Your Updated AFI List

[taylor anne photo 11311]

A game I thought might be fun would be to talk about movies that have come out since 2007 that you think deserve to be on the AFI 100 Greatest American Movies list, especially now that we are now past another AFI anniversary with no updates from them.

 

And to add to the trouble of picking some, what would you take out to put in your nomination?

 

AND to add even more trouble, try sticking to the same qualifications that AFI seems to be leaning to - Did it win any Oscars? Is it in the Library of Congress?

 

Remember, these have to be American productions (I believe they do accept co-productions).

 

To start I would actually remove The French Connection and add in Get Out. I would also remove Platoon and add The Hurt Locker.

[sycasey 2.0 2301]

I would argue for The Social Network.

[taylor anne photo 11311]

I would argue for The Social Network.

Absolutely! I thought of this one first actually but couldn't think what I would replace it with.

 

I picked Get Out instead to replace The French Connection just because I feel like Get Out represents the Horror genre which is sadly overlooked in this list, and it's really one of the first Horror movies to get critical acclaim! Plus it re-invents the genre and will forever be referenced, which is what we've all said about TFC.

[grudlian. 4725]

Not entirely sure what I'd remove yet, but No Country For Old Men and There Will Be Blood certainly belong.

[taylor anne photo 11311]

I also have no idea what to remove, but I think Spotlight is actually amazing enough to be on the list.

[grudlian. 4725]

On 7/23/2018 at 8:56 PM, taylorannephoto said:

I also have no idea what to remove, but I think Spotlight is actually amazing enough to be on the list.

I listen to Good Christian Fun podcast and they covered Spotlight this week with Film Crit Hulk. It's not indicative of a typical episode but it's pretty interesting. Film Crit Hulk grew up Catholic in Boston and met Cardinal Law. So, it's interesting hearing his perspective.

[taylor anne photo 11311]

I have to admit when I first started watching Spotlight I thought it was just gonna be another Oscar bait drama that I view as so-so (A la Bridge of Spies) but almost immediately I was sucked in and was actually sad to see it end. I was so enraptured with this story and how these writers had to deal with being believed, and getting victims to go on record, and finding the right time to publish, that the hours flew by and I was left wanting more. I also am more mad now that Mark Rylance won over Mark Ruffalo that year for Best Supporting Actor.

Edited July 27, 2018 by taylorannephoto

[grudlian. 4725]

3 hours ago, taylorannephoto said:

I have to admit when I first started watching Spotlight I thought it was just gonna be another Oscar bait drama that I view as so-so (A la Bridge of Spies) but almost immediately I was sucked in and was actually sad to see it end. I was so enraptured with this story and how these writers had to deal with being believed, and getting victims to go on record, and finding the right time to publish, that the hours flew by and I was left wanting more. I also am more mad now that Mark Rylance won over Mark Ruffalo that year for Best Supporting Actor.

For that year, I'd give the best supporting actor award to Sam Elliott for Grandma. It's maybe not my favorite scene but that movie getting ignored completely only makes me love it more. 

[sycasey 2.0 2301]

4 minutes ago, grudlian. said:

For that year, I'd give the best supporting actor award to Sam Elliott for Grandma. It's maybe not my favorite scene but that movie getting ignored completely only makes me love it more. 

As I recall, the big surprise was that Stallone didn't win for Creed. 

Personally, though I'd love to see Ruffalo win an acting Oscar (for anything), I really liked Rylance in Bridge of Spies, so I didn't mind that surprise win.

[grudlian. 4725]

4 hours ago, sycasey 2.0 said:

As I recall, the big surprise was that Stallone didn't win for Creed. 

Personally, though I'd love to see Ruffalo win an acting Oscar (for anything), I really liked Rylance in Bridge of Spies, so I didn't mind that surprise win.

I don't follow Oscar speculation but I thought the was no way Stallone was getting the win. I was shocked he even got nominated.

[sycasey 2.0 2301]

2 hours ago, grudlian. said:

I don't follow Oscar speculation but I thought the was no way Stallone was getting the win. I was shocked he even got nominated.

He'd won a lot of the precursor awards, which are usually predictive. I'm not sure Rylance had won any.

