Saturday, February 19, 2005

Top 100 Movies: Observations

I've seen 79 of the 100 movies on the list I posted the other day.

Some things I noticed:
  • Only one of these movies has a black protagonist -- Cidade de Deus.
  • There are actually movies with female protagonists on the list: Silence of the Lambs, All About Eve, The Wizard of Oz, Alien, Aliens, Annie Hall, Kill Bill Vol. 1, Fargo and The Princess Bride. Nine movies.
  • There are only two horror movies on the list -- Jaws and The Shining -- though you might make a case for Alien, Donnie Darko, Psycho or Se7en. How is The Exorcist not on this list?
  • I don't think any of the movies have a gay main character, unless the Peter Lorre character in M was gay. That wasn't clear to me when I saw the movie.
  • There's only one Western -- High Noon -- on the list. How is Shane not on this list?
  • Surprisingly, there's only one Holocaust movie on the list: Schindler's List.
  • There are 8 War movies on the list: Lawrence of Arabia, Apocalypse Now, Paths of Glory, Das Boot, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Saving Private Ryan, The Great Escape and The General. Where's Platoon? Stalag 17? Full Metal Jacket?
  • The Crime genre is well represented: The Godfather, The Godfather II, Pulp Fiction, The Usual Suspects, Goodfellas, Double Indemnity, M, Se7en, Touch of Evil, Reservoir Dogs and A Clockwork Orange. 11 movies.
  • If you lump Sci-Fi and Fantasy together, there's an impressive presence on the list: Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, The Matrix, Alien, Aliens, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Metropolis, Blade Runner, The Return of the King, The Two Towers, The Fellowship of the Ring, Raiders of the Lost Ark, It's a Wonderful Life, The Wizard of Oz, Finding Nemo, The Sixth Sense, Donnie Darko, A Clockwork Orange and The Princess Bride. That's 19 movies, but The Princess Bride doesn't belong here. Donnie Darko is a personal favorite, but no way is it one of the 100 greatest movies of all time.
  • There are only two children's movies here -- The Wizard of Oz and Finding Nemo. Where are Shrek and The Lion King?
  • Braveheart is the only period piece on the list. How is that possible?
  • There are four Stanley Kubrick movies, four Alfred Hitchcock movies, three Quentin Tarantino movies, three Francis Ford Coppola movies and two Steven Spielberg movies. Is Tarantino really as good a director as these heavyweights? Please.

No comments: