100 greatest Movie Stars and 100 Most Passionate Movies

Howdy, Did anyone see either of these on Channel 4 this last week? They were SO good!!!
The british members will know what im talking about but i think it has been or will be shown on American TV as well, not sure about Oz and other countries but i dont see why not?

"100 years, 100 Passions" was compiled by the "American Film Industry" - AFI, at least i think thats what they were called. It was a countdonw of the 100 most passionate movies from the last 100 years. It was wicked, had interviews with all the stars and directors and everyone involved with each movie. Was a great show to watch. There was some unsual placements though. Dirty Dancing and Grease were in the top 90. i was quite shocked by that. i was angered though as there was no mention of Moulin Rouge! quite annoying but i think thats just becuase its quite a recent film. I could tell you all the top 5 if your interested? but then again i dont wanna spoil it for ya!

Then last night and Sunday night they had on the "100 greatest Movie Stars of all time" seperated over the two nights. It was brilliant! This chart was compiled by votes from channel 4 viewers. I voted for Jack Nicholson, Robin Williams and Anthony Hopkins.

Heres the Link for the website with the list:-
http://www.channel4.com/film/index.html

It had all the greats in there though and there was some really suprising placements once again. Humphrey Bogart, James Dean, Michela Cain and Gary Oldman, all actors that i consider "great" were placed quite low in the 40's and 50's. Once again i wont tell who was in the top 5 unless you wanna know.

Did anyone see either of these shows? It was a shame if u missed them. I taped both of them they were so good

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Pumpkins scream in the DEAD of night!

Yes, the Passions program was compiled by the AFI (The American Film Institute). It ran last year here in The States.



And the reason Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge wasn't included is because it's a list by The AMERICAN Film Institute, which means foreign films aren't elligible. On top of that, it was too recent anyway.


The AFI has been making a habit of these lists since the much-discussed 100 Years/100 Movies list they compiled in 1998 (I believe it was '98). The tops on that list were 1) Citizen Kane, 2) Casablanca, 3) The Godfather, 4) Gone with the Wind, 5) Lawrence of Arabia, 6) The Wizard of Oz, 7) The Graduate, 8) On the Waterfront, 9) Schindler's List and 10) Singin' in the Rain.

Anyway, the list was designed to create discussion and debate in an entertaining way, while of course raking in money for The AFI. Like it or lump it, the list is what it is. But after that success, they decided to manufacture another "list" every year, with a corresponding television special. The subsequent lists were 100 Stars, 100 Laughs, 100 Thrills, 100 Passions and now coming in about a month or so, 100 Heroes & Villains.

The lists have gotten progressively sillier and sillier, becoming now completely irrelevant. Whatever fun little purpose the original list served, none of it is left with these ridiculous things.


Anyway, glad you squeezed some enjoyment out of it I guess, but I have no use for them at all. I'm an AFI member, and I just throw these ballots right into the trash when they arrive in the mail. This latest Heroes & Villains one has got to be the worst yet.


The official AFI site can be found HERE. Root around there and you can find all five previous lists, plus the 400 nominees for the Heroes & Villains bit.



The Channel 4 survey is just howlingly stupid as a poll of the "best movie stars ever". To have Pacino finish first mainly shows the age-range of those who bothered to vote. Their top ten is laughable, with 2) Robert DeNiro, 3) Tom Hanks, 4) Kevin Spacey, 5) Harrison Ford, 6) Jack Nicholson, 7) Anthony Hopkins, 8) Sean Connery, 9) Ewan McGregor and 10) Cary Grant rounding out the top finishers. Puh-leeze. How can you even discuss a list that is supposed to be the "greatest film stars" EVER and includes Al Pacino, Kevin Spacey, Ewan McGregor and Tony Hopkins above Humphry Bogart, Cary Grant, Charlie Chaplin, Henry Fonda, etc, etc, etc.?!?!? I love and respect Pacino, McGregor, Connery and the rest of those nine names, but come the fu*k on! Ewan McGregor is one of the greatest movie stars of ALL TIME?!? Yeah, call me back in thirty years and see if that rings at all true. It may well, but it surer than ***** doesn't today.

