Genres will be the focus of this year's "AFI's 100 Years" series, announced Thursday.Film org will count down the top 10 films in 10 selected categories; "AFI's 10 Top 10" will tally up the institute's top picks in animation, fantasy, science fiction, gangster, Western, sports, romantic comedy, courtroom drama, mystery and epic film genres.

 

"AFI's 10 Top 10" will be revealed in a live CBS telecast in June.

 

AFI distributed a ballot Thursday with 50 films per genre to a jury of more than 1,500 leaders from the film community, including helmers, thesps, critics and historians.

 

Only feature-length American films will be eligible for the lists, and AFI has asked jurors to consider critical recognition, awards record, popularity over time, historical significance and cultural impact in their voting.

 

"We look forward to catalyzing a national conversation. The ultimate goal of this program is to drive audiences to discover and rediscover the classics of American film," said AFI prexy-CEO Bob Gazzale.

 

Films on the ballot for consideration include "Pinocchio" and "Shrek" for animation; "King Kong" (1933) and "The Lord of the Rings" for fantasy; "The War of the Worlds" (1953) and "The Matrix" for sci-fi; "Scarface" (1932) and "The Departed" for gangster pic; "The Searchers" and "Unforgiven" for Western; "The Pride of the Yankees" and "Seabiscuit" for sports movie; "It Happened One Night" and "My Best Friend's Wedding" for romantic comedy; "Witness for the Prosecution" and "A Few Good Men" for courtroom drama; "Sherlock Holmes" and "The Usual Suspects" for mystery; and "Ben-Hur" (1959) and "Braveheart" for epics.

-Variety

The Matrix definitely deserves recognition. If they had left it as a single movie, I think it would have gone down as one of the most innovative and fascinating movies.

Daparted, A Few Good Men, Usual Suspects... A few of my personal favorites right there. :thumbup