It’s the Sunday Movie Showdown, The
American Film Institute’s (AFI) Top 100 vs. the Internet Movie Databases’
(IMDb) Top 100.
#15- 2001: A Space Odyssey vs. Goodfellas
Kubrick vs. Scorsese.
For me, it’s not a question of which of these two films do I
like most. It’s a question of which of the two do I dislike least.
I’d viewed them both already for the Sunday Showdown
challenge. 2001 was IMDb’s #86
against Platoon and Goodfellas was AFI’s #92 against Up.
(As an aside, I found a data entry error in the list. #92
had been switched. Up had been listed
as the AFI entry, and Goodfellas
listed as the IMDb entry, those should have been reversed, and the point that
went to AFI for Up should’ve gone to IMDb. So that means that
coming into this week’s challenge, the actual score was AFI – 45, IMDb - 40)
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| 2001: A Space Odyssey and Oddity |
I re-watched both 2001
and Goodfellas this week, hoping that
one of them would pique my interest a little more than it had in the past. Or
that my eyes would be opened to the cinematic genius making either of these
films worthy of being listed in the Top 20 best
films of all time.
I haven’t made any secret during the Sunday Showdown that I’m
not a huge Kubrick fan (even though his films made the lists more than any
other director). I didn’t care for Spartacus,
Dr. Strangelove, The Shining or even Paths of
Glory. I loathed A Clockwork Orange.
The only film of his on the list I didn’t mind was Full Metal Jacket.
I know that 2001
is supposed to be a cinematic masterpiece, but I have difficulty seeing it. And
yes, it may be because I’m viewing the film through 2013 eyes, rather than 1968
ones. Or maybe because I have a shorter attention span than viewers of decades
past.
I think we are meant to contemplate the film rather than
enjoy it. Of course, if you look at my tendency to make stupid decisions (like
the one I’m making even this very weekend), you can see that contemplation is
not one of my strong suits.
I think I get it: 2001:
A Space Odyssey is a philosophical statement about man’s place in the
univ... zzzzzzzzzzz.
Yeah, that’s pretty much my response every time I watch it. But,
I still think 2001 belongs in the Top
20 over Goodfellas.
 |
| Goodfellas - yeah, a plot but nothing special |
So, as much as it pains me, I give my vote to 2001: A Space Odyssey for this week. But
I wouldn’t recommend either movie. If you’ve never seen them, then count
yourself blessed and move on.
That brings the score to AFI – 46, IMDb – 40. Next week… Psycho vs. Star Wars. Psycho is on a very short list of movies
that would even have a chance with me against Star Wars. But I don’t know if it will be enough.
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AFI’s Top 100
|
IMDb’s Top 100 (as of 1/1/12)
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46
|
40
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#11 |
City Lights (1931) |
LoTR: Return of the King (2003) |
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#15
|
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
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Goodfellas
(1990)
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#16
|
Sunset
Boulevard (1950)
|
Casablanca (1942)
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#17
|
The
Graduate (1967)
|
Fight Club (1999)
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#18
|
The General (1927)
|
City
of God (2002)
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#19 |
On the Waterfront (1954) |
LoTR: Fellowship of the Ring (2001) |
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#20
|
It's
a Wonderful Life (1946)
|
Rear Window (1954)
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#21
|
Chinatown (1974)
|
Once
Upon a Time in the West (1968)
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#22 |
Some
Like It Hot (1959)
|
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
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#23
|
The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
|
Toy
Story 3 (2010)
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#24
|
E.T.
the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
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Psycho (1960)
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#25
|
To
Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
|
The Usual Suspects (1995)
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#26
|
Mr.
Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
|
The Matrix (1999)
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#27
|
High
Noon (1952)
|
Silence of the Lambs (1991)
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#28
|
All About Eve (1950)
|
Se7en
(1995)
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#29
|
Double
Indemnity (1944)
|
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
|
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#30
|
Apocalypse Now (1979)
|
Memento
(1990)
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#31 |
The Maltese Falcon (1941) |
LoTR: The Two Towers(2002) |
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#32
|
The Godfather Part II (1974)
|
Sunset
Boulevard (1950)
|
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#33
|
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
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Dr.
