More from the AFI

The last time the American Film Institute visited our home via the airwaves, it was sharing its list of the 100 Greatest American Films. Yesterday, the Institute returned, this time to rank the Top 10 movies from "10 Classic Genres." See the results here. There was nothing too surprising. Essentially they just took the top 100 films and separated them into genres. I find it hard to disagree too much with the Top 10 lists for Animation, Romantic Comedy, Western, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Gangster, Courtroom Drama, and Epic movies. My problems lie with the Sports and Fantasy categories. I admit I was a little confused by the qualifications for the Fantasy genre. It just seemed odd to me that Big and Lord of the Rings would be considered part of the same genre. And the sports list was populated with films that are barely even sports related. Since when is billiards a sport? Just because ESPN broadcasts it doesn't make it one, or poker and spelling bees would be considered sports. My only other comment on the 10 Top 10, would be that one of the "Classic Genres" should have been World Ward II movies. I would be interested in seeing a list of 20-25 definitive WWII films covering such topics as the European Theater, the Pacific Theater, prison camps and so forth.