100 YEARS 100 MOVIES

American Film Institute  Top 100 movies of all time       June 2007
AFI Again Rates 'Kane' as Top Movie

LOS ANGELES -- The years have been kind to "
Citizen Kane", including the last decade. The 1941 Orson Welles classic — the story of a wealthy young idealist transformed by scandal and vice into a regretful old recluse — was again rated the best movie ever by the American Film Institute.  At Jennystar DVD Rentals, we have 94 of the top 100 movies and a few others are coming soon!

There were notable changes elsewhere, though, with Martin Scorsese's 1980 masterpiece "Raging Bull" bounding upward from No. 24 in 1998 to No. 4 on the new list and Alfred Hitchcock's 1958 thriller "Vertigo" hurtling from No. 61 to No. 9 this time.

Charles Chaplin's 1931 silent gem "City Lights" jumped from No. 76 to No. 11, while the 1956 John Ford-John Wayne Western "The Searchers" took the biggest leap, from No. 96 all the way to No. 12.

"The ones that made the huge jumps are really, really fascinating," said Jean Picker Firstenberg, chief executive at AFI, which has done top-10 lists every year since 1998 showcasing best comedies, thrillers, love stories and other highlights in American cinema.

"I'd like to think this entire series has had a real influence on what people think about a film like `City Lights,' `The Searchers,' `Vertigo.' Gotten them talking about these films and going back to watch them again, and if they've never seen them, to go watch them for the first time." Francis Ford Coppola's 1972 epic "The Godfather" ranked No. 2, up one notch from 1998, switching places with Michael Curtiz's 1942 favorite "Casablanca," which dipped from second-place to third.

The other five films in the new top 10 also were among the original 10 best, though they shuffled positions: 1952's "Singin' in the Rain (No. 5 now, No. 10 in 1998), 1939's "Gone With the Wind" (No. 6 now, No. 4 in 1998), 1962's "Lawrence of Arabia" (No. 7 now, No. 5 in 1998), 1993's "Schindler's List" (No. 8 now, No. 9 in 1998) and 1939's "The Wizard of Oz" (No. 10 now, No. 6 in 1998).

The top-100 were chosen from ballots sent to 1,500 filmmakers, actors, writers, critics and others in Hollywood from a list of 400 nominated movies, 43 of which came from the decade since the first list was compiled.

Of those newer films, only four made the top-100: 2001's "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" (No. 50), 1998's "Saving Private Ryan" (No. 71), 1997's "Titanic" (No. 83) and 1999's "The Sixth Sense" (No. 89).

Older films that did not make the cut on the 1998 list broke into the top-100 this time, led by Buster Keaton's 1927 silent comedy "The General" at No. 18. Others included 1916's "Intolerance" (No. 49), 1975's "Nashville" (No. 59), 1960's "Spartacus" (No. 81), 1989's "Do the Right Thing" (No. 96) and 1995's "Toy Story" (No. 99).

Some silent-era classics and other old films may have fared better this time because they are more readily available in good quality restorations in today's DVD age as opposed to the VHS days.

"Close Encounters" director Steven Spielberg had the most films on the list with five, while Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick and Billy Wilder each had four. James Stewart and Robert De Niro were the most-represented actors with five films apiece.

AFI's top 25 movies are below ... we have them all.   We have 94 of the top 100 available to rent or deliver in and around Antigua. and several of the missing are coming shortly.  Click here for a list of all the top AFI movies that we have in the shop ... the list on the left will be alphabetic, NOT by AFI ranking.

 1. Citizen Kane 1941 13. Star Wars 1977
 2. The Godfather 1972 14. Psycho 1960
 3. Casablanca  1942 15. 2001: A Space Odyssey 1968
 4. Raging Bull 1980 16. Sunset Boulevard 1950
 5. Singin' In The Rain 1952 17. The Graduate 1967
 6. Gone with the Wind 1939 18. The General 1927
 7. Lawrence of Arabia 1962 19. On the Waterfront  1954
 8. Schindler's List 1993 20. It's a Wonderful Life 1946
 9. Vertigo 1958 21. Chinatown 1974
10. The Wizard of Oz 1939 22. Some Like It Hot 1959
11. City Lights 1931 23. The Grapes of Wrath 1940
12. The Searchers 1956 24. E.T. The Extra Terrestrial 1982
CLICK TO SEE THE LIST OF AFI's TOP 100 MOVIES 25. To Kill a Mockingbird 1962

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