July 4th Movie Marathon

[zymurg]

Last year I posted a list of quality films celebrating the American Experience. I thought I Might attempt
the same quality performance this year. So in no particular order; here we go.

1.) Yankee Doodle Dandy This is Jimmy Cagney's academy Award film. It purports to be a biopic of George
M. Cohan. He wrote: "It's a Grand Old Flag", "Over There" and my personal favorite "Give My Regards to Broadway."

2. "The Producers" Lists like these are generally comedy deficient. That's what Mel Brooks would claim.
I am recommending his first take not the later full on musical. This laugh out loud funny film offers
great performances by Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder, and celebrates the con. It seems to me that con
games are particularly American crimes dating back to P.T. Barnum.

3. "Drums Along the Mohawk" There are few films which document the early years of the republic. This is
one of the finest. John Ford was pretty much a total dick, but he was a great director. This is the story
of a young couple who venture out West in this case, Oriskany Falls, New York. Indians, Tories, very early
Technicolor make this worth watching. Henry Fonda and Claudette Colbert star in this classic.

4. "Moscow on the Hudson" is an immigrant comedy by Lawrence Kasdan. When the Moscow Circus
comes to the US, a saxaphone player defects in Bloomingdales. Robin Williams as the defector gives for him a nuanced performance. The film does a very good job depicting a mosaic of urban America. The
difficulties of making it in the USA are not downplayed, but it is very positive about the immigrants contributions and how they become Americans. Kasdan's "Grand Canyon" is worth a look.

5. "Glory" has gone up and down in critic's estimation; I've always liked the film. This is a fictionalized
bit of US history. It tells the story of the 55th Massachucetts regiment in the Civil War. The "colored"
regiment was commanded by white officers. The film doesn't back away from many clear issues of
unequal treatment, yet, the tone not angry, but hopeful. The sacrifices made by these soldiers were not in vain.

6. "Dances with Wolves" I wanted a film about the West which was respectful about Indians. That is hard to
find. This is a good, but not great film. It also is a bit of a downer, the Indians and their culture are crushed.

I will return with part II of the list.

 

[zymurg]

7. "The Grapes of Wrath" is one of the all time great American films. John Ford's adaptation of Steinbeck's novel is really excellent.
Henry Fonda is great as Tom Joad. No punches are pulled in the depiction of the dust bowl and the plight of the Oakies. Jane Darwell and John Carrradine are excellent in major supporting roles. The film ending provides a little hope of a better country.

8. "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" is one of Frank Capra's best films. Jimmy Stewart plays a honest guy who becomes a US Senator.
He tries to expose corruption among the powerful. He is forced to defend himself via the fillabuster. Jean Arthur and Thomas Mitchell
as world weary cynics are converted. Claude Rains does a star turn as a corrupt senior senator.
9. "To Kill a Mockingbird" is an interesting case. It is Harper Lee's only novel; the film raised it to iconic standards. Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch is a soft spoken American Hero. He shoots and kills a rabid dog. He tries to save an unjustly accused black man from judicial murder.
The story centers around a group of children observing the adult world. When "Scout" Finch is attacked she is saved by the mysterious
Boo Radley. The child actors are excellent, but they vanished after this film. The film still works well.

10. "October Sky" is another coming of age story. A group of high school students in Coalwood, West Virginia witness Sputnik and try
to build their own rocket. Laura Dern plays the concerned ill teacher; Jake Gyllenhaal plays Homer Hickam, the central young character.
This is a true story and this group of outsiders do build their rocket and amazingly go on to careers in science.

11. "The Longest Day" is the story of the D Day invasion of Normandy. It is hard to think of a major US or British Star of the early 1960's
who doesn't appear in the film. Darryl Zanuck adapted Cornelius Ryan's book for the screen. The production was so massive that
Zannuck got actual military units for certain scenes. If you are buying this film, I highly recommend The Cinema Classics edition;
this includes an entire disc of extras.

12."All the President's Men" is one of my favorite films. Few people watch it any more; the outlines of the Watergate Scandal are
known to most, but the details have mostly vanished. This is a cracking good story; Redford and Hoffman are perfectly cast as
Woodward and Bernstein. It holds up really well.
13. Extras sports films (one of my favorite genres) "Field of Dreams" , "Hoosiers", "Believe in Me", "Rocky", "A League of Their Own."
"Friday Night Lights." These are all feel good films, and this is a genre of films which Americans watch and make regularly. European critics typically scorn/downplay these films.