This is why these things are beyond silly, and you have to put some kind of decent perameters on 'em. The Channel 4 poll got around 25,000 votes, and sadly Tom Hanks got far more than Marlon Brando. That simply just ain't right.

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"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra

Yeh I watched it. I love watching these things.

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instrumental rock band that I am in.

I am in awe. How can this be?

If this is wht the general public considers to be the greatest, then I fear for the future of early movies. If they can list Ewan McGregor on the top ten...I just wonder how the percentages of people who watch black and white films and silent films fare each year. If this is the true opinion of the public, then it indicates that the numbers are going down. How long before no one cares about early film? When I am dead and gone I want future generations to love film in all forms. But if the generations of today are passing down this trash.....God help cinema.

As for as the members of the top ten go, I like Mr. Hopkins being on the list. He is for my money one of the very best living actors. (That sorta sounds weird for some reason. Maybe the way I said it...oh well....too lazy to change it). Ewan McGregor though? HOW DID THAT HAPPEN!!!!

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"I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!" - Howard Beale

I voted in the 100 greatest stars
I didn't vote for Ewan McGregor... I don't remember who I voted for, but I know I voted for the victor Al Pacino, Robert deNiro, Jodie Foster, and I can't remember otherwise.
For my money though Beale, your views our very outdated. It's all very well wanting people to see as many black and white films as possible, but it ain't gonna happen. The world must move forward, and that means dismissing many old classics. If the film is good enough, it will be remembered, and watched. If it isn't, don't mourn its death.

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Mr M Rides Again

MoFo Survivor - r3port3r66 wins!!!!!!

What are you talking about? There are thousands of great movies that have been made that even the most avid movies viewer won't have time for in his lifetime. India (as an example) puts out thousands of movies, most of which will never be seen by western eyes. Is that because they aren't good? No. I'm sure some are, but they probobly have some great films over there. There are classic comedies that todays youth may never watch or enjoy. They'll be watching Adam Sandler instead of The Marx Brothers. Is that becuase the Marx brothers aren't good enough to be remembered? No. Its because thats what todays youth is being exposed to. The people who voted on the list are what I consider to be any random number of todays average filmwatchers. If most would consider Ewan McGregor one of the Top Ten greatest movie stars, then I'm willing to wager that the parents will be exposing their children to movies....why am I even bothering......all I want is to make sure that the classics stay and that old cinema survives. How many of todays youth do you think goes to the movie store and rents a silent film? Not many. It is my guess that only the few that truely love and appreciate film do. If this group appreciates Ewan McGregor over Cary Grant, that is a little scary to me in a paranoid sort of way. Maybe I'm wrong. I hope I am.

Thanx for the info on the AFI Holden, The only other one of their charts that we have had over here before has been the 100 thrills one, which i thought was excellant, i wouldnt say i agree with the charts but i certainly enjoy watching them, especially with friends.

As for the Channel 4, "100 greatest movie stars", i totally agree with you. i was so shocked to find Ewan McGregor and Brad Pitt beating the likes of Bogart, Newman and Grant to the top 10, but what they kept reapeating in the chart is that it was the list voted by the public, and not a board of knowledgable film buffs. (like ourselves ) The only ways that a lot of poeple would have voted is by the net and by telephone/mobile, so instead of it being a true account (if thats possible) of the "100 greatest movie stars", it was more like the "100 most popular movie stars at the moment" list. I only say this becuase i imagine that the majority of the votes would have been from people around my age and slightly older, and therefor only voting for actors and actresses that they saw in recent films, Like Brad Pitt in "Fight Club", Ewan in "Trainspotting" and Tom Hanks in "Road to Peridition", "Castaway" and "Catch me if you can". All of them good actors, but absoloutly not great, just popular and starring in good films, which unfortunatly leaves the legends such as Carrey Grant and James Stewart further up the list.