[grudlian. 4725]

8 hours ago, sycasey 2.0 said:

He'd won a lot of the precursor awards, which are usually predictive. I'm not sure Rylance had won any.

Yeah. That buzz can be an indicator. I was pulling for Stallone but, if Sam Elliott wasn't nominated, I do think Rylance was the right choice.

[Susan* 135]

On 7/23/2018 at 7:56 PM, taylorannephoto said:

I also have no idea what to remove, but I think Spotlight is actually amazing enough to be on the list.

I love Spotlight but don't you dare touch French Connection.    

[Susan* 135]

I've already added Double Indemnity to my list (second from the top so far).  I'm going to try and re-watch King Kong before I add it.  

[taylor anne photo 11311]

3 hours ago, Susan* said:

I love Spotlight but don't you dare touch French Connection.    

Things gotta go to make room for the new ones and so far that's my least favorite.

[Cameron H. 23786]

This might be controversial, but what about The Dark Knight? Personally, I'm not really a fan myself, but I wouldn't kick it out if it were to end up on the list. Based on cultural impact alone, I feel like the superhero genre should be represented on any updated list. And out of all of them, I think The Dark Knight might be the closest thing superhero movies have to a prestige film.

[sycasey 2.0 2301]

The Dark Knight is a tough one, since if the AFI were to pick a superhero movie that would probably be the one they'd take. But as good as TDK is, I find that it and the other Christopher Nolan Batman movies kind of run away from the very idea of superheroes and fantastical storytelling, by trying so hard to make everything seem "real" and believable and super-grounded. I think that works for Nolan's conception of Batman, but is basically a dead end for depicting any other superhero (see: Zack Snyder's failure with Superman). As such, the movie is not terribly representative of the genre that has become so popular.

But even so, there's no way they are going with one of the MCU movies or Sam Raimi's Spider-Man, so I dunno.

[grudlian. 4725]

13 hours ago, sycasey 2.0 said:

But even so, there's no way they are going with one of the MCU movies or Sam Raimi's Spider-Man, so I dunno.

Would anyone think Black Panther is a possible contender?

I know we're only five months removed from its release. So, long term cultural impact is impossible to measure. In my mind, the MCU is most representative of superhero as a genre and Black Panther is the best of the MCU, therefore... Black Panther has a defined villain with a story arc and real motive outside of steal money which puts it above almost every MCU movie automatically. I think the depth of the story is a strong point that it's largely discussing serious social issues that are certainly important to today's culture but the history of the US and world in regards to addressing institutionalized racism. 

The Dark Knight is fine but it's really 80% Heath Ledger's performance then a bunch of scenes with me going "Where's Poochie Joker?" It took several times seeing it to get that way but that's kind of all I want to see from it anymore.

Edited July 29, 2018 by grudlian.

[Quasar Sniffer 4174]

If we're going to include one superhero movie, I'd much rather include Infinity War, as it does the most superhero movie heavy lifting of any in the genre (most characters, most plotlines, long as hell), but still manages to be entertaining and isn't a slog to get through. It's like a perfectly engineered Rube Goldberg device that cost $300,000,000 (or whatever it cost) and grossed over $2 billion in ticket sales. It's hard to argue for other Big Time Crowd Pleasers and leave that one off.

As for the Nolan films, they all have brilliant moments or individual elements, but they all also have glaring flaws (Christian Bale being an incredibly uninteresting Bruce Wayne/Batman being one big one). I also really feel their length more that Infinity War. And honestly, I think I'd rather have any other Nolan film on the list except his Batman films, which are the least interesting movies he's made.

[Cameron H. 23786]

13 hours ago, sycasey 2.0 said:

The Dark Knight is a tough one, since if the AFI were to pick a superhero movie that would probably be the one they'd take. But as good as TDK is, I find that it and the other Christopher Nolan Batman movies kind of run away from the very idea of superheroes and fantastical storytelling, by trying so hard to make everything seem "real" and believable and super-grounded. I think that works for Nolan's conception of Batman, but is basically a dead end for depicting any other superhero (see: Zack Snyder's failure with Superman). As such, the movie is not terribly representative of the genre that has become so popular.

