It’s once
again the Sunday Movie Showdown, The American Film Institute’s (AFI) Top 100
vs. the Internet Movie Databases’ (IMDb) Top 100. Trying to see who I agree
with more – the Scholars or the Masses.
Four
Showdowns this Week:
#40 The Sound of Music vs. American History X
#39 Dr. Strangelove vs. American Beauty
#38 The Treasure of the Sierra Madre vs. North By Northwest
#37 The Best Years of Our Lives vs. Apocalypse Now
#40 The Sound of Music vs. American History X. This is possibly the
most polar-opposite- matching- while-still-having-a-similar-theme pair of the Showdown
so far. X came out in 1998 and I had
never seen it. On purpose. For 15 years I avoided watching that film. I knew it
would be hard to watch, I knew it would
be violent, I knew Edward Norton would
be wonderful. All true. I loved that the film ended by screaming the question:
WHAT WILL HAPPEN NOW – MOVE FORWARD OR TURN BACKWARDS? And providing no
answers.
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| Ed Norton - gleefully violent |
But overall,
I don’t feel like American History X
deserved to be in a Top 100 spot. Especially not against a classic like Sound of Music. Seriously, who would
pick skinheads over Julie Andrews? So my vote goes to Sound of Music. And not even because I’m going to be living near there
soon.
 |
| American Beauty |
#37 (We’ll
come back to #38 in a minute) The Best
Years of Our
Lives vs. Apocalypse Now.
I had never seen the 1946 classic The Best Years, about three veterans return
to small-town life after WWII. It’s a lovely, touching movie, well worth a
viewing if you haven’t seen it. It’s a bit long (nearly 3 hours), but you’re
drawn in to the lives of these three men and the women who love them.
 |
| Best Years |
But against Apocalypse Now? Just can’t do it. We all
love the smell of napalm in the morning too much. Apocalypse is the best of the many
Vietnam films I’ve watched for the Showdown (Full Metal Jacket, M.A.S.H., Platoon, The Deer Hunter...). It’s
bat-sh*t crazy, but it’s a great movie.
Which leaves
us with: #38 The Treasure of the Sierra
Madre vs. North By Northwest.
 |
| Sierra Madre |
 |
| North By Northwest |
Ladies and gentlemen,
for the first time in a year and a half of doing the Showdown, we have a tie. That’s right, I
could not choose between these two fantastic films. I pondered this showdown
for days and every time I thought I could give it to one of the two, I would
think of something else with the other that was just as great. Both of these have been in the Showdown before
(North By Northwest won against The Pianist in #55 and Sierra Madre won against Unforgiven in #68). I could not choose.
Maybe I’ll watch them both again in a few weeks and see if that brings any
clarity, but for now we’ll have to call it a draw.
So, IMDb
takes two this week, and AFI takes 1, bringing the total score to: AFI – 37,
IMDb – 29.
Next week, Bridge on the River Kwai vs. Citizen Kane. And Annie Hall vs. The Professional. I'm pretty sure I already know what my vote is for both of those.
