Sunday, August 12, 2012

Sunday Showdown: AFI vs IMDb (#66)



This week - #66: Raiders of the Lost Ark (AFI) vs. Reservoir Dogs (IMDb)

(Had to skip #67: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? vs. Chinatown due to some Netflix delays – that will be next week’s Showdown)

I want to state for the record that I loved Reservoir Dogs back in the day.  I was 20 years old when I saw it for the first time and I adored everything about it.  In all our writing classes we were always told to “show, don’t tell.” Tarantino did the exact opposite of that – created an action movie made up almost entirely of talking – and it worked beautifully.  It put Tarantino on the map, and like him or not, he’s stayed there ever since.

But who can win against Raiders of the Lost Ark? Nobody. Definitely not Dogs.  Raiders is perhaps the greatest action-adventure film of all time.  It’s pure fun.  Not to mention it contains the best opening scene of a movie, like, ever.  Plus, Harrison Ford.  How could it lose?

It's not the years, honey, it's the mileage.”


So the score stands: AFI -19, IMDb - 16


AFI’s Top 100
IMDB’s Top 100 (as of 1/1/12)



#58
The Gold Rush (1925)
Memento (2000)



#66
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Reservoir Dogs (1992)



#68
Unforgiven (1992)
The Treasure of Sierra Madre (1948)
#69
Tootsie (1982)
Modern Times (1936)
#70
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
Life is Beautiful (1997)
#71
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Monty Python & the Holy Grail (1975)
#72
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Back to the Future (1985)
#73
Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid (1969)
The Prestige (2006)
#74
Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)
#75
In the Heat of the Night (1967)
Raging Bull (1980)
#76
Forrest Gump (1994)
Cinema Paradiso (1988)
#77
All the President’s Men  (1976)
Singing In the Rain (1952)
#78
Modern Times (1936)
Some Like it Hot (1959)
#79
The Wild Bunch (1969)
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
#80
The Apartment (1960)
Rashomon (1950)
#81
Spartacus (1960)
All About Eve (1950)
#82
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)
Amadeus (1984)
#83
Titanic (1997)
Once Upon A Time in America (1984)
#84
Easy Rider (1969)
The Green Mile (1999)
#85
A Night at the Opera (1935)
Full Metal Jacket (1987)
#86
Platoon (1986)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
#87
12 Angry Men (1957)
Inglorious Basterds (2009)
#88
Bringing Up Baby (1938)
The Great Dictator (1940)
#89
Sixth Sense (1999)
Braveheart (1995)
#90
Swing Time (1936)
The Bicycle Thief (1948)
#91
Sophie’s Choice (1982)
The Apartment (1960)
#92
Up (2009)
Goodfellas (1990)
#93
The French Connection (1971)
Downfall (2004)
#94
Pulp Fiction (1994)
Gran Torino (2008)
#95
The Last Picture Show (1971)
Metropolis (1927)
#96
Do The Right Thing (1989)
The Sting (1973)
#97
Blade Runner (1982)
Gladiator (2000)
#98
Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
#99
Toy Story (1995)
Unforgiven (1992)
#100
Ben Hur (1959)
The Elephant Man (1980)

1 comment:

  1. Good choice. Dogs is fantastic, but Raiders is Raiders. It is a category all its own. I mean... let's face it... Raiders is PERFECT. Not a single frame is wrong. Dogs... while awesome isn't quite perfect.

    Although... have I ever told you my theory about Dogs? What if I told you that Mr. Orange is NOT the traitor? Cuz, he's not.

    ReplyDelete