#95 The Last Picture Show

Let’s begin by saying The Last Picture Show (Bogdanovich, 1971) is a film of many parts.  It follows the life of Sonny Crawford (Timothy Bottoms) and his friends and fellow townies in Anarene, Texas, a small town with a loudly pending expiration date.  Everyone in town seems to be suffering from hopelessness.  Early on we see the desolation in the streets and soon that desolation is personified in the residents.  The kids are considered useless by the adults who’ve lost their hometown spirit long ago a sentiment now taking over the youth and the kids see the adults as hypocritical things to avoid.  Everyone wants out but no one has any idea where to go.  Lots of time is taken up by background noise and looking at the forlorn face of our protagonist who’s merely “reacting” to the experiences that come to him.  He speaks sparingly and often only when he’s spoken to.  We see no sign of his parents, save for an awkward encounter with his father at the town dance who disappears but good for the rest of the film, making his existence that much more lonely.  He has friends but their caught up in their own boredom and turn to maliciousness for entertainment.  His “best friend” Dwayne (Jeff Bridges) is also the source of his jealousy as he lusts after Dwayne’s girlfriend Jacy (Cybill Shepherd) simply because she’s the prettiest girl in town.  There are no real connections between these people except their zip code…I take that back Sonny has a true friend in Sam the Lion (Ben Johnson) who’s the sole entrepreneur in town who spends most of his time doling out wisdoms to the boys at the pool hall and taking care of Billy (Sam Bottoms), a local kid abandoned by his family perhaps due to his mental handicap.  Sam and Genevieve (Eileen Brennan) the waitress and presumably cook at Sam’s restaurant, and Mrs. Farrow (Ellen Burstyn) Jacy’s mother, are only three adults who are telling these cloudy headed misfits the truth about life and offer them guidance away from the mistakes they’ve made.  Truly Mrs. Farrow’s is the most memorable as she advocates for her daughter to get as much sexual experience as possible (while being safe) so that she doesn’t settle for the wrong partner and end of up unhappy like herself.  Her no holds barred honesty and treatment of Jacy as an equal is probably what helped Jacy end the cycle of perpetual bitterness by leaving town for college, most likely never to return again.  Unfortunately, no such luck is in Sonny’s future only tragedy and heartache and in an interesting scene where’s he’s had enough of the two, he drives to the edge of town and stops.  He’s almost there but something pulls him back and thus he reluctantly returns to the vacuum of loneliness and despair in Anarene.

            The Last Picture Show makes its mark as a well-executed exploration of the non-purpose driven life.  Of the unfortunate circumstances that many “rust belt” towns encounter when productivity and industry hit the road and no one else can.  Bogdanovich’s direction is great in its necessary simplicity.  Decisions like allowing the camera to settle on a character’s face to soak up their emotions and the atmosphere of their space is phenomenal and something that is in dire need of returning to in film these days.  However, it feels more like a “filler” on the AFI list than a needed installation.  By no means does this take away from the good things the film has to offer, it is a complete artistic endeavor, however I doubt the film itself will remain in my mind but undoubtedly the subjects it covers will.

Coming Soon...# 96 Do the Right Thing

Due to the timing of this review and the parallel events currently taking place in the US, a storm of thoughts have formed that demands a little more time than usual to bring these ideas to form.

Be with you soon.

#97 Blade Runner

Alright, this is an easy one.   The only arguable element to this review is this film’s ranking.  Blade Runner (Scott, 1982) is canonical.  Period, point blank, thanks for coming.  It has influenced the way sci-fi, action, adventure and even horror genres look, explore and exude harrowing tones.  Having watched this film twice before, once in Undergrad for a film class and then years later for a new appreciation that wasn’t to be found, I have decided to watch the 2007 digitally re-mastered version sans Harrison Ford voiceover.  Since many viewers, Ford and Scott included, took issue with the original narration (aka the most boring voiceover of all time), it seems right to watch this version that director Ridley Scott sought to release and with the years of the list and the re-mastered version lining up so perfectly, it seems a good idea indeed.

