Remember when AFI made its first list of the 100 best movies of all time, and it was a big deal? Everyone suddenly realized that they really ought to see Citizen Kane, and the debate raged on about which was better, Lawrence of Arabia and Singin’ in the Rain, and how do you really compare those movies anyway?
Anyway, soon after making that list the AFI realized that list-making was incredibly profitable, and thereby subjected us to dozens of TV specials like “AFI’s Top 100 Scariest Moments” and “AFI’s Top 100 Slimy Aliens” or whatever. Even ten years later, it turns out there’s no end in sight. The Hollywood Reporter tells us that AFI will bringing us “AFI’s 10 Top 10,” a concept not nearly as confusing as it sounds. They will have a list of the top 10 films in 10 different genres, including Westerns, fantasy, courtroom dramas and romantic comedy.
50 films per genre have been nominated, and will be voted on by 1500 film historians, critics and filmmakers. Eligible titles include Pinocchio and Shrek, The Matrix and War of the Worlds, and King Kong (the 1933 version, not Peter Jackson’s) and Lord of the Rings (Peter Jackson’s version, not… uh, some other guys’ home movie version).
The special will be broadcast in June on CBS, which leaves you plenty of time to debate by just how wide a margin 12 Angry Men will win the courtroom drama category, and how angry the Rocky fans will be if it doesn’t win best in sports. This is the important stuff, people, I promise.
http://www.cinemablend.com/new/AFI-Bringing-Meaningless-Lists-To-Genres-Now-7502.html
