With so many year-end lists making the rounds, we thought we’d close out 2008 by going back 10 years to the American Film Institute’s 1998 list of the 100 Greatest Movies of All Time, evaluated thru the eyes of noted film critic Richard Roeper, specifically those he deemed not worth of their vaulted AFI status. In his 2003 book, 10 Sure Signs a Movie Character is Doomed & Other Surprising Movie Lists (Hyperion), Roeper picks "The Worst Best Movies of All Time", a collection of highly regarded films that, in his opinion, don’t deserve to be in the AFI’s Top 100. In true movie fashion we have included quotes from Roeper for each one. (AFI ranking comes right after the year of release.)
Here they are:
The Graduate (1967) #7
"...certainly isn't a bad movie; just not a great one."
Midnight Cowboy (1969) #36
"...the story is contrived, hokey, and flat."
West Side Story (1961) #41
"...ethnically-incorrect casting...dubbed vocals...quaint gang-rivalry-by-way-of-Shakespeare storyline."
Rebel Without a Cause (1955) #59
"...over the top performances from just about everybody, including [James] Dean."
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) #60
"...is it really the sixtieth...or even the six hundreth best American movie ever made?"
Forrest Gump (1994) #71
"Tom Hanks...showed more depth in Cast Away."
Ben-Hur (1959) #72
"...the acting is laughable and the story drags on forever."
My Fair Lady (1964) #91
"A perfectly adequate, mainstream, big-screen adaptation...that's all it is."
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967) #99
"Preachy attempt to be socially significant hedges its bets."
Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) #100
"...entertainig musical that has no business being ranked among the greatest 100 movies of all time."
By the way, Roeper also mentions 10 movies missing from AFI’s list and another six released post-1998 that deserve inclusion.
