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Published on Monday, July 3, 2006 - 5:36am

AICN's 10th Anniversary Article! AICN Picks The Greatest Films About America!!

Edited by “Moriarty”

With Special Material from Harry, Moriarty, Hercules The Strong, Quint, Rav, Annette Kellerman, Capone, Vern, Neill Cumpston, John Robie, Dr. Hfhurrhurr, Cbabbitt, Tom Joad, Edgard, Elston Gunn and More!!

I thought I’d take this opportunity to congratulate everyone who has contributed to Ain’t It Cool News, from July 3, 1996 to today. And to thank you. And to thank Harry. Because it has been a genuine pleasure to share nine full years (in my case) of online conversation with all of you. Yes. Even the assholes. And you know who you are.

There is something incredible about being part of any creative enterprise that reaches a decade of continuous work. Ain’t It Cool is... whatever it is... and continues to simply work of its own accord no matter what any one person attempts to do with or to it. When people talk about Ain’t It Cool as a single thing or a single opinion or a single personality, they’re missing the point. It’s not. Ain’t It Cool News is not any one thing. When Harry started what he started, it wasn’t like anything else. Patrick Sauriol’s Coming Attractions was already online, and it worked a certain way, and Patrick had a great thing going. But Harry’s site had a whole different personality from day one.

Can I be honest with you? When I first read it, I was unimpressed. I knew Harry from newsgroups and chatrooms, and I thought he was a pretty sharp and opinionated cat. Pretty much just like most of us who were hanging out and chatting about movies online in 1994 and 1995. There are people I still see bouncing around online now who were online then. Some have gone on to use the Internet to carve out a space for themselves, and some just sort of bounce around, posting on other people’s sites and boards. And of course, a lot of faces have vanished since those days, and any number of new faces have come along as well. But back then, when this site first went live, I already had a fundamental disagreement with Harry. On a very important life or death topic.

Remember the old background? The INDEPENDENCE DAY wallpaper with the White House blowing up? The one that Harry put behind all the individual articles starting today? Well, Harry was totally gay for INDEPENDENCE DAY a full year before it came out. You know how he is now when he loves a movie. Like... oh... I don’t know... SUPERMAN, let’s say. There’s no arguing with a man in love. Harry goes giddy like a guy in a musical from the ‘40s. He’s like that with Yoko these days, which is how we all know it’s the real deal for him. When he falls, he falls. And when he was singing the praises of INDEPENDENCE DAY because he’d read the script, I would argue with him vehemently that it was going to be a piece of shit because I had also read the script. I told him that MARS ATTACKS! was going to be a far better film, that the script by Jonathan Gems and Alexander & Karaszewski was by far the better of the two scripts. And we argued everywhere we came into contact with each other. In those chat rooms. In those newsgroups. I totally rabidly disagreed with him, and he with I. And, as with most things, I was totally right.

Or he was. Depends how you look at it.

And that’s why I finally broke down. I had to argue with Harry on his own website. I sent him some letters correcting him on things and telling him new things, and he started running my letters. And once he gave me a spy name, it gave me a place to vent my thoughts about all the scripts that everyone in town was reading anyway. Let me repeat that. EVERYONE I knew had access to the same material I did. It wasn’t like anyone was dumpster diving or breaking and entering. I was working for several different film companies, writing various things, and everyone was always trading scripts, handing things around. And most of the time, when we talked, we talked about all those things, all the shared information. My early work on this site was very different than it is now. I don’t know many people who do what I do these days. Not really. But at the time, it was pretty much all of my friends. A lot of readers. People working for different agencies. If you wanted to read something, you could read it easily. And seeing stuff early? Well, you could go to two or three test screenings a week if you wanted to. We had friends who would give us passes, who knew we came to pretty much everything.

One of the reasons I don’t believe in the sanctity of the test screening process that some journalists would have you believe once existed is because it’s a lie. The system was rotten, and it didn’t work, and I would argue that it’s much less nakedly rotten now. By sticking our faces into it, we forced some major revisions in it, not the least of which was chasing Scumbag Supreme Joe Farrell out of the test-screening business altogether. I’ve always said that I believe a good filmmaker can use the process to make his film better, but the system is designed for the tests to give the studios ammunition against the filmmaker more than anything. More often than not, the test screenings were used as a way to bully a filmmaker, not to assist them. These days, I think that power has shifted back in the right direction, and I think that’s (in part) because we laid so much of the process bare.

I’m sure I could wax nostalgic for days, but we’ve got a very specific purpose here today. Since we’re celebrating our anniversary at the same time that people all over the country are celebrating the 4th of July. Now, I know we’ve got an international readership, and I love that. Getting letters from kids in Korea or from people in the UK or from New Zealand and Australia... that’s one of the genuine joys of working on a site like this one. When I travel out of the country and I meet our readership, it’s always a pleasure. But AICN is a primarily American invention, and as such, I thought I’d revisit an idea I had back in the summer of 2000 in this article, where I made a list of the ten films I thought best summed up America.

