The prestigious rankings, as determined by Hollywood insiders, haven't been refreshed in 10 years, though another ballot seems likely.
"It's like the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval," says film historian Leonard Maltin of American Film Institute's list of the 100 greatest movies of all time, which in Hollywood is at the top of everyone's list of favorite movie lists.
The ranking began in 1998 with AFI's 100 Movies, and in subsequent years, the AFI issued one new list a year, branching into subcategories like 100 Laughs, 100 Thrills and 100 Cheers (for inspirational flicks). However, a new list has not been compiled since 2007, when the flagship list of 100 Movies was last updated: Back then, 1,500 Hollywood insiders - Maltin was one, along with Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese - were polled on their big-screen favorites. They were mailed a ballot containing the names of 765 movies and asked to number their top five, then check off 95 others in no particular order; write-ins were welcome.
