Thursday, June 19, 2008

Gangsters Are Us

The American Film Institute (AFI) has just released an interesting list of what it deems to be the top 10 films in 10 classic genres. In a statement it explains:
A jury of 1,500 film artists, critics and historians named the following films as the very best in the following genres: 2001: A Space Odyssey (Science Fiction), City Lights (Romantic Comedy), The Godfather (Gangster), Lawrence of Arabia (Epic), Raging Bull (Sports), The Searchers (Western), Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Animation), To Kill a Mockingbird (Courtroom Drama), Vertigo (Mystery), and The Wizard of Oz (Fantasy).
It was hardly surprising to find the film based on Mario Puzo’s 1969 novel, The Godfather, being named Gangster No. 1. But what about the other films in that genre?

1. The Godfather (1972)
2. Goodfellas (1990)
3. The Godfather, Part II (1974)
4. White Heat (1949)
5. Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
6. Scarface: The Shame of a Nation (1932)
7. Pulp Fiction (1994)
8. The Public Enemy (1931)
9. Little Caesar (1930)
10. Scarface (1983)

Good to see Brian De Palma’s Scarface get on the same list with Howard Hawks and Ben Hecht’s source material. Meanwhile, the movies in the Mystery category are dominated by classic works, along with a couple of more contemporary features:

1. Vertigo (1958)
2. Chinatown (1974)
3. Rear Window (1954)
4. Laura (1944)
5. The Third Man (1949)
6. The Maltese Falcon (1941)
7. North by Northwest (1959)
8. Blue Velvet (1986)
9. Dial M for Murder (1954)
10. The Usual Suspects (1995)

I thought the Science Fiction and Courtroom Drama lists were pretty predictable, but I was alarmed to realize that the AFI apparently didn’t consider Horror a genre. To view all of these lists, click here.

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