The first summer it was on the air, NBC’s America’s Got Talent was an amusing diversion. The next, it was a forgettable holdover. Now, it just seems like a cruel, sarcastically named taunt. OK, NBC, we get it—we get it! America does not in fact have talent! Do you need to keep rubbing our noses in it summer after summer?
For those who wish to reminisce about the days when America, I’m told, did have talent, last night the American Film Institute extended its listmaking empire with the CBS special AFI’s 10 Top 10, naming its top 10 American films in 10 genre categories. The full list(s), for your argumentative pleasure, after the jump.
First question: It’s a Wonderful Life is in the “fantasy” category with Lord of the Rings why? Because there’s an angel involved?
AFI’s 10 TOP 10 honorees are:
ANIMATION
1 SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS 1937
2 PINOCCHIO 1940
3 BAMBI 1942
4 THE LION KING 1994
5 FANTASIA 1940
6 TOY STORY 1995
7 BEAUTY AND THE BEAST 1991
8 SHREK 2001
9 CINDERELLA 1950
10 FINDING NEMO 2003
FANTASY
1 THE WIZARD OF OZ 1939
2 THE LORD OF THE RINGS:
THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING 2001
3 IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE 1946
4 KING KONG 1933
5 MIRACLE ON 34th STREET 1947
6 FIELD OF DREAMS 1989
7 HARVEY 1950
8 GROUNDHOG DAY 1993
9 THE THIEF OF BAGDAD 1924
10 BIG 1988
GANGSTER
1 THE GODFATHER 1972
2 GOODFELLAS 1990
3 THE GODFATHER PART II 1974
4 WHITE HEAT 1949
5 BONNIE AND CLYDE 1967
6 SCARFACE: THE SHAME OF A NATION 1932
7 PULP FICTION 1994
8 THE PUBLIC ENEMY 1931
9 LITTLE CAESAR 1930
10 SCARFACE 1983
SCIENCE FICTION
1 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY 1968
2 STAR WARS: EPISODE IV- A NEW HOPE 1977
3 E.T. – THE EXTRA TERRESTRIAL 1982
4 A CLOCKWORK ORANGE 1971
5 THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL 1951
6 BLADE RUNNER 1982
7 ALIEN 1979
8 TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY 1991
9 INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS 1956
10 BACK TO THE FUTURE 1985
WESTERN
1 THE SEARCHERS 1956
2 HIGH NOON 1952
3 SHANE 1953
4 UNFORGIVEN 1992
5 RED RIVER 1948
6 THE WILD BUNCH 1969
7 BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID 1969
8 McCABE & MRS. MILLER 1971
9 STAGECOACH 1939
10 CAT BALLOU 1965
SPORTS
1 RAGING BULL 1980
2 ROCKY 1976
3 THE PRIDE OF THE YANKEES 1942
4 HOOSIERS 1986
5 BULL DURHAM 1988
6 THE HUSTLER 1961
7 CADDYSHACK 1980
8 BREAKING AWAY 1979
9 NATIONAL VELVET 1944
10 JERRY MAGUIRE 1996
MYSTERY
1 VERTIGO 1958
2 CHINATOWN 1974
3 REAR WINDOW 1954
4 LAURA 1944
5 THE THIRD MAN 1949
6 THE MALTESE FALCON 1941
7 NORTH BY NORTHWEST 1959
8 BLUE VELVET 1986
9 DIAL M FOR MURDER 1954
10 THE USUAL SUSPECTS 1995
ROMANTIC COMEDY
1 CITY LIGHTS 1931
2 ANNIE HALL 1977
3 IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT 1934
4 ROMAN HOLIDAY 1953
5 THE PHILADELPHIA STORY 1940
6 WHEN HARRY MET SALLY… 1989
7 ADAM’S RIB 1949
8 MOONSTRUCK 1987
9 HAROLD AND MAUDE 1971
10 SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE 1993
COURTROOM DRAMA
1 TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD 1962
2 12 ANGRY MEN 1957
3 KRAMER VS. KRAMER 1979
4 THE VERDICT 1982
5 A FEW GOOD MEN 1992
6 WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION 1957
7 ANATOMY OF A MURDER 1959
8 IN COLD BLOOD 1967
9 A CRY IN THE DARK 1988
10 JUDGMENT AT NUREMBERG 1961
EPIC
1 LAWRENCE OF ARABIA 1962
2 BEN-HUR 1959
3 SCHINDLER’S LIST 1993
4 GONE WITH THE WIND 1939
5 SPARTACUS 1960
6 TITANIC 1997
7 ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT 1930
8 SAVING PRIVATE RYAN 1998
9 REDS 1981
10 THE TEN COMMANDMENTS 1956