            So, Blade Runner is your traditional film noir, down on his luck detective, meets mysterious dame who is involved somehow in the case of his career just set in the future and infused with existential themes.  It takes place in 2019 Los Angeles now a maze of urban sprawl surrounding gargantuan factories producing androids called Replicants that look, sound and feel human in every way yet excel humans in strength, intelligence and contemplating mortality.  Because of their heighted abilities, Replicants are used Off-World as slave laborers in the exploration and colonization of our Solar System and beyond.   They are, however banned from Earth.  Note: A large number of the privileged and wealthy live Off-World traveling further and further into deep space leaving the poor and beleaguered on Earth to rot.  Four Replicants have returned to Earth, for some answers and results for their existential quandary from their creator Dr. Tyrell of the Tyrell Corporation that first created Replicants and is now redesigning them to become seamlessly human through programming them with complex fake memories.  Their presence known after a failed attempt at gaining access to the Tyrell Corporation and the LAPD sends out Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) a Blade Runner (detectives specifically tasked with rounding up Replicants), to track them down and “retire” them.  In the process he’s introduced to Rachael (Sean Young) a pet project of Dr. Tyrell’s who’s oblivious to being a Rep because she’s been programmed with Tyrell’s deceased niece’s memories.  Her innocence and I suppose need of direction endears her to Deckard despite his career objective and they form a relationship that opens Deck’s eyes to a bigger question, his own identity (just follow the breadcrumbs).

The Reps are after the proverbial “Fountain of Youth” when it’s discovered that a failsafe was built into their programming limiting their lives to around 3 to 4 years.  Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer), the leader of the crew has become aware of the importance of his and his crew’s lives and what they’ve seen and done out on the fringes of the Solar System and so he wants to keep going.  Though deranged and slightly sadistic, he isn’t entirely misled.  In his final scene, after a showdown betwixt he and Deckard, Roy is seconds away from automatic retirement and has a beautiful moment of clarity in the form of the infamous “Tears in Rain” monologue and I quote, “I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe.  Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion.  I watched c-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser Gate.  All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.  Time to die.”  Roy’s final words are the crux of this film.

            Often in Sci-fi when engineered humans are featured the issue of sentience and its value inevitably show up.  Of course this issue is more of a projection of our own relationship with sentience and our selfishness in wanting to be the only “special” ones on this planet who can think, communicate through speech, feel and act out of desire or impulse.  Knowing how we choose to use these traits we really don’t trust any other life forms to use them.  Let’s take Tyrell for example and his relationship with Rachael, he really sees her as an experiment despite giving her the memories of a dearly departed relative, and though kind to her shows no other affections other than admiration, which arguably is more for himself than she.  Sure she comes and goes as she pleases, perhaps another one of his mini-tests, but after taking the Voight-Kampff test, that can identify near unidentifiable Replicants, she’s clearly frazzled, though unaware of her results.  She believes she’s human but she knows there’s something afoot, which leads to her identity crisis. Lucky for him she doesn’t turn against him or feel anger, only debilitating confusion.  Shortly after Deckard clears the air by breaking the news that she is in fact a Replicant leading to her, somewhat uneventfully, melancholy acceptance of herself.  She’s fortunate though, not having to endure the life of a typical female Replicant who is mainly used Off-World as a pleasure toy, dang even non-human ladies still have it worse, her only burden is wanting to know if her feelings are her’s or just code.  I dare to say that the acknowledgment of such an idea is her answer.  But like most films to follow that explore android sentience there are no definitive answers and so we are left with many questions and our own moral barometers to direct our course, however, if you look close enough Mr. Scott has left some clues toward an alternative leaning direction.

In a scene with lady Replicant Zhora (Joanna Cassidy) Deckard is visibly moved by a feeling of what looks to be uncertainty toward her.  Earlier Deckard tracks Zhora to a Burlesque show where she performs and assumes an identity to get closer to her.  It doesn’t take her long to realize something’s not right with him and attempts to take him out before being interrupted and running for her life.  In an awesome chase scene through the cramped corridors of L.A. Deckard eventually gains on her and shoots her down.  Now what’s interesting is that Zhora, now face down in her own blood, resembles something akin to angel who’s wings have been torn off, the only bullet wounds being the ones on both sides of her back.  Looking down at her Deckard has a look of regret and sympathy, clearly not pleased or relieved by what just took place and neither are we.  In another to the death scene with the last female Replicant Pris (Daryl Hannah) and this is more on behalf of the audience, when Pris goes down, after a good fight with Deckard, there’s a sadness to her uncontrollable rampaging proceeding her death.  And again, Deckard though relieved not to be dead, has little satisfaction for what’s taken place.  Though Pris was a manipulating violent creature and Zhora was described as being a beast, you still feel moved to mourn for them on some level, especially understanding that life out in the planetary colonies was hard and equated to slavery, these moments beg for the question “What would you do for Freedom?”  Through that lens consider Roy who only seeks freedom from the arbitrary limitations put on his life.  Now, does that mean if his life were extended he would be a model citizen, decidedly no, Roy thinks very little of humans, knowing how cruel and weak we can be but I dare say what makes him exceedingly human is the desire to be remembered and not lost to time like tears in rain.