Like i said, i dont agree with the list at all, and like Beale, i was very pleased to see Mr Hopkins in the top 10, he was who i voted for, along with Robin Williams i think, only becuase i truely love the guy and everything he does. The most enjoyable thing about watching these lists though is the insight and anecdotes we get from the directors, stars, casting agents etc about the legends of these movies. Like the anecdote about Bogart saying to the lighting director that he didnt want him to hide all the wrinkles in his face whilst filming "The African Queen" as he saw them as a gift that took him a long while to obtain. They are the reasons i enjoy watching these lists.

What you have to remember above everything else was that this poll was looking for the 100 greatest movie stars not actors

...of all time is what you have to remember.

And here's the entire silly 100 from Chanel 4's poll...

1. Al Pacino
2. Robert DeNiro
3. Tom Hanks
4. Kevin Spacey
5. Harrison Ford
6. Jack Nicholson
7. Anthony Hopkins
8. Sean Connery
9. Ewan McGregor
10. Cary Grant
11. Samuel L. Jackson
12. Jimmy Stewart
13. Audrey Hepburn
14. Steve McQueen
15. Brad Pitt
16. Paul Newman
17. Mel Gibson
18. Clint Eastwood
19. Robin Williams
20. Sigourney Weaver
21. Nicole Kidman
22. Johnny Depp
23. Jodie Foster
24. Dustin Hoffman
25. Susan Sarandon
26. Rusell Crowe
27. Morgan Freeman
28. Denzel Washington
29. Julia Roberts
30. Marlon Brando
31. Christopher Lee
32. Tom Cruise
33. Nic Cage
34. Christopher Walken
35. Bruce Willis
36. Humphrey Bogart
37. Cate Blanchett
38. Katharine Hepburn
39. Marilyn Monroe
40. Gary Oldman
41. Jackie Chan
42. Gene Hackman
43. Jack Lemmon
44. Michael Caine
45. Bette Davis
46. John Travolta
47. Jim Carrey
48. John Cusack
49. Bruce Lee
50. Charlie Chaplin

(Or at least the top 50)

(100+ lines of text would be truncated as a single message)

51. Will Smith
52. Sidney Poitier
53. Harvey Keitel
54. Arnold Schwarenegger
55. Kate Winslet
56. John Wayne
57. Peter Sellers
58. Meryl Streep
59. John Malkovich
60. Jude Law
61. Robert Redford
62. Robert Downey, Jr.
63. Clark Gable
64. James Dean
65. Cameron Diaz
66. Gene Kelly
67. Eddie Murphy
68. Ingrid Bergman
69. River Phoenix
70. Richard Burton
71. Woody Allen
72. George Clooney
73. Hugh Grant
74. Angelina Jolie
75. Meg Ryan
76. Richard Gere
77. Elizabeth Taylor
78. Oliver Reed
79. Vivian Leigh
80. Dennis Hopper
81. Fred Astaire
82. Judy Garland
83. Ralph Finnes
84. Doris Day
85. Daniel Day-Lewis
86. Grace Kelly
87. Winona Ryder
88. Juliette Binoche
89. Gwyneth Paltrow
90. Gerard Depardieu
91. Julie Christie
92. Amitabh Bachchan
93. Kevin Costner
94. Leonardo DiCaprio
95. Uma Thurmun
96. Wesley Snipes
97. Burt Reynolds
98. Jane Fonda
99. Halle Berry
100. Michael Douglas

In any case I didn't watch it. I don't think very many people take these things so seriously anyway. I certainly don't at least.

What I want to know is, where the hell was Robert Mitchum??!! I mean, this guy was a class actor. Richard Gere gets a mention, but not Mitchum?

Grrrrr....

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"It's just that curry you had last night, Spike. I'm the same. I've got a bum like a Japanese flag."

It's like Ferenc Puskas. Everyone remembers Pele, because he was from Brazil, but no one remembers Puskas, because he was from Hungary and never played in colour, despite his being (arguably) a better player than Pele.