Knowing the past history of ams when it comes to discussing the "shopping list"
specials from the American Film Institute, I'm surprised nobody has commented on
the self-referential list they're pushing now...have they honestly run out of
ideas to the point where they have to salute their own top ten list of top ten
lists?...r

quotewh... at (no spam) yahoo.com filted:





Okay, I just looked at the press release on afi.com ... They're
"honoring" films by genre. The ten genres are: Animated, Fantasy,
Gangster, Sci-Fi, Western, Sports, Mystery, Romantic Comedy, Courtroom
Drama and Epic Films.

Keeping to the intellectual level of the AFI, here are some obvious
questions to chew on:

How come Science Fiction is reduced to Sci-Fi but Romantic Comedy and
Courtroom Drama aren't Rom-Co and Cour-Dra? Harlan Ellison wants to
know.

Where are all the many other unique genres such as Horror, Slapstick
Comedy, Satire, Pseudo-Non-Fiction Semi-Documentary, Musical, Film
Noir, and Tyler Perry?

Why does Gangster get to be one of the chosen genres but not Cop or
Crimefighter or Vigilante or Military Personnel or Religious Person or
Labor Activist or Crooked Politician or Hooker with a Heart of Gold?

And with some films (assuming you nominate them), where in the ten categories do
you put them?...is CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON an Epic or a
Fantasy?...PERSONAL BEST a Sports movie or a Romantic Comedy?...does THE VALLEY
OF GWANGI belong to Sci-Fi or Western?...I wouldn't even *begin* to guess what
to do with something like JUNO....r

--
What good is being an executive if you never get to execute anyone?

On Jun 14, 8:38 pm, R H Draney <dadoc... at (no spam) spamcop.net> wrote:
Knowing the past history of ams when it comes to discussing the "shopping list"
specials from the American Film Institute, I'm surprised nobody has commented on
the self-referential list they're pushing now...have they honestly run out of
ideas to the point where they have to salute their own top ten list of top ten
lists?...r

The annual AFI list is kind of like a season of "American Idol" or the
presidential election. No matter how often we point out how stupid it
is, the people in charge are going to go through with it anyway.

PAUSE

Okay, I just looked at the press release on afi.com ... They're
"honoring" films by genre. The ten genres are: Animated, Fantasy,
Gangster, Sci-Fi, Western, Sports, Mystery, Romantic Comedy, Courtroom
Drama and Epic Films.

Keeping to the intellectual level of the AFI, here are some obvious
questions to chew on:

How come Science Fiction is reduced to Sci-Fi but Romantic Comedy and
Courtroom Drama aren't Rom-Co and Cour-Dra? Harlan Ellison wants to
know.

Where are all the many other unique genres such as Horror, Slapstick
Comedy, Satire, Pseudo-Non-Fiction Semi-Documentary, Musical, Film
Noir, and Tyler Perry?

Why does Gangster get to be one of the chosen genres but not Cop or
Crimefighter or Vigilante or Military Personnel or Religious Person or
Labor Activist or Crooked Politician or Hooker with a Heart of Gold?

Okay, I just looked at the press release on afi.com ... They're
"honoring" films by genre. The ten genres are: Animated, Fantasy,
Gangster, Sci-Fi, Western, Sports, Mystery, Romantic Comedy, Courtroom
Drama and Epic Films.

Keeping to the intellectual level of the AFI, here are some obvious
questions to chew on:

How come Science Fiction is reduced to Sci-Fi but Romantic Comedy and
Courtroom Drama aren't Rom-Co and Cour-Dra? Harlan Ellison wants to
know.

Where are all the many other unique genres such as Horror, Slapstick
Comedy, Satire, Pseudo-Non-Fiction Semi-Documentary, Musical, Film
Noir, and Tyler Perry?

Why does Gangster get to be one of the chosen genres but not Cop or
Crimefighter or Vigilante or Military Personnel or Religious Person or
Labor Activist or Crooked Politician or Hooker with a Heart of Gold?

If AFI really wanted to have an innovative list of films, it could try
listing the 100 biggest losers at the box office, those that cost a bundle
in production and marketing costs, and were seen by the smallest
audiences.

And a list of the biggest winners for money spent on production. (E.G.
"Halloween" made a potfull of money on a $320,000 budget.)
and Rodriguez's first film....Desperado,. was it?

I remember a clip on IFC once for El Mariachi...the voice over said that the
promo cost more than the movie it was advertizing.

George Kincaid wrote:

I remember a clip on IFC once for El Mariachi...the voice over said that the
promo cost more than the movie it was advertizing.

I think it was Chris Rock who said, of "The Blair Witch Project", "It
cost $50,000? What did they spend it on?"

Knowing the past history of ams when it comes to discussing the "shopping
list"
specials from the American Film Institute, I'm surprised nobody has
commented on
the self-referential list they're pushing now...have they honestly run out
of
ideas to the point where they have to salute their own top ten list of top
ten
lists?...r


--
What good is being an executive if you never get to execute anyone?

I've simply stopped caring about the AFI and their ridiculous marketing
specials. They've become a grotesque caricature of their original
intention and have ceased to be relevant.

Matt Barry wrote:
The AFI seems to have no problem "claiming" British films as American if
they're good enough, usually by linking the nationality of a producer or
director. For instance, they claim "The Third Man" as an American film
on the basis of David O. Selznick being one of the executive producers.

Was the financing primarily American?  If it was, that, along with two
of its three leads being American, would plausibly make it an American
production that happened to be shot it Europe with an English director.

Mar de Cortes Baja

www.mardecortesbaja.com<http://www.mardecortesbaja.com/blog

I'm not interested at all in everyone's aversion to "The List" since
we all know this is a way for The Film Institute to raise money to
'hopefully' preserve more films in it's archives.

What I am wondering is the fact that for many years now the film "The
Third Man" has continually made the 'best of' list for the American
Film Institute. Is that film not an English film?.......making it
disqualified to be deemed an American' film?

.....or am I missing something here?

Gary J.