Sunday, September 29, 2013

Sunday Showdown: AFI vs. IMDb Battle (#16)

It’s the Sunday Movie Showdown, The American Film Institute’s (AFI) Top 100 vs. the Internet Movie Databases’ (IMDb) Top 100. 

 #16: Sunset Boulevard vs. Casablanca

I had teased a little bit about possibly getting to #15 2001: A Space Odyssey vs. Goodfellas this week, but that epic battle is going to have to wait its turn until next Sunday.

#16 was really a no-brainer for me. I enjoyed Sunset Boulevard when it showed up as IMDb’s #32 vs. Godfather Part II. Even if it lost there too.

Boulevard is perhaps the greatest film about Hollywood –certainly the greatest film about growing old in Hollywood –ever made by Hollywood. Gloria Swanson and William Holden give excellent performances, well-worthy of their Oscar-nominations.

Boulevard is considered by some to be one of director Billy Wilder’s finest. That’s saying a lot if you look at the company it keeps: A Foreign Affair, The Seven Year Itch, Double Indemnity, The Apartment, and  Some Like it Hot. I personally don't think it's his best, but it's definitely up there.
Do not fear Sunset Boulevard - the Musical

If you haven’t seen it, you definitely should. If by some chance you’re putting off viewing it because you were scarred by the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical version as I was, rest assured that the film is much more gripping; almost enthralling. And no songs in sight.

But against Casablanca there was really no contest.  As a matter of fact, I’m a little perturbed that Casablanca is so far down on the IMDb list at #16. It’s #3 for AFI, much closer to where it should be, imo (ironically, also against Godfather Part II).
Romance.

There will more discussion on the strengths of Casablanca when we make our way up to #3. But for now suffice it to say, it would definitely make my “Top 10 Films of All Time” list. Not sure exactly where, but definitely on the list. I consider it to be one of the most romantic movies ever made

This brings the  overall score to: AFI - 46, IMDb - 39. Next week is the dreaded 2001: A Space Odyssey vs. Goodfellas. Sigh. No matter who wins, I lose for having to watch them both again.




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

46
39



#11 City Lights (1931) LoTR: Return of the King (2003)



#16
Sunset Boulevard (1950)
Casablanca (1942)
#17
The Graduate (1967)
Fight Club (1999)
#18
The General (1927)
City of God (2002)
#19 On the Waterfront (1954) LoTR: Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
#20
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
Rear Window (1954)
#21
Chinatown (1974)
Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
#22
Some Like It Hot (1959)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
#23
The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
Toy Story 3 (2010)
#24
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
Psycho (1960)
#25
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
The Usual Suspects (1995)
#26
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
The Matrix (1999)
#27
High Noon (1952)
Silence of the Lambs (1991)
#28
All About Eve (1950)
Se7en (1995)
#29
Double Indemnity (1944)
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
#30
Apocalypse Now (1979)
Memento (1990)
#31 The Maltese Falcon (1941) LoTR: The Two Towers(2002)
#32
The Godfather Part II (1974)
Sunset Boulevard (1950)
#33
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
Dr. Strangelove (1964)
#34
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
Forrest Gump (1994)
#35
Annie Hall (1977)
Leon: The Professional (1994)
#36
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
Citizen Kane (1941)
#37 The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) Apocalypse Now (1979)
#38 The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) North By Northwest (1959)
#39 Dr. Strangelove (1964) American Beauty (1999)
#40 The Sound of Music (1965) American History X (1998)
#41 King Kong (1933) Taxi Driver (1976)
#42 Bonnie and Clyde (1967) Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
#43 Midnight Cowboy (1969) Saving Private Ryan (1998)
#44 The Philadelphia Story (1940) Vertigo (1958)
#45 Shane (1953) Amelie (2001)
#46 It Happened One Night (1934) Alien (1979)
#47 A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) Wall E (2008)
#48 Rear Window (1954) Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
#49 Intolerance (1916) The Shining (1980)
#50 LoTR: Fellowship of the Ring (2001) Spirited Away (2001)
#51 West Side Story (1961) Paths of Glory (1957)
#52 Taxi Driver (1976) A Clockwork Orange (1971)
#53 The Deer Hunter (1978) Double Indemnity (1944)
#54 M*A*S*H* (1970) To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
#55 North by Northwest (1959) The Pianist (2002)
#56 Jaws (1975) The Lives of Others (2006)
#57 Rocky (1976) The Departed (2006)
#58
The Gold Rush (1925)
Memento (2000)
#59 Nashville (1975) City Lights (1931)
#60
Duck Soup (1933)
Aliens (1986)
#61
Sullivan's Travels (1941)
Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind (2004)
#62
American Graffiti (1973)
Requiem for a Dream (2000)
#63
Cabaret (1972)
Das Boot (1981)
#64
Network (1976)
The Third Man (1949)
#65
The African Queen (1951)
L.A. Confidential (1997)
#66
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Reservoir Dogs (1992)
#67
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
Chinatown (1974)
#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)