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AFI’s Top 100
|
IMDb’s Top 100 (as of 1/1/12)
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37
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29
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#11
|
City Lights (1931)
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LoTR:
Return of the King (2003)
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#19
|
On
the Waterfront (1954)
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LoTR: Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
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#31
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The
Maltese Falcon (1941)
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LoTR: The Two Towers(2002)
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#37
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The Best Years of
Our Lives (1946)
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Apocalypse
Now (1979)
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#38
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North By Northwest (1959)
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#39
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Dr. Strangelove (1964)
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American
Beauty (1999)
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#40
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The Sound of Music
(1965)
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American History X (1998)
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#41
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King Kong (1933)
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Taxi Driver (1976)
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#42
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Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
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Terminator
2: Judgment Day (1991)
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#43
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Midnight Cowboy (1969)
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Saving
Private Ryan (1998)
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#44
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The Philadelphia Story
(1940)
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Vertigo (1958)
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#45
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Shane (1953)
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Amelie
(2001)
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#46
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It Happened One Night (1934)
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Alien (1979)
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#47
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A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
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Wall E (2008)
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#48
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Rear Window (1954)
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Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
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#49
|
Intolerance
(1916)
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The Shining (1980)
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#50
|
LoTR:
Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
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Spirited Away (2001)
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#51
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West Side Story (1961)
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Paths of Glory (1957)
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#52
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Taxi Driver
(1976)
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A Clockwork Orange (1971)
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#53
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The Deer Hunter (1978)
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Double
Indemnity (1944)
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#54
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M*A*S*H* (1970)
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To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
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#55
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North by Northwest (1959)
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The Pianist (2002)
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#56
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Jaws
(1975)
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The Lives of Others (2006)
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#57
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Rocky
(1976)
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The Departed (2006)
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#58
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The
Gold Rush (1925)
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Memento (2000)
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#59
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Nashville (1975)
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City
Lights (1931)
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#60
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Duck Soup (1933)
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Aliens
(1986)
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#61
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Sullivan's Travels (1941)
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Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind
(2004)
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#62
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American Graffiti
(1973)
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Requiem
for a Dream (2000)
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#63
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Cabaret (1972)
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Das
Boot (1981)
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#64
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Network (1976)
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The Third Man (1949)
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#65
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The
African Queen (1951)
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L.A. Confidential (1997)
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#66
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Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
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Reservoir Dogs (1992)
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#67
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Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
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Chinatown
(1974)
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#68
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Unforgiven (1992)
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The
Treasure of Sierra Madre (1948)
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#69
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Tootsie (1982)
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Modern
Times (1936)
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#70
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A Clockwork Orange (1971)
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Life
is Beautiful (1997)
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#71
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Saving
Private Ryan (1998)
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Monty Python & the Holy Grail
(1975)
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#72
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The
Shawshank Redemption (1994)
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Back to the Future (1985)
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#73
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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)
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Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)
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#75
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In the Heat of the Night (1967)
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Raging
Bull (1980)
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#76
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Forrest Gump (1994)
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Cinema
Paradiso (1988)
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#77
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All the President’s Men (1976)
|
Singing
In the Rain (1952)
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#78
|
Modern Times (1936)
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Some
Like it Hot (1959)
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#79
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The Wild Bunch (1969)
|
The
Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
|
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#80
|
The Apartment (1960)
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Rashomon
(1950)
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#81
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Spartacus (1960)
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All
About Eve (1950)
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#82
|
Sunrise:
A Song of Two Humans (1927)
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Amadeus (1984)
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#83
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Titanic
(1997)
|
Once Upon A Time in America (1984)
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#84
|
Easy Rider (1969)
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The
Green Mile (1999)
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#85
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A Night at the Opera (1935)
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Full
Metal Jacket (1987)
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#86
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Platoon
(1986)
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2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
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#87
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12 Angry Men (1957)
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Inglorious
Basterds (2009)
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#88
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Bringing
Up Baby (1938)
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The Great Dictator (1940)
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#89
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Sixth
Sense (1999)
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Braveheart (1995)
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#90
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Swing Time (1936)
|
The
Bicycle Thief (1948)
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#91
|
Sophie’s
Choice (1982)
|
The Apartment (1960)
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#92
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Goodfellas (1990)
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Up
(2009)
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#93
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The
French Connection (1971)
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Downfall (2004)
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#94
|
Pulp
Fiction (1994)
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Gran Torino (2008)
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#95
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The Last Picture Show (1971)
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Metropolis
(1927)
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#96
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Do
The Right Thing (1989)
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The Sting (1973)
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#97
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Blade
Runner (1982)
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Gladiator (2000)
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#98
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Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
|
The
Maltese Falcon (1941)
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#99
|
Toy
Story (1995)
|
Unforgiven (1992)
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#100
|
Ben
Hur (1959)
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The Elephant Man (1980)
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Next week, Bridge on the River Kwai vs. Citizen Kane. And Annie Hall vs. The Professional. I'm pretty sure I already know what my vote is for both of those.
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