Big subject, I know. And no one’s list of ten is going to be the same as anyone else’s, which is one of the reasons this prospect entertained me. I wrote to a list of our past and present contributors and said, “Imagine you’re trying to explain America to someone. What ten films would you show them, and why?” The responses I got are fascinating and illuminating and, in some cases, hilarious, but I think they make for a great read. I want you guys, the talkbackers, to participate, too. Please... tell us what you like or don’t like about these lists. Share lists of your own with us. And also, tell me in talkback what your first memory of AICN is. What brought you here in the first place, and why do you keep coming back? And we may even add a few lists over the next few days if we get entries from old-time AICN’ers like Robogeek, Junior Mintz, Segue Zagnut, Elston Gunn, or Joe Hallenbeck. If you think you should have been part of this article, send your list to me, and we’ll keep posting them as the week continues.

Our first list is from Grande Rojo himself, the man whose face adorns the corner of your screen right now. He hates making lists, which is why I loved the idea of him doing one. He’ll have some additional comments to make at the end of the article, but for now... here’s Headgeek.

HARRY

KING KONG (1933)

Exploitation. The entire country was built upon it.

Exploitation of the land, the resources, the indigenous peoples, the animals and the people you claimed to be exploiting it all for. To me – this film is a metaphor for the very thing that so often dooms us. Best intentions gone wrong. The dream of capturing something that nobody had ever dared to dream of, and unleashing the nightmare on the world. It’s the A-bomb, Capitalism, Showbiz and the poeticizing of it all. They trap the noble, the truly unique, the magic and the foreign with the promise of the All-American Woman. And then there’s the pomposity to believe that our military engineering and technological advantage will save our “All-American Women” – because we believe we’ll always endure, no matter the size of what we face. In the end, the All-American Woman is meant to be with the All-American Man… And no matter the weight of what we as a country have killed, exploited and destroyed the spirit of… We’ll always have our women and the manufactured heights that we believe we sit upon.

ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD (1938)

Charity. The ability to recognize and defeat a corrupt government. To give a brother a dime, to help the little guy out. To fight for what is “right” even if legally arbitrated against. I love the idea of Americans to believe they would actually be able to take action against an oppressive government, that we as a country could overthrow and seize our country back… to right the wrongs of oppression. Come to think of it… Robin Hood was fighting Prince John while the country was distracted by a war in the Middle East. Sigh.

ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN (1976)

This is why the media has to nail lying bastards in control of our country when they catch them doing the evils they do. Liberal Media? Shit – the whole goddamn point of the Media was that it was a separate and protected checks and balance that kept America’s public in on what the real story was. This was the last time the whole goddamn system that the founding fathers set up worked. Since nailing Nixon – the Republican party has brow beaten the media into a hands off – RECORD THE NEWS – don’t MAKE THE NEWS type of limp flaccid dick-tation of whatevery they say. It is the media’s job to hold the bastards accountable – Conservative or Liberal. The bastards must fall.

TREASURE OF SIERRE MADRE (1948)

Greed. The country’s pre-occupation with social climbing based upon financial well-being. There’s Gold out west, thus the Western Expansion. It isn’t so much gold anymore, as much as it is wartime profits by select greedy fucking corporations. How greed can change best friends into enemies. Neighbor against Neighbor. Our fear of foreigners – even when we’re the foreigners. The industrious American adventure in foreign lands seeking profit off that which isn’t his.

CITIZEN KANE (1941)

Why the really great men will never be able to change anything. This film shows how a man that had the best intentions, the financial independence to truly make a difference nationally – could be crushed by the dirty politics of political smear campaigns – and forced to pursue a life in Entertainment and self-indulgence – when he really wanted to help the common man. Citizen Kane is about how the American Dream of fighting for what is right is rewarded with scandal and being torn down if you ever threaten the real powers at be. The film is also about a ton of other brilliant themes – but I’m trying to be brief.

NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968)

The rednecks will end up ruling us all.

DR STRANGELOVE or: HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB (1964)

If our country has to go out in a flash of light, I wish that Slim Pickens would ride it right till that moment of oblivion. I think, sadly, this is more factual than satiric today.

MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON (1939)

The hope that one man can make a difference. That a single senator could raise the red flag and talk sense into the world. That one honest man in Washington could really bring down the political machines, destroy the special interests and make our country free again.

A FACE IN THE CROWD (1957)

Rush Limbaugh, Anne Coulter, Talk Radio, Talk Shows, media as a distraction, a brainwashing tool – a machine of propaganda. Made nearly 50 years ago – this is the best Elia Kazan film every made. Hands down. This is and our next film… are our public reality. All just a series of entertaining diversions that are meant to keep your mind on what you need to purchase, who you need to vote for and what you should be thinking about – that “they” want you to be thinking about. Taken in tandem with…

NATURAL BORN KILLERS (1994)

This film – you see ludicrous media exploitation of criminals as entertainers, the titillation of homicide and death. Cult of personality, of becoming famous by any means necessary. A brilliant film about what journalism has begun to turn into. Of what we as country get preoccupied with. Let’s pay attention to Mickey & Mallory, but god forbid we talk about a decent fucking health plan. It’s hard to pick just one Oliver Stone film for this list – but more than his Vietnam films – or – his overt Political films – this movie nails so much that is wrong with modern society – it isn’t even funny.

Now, Capone got invited to the party a little late, as did a few other of the people in this article, but I blame that weird last-minute London trip last week. It’s my fault, though, and the fact that they actually turned their lists around as fast as they did only makes me love them more.

Capone

Hey, Drew. Capone in Chicago here. I’ve decided to turn your fuck-up into a challenge. Rather than take the better part of the day trying to overanalyze your request, I’ve given myself exactly one hour to pick the 10 films, which I am not allowed to change once I’ve settled on them. I’m sure tomorrow, I’ll think of 10 better ones, but I’ve often found that going with my first impulse results in some of my best work. In addition, I’m limited my choices to films released within my lifetime (with one notable exception). No matter how much I study U.S. history or how many Frank Capra movies I watch, it was the films I saw with the rest of America in the theatres when they were new that influenced me the most and that I have the best grasp of their “American” qualities. Please feel free to print this introduction (I’d like it if you did). Dissect them at your leisure, in no particular order, here are my choices on movies that define American in all its glory and shame:

NASHVILLE (1975), dir. Robert Altman—An epic offering that highlights everything American behavior and fascinations better than just about any film ever made. We love our country music, especially the songs that have no feeling behind them; we love to worship heroes blindly; and we adore talking over each other. The film is as cynical as it is celebratory. When I re-examine this film (which I do about once a year), I find new things to love and new levels to uncover. And no self-respecting list on this topic should overlook the works of Robert Altman, a man devoted to his craft, almost to a fault.

HUSTLE & FLOW (2005), dir. Craig Brewer—I’m sure when the inventor of the phrase “The American Dream” coined it long ago, he had no idea it would so perfectly apply to the tale of a pimp in his quest to rise out of the ghetto and become a successful rap artist, but here you are. This is a story that could only be set in this country. Home of the free? Not just yet.

SUPERSTAR: THE KAREN CARPENTER STORY (1987), dir: Todd Haynes—Before the internet gave rise to the underground film phenomenon, this illegally circulated masterpiece about singer Karen Carpenter’s struggle with eating disorders, become a cult classic thanks to independently owned video stores and a largely untapped network of film lovers who would not be denied a great movie just because of a silly think like music clearances. More to the topic, the film wonderfully frames Carpenter’s sad story of a celebrity at the top of her game who is the architect of her own destruction (with the help of body issues propagated by, among other things, Barbie dolls). A haunting work from a director who has proven that he’s the real deal with later works like FAR FROM HEAVEN.

FAIL-SAFE (1964), dir: Sidney Lumet—The flip side and more serious take on DR. STRANGELOVE (released the same year), both of which dealt with the accidental launching of nuclear weapons against the Soviet Union. When I wrote my review recently of UNITED 93, I mentioned that I used to have nuclear holocaust nightmares as a kid. This film is one of the reasons why. During part of the Reagan years, I was in junior high school one day when the school decided to give us “movie day.” Basically, it was a couple hours off for the students to watch what the school believed to be an inoffensive movie. I’m pretty sure this film triggered many a restless night’s sleep, and so it deserves a place on this list. But it also nails the nation’s fear about and attitude toward the USSR and nuclear buildup, which was just beginning to get out of hand in the mid-1960s. The U.S. president, played beautifully by Henry Fonda, comes up with a means to stop World War III that I know in my heart the current president would never have the brain or fortitude to come up with. Sends a chill to my gut every time I see it.

THE RIGHT STUFF (1983), dir: Philip Kaufman—What is more fucking American than the space program? And what film has told the story better than this straight-forward, no-frills epic, based on a book from one of America’s great writers, Tom Wolfe. What I love so much about the film is that it manages to make these astronauts-in-training seem more human without demystifying their accomplishments. This group of men served as a microcosm of American live. Scott Glenn’s reckless Chuck Yeager served as great a purpose in this small community as the by-the-book, almost puritanical John Glenn. Perhaps the first film I remember seeing that didn’t make me embarrassed to feel patriotic.

THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (1974), dir. Tobe Hooper—Perhaps some of my Texas cohorts will put this on their lists as well, but my fascination with gore films started right here, which is funny because the film isn’t that gory. Still, I’m guessing I’m not the only one who feels this way about this movie. It wasn’t the first of its kind and it wasn’t the best, but how many times has the framework of this story been repeated in gruesome detail ever since this highly influential film was released. We have become a culture that wants to see it all. Without searching too hard, you can easily find on the internet dozens of beheading videos and people watch them because the level of violence we’ve been exposed to in our lifetime has made it possible to watch these things without being permanently scarred. I’m not even necessarily saying this is a bad thing, and God bless my parents for not giving a shit about the amounts of violence I watched in horror films as a kid (sex and swearing was an entirely different matter). But TEXAS CHAINSAW for many was a level of brutality and the celebration of such brutality that many had never seen before on film.

TAXI DRIVER (1976), dir. Martin Scorsese—The premiere statement on isolation, the loner lost in the country’s largest city, American paranoia, violence, pornography, politics, prostitution, you name it. The film seemed designed to make middle America afraid to go to New York, and it worked on me for years. This is a tribute to the dark corners throughout the country where people live with their own troubled thoughts.

WOODSTOCK (1970), dir. Michael Wadleigh—If the three-day Woodstock music festival was the final chapter of hippie culture or merely it most public event, this movie is so much more than a concert film. It captures great music, sure, but more importantly, it captures a time in our nation’s history when it seemed people voices were actually heard. This may be naïve on my part, but even if that’s not entirely true, the job of capturing not just an event but a moment in history has rarely been carried out so completely as it is here.

BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY (1989), dir. Oliver Stone—My years of blindly cheering on war movies came to a screeching half when I saw Stone’s PLATOON, but my eyes have never been more opened to the post-war experience as they were with this film. Not only does it feature our country’s biggest movie star in his finest work as an actor, but there are things shown here I don’t think the non-military world was ever supposed to see. Ron Kovic’s shocking book presented a story that makes you look at Veterans’ Day parades in a whole new light, and Stone’s highly emotional and superbly realized work shows that a soldier’s battles are rarely left on the battlefield.

DAWN OF THE DEAD (1978), dir. George Romero—The best horror films are one’s heavily laced with social commentary, and few get to criticizing our society more than Romero’s classic zombie tale. My setting the bulk of the film in an enormous shopping mall (complete with a gun store!) and making his main characters black and white, military and civilian, Romero deftly comments on consumerism, race relations, and the military. He also provides a scary vision of post-apocalyptic America, where only the most violent people have survived. Sure, the film featured ground-breaking gore and a score from outer space, but those elements take a back seat to the timeless messages Romero is waving at us throughout.

Capone

Check out Capone’s wings and cigar on the 10th Anniversary graphic at the bottom of this article. Looking good, buddy boy. Our next contributor has only been writing for the site for the last year and a half or so, and he’s been inspired to start a site of his own (launching later this week) that’s not so much about news and scoops but is instead more about in-depth discussion of films past and present. As a result, I thought it would be nice to give him a send-off here in this article and to give him one last blast on AICN.

Cbabbitt, editor of THE ASPECT RATIO

No list is definitive, and these titles in no way represent what I feel are the very best American films ever made. My choices depict a multitude of themes that create a small picture of what American life means to me at this very moment - a picture that will surely develope and change with age. Or so I hope! Im extremely fond of all ten of these movies for several reasons, and the idea of exploring different aspects of our culture through them is what I find so fascinating about this article. I tried my best to prevent repetition with directors and actors, and to exclude as many obvious choices as possible. However, sometimes the most obvious choice just happens to be the most appropriate.

Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) - Woody Allen

Woody Allen is unquestionably one of the greatest American filmmakers of the last half century, and his influence seems more important to me each time I revisit one of his movies. He possesses an innate understanding of American relationships, hopes, dreams, and fears with a complex moral and philosophical depth that provides serious insight while simultaneously making you laugh. Its a natural talent as equally inspiring as it is humbling. Hannah and Her Sisters represents everything special about Allens ability to create poignant social commentary on every day American life, especially within the turbulent city he cherishes so greatly. The range of emotional material Allen explores is just as thick and layered and overwhelming as the chaotic city that symbolizes both his plight and joy, and together they weave a particularly intoxicating view of American ideals and experiences. Morality, meaning, and expression defines Hannah and Her Sisters, and the mixture couldnt be anymore appealing and entertaining. Michael Caines adventure with infidelity, Allens existential crises, Dianne Wiests search for identity, Barbara Hersheys romantic frustration, Mia Farrows compassion and values - all of these characters and themes so eloquently illustrated and instantly identifiable. Every American can immediately recognize a piece of themselves in Allens work, and that sense of reality and urgency is what makes Hannah and Her Sisters such a vital inclusion to his filmography, and American film.

Eyes Wide Shut (1999) - Stanley Kubrick

There was something devilishly cunning about Kubricks filmmaking that always seemed to quietly, yet profoundly, grow on its viewer. Hidden beneath the usual layers of professional cinematic storytelling was something more superior, more fascinating, more demanding, and more revelatory. On repeat viewing, many of his films reveal deeper levels of significance than one might initially gather. Like an endlessly stimulating puzzle, different aspects of his work become clearer and more provoking, as if purposely made by a creator interested in documenting how acutely his subjects (the audience) would react. Eyes Wide Shut is arguably the finest example of this talent. Not only one of the best films (American or International) of the 90s - Eyes Wide Shut represents precisely how sharp Kubricks ability to dramatize, satirize, and characterize a specific thematic arc truly was. He delves into the always overblown, exaggerated psyche of the sexually frustrated American, and glorifies it, devours it, and somehow makes you laugh at how trivial the entire concept of it actually is. We live in a society that both loves and fears sexuality, and he exploits that feeling from the very first frame to the very last. Kubrick examines how society views sex, from the exciting to the damaging, and both laughs and weeps at what it causes within the individual. Eyes Wide Shut is an odyssey, a thriller, a romance, and ultimately a very dark satire on the most taboo aspect of our culture. And yes, Eyes Wide Shut has a satirical side. Listen closely to the very last lines of dialogue. That being said, one of the great joys of this film is how open to interpretation it is. The many varying opinions on Eyes Wide Shut is exactly why I feel like this is a strong choice for a list about America. When someone presents such a piercing view of our culture, its always fascinating at how that culture reacts to it. This is a film of great importance.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) - Steven Spielberg

