AFI Top 100 Films

What do the following movies have in common: Wuthering Heights, Rebel Without a Cause, The Manchurian Candidate, The Birth of a Nation, My Fair Lady, From Here to Eternity, and Frankenstein? They are seven of the 23 movies that were dropped from the American Film Institute's newly updated list of Top 100 American Films.

Other jaw-dropping boots from the list include: Doctor Zhivago, All Quiet on the Western Front, The Third Man, Stagecoach, The Jazz Singer, A Place in the Sun, and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner.

I know it's all a matter of taste. And sure, I'm happy that Robert Altman's epic Nashville made the cut this time, along with Peter Bogdanovich's The Last Picture Show. And who doesn't love Bladerunner or Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf getting a deserved nod? But come on, there are some glaring headscratchers in the updated list, especially when you remember we're talking about the Top 100 American films E-V-E-R!

• Toy Story coming on board as Fantasia disappears?
• Adding Do the Right Thing and Saving Private Ryan while booting Mutiny on the Bounty and Giant?

Too weird my friends, too weird. But at least most of the ranking made as much sense as possible. Citizen Kane is still #1, followed by The Godfather and then Casablanca. You should check out the list yourself and see a) how many of the movies you've seen; and b) if you disagree with the order or any that are on the list. AFI has the new list with ranking changes and new additions marked. Strangely, they have not listed any of the movies that were dropped. Maybe they're trying to skirt criticism.