It’s that nauseating time of year again when the movie industry
perpetually kisses its own ass by staging a series of endless
award shows that purport to tell the mass audience what
they think the best films of the year are. Except
for the Oscars (which I watch out of force of habit), I
refrain from watching these phony and glitzy pageants, mostly
because I don’t have an endless supply of vomit bags in
my house. Besides, as our regular readers will attest,
the choices of these sycophantic spectacles pale in comparison
to my discerning and rarified cinematic opinions.
My opinionated tirades are not only directed to my loyal
readers; I also offer my views toward the male nurse that
frequently adjusts the straitjacket in the white rubber
room that I permanently reside in. He thinks I have
an exalted opinion of myself—imagine that!
All
kidding aside, this is the time of year where “Best
of the Year” movie lists abound. I am not immune
to this sophomoric activity since, in previous articles,
I’ve compiled lists which consist of 2004’s best films,
my favorite foreign films, my favorite comedies, and my
favorite horror movies. Speaking of horror films,
in a past article I stated that horror and sci-fi were the
movie genres that I enjoyed the most. In a careless
oversight, I have neglected to list what my top sci-fi films
were! Due to the public clamor and outrage over such
an egregious omission, what follows is a list of my favorite
10 “Space Operas”:
Things
to Come
(1936)
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
Forbidden Planet (1956)
The Time Machine (1960)
Planet of the Apes (1968)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (revised edition)
(1977, 1980)
The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Blade Runner (1982)
Now
that I’ve gotten that out of the way, I will now segue into
the megillah of all movie lists: my choices for the
Top Ten U.S. films (of all genres). As I’m sure you’re
aware, lists like these can be quite subjective and open
to debate. I was reminded of this when the American
Film Institute came out with its list of the
Top 100 U.S. Films of the 20th Century, which was published
in 1998. While I found many films on the list to be
excellent choices, there were a number I thought unworthy
of being there: Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,
A Place in the Sun, Fargo, Rocky,
Ben-Hur, Forrest Gump, Tootsie,
The Sound of Music, Amadeus, Jaws,
and Doctor Zhivago. On the other hand, I
found several of the omissions to be curious also.
Frankenstein is on the list, but not Bride
of Frankenstein (1935), which many film scholars think
is not only superior to the original film, but is also the
greatest horror film of all. The Disney films Snow
White and the Seven Dwarfs and Fantasia both
made the cut, while Pinocchio didn’t; this was
another curious omission, because Pinocchio is
considered by many to be the greatest animated feature film
ever made.
Perhaps
all this doesn’t matter, since AFI lists have started to
become a laughingstock. In the last several years
they have inundated us with the following Top 100 lists:
Top 100 Comedies, Top 100 Thrillers, Top 100 Movie Stars,
Top 100 Romantic Films, Top 100 Heroes and Villains and
Top 100 Musical Numbers. What’s next? Top 100
Sidekicks? How about Top 100 Crime Scenes Committed by Albanian
Midgets? The cynics among us say that AFI makes up
these inane lists so they can become the subjects of TV
shows that generate revenue for the organization.
Surely there must be a better way of raising money than
coming up with these endless lists; maybe they can get Jerry
Lewis to host a telethon for them. Nah! He's
already got a full plate on Labor Day and won't be able
to fit them into his schedule. Oh, well...
Now
that I’ve finished venting my spleen, here’s the list of
my Top 10 U.S. films of all genres, in no particular order:
Modern
Times (1936)
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
Citizen Kane (1941)
The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
The Lost Weekend (1945)
Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
Fantasia (1940)
The Wild Bunch (1969)
The Godfather, Part 2 (1974)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
That
2001 made both my lists shows what a work of enduring
greatness it is. I’m sure some of you have a bone
to pick with several of my above-mentioned opinions.
But hell, it could have been worse—I could have compiled
a list of the Top 100 Movie Bathtub Scenes.
See
ya soon.
Steve
can be reached at steve@babblog.com. |
