The interesting thing about the list is trying to decide how consensus forms -- Placing Raging Bull at #4 is completely out of character with the list as a whole -- it's as if mainstream film lovers have decided it's the 'edgy' film to embrace for a little street cred, so we can feel less guilty about The Sound of Music. You can almost feel the herd moving in these 10 years. Is Birth of a Nation too politically incorrect in the 21st Century? Let's just replace it with Intolerance.
So the list should be best studied as an exercise in groupthink: Citizen Kane has to be #1 not because people actually love the film (save that for Casablanca), but because it's been #1 in every list like this for thirty years. Citizen Kane is and should be prized for its audacity and its technique, but it's not an especially likeable film. Want proof? Compared to the Godfather, how often is it on television? I watch Citizen Kane every now and then for the same reason I eat Raisin Bran, and I feel about the same afterwards.
Anyhow, this is a Filmspotting group, so here's the top 5s
Most egregious exclusions: The Right Stuff, McCabe and Mrs. Miller, Manhattan, Amadeus, National Lampoon's Animal House (Bonus exclusion: Mulholland Drive not even on AFI ballot)
Most egregious inclusions: Titanic, Sixth Sense, Easy Rider, Forrest Gump, The French Connection
Belongs on list, but overvalued: Wizard of Oz (10), City Lights (11), Grapes of Wrath (23), E.T. (24), High Noon (27)
Belongs on list, but undervalued: The Graduate(17), Godfather Part II (32), Philadelphia Story (44), Unforgiven (68), Goodfellas (92)
Best new surprises: Cabaret, Blade Runner, Last Picture Show, All the President's Men, Do the Right Thing
Worst new surprises: Fellowship of the Ring, Shawshank Redemption, Toy Story, In the Heat of the Night, 12 Angry Men
Seeded just about right: Lawrence of Arabia (7), Sunset Boulevard (16) All About Eve (28), Bonnie and Clyde (42), Pulp Fiction (94)