AFI's 100 Movies: Facts & Figures

The AFI Top 10, circa 1998

"Can we ever get enough lists? Lists are the mix tapes of film buffs. Compilations of our favorites, presented to others in the hopes they'll love the selections as much as we do. Building a bond by finding mutual favorites. Showing what we love, and sharing it."

I love that quote (from "Rollerboy" over at AwardsDaily.com). It is such a fitting analogy for why movie lovers make so many lists of the best, worst, most, et cetera. It is also a great way to introduce this, the first of my "Facts & Figures" look at the best of the list makers, the American Film Institute.

The AFI began their annual countdown back in 1998 with this one, the ultimate "best of": AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Movies. It proved controversial then and, when they redid the poll earlier this year, it was controversial again.

However, whatever the critical pundits said pales in comparison to the exposure this list, and all the AFI lists for that matter, have given to classic films. In my opinion, there is no better starting point for someone interested in American film to use as a reference tool.

Sure, there are many great movies not included (not to mention foreign films and documentaries), but surely this is not the be-all/end-all of anyone's movie watching, nor was it ever intended to be; for example, if someone watches Gone With the Wind, and then moves on to other Clark Gable movies or other historical epics or other romantic dramas and so on, then the AFI -- and these lists -- did the job right.

Facts & Figures:

AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Movies was presented in 1998. 100 films were selected from a nomination list of 400, and films released in 1996 and prior were eligible.

By the Year:

• The oldest movie on the list: The Birth of a Nation (1915).
• The newest movie on the list: Fargo (1996).
• Most represented decade: The 1950's, with 20 movies total.
• Most represented year: 1939, with 5 movies total.

Sight & Sound:

• Total number of color films: 59 (including The Wizard of Oz, which has some black and white sequences).
• Total number of black and white films: 41 (including The Birth of a Nation, which has some color-tinted sequences).
• Total number of silent films: 5 (including The Jazz Singer, which has some sound sequences, and City Lights and Modern Times, which had soundtracks but no dialogue).

By Genre:

• Most represented genre is drama, with 46 films.
• Comedies come in next with 20 films.

And the Winner Is:

• 98 films on the list were eligible for the Academy Awards (The Birth of a Nation and The Gold Rush were released prior to the Oscars' first year, 1927).
• Total number of Best Picture winners: 33.
• Total number of Best Picture nominees: 41.

The Stars:

• Robert Duvall appears in the most movies, 6.
• James Stewart is the star of the most movies, with 5.
• Other actors who appear in 5 movies are Ward Bond, Robert De Niro and Thomas Mitchell.
• Katharine Hepburn is the most represented actress, with 4 movies.
• Actors who appear in 4 movies include Humphrey Bogart, Marlon Brando, Harrison Ford, Alec Guinness, William Holden and Dennis Hopper.
• Note: these totals do not include uncredited bit roles.

The Directors:

• The most represented director is Steven Spielberg, with 5 movies.
• Alfred Hitchcock and Billy Wilder come in second with 4 movies each.

Studio Call:

• United Artist has the most films on the list, with a total of 17.
• Warner Brothers follows with 15.

Miscellanea:

• There are 2 animated films on the list (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Fantasia).
• Only 1 sequel made the cut: The Godfather Part II.
• The longest title, with 68 letters, symbols and spaces, is Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.
• Shortest title: Jaws.

For the full list of 100 movies, see the comments section below (and for the record, I've seen them all!).

Links via AwardsDaily.com and AFI.com.

Monthly Wallpaper - September 2007: Great Movie Musicals

This month's movie collage/calendar wallpaper is devoted to the "Great Movie Musicals". All the biggies are here, from Singin' in the Rain to West Side Story to The Wizard of Oz to Grease to Beauty and the Beast. Personal favorites include Julie Andrews as Mary Poppins, Barbra Streisand as Hello, Dolly! and Madonna as Evita. Recent hits like Chicago, Moulin Rouge! and Hairspray are there, along with greats of yesterday like The Band Wagon, Cabaret and The King and I.

Just click on the picture above to enlarge it to its 1024 x 768 size, then right click your mouse and select "Set as Background", and you're done! If you want, you can also save it to your computer and set it up from there, or modify the size in your own photo-editing program if needed.

Enjoy!

To Remake or Not to Remake

Would you remake these movies?

I am often befuddled by the knee-jerk reactions of most people when they hear about a movie being remade (or given a sequel, or turned into a stage play or TV show). They are often up in arms about the mere thought of such "blasphemy" ("I can't believe they are remaking such-and such!"), as if they themselves have a stake in the property. Granted, they have an emotional interest in the original movie, but another version of it is not (or, at least, should not) "ruin" the first film. It will still exist no matter how the remake (or sequel or stage play or TV show) turns out.

Nevertheless, some recent announcements have cinephiles scratching their heads (if not forcibly tearing their hair from them). Take the news that India is remaking Casablanca. Sounds a bit odd, sure, but what was left unsaid from all the headlines was how often this actually happens, as this list attests (yes, there were Indian remakes of such movies as Kramer vs. Kramer and The Silence of the Lambs). And that's not even mentioning the most (in)famous example, the so-called Turkish Star Wars. And why should we be surprised? American studios do it all the time.

The Wizard of Oz is another all-time classic that will soon be remade -- or should I say, re-imagined -- as both a feature film and a TV mini-series. Again, nothing new here: from The Wiz to Wicked to the Muppets, filmmakers can't stay away from that yellow-brick road. And yet, none have (or will) tarnish the original (itself technically a remake as well).

Then there is the curious case of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Like Dorothy and friends, Snow and company have had their tale told and retold several times, yet two future films are taking a crack at it again. Disney itself is retooling its own classic as a martial arts epic, titled Snow and the Seven. Meanwhile, teen queen Amanda Bynes has seven nerds instead of dwarfs in Sydney White, which seems to owe as much to Ball of Fire (itself a "reimagining" of the fairy tale) as the original story.

Oz and Snow White aren't the only oft-told tales having another go. In addition to Robert Zemeckis' animated version, Dickens' A Christmas Carol will get a romantic comedy twist with Matthew McConaughey of all people. And Kipling's The Jungle Book will get another live action attempt.

Science fiction and horror movies are particularly ripe pickings for remakers of late, especially those from the 70's and 80's. This is likely due to two reasons: the advancements of special effects technologies, and most of today's younger directors were weaned on such films (suckled at the teat of Spielberg and Lucas, as it were).

In addition to Rob Zombie's Halloween redux (opening this Friday), such other haunts from the past that will be revisited in the future include Friday the 13th, The Changeling and even another Wicker Man (lord help us all). Reaching even further back into the vaults, RKO will update its own Isle of the Dead, and there will even be a modern take on The Tingler (really, who could do it better then William Castle?).

As for sci fi, the remakes in the works range from such certified classics as Fantastic Voyage and Logan's Run to cult favorites like Death Race 2000, Escape from New York and even Barbarella. And that's not even mentioning the sword and sorcery fantasies Clash of the Titans and Conan the Barbarian.

Speaking of which, it will be interesting to see who they get for Conan; whoever is cast will have big ... furry briefs? ... to fill. Which brings up another challenge remakers have: finding actors talented enough and willing enough to take on iconic screen characters. For example, who could make us forget Bruce Lee in Enter the Dragon?

On the other hand, some films have subject matter that provide compelling avenues for a remake regardless of the film's original star power. For example, Sean Connery and Dustin Hoffman starred in, respectively, The Anderson Tapes and Straw Dogs, both in the process of being remade. The former had technological aspects while the latter deals with themes of societal brutality that not only still resonate in today's world, but are probably even more prevalent.

Of course, there are also remakes that are merely being made to cash-in on a current trend (Howard Stern, who wants to remake Porky's of all things, must be really happy with the box office of Superbad).

Then there are the special cases. Footloose, like this summer's Hairspray, is being remade via the Broadway stage. Documentaries are another option, such as the recently announced fictionalized remake of Murderball. Then there is the always fertile ground of television, with Dallas being a current example.

And finally, there are the "remakes that aren't really remakes" like Seventeen, a remake by any other name of Big, only in reverse.

Naturally, there is no way one can foresee how well any of these remakes will turn out. They could be good, or they could join the ranks of the worst of all-time. However, fear not, for it looks like at least one studio is taking steps to prove wrong the old adage that there is "no original ideas in Hollywood". So there is some hope for the future. Oh, and one more thing ...

I can't believe they are remaking Valley of the Dolls!

Links via HollywoodReporter.com, Amazon.com, Imdb.com, Variety.com, Cinematical.com, AfterEllen.com, MoviesBlog.MTV.com, Bloody-Disgusting.com, ObsessedWithFilm.com, ZombieDirector.blogspot.com, SlashFilm.com, TVGuide.com, EW.com and Movies.AOL.com.

Grease: The One We Didn't Want?

All the latest on new and ongoing productions 'From Screen to Stage':

- The newest revival of Grease has begun previews on Broadway. This is the production that found its Danny and Sandy on a television reality show and, thanks to America, we now have a brunette Sandy (Laura Osnes) and a dorky Danny (Max Crumm). Thanks, America. For opening night pics of the duo, visit Broadway.com.

- Hoping for another Producers, Mel Brooks brings another of his comedy classics to the stage with Young Frankenstein. In addition to Roger Bart, Megan Mullally and Sutton Foster, the tuner stars Wicked's Christopher Fitzgerald as Igor and Tarzan's Shuler Hensley as the Monster. And yes, the new musical will include the classic "Uttin' ona 'Itz" number.

- Mel's won't be the only stage adaptation of the legendary Mary Shelley story to hit New York in the near future: a "more serious" musical retelling of Frankenstein will be available Off-Broadway.

- Record companies are lining up to record the Xanadu cast album. One hitch: they want Cheyenne.

- And if you thought that Xanadu was the only 1980 movie musical bomb to creep its way onto the stage, think again: Can’t Stop the Music: The Musical?

- Want some camp with your cannabis? Then Reefer Madness: The Musical is just for you.

- For more squeaky-clean teen musical fare, you can't get more clean (or squeaky) then Disney's High School Musical, now on the national tour that almost wasn't.

- As if Ashlee Simpson as Roxie Hart wasn't bad enough: In more Chicago stunt casting gone amuck, 22-year-old Kelly Osbourne is the new Matron Mama Morton in the London production. I guess they are just going to ignore the "matron" and "mama" parts.

- More movie-to-musicals madness in the works: Honeymoon in Vegas, Pride & Prejudice, Of Mice and Men and Knute Rockne, All American.
- The long-rumored Broadway revival of West Side Story has jump-kicked its way closer to reality with the announcement that the show's legendary librettist Arthur Laurents is now onboard to helm it.

- Echo Magazine's Neil Cohen has a chat with former Trading Spaces star and current Sweet Charity tour headliner Paige Davis, who spills all the dirt on Doug and Hildy. (The article can be found under "Just a Stage" in the "Previews & Reviews" section.)

- If you're in Atlanta, you can see the newest production of The Wizard of Oz, directed by The Boy from Oz's Philip William McKinley.

- Although we haven't heard much lately about the upcoming movie version, Naked Boys Singing did recently start their ninth year Off-Broadway. (Be sure to check out that last link so that you can check out current star Timothy John Mandala).

- Jeff Goldblum recently starred in The Music Man in his home town of Pittsburgh and made a documentary all about it.

- Original Rent boys Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp (who also starred in the movie version) are now back in the Broadway production, while the West End prepares for the first restaging of the show.

- The first American tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Jim Steinman's Whistle Down the Wind (based on the Hayley Mills movie) is in the works.

- And finally: Who doesn't want to see classic Disney princess songs sung by a bearded adult gay man? Bill McKinley brings his Don’t Tell Walt: An Animated Evening of Adult Music to NYC's Metropolitan Room for two more nights next week. For more information, visit Bill's home page.

Links via Playbill.com, Broadway.com, BroadwayWorld.com, SFBayTimes.com, ChicagoTribune.com, EchoMag.com, NYBlade.com and BillMcKinley.com.

My Top 100 ... For Now

To give you a taste for my tastes in movies, I have listed the 100 films that I voted for in the American Film Institute's most recent poll. You can find it in the sidebar under the heading "My Ballot: AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Movies - 10th Anniversary Edition".

As is my prerogative, this list is certainly subject to change. For example, in the six months since I voted I have seen Elia Kazan's A Face in the Crowd, an awesome movie that certainly would be included if I were making the list today. Oh well, at least they will be re-polling members once more in another ten years.

For the record, 64 of my choices made the final cut, announced about a month ago. They are indicated on the chronological list in the sidebar with a *, and the links will take you to their respective IMDB pages.

What is most fun about these things (for me anyway) is figuring out the statistics of it all. You know, the most this or the least that. I have compiled facts and figures for each of the AFI lists, which will appear in this section eventually. To give you an idea of what I am talking about, here is some interesting data for the 100 movies on my ballot:

• The oldest film is Harold Lloyd's Safety Last; the newest is Brokeback Mountain.
• The most represented decade is the 1950's, with 18 films.
• The most represented year is (naturally) 1939, with 5 films.
• There are 3 silents on the list (I know, I need to see more).
• Dramas account for 45 entries, the most represented genre. Musicals, one of my favorite genres (go figure), comes in second with 17.
• Steven Spielberg is the most represented director (5 times), followed by Alfred Hitchcock (4 times).
• The actors who appear the most are Humphrey Bogart, Dustin Hoffman and James Stewart, with 4 films each, while the actresses are Faye Dunaway (purely coincidental) and Judy Garland, with 3 films each.
• The Godfather Part II is the only sequel (isn't that always the case?).
• There are 6 animated films, 7 if you count Mary Poppins.
• There are only 4 films with overt gay themes: Midnight Cowboy, Cabaret, Dog Day Afternoon and Brokeback. This is a case where foreign fare does infinitely better.
• 24 films were Oscar-winning Best Pictures. 43 more were nominated for that prize as well. (For the record, Safety Last was released prior to the Academy's existence.)
• The film with the longest title is The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (49 letters, symbols and spaces); the shortest is Jaws (4 letters).
• 37 1/4 * films are in glorious black and white.

* This figure includes the Kansas sections of The Wizard of Oz.

UPDATE: The list has been removed from the sidebar and can now be found in the comments section below.

Links via Imdb.com and AFI.com.

Trick or Treat ... or Both?

My pal Robrt Pela (Monica Breedlove’s second cousin) sent me the link to this news with the subject line "Mother of GOD!", and boy, was he right.

TVShowsOnDVD reports that S'more Entertainment is releasing The Paul Lynde Halloween Special on DVD October 2nd. The 1976 television special has not been seen since it originally aired, yet it has attained over the years a sort-of cult-like status for those who remember it.

This venture, which makes you wonder what TV execs were smokin' back then, not only stars everyone's favorite gay warlock uncle (pictured), but also features a plethora of gay faves such as Betty White, Florence Henderson, Roz "Pinkie Tuscadero" Kelly and both Margaret Hamilton as "the Wicked Witch of the West" from The Wizard of Oz and Billie Hayes as "Witchiepoo" from H.R. Pufnstuf.

Wait, there's more: the special not only had wholesome Donny and Marie as well, but it also marked the "primetime television debut" of rock band KISS, a full two years before their equally craptastic KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park.

Yeah, I know, my head just exploded too from the thought of all this queer pop culture colliding at once in one space and time. It is amazing that the medium of television didn't just stop existing at that point, for this ... this was surely nirvana.

Now, there are a lot of scary things about this show, not the least of which is that it is all set in a circus, but the scariest is this: I think actually I saw it.

I would have been eight-years-old at the time, and my two older brothers (who couldn't have been more different from me) were very into KISS (see, I told you), so I'm sure we watched it. I have a vague memory of Lynde doing some sort of interview with the rockers and, when asking them how they came up with the name of the band, he said something along the lines of "What, did your mothers tell you to kiss and make up?" (Yep, that was the level of the humor in it.) Again, I'm not entirely sure if it was Lynde who asked that question, but really; who else could it have been?

Any one out there who can confirm this exchange from the show in the comments section below will be greatly exalted. If not, I guess I'll just have to wait until October 2nd to see for myself. As I'm sure you will too.

Come on, how can you resist it?

UPDATE: Turns out, my memories were correct, and here's the proof.

Click here to pre-order The Paul Lynde Halloween Specialon DVD from Amazon.com.
Links via PhoenixNewTimes.com, TVShowsOnDVD.com and Imdb.com.

Group Mentality Affection

As opposed to what, "Walt Disney's Saddest Songs"?

When I was a kid, I loved to get those Disney song compilation albums, and not just for the music on them. I loved the album art with all the characters from the different movies on it, all mixed together. It was as if there was some parallel universe where, say, Baloo from The Jungle Book lived next door to Dumbo. I would listen to the records and stare at these album sleeves for hours, imagining the adventures of Peter Pan and Pinocchio, Snow White and Cinderella (cleaning, of course), all seven of the dwarfs and all one hundred and one Dalmatians, all together in their merry Disney neighborhood (no, not Celebration).

As I grew older, this "group mentality affection" (GMA for short) spread to my comic book collection, where such multi-hero super-groups as the Justice League of America and The Avengers were particular favorites.

My GMA of course applies to movies in general as well. All those film clip montages that they always show at the Oscars? You know, the ones most use for a quick potty break or a smoke outside? I can't get enough of them (Chuck Workman is a genius in my book). And I think this is one of the reasons why I love the AFI "100 Years" specials so much every year. To me they're like cinephile porn.

All of this is my roundabout way of drawing your attention to the nifty filmstrip artwork that graces this blog's header. I created it not just to make the top of each page more dynamic and professional looking, but to give readers a sense of what you'll find below it.

Each individual film image is from a favorite film of mine that represents not only some particular obsession of mine (animation, gay-themed films, a young Marlon Brando's chest), but also the evolution of film from the early silent era to the modern classics of today, thus conveying that this blog will cover all of film history, not just movies from the past twenty years or so (like every other movie site out there it seems).

And yes, each frame represents a different decade, but I'll leave it to you to name the nine films represented, from left to right (i.e., from the 1920's to the 2000's) in the handy-dandy comments section below.

Link via Imdb.com.