THE WILD BUNCH
YEAR = 1969
GENRE= Western
LENGTH= 145m
MPAA= R
DIR. =Sam Peckinpah
STAR = William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan
Academy Award Nominations= Editing, Original Score
AFI RANK = 80
WORTHY OF PLACEMENT= YES
GRADE = 10

If Homer had access to a movie camera he would have certainly directed his battles in the same way Peckinpah did in the "Wild Bunch", the first US feature that can be considered truly modern. An ode to the very nature of violence, the spectacle orchestrated by the director is still unsurpassed in its sheer monumentality. Just as the Greek sage's warriors took many lines to meet their doom, so do scores of victims here, toppling over in hundreds of frames per second (now of course, a mandatory cliche). Not even Hong Kong's notorious gunplay setpieces can eclipse the two enveloping shootouts whose casualties rise into triple digits. William Holden and his five comrades are the participants of this "Odyssey", but the grave irony is that none have a home to return to. Besides, they're not even heroes in the proper sense. The basic premise of "The Wild Bunch" is confrontational from start to finish: anti-Western, anti-patriotic, anti-everything, it seems, but not exactly. Peckinpah manages to tell the story with an immense amount of fortitude and pathos, plus a good measure of humor and dramatic tension (the train-robbery scene alone is nail-biting suspense), in other words, all the ingredients of supreme cinematic merit. In a way, the film is a foremost embodiment of the American spirit, rebellious , restless and ultimately destructive, in all its glorious and frightening complexity ( which is why I nominate it for the number one slot on the list). Two thirds of today's celluloid canon, from John Woo to Arnold, from Tarantino to Jabba the Hutt, has been spawned from the old cowboys' death throes.                                                           

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MIDNIGHT COWBOY
YEAR = 1969
GENRE= Drama
LENGTH= 114m
MPAA= R
DIR. =John Schlesinger
STAR = John Voight, Dustin Hoffman
ACADEMY AWARDS= Picture, Director, Adaoted Screenplay
Nominations= Actor (Voight), Supporting Actress (Sylvia Miles) ,Editing
AFI RANK = 36
WORTHY OF PLACEMENT= YES
GRADE = 10

The first American movie to examine serious adult topics without turning the camera away during key plot developments, or resorting to awkward hints. X rated at first, "Midnight Cowboy" tells it like it is, through three dimensional protagonists who behave like people, not Hollywood actors, and whose fears, thoughts and dreams are laid bare to the audience by a series of visuals, both harrowing and funny. Voight and Hoffman aim for maximum believability, with deep and affecting performances, the former as a clueless young Texan trying to survive in Manhattan's concrete jungle, and the later as his miserable streetwise companion. Their misadventures are related with striking detail and keen observation of different social layers they encounter, including a sarcastic and mocking scene of an upscale bohemian "happening". The sense of hopelessness the film evokes is almost overwhelming at times, but never by means of cheap, schmaltzy tactics, which is a major distinction between Schlesinger's work and modern weepy "drama". The picture's remarkable power lies in its harshness, because it accentuates the characters' most human qualities.

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EASY RIDER
YEAR = 1969
GENRE= Drama
LENGTH= 95m
MPAA= R
DIR. =Dennis Hopper
STAR = Dennis Hopper , Peter Fonda, Jack Nicholcon
Academy Award Nominations= Supporting Actor (Nicholson), Original Screenplay
AFI RANK = 88
WORTHY OF PLACEMENT= NO
GRADE = 7

Not the best road movie, as it is often hyped-up to be. What was supposed to be the epitome of 60's counterculture put on film, today feels rather pointless and even dull. Three aimless friends on a motorcycle roadtrip across the US have their run-ins with murderous rednecks and all other aspects of society. A standard travelogue in essence, "Easy Rider" boasts insightful cinematography that captures slices of American life, and makes good use of exotic locations as well. One of the first onscreen appearances by Nicholson also makes the movie worthwhile, but for the most part it's a disjointed and pretentious (check out the graveyard orgy scene for proof) affair.

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BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID
YEAR = 1969
GENRE= Western
LENGTH= 110m
MPAA= PG
DIR. =George Roy Hill
STAR = Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Catherine Ross
ACADEMY AWARDS= Original Screenplay, Cinematography, Original Score, Song
Nominations= Picture, Director, Sound
AFI RANK = 50
WORTHY OF PLACEMENT= NO
GRADE = 6

A totally harmless, good-natured tale of outlaw friendship, the decade's pinnacle of lighthearted mass entertainment. Everything is groovy , all too groovy, in this annoyingly nostalgic and forcibly charming version of the West . The two innocent-as-puppies bankrobbers' and their interchangeably shaggable girlfriend's eternal question literally is "why are all these guys trying to spoil our fun"? Complete with fuzzy lighting and generic 60's melodies, "Butch and Sundance" reveals more about popular trends in the year of its release than anything else.

