The American Film Institute defines “courtroom drama” as a genre of film in which a system of justice plays a critical role in the film’s narrative. Again, AFI needs to work on their genre definitions and make them more specific because their current definition would include the Pauly Shore movie Jury Duty.

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The American Film Institute defines “gangster films” as a genre that centers on organized crime or maverick criminals in a twentieth century setting. By that awful and vague definition, even a movie like Point Break or Hannibal would be considered a gangster film. The AFI needs to do a better job with its genre definitions.

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The American Film Institute defines “science fiction” as a genre that marries a scientific or technological premise with imaginative speculation. By that definition, Al Gore’s claim that he invented the internet would be eligible for this list.

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The American Film Institute defines “fantasy” as a genre where live-action characters inhabit imagined settings and/or experience situations that transcend the rules of the natural world.

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The American Film Institute defines “mystery” as a genre that revolves around the solution of a crime. This is a too small definition of the genre as it leaves out a great movie that is centered on the mystery of “Rosebud”. Of course, the movie I am referring to is Citizen Kane, a movie twice honored as the best American movie of all time on AFI’s own 100 Years…100 Movies list.

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