This is only a sliver of the many themes explored in Blade Runner, which makes it great for multiple viewings.  It impresses thinking amidst the impressive look and scope of that world, which are decidedly impressive.  The set design, special effects and soundtrack are phenomenal, especially the music which effectively highlights the nuances of a scene ranging from wistful to threatening but always with a romantic undertone, just like the film.  And that’s thanks to the sensibilities of auteur director Ridley Scott who developed an atmosphere that’s real, lived in and sublime.  Again my only critique of #97 listed film is its ranking.  Having paved the way for many other films and in being an established pop icon I’d place easily within the top 30.  AFI if you reading this just think about it for the future.

In My Opinion--Films Left Off the List

Coraline (Selick, 2009)

I believe a good number of people (despite their fear-induced inclinations) believe that Coraline would belong on an updated AFI list.  This film is seamless.  The animation is precise, arresting and above all chilling.  This is a world that owns is bizarreness; and with a soundtrack that’s strangely playful and melancholy, its damn near impossible to remove your eyes from the screen.  It’s a gem and thus should be given the proper accolades for the achievement it is. 

Animation is an ever-changing beast, becoming more technically driven toward remarkably lifelike detail and design.  The stuff being pumped out now is awesome, sincerely, yet most settle on style over substance, Corlina does not.  A well-balanced mix of magical realism, horror, and adventure, Corlina doesn’t skimp on subtly and atmosphere; in the Other Mother’s kitchen the heat from the stove, warmth of incandescent lighting and soft haze of what must be the smell of the Other Mother’s good cooking, radiates off the screen.  If you can’t already tell I’m a huge fan. 

The skill for animation has always impressed me.   These people are true artists, bringing inanimate objects into being with honest to goodness charm, charisma, and style, no less.  It’s a talent I’ve long sought to possess, and maybe with a little effort and a little less procrastination and “researching”, who knows.  

Choosing not to give up too much about the story we’ll just say, it’s the tale of a girl forced to change a world she never knew yet always wished existed.  It’s fun, kinda nightmarish and creepy but in all the right ways, and what should be expected from the minds of Neil Gaiman and Henry Selick (Nightmare Before Christmas, 1993)?  Two men blessed with the gift of making fear less scary and more, well enlightening.

Check out Coraline and put your bravery to the test.

#98 Yankee Doodle Dandy

Alright, going in I already have attitude about Yankee Doodle Dandy (Curtiz, 1942).  So, last year I had the grand idea of starting this blog and went in with, well…”good intentions” and started on the 1998 AFI 100s list and this film was #100.  I watched it…it took what felt like a century with a solid 2 hour and 6 minute long runtime…and was quite ready to call it quits on the whole operation.  In Yankee Doodle Dandy you have the immigrant story, the vaudeville story and the Broadway story all wrapped up in a Patriotic bow.  And with all three well equipped with stereotypical undertones of the time, it lost me right off the bat.  Maybe there was a little cloud following me around that day, I don’t know, but even conceding it was just a thing of its time, I still found it to be an overhyped relic from a “Good Ole Days” that only existed in the minds of the few and privileged of that time.  With tonight’s re-watching I’m going in skeptical but, if possible, open to learning and experiencing something new.

On second viewing to be honest it was better than the first, perhaps because I was more prepared for the scenes I was previously shocked by and because well, I was paying more attention this time.  That said Yankee Doodle Dandy is capital “P” Propaganda.  Released in 1942 post Pearl Harbor and with America knee deep in three more years of hard combat in World War II, it follows the story of real life famed stage performer and musician George M. Cohan, who wrote and performed patriotic classics like “Over There”, “Grand Old Flag” and “I’m a Yankee Doodle Dandy”. 