Strangelove (1964)
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#34
|
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
(1937)
|
Forrest
Gump (1994)
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#35
|
Annie
Hall (1977)
|
Leon: The Professional (1994)
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#36
|
The
Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
|
Citizen Kane (1941)
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#37 |
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) |
Apocalypse Now (1979) |
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#38 |
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) |
North By Northwest (1959) |
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#39 |
Dr. Strangelove (1964) |
American Beauty (1999) |
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#40 |
The Sound of Music (1965) |
American History X (1998) |
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#41 |
King Kong (1933) |
Taxi Driver (1976) |
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#42 |
Bonnie and Clyde (1967) |
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) |
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#43 |
Midnight Cowboy (1969) |
Saving Private Ryan (1998) |
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#44 |
The Philadelphia
Story (1940) |
Vertigo (1958) |
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#45 |
Shane (1953) |
Amelie (2001) |
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#46 |
It Happened One Night (1934) |
Alien (1979) |
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#47 |
A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) |
Wall E (2008) |
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#48 |
Rear Window (1954) |
Lawrence of Arabia (1962) |
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#49 |
Intolerance (1916) |
The Shining (1980) |
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#50 |
LoTR: Fellowship of the Ring (2001) |
Spirited Away (2001) |
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#51 |
West Side Story (1961) |
Paths of Glory (1957) |
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#52 |
Taxi Driver (1976) |
A Clockwork Orange (1971) |
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#53 |
The Deer Hunter (1978) |
Double Indemnity (1944) |
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#54 |
M*A*S*H* (1970) |
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) |
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#55 |
North by Northwest (1959) |
The Pianist (2002) |
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#56 |
Jaws (1975) |
The Lives of Others (2006) |
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#57 |
Rocky (1976) |
The Departed (2006) |
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#58
|
The Gold Rush (1925)
|
Memento
(2000)
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|
#59 |
Nashville (1975) |
City Lights (1931) |
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#60
|
Duck
Soup (1933)
|
Aliens (1986)
|
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#61
|
Sullivan's Travels (1941)
|
Eternal
Sunshine of a Spotless Mind (2004)
|
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#62
|
American
Graffiti (1973)
|
Requiem for a Dream (2000)
|
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#63
|
Cabaret
(1972)
|
Das Boot (1981)
|
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#64
|
Network (1976)
|
The
Third Man (1949)
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#65
|
The African Queen (1951)
|
L.A.
Confidential (1997)
|
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#66
|
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
|
Reservoir
Dogs (1992)
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#67
|
Who’s
Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
|
Chinatown (1974)
|
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#68
|
Unforgiven
(1992)
|
The Treasure of Sierra Madre (1948)
|
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#69
|
Tootsie
(1982)
|
Modern Times (1936)
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#70
|
A
Clockwork Orange (1971)
|
Life is Beautiful (1997)
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#71
|
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
|
Monty
Python & the Holy Grail (1975)
|
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#72
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The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
|
Back
to the Future (1985)
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#73
|
Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid
(1969)
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The
Prestige (2006)
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#74
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Silence of the Lambs (1991)
|
Pan’s
Labyrinth (2006)
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#75
|
In
the Heat of the Night (1967)
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Raging Bull (1980)
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#76
|
Forrest
Gump (1994)
|
Cinema Paradiso (1988)
|
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#77
|
All
the President’s Men (1976)
|
Singing In the Rain (1952)
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#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)
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#81
|
Spartacus
(1960)
|
All About Eve (1950)
|
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#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)
|
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#85
|
A
Night at the Opera (1935)
|
Full Metal Jacket (1987)
|
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#86
|
Platoon (1986)
|
2001:
A Space Odyssey (1968)
|
|
#87
|
12
Angry Men (1957)
|
Inglorious Basterds (2009)
|
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#88
|
Bringing Up Baby (1938)
|
The
Great Dictator (1940)
|
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#89
|
Sixth Sense (1999)
|
Braveheart
(1995)
|
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#90
|
Swing
Time (1936)
|
The Bicycle Thief (1948)
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#91
|
Sophie’s Choice (1982)
|
The
Apartment (1960)
|
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#92
|
Goodfellas
(1990)
|
Up (2009)
|
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#93
|
The French Connection (1971)
|
Downfall
(2004)
|
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#94
|
Pulp Fiction (1994)
|
Gran
Torino (2008)
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#95
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The
Last Picture Show (1971)
|
Metropolis (1927)
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#96
|
Do The Right Thing (1989)
|
The
Sting (1973)
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#97
|
Blade Runner (1982)
|
Gladiator
(2000)
|
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#98
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Yankee
Doodle Dandy (1942)
|
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
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#99
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Toy Story (1995)
|
Unforgiven
(1992)
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#100
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Ben Hur (1959)
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The
Elephant Man (1980)
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