This Weekend’s Film Festival Celebrates AFI 100 Newbies Part IV

This Weekend's Film Festival concludes the four-part series on the new editions to the AFI Top 100 List upon its 10th anniversary. By viewing this lineup, along with Part I, Part II, and Part III, you will have seen 20 of the 23 new films to make the list. Some are far more deserving than others, but for the most part the all newbies deserve to be included. The reason three films didn't make TWFF lineups were for various reasons. SOPHIE'S CHOICE was featured in another lineup on regret, while INTOLERANCE and A NIGHT AT THE OPERA represent the weakest of the newcomers. For the fourth, and final, lineup, the films mainly represent newer movies. One of the films is a classic black & white courtroom drama from the 1950s. One is a 1970s crime procedural that doesn't feature cops. One of the films is a modern classic that found its audience from repeated airings on cable. One of the films changed the way America looked at race. The fifth film made us see dead people.

The fifth film kicks off this week's lineup. Ranking on the AFI list at #89, THE SIXTH SENSE came out of nowhere in 1999 and captivated audiences. After its release, thrillers tried to out twist ending the previous twist ending. Director M. Night Shyamalan became a household name with this creepy ghost story. Bruce Willis reinvigorated his career as Malcolm Crowe, a psychiatrist looking for redeem himself by helping the troubled boy, Cole Sear, played by Haley Joel Osment in one of the great child performances of all time. As for the twist, "Knowing [it] and watching the film a second time, I was surprised at how engaging the film still was. It’s because the twist is based in the characters not the plot," to quote my original review. While Cole can communicate with the undead, he has a difficult time communicating with living people such as classmates and his hard-working single mom (Oscar-nominated Toni Collette). Malcolm might be a communicator for a living, but he has his own issues talking with his wife. In the end, Cole helps Malcolm as much as the doctor helps the child. Shyamalan has never bettered his breakout production, which has far more going on than the shocking twist that made it famous.

Starting the Saturday lineup with a bang is Spike Lee's DO THE RIGHT THING, which placed 96th on the AFI list. In 1989, America might not have been completely ready to confront the racial issues this powerful comedy/drama had in store. As I said in my recent review, "Its complex discussion of racial issues in America was in stark contrast to the safe, 'everything is okay' racial harmony lesson in the 1989 Oscar-winning Best Picture DRIVING MISS DAISY." When it comes to shocking endings, this groundbreaking production had viewers talking more fervently than any modern film. Reactions to the film's violent conclusion exposed many of the ingrained racism that America wasn't comfortable confronting. The story takes place on one hot summer day in Brooklyn as resentments bubble to the surface at an Italian-American pizzeria in a mainly black neighborhood. Mookie, played by Lee, is the delivery boy who gets caught in the middle between his employer Sal (Oscar-nominated Danny Aiello) and his excitable friend Buggin Out (Giancarlo Esposito). Whites, blacks, Puerto Ricans and Koreans are all portrayed with some level of bigotry. Lee pens complex scenarios and complex characters, leaving the audience without clear cut "heroes" and "villains" to cheer for and root against from start to finish. From its subject matter to its provocative camerawork, Lee's signature masterpiece changed cinema and America forever.

Closing the Saturday doubleheader, Frank Darabont's THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION was far from a box office hit, but since its release in 1994, it has firmly become a modern classic via repeated broadcasts on cable, which is confirmed by its selection as the 72nd best American film of all time by the American Film Institute. Tim Robbins gives one of his best performances as Andy Dufresne, a banker wrongly convicted of murdering his wife and her lover. In jail, the quiet man befriends Red (played in an Oscar-nominated performance by Morgan Freeman). Red is a man who can get you things. As I said in my original review, "One particular prisoner desperately hangs onto hope, while another says that in jail, hope can be a dangerous thing." Andy and Red represent the dreamer and the pragmatist, respectively. Andy is also a persistent man who makes the best out of his situation, building a library in the prison. But the hypocrisy of life can wear any man down, even more so in prison. How does a man deal with being punished for something he did not do? Or how does a man deal with freedom when he's had to ask a guard to take a piss for the better part of his life? Taking on a classic Hollywood feel, the film mixes humor and poignant drama. Through a grand adaptation of Stephen King's short story, the picture is as entertaining as it is inspiring.

Alan Pakula's ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN begins the Sunday lineup. Chronicling in detail Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein's investigation into the Watergate break-in, the crime procedural puts reporters in the place of cops and the typewriter in place of guns. Considering the audience knows the ending going in, this thriller amazingly retains the ability to grip an audience and excite them. As I said in my original review, "it’s what Hitchcock always said — an audience will always sympathize with a character that does their job well. Woodward and Bernstein did their jobs very well." Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman bring passion to their roles as young journalists hungry for the big story. In an Oscar-winning performance, Jason Robards plays their executive editor who took great risks in backing their tale of corruption as it wound its way up the ladder of power. Jane Alexander, in an Oscar-nominated role, plays a source that is afraid to speak to the reporters, fearing retribution. Her disgust with the dirty politics encapsulates the general feeling of America over the affair. Placing at #77 on the AFI list, this historical dramatization powerfully portrays a sorry chapter in American history, while it celebrates one of the great achievements in the annals of journalism.

12 ANGRY MEN closes This Weekend's Film Festival. When the AFI recently ranked the 10 Best Courtroom Dramas, Sidney Lumet's 1957 classic ranked second only to TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. Funny when the action spends a few seconds in a courtroom, mainly taking place in the jury room. Each unnamed juror is developed into an individual. In a preliminary vote, 11 jurors would convict the young defendant of murdering his father. The sole holdout is Juror #8, played brilliantly by Henry Fonda. Many of the other jurors bring their own personal resentments to bear on their decisions, particularly the angry, bitter Juror ##3, played with gruff rage by Lee J. Cobb. To quote my original review, "As the case is debated we see the subtle commentary at work on the whole judicial process — both its strengths and weaknesses. I feel this film should be required viewing for any jury before they go to deliberate." Lumet's debut theatrical feature is one of the auspicious debuts in film history, going on to make another AFI top 100 film NETWORK. Skillfully making a one-room production into a cinematic experience, never feeling like a stiff relic of the stage. When so many films barely have one fully developed character, this film gives viewers twelve.

So there you have it. From 1998, these are the films that have gained more favor with the American Film Institute's members. Look out for a future Festival, featuring the five best films to fall off the AFI list. For now, head to the video store, update the rental queue, check out Zap2It.com for TV listings, or support the site by buying the films on DVD at the below links.