Why? Because in the next couple of weeks, Turner Classic Movies and the Independent Film Channel will be showing 15 of the films from the American Film Institute’s revised list of its Top 100 movies from the last century.
As well as a few movies that were on the original list but were dropped from the revised list.
American Movie Classics also will be showing a film from the list, but I have to include a personal word or two of warning about watching movies on AMC.
Unlike TCM and IFC, AMC interrupts its films with commercials — and the films are edited, so if some of the language in the original is a little too salty or some of the scenes are a little too revealing, they'll be cut from the versions that are aired on AMC and you'd be better off renting the movie.
Language and nudity aren't the only things that get cut, just the most obvious ones (clearly, the older a film is, the less likely it is to include either). There have been times when I've been watching a film on AMC, and I have realized that something has been edited for no apparent reason — except, perhaps, to make sure the film fits its allotted time slot.
(And, although I must admit that I don't watch AMC as much as I used to, my recent observations are that it does not try to replicate the theater experience by showing its films in the letterbox format.(Older films — those that were released before 1953 — weren't made in the widescreen format, but you may want to take that caveat into consideration if you're watching a more recent film and the letterbox format is critical to your enjoyment.)
And, with that, it's on with the shows!
(Incidentally, most of these movies are being shown on TCM; thus, the showtimes refer to TCM's schedule. If the film is on IFC or AMC, I've tried to mention it. But the vast majority of these listings are on TCM.)
On Saturday, TCM will show:
- "Bringing Up Baby" at 7 a.m. (Central). It is ranked #88 on AFI's list.
- "The Maltese Falcon" at 5 p.m. (Central). It ranks #31.
- "The African Queen" at 3 p.m. (Central). It ranks #65.
- "In the Heat of the Night" at 8 p.m. (Central). The film ranks #75.
- "West Side Story" at 11 p.m. (Central). The film ranks #51.
- "The Apartment" at 1:45 a.m. (Central). The film ranks #80.
And AMC will show "The Bridge on the River Kwai" at 6 a.m. (Central) on Monday. It was ranked #36.
- "High Noon" at 11 p.m. (Central). The film ranks #27.
- "Psycho" at 2:30 a.m. (Central). The film ranks #14.
- "King Kong" (the 1933 original version) at 12:15 a.m. (Central). The film ranks #41.
(By the way, just in case you'd like to make a comparison, AMC will be showing the 1976 remake of "King Kong" the next night at 9:30 p.m. Central — and, again, at 1:30 p.m. Central on Friday.)- "A Night at the Opera" at 10:30 a.m. (Central). The film ranks #85.
- "Vertigo" at 2:30 p.m. (Central). The film ranks #9.
- A repeat of "High Noon" at 5:30 p.m. (Central). As stated earlier, the film ranks #27.
- "Casablanca" at 2:30 a.m. (Central). The film ranks #3 (behind "Citizen Kane" and "The Godfather").
- "The Graduate" at 7 p.m. (Central). The film ranks #17.
- "Bonnie and Clyde" at 9 p.m. (Central). The film ranks #42.
- "In the Heat of the Night" will be repeated at 11 p.m. As I mentioned earlier, it ranks #75.
Even if "Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner" isn’t on the list anymore, it’s well worth the time to watch Spencer Tracy in his final film role.
TCM will show another film that was dropped from the original list — "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" — Saturday at 2:30 p.m. (Central). (By the way, before TCM shows that film, you can see perhaps the worst film ever made, "Plan 9 From Outer Space," at 1 p.m. Central.) "Close Encounters" was originally ranked #64.
While I’m on the subject of films that were dropped from AFI’s original list when the new list was released for its 10th anniversary, IFC will be showing "Fargo" Wednesday at 8 p.m. (Central) and again at 11:45 p.m. (Central).
It was ranked #84 on the original list, but it was dropped from the revised list.
"Raging Bull" went in the other direction. It went up in the rankings from #24 to #4. IFC will show it next Sunday at 7:45 p.m. (Central) and 2 a.m. (Central).
And, as usual there are films that will be aired in the next couple of weeks that I believed should have been on the list but didn't make it.For example, I think "The Fortune Cookie" is one of the funniest Walter Matthau-Jack Lemmon films ever made, but it didn't make the list. Judge for yourself. TCM will show it Thursday at 4:45 p.m. (Central).
"Meet John Doe" was perhaps the wittiest Frank Capra film, but it wasn't on the list, either. TCM will show it on Tuesday at 8:45 p.m. (Central).
(I can't mention "Meet John Doe" without making an observation. Are you old enough to remember Ronald Reagan refusing to be cut off while trying to address a crowd during the 1980 New Hampshire primary campaign? If you are, then you need to watch this film. There's a scene in "Meet John Doe" — filmed 40 years earlier — in which Gary Cooper did the same thing Reagan did. Was life imitating art?)
And "Paper Moon" was a great film about Depression-era grifters, but it, too, failed to make the cut. TCM will show it at 7 p.m. (Central) Saturday.
IFC will be showing some films that I believe should have been on AFI's list as well.
I think "A Hard Day's Night" is a lot of fun to watch, as well as being historically important for showing The Beatles having some fun with their newfound celebrity. IFC will air it Saturday at 6:30 p.m. (Central), again at 5:30 a.m. (Central) on Sunday morning and again at 12:30 p.m. (Central) on Sunday.
On Tuesday, IFC will show "My Left Foot," a 1989 film about a cerebral palsy victim that pulls no punches, at 6:35 a.m. and noon (Central). It's tough to watch at times — but it's ultimately rewarding.
