AFI choose their top 10 films by genre!

The AFI have released their movie list for 2008 and it's the Top 10 movies by 10 Classic Genre's (which shockingly doesn't include the horror film).

ANIMATION 1. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) 2. Pinocchio (1940) 3. Bambi (1942) 4. The Lion King (1994) 5. Fantasia (1940) 6. Toy Story (1995) 7. Beauty and the Beast (1991) 8. Shrek (2001) 9. Cinderella (1950) 10. Finding Nemo (2003)
Shrek and Finding Nemo over The Incredibles and The Iron Giant? No thanks... and apart from it's cinematic importance I don't really think Fantasia is all that good a movie. And boy did The Jungle Book get screwed here.
FANTASY 1. The Wizard of Oz (1939) 2. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) 3. It€™s a Wonderful Life (1946) 4. King Kong (1933) 5. Miracle on 34th Street (1947) 6. Field of Dreams (1989) 7. Harvey (1950) 8. Groundhog Day (1993) 9. The Thief of Baghdad (1924) 10. Big (1988)
Strange genre to try and define, there's a few movies on there that I wouldn't have classified as a fantasy. Nice to see The Thief of Baghdad make the list, I wonder if it had anything to do with the new renewed interest from the recent Criterion release?
GANGSTER 1. The Godfather (1972) 2. Goodfellas (1990) 3. The Godfather Part II (1974) 4. White Heat (1949) 5. Bonnie and Clyde (1967) 6. Scarface (1932) 7. Pulp Fiction (1994) 8. The Public Enemy (1931) 9. Little Caesar (1930) 10. Scarface (1983)
Scarface twice? Good call.
SCIENCE FICTION 1. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) 2. Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) 3. E.T. (1982) 4. A Clockwork Orange (1971) 5. The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951) 6. Blade Runner (1982) 7. Alien (1979) 8. Terminator 2 (1991) 9. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) 10. Back to the Future (1985)
2001 has a massive respect in the industry these days, unsuprisingly topping yet another list. A Clockwork Orange is clearly not a science fiction movie... The Empire Strikes Back is a huge loss here and Close Encounters is quinetessential to any list for this genre I feel. And I would class Back to the Future as fantasy.
WESTERN 1. The Searchers (1956) 2. High Noon (1952) 3. Shane (1953) 4. Unforgiven (1992) 5. Red River (1948) 6. The Wild Bunch (1969) 7. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) 8. McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971) 9. Stagecoach (1939) 10. Cat Ballou (1965)
NO LEONE! WTF! You can't have a top 10 list of Westerns without Leone!!! Without Leone... Eastwood's Unforgiven isn't as moving or visceral. Cat Ballou better than The Good, The Bad and The Ugly or Once Upon a Time in the West?
SPORTS 1. Raging Bull (1980) 2. Rocky (1976) 3. The Pride of the Yankees (1942) 4. Hoosiers (1986) 5. Bull Durham (1988) 6. The Hustler (1961) 7. Caddyshack (1980) 8. Breaking Away (1979) 9. National Velvet (1944) 10. Jerry Maguire (1996)
Probably the least interesting list here.
MYSTERY 1. Vertigo (1958) 2. Chinatown (1974) 3. Rear Window (1954) 4. Laura (1944) 5. The Third Man (1949) 6. The Maltese Falcon (1941) 7. North By Northwest (1959) 8. Blue Velvet (1986) 9. Dial M for Murder (1954) 10. The Usual Suspects (1995)
Four Hitchcock movies here and with the most exception of Dial M for Murder, they all deserve a place. Would have preffered a film noir category but this the AFI, and they won't like a genre coined by the French. Having said all this, some of my favourite movies of all time make this list.
ROMANTIC COMEDIES 1. City Lights (1931) 2. Annie Hall (1977) 3. It Happened One Night (1934) 4. Roman Holiday (1953) 5. The Philadelphia Story (1940) 6. When Harry Met Sally (1989) 7. Adam€™s Rib (1949) 8. Moonstruck (1987) 9. Harold and Maude (1971) 10. Sleapless in Seatle (1993)
City Lights is a strange winner here, not a movie I ever thought of as a rom-com but I guess it is isn't it?
COURTROOM DRAMA 1. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) 2. 12 Angry Men (1957) 3. Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) 4. The Verdict (1982) 5. A Few Good Men (1992) 6. Witness For The Prosecution (1957) 7. Anatomy of a Murder (1959) 8. In Cold Blood (1967) 9. A Cry in the Dark (1988) 10. Judgement at Nuremberg (1961)
Ok, so you have a list for courtoom drama's but not for horror films, a genre the U.S. dominated in the 80's?
EPIC MOVIES 1. Lawrence of Arabia (1962) 2. Ben-Hur (1959) 3. Schindler€™s List (1993) 4. Gone with the Wind (1939) 5. Spartacus (1960) 6. Titanic (1997) 7. All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) 8. Saving Private Ryan (1998) 9. Reds (1981) 10. The Ten Commandments (1956)
IMDB tell me Reds is a Warren Beatty movie about the Russian Comunist Revolution. Never heard of it... any good?

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Matt Holmes is the co-founder of What Culture, formerly known as Obsessed With Film. He has been blogging about pop culture and entertainment since 2006 and has written over 10,000 articles.