Meme The 10 Best American Movies!
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petzipellepingo's journal
The 10 Best American Movies
As per http://fish.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/04/the-10-best-american-movies/?em
It’s Top Ten time again, and like everyone else I have a list, in my case a list of the 10 best American movies ever. Here it is, with brief descriptions and no justifications. Only the first two films are in order. The others are all tied for third.
...
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), directed by William Wyler. Regarded as producer Sam Goldwyn’s masterpiece, this deeply felt study of soldiers coming home after World War II boasts career-best performances by Fredric March (who won an Oscar), Myrna Loy, Teresa Wright, Dana Andrews, Virginia Mayo, Cathy O’Donnell, Hoagy Carmichael and the amazing Harold Russell (two Oscars), a double amputee and first- and last-time (non)actor who played a double amputee.
sunset blvd. (1950), directed by Billy Wilder. Notable for Gloria Swanson’s triumphant comeback performance in a movie that denies her character a comeback, the film also has William Holden doing his “morally-flawed-person-in-an-attractive-package” act to perfection, not to mention the ancillary pleasures of a young, boyish and humorous (world you believe it?) Jack Webb, a self-parodying turn as a director/husband-turned-factotum by Erich von Stroheim, a silent appearance by silent star Buster Keaton and a cameo performance by Cecil B. DeMille playing himself.
Double Indemnity (1944), also directed by Billy Wilder. This time Wilder’s anti-hero — played by Fred MacMurray, who could do tall but weak with the best of them (see “The Apartment,” “The Caine Mutiny” and “Pushover”) — is not dead but dying as he narrates the story into a tape-recorder destined for the ears of his boss, Barton Keyes (the incomparably great Edward G. Robinson).
Shane (1953), directed by George Stevens. In this beautifully photographed western, a laconic, stoic stranger rides in out of nowhere and rides out again ( perhaps mortally wounded) in the same direction, as Joey Starrett ( Brandon De Wilde) implores him to “come back, Shane.” In between, Shane (Alan Ladd, in the performance of his life), a man at once steely and sentimental, hard-edged and effeminate, becomes the love object of almost everyone in the movie. Joey loves Shane; his father (a tree-like Van Heflin) loves Shane; his mother (Jean Arthur, luminous in a role she disliked) loves Shane; the cowhand played by Ben Johnson learns to love Shane; and even Wilson, the gunman portrayed so memorably by Jack Palance in a breakthrough role, loves Shane in the way one can love one’s mirror image.
Red River (1948), directed by Howard Hawks, is not elegiac but looks forward to the days when western beef will supply eastern tables. But before that can happen, there has to be the first cattle drive, and its adventures and obstacles provide the plot for this film. The real center, however, is once again the love and hate relationships among the key characters.
Raging Bull (1980), directed by Martin Scorsese. Tom Dunson, in “Red River,” almost brings everything he has fought for and loved down on his head, but is redeemed at the last moment. Nothing redeems Jake La Motta (Robert De Niro, in an Oscar-winning performance ), who can find the worm in any apparently happy situation and who systematically drives away everyone who cares for him with the same relentless brutality he displays in the ring. Anything can set him off, even a steak that may or may not be overdone; and if there is nothing in view, he can make it the provocation up, as he does when he accuses his brother (Joe Pesci) of betraying him with his wife (Cathy Moriarty). For La Motta, rage is the default condition, the ordinary, everyday emotion; anything else is an anomaly he cannot abide and he soon removes it.
Vertigo (1958), directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Here again is a love that destroys, not in the form of rage, but in the form of obsession and control. Hitchcock was one of two directors (the other was Anthony Mann in, for example, “The Man from Laramie”) who saw that Jimmy Stewart’s nice guy persona could have a dark side.
Groundhog Day (1993), directed by Harold Ramis. Another Pygmalion story, but this time the material the sculptor works on is himself. Phil Connors (Bill Murray) is a jaded, dyspeptic, arrogant, cynical and obnoxious TV weatherman who on Feb. 2 finds himself covering the emergence of the groundhog in Puxatawney, Pa. When he wakes up the next morning, he finds that it is not the next morning, but Groundhog Day all over again and all over again and all over again. (His own spring will be late.)
Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), directed by Vincente Minnelli. When the calendar finally turns a page in “Groundhog Day” and Phil and Rita walk out of the bed and breakfast to start their new life together, Phil says, “Let’s live here,” which means let’s live in small-town America, where everyone knows everyone else and everyone takes care everyone else. In “Meet Me in St. Louis,” the characters already live there (yes, St. Louis is a city, but in this movie it’s a neighborhood), and the plot centers on the question (not exactly burning) of whether or not they will be able to stay.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945), directed by Elia Kazan. Another happy family, but this one maintains its closeness despite the obstacles of poverty and a father given to drink who has trouble keeping his job as a singing waiter. In his first directorial effort, Kazan draws incredible performances from Dorothy McGuire as the wife and mother who is so beaten down by life’s hardships that she cannot afford the luxury of emotions; from James Dunn (who won an Oscar) as the dreamer who has nothing to give but love; from Peggy Ann Garner (special Oscar) as the daughter for whom his love is enough; from Joan Blondell as the slightly disreputable but warm hearted Aunt Sissie.
I'm not saying I agree. In fact I found a few of them totally forgettable. While I enjoyed Groundhog Day, BEST?
Anyone else want to give it a go!
petzipellepingo's journalThe 10 Best American Movies
As per http://fish.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/04/the-10-best-american-movies/?em
It’s Top Ten time again, and like everyone else I have a list, in my case a list of the 10 best American movies ever. Here it is, with brief descriptions and no justifications. Only the first two films are in order. The others are all tied for third.
...
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), directed by William Wyler. Regarded as producer Sam Goldwyn’s masterpiece, this deeply felt study of soldiers coming home after World War II boasts career-best performances by Fredric March (who won an Oscar), Myrna Loy, Teresa Wright, Dana Andrews, Virginia Mayo, Cathy O’Donnell, Hoagy Carmichael and the amazing Harold Russell (two Oscars), a double amputee and first- and last-time (non)actor who played a double amputee.
sunset blvd. (1950), directed by Billy Wilder. Notable for Gloria Swanson’s triumphant comeback performance in a movie that denies her character a comeback, the film also has William Holden doing his “morally-flawed-person-in-an-attractive-package” act to perfection, not to mention the ancillary pleasures of a young, boyish and humorous (world you believe it?) Jack Webb, a self-parodying turn as a director/husband-turned-factotum by Erich von Stroheim, a silent appearance by silent star Buster Keaton and a cameo performance by Cecil B. DeMille playing himself.
Double Indemnity (1944), also directed by Billy Wilder. This time Wilder’s anti-hero — played by Fred MacMurray, who could do tall but weak with the best of them (see “The Apartment,” “The Caine Mutiny” and “Pushover”) — is not dead but dying as he narrates the story into a tape-recorder destined for the ears of his boss, Barton Keyes (the incomparably great Edward G. Robinson).
Shane (1953), directed by George Stevens. In this beautifully photographed western, a laconic, stoic stranger rides in out of nowhere and rides out again ( perhaps mortally wounded) in the same direction, as Joey Starrett ( Brandon De Wilde) implores him to “come back, Shane.” In between, Shane (Alan Ladd, in the performance of his life), a man at once steely and sentimental, hard-edged and effeminate, becomes the love object of almost everyone in the movie. Joey loves Shane; his father (a tree-like Van Heflin) loves Shane; his mother (Jean Arthur, luminous in a role she disliked) loves Shane; the cowhand played by Ben Johnson learns to love Shane; and even Wilson, the gunman portrayed so memorably by Jack Palance in a breakthrough role, loves Shane in the way one can love one’s mirror image.
Red River (1948), directed by Howard Hawks, is not elegiac but looks forward to the days when western beef will supply eastern tables. But before that can happen, there has to be the first cattle drive, and its adventures and obstacles provide the plot for this film. The real center, however, is once again the love and hate relationships among the key characters.
Raging Bull (1980), directed by Martin Scorsese. Tom Dunson, in “Red River,” almost brings everything he has fought for and loved down on his head, but is redeemed at the last moment. Nothing redeems Jake La Motta (Robert De Niro, in an Oscar-winning performance ), who can find the worm in any apparently happy situation and who systematically drives away everyone who cares for him with the same relentless brutality he displays in the ring. Anything can set him off, even a steak that may or may not be overdone; and if there is nothing in view, he can make it the provocation up, as he does when he accuses his brother (Joe Pesci) of betraying him with his wife (Cathy Moriarty). For La Motta, rage is the default condition, the ordinary, everyday emotion; anything else is an anomaly he cannot abide and he soon removes it.
Vertigo (1958), directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Here again is a love that destroys, not in the form of rage, but in the form of obsession and control. Hitchcock was one of two directors (the other was Anthony Mann in, for example, “The Man from Laramie”) who saw that Jimmy Stewart’s nice guy persona could have a dark side.
Groundhog Day (1993), directed by Harold Ramis. Another Pygmalion story, but this time the material the sculptor works on is himself. Phil Connors (Bill Murray) is a jaded, dyspeptic, arrogant, cynical and obnoxious TV weatherman who on Feb. 2 finds himself covering the emergence of the groundhog in Puxatawney, Pa. When he wakes up the next morning, he finds that it is not the next morning, but Groundhog Day all over again and all over again and all over again. (His own spring will be late.)
Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), directed by Vincente Minnelli. When the calendar finally turns a page in “Groundhog Day” and Phil and Rita walk out of the bed and breakfast to start their new life together, Phil says, “Let’s live here,” which means let’s live in small-town America, where everyone knows everyone else and everyone takes care everyone else. In “Meet Me in St. Louis,” the characters already live there (yes, St. Louis is a city, but in this movie it’s a neighborhood), and the plot centers on the question (not exactly burning) of whether or not they will be able to stay.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945), directed by Elia Kazan. Another happy family, but this one maintains its closeness despite the obstacles of poverty and a father given to drink who has trouble keeping his job as a singing waiter. In his first directorial effort, Kazan draws incredible performances from Dorothy McGuire as the wife and mother who is so beaten down by life’s hardships that she cannot afford the luxury of emotions; from James Dunn (who won an Oscar) as the dreamer who has nothing to give but love; from Peggy Ann Garner (special Oscar) as the daughter for whom his love is enough; from Joan Blondell as the slightly disreputable but warm hearted Aunt Sissie.
I'm not saying I agree. In fact I found a few of them totally forgettable. While I enjoyed Groundhog Day, BEST?
Anyone else want to give it a go!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-06 01:32 pm (UTC)Jaws is my favorite movie, evah. Don't ask me why. I have no clue *g*
(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-06 01:57 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-06 01:59 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-06 02:02 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-06 02:27 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-06 02:30 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-06 02:32 pm (UTC)I have movies I'll never watch again because they traumatized me!
(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-06 02:41 pm (UTC)Dark City, just loved it
The Crow, the original with Brandon Lee
L.A. Confidential
(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-06 02:42 pm (UTC)Braveheart - can never watch it again
NEVER
(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-06 02:51 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-06 02:53 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-06 03:02 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-06 01:42 pm (UTC)LOL!
(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-06 01:55 pm (UTC)About Stanley Fish
Stanley Fish is the Davidson-Kahn Distinguished University Professor and a professor of law at Florida International University, in Miami, and dean emeritus of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He has also taught at the University of California at Berkeley, Johns Hopkins and Duke University. He is the author of 10 books.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-06 01:58 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-06 02:13 pm (UTC)Still makes for great discussion, though.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-06 01:56 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-06 02:15 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-06 02:22 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-06 03:26 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-06 06:03 pm (UTC)The movies on this list, for the most part, are quite old. Could be said they have moved into Classic status I guess.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-06 04:05 pm (UTC)But I believe there are many other movies that should be in this list! Usual suspects, I'm with you! And other of course..
(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-06 06:05 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-07 12:10 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-07 06:56 am (UTC)