I’m 46 and not a movie buff in the least. I saw The Maltese Falcon when I was in my twenties. I had read the book many times over, and thus the only thing left for me to appreciate was the visuals. They didn’t overly impress me. I also thought Mary Astor was miscast as the leading lady. I understand she was a very lusty lady IRL, but in my opinion she didn’t project the right kind of onscreen sexiness in the role.
Of the top ten, I’ve seen:
CITIZEN KANE (1941)
CASABLANCA (1942)
THE GODFATHER (1972)
and
THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939)
All of which I loved, though Wizard more as a family viewing tradition than as a film.
I may get around to Lawrence of Arabia and Schindler’s List one of these days, but it is not a priority. I’ve seen some, but not all, of On the Waterfront and The Graduate, enough to know I’m not interested in seeing them in their entirety. GWTW and Singin’ in the Rain, I have no interest in whatever.
From the novel, Cairo played for the other team, Elmer was just a punk…or was he? Anyway, Guttman was just a fat bad guy.
I’ve seen all except Singing in the Rain although I didn’t pay much attention to The Graduate.
Went to see The Big Sleep at the Arts Center in the late 70’s. Folks clapped when Bogie shot Canino in the tummy.
Obviously, I’m 50.
I was just kidding. But having admitted that, I am not a fan of the stilted acting of older movies, it completely puts me off them when trying to watch, so I find it a struggle to sit through.
I’ve never seen Maltese Falcon because there hasn’t been an opportunity to do so, it was never shown on TV where and when I grew up, and nowadays I wouldn’t waste a DVD-watching opportunity for it.
I’m 20, and I don’t know if I’m a film buff. I haven’t seen The Maltese Falcon but I want to. It’s somewhere on my Netflix queue. I have seen Double Indemnity and and Kiss Me, Deadly, so I’ve seen a few old noirs.
As far as the AFI top 10:
CITIZEN KANE (1941) – Seen it once on DVD. Didn’t think it was the greatest. I just started taking an Intro to Film class, and we’ll see it on the big screen there. I’m looking forward to seeing if I like it more.
CASABLANCA (1942) – Seen it twice and loved it. I liked it better the first time though.
THE GODFATHER (1972) – Seen it two or three times. I like it better each time.
GONE WITH THE WIND (1939) – Haven’t seen it, not all that interested.
LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (1962) – Haven’t seen it, but I want to.
THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939) – Saw it several times as a kid.
THE GRADUATE (1967) – Saw it a year or two ago and loved it.
ON THE WATERFRONT (1954) – Haven’t seen it, but I want to.
SCHINDLER’S LIST (1993) – Haven’t seen it, and seeing it isn’t that high of a priority.
SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN (1952) – Haven’t seen it, but I want to.
Trailer. About corruption in a waterfront labor union, and those who fought it.
Winner of eight Academy Awards including: Best Picture, Best Director (Elia Kazan), Best Screenplay, Best Actor (Marlon Brando), Best Supporting Actress (Eva Marie Saint), Best Cinematography.
I agree, but I think for the over 50 crowd that saw it in the theatre it is a special movie. By the time I saw it, it was already aging and the last time I saw, it was hard to sit through at all.
I understand, but it was the first time I saw her in her youth and without the weight. I was use to seeing Liz looking beautiful. So seeing Shelley in that was a shock. I am curious, what movie actually cast Shelley as hot?
I’m 42, most definitely not a movie buff, have seen 97 of the Top 100, and am aware of the other 3 (ET, Fargo & Schindlers List).
Of movies released in the last 15 or so years, I’ve seen Serenity, the first Harry Potter, and Lilo & Stitch. Nothing against new movies, I just prefer to read.
Hmmm, non-buff here and I’ve seen no.1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9 and 10. Or at least most of them. I’ve seen about the last twenty minutes of Casablanca and a minute or two of The Graduate and Waterfront.
Speaking of The Big Sleep, I’ve seen The Big Lebowski, that count?
Wow, that’s remarkable! You’re no slouch if you’ve seen 97 of the top 100, but then to have only seen three movies that were released in the last fifteen years…?? Did you just stop watching movies fifteen years ago, or when you watch a movie nowadays do you exclusively watch old ones?
If or when you start watching recent movies again, you’ve got some treats ahead of you. Not that it’s been a golden age of cinema, but any 15 year period is going to produce a couple classics.
When the AFI came out with its “Greatest” and a couple of other lists a few years back, my wife, her sister and mother and I would gather for “Movie” night about once a week. We’d pick a movie from one of these lists and watch it. I think that there were 3 lists at the time: “Greatest,” “Thrills,” and “Laughs.” We’d either rent or buy. I consider myself something of a movie buff. I am 40 and I have seen 60 on the “Thrills” list, 58 on the “Greatest” list and 55 on the “Laughs” list. I have seen and own “The Maltese Falcon” on DVD. I also own 17 of the top 20 on the “Greatest” list. My wife is now 28. My sister in law is now 21, but was in her mid-teens when we started having movie night. She’s a pretty good film buff of movies from the ‘40s until today and we’d play Six Degrees of Separation of actors from classic movies to present day movies (example: Peter Lorre to Hilary Duff) and she could usually get them in 6 or fewer people. So, all is not lost on the younger generation.
Oh, and one more thing. The “Greatest” list was compiled in 1996! Shouldn’t it be updated by now? How much longer are they going to milk the “100 years” thing? Plus, haven’t some potentially “great” movies come out in the last 11 years? Just a little nitpick of mine.
Just life. I forgot Casino, so that’s 4, and closer to 13 1/2 years, now that I think about it.
I grew up & moved out, then my step-kids grew up & moved out, then I moved to Podunkville where the nearest theater is 60 miles away (& crappy anyway), and Blockbuster is about a mile past the theater. Then we moved to California, and I just haven’t thought about it.
I had to look that word up, because I’d never seen it before. I read that Hammett’s use of the word was actually a joke intended to gull an editor. But more importantly, in the book, it’s plain that Spade is teasing Wilmer, or at least trying to get his goat, when he calls him a gunsel.
(Now I feel like I’m stalking you. But I’m really not. )
The 1996 list was made that year because it was considered the first centennial of film making. It’s not that great films haven’t been made in the eleven years since then, it’s just that either be a list of the one hundred best films of the past 111 years (i.e. all time) , or keep it the best 100 films of the past 100 years, and cut off the oldest ones.
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