Thursday, November 18, 2004
"I Feel Like I'm Taking Crazy Pills!"
Hey everyone! Are you familiar with the AFI? The AFI is the American Film Institute. They serve as a body of movie experts who tell the rest of us HOW a particular movie is relevant to culture or society. I am a bit of a movie buff, and I have learned a long time ago that the best way to learn about a movie's value is to watch it, and decide for yourself. But now I am straying... In actuality, the AFI is as good natured as these sort of bodies can get; they really love the industry, and want to promote it as best they can.
Anyway, the AFI is good at coming up with the "Top 100" lists. Top 100 romantic scenes, top 100 action movies, Top 100 villains. And so on. These lists are always fun for me, although I find myself (like most snobs) in constant disagreement with the rankings. I always think that I have a better choice for candidates, or I would rank one movie lower than another, and so on.
But that is what is fun about the lists. They get you thinking. They bring out the passion that you feel about your favorite movies, and sometimes even trick you into going out and buying a movie on DVD, or at least drag it out of your collection and watch it again. In this way, the AFI is a lot of fun. They open a debate among zealous fans, and create a buzz for products (face it, movies are products) that have perhaps been forgotten.
Think about it. What if Food Network did a list of "Top 100 Fast Food items" and they ranked the McDLT as number two. Some of us remember this awesome sandwich, which came packaged in Styrofoam to keep the "hot side hot, and the cool side cool." But I think that it is the best, so I log on and blog my head off about how stupid Food Network is. Others read my blog, and are swayed by my post. McDonald's decides to reintroduce the sandwich, for a limited time, and those of us who feel as if our favorite fast food was maligned rush out and eat large quantities of it.
Sort of stupid, but that is how the AFI lists work. They tell us that Jaws is far more thrilling than Raiders of the Lost Ark. We bristle, because we know that Indiana Jones is the king of movie excitement. So we complain. Discussion of the movie's high points leads some of us to wanting to see the movie again. So we rent or buy the movie. We talk about it around friends, who may also be moved to renting or buying it. The AFI is a marketing body.
It's other function is to act as apologist for the industry. It makes the case that movies are art. To back this up, they trot out the best moments, the best actors, the best plots... they try to drown us in greatness. What they don't want us to remember are the 95% of Hollywood's output... the "Munchies," "Battlefield Earth," and "From Justin to Kelly" of the world. They want us instead to think of Hollywood in terms of "Dr. Strangelove," "Gone with the Wind," and "Annie Hall." The AFI also tries to find worth in movies that aren't very good, such as "Independence Day." They try to convince us that Hollywood knows best, and that they wouldn't have poured all of that money into a movie only for it to be forgettable. They sell us on the notion of "fun" instead of art in those cases. They all can't be "Casablanca."
Another task that they take on is to inform us of what we can't see. They point out the costumes, the set design, the sound... all of the hard work that truly is art, and that can be completely unappreciated if the acting, pacing, or screenplay lack. They tell us that "Anna and the King" is at least worth the watch just to see the cinematography and costume design. The explain that the art direction and colors of "The Last Emperor" creates a dream-like feel that shouldn't be missed. So they find ways to get us to see movies that don't appeal to us.
Why do I bring all of this up? Well, most of all because I love to talk about movies and I haven't many people to talk about them with. But mostly, because the AFI is preparing the top 100 movie quotes list. This will be interesting to see. The reason this list has my attention is because tag lines and sound bytes are tools that the industry has come to use for product placement. We are bombarded with quips and quotes on commercials and trailers. There is an art of developing one-liners that create a favorable impression in our minds.
When Rhett Butler told Scarlet "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn," I doubt that many people planned on its proliferation even decades later. It happened to catch on because it was a fantastic movie, a line that fit the character perfectly, and because the film had such a powerful climax. Fast forward to Will Smith saying "Aw, hell no!" or Gov. Arnold saying "I'll be back" in every film they are in. I wonder which sort of quote will appear high on the list? "Alllllrighty then!" or "Good night, you princes of Maine..."? "Freeeeedom!" or "What we've got here is a failure to communicate"? "You can't handle the truth?" or "Badges? We ain't got no badges. We don't need no badges. I don't have to show you any stinking badges. "?
Face it, the catchiest phrases are in the least artful movies, especially the one-liners... You can only hear "Show me the money!" or "I'm the king of the world!" so many times out of context before you start to hate a movie. The AFI will have an interesting task on their hands.