A strong, reoccurring theme throughout Spielbergs career has obviously been the importance and dynamic of the family unit, and how that unit shapes who we are and what we do. The focus on such a theme isnt out of the ordinary considering how vital the family spirit is in American culture. Part of the American spirit itself is derived from a love and loyalty inherent in honoring the family, and that spirit has been magnified several times in countless films. From Its a Wonderful Life to The Godfather, family values have acted as a powerful narrative base for many filmmakers working in many different genres. Spielberg has captured this base with grand emotional resonance from the beginning of his career, and its his darker, sympathetic, and more realistic portrait in Close Encounters that moves me most. And yes, the drama in this film is extremely real, no matter what fantastic concepts about aliens move the plot. Close Encounters is about the great unknown, and how uncertainty and discovery are intrinsically part of our search for meaning in a universe beyond our knowledge. All Dreyfuss wants in this film is to find that meaning, and he risks his life and family to greet it. Its a selfish act, but considering what effect his close encounter have on him, its the more responsible decision. He chooses to leave his family to find that missing piece of knowledge that will fix his anguish - an anguish that was more harmful to his wife and children than he ever wished. From a purely family oriented viewpoint, Dreyfuss is a horrible parent. But he does what he does not only for himself, but because he realizes that if he doesnt change, hell never have that family again. Its this sympathetic view Spielberg presents that makes a rousing sci-fi entertainment something greater and memorable. Close Encounters is a beautiful film where the great unknown is as fascinating and wondrous as our imaginations wish it to be. And its simply one of the best American movies of the last half century.

Seconds (1966) - John Frankenheimer

This was one of the movies that immediately came to mind when first approached with the idea of this article. Seconds is one of the most disturbing, challenging, and unforgettable accounts of crushed idealism, life pursuit, and complete, blissful freedom quashed by the nature of dishonesty and repression. Freedom and truth go hand-in-hand in establishing the quintessential American dream - a dream that sustains itself at all times no matter what the circumstances. That ideal defines the American spirit, regardless of how seriously you believe in it. And while that spirit is a pivotal aspect of our culture, it is undoubtedly flawed since so many inconsequential matters exist as serious problems in our society. And feeling lost within society reflects both the freedom to protest it and the pain of having to suffer its evil. Science-Fiction has always been an effective genre for social commentary, and Seconds utilizes a disturbing fictional concept (not completely impossible anymore) to comment on a wide range of fiery topics. The main narrative arc surrounds the consequences of betraying your true self both internally and externally for a hope of unrealistic self-satisfaction. And self-loathing and betrayal simply leads to a deeper layer of misery and repression that makes things even more chaotic and strenuous. The idea of the perfect life is something everyone wants to attain, and in a country with as much opportunity and freedom as America, it is understandable to dream of such affirming things. But absolute perfection isnt real, and finding your place in society can never be given to you, which is something Rock Hudsons character learns in this film. Accomplishment is gained through your own choices in life, as is honesty. And thats the American spirit. Seconds explores the dark side of paying prices for making mistakes in the name of freedom. Its an exceptional film - one of the best of the 60s. And what an ending!

McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971) - Robert Altman

This is perhaps the most interesting and enjoyable interpretation of independent business Ive seen on film. Independence is, of course, a particularly significant value in American culture, something we all identify with in one way or another. With McCabe and Mrs. Miller, Altman defies the conventions of the Western by replacing the usual trademarks of gunfighters, outlaws, and violent story-lines with businessmen and women pursuing the ultimate goal: Wealth. And how would this wealth be acquired? By the independence of a simple-minded card player (Beatty) and an exuberant whore (Christie), who smartly work together to make whatever profit they can manage, while trying to prevent the larger businesses from controlling them. Being as fond of independent business as I am, McCabe and Mrs. Miller feels particularly appealing. Holding your own against stronger competition and powerful conglomerates is something heroic, and Altman brilliantly explores the principles and temptations of facing greater forces. That independence is something special. Something American. Altman uses his usual cinematic sophistication to tell a very real and personal story set amidst a gritty landscape, and the result is nothing short of captivating. The showdown that concludes the film is breathtakingly beautiful - featuring the finest cinematography of Vilmos Zsigmonds career. This is arguably Robert Altmans best work.

The Swimmer (1968) - Frank Perry

Sometimes the darkest portraits of American life can be the most potent. The Swimmer is a devastating journey of self-discovery about a charismatic, but troubled middle-aged man who sadly tries to free his soul from the pain and agony of his downfall as a man. Ned Merrill (Burt Lancaster) experiences a vision from his old neighbors backyard. House by house, pool by pool, he can swim back to his home at the end of the county. He calls the vision the river of Lucinda, after his wife. His vision seems odd enough, but at the outset of the film we know nothing about him other than hes passionate and fit, with a great sense of humor and joy in his manner. Of course, thats only when we first meet him. Ned calls himself an explorer - an appropriate title for what ends up to be a tragically ruined man exploring the mistakes and pains of his past. Ned travels from one home to another, reminiscing with old friends and neighbors and explaining his so-called adventure home. It begins rather nicely, greeting friends and enjoying cocktails; then gets progressively worse as he gets closer to his house. What seems like a great, successful, and inspirational American ends up being a tortured soul who lost everything and everyone by amounting to nothing. The Swimmer uses its metaphor of water purifying the soul to create an engrossing tale of a nightmarish and bewildered consciousness coming to terms with absolute emptiness. The film is thick with meaning and symbolism, adding layer upon layer of thematic material, sequence for sequence. The Swimmer is a shocking work, a masterpiece of American film that deserves a larger embrace.

