the list of 9 for october 10, 2007:
THE NINE HIGHEST-RATED FILMS ON THE AFI "TOP 100 MOVIES" LIST THAT I DIDN'T LIKE
As a filmmaker and a film fan, I should agree with the American Film Institute as to which 100American films (read: Hollywood features) are the greatest, right? Wrong. But that's part of thefun of these lists: disagreeing with them. Now, there are quite a few films on AFI's updated 2007 list that I never saw, and a few that I caught onlywhen I was a child (such as #6 Gone with the Wind and #10 The Wizard of Oz), andeven though I'm not convinced that I'd like those movies today, I'll withhold judgment until I canactually get around to seeing them.

  1. The Godfather (#2 on the AFI list). Before you put a horsehead in my bed, let me explain that the words movies I didn't like don't necessarilytranslate into movies I think are bad. I've seen The Godfather at least twice, andwhile I think it's certainly well made - even flawlessly so - it just doesn't move me. I find it abore. Sorry.

  2. Raging Bull (#4 on the AFI list). I think Martin Scorsesehas made a lot of great movies. GoodFellas, for instance. I also think much of his work isoverrated, such as Raging Bull, a meandering story that in my opinion amounts to little.

  3. Lawrence of Arabia (#7 on the AFI list). David Lean'ssweeping epic was way too long - and I'm not against long movies per se. And yes, I evensaw the restored version in 65mm in a theatre, the way it was meant to be seen. Despite its desert heat, Lawrence left me cold.

  4. The Searchers (#12 on the AFI list). It's trendy to likeJohn Ford's The Searchers nowadays. To wit: The original AFI Top 100 Movies list came outin 1998 and placed The Searchers at the thankless #96 position on the list. Moving up 84slots in 9 years reflects the newfound appreciation that this Western has been receiving. But Isaw the movie for the first time last year - again, restored and on the big screen - and Istill think John Wayne couldn't act. Moreover, the rampant corny humor in the film distracts fromthe seriousness of the story.

  5. Some Like It Hot (#22 on the AFI list). Outside of thesilent era, film comedies don't age well. One generation's concept of "funny" is rarely another's.And while I can still laugh at Strangers on a Train and virtually anything that comes outof Cary Grant's mouth, I can't name a single actual comedy from the 1950's that I like, includingthe strident, leering, and not particularly clever Some Like It Hot.

  6. All About Eve (#28 on the AFI list). I love Bette Davis inthis film - she turns in a brilliantly catty performance - but writer/director Joseph L.Mankiewicz was the Cameron Crowe of his day: a man so in love with his own dialogue that he wasunaware of his ineptitude as a filmmaker. All About Eve is terribly overlong and stagy -and there's no excuse for its flat visuals, having come out at the same time as SunsetBoulevard and The Third Man, two masterpieces.

  7. The Godfather Part II (#32 on the AFI list). It's not thatI hate Francis Ford Coppola. In fact, The Conversation - which he made between the twoGodfathers, and which is consistently ignored by the AFI for their list - is one of myall-time favorite movies. But what made me check my watch throughout the first Godfatherwas even more prevalent in the second one.

  8. Forrest Gump (#76 on the AFI list). I'm no crank: Of the100 titles on the AFI list, I love many, admire most, and only really object to the inclusion ofabout 11 or 12 or them. Such as Forrest Gump. And it's only a matter of time before the AFIagrees, and this creepily conservative special effects orgy gets scratched off their list. Itsimply isn't destined to age well. The film it crushed at the Oscars, Quiz Show, is farbetter.

  9. Titanic (#83 on the AFI list.) Remember how I said thatthe term movies I didn't like was to be taken with a grain of salt? Well, ingest thissodium-free sentiment: I hated Titanic. Hated. Ship all prints to the bottom of theAtlantic.

Copyright © Mark Tapio Kines 2011