'Mystic,' 'Splendor' on AFI 10-best list
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Hope Davis and Paul Giamatti in "American Splendor."
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LOS ANGELES, California (Hollywood Reporter) -- The American Film Institute has anointed 10 movies -- ranging from "American Splendor," the biopic of eccentric comic book author Harvey Pekar, to "Mystic River," Clint Eastwood's brooding look at dual tragedies afflicting a tightknit Boston community -- as its top motion pictures of the year.
It has also singled out 10 television programs -- ranging from the globe-trotting spy series, "Alias," to the Baltimore-set crime saga, "The Wire."
The AFI's fourth annual movie list was evenly divided between studio and indie fare, with the latter including:
• HBO Films/Fine Line Features' "American Splendor," directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini;
• Miramax Films' "The Human Stain," director Robert Benton's adaptation of the Philip Roth novel about the price of political correctness;
• Fox Searchlight's "In America," writer-director Jim Sheridan's semiautobiographical study of a family of Irish immigrants newly arrived in New York;
• Focus Features' "Lost in Translation," writer-director Sofia Coppola's tale of two Americans adrift in Tokyo; and
• Newmarket Films' "Monster," writer-director Patty Jenkins' account of the life of serial killer Aileen Wuornos.
The films chosen from major distributors include:
• the animated fish tale, "Finding Nemo," from Pixar/Disney and directors Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich;
• Warner Bros. Pictures' "The Last Samurai," the Japanese martial arts epic from director Edward Zwick;
• New Line Cinema's "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," filmmaker Peter Jackson's third installment in his J.R.R. Tolkien trilogy;
• 20th Century Fox/Universal Pictures/Miramax's "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World," Peter Weir's adaptation of two of Patrick O'Brian's nautical novels; and
• Warners' "Mystic River," Eastwood's adaptation of the Dennis Lehane novel.
On the TV side, only one series, the CBS family comedy "Everybody Loves Raymond," repeated from last year's list. The AFI list, which is based on the calendar year, and thus bridges two TV seasons, includes eight series. They are:
• ABC's "Alias";
• "Arrested Development," Fox's sitcom about an upscale, dysfunctional family;
• CBS's "Raymond";
• CBS's "Joan of Arcadia," a drama about a young girl who talks to God, who appears to her in various guises;
• FX's "Nip/Tuck," a warts-and-all series about two plastic surgeons;
• ESPN's "Playmakers," the series about a pro football team;
• Fox's "24," the hour-by-hour terrorist thriller; and
• HBO's "The Wire."
Two TV movies also earned a slot: HBO's six-hour "Angels in America," Mike Nichols' adaptation of the Tony Kushner play about AIDS in the age of Reagan; and Showtime's "A Soldier's Girl," director Frank Pierson's account of a young soldier who was murdered by his fellow soldiers for falling in love with a transgendered performer.
The lists were debated and voted on by two panels of 13 individuals each -- comprised of scholars, artists, critics and AFI trustees -- that met during the weekend in Los Angeles.
"I think that there was a sense that great storytelling is really coming into a very strong time," AFI director and CEO Jean Picker Firstenberg said. "All art is, of course, cyclical, but both juries seemed to feel that there were interesting stories that they were pleased to recognize."
The AFI list is fairly predictive of films in the running for Academy Award nominations. Last year, the AFI's list of 10 included four films that went on to garner best picture nominations -- "Chicago," "Gangs of New York," "The Hours" and "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers." However, it failed to anticipate "The Pianist," also nominated for an Oscar.
Among the Oscar-touted films that did not make the AFI list this year were Miramax's "Cold Mountain" and Universal's "Seabiscuit."
Miramax's "Human Stain," which many observers had written off after it stalled at the box office amid poor reviews -- it has grossed just over $5 million domestically -- was arguably the most unexpected choice.
The creative teams behind each of the films and TV programs will be honored at a luncheon January 22 at the Four Seasons Hotel.
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Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
