AFI #3 - Casablanca (1942)

This was my third time seeing Casablanca, and I honestly can say that this film just gets better and better with every viewing. This repeat viewing was different than that of Citizen Kane mostly because I wasn’t necessarily noticing the subtle nuances of the film but because I’ve grown to appreciate the film as a whole more as I’ve become older and better versed in cinema.

Make no qualms about it; Casablanca is a romantic’s film. Everything from the romanticized setting of Casablanca, Morocco to the doe-eyed Ingrid Bergman makes this film the most idyllic, classic black-and-white romance movie of all time. It almost makes me sick how much of a romantic film this is at times. Whereas with Citizen Kane and The Godfather I can say that everyone would appreciate and be entertained, I can’t say the same about Casablanca. It certainly appeals to a wide audience, but I’m not sure if it is as relevant today as when it came out—unlike the two films that precede it on the AFI top 100 list.

AFI #2 - The Godfather (1972)

The first thing I have to do when writing this is come clean: before now I had never seen Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather. I had heard so many good things, yet I had never gotten around to seeing it and I now understand what all the hype is about. The Godfather is not only a masterpiece of the gang/mafia genre, but of modern cinema as a whole.

Where to begin? I suppose the first thing of note--probably the most blatantly obvious element of the film--is the performances of the entire ensemble cast. My favorites were the two leads: Marlon Brando and Al Pacino. Without a doubt I was more impressed with their performances in The Godfather than almost any other performance in any other movie I've ever seen. With that being said, I wouldn't fight a single person if they made an argument for nearly any member of the entire cast being the most brilliant, as it really is the ensemble that elevates the film into the stratosphere of best films of all-time.