So we're finally winding down, the last four sets of films (since The Godfather ranks as #2 for both lists).
#5 - Singin' In the Rain vs. Pulp Fiction
#4 - Raging Bull vs. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
Let's start with the easy: #4 - Raging B vs. Good, Bad & Ugly.
Raging Bull was #75 on the IMDb list. To be honest, I don't really care for it. I generally don't like any of Robert De Niro's crazy/brutal/brutally crazy films. But, truth be told, I generally don't like his more recent attempts at lightness and humor -- Fokkers, Last Vegas, etc either. So evidently I'm just not a big De Niro fan. (I blame Cape Fear and my psychological scarring from that.)
I find Raging Bull to be particularly savage and difficult to watch, but hey, that's just what you get when you throw De Niro and Scorsese together. I shouldn't be surprised.
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| Good, Bad, Ugly |
Say what????
Seriously. All the key cinematic shots I was familiar with, as well as the overall story, probably from my multiple film classes. But there were huge chunks of this movie I had never seen before. What a thrill that ended up being. Let's just say I ate Sergio Leone's Spaghetti Western right up.
So giving my vote to The Good, the Bad and the Ugly for #4 was no difficulty at all.
But #5, oh #5... Singin' in the Rain vs. Pulp Fiction.
What am I supposed to do here exactly? One of my film aficionado friends suggested that trying to choose between the two may cause my head to explode. That's not far from the truth.
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.
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.
To be honest, I thought Pulp Fiction might win over Singin' in the Rain. Until I watched Singin' in the Rain again last week.
And saw how every member of my family -- children, adults, heck, even neighbors at one point -- began to wander in and sit down and watch it. And stay, because they couldn't bear to leave.
The greatest movie musical ever? Without a doubt. There is something so magical about Gene Kelly (and Donald O'Conner!!) on the screen. The movie makes you laugh, and I dare say touches the heart of even the meanest Grinch (that would be me).
It came to me in the middle of the of Gene Kelly's iconic Singin' in the Rain dance sequence -- when Kelly was looking at that police officer with impossible romance for the adorable Debbie Reynolds in his eyes -- Singin' in the Rain beats Pulp Fiction.
In case you need something to cheer you up this Christmas Eve:
When I faced my feelings, I realized the showdown between Rain and Pulp Fiction wasn't even a tie like the Treasure of Sierra Madre and North by Northwest (#38). Singin' In the Rain wins. It was a little hard to face, but it was true. Hey, what's the holidays without a little friction.
So this week, AFI and IMDb both get one vote. This brings the overall score to AFI -52, IMDb -44. Like I mentioned, #2 for both lists is The Godfather, so next week we'll finish up the Showdown with #3 Casablanca vs. The Godfather, Part 2 and #1 Citizen Kane vs. Shawshank Redemption. I already know what both my votes will be, and the decision wasn't nearly as hard as this week's.
To be honest, I thought Pulp Fiction might win over Singin' in the Rain. Until I watched Singin' in the Rain again last week.
And saw how every member of my family -- children, adults, heck, even neighbors at one point -- began to wander in and sit down and watch it. And stay, because they couldn't bear to leave.The greatest movie musical ever? Without a doubt. There is something so magical about Gene Kelly (and Donald O'Conner!!) on the screen. The movie makes you laugh, and I dare say touches the heart of even the meanest Grinch (that would be me).
It came to me in the middle of the of Gene Kelly's iconic Singin' in the Rain dance sequence -- when Kelly was looking at that police officer with impossible romance for the adorable Debbie Reynolds in his eyes -- Singin' in the Rain beats Pulp Fiction.
In case you need something to cheer you up this Christmas Eve:
When I faced my feelings, I realized the showdown between Rain and Pulp Fiction wasn't even a tie like the Treasure of Sierra Madre and North by Northwest (#38). Singin' In the Rain wins. It was a little hard to face, but it was true. Hey, what's the holidays without a little friction.
