(1) Citizen Kane - 1941

Yeah, I jumped from the bottom of the list to the very top. It just seemed like the thing to do at the time. Nobody said these blogs needed to be in order.

Citizen Kane was rated, in 1998, as the number ONE movie of all-time. That's quite an achievement. On many lists produced since the first AFI rankings came out, you will still find it at or near the top. Here's one. On the AFI revised list from 2007? Yup, Numero uno. Out of nearly 400,000 rankings on IMDB, it has 8.3 out of 10 stars and is at 90% on Rotten Tomatoes' audience scale as of this writing. Don't expect these rankings to ever change very much.

In The Line Of Fire - 1993

This is one of my favorite movies. Hat tip to my girl Angie for it coming up in conversation yesterday, making me desire to see it again. I watched it this morning, and I am glad to report it holds up extremely well.

The thing that strikes me about it today is that there is no wasted time during the 2 hours and 8 minutes. The story holds your attention the whole time, and every scene is impactful to the story and characters. Even the minimal love story is important because, without it, our hero is not able to progress in his pursuit of the villain.

(97) Bringing Up Baby - 1938

This film was a fun one, for sure. One never knows for sure how a film from 1938 will hold up against the passage of time, but this comedy definitely does. Name just about any comedy you've seen in your life, and you might be able to draw comparisons to Bringing Up Baby.

Due to life and technology, it took me several attempts to fully get into it, but I am very glad I stuck with it. Having never seen it prior to now, I had no idea what it was about or even what genre it belonged to. In fact, seeing the beginning credits showing mega-stars Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant, you could have easily stopped me there and told it was a drama of some sort.

(98) Unforgiven - 1992

First of all, why is it called "Unforgiven"?

Who is unforgiven? I would imagine it's the lead character, William Munny (played by Clint Eastwood). But the idea of forgiveness isn't directly dealt with in the movie that I can tell. I feel a bit weird about writing about a movie where I don't understand the title, but without Googling it, or asking others who might know, I'm left with no real answer.

As I watch and count down the original AFI 100 list, this is the first movie I encounter that is from my lifetime, that I know I saw way back when, when it was new. Chances are, I watched it on a VHS tape I rented at the video store and had to return within 24 hours for fear of getting a late fee. That all seems so long ago, and at the same time, not so long ago.

(99) Look Who's Coming To Dinner - 1967

The first thing I need to say is: there are 98 movies BETTER than Look Who's Coming To Dinner?

I suspect I will have similar reactions many times as I watch or re-watch the rest of the movies on the Top 100 list. I am very glad I didn't have to compile it. Thank you, AFI!

I've been jotting notes down while watching the movies, often pausing to scribble something down. With Yankee Doodle Dandy, I wrote three pages. For Look Who's, I wrote six. That doesn't really mean a whole lot, as I know that depending on the day, I will allow these blog posts to flow more from memory, or less. The goal is to capture as much of my reaction as I can at the time, in case I can't type it up right away.

(100) Yankee Doodle Dandy - 1942

"Yankee Doodle went to town,

Riding on a pony.

Stuck a feather in his cap

And called it macaroni."

I think the above is how it goes. Been a long time since I heard that old nursery rhyme. That's the impression in my mind when I'd come across a reference to the movie Yankee Doodle Dandy. There is a loose association there, as it turns out, but only a loose one. And it's all I had until today.

If you think of that title, through the eyes of a present-day boy or male viewer, or any modern viewer for that matter, I'm not sure it's very enticing. It was never on my radar, I can tell you that. In this case, it was well worth looking under the hood. I was pleasantly surprised.

Danny Collins - 2015

Although Danny Collins is not listed on the AFI Top 100 Films of All-Time, I watched it today, and feel moved to talk about it a little bit. I intend to get to the Top 100 very shortly.

In this time of social distancing, things like movies become even more important. Not nearly so important as staying healthy, providing for our families and helping to prevent the spread of that nasty virus going around, but it does play a role. Luckily, I love movies. I'm betting if you read this, you do, too.

This morning, I quite innocently came across this movie. After finishing it, I felt like it was very much on purpose that I saw it. I had been looking for movies and not wanting to pay for them, so Amazon Prime to the rescue. The movie stars Al Pacino, which is usually a good bet, though as he ages, maybe not as much a sure thing as in the past.