Outrage!

I'm more than a little peeved with the AFI. The other night, I was watching their 100 Years...100 Movies countdown on Bravo. I have to admit, I'm a sucker for these stupid countdowns, particularly the 100 Years...100 Songs list. I often end up getting angry at some point during the show, but in the end they're usually ok. This one the other night, however, was truly a disaster.

They redid this 100 Movies list because the original list was from 10 years ago, and it was time for an update. Really, it didn't make much of a difference. All they did was throw Lord of the Rings into the mix and called it updated. They obviously just wanted to figure out how to make more money with as little effort as possible.

Anyway, when I came in on the show, they were already on number 30 or so which was a little disappointing because I know that most of my favorite movies are not going to be in the top 30. But I watched anyway, with the assumption that at the very least, they'd talk about two movies I love that are sure to be in the top 30: The Wizard of Oz and The Sound of Music. So there I sat, patiently waiting for my movies to be discussed by celebrities I don't care about and film industry people I don't know. Finally we get to The Wizard of Oz at number 10. I was pretty pleased with its placement; top ten is pretty good. But this gets me wondering if the The Sound of Music is even going to show up...I didn't exactly expect it to be in the top ten. I continue watching as movie after movie passes by, and it soon becomes apparent that this film will not be making an appearance.

As the show came to a close, I sat on the couch in shock, not able to fathom how The Sound of Music couldn't even make it into the top 30. I quickly grabbed my computer, flipped it open, and pulled up the AFI website to see exactly where the film landed in this ridiculous list. Much to my dismay, I found that it only made it to number 40. 40?! Seriously?! This is truly an outrage. Do these people even watch these movies before coming up with these lists? Even more disturbing is the fact that in the original list from 10 years ago it was number 55!!

It's even more painful when you look at the list of (mostly lame) movies that beat it out. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre was number 38. Typically, I would not have an opinion on this, but I just saw it for the first time not long ago and it was not that great. Also, I don't know anyone else who's actually seen it except for the few people I watched it with. Singin' in the Rain made it to number 5, which was a bit of a shock. Don't get me wrong, I love the movie, but it's not as good as The Sound of Music. Lastly, Raging Bull came in at number 4, which, whatever, I haven't seen it so I don't really have an opinion. The problem is, on the original list, it was number 24. How in the world did it get so much better in 10 years that it jumped 20 spots? That's insanity.

Ok, enough of my complaining. I was relieved to find out that on the AFI blog, people are able to blog about/vote for their favorite movies, and The Sound of Music does much better in this list. In their compiled list of votes, it comes in at number 11 which appeases me a little. At least the general public isn't as moronic as the AFI. Meanwhile, Brokeback Mountain is number 1, which kind of saddens me.

So I've lost all respect for AFI. Not that I really had any respect for them to begin with. They clearly have no concept of what movies are good. This does not, however, mean that I'll stop watching their stupid countdowns. They're just so entertaining!