Sunset Boulevard: AFI's top 100

A few weeks ago, the American Film Institute (AFI) came out with a 10th Anniversary edition of it's notable 100 years...100 movies list (note: link goes to wikipedia since AFI requires registration to view list), updating it to include films of the past decade, and to reflect contemporary tastes which have changed in the past 10 years.

1500 filmmakers, critics, and historians voted on 400 qualified films, 43 of which were made in the last ten years. Of those 43 new films, only four made the cut this time: Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (#50), Saving Private Ryan (#71), Titanic (#83), and The Sixth Sense (#89). Films were qualified on the basis of being narrative films and having significant American elements. 

Citizen Kane remains the number one film of all time on this list, but there were several significant changes to the list which reflect contemporary perspectives. Films that moved up a great deal were Raging Bull, which moved from 24 to 4, Vertigo which went from 61 to 9, and the biggest jump The Searchers which moved from 96 to 12. Films that moved down on the list included The Graduate, moving from 7 to 17 and On The Waterfront which fell from 8 to 19. 

Here are lists of the top 10 from 1997 and today - I would love your thoughts. If you have time to go through all 100 films, you can also check out the old list (linked above) and the new list and see what you think of the changes. 

Top 10 from 1997

1. Citizen Kane (1941)
2. Casablanca (1942)
3. The Godfather (1972)
4. Gone with the Wind (1939)
5. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
6. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
7. The Graduate (1967)
8.  On the Waterfront (1954)
9. Schindler's List (1993)
10. Singin' in the Rain (1952)

Top 10 from 2007

1. Citizen Kane, (1941)
   
2. The Godfather (1972)
3. Casablanca (1942)
4. Raging Bull (1980)
5. Singin' in the Rain (1952)
6. Gone With the Wind (1939)
7. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
8. Schindler's List (1993)
9. Vertigo (1958)
10. The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Which movies do you think belong on this list??

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Alex M., Movie Correspondent

Alex's column, Sunset Boulevard, published every Friday to Gather Essentials: Movies, is a weekly summary of the movie industry's biggest stories.

Alex is a film school grad working at a production company in Hollywood. She's been passionate about movies since she knew what they were and always has an opinion (for better or worse).

You can find all of Alex's Sunset Boulevard columns at gather.com/SunsetBoulevard

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