So this week, AFI and IMDb both get one vote. This brings the overall score to AFI -52, IMDb -44. Like I mentioned, #2 for both lists is The Godfather, so next week we'll finish up the Showdown with #3 Casablanca vs. The Godfather, Part 2 and #1 Citizen Kane vs. Shawshank Redemption. I already know what both my votes will be, and the decision wasn't nearly as hard as this week's.
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AFI’s Top 100
|
IMDb’s Top 100 (as of 1/1/12)
|
|
|
52
|
44
|
|
|
|
|
|
#4 |
Raging Bull
(1980) |
The Good, The Bad & The Ugly (1966) |
|
#5 |
Singin’ In the Rain (1952) |
Pulp
Fiction (1994) |
|
#6
|
Gone with the Wind (1939)
|
Inception (2010)
|
|
#7
|
Lawrence
of Arabia (1962)
|
Schindler’s List (1993)
|
|
#8
|
Schindler's List (1993)
|
12
Angry Men (1957)
|
|
#9
|
Vertigo (1958)
|
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
|
|
#10
|
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
|
The
Dark Knight (2008)
|
|
#11 |
City Lights (1931) |
LoTR: Return of the King (2003) |
|
#12
|
The
Searchers (1956)
|
The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
|
|
#13
|
Star Wars (1977)
|
Seven
Samurai (1954)
|
|
#14
|
Psycho
(1966)
|
Star Wars (1977)
|
|
#15
|
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
|
Goodfellas
(1990)
|
|
#16
|
Sunset
Boulevard (1950)
|
Casablanca (1942)
|
|
#17
|
The
Graduate (1967)
|
Fight Club (1999)
|
|
#18
|
The General (1927)
|
City
of God (2002)
|
|
#19 |
On the Waterfront (1954) |
LoTR: Fellowship of the Ring (2001) |
|
#20
|
It's
a Wonderful Life (1946)
|
Rear Window (1954)
|
|
#21
|
Chinatown (1974)
|
Once
Upon a Time in the West (1968)
|
|
#22 |
Some
Like It Hot (1959)
|
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
|
|
#23
|
The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
|
Toy
Story 3 (2010)
|
|
#24
|
E.T.
the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
|
Psycho (1960)
|
|
#25
|
To
Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
|
The Usual Suspects (1995)
|
|
#26
|
Mr.
Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
|
The Matrix (1999)
|
|
#27
|
High
Noon (1952)
|
Silence of the Lambs (1991)
|
|
#28
|
All About Eve (1950)
|
Se7en
(1995)
|
|
#29
|
Double
Indemnity (1944)
|
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
|
|
#30
|
Apocalypse Now (1979)
|
Memento
(1990)
|
|
#31 |
The Maltese Falcon (1941) |
LoTR: The Two Towers(2002) |
|
#32
|
The Godfather Part II (1974)
|
Sunset
Boulevard (1950)
|
|
#33
|
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
|
Dr.
Strangelove (1964)
|
|
#34
|
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
(1937)
|
Forrest
Gump (1994)
|
|
#35
|
Annie
Hall (1977)
|
Leon: The Professional (1994)
|
|
#36
|
The
Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
|
Citizen Kane (1941)
|
|
#37 |
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) |
Apocalypse Now (1979) |
|
#38 |
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) |
North By Northwest (1959) |
|
#39 |
Dr. Strangelove (1964) |
American Beauty (1999) |
|
#40 |
The Sound of Music (1965) |
American History X (1998) |
|
#41 |
King Kong (1933) |
Taxi Driver (1976) |
|
#42 |
Bonnie and Clyde (1967) |
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) |
|
#43 |
Midnight Cowboy (1969) |
Saving Private Ryan (1998) |
|
#44 |
The Philadelphia
Story (1940) |
Vertigo (1958) |
|
#45 |
Shane (1953) |
Amelie (2001) |
|
#46 |
It Happened One Night (1934) |
Alien (1979) |
|
#47 |
A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) |
Wall E (2008) |
|
#48 |
Rear Window (1954) |
Lawrence of Arabia (1962) |
|
#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
|
Goodfellas
(1990)
|
Up (2009)
|
|
#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)
|
|
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