I recently responded to a poll suggestion on the IMDb Daily Poll board regarding a particular blog claiming to list the 10 best films to "[capture] the American spirit the best[.]"
The following 20 films is an arbitrary pick of mine that best fits the criteria: films that capture the American spirit the best?
12 Angry Men (1957)
All the President's Men (1976)
Bowling for Columbine (2002)
City of Hope (1991)
Clerks. (1994)
Election (1999)
Gettysburg (1993)
Hoosiers (1986)
Inherit the Wind (1960)
Inside Job (2010)
Man Push Cart (2005)
Michael Clayton (2007)
Milk (2008)
Network (1976)
Pale Rider (1985)
Quiz Show (1994)
Rachel Getting Married (2008)
Super-Size Me (2004)
There Will Be Blood (2007)
Up in the Air (2009)
What films do you think can be used to describe the spirit of those living (past and present) in the United States?
Born on the Fourth of July
Life Stinks
The Apartment
Sergeant York
0 Replies
tsarstepan
1
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Sat 5 Mar, 2011 09:43 am
@djjd62,
The Aristocrats is a great example of pop culture one upmanship. Creators of movies and television vie to outshock and awe their audience with each successive horror or teenage targeted comedy film or white trash based reality TV show.
Don't get me wrong. I still think The Aristocrats is a great documentary about one of the grossest jokes of all time.
I was thinking about putting on The Natural on my list. It deals with corruption, baseball, perseverance, and dames. Yep. Follows the spirit of the USA.
0 Replies
contrex
1
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Sat 5 Mar, 2011 12:48 pm
I forgot "Super Size Me".
0 Replies
aidan
1
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Sat 5 Mar, 2011 01:12 pm
Fried Green Tomatoes
I recognize this place and these people from my childhood:
0 Replies
engineer
3
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Sat 5 Mar, 2011 02:18 pm
@tsarstepan,
How about Forrest Gump?
0 Replies
ossobuco
1
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Sat 5 Mar, 2011 03:37 pm
I was thinking of Days of Heaven, but I don't really remember the storyline - rather, the photography. (I'm thinking it was Nestor Almendros, not sure.)
Grapes of Wrath, but I figure I liked the book better (hard to remember but it is likely I did)
Breakfast at Tiffany's
Some film noirs, will have to look to review the titles. Mmm, Strangers on a Train. Don't know if that counts as noir.
Not so much about american spirit, but the movie making. Movie making is in my family background, for good or ill, but it is also part of the psyche of average american joe, us, that we see our lives sometimes as movies. Of course, so do many other people from many other countries think of their lives sometimes as movies, but we're the best at it, I bet.
0 Replies
Fido
2
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Sat 5 Mar, 2011 04:27 pm
@tsarstepan,
tsarstepan wrote:
I recently responded to a poll suggestion on the IMDb Daily Poll board regarding a particular blog claiming to list the 10 best films to "[capture] the American spirit the best[.]"
The following 20 films is an arbitrary pick of mine that best fits the criteria: films that capture the American spirit the best?
12 Angry Men (1957)
All the President's Men (1976)
Bowling for Columbine (2002)
City of Hope (1991)
Clerks. (1994)
Election (1999)
Gettysburg (1993)
Hoosiers (1986)
Inherit the Wind (1960)
Inside Job (2010)
Man Push Cart (2005)
Michael Clayton (2007)
Milk (2008)
Network (1976)
Pale Rider (1985)
Quiz Show (1994)
Rachel Getting Married (2008)
Super-Size Me (2004)
There Will Be Blood (2007)
Up in the Air (2009)
What films do you think can be used to describe the spirit of those living (past and present) in the United States?
I would suggest: China Town... It's China Town, and the curruption os wealth is complete..
I am not a destroyer of companies. I am a liberator of them! The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right, greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit.
A very brutal mantra held by the richest of the rich.
I've always thought football movies were a pretty good indication of American spirit, after all, it's almost a religion. Or Clint Eastwood flicks, and spaghetti westerns.
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