American Film Institute otherwise known as AFI has officially announced their top ten movies and TV programs for this years 2010 AFI AWARDS. Every year AFI celebrates the most outstanding achievements in film, television, and other forms of the moving image arts. They consider themselves… “the only recognition that honors the community’s creative ensembles as a whole, acknowledging the collaborative nature of the art form. Honorees are selected based on works which best advance the art of the moving image; enhance the rich cultural heritage of America’s art form; inspire audiences and artists alike; and/or make a mark on American society.”
If that’s so then they’ve truly fucked one thing up, where the hell is Blue Valentine ??? Check out their top ten below…
AFI MOVIES OF THE YEAR
- Black Swan
- The Fighter
- Inception
- The Kid’s Are Alright
- 127 Hours
- The Social Network
- The Town
- Toy Story 3
- True Grit
- Winter’s Bone
AFI TV PROGRAMS OF THE YEAR
- “The Big C”
- “Boardwalk Empire”
- “Breaking Bad”
- “Glee”
- “Mad Men”
- “Modern Family”
- “The Pacific”
- “Temple Grandin”
- “30 Rock”
- “The Walking Dead”
AFI SPECIAL AWARDS
Aside from the fact that Inception should not be on this list and I still don’t understand how “The Walking Dead” is being seem as anything other than cheesy entertainment masquerading as something deeper than it is (at least “True Blood” is honest!), I can at least understand why they’re on the list. What I don’t understand is how they have dropped the ball on Blue Valentine, a film far superior than a number of the others picked.
I’m not sure who has paid who to keep Blue Valentine out of the Independent Film Spirit Awards and now the AFI Awards, but if these are signs of what we’ll be seeing at the Oscars I have a few strongly worded letters to get to writing. Hopefully the AFI jury of “scholars, film and television artists, critics and AFI Trustees” will have more taste than those who picked the best films. And those jurors include:
AFI JURY FOR MOTION PICTURES
- Tom Pollock: Chair, AFI Awards Jury for Motion Pictures | AFI Board of Trustees | Producer
- Jeanine Basinger: Wesleyan University
- Donn Cambern: Editor
- Diablo Cody: Writer/Producer
- Lee Daniels: Director/Producer
- Jane Gaines: Columbia University
- Bob Gazzale: American Film Institute
- Akira Mizuta Lippit: University of Southern California
- Leonard Maltin: Leonard Maltin’s Movie Crazy/ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT
- Elvis Mitchell: THE TREATMENT/AT THE MOVIES
- Claudia Puig: USA Today
- Lisa Schwarzbaum: Entertainment Weekly
- Michael Wood: Princeton University
AFI JURY FOR TELEVISION
- Richard Frank: Chair, AFI Jury for Television | AFI Board of Trustees | Producer
- Steven Bochco: Producer/Writer
- Bob Gazzale: American Film Institute
- Marshall Herskovitz | AFI Board of Trustees | Producer/Writer/Director
- Jennifer Love Hewitt: Actor/Producer
- Henry Jenkins: University of Southern California
- Anna McCarthy: New York University
- Mary McNamara: Los Angeles Times
- James Poniewozik: Time Magazine
- Matt Roush: TV Guide Magazine
- Maureen RyanAOL
- John Shaffner: AFI Board of Trustees | Chairman and CEO, Academy of Television Arts & Sciences | Production Designer
- Janet Staiger: University of Texas at Austin