Superman II (1980) - Richard Lester

Eyes Wide Shut. Seconds. The Swimmer. Its time to lighten things up a bit. Its difficult to find a character and movie as purely American as Superman. He is the ultimate American icon that spreads good will in the name of his country, and not just for his fellow citizens, but for everyone in the world. He is the epitome of truth, justice, and the American way, a glorified version of the person we all wish we were. Hes an American God. The symbolism isnt exactly necessary to explain, since everyone understands what Superman represents. As classical entertainment, the first two Superman films are incredibly enjoyable fantasy adventures. Why the sequel over the original? I prefer the leaner structure and the more dramatic villains. It makes everything move along at a more appropriate pace, no matter how much I admire the epic scope its predecessor. Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder are the perfect match of charm, wit, and sophistication needed for their respective roles, and their enthusiasm and energy create beautiful chemistry. Reeves heroic presence more than makes you believe a man could fly, but its his excellent comedic timing as Clark that truly wins you over. Margot Kidder seems to channeling Carole Lombard - maybe the highest compliment I can bestow on a performance like this. Superman II is a tremendous piece of escapist entertainment - one well worth revisiting again and again.

My Man Godfrey (1936) - Gregory La Cava

While Superman embodies the ultimate ideal of what we all wish we were, William Powells Godfrey Smith is a more aspiring example of what we can possibly be. Godfrey is a working man that takes pride in who he is and what he accomplishes, going from a forgotten man to a butler (of great patience) to a successful businessman of class and virtue. This is not the most realistic of films, but it does effectively presents its theme with the kind of charm and sophistication considerably lacking in contemporary film, while being a hilarious satire on the class struggle of its time. As a comedy, its absolutely flawless. William Powell and Carole Lombard are among the great icons of film history - the sort of glamorous movie stars that simply doesnt exist in any way, shape, or form in todays world. Carole Lombard is the greatest comedic actress in the history of American film, and this is arguably the finest example of her impeccable timing and radiant beauty. Powell and Lombard were cinematic gold when together on screen. They had an energy, innocence, wit, and genuine sense of joy, whether theyre romancing each other or intensely bickering. The family dynamic in this film is priceless. So many great moments, so many great lines. Actor Mischa Auer is outrageously entertaining as the sensitive Carlo. Nothing beats his sorrowful concert of Ochi Tchornya. Classic. Everything about My Man Godfrey is special. One of the great treasures of American film.

Mean Streets (1973) - Martin Scorsese

Heres another film that deals with the working man in America, but the mean streets of Martin Scorseses Little Italy are a very, very different America. Scorsese is obviously one of the great American filmmakers, and with this film he tells an essential story of friendship and love set in the dangerous world of organized crime. Mean Streets is a smaller and more personal story of societys more troubled individuals, and the result is a more moving and intimate picture opposed to the epic undertaking of something like Goodfellas. Scorsese subtly and effectively uses his signature themes, from religion to music to violence to love, and it creates a thrilling view of American life in the early 70s between misguided friends. Harvey Keital is excellent as Charlie, a reasonably well-meaning bar owner and dealer who tries to make a good life for himself and his friends. Unfortunately, his closest friend Johnny Boy (Robert DeNiro) is too wild and uncontrollable for Charlies family, and problems escalate. In the commentary for Mean Streets, Scorsese mentions how the film is really a statement on who he was at a certain point in his life, and that realism is what brings such a tangible sense of culture to the entire film. It makes the story important and interesting. Mean Streets is just so filled with life. The direction, the actors, the music, the style - its completely engrossing. This is a film of heart and soul, and one of the best of the 70s.

The Bad & The Beautiful (1952) - Vincente Minnelli

Lastly, I come to one of my favorite things about American culture, the thing responsible for my greatest interest in life: The Movies. As much as I adore Hollywood and the great films its released, theres no denying its an industry of many trials. Good Hollywood-insider movies are always fascinating to movie-lovers, and this one is the best. The Bad & The Beautiful is about the thrill, glamour, deception, genius, and beauty of becoming a visionary in the world of film. Like a great, old-fashioned, studio picture, it contains all the ingredients of a powerful drama. Its about friendship, love, expression, power, wealth, and dreams. The story chronicles the rise and fall of the brilliant, but power-wielding Jonathan Shields (Kirk Douglas), and his experiences with his friend and director Fred (Barry Sullivan), lover and star Georgia (Lana Turner), and writer James (Dick Powell). Director Vincente Minnelli looks at the behind-the-scenes of old Hollywood with compassion and love, using classical style to bring the core emotions front and center. Kirk Douglas and Lana Turner electrify the screen. The crisp black and white photography is some of the best of its era. Easily the most entertaining feature on the drama of creating film. Classic.

-Cbabbitt

Our next comes from Elston Gunn, founder of the WEEKLY RECAP (where oh where have ye gone?) and constant contributor with interviews and feedback:

On the night of July 2 I received an email from Moriarty apologizing for not getting in touch with me a week ago about an AICN tenth anniversary celebration piece. However, if I indeed want to take part I need to send my contribution in by July 3. I remember reading right before Roy Orbison died he was asked how he would like to be remembered and he simply said "I just want to be remembered." Eleventh hour or not, I'm honored to be asked to contribute and thanks, Moriarty, for remembering. This week also marks my own anniversary with the site and thanks to all the other AICN'ers, readers, filmmakers and folks who have emailed me over the years.

