VIEWING DATES: October 30 to November 4, 2023

It’s been 25 years since I came across the AFI’s Top 100 Movies and started my collection; 16 since I binged the entries upon completion. Late last October, I decided to recreate that experience by going through the marathon once again – and yes, using my physical copies. Starting with…

#100 – YANKEE DOODLE DANDY (1942)
D: Michael Curtiz
S: James Cagney, Joan Leslie, Walter Huston

Perhaps, it was the perfect placement. Not to say that it deserved being dead last, but because it kicked off the countdown in jovial manner. After all, wasn’t the purpose of the curation to celebrate American film?

In many ways, this was the grandfather of music biopics, how it turned the life and times of patriotism icon George M. Cohan into a lavish and kinetic affair. It’s a buoyant tribute to his work, both as a solo artist and as a member of his family act, The Four Cohans. The legendary songs, of course, take center stage. But it’s James Cagney who let’s this soar, as he traded his mobster image with song and dance. It’s a break from character so blissfully jarring, the Oscars were finally compelled to yield.  

#99 – GUESS WHO’S COMING TO DINNER (1967)
D: Stanley Kramer
S: Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Sidney Poitier, Katharine Houghton

Probably the most maligned inclusion in the initial list and, to emphasize, it’s the lone entry not to figure in Steven Jay Schneider’s 1001 Movies to See Before You Die. Yes, it was the final team-up of Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, who was already terminally ill at the time of production. But outside of that distinction, it’s a simplistic love story with an interracial spin. Groundbreaking as it was back then, other aspects of the film now feel dated and Katharine Houghton’s character felt cartoonishly one-note (She reminded me of Nermal of Garfield fame).

Still, the film is hard to dislike, especially with esteemed legends as its pillars. It finishes strong, with one power monologue after the other. There’s Tracy’s final speech, in which Hepburn visibly couldn’t hold back tears. She knew, and Tracy died before the film’s premiere. And then there’s Sidney Poitier packing the strongest wallop with this generation gap buster:

“You and your whole lousy generation believes the way it was for you is the way it’s got to be. And not until your whole generation has lain down and died will the dead weight of you be off our backs! You understand, you’ve got to get off my back!”

#98 – UNFORGIVEN (1992)
D: Clint Eastwood
S: Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, Jaimz Woolvett, Gene Hackman, Richard Harris, Frances Fisher

It was fitting to watch this on All Saints’ Day. This was Clint Eastwood’s farewell to the Western genre, though Cry Macho (2021) can be considered a delayed curtain call. The film, likewise, takes on elegiac themes. It follows reformed outlaw Will Munny (Eastwood) who’s forced out of retirement and hired by vengeful prostitutes for one final job – to kill the man who brutally maimed their brothel sister.

Munny reluctantly accepts, and together with his aging accomplice Ned Logan (Morgan Freeman) and the cocky Schofield Kid (Jaimz Woolvett), he embarks on his ultimate quest. This, of course, puts them at odds with the town’s self-serving sheriff, Little Bill Daggett (Gene Hackman).

Outside of the gory shoot-outs, it’s still largely a solemn swan song. Here, the anti-heroes’ musings share the spotlight with the actual bloodshed, with the aftermath delivered merely through postscript. It’s a final hurrah that doesn’t end with a bang, but luckily, not with a whimper either.

#97 – BRINGING UP BABY (1938)
D: Howard Hawks
S: Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn

There’s “girl meets boy”. Then there’s also “love-crazed heiress with pet leopard meets bumbling zoologist searching for dinosaur bone”. If that sounds absurd, that’s because it is. But such was the essence of screwball comedy, rom-com’s wacky predecessor, which surged in popularity during the Great Depression and got kicks out of mocking the elite. This Howard Hawks caper may have been a flop upon release, but it set the bar high for the sub-genre in the years that followed. Try not to break your clavicles laughing.  

#96 – THE SEARCHERS (1956)
D: John Ford
S: John Wayne, Jeffrey Hunter, Vera Miles, Natalie Wood

It’s hard to consider John Wayne a hero at this point. That much the USC can vouch.  In real life, he was a known racist, who defended the concept of white supremacy and condoned the displacement of indigenous folk (aside from, you know, battling them onscreen).

Come to think of it, his character here was no different, which makes this fabled Western hard to stomach in parts. Here, he played Ethan Edwards, a Civil War veteran consumed by his hatred towards the Comanches. That hatred further ignites when the tribe pillages his brother’s ranch, murders his family, and abducts his niece, Debbie (ill-fated Natalie Wood in an early role). That’s his cue to round up his posse and embody the film’s title. His underlying impetus, however, is not to rescue, but rather, obliterate his young relative. In his reckoning, she’s become one with her native captors.

Obviously, that plot point would no longer fly today, but the potency of John Ford’s opus lies in the redemptive twist. Viewers are still assured a tearful reunion despite the lead character’s (and actor’s) gruff bigotry. Couple that with the lush cinematography, and the film’s influence still endures. Paul Greengrass’ News of the World (2020), for one, was an obvious homage.

#95 – PULP FICTION (1994)
D: Quentin Tarantino
S: John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman, Bruce Willis, Ving Rhames, Harvey Keitel

1992’s Reservoir Dogs seemed a tough act to follow, but Quentin Tarantino outdid himself with this brilliant sophomore effort. This razor-sharp tapestry defied narrative convention with four interlocking crime stories set in downtown Los Angeles. It doesn’t make sense, until it does, but it’s the powerhouse ensemble who keeps us hooked all the way. At the center of the mayhem is one modern-day McGuffin: a briefcase housing an unseen object, identifiable only by its glimmer and its beholders’ reactions. That’s just one among many reasons to stay intrigued, and nearly three decades later, it’s still an exhilarating watch – with or without Royalé with Cheese on the side.