(Each week I’m comparing
the American Film Institute’s (“The Scholar’s”) Top 100 films against the Internet
Movie Database’s (“The Masses’”) Top 100 films)
I happened to get through FOUR movies this week
(hubby was out of town) so, aren’t you lucky, you get a double batch of Sunday Showdown
goodness.
#94 was Pulp
Fiction (AFI) vs. Gran Torino
(IMDb)
#93 was The
French Connection (AFI) vs. Downfall
(IMDb)
Let’s start with the losers.
#94: It pains me to make Gran Torino a loser. If haven’t seen Gran Torino, you really must. It’s one of Clint Eastwood’s very best
in my opinion. A truly beautiful story of redemption and friendship. Eastwood’s
character so reminds me of my own grandfather - an external
gruffness housing a heart desiring fairness and justice. Deep compassion
under a thin layer of racism. The story is just great. I’d seen it before and
it was a pleasure to watch it again.
#93: Downfall.
I would assume most people have seen a part of this movie, but not in its
entirety. You might think you’ve never
seen any of it, but if you’ve ever been sent a clip where Hitler is ranting
about some football team, political figure, video game or anything else in the
known universe, then you’ve seen part of Downfall. My first contact with this meme was about the
whole Taylor Swift/Kanye West debacle at the MTV VMAs. Cracked me up (severe language
alert):
Since then, I’ve seen the clip a dozen times about
other things. Downfall itself is about
Hitler’s final days. The film is well acted, and supposedly factually based.
But it is utterly depressing and baffling in a “how in the world could this
really have happened?” sort of way. I’m not sure I would’ve called Downfall a Top 100, but I’m willing to
cut it some slack because the meme has been such a pop culture phenomenon.
The Winners (out of order):
There’s a lot of violence in the movie: whoops, just shot that guy in the back, whoops, just accidentally killed that FBI agent, whoops, just beat up on a bar full of black people – and that’s just what the “good” guys did. Of course, a blended line between “good” and “bad” is the point of the entire film. There’s no happy ending and everything has a gritty feel to it.
It does a fabulous car/train chase scene, I’ll give you that. But watching the film overall now, it just seems dated; early 70s toughness personified. And it could’ve been entitled “Following Bad Guys on a City Street 101” – seriously, the police tailing someone made up half the movie. Got a little tedious.
I’ll admit, it’s possible because I was watching the movie while running 10 miles on a treadmill yesterday my perception might be a little jaded. Whatever. It still won this week’s battle. But against a stronger film than Downfall it wouldn’t have. That this film makes it onto AFI’s Top 100 while Metropolis doesn't? Something’s not right there.
Ah, the good ol' days... |
Finally: #94 Pulp
Fiction. This. Movie. Changed. Everything. It was 1994. I was 21 years old. Pulp Fiction provided a visual soundtrack
for the rebellious stage I was determined to go through. The movie was new, it
was different. And I loved everything
about it.
The 1994 Oscars for me is kind of like JFK’s
assassination for my parents. I could tell you exactly where I was, who I was
with, and what I was thinking. 1994 is the only year in history I can tell you
all of the Best Picture nominees without looking them up (Forrest Gump, Four Weddings & a Funeral, Pulp Fiction, Quiz Show, and Shawshank Redemption).
I was in college, my friends and I were all over at
our film professor’s house, and we all fell on the floor sobbing like toddlers
when Forrest Gump beat out Pulp Fiction for Best Picture (doubly
for me, I was secretly rooting for Shawshank).
I like Forrest as much as the rest of
America, but honestly Pulp Fiction
should’ve taken it. How young and naive I was then, back before I realized the Oscars aren’t about daring and originality, but about doing
the same old thing really well.
Pulp Fiction is #94 on the AFI list, but
it is #5 on the IMDb (much closer to where I think it should be), so it will show
back up later (against Singing in the Rain). I’ll
admit I became less and less of a Quentin Tarantino fan
as the years went on. But Pulp Fiction
will always hold a piece of my heart.
So, AFI is steadily pulling ahead:
AFI’s Top 100
|
IMDB’s Top 100 (as of 1/1/12)
|
|
#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)
|
Next week is Goodfellas
vs. Up. Sigh. Yeah, that comparison ranks right up there
with Toy Story & Unforgiven.
I'm floored that Downfall is on the IMDB list. Given that's the "list of the masses." As you mentioned, I don't think I know anyone (until now) that has actually seen all of it. Much less could name it. So, it being on a popular index is confusing to me.
ReplyDeleteFiction vs Torino is a shame. Hard to pick a winner (but you made the right choice). Fiction will be double winner as you'll chose it over SitR too (although, Singing is pretty fantastic).
But, Fiction... and this pains me to say/type it... The Bruce Willis part is painful. That entire section just doesn't work right. It should. The pieces are in place and it has the best "story" of each (separately) but it just doesn't work. Every time I watch it, that part works less and less (while the whole works more and more). Speaking of... I need to rewatch it.
Agree on Connection too. The overwhelming 70s of it... Funny, thematically (the good guys doing bad things) is more of a precursor to the 90s and 00s and not the 80s (where action heroes all became supermen). It almost feels out of place in that regard.
Spoiler for next week - Pesci puts that cub scout kid's head in a vice.
Honestly, I don't know if I'll be capable of picking Fiction over SitR. Because I LOVE SitR with every fiber of my cynical body. Fortunately, it'll be a year before I get that far up in the list anyway.
ReplyDeleteExcellent point about 80s action heroes vs. 70s and 90s/00s. I miss 80s action heroes. Arnold, we hardly knew thee...
That Up kid is a tad annoying.