22
   

What films best describe the spirit of the United States of America?

 
 
Roberta
 
  1  
Reply Sat 5 Mar, 2011 05:45 pm
@tsarstepan,
Held not only by the richest of the rich but by those who aspire to be rich.

A mantra held by a lot of corporate America.

chai2
 
  3  
Reply Sat 5 Mar, 2011 06:05 pm
Office Space
0 Replies
 
tsarstepan
 
  1  
Reply Sat 5 Mar, 2011 06:16 pm
@Ceili,
Spaghetti westerns? Interesting connection: a genuinely American genre but these films are mostly Italian productions.
edgarblythe
 
  1  
Reply Sat 5 Mar, 2011 06:18 pm
@tsarstepan,
John Ford's westerns maybe.
0 Replies
 
dyslexia
 
  1  
Reply Sat 5 Mar, 2011 06:29 pm
@tsarstepan,
Paris Texas. an outstanding view of america by a german film-maker.
0 Replies
 
dadpad
 
  1  
Reply Sat 5 Mar, 2011 09:08 pm
Meet the Fokkers
0 Replies
 
msolga
 
  2  
Reply Sun 6 Mar, 2011 01:57 am
@tsarstepan,
Hi, tsar.
I find attempting to "capture the spirit" of any country a pretty tricky thing ... much too hard.
You can have so many different ideas, different sentiments about any one country at any one time.
So many different people, with quite different "spirits" which define them.

But here are some of the films about the US which I have stayed with me, for a variety of different reasons. (I could have included many more!) They all tell us something about the US, the spirit of the people, (past & present-ish) who are the focus of each film, I think.

I hope it's OK to include trailers? (Couldn't help myself! Wink )

Manhattan:




Paris, Texas:



Oh Brother Where Art thou?:



Days of Heaven:





Daniel:



Chinatown:




The Grapes of Wrath:


OmSigDAVID
 
  1  
Reply Sun 6 Mar, 2011 02:05 am
@tsarstepan,
Quote:
What films best describe the spirit of the United States of America?
The Battle of the Bulge
aidan
 
  2  
Reply Sun 6 Mar, 2011 03:06 am
@Ceili,
Glory (one of my favorite movies)




Remember the Titans was a good one about an interesting time in America-(great soundtrack too)

0 Replies
 
OmSigDAVID
 
  1  
Reply Sun 6 Mar, 2011 01:04 pm
Quote:
What films best describe the spirit of the United States of America?
The Patriot





David
0 Replies
 
OmSigDAVID
 
  1  
Reply Sun 6 Mar, 2011 01:10 pm
@tsarstepan,
tsarstepan wrote:
Quote:
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.
Greed is natural.
Greed is logical.
Greed is good.
I encourage it.





David
Rockhead
 
  3  
Reply Sun 6 Mar, 2011 01:25 pm
@OmSigDAVID,
of course you do, dave...
0 Replies
 
Fido
 
  1  
Reply Mon 7 Mar, 2011 09:07 am
@OmSigDAVID,
What ever else greed is; it is not natural, or humanity would not have lasted ten minutes out of the trees... Survival has always been communal, based upon natural relationships, and here I would urge everyone to look at the dictionary definition of the word... In addition, in regard to the larger nature of our environment, greed is anti natural; because what it cannot use, greed destroys... In this fashion, greed is mindless, thoughtless, and without reason... Greed is against humanity, society, nature, and life since it acts without sight or understanding... Greed is a form of insanity all the more protected and accepted because it is thought unavoidable, but it is the curse of huanity only because we do not reject if personally, and finally, socially...
OmSigDAVID
 
  0  
Reply Mon 7 Mar, 2011 09:46 am
@Fido,
Fido wrote:
What ever else greed is; it is not natural,
Surely, your statement is false
and directly OPPOSITE to observations of nature.
Animals will almost always, naturally, seek as much food and comfort for THEMSELVES,
before their fellows. That includes baby humans (humen), most conspicuously.
It is by SELF-seeking that we have survived and prospered.




Fido wrote:
or humanity would not have lasted ten minutes out of the trees...
I DENY that and I challenge u to prove that.



Fido wrote:
Survival has always been communal, based upon natural relationships,
with everyone grabbing as much food n comfort for himself, as he possibly can.
That is the natural way. U allege that it has "always" been communal. Prove that! (U will not because u cannot.)








Fido wrote:
In addition, in regard to the larger nature of our environment, greed is anti natural;
because what it cannot use, greed destroys...
That 's a LIE, Fido!!! All my life, I have been robustly greedy,
but it has never even occurred to me to do that.
I have never done it and I never will; there is no point to that.




Fido wrote:
In this fashion, greed is mindless, thoughtless, and without reason...
That is a bunch of lies against true greed, Fido.
U do not bear true faith.
I can (and I have) applied creative thought to campaigns of greed,
whose purpose was to obtain as much wealth as possible for myself.
I use reason in creating those plans and in excuting them.




Fido wrote:
Greed is against humanity, society, nature, and life since it acts without sight or understanding...
That is both false and a non-sequitur.
Admittedly, greed might be against society.




Fido wrote:
Greed is a form of insanity all the more protected
and accepted because it is thought unavoidable,
also logical and desirable





Fido wrote:
but it is the curse of huanity only because we do not reject if personally, and finally, socially...
I dunno what that means, but I love greed.
I encourage it in everyone.





David

Lash
 
  0  
Reply Mon 7 Mar, 2011 10:01 am
@Roberta,
They obviously have no greedy people in Australia. How virtuous.
OmSigDAVID
 
  2  
Reply Mon 7 Mar, 2011 12:00 pm
@Lash,
Lash wrote:
They obviously have no greedy people in Australia. How virtuous.
Well, I visited there once,
so thay had at least one greedy person there, until I left.





David
tsarstepan
 
  3  
Reply Mon 7 Mar, 2011 12:20 pm
@Lash,
I hear that most of the greedy people of Australia were mauled and eaten by dropbears when they independently went out to search the outback looking for loose pocket change and the chance gold mine.
OmSigDAVID
 
  1  
Reply Mon 7 Mar, 2011 01:06 pm
@tsarstepan,
Did thay FIND anything?
0 Replies
 
Pemerson
 
  2  
Reply Mon 7 Mar, 2011 03:16 pm
True Grit
0 Replies
 
ossobuco
 
  1  
Reply Mon 7 Mar, 2011 05:21 pm
@msolga,
I agree with those (one I haven't seen), and mentioned Days of Heaven myself. Now I'd like to see it again.

Hmmm. Giant..
 

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