Posted on 11/16/2001 1:23:51 PM PST by Stand Watch Listen
Will it be Rhett Butler and Scarlett O'Hara? The dying young woman who claims love "means never having to say you're sorry'? Or the star-crossed Italian lovers from Verona?
The search for America's 100 greatest love movies was launched on Wednesday by the American Film Institute (AFI) as part of series celebrating 100 years of cinema.
The AFI sent out ballots to 1,800 actors, screenwriters, critics and historians for its "100 Years...100 passions" feature, linked to a CBS television special to be aired in June 2002.
The event follows searches over the last four years by the AFI for the top movies of the past century, the most beloved stars, the best comedies, and the scariest thrillers.
AFI director Jean Picker Firstenberg said the theme of romance was chosen for the cinema centennial series before the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
But she added "As we move forward we are now -- more than ever-- reminded that the movies tell stories that move us and bring us together; and though the lovers on screen may end up apart when the lights come up, we, the movie lovers, remain bound by their emotional journey."
Jurors are asked to choose their top 100 romantic movies from a list of 400 provided by the AFI and return their ballots by December 14.
Better than "The Lady Eve" (1941)?
Barbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda (sorry about him)
Excellent!
The good part about this is the verbal sparring which suggested more...
Wanda Whips Wallstreet
Debbi Does Dallas Again
You don't have to get all high-brow on us. Geez -- I didn't expect to find someone of your esoteric, cultural background here on this post...
:-]
The Freep thread about the Century's best comedies is here.
The first thing I noticed was that cross-dressing movies took the top two slots. I think you're right. Expect something weird to be very high. I'm thinking "Last Tango in Paris" would be a high, except I think it's a foreign film. According to some reviews I've read, it is actually a homosexual movie, but they chose Maria Schnieder to play Brando's lover because they knew a homosexual love movie wouldn't sell. My bet is that "Philadelphia" comes in somewhere.
As far as what I'd vote for, Somewhere in Time, Tender Mercies, Angel and the Badman, The Quiet Man, and It's a Wonderful Life.
Yes, I'm serious. Forrest's love for Jenny is undying and totally forgiving even though she brushes him off over and over. She sees him as a simpleton and knows she can "do better". She only comes back to him when she realizes she can't. And then she dies and he's left to raise their child alone.
It wouldn't come to the minds of many that this would be a "romance" movie because it is also a comedy and a metaphor of our culture and times. But the emotion that Forrest had for Jenny just hit me very hard. Love doesn't have to be complicated. Sometimes it can be quite simple.
The scene where he tells her, "I'm not a smart man, Jenny, but I know what love is", and then walks out onto the porch and puts his hands on his hips is brilliant.
While I've enjoyed many other films, this is one of my all-time favorites because it speaks at different levels on a wide variety of subjects (romance, war, faith, promises, how society deals with the handicapped, fate, politics). It gets that rare compliment from me - a movie I can watch several times and pick up new things from it each time. Most Hollywood fare is so shallow and stale that I can only stand to sit through them but once (and sometimes not even once). If more movies were like "Gump", the industry wouldn't be such a cesspool.
"Me love you long time!"
Also, the Princess Bride, Man from Snowy River, An Officer and a Gentleman.
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