20 June, 2007

AFI 100 Films Countdown-10th anniversary Re-deux

On Wednesday night, I happened onto the AFI Greatest 100 Movie Classics. I thought I would just check it out for a few minutes and then get back to my projects at hand.
Who was I kidding?

Movies. The best clips from so many of my favorites. The best part was watching the celebrities talking about the films--some of the celebrities were connected to the film, and some were not. What I don't understand is how two of my all-time favorites could only be #'s 57 and 51? "Rocky" still gives me chills, inspires me and the theme is one of the anthems I use personally; and "West Side Story" wasn't even in the top fifty?
How is that possible? Harumph.
Wonder if number one will be "Stairway to Heaven"?

There was one snippet that I didn't expect to impact me as it did. The film, "Tootsie" was included in the list and included was a short commentary by Dustin Hoffman. I was so moved by what he said was behind his reasoning for doing the film. Mr. Hoffman said that he thought he would make a great woman, someone he would be interested in talking to but not someone who was physically attractive or desirable enough to ask out. He realized that there were so many women that he regretted not getting to know because his conditioning taught him that if they were not attractive, they did not merit his time or attention. While he was sharing this, Mr. Hoffman got choked up and he teared up. He said that for him, this film was not a comedy. wow.

There are a bunch of films that I now have to re-view. Including a re-cut version of "Blade Runner" out in theatres. It was not a film I particularly liked but maybe seeing it as an adult and seeing the director's final cut will change my mind. A few others, that I will need to rent:
"Apocalypse Now", "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", "The Best Years of Our Lives", and more. There are films included that I did not see and still don't think I want to see now, "Pulp Fiction", "A Clockwork Orange" and "Taxi Driver". And much to my chagrin, I still have never seen "Lawrence of Arabia." Go figure.

1 comment:

Inspired Service said...

"Lawrence" is still in my top five of all time. It is not a film to view as a video at home. We need to see it on the big screen somewhere. Maybe it will be at one of the more artsy theatres with a little coaxing?

DC

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