AFI’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? vs. IMDb’s
Chinatown
I saw Chinatown for the first time in 2011. I’m
not sure quite how I missed it in all my years of film viewing. I think for a long time I got it confused
with Big Trouble in Little China. Or maybe I just didn’t like Roman Polanski. (Chinatown is probably the only Polanski
film I’ve ever seen – that’s right, I haven’t even watched Rosemary’s Baby. But I think
The Pianist is coming up on the list
soon, so I guess I’ll see a second one.)
I have to admit;
I liked Chinatown better when I
watched it for a second time this year, than when I watched it last year. The ending packed much more of a punch for me
this time, even knowing the big secret. It’s beautiful noir and John Huston’s
character is just the most evil SOB ever – on every possible level.
I had never
seen Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Once again I’m glad I’m doing this challenge because it caused me again to watch a great film I may never
have seen otherwise. The movie, so obviously based on a play (which it was, by
Edward Albee), has a complete cast of four. But what a great four they are. Everybody in it was nominated for an Oscar. I
think Elizabeth Taylor and Sandy Dennis won; Richard Burton and George Segal
were robbed. The movie was painful to
watch - made you squirm in your chair. It drew you in and you felt like you
were also at this couple’s house witnessing their completely inappropriate
behavior – you just can’t look away.
So I liked
both of these movies because they made me feel so… icky. But in
the end I had to give it to Chinatown.
Although only by the slightest of margins.
So the score stands: AFI -19, IMDb - 17
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)
|
#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)
|
Next week: The African Queen vs. (ironically) L.A. Confidential. I can almost not bear
the thought of choosing between these two.
No comments:
Post a Comment