The ten films that best describe America. Even if I had a week to think about it I'm quite sure I wouldn't have a definitive answer. My effort here is nearly a stream of consciousness. With hardly any time to pace the floor and brainstorm, nor to whittle down an enormous list based on a well thought-out criteria, I'm going to fly by the seat of my pants then hit the ground running here with twenty films. We Americans like choice, variety and buffets so I'm giving you twice the amount I was asked to give and you may mix and match them into your own top ten list.

PLATOON / M*A*S*H

The horrors and absurdities of war. The complexity of humans and Americans. Two American filmmakers who refuse to compromise and make it easy for us. I remember seeing PLATOON when I was ten and being blown away. World of a difference from G.I. Joe. Scary. People die. Even the good guys aren't always good but we press on and people do their job because that's what we do. And, if we're lucky, we'll find some humor in it as well. Many aspects of war seems absurd and our behavior does, too. This would be an interesting double feature. But which would you show first?

ON THE WATERFRONT / MATEWAN

From the docks of New Jersey to the coal mines of West Virginia. Regular joes, contenders, fighting for their lives for something. Real struggles and obstacles. Hard work. Putting a meal on your table without killing yourself. Beaten down by the man... or men... with guns or baseball bats. Someone will stand up sooner or later for the greater good. Hopefully, anyway. The filmographies of these two American filmmakers are to be looked into. Simple storytelling can yield complex results. Bullet-time is fun, but Marlon Brando or Chris Cooper are bullets in their own ways.

SUNSET BOULEVARD / NASHVILLE

Oh, that need to be famous, or to be wanted or loved. Poor Norma Desmond. Americans love to see stars fall, but more than that we love a good comeback. Norma couldn't come back, although she did in her own way. Maybe if the film were extended another hour we could see her leave jail and get her own talk show where she would earn an exponential number of more fans. How much more American can we get than country music? NASHVILLE. Power struggles, searching for love, getting your work heard, a cast of characters who weave in and out of each other's lives. So, what's it mean? Exactly. We might not find out until we get hit with a bullet as we sing our song, so sing it loud! Sadness and loneliness among characters in a large but polarized industry was done well in BOOGIE NIGHTS, too. Maybe I should've included SHORT CUTS instead. Just realized Altman gets two movies in this list. Not to mention the man is 81 years old and still out there getting it done. I saw in the news this week that the life expectancy of men has raised again. Hurrah.

NETWORK / THE KING OF COMEDY

Television as salvation? Television as the most powerful tool of persuasion, at least. It changed the game. Films got more melodramatic to compete with the little box. Why get dolled up for a Douglas Sirk flick when you can watch the fights at home? Fair enough. To reach that many people is a hell of a temptation. You could change the world or just make them laugh. What would you do to get on there? What would you do once you're given the opportunity? What do those answers say about us as a country or race? Give them an escape. Maybe soon it won't matter when the viewers become their own programmers. Then it's back to going door-to-door for knives and Bible salesmen.

THE OX-BOW INCIDENT / DO THE RIGHT THING

Mob mentality. I stumbled upon THE OX-BOW INCIDENT one lazy afternoon not knowing a thing about it. It grabbed me by the throat and held tight 'til the next day. I love it when that happens. Displaced agression, trigger-happy for some kind of justice. Quite relevant, if you ask me. You hear the Fairfield Four in O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? singing "you got to go to that lonesome valley" and it signals an ending of sorts and it's comical, but when you hear Leigh Whipper singing it in OX-BOW you're trying to chase your breath and it's chilling. "You got to go there by yourself." DO THE RIGHT THING slapped us up by the head, didn't it? The Civil War never ended, some say. Again, the complexities of humans and Americans. "We're all a work in progress" my grandmother says. Sometimes violence is necessary, though maybe not the best choice. Revolutionaries are still mulling over that one. Whatever works? If it were made today maybe they'd all band together and try to save the small pizza place from being torn down for a Wal-Mart.

CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS / REAR WINDOW

Suspense. How's it going to end? Maybe differently than you think. The things humans create for themselves and our responsibility thereafter. It's fun to light a match and start walking toward the gas can if you think you can stop before it explodes. Maybe we shouldn't have affairs with unstable women. Maybe we shouldn't cure boredom with voyeurism but instead take a moment and look at our own selves. If you haven't seen these, you're in for a treat. If you have, watch them again. Woody Allen and Alfred Hitchcock at their best here.

BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI / HIGH NOON

Leadership. How about those movies where people stand up for what they believe in though we'll keep William Holden. Gary Cooper, too, for that matter. Sometimes if you want a job done you've got to do it yourself and maybe the crutch needs to be jerked out from under you anyway. Keep your chin up. Your true friends will make themselves known in the end. "Do not forsake me oh my darling." If Grace Kelly forsakes you, I see bottles of whiskey in your future.