But even so, there's no way they are going with one of the MCU movies or Sam Raimi's Spider-Man, so I dunno.

That’s a big criticism I have of The Dark Knight. Outside of Ledger’s performance, I don’t really like it.

I think Black Panther could be a contender, but it might be too early to say. Don’t AFI films have to win some awards first? We’d probably have to wait a year and see what happens.

[Cameron H. 23786]

2 minutes ago, Quasar Sniffer said:

If we're going to include one superhero movie, I'd much rather include Infinity War, as it does the most superhero movie heavy lifting of any in the genre (most characters, most plotlines, long as hell), but still manages to be entertaining and isn't a slog to get through. It's like a perfectly engineered Rube Goldberg device that cost $300,000,000 (or whatever it cost) and grossed over $2 billion in ticket sales. It's hard to argue for other Big Time Crowd Pleasers and leave that one off.

As for the Nolan films, they all have brilliant moments or individual elements, but they all also have glaring flaws (Christian Bale being an incredibly uninteresting Bruce Wayne/Batman being one big one). I also really feel their length more that Infinity War. And honestly, I think I'd rather have any other Nolan film on the list except his Batman films, which are the least interesting movies he's made.

Yeah, I was originally going to suggest the first Avengers movie for the same reasons.

The Dark Knight seems to be the superhero movie pretentious people don’t mind admitting that they like. Again, I wouldn’t necessarily agree with it, but I would understand it’s inclusion.

[grudlian. 4725]

9 minutes ago, Quasar Sniffer said:

If we're going to include one superhero movie, I'd much rather include Infinity War, as it does the most superhero movie heavy lifting of any in the genre (most characters, most plotlines, long as hell), but still manages to be entertaining and isn't a slog to get through. It's like a perfectly engineered Rube Goldberg device that cost $300,000,000 (or whatever it cost) and grossed over $2 billion in ticket sales. It's hard to argue for other Big Time Crowd Pleasers and leave that one off.

As for the Nolan films, they all have brilliant moments or individual elements, but they all also have glaring flaws (Christian Bale being an incredibly uninteresting Bruce Wayne/Batman being one big one). I also really feel their length more that Infinity War. And honestly, I think I'd rather have any other Nolan film on the list except his Batman films, which are the least interesting movies he's made.

My problem with Infinity War in so far as being a representation of the entire genre is that it's not a complete movie. You don't need to see every MCU movie to get it but you can't come in blind either. It doesn't finish its story either. It's like saying the best play is Act IV of MacBeth.

8 minutes ago, CameronH said:

That’s a big criticism I have of The Dark Knight. Outside of Ledger’s performance, I don’t really like it.

I think Black Panther could be a contender, but it might be too early to say. Don’t AFI films have to win some awards first? We’d probably have to wait a year and see what happens.

You're right. It's early and who knows where superhero movies will even be in 20 years. They are huge now but their lasting impact may end up being cinematic universes and nothing else.

[Quasar Sniffer 4174]

If we're talking lasting impact and universal acclaim, how about the 1978 Superman? It's still remembered as the pinnacle of Superman on screen, even the definitive version among comic book fans, who sometimes look for Christopher Reeve in the Superman comics I try to sell them.

[taylor anne photo 11311]

I absolutely would pick The Dark Knight. I believe it changed the game in terms of Superhero movies, and we can talk about Iron Man being a big starting point all we want but in my opinion Nolan's Batmans are the true starters of this modern genre, even if Spider-Man was even before that. Not to mention that Heath winning a posthumous Oscar for his performance puts it above the rest in terms of how seriously the AFI would take it. 

[Cameron H. 23786]

9 minutes ago, taylorannephoto said:

I absolutely would pick The Dark Knight. I believe it changed the game in terms of Superhero movies, and we can talk about Iron Man being a big starting point all we want but in my opinion Nolan's Batmans are the true starters of this modern genre, even if Spider-Man was even before that. Not to mention that Heath winning a posthumous Oscar for his performance puts it above the rest in terms of how seriously the AFI would take it. 

Exactly. I don’t particularly like it, but it best fits the criteria.