american film institute

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AFI film school #52: Nashville -- A fresh sound

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“New York itself is a character” has become such a cliche, that it has lost the impact that it once had.  You can also substitute any other city in that expression, and you’re probably going to get eyerolls in return.…

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AFI film school #51: Citizen Kane -- A Rosebud by Any Other Meaning

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Almost six years ago I started this venture to write an article on every single movie in the AFI top 100 list. Whatever possessed me to do such foolishness, I knew in the back of my mind, if I could get past the halfway point, I could get through the full thing.…

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AFI film school #50: Yankee Doodle Dandy -- Dancing about architecture

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There’s a wide variety of types of movies on this list and none are quite like this one. Oftentimes movies made in the 30’s and 40’s feel similar to movies made today; however this one.…

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AFI film school #49: The Sixth Sense -- Twist and shout

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Many directors have become punchlines to jokes. Michael Bay, Dennis Duggan, and Greg Araki have all become known for making popular less than great movies.…

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AFI film school #48: Blade Runner -- Mixing genres

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I’ve spend some time in past AFI articles talking about the genre movies that make it onto the list. Something just as interesting is the movies that aren’t a single genre.…

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AFI film school #47: Chinatown -- Fuhgetabooutit

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Like with Silence of the Lambs, sometimes something in the genre convention becomes much more than being just another genre movie and instead becomes an elevated piece of art.…

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AFI film school #46: To Kill a Mockingbird -- Beyond Homework

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A byproduct of focusing on a list of the most critically acclaimed movies is that there’s something about critically acclaimed movies that feels like homework…

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AFI film school #45: Cabaret-- A different sound of music

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Not that long ago I looked at another musical, The Sound of Music. The one I’m looking at this week is from around the same time period…

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AFI film school #44: Easy Rider -- Born to be a non-conformist

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A phenomena I’ve encountered while going through the films on the AFI list is encountering some movies I had watched at some earlier point in time, didn’t like, and had decided I would never see again…

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AFI film school #43: Sullivan's Travels -- The Art of Comedy

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One of the coolest things about movies about making movies is that they inevitably become meta. They comment on the world, while also, by necessity, living up to the same message that they’re spreading…