It's the Sunday Showdown: continuing my
comparison of the American Film Institute's and Internet Movie Database's Top
100 films. I've been having a difficult time getting my act together enough
to watch my weekly Sunday Showdown flicks
for a while; too many distractions. And, as always, too much Facebook. But I'm back.
Double header today: #49: Intolerance vs. The Shining and #47: A Streetcar Named Desire vs. Wall-E.
Double header today: #49: Intolerance vs. The Shining and #47: A Streetcar Named Desire vs. Wall-E.
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| Intolerance's Ancient Babylon |
Although I was well-familiar with Intolerance due to multiple film courses in college, I had never
seen it as a whole in one sitting. The film is amazing, considering it was made
in 1916. Four stories blended into one, all to tell of mankind’s intolerance
for each other throughout history.
The movie was decades before its time. Over 3000 extras and
costuming, sets and even visual effects that still stand up well in viewing
today. If you’ve ever seen clips from a silent film portraying the massive
walls of ancient Babylon, well, then you’ve seen part of Intolerance and its breath-taking sets. D.W. Griffith was a genius.
Father of modern film.
All this versus…
The Shining. Stephen King’s classic(?) tale put to film by my all-time-NOT-favorite
but director-with-the-most-films-on-the-Top-100-lists: Stanley Kubrick. There’s
no love lost between he and I (see here, or here, or here, or here).
I’ll admit the movie is equally terrifying and weird. There
are people -- sad film geeks -- who spend most of their waking hours trying to figure out all the nuances
of meaning and secrets in the film. There’s even a new documentary coming out
on The Shining and all its craziness : Room
237. Whatever. I still can’t figure
out how Jack Nicholson’s character got into the picture at the end.
‘Splain that, Lucy!
Oh, it has something to do with the number 12 like everything
else in the film? Well, I didn’t know that. Maybe The Shining is a work of genius then! But probably not.
So, no big surprise here: I’m going to choose Intolerance, the silent epic that
influenced multiple generations of filmmaking over The Shining that influenced multiple acid trips and horror-film
geeks.
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| Brando & Leigh's Desire |
And against Vivien Leigh and Marlon Brando’s exquisite performances
in Streetcar? Sorry, Wall-E.
Not a chance.
So: #49: Intolerance
over The Shining
#47: Streetcar Named
Desire over Wall-E
This brings AFI to a full 10 movie lead over IMDb, 33-23.
AFI’s
Top 100
|
IMDb’s
Top 100 (as of 1/1/12)
|
|
33
|
23
|
|
#11
|
City
Lights (1931)
|
LoTR: Return of the King (2003)
|
#19
|
On the Waterfront (1954)
|
LoTR:
Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
|
#31
|
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
|
LoTR:
The Two Towers(2002)
|
#47
|
A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
|
Wall
E (2008)
|
#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)
|
Next week #48: Rear Window vs. Lawrence of Arabia. Or
awesome vs. awesome. Nearly impossible to choose.
Janie, you know I'm a big animated movie fan...but I totally agree with you. Wall-E was pretty bad. Too slow, too preachy.
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