My vote for best movie quote? It is from the awesome 1949 movie The Third Man (an awesome thriller starring Orson Welles and Joseph Cotton).
"In Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."
See ya!
Anyway, the AFI is good at coming up with the "Top 100" lists. Top 100 romantic scenes, top 100 action movies, Top 100 villains. And so on. These lists are always fun for me, although I find myself (like most snobs) in constant disagreement with the rankings. I always think that I have a better choice for candidates, or I would rank one movie lower than another, and so on.
But that is what is fun about the lists. They get you thinking. They bring out the passion that you feel about your favorite movies, and sometimes even trick you into going out and buying a movie on DVD, or at least drag it out of your collection and watch it again. In this way, the AFI is a lot of fun. They open a debate among zealous fans, and create a buzz for products (face it, movies are products) that have perhaps been forgotten.
Think about it. What if Food Network did a list of "Top 100 Fast Food items" and they ranked the McDLT as number two. Some of us remember this awesome sandwich, which came packaged in Styrofoam to keep the "hot side hot, and the cool side cool." But I think that it is the best, so I log on and blog my head off about how stupid Food Network is. Others read my blog, and are swayed by my post. McDonald's decides to reintroduce the sandwich, for a limited time, and those of us who feel as if our favorite fast food was maligned rush out and eat large quantities of it.
Sort of stupid, but that is how the AFI lists work. They tell us that Jaws is far more thrilling than Raiders of the Lost Ark. We bristle, because we know that Indiana Jones is the king of movie excitement. So we complain. Discussion of the movie's high points leads some of us to wanting to see the movie again. So we rent or buy the movie. We talk about it around friends, who may also be moved to renting or buying it. The AFI is a marketing body.
It's other function is to act as apologist for the industry. It makes the case that movies are art. To back this up, they trot out the best moments, the best actors, the best plots... they try to drown us in greatness. What they don't want us to remember are the 95% of Hollywood's output... the "Munchies," "Battlefield Earth," and "From Justin to Kelly" of the world. They want us instead to think of Hollywood in terms of "Dr. Strangelove," "Gone with the Wind," and "Annie Hall." The AFI also tries to find worth in movies that aren't very good, such as "Independence Day." They try to convince us that Hollywood knows best, and that they wouldn't have poured all of that money into a movie only for it to be forgettable. They sell us on the notion of "fun" instead of art in those cases. They all can't be "Casablanca."
Another task that they take on is to inform us of what we can't see. They point out the costumes, the set design, the sound... all of the hard work that truly is art, and that can be completely unappreciated if the acting, pacing, or screenplay lack. They tell us that "Anna and the King" is at least worth the watch just to see the cinematography and costume design. The explain that the art direction and colors of "The Last Emperor" creates a dream-like feel that shouldn't be missed. So they find ways to get us to see movies that don't appeal to us.
Why do I bring all of this up? Well, most of all because I love to talk about movies and I haven't many people to talk about them with. But mostly, because the AFI is preparing the top 100 movie quotes list. This will be interesting to see. The reason this list has my attention is because tag lines and sound bytes are tools that the industry has come to use for product placement. We are bombarded with quips and quotes on commercials and trailers. There is an art of developing one-liners that create a favorable impression in our minds.
When Rhett Butler told Scarlet "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn," I doubt that many people planned on its proliferation even decades later. It happened to catch on because it was a fantastic movie, a line that fit the character perfectly, and because the film had such a powerful climax. Fast forward to Will Smith saying "Aw, hell no!" or Gov. Arnold saying "I'll be back" in every film they are in. I wonder which sort of quote will appear high on the list? "Alllllrighty then!" or "Good night, you princes of Maine..."? "Freeeeedom!" or "What we've got here is a failure to communicate"? "You can't handle the truth?" or "Badges? We ain't got no badges. We don't need no badges. I don't have to show you any stinking badges. "?
Face it, the catchiest phrases are in the least artful movies, especially the one-liners... You can only hear "Show me the money!" or "I'm the king of the world!" so many times out of context before you start to hate a movie. The AFI will have an interesting task on their hands.
My vote for best movie quote? It is from the awesome 1949 movie The Third Man (an awesome thriller starring Orson Welles and Joseph Cotton).
"In Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."
See ya!
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