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2001:A SPACE ODYSSEY
YEAR = 1968
GENRE= Sci-Fi
LENGTH= 139m
MPAA= G
DIR. =Stanley Cubrick
STAR = Keir Dullea, William Sylvester
ACADEMY AWARDS= Visual Effects
Nominations= Director, Original Screenplay, Art Direction
AFI RANK = 22
WORTHY OF PLACEMENT= YES
GRADE = 9

The kind of movie so intrinsically mysterious, it doesn't need to be understood. Although, for obvious reasons, its' scientific and technological aspects are dated, the primary narrative, that of a battle of wits between a human and a computer, remains as sardonic and quietly arresting as Kubrik intended it to be. Of course, "2001" has numerous other levels of meaning, and toward the end, as the manned mission to Jupiter gets closer and closer to their destination, it becomes simply mindboggling. The entire landing sequence probably inspired much in-theatre drug use: even without physical side-effects it's a multicolored likeness of a psychedelic "experience", even on a small screen. John Lennon himself, in an oft-quoted comment, had said that this film is worthy of being shown in a temple 24 hours a day. While its superiority to the director's other works is subject to discussion, it was certainly the one that had the most impact over the years, mainly with a novel brand of special effects without which Lucas' space sagas would never materialize.

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GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER
YEAR = 1967
GENRE= Drama, Romance
LENGTH= 108m
MPAA= NR
DIR. = Stanley Kramer
STAR = Sidney Potier, Spenser Tracy, Katherine Hepburn
ACADEMY AWARDS= Acress (Hepburn), Original Screenplay
Nominations= Picture, Actor (Tracy), Supporting Actor (Cecil Kellaway) , Supporting Actress (Bea Richards), Editing, Art Direction, Music
AFI RANK = 99
WORTHY OF PLACEMENT= NO
GRADE = 6.5

Might have been slightly controversial upon release, but now it has a distinct feel of an afterschool special. With its sugary background music and some dreary, television quality camerawork, one of the late 60's biggest hits does not impress or inspire much feeling. The plot, concerning an exemplary interracial couple, trying to convince their respective parents to approve of their marriage, has no major defects, and the dialogue is relatively solid, albeit typically stagy of its day, with a few "shocking" profanities (all of which are now routinely pronounced on TV) thrown in. All in all, the movie is standard fare, not deserving of any special praise. Before and since, there had been a number of far more thought provoking and genuine films dealing with racism that did not seek easy answers. Spike Lee, outspoken as he is, can cook up something better with his eyes closed.

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GRADUATE
YEAR = 1967
GENRE= Black Comedy, Romance
LENGTH= 108m
MPAA= PG
DIR. =Mike Nichols
STAR.=Dustine Hoffman, Anne Bancroft, Catherine Ross
ACADEMY AWARDS= Director
Nominations= Picture, Actor (Hoffman), Actress (Bancroft), Supporting Actress (Ross), Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography
AFI RANK = 7
WORTHY OF PLACEMENT= YES
GRADE = 9

Unlike other films of the era, whose soundtracks might be considered cute at best, "The Graduate" employs one of the most beloved 60's bands: Simon and Garfunkel. Some of their greatest songs were actually written directly to accompany the disoriented, naive Benjamin's (Hoffman in his first major role, and still the most memorable) relationship with a middle aged temptress, Mrs. Robinson (Bankroft), and a forbidden affair with her daughter, which leads to a joyfully rebellious, iconoclastic yet subtly ironic climax . Rich in satire and full of innovative shots, the movie can take credit for being the last straw that finally sent the wall of the old morality standards tumbling down and led to a new era of filmmaking in America. Director Mike Nichols' reputation was made as a pioneer who helped the national cinema abandon the Hays Production Code, a set of restrictions on what to depict in a legal motion picture, established since the early 30's.