Born on July 4^th, 1878 (his actual his birthday is July 3rd) to Irish immigrant, vaudevillian parents, Jerry (Walter Huston) and Nellie (Rosemary DeCamp), George is immediately added to their traveling act and shortly after is joined by his little sister Josie (Jeanne Cagney) who rounds out the family show, making them the renowned Four Cohans.  Over time George gets a big head about being on stage and getting more attention than his more finely tuned father (a jealousy his father admits to) which leads to him losing gigs for his family due to his difficult behavior.  Growing up, George starts writing his own skits and songs and begins on a journey to be his own man so his family can make a few bucks without him dragging them down.  With the help of fellow performer Mary (Joan Leslie), his love interest and groupie, he knocks on every theatre door in New York and is met with little success until serendipity opts in bringing him and struggling writer Samuel H. Harris (Richard Whorf) together on a deal with a not so bright backer Schwab (S.Z. Sakall) who is eager to spend his wife’s money if it means he can leer at showgirls.  Through combining their scripts they come up with Little Johnny Jones where “I’m a Yankee Doodle Dandy” is featured and loved by the masses.  With this success George and Sam become partners and start conning their way around New York for more shows, good actors and eventually their own stage and long standing success.  Then the world explodes into World War I and being the patriot he is, George goes to enlist.  He’s promptly rejected due to his age, 40, and is instead encouraged to keep supporting the country in his infamous way by writing songs and performing, which leads to his crafting “Over There” a song my father still sings today.  Shortly after, George’s father dies, his mother and sister preceding him in off-screen deaths (eye roll), leading him to change up his life by parting with Sam after 15 years of solid business and setting out to travel the world as he and wife Mary always wanted.  Not long after returning home he’s bored and with a timely encounter with the new generation, with their “jive talk” and not having a clue as to who he is, he figures its time for a come-back and so he takes on the role of President Roosevelt in I’d Rather Be Right which brings us to the beginning or end depending oh how you’re keeping track.  The whole film is told in a flashback as President Roosevelt has heard of George’s performance and wants to speak with him in person.  George goes, feeling that he’s in some sort of trouble only to find out the President himself is a fan and wants to personally give him the Congressional Medal of Honor for his service to the country by writing “Grand Old Flag” and “Over There”.  Feeling like a million bucks he humbly accepts the medal and celebrates by marching with a troop of soldiers all singing “Over There”.

            Them’s basically the breaks of the film, and for what it is, the story of a man striving to attain his dreams at any costs, it is effective and dare I say inspiring.  Yet, it’s the periphery events surrounding his story that spoke more to me.  For all the constant toting of America’s greatness, we are ironically met with clashing ideals of America.  In an early scene where George goes to the White House to meet with FDR, he’s escorted to the Prez’s office by an African-American butler who’s been working in the White House since Teddy Roosevelt’s administration and remembers Teddy’s fondness for George’s work then singing “Grand Old Flag” in the tub.  After George says, “It was a good old song in its day” the Butler is then given the line, “Yes sir, it was and its just as good today as it ever was.” Highlighting its use as a sign of pride for all Americans but it’s only a weak method of insinuating that African-Americans and White Americans have had the same experience in this America. 

Yes, Black men enlisted and went over seas to fight, my grandfather being one of them, but it was more of a sign to prove that they too were invested in the safety of their country despite their second-class citizenship.  They’re need to fight was a hope to be seen on equal footing, equally passionate about their home to make life better for when they return, an attempt to find solidarity with fellow Americans in a common goal and yet it wasn’t to be.  Black soldiers were segregated from White soldiers in barracks, made to be cooks in kitchens and were often the first to be sent into battle before White troops.  The just America Yankee Doodle Dandy promotes is one that didn’t exist for some populations, notably a population that is unfairly represented even in this film.  Of course the only African-Americans present in the film are butlers and maids or in the case of the George Washington Jr. performance, reverent slaves or maybe sharecroppers, if you wanna be optimistic, praising Lincoln’s Monument for their Freedom, one Baritone man in spotlight singing “Glory Glory Hallelujah”, while the rest of the ensemble is dressed in rags, draped in shadow and have their backs to the audience lifting their hands up to Lincoln like he’s Jesus, a voice over of his “4 Score” speech read robotically.  In a following scene where all the stations of American life are put on display the Blacks are noticeably absent, a clear and conscious division of an ideal American from the rest.  For some viewers, this moment will probably set the tone for the rest of the film, being an unapologetic simplified, white washing of American history to get butts in seats, on planes and in the fray.  And after all that’s what it is though it covers it up nicely by main plot being about the unrealistically smooth life of an immigrant family trying to make it big in America. 

