the “Vietnam” western. Whatever. In the category of: I’m happy it’s here such that I won’t quibble with it’s ranking.
80. THE APARTMENT
Billy Wilder! I wouldn’t mind this being at this low, if I wasn’t certain that almost everything above it will be worse.
Jack Lemmon’s ghost tells the camera that he loved working with Wilder. Someone at the AFI needs to be fired for okaying that footage.
81. SPARTACUS
Wha, huh? This is like, the tenth best Kubrick film, let alone one of the 100 best movies ever. I honestly never thought that anyone living liked this movie that much.
Lumet sez: the “I am Spartacus” scene makes it great. Okay, then.
82. SUNRISE
I would never have assumed there was even a possibility of this making the list. Sure, it;’s about 90 spots too low, but it’s heartening. Bogdanovich tells us why it isn’t a boring ol’ silent movie.
*****
Worth mentioning: I’m watching this special with a martini and a bag of cheap barbecue potato chips. Which, I think, is appropriate.
*****
83. TITANIC
I really feared this would be higher. Still, I’m of course sad it’s here at all…
You know who hated this movie? Robert Altman. We miss you, Robert.
Friedkin just compared TITANIC to CASABLANCA, because he is a psychotic assclown.
84. EASY RIDER
This movie is an overrated sack of crap. End of discussion. Okay, that’s limiting of me. What do you think: sack of crap, or bag of ass?
85. A NIGHT AT THE OPERA
This augurs well for two Marx films – surely they won’t forget DUCK SOUP? Which is awesome.
86.PLATOON
Sigh…I’ve never seen this, either…I’ve actually never seen any good Stone film. Isn’t that sad? Just WALL STREET and ALEXANDER.
87. 12 ANGRY MEN
Awesome. Great movie. And yes, I did forget about Lumet.
88. BRINGING UP BABY
Hey, it’s higher than last time. Still evilly low, but better than missing it entirely, like they will with every other Hawks film.
89. THE SIXTH SENSE
Aw damn. I mean, it’s a fine thriller, but Shyamalan is such a fuckwit. I really don’t want him to have this to his name.
90. SWING TIME.
Awesome. I really didn’t expect to see Rogers/Astaire at all.
Sharon Stone tells us about Ginger Rogers’s feminism. Whee!
91. SOPHIE’S CHOICE
Jeeze. I’ve never seen this either. I suck.
92. GOODFELLAS
Again, it least it made the list.
*****
93. THE FRENCH CONNECTION
Um…I’ve never seen this movie. I know.
Friedkin: “The chase scene was a metaphor.” Shut the hell up, Friedkin.
94. PULP FICTION.
No complaints.
Aw hell, Shyamalan is on hand to talk about it. “The best film of my generation.” Sure as hell better than yours, you little turd.
95. THE LAST PICTURE SHOW
I really don’t like this movie very much. Too aware of its own profundity.
I can’t see Peter Bogdanovich now without thinking of THE SOPRANOS.
96. DO THE RIGHT THING.
Way too low. But at least it made the list.
Spike Lee tries to explain what the title means. Yeah, we got that.
97. BLADE RUNNER
That’s low. But at least it made the list. Last time? Not even that. First film common to my list, as well.
Harrison Ford rehashes the”controversy” about whether he played a robot. Duh.
98. YANKEE DOODLE DANDY
Fuck me, it moved up from last time. That’s disheartening. Is there a worse James Cagney film? And yet, it will surely be the only one here.
99. TOY STORY.
Huh. I’m cool with that. Higher would have been nicer. But it certainly deserves a spot on the list somewhere.
Awww. Tim Allen is proud of TOY STORY.
100. BEN-HUR
Thank God, it’s not as high as it was last time. Shit movie. Marty Scorsese comes out to talk about how awesome the chariot race is. Sure, but the rest is kind of unbearable.
******
Montage, montage, montage. Yep, those are movies, is what those are. Goddamn PRETTY WOMAN better not make the list.
Also, this is a terrible song. “Slaying dragons, scaling mountains?” And then then a whole lot of references to titles, with clips of the that movie. Barbarically literal.
Oh, yay, DREAMGIRLS.
Why don’t these montages ever have, like, GLEN OR GLENDA or CLEOPATRA JONES? Those had meaningful social statements.
Tim Allen is a “special guest.” Woo.
Remember last time, when Bill Clinton talked about how much he loved the music in HIGH NOON? That was a freaky moment. I Hope Bush comes on to talk about IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT.
Morgan Freeman: whore of mankind.
First line: justifying the existence of a second list. Because “100 Years, 100 Sex Scenes” wouldn’t get past the CBS censors?
Oh, because our “perspective changes” Okay.
Freeman is reading off a teleprompter. Badly.
*****
Hey all.
First, thanks to those who commented on, or had otherwise nice things to say about my top 100. Like I said, it’s not perfect. But it’s better than the alternative, which will almost certainly contain Crash. We’ll know in a bit.
Here’s how I hope for this to work: at each commercial break, I’m going to post my thoughts on the preceding segment. At each hour, I’ll hide that third of the list in an extended entry and go to a new post. I’ve never done this before – wish me well.