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BONNIE AND CLYDE
YEAR = 1967
GENRE= Crime, Historical
LENGTH= 111m
MPAA= NR
DIR. =Arthur Penn
STAR = Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway
ACADEMY AWARDS= Supporting Actress (Estelle Parsons), Cinematography
Nominations= Picture, Director, Actor (Beatty), Actress (Dunaway), Supporting Actors (Michael J. Pollard, Gene Hackman), Original Screenplay, Costume Design
AFI RANK = 27
WORTHY OF PLACEMENT= YES
GRADE = 10

Another undisputed landmark in the new, post Hays, film order, "Bonnie and Clyde" is largely responsible for a new MPAA rating system, (from G to X, the current status quo). As presented in this truly revolutionary picture, the infamous 30's gangster couple are no Butch and Sundance: their complicated partnership, blatant sexual overtones included, is far from ideal. The movie is the earliest on the AFI 100 to use an acting technique different from the so called "classic", archaic school that was rooted in the theatre and featured less spontaneous and naturalistic movement and intonation. Arthur Penn in recreating the Depression-stricken Midwest, combined a more casual style of filmmaking (a staple in Europe, which Americans were still unaccustomed to), and his own explosive violence, which Sam Peckinpah later adopted to an even greater effect. The final scene, with Bonnie and Clyde's bodies are shredded by dozens of bullets, had revitalized a tradition which previously existed only in Film Noir and has since lasted until the mid-seventies (today being reserved strictly for independent films) : an altogether unhappy ending.

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SOUND OF MUSIC
YEAR = 1965
GENRE= Musical
LENGTH= 174m
MPAA= G
DIR. =Robert Wise
STAR = Julie Andrews
ACADEMY AWARDS= Picture, Director, Editing, Music, Sound 
Nominations= Actress (Andrews), Supporting Actress (Peggy Wood), Cineamtography, Art Direction, Costume Design
AFI RANK = 55
WORTHY OF PLACEMENT= NO
GRADE = 6

For the pre-high school and post-retirement set, the Alpine aristocrats' singing, dancing and gracefully avoiding Hitler's regime, is perfect entertainment. For most others, it does not have the same effect. Just the opposite, past a certain age very few would want to admit of being, or having ever been, a fan of the film. How can a Musical masterpiece be so "uncool"? Well, it could be that it's not such a masterpiece after all... The saccharine meanderings of Andrews and her babysat bunch, some of whom are pushing adolescence, lack the power to engage a diverse audience. On a list of family movies, this one might have scored high, but on the top 100 it has no place.

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DOCTOR ZHIVAGO
YEAR = 1965
GENRE= Historical, Epic, Romance
LENGTH=197m
MPAA= PG-13
DIR. =David Lean
STAR = Omar Sharif, Julie Christie, Alec Guinness
ACADEMY AWARDS= Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography (Color), Art Direction, Costume Design, Original Score
Nominations= Picture, Director, Supporting Actor (Tom Courtenay), Editing, Sound
AFI RANK = 39
WORTHY OF PLACEMENT= NO
GRADE = 4

An embarrassment for Lean, an otherwise supremely talented director with special skill regarding epics. None of his usual complexity is evident here, in fact, none of Pasternak's original novel is either. There's nothing remotely Russian about the overstuffed turkey, which can get so tedious at times, that the fast-forward button seems a blessing. Basically, "Doctor Zhivago" is high-class Englishmen going through the motions in phony "exotic" locations. Julie Christie, with her blank stares and pouty lips, possesses all the acting ability of a blow-up doll. Shariff, with all the huffing and puffing, is just about as unconvincing as Zhivago as an actor can get. Smaller roles, like Alec Guiness' chilling KGB bigshot, fare better, but none are playing Russians for a second. Which fantasyland these Brit-accented Commies are in, one simply has not a clue.

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MY FAIR LADY
YEAR = 1964
GENRE=Musical
LENGTH= 170m
MPAA= G
DIR. =George Cuckor
STAR =Audrey Hepburn, Rex Harrison
ACADEMY AWARDS= Picture, Director, Actor (Harrison), Cinematography, Art Direction, Costume Design, Music, Sound
Nominations= Supporting Actor (Stanley Holloway), Supporting Actress (Gladys Cooper), Adapted Screenplay, Editing
AFI RANK = 91
WORTHY OF PLACEMENT=PERHAPS
GRADE = 8

Catchy tunes, fancy costumes, elaborate production and sharp dialogue occasionally lifted straight from Shaw's play, make this one of the best Musicals of the decade. Then, at the last minute, everything goes inexplicably wrong. The whole concept of making "Pygmalion" into a love story did not feel right from the start: the play itself had a different ending. Why have Eliza (Audrey Hepburn at her most glamorous), reverse her rightful decision to leave her (tor)mentor Higgins (Rex Harrison, at his most eloquent). In the end, she is reduced to the same kind of brainless twit she was always accused of being. It's funny, but on a personal note, "My Fair Lady" was the only movie to ever make me cry (at the age of 10, mind you) , because of my frustration with the final scene. Having not yet reached puberty, I had no option but to view Higgins (a charming bastard, who sometimes makes more than a bit of sense) as a shameless pig. "Love is blind", was my mother's impromptu attempt to calm me down. It may be so, but still, I would have liked Eliza to emerge from her training sessions a more empowered creature.