I suppose it was easier using the right kind of immigrant story, had this family been anything other than Irish, there’d really be no story to tell due to the timely complexities of other European groups.  The Irish, despite their well-known struggles when first arriving to America, have since been canonized as the best example of a foreign culture assimilating into a host country’s culture, and because of it are mythologized as the “best” immigrants this country’s ever had, but I digress.  Filmmaking in 1940s America wasn’t really known for taking chances in themes especially taking on social challenges like race, Hollywood was more interested in keeping the money flowing and so it did by infamously recycling scripts of films that popped at the Box Office saddling screenwriting departments with the title of the “echo chamber”.  So again, as a thing of its time, it isn’t abnormal in its approach to people of varying backgrounds yet, it should elicit the question of relevance in a society that now knows better.

            On the same vein, departing from the white male perspective we enter the role of the white woman.  As previously mentioned, his mother and sister receive off-screen deaths in a throw away voice-over to pretty much just set-up his father’s death in an emotional scene between the two.  Later, there is a line in the FDR play where in complaining about the White House food, George as FDR says, “If Mrs. R would stay at home I’d get a decent meal but, that’s off the record.” Though it is “off the record” it was a chip that some folks carried around at the time, believing that a first lady’s duties were mainly to make her husband look good, without her own agenda, something Eleanor challenged and made our country better for doing.  In regards to George’s relationship with his own wife Mary, who’s pretty much there to cheer him on, and yes I know he employs her in probably every production, there’s no life for her otherwise.  Its never mentioned that she works on other projects or has a hobby, writers and anything else other than looking after him, which got her the role of wife in the first place.  In a, I guess sweet scene between the two, George has gone with Sam to entice legendary stage performer Fay Templeton (Irene Manning) to perform in their next play Forty-five Minutes to Broadway when he is forced to give a song he wrote for Mary to perform (side note: Mary doesn’t even have a last name in this thing before she meets George) to Fay to seal the deal.  He returns to Mary sheepish but, not to worry cause Mary doesn’t, before he can even get the words out to tell her, she’s doting on him, saying she hasn’t had time to think of herself since she’s been so preoccupied with his career and that since first seeing him she knew he needed looking after, this seals the deal for him, and in using a line and not directly asking her to marry him, the deal is sealed for her as well.  He goes on to tell her about the song but she don’t care, mocking women’s intuition by saying she already knew about it because of the gifts he brought her coming in.  Really most the scenes with women are just one long eye roll after the other, none having a real life or identity of their own, save for Fay Templeton but we don’t see much of her after she’s hitched up to the Cohan bandwagon.  Honestly, its these nuisances that make this film hard to watch at times because of the constant reminders of who this film is really for and what its trying to accomplish, reminding women of their place and keeping non-Irish others in theirs. 

All that being said, this film’s redeeming factors are found mostly in the exchanges, banter, dialogue and ad libs between, well honestly, the male actors.  For me this is where James Cagney’s George M. Cohan shines the most.  His lines are well executed and his delivery is everything.  His scenes with Sam are really funny, along with negotiations with theatre owners and a particular run-in with competitor Eddie Foy that still has me cracking up and does incite an appreciation for the old Hollywood actors who had a skill for timing and ad libs that actors today can only mimic, which earns this film brownie points for being entertaining, a thing it definitely set out to be.

So, for all my justifiable ranting and raving, is it still relevant enough to remain on the list? Well…meh, yeah, in regards to it being an American version of Triumph of the Will (Riefenstahl, 1935) with more soft lighting, singing and dancing, yeah it deserves a spot, and its #98 ranking feels appropriate.  To watch Yankee Doodle Dandy through the lens of it being a record of a complicated era helps in seeing it for what it is, entertainment of the age, and a peak into the American consciousness, though filtered through the experience of the privileged white male, as I’m sure are most of the films on this list.  But, if you’re feeling really patriotic and wanna get some “good old” songs stuck in your head check it out and see what being an American really means to you.

Resources: Film History: An Introduction by David Bordwell and Krisitn Thompson. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2003.

#99 Toy Story

At first glance at the AFI list I was kinda surprised to see this film on there and I was particularly not amused by its superior ranking above one the best films ever made, I mean it’s a kids film, a solid kid’s film yes, but still it is what it is but that’s what also makes it canon worthy.  Toy Story (Lasseter, 1995) is the first of its kind, a feature length CGI film that revolutionized animation and special effects everywhere.  Imagine Transformers (Bay, 2007), Avatar (Cameron, 2009) or hell even The Matrix (Wachowski, 1999) without the vivid animation of completely or in part digitally choreographed action scenes…impossible? Yeah, pretty much.  Not to say the technology used at the time wasn’t doing well, there was…ummm…well…you know other stuff but this “kid’s film” changed the game and of course that honor goes to the innovators at Pixar who continue to produce mind blowing technical artistry with a good plot to this day.  And that makes a world of difference.

            In Toy Story we follow a group of toys owned by a little boy named Andy, and they all adore him.  Woody (Tom Hanks) is Andy’s favorite and thus has a coveted position above the other toys which lets face it, he kind of abuses.  He’s mean, rude and arrogant, this self-elected leader and so its plain to see that something’s gotta change.  Not to ruin anything (for the three people who’ve never seen this film) but its clear that Woody is in desperate need of being knocked off his high-horse and so it comes in the form of a new toy, Space Ranger Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) who’s the perfect traditional hero to Woody’s borderline villain.  I’ll tell you jealousy can make a toy do crazy things, which is a great moral the film covers.  To make a not so long story even shorter, the two find themselves at odds but through a series of stressful yet soul-exposing events, they come to understand themselves a little clearer and thus begin to except one another and work together when it counts.  And that’s what’s enjoyable about this story, though it did put me to sleep briefly during two separate viewings, the message still held strong on both accounts (with a little rewinding) that when circumstances change we inevitably change too, hopefully for the better, and perhaps with the support of a friend.  A trend Pixar holds dear, showing up in well basically all of their films but it remains a good lesson to learn for kids and to be reminded of as adults.

            It also gets props for its somewhat untraditional setting of events.  Andy lives with his single mom, no dad in the great Disney tradition, and baby sister and though I might be reaching on this one, the thought crossed my mind that Andy’s mom may play a bigger than meets the eye.  I dare say she is responsible for this whole adventure in the first place.  She’s the one that buys Buzz as a Birthday present for Andy’s and according to Toy Story lore, she is also the bestower (no not a word) of Woody from, possibly, her days as a Jessie fanatic (Jessie being Woody’s female counterpart in the succeeding films), and with a pro-lady writer on the writing team ala Joss Whedon, I don’t’ think the idea of a woman setting interesting things into motion is that far off.  This idea I like and so it stays.  Honorable mention also goes to the incorporation of people of color, albeit in the background in one scene, but seeing as how there are barely any other humans in the story, I appreciate this thoughtful approach to detail in creating a well-rounded world, job well done Pixar. 

So, though I may disagree with Toy Story being ranked above Ben-Hur on the AFI list, it still is worthy of its rank and admittedly is still a relevant piece of American art to behold for long while to come.

The next film coming up is #98 Yankee Doodle Dandy (Curtiz, 1942)…wish me luck…

Note: Check out The Pixar Story (Iwerks, 2007) a pretty engaging documentary on how Pixar and this film came to be.

Resources: Movies That Changed the World: Toy Story, Matt Schumann for RiceStandard.org.

#100 Coming Soon

So, writing a post for Ben-Hur is proving to be a more substantial task than I originally thought.  There's a lot to cover and so to do it justice I'll continue working on it while continuing down the AFI list.

Soon to come...#99 Toy Story!

About the Survey

Welcome to ‘Surveying the Canon’ a blog that takes another look at the American Film Institute’s official list of the 100 Best films (circa 2007) American cinema has to offer…roughly to date.  A statement which in itself is particularly questionable.  Who are these cinema snobs that have the power to label something as worthy of canon? Why did they select these particular films and what do they actually add or note in the history of American film and culture?  Being somewhat of a film snob myself, these are questions that wrack my brain to no end; just hearing preceding generations dote on films of yore (no matter their “meh-ness” or blatant offensiveness) and scold or vehemently oppose more modern films because of, I don’t know their modernity or something, raises my blood pressure as we speak...whoosah, whoosah.  Let it be known that though there will be much questioning and nit-picking, it will come with as much historical and cultural context as my patience will allow me to research.  Why, you may ask, use the AFI list as the ultimate determiner of American film canon?   Well, it is the American Film Institute and they are pretty well versed in their craft, AFI was after all created to preserve and continue the art of filmmaking in America in a time when classic films were in danger of disappearing from the collective consciousness as the winds of popular culture were moving tastes in more commercial directions.  Though the point of this blog is to debate or rather re-examine the relevance of these film's canonical status it is also a remembering and even celebrating of the artistry that film has always had to offer.

So, without further ado, or until Netflix sends me the DVDs, we begin!