CITIZEN KANE / SUPERMAN: THE MOTION PICTURE

Biogpraphies of lonely people and their potential. Aliens to everyone else. What would you do with all that power and money? Save the world or horde some art? Would you be your own worst enemy? Charles Foster Kane and Kal-El leave their homes for something else. Both spend their boyhoods in small towns. Both go into the newspaper business. Moral principles basically veer in different directions from there. Neither are perfect, however, and have their share of hardships. Sometimes you just want to slap them and say "Relax." But they've got jobs to do and lives to affect. I suppose lessons can be learned from both of them. Warren Buffet has decided to give a large sum of money to the Bill Gates Foundation. I'm just going to give blood this week.

TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE / THE GRAPES OF WRATH

We can talk Kubrick, Hitchcock, Welles and Wilder 'til the break of dawn but why doesn't John Huston typically enter the conversation as well? Was it because he was able to make the studio system work for him? The film covered paranoia years before it was cool to be paranoid. Greed, adventure, backstabbing, death, finding happiness in unexpected ways. TREASURE had it all. Classic film noir without all the shadows, fog and cityscapes. "Can you help a fellow American down on his luck?" Sure, but do you have it worse than Tom Joad? Fresh out of jail, hungry, homeless, so many family members to look after. Poverty knows no political affiliation. I see my grandparents exhibiting behavior that's still a by-product of the depression. Whatever doesn't kill us, maybe? This too shall pass, perhaps? "We're the people that live. They can't wipe us out. They can't lick us. We'll go on forever, Pa, 'cause we're the people."

STROSZEK / THE MUPPET MOVIE

Let's end on a fun note. The road movie. The American dream. Frogs driving cars. Dancing chickens. Searching for something better. It's a long wacky ride and we're just trying to make sense of it all and have a few laughs along the way. Maybe we can't afford it. Maybe people want to cut us down. Maybe we'll get lost and the ending could go either way. Herzog and Henson. To be a neuron in their brains for a day. "Life's like a movie, write your own ending. Keep believing, keep pretending, we've done what we've set out to do. Thanks to the lovers, the dreamers and you."

Thanks again!

Elston Gunn

Click to Mail

Next is Edgard... a European and co-founder of EURO-AICN (where have ye gone?) AICN is and will always be an international endeavor, based from Austin, Tx - I miss Edgard's voice on AICN --Harry

Hey Moriarty,

Not sure I can join the celebration – I used to be part of the AICN family a few years ago, I was then known as Edgard and was the editor, co-founder of EURO AICN… I believe it ran only from 1999 to 2001… Still I have read AICN since 1998 and, obviously, I am still reading it almost on a daily basis (as you know yourself, fatherhood makes days very short).

So if you want a EURO-vision on the 10 films that define America, here they are:

FAHRENHEIT 9/11

– let’s start with a bang, I know Michael Moore is a controversial figure and some will hate me for putting him in an “American Celebration” list… but let’s face it: the subject matter is 100% America (whether you think it is true or not) as is Michael Moore (don’t give me the unpatriotic bullshit here…). America is proud to be a democracy, so embrace the fact you can have people like Moore – again whether you agree with him or not does not matter. How many countries can proudly present documentaries questioning its actual government? THIS is America to me… at least this is the America I love.

Runners-up in the documentary section: Bowling for Columbine; Super Size Me; The Fog of War

INDEPENDENCE DAY

– Two reasons to include this film here: this is pure pop-corn, fun entertainment – Hollywood at its best (or worst, depends where you stand)… Sorry to say but no other country can create pure pop-corn blockbuster like the US of A… but this is also one of the most overly patriotic movie ever made (the President fighting along his countrymen? Risking his life??.... mmmmh, unlikely today). America is patriotic. VERY patriotic… From an European point of view I see it under a positive light (I think it is important to be proud of your own country, and to respect your roots), but also as a very bad quality (being patriotic should not mean to believe that your country is better than anyone else or to think your way of life is the best and therefore should be spread to everyone… being patriotic should – in no circumstances – means “you are with us or against us”). ID4 or the perfect example of America’s jingoism – but still fun.

Runners-up in the pop-corn patriotic section: Armaggedon; Air Force One; Rambo 2/Rocky 4

THE LION KING

– I remember after seeing that film someone telling me how he hated it, how it was too “Coca Cola” for him – making reference to the Coke commercials from that period with a lots of people from all the races, genders, ages,… smiling and being happy, and enjoying a refreshing drink. Although I love Lion King, I understood his points. Disney has a very happy and PC view on the world. Lion King is probably one of the most obvious examples of the Disney Way of Life… and Disney is clearly an icon in the American landmark. Personally I love the Disney universe – even though I know it is 100% fake and way too PC, I love to immerse myself in that environment once in a while (as long as, as it happened to me once, you don’t get stuck in the “It’s a small world” ride at Disneyland – 45 min of that song and I could have killed someone).

Runners-up in the happy “PC” children section: Pocahontas; E.T. (2002 re-issue); Chronicles of Narnia

THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST

– I had to put that film here – in the western world, America is probably the most religious country. With everything (good or bad depending of your beliefs) that implies… This film is in this list not so much about the content, but for its tremendous success it got in the US. America cannot be defined today without talking about religion.

Runners-up in the religious section: Prince of Egypt; Dogma; We Were Soldiers

SUPERMAN

– Richard Donner said it himself: Superman is an American icon and his job with that film was to make sure Superman will “be” America…. I don’t have to convince anyone that Donner did a great job there. The superhero sub-genre is in my opinion a very