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DR. STRANGELOVE
GENRE= Black Comedy, War
LENGTH= 102m
RATING=NR
YEAR = 1964
DIR. =Stanley Cubrick
STAR = Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, Peter Bull
Academy Award Nominations= Picture, Director, Actor (Sellers), Adapted Screenplay
AFI RANK = 26
WORTHY OF PLACEMENT=YES
GRADE = 10

The only film on the subject of the Cold War and the nuclear threat that survived the war itself, only because it never took things too seriously. What better way to cope with the imminent danger of Mutually Assured Destruction, than to laugh it straight in the face. This is great nonsensical no-nonsense, a comedy that will continue to resonate as long as the world's missile arsenals are still pointed at each other. There's no reason to retell the highlights of what is perhaps Kubrik's finest moment, let's just say it ends with a blast. Peter Sellers managing three crucial roles, Sterling Hayden as the renegade commander, George C. Scott as a hoarse-voiced bloodthirsty general, and Peter Bull as the bellicose Soviet ambassador make for an impeccable team of comic actors whose madcap debates as they try to prevent a full scale armageddon are as funny as they are foreboding.

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TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
YEAR = 1962
GENRE= Drama
LENGTH= 129m
MPAA= NR
DIR. =Robert Mulligan
STAR = Gregory Peck,Mary Badham, Robert Duvall
ACADEMY AWARDS= Actor (Peck), Adapted Screenplay, Art Direction
Nominations= Picture, Director, Supporting Actress (Badham), Cinematography (B&W)
AFI RANK = 34
WORTHY OF PLACEMENT= YES
GRADE = 9

A family film that transcends the usually limiting genre, largely due to a noble, sturdy performance by Peck as the most honest of celluloid lawyers: Atticus Finch. This adaptation of the eternal member of every high-school's curriculum fully encapsulates the spirit of its source: a feat for any movie, let alone one with a difficult subject. All of the crucial problems addressed in the book are dealt with unflinchingly and frankly, but the movie's real achievement is the seamless alternation of the tenderness of Peck's children's' games and the high drama of the towns' racial politics. A challenging concept with a high potential for failure, is expertly handled. Capable child actors who are trained to act (rather then just prance around and loudly recite their lines) are also of great assistance.

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THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE
YEAR = 1962
GENRE= Suspense, Thriller
LENGTH= 126m
MPAA= PG-13
DIR. =John Frankenheimer
STAR =Frank Sinatra, Angela Lansbury, Laurence Harvey
Academy Award Nominations= Supporting Actress (Lansbury), Editing
AFI RANK = 67
WORTHY OF PLACEMENT= NO
GRADE = 5

Had it been a "Dr. Strangelove" type farce, the whole thing could have turned out brilliant. Instead, "The Candidate" is a highly contrived exercise in "Red Scare", whose interesting and unorthodox for its time cinematography is nullified by the story's utter ludicrousness. With a plot so absurd it's laughable, and various degrees of under and over-acting, make the normally respectable Frankenheimer look like Ed Wood who has finally won a major studio's approval and hired a decent cameraman. Can the idea of Korean communists employing advanced mind control methods to infiltrate and undermine the good old US of A, using, of all people, the protagonist's mother, seem anything but silly? Even the "X-files" could not come up with a conspiracy of that sort, at least the show is sensible enough to use aliens. No obligatory long monologue by a deadly-serious shrink at the end, can explain what was on AFI voters' minds. They might as well have elected "Reefer Madness"...

