I have an in-no-way-constructive hobby of seriously hating on the American Film Institutes’ various Top 100 lists. Their initial 100 Years…100 Movies list from 1998 was decent enough – a fine collection of American films with pretty solid rankings. But in the subsequent decade, AFI released a different list every year, which resulted in their laughable 100 Years…100 Movies update in 2008. Here are a few things I’ve never been able to understand about AFI’s lists. Be sure to check out all of their lists here, then come back and tell me what you find most baffling.
Rocky Balboa is a bigger hero than Gandhi
The Sixth Sense is a better movie than Goodfells, Pulp Fiction and Do the Right Thing
The Fugitive is more thrilling than 2001: A Space Odyssey
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? is a thrilling movie
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a “great love story”
Titanic is a better movie than 12 Angry Men
The Wicked Witch of the West is more villainous than Amon Goeth
The Way We Were is more passionate than From Here to Eternity and It Happened One Night
Thelma & Louise are bigger heroes than Moses
Big is funnier than Harold and Maude
Sophie’s Choice is one of the 100 best American movies of all time, The Sweet Smell of Success is not
Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On” is a better song than “Cheek to Cheek,” “Theme from Shaft” and “Gonna Fly Now”
Jerry Maguire is one of the Top 10 Sports movies ever made
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence is not one of the Top 10 westerns ever made
Neither David Mamet nor Quentin Tarantino has never written a top movie quote of all time
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Any other complaints for the AFI lists? Voice them in comment section below.