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Rank-o-phile
Nine years have passed since the last time the American Film Institute (AFI) compiled its list of the 100 greatest American movies ever made, but once again, Orson Welles' 1941 masterpiece "Citizen Kane" deservedly tops the list. Some strange changes have been made, though. "Casablanca," formerly No. 2, and "The Godfather," formerly No 3., have switched places. No complaints about having those up there, but what happened in the last decade to make "The Godfather" (1972) better than "Casablanca" (1942)? The popularity of "The Sopranos"?
Aside from a variety of shake-ups--somehow Martin Scorsese's "Raging Bull" jumped from No. 24 to No. 4 and the John Wayne Western "The Searchers" leapt from No. 96 to No. 12--there were also some newbies: 2001's "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" (No. 50), 1998's "Saving Private Ryan" (No. 71), 1997's "Titanic" (No. 83) and 1999's "The Sixth Sense" (No. 89). To that, we say "Whaaaa?" We're in favor of the addition of the first LOTR (by far the series' best), but people thought "Titanic" was lame about five minutes after it won Best Picture. "Saving Private Ryan" is one of Spielberg's great directing efforts but not one of his strongest movies overall. And "The Sixth Sense" not only doesn't truly hold up over time--does anyone like it as much the tenth time as they did the first?--but M. Night Shyamalan's career since then (including "Unbreakable," "Signs," "The Village," "Lady in the Water") proves his "I see dead people" thriller was nothing but a fluke. (Sorry if we just ruined the ending.)
If we're adding movies from the last decade, how about "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" or "American Splendor"? "Requiem for a Dream"? Or last year's "Children of Men"?
What do you think about the list? What should have made it? What shouldn't?
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