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LAWRENCE OF ARABIA
YEAR = 1962
GENRE= Historical, Epic, Adventure
LENGTH= 216m
MPAA= PG
DIR. =David Lean
STAR = Peter O'Toole, Alec Guinness, Omar Shariff
ACADEMY AWARDS= Picture, Director, Cinamatography, Editing, Art Direction, Original Score, Sound
Nominations= Actor (O'Toole), Supporting Actor (Shariff), Adapted Screenplay
AFI RANK = 5
WORTHY OF PLACEMENT= NO (By Default)
GRADE = 10

The second of the lists' "un-American" exclusions. When David Lean uses non-British actors such as William Holden in "The Bridge on the River Quai", his films might qualify as American. The only connection "Lawrence of Arabia" has to the US is that it was funded by Columbia pictures, but in many sources, the movie is listed as a UK production. All the actors are English, the subject matter is pertaining to British Imperial history, in other words, this cannot be considered an American motion picture. This magnificent desert epic, equally awe-inspiring and mentally stimulating, should belong at the top of a broader list, of English Language films, for instance, or of an all-inclusive one.

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WEST SIDE STORY
YEAR = 1961
GENRE= Musical, Romance
LENGTH= 153m
MPAA= NR
DIR. =Robert Wise
STAR = Natalie Wood, Rita Moreno, George Chakiris , Richard Beymer
ACADEMY AWARDS= Picture, Director, Supporting Actor (Chakiris), Supporting Actress (Moreno), Cinematography (Color), Editing, Art Direction, Costume Design, Music, Sound
Nominations= Adapted Screenplay
AFI RANK = 41
WORTHY OF PLACEMENT= YES
GRADE = 9.5

Hollywood's most lavish tribute to teenagers yet, despite its somewhat clumsily (by today's standards) staged love scenes, stands as the world's best Musical. What separates it from dragging star-studded vehicles of the past, is the vibrant youth energy, emulated in the leaping, swirling choreography and the still rousing score which combines the wild screams of swinging horns with pulsating Latin rhythms (something that no other Musical had ever dared to do). The themes discussed were extraordinarily frank for the time, with offhand mentions of pot, prostitution and racial slurs, as well as the plight of the immigrant (seldom an issue in cinema). Some of the slang sounded dangerously close to R-rated expletives: no wonder the movie was successful with such a wide-ranging audience. "West Side Story" is also notable as one of the the first screen adaptations of Shakespeare set in another time period ("Romeo and Juliet"'s Montagues and Capulets as New York's two street gangs, the white Jets and the Puerto-Rican Sharks). The songs themselves are of course, the film's greatest asset: every single one stays in memory, i.e no filler at all.

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PSYCHO
YEAR = 1960
GENRE= Suspense, Horror, Thriller
LENGTH= 109m
MPAA= NR
DIR. =Alfred Hitchcock
STAR = Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles
Aademy Award Nominations= Director, Supporting Actress (Leigh), Cinematography (B&W),   Art Direction
AFI RANK = 18
WORTHY OF PLACEMENT= YES
GRADE = 10

Hitchcock knew how to mesmerize and puzzle his audience, and with "Psycho", the certified birthplace of the horror movie as we know it, he exceeded all expectations. To the modern audience, unless they're introduced to the Bates Motel and its inhabitants at a young age, the fate of Janet Leigh comes as no surprise (her ungraceful exit is now held to be of the most recognizable scenes ever made). To the film's original viewers, Leigh's treatment by Perkins as the shy, bumbling Norman, the motel-keeper, and his reclusive "mother", was a jolting vision of terror, but more importantly, a betrayal, since Bates, by default, became the film's main character. After repeated viewing, the murders cease to be scary, but the whole picture fully retains its amusement factor: Bates' reactions to authorities and his desperate attempts to clean up the mess are precious fun.

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THE APARTMENT
YEAR = 1960
GENRE=  Romantic Comedy
LENTH= 125m
MPAA= NR
DIR. =Billy Wilder
STAR =Shirley McLaine, Jack Lemmon, Fred MacMurray
ACADEMY AWARDS= Picture, Director, Original Screenplay, Editing, Art Direction
Nominations= Actor (Lemmon), Actress (McLaine), Supporting Actor (Jack Kruschen), Cinematography, Sound
AFI RANK = 93
WORTHY OF PLACEMENT= NO
GRADE = 7

Representing an era when the term "sexual harassment" was not yet invented, "The Apartment" today makes an impression of a naive social satire with greater emphasis on drama and romance rather than on laughs. Ironically, the chief victim of harassment is Lemmon, whose career is compromised each time he makes the slightest objection to letting his bosses use his apartment to carry on illicit affairs. Unbeknownst to him, one of the mistresses is his secret love interest, a spunky elevator girl (McLaine). While it's undoubtedly well made and technically flawless, the movie does not have its original impact, simply because it seems too innocent, worthy of only an occasional snicker, not an outloud, knee-slapping laugh. Besides, can we really empathize with a weakling like Lemmon's character ?

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