DVDizzy Forum

The Ten Commandments is #10 on 10 Best Epics!

Albert

My thoughts (note that I'm more concerned with what made it rather than how they're ranked since AFI will never ever match my rankings, and it'd be foolish to expect that):

The animation category was predictable but satisfying. I knew exactly what the top three would be. I'm not entirely convinced that Shrek belongs in that list; Dumbo, Peter Pan, Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid, or Aladdin, would've been better choices for both their artistic merit and also their stamp on the genre in general (who's shocked I failed to mention Alice?). The other films that made it are good choices, however.

The fantasy category angered me. As much as I love them, I don't consider Big, Groundhog Day, Miracle on 34th Street, or It's A Wonderful Life to be fantasies. I consider the first two straight comedies and the latter two straight dramas. They may have some fantasy elements in them, but not enough to be entered in the genre. I would've replaced these with The Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter, The Princess Bride, and Mary Poppins. Ah, well. At least The Wizard of Oz (expectedly) made the #1 spot.

I'm mostly indifferent towards Sci-Fi, Sports, Westerns, and Mobsters. I'm glad some of my favorites made it in, though (Back to the Future, Star Wars, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Bonnie and Clyde, Goodfellas).

The mystery and romantic comedy categories were pretty spot on, especially the mystery one. Pretty much every film chosen for that one belonged on the list. As for romantic comedies, there were some missing ones I lament (Bridget Jones' Diary, Pretty Woman, Sabrina), but what was included was mostly solid.

I'm not big on courtroom dramas, but 12 Angry Men and To Kill A Mockingbird both made it in, and that's all I care about.

The epic category was a mixed bag. I don't care for war films in general, so I was disappointed that there weren't more Biblical epics (I knew there wasn't a chance in you-know-where that The Passion of the Christ would make it). I do think Schindler's List deserved its spot, though, as did the non-war films (thank you, AFI, for not giving Gone with the Wind the #1 spot).

So, overall, I found this year to more satisfactory than usual probably because the different genres allowed them to branch out more than usual. This is the first year in a while where I didn't want to throw something at the TV (well, except in the fantasy category).

I was really glad to see <i>Big</i> and <i>Groundhog Day</i> make the Fantasies list. As two of my all-time favorites, I'm thrilled to have them get legitimate recognition (wasn't expecting <i>Big</i>).

The Animation list was pretty good too -- I'd have replaced <i>Cinderella</i> with something else and chosen <i>The Little Mermaid</i> in place of <i>Beauty and the Beast</i>, but one really can't deny early Walt their glory and with the narrative films before <i>Fantasia</i>. Really glad that two of my recent favorites came in as the top two among recent fare. Any Pixar film would be more worthy than <i>Shrek</i>, but as the only non-Disney inclusion, it's probably one of the most qualified. Better that than like <i>Ice Age</i>.

I like that this list wasn't all about the older films the way some of the earlier lists were to a fault. But then, how <i>Lord of the Rings</i> could be #2 Fantasy after just six and a half years and something as wonderful as <i>Princess Bride</i> not make it all is puzzling. There were some other surprises too -- enough to make it interesting, but predictable enough that 5 or more of my guesses turned up in each category. Like <i>Field of Dreams</i> not ranking in Sports, but coming highly among Fantasies.

All in all, a fun and varied program and with perhaps most personally exciting and agreeable of all the AFI specials to date.

Oh, and <i>A Clockwork Orange</i> didn't belong in Sci-Fi. For one thing, it's hardly science fiction. And <i>Star Wars</i> and <i>2001</i> ought to have been swapped.

I would have replaced Groundhog Day for Legend. Big and Groundhog Day had fantasy elements, but they weren't fantasy movies, IMO. They were comedy movies first. Its like putting Lord of the Rings in animation, sure, it has a lot of CGI, but that doesn't mean it belongs in that category. The placement of the movies was off. It's A Wonderful Life was more a drama, IMO too.

I agree about Shrek being on the list. Disney dominated the list, as I figured, but I believe American Tail or Land Before Time deserved a credit. They were both fantastic animated movies, loved by many.

Well, it's not exactly a surprise, but still a shame that Mary Poppins didn't get the placement it deserves. Their top 10 Fantasy were all great films, but apparently films like "Big" (which I love) and "Groundhog Day" are better Fantasy films than "Mary Poppins". Yeah, right.

That fantasy list was just awful. As my brother put it, when you go into a book store there are separate sections for "fiction" and "fantasy" and 7 out of the 10 on that "fantasy" list were just basic fiction. Looking at the nominations list, stuff like The Princess Bride, The Dark Crystal, Jason and the Argonaughts, Labyrinth, Pirates of the Caribbean etc. should have been on it.