 

[temery]

Great list. I'll look up the ones I haven't seen. I really do appreciate your timely posts.

Here's my pet peeve: Not one channel on my cable system is running any of these, nor are they running any movie that is related to US history, or US independence.

EDIT: The History channel is running a short series that may be worth watching. But I can't believe other channels aren't taking advantage of this opportunity.

 

[dbmill]

Last year I posted a list of quality films celebrating the American Experience. I thought I Might attempt
the same quality performance this year. So in no particular order; here we go.

1.) Yankee Doodle Dandy This is Jimmy Cagney's academy Award film. It purports to be a biopic of George
M. Cohan. He wrote: "It's a Grand Old Flag", "Over There" and my personal favorite "Give My Regards to Broadway."

2. "The Producers" Lists like these are generally comedy deficient. That's what Mel Brooks would claim.
I am recommending his first take not the later full on musical. This laugh out loud funny film offers
great performances by Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder, and celebrates the con. It seems to me that con
games are particularly American crimes dating back to P.T. Barnum.

3. "Drums Along the Mohawk" There are few films which document the early years of the republic. This is
one of the finest. John Ford was pretty much a total , but he was a great director. This is the story
of a young couple who venture out West in this case, Oriskany Falls, New York. Indians, Tories, very early
Technicolor make this worth watching. Henry Fonda and Claudette Colbert star in this classic.

4. "Moscow on the Hudson" is an immigrant comedy by Lawrence Kasdan. When the Moscow Circus
comes to the US, a saxaphone player defects in Bloomingdales. Robin Williams as the defector gives for him a nuanced performance. The film does a very good job depicting a mosaic of urban America. The
difficulties of making it in the USA are not downplayed, but it is very positive about the immigrants contributions and how they become Americans. Kasdan's "Grand Canyon" is worth a look.

5. "Glory" has gone up and down in critic's estimation; I've always liked the film. This is a fictionalized
bit of US history. It tells the story of the 55th Massachucetts regiment in the Civil War. The "colored"
regiment was commanded by white officers. The film doesn't back away from many clear issues of
unequal treatment, yet, the tone not angry, but hopeful. The sacrifices made by these soldiers were not in vain.

6. "Dances with Wolves" I wanted a film about the West which was respectful about Indians. That is hard to
find. This is a good, but not great film. It also is a bit of a downer, the Indians and their culture are crushed.

I will return with part II of the list.

Yankee Doodle Dandy is indeed a great movie carried by Cagney's amazing performance and great support from Walter Huston. However, you are right in that it purports to be Cohen's biography. Not very accurate at all, from what I understand.

 

[dbmill]

Great list. I'll look up the ones I haven't seen. I really do appreciate your timely posts.

Here's my pet peeve: Not one channel on my cable system is running any of these, nor are they running any movie that is related to US history, or US independence.

EDIT: The History channel is running a short series that may be worth watching. But I can't believe other channels aren't taking advantage of this opportunity.

I believe Turner Classic Movies is running Yankee Doodle Dandy today. Great channel, it's too bad if you can't get that one.

 

[partial]

No list is complete without that great documentary Independence Day which tells the story of how will smith and jeff goldblum defeated aliens what seems like only a short time ago to make today everyone's independence day.

 

[John]

This weekend I watched American Graffiti, and it felt very American to do so. Love that movie.

 

[meyers7]

Watched Walking Dead Marathon last weekend. If killing zombies isn't 'Murican, I don't know what is.

 

[Waquoit]

2. "The Producers" Lists like these are generally comedy deficient. That's what Mel Brooks would claim.
I am recommending his first take not the later full on musical. This laugh out loud funny film offers
great performances by Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder, and celebrates the con. It seems to me that con
games are particularly American crimes dating back to P.T. Barnum.

Dick Shawn was hilarious. He should have been a bigger star.

 

[Waquoit]

7. "The Grapes of Wrath" is one of the all time great American films. John Ford's adaptation of Steinbeck's novel is really excellent.
Henry Fonda is great as Tom Joad. No punches are pulled in the depiction of the dust bowl and the plight of the Oakies. Jane Darwell and John Carrradine are excellent in major supporting roles. The film ending provides a little hope of a better country.

"The Grapes of Wrath" is a great film I have no desire to ever watch again. Others in that category for me are Raging Bull and Brazil.