The AFI: Predictable as Hell

So, some how I got sucked into the three hour extravaganza on Tuesday night, "100 Years, 100 Quotes." This was where the American Film Institute counted down what was in the 1400 members' opinion, the 100 greatest movie lines. And when it was over, I couldn't figure out why I wasted my time.

From the beginning, I knew number one would be "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn." Because I'm psychic? No. Because every countdown they've had over the past eight years have been predictable as all get out. Was anyone really surprised when eight years ago, "Citizen Kane" was voted the best movie of all time or when "Casablanca" was voted the best love story of all time? Or how about when "Some Like it Hot" was voted the best comedy of all time? It's not that any of these are bad choices, there just the typical choices. It's no different than why the Oscars have been predictable for who knows how many years. The only two real surprises at the Oscars I can remember in my lifetime were "Silence of the Lambs" sweeping the major awards in 1991 and "Shakespeare in Love" beating obvious favorite, "Saving Private Ryan" in 1998.

Like I said, I'm not knocking all of the films, actors, or I guess, quotes chosen. I can understand why "Citizen Kane" is considered to be the greatest film of all time. In it's own way, "Citizen Kane" changed movie making. You could arguable classify the art of film as Pre-Citizen Kane and Post-Citizen Kane. That's why I've always thought that while everyone has their favorite films of all time, there could also be a list of what you think are the greatest films of all time. A lot of times your favorites are for more personal reasons than the technical aspects of a film. They're nostalgic, meaningful, or just hit you in that way that no other film does. Then there are the films that while you might not be able to rewatch them over and over till you know every line of dialouge, you have great respect and admiration for what they have acheived on technical level. And there is nothing wrong with that. My favorite film of all time is "Halloween." Does that mean that I think "Halloween" is a better made film than "The Godfather?" Hell, no. But "Halloween" has more of an overall effect on me. I could have only the audio for "Halloween" on and I could describe in detail the scene that is unfolding.

If I were to do a list of my ten or twenty favorite films of all time you would see titles like "Halloween," "Jaws," "Dog Day Afternoon," "Crimes and Misdemeanors," "Ghostbusters," "A Few Good Men," etc. If I were to make a list of the greatest made films of all time you would see titles like "The Godfather," "Schindler's List," "Casablanca," "81/2," and even "Citizen Kane." So, in the long run, I can't figure out why these list shows are ever successfull, but yet, I watched all three hours the other night. Maybe it was because I wanted to be wrong, even though I knew I wouldn't be.

So, even with the understanding that with the quotes they were only going to pick those that have been worldwide phenomenon's on their own and have made their way into everyday pop culture and life. "What we have here is a failure to communicate," "Here's looking at you, Kid," "I coulda been a contender." I still didn't understand some of the choices such as Gary Cooper spouting Lou Gherig's line, "Today I consider myself the luckiest man in the world." That was said by an actual person in real life. That wasn't a creative gesture from a writer; that wasn't Gary Cooper giving a hell of a line reading. That was something that Lou Gherig said in real life. So, how does that fit.

It also annoyed me when they would only pick the best remembered lines from certain movies but not the best. While "Show me the money" is very memorable, the best line in that scene is "I love black people." In "Forrest Gump" everyone always remembers "Life is like a box of choclates," but what about "I gotta pee," or "I know what love is." Wouldn't it have been better if they had picked the best written movies of all time and included a lot of quotes from those movies?

Granted, like everyone elses, this is just my opinion, and I'm not saying that only my quotes should have been included. It just seems like they could have come up with some more creative quotes than the ones they threw at us, or at least had a little more variety. They had six freaking quotes from "Casablanca" alone; not to mention two from the "Terminator" movies, two from "The Godfather," two from the "Dirty Harry" movies, two from "The Wizard of Oz." That's 14 quotes out of 100 from only five movies. They only had one quote from the "Star Wars" films which surprised the hell out of me, but that was of course, "May the force be with you." No "Luke, I am your father?" Give me a break.

And where was "Son, you got a panty on your head?" Where was "Royale with Cheese;" I don't remember one quote from a Tarantino film. And not a single quote from "Ghostbusters," the most quotable movie of all time. "No one steps on a church in my town." "Who you gonna call." "And the flowers are still standing." "Let's show this prehistoric bitch how we do things downtown." "So, she's a dog." "Are you the key master?" "Back off man, I'm a scientist." "They hate it when I do that." "What did you do Ray?"

I could go on and on, and I'm sure all of you have your favorite quotes. I read back about a year ago or earlier this year where you guys went through some of your favorites. I don't even know if I have much of a point here. The whole thing just kind of annoyed me. And it made me realize how annoyed I've gotten with the Oscars and all other awards shows. But these AFI things are just getting preposterous. How much in need of something to put on are they when there resulting to three hours of quotes. "Frankly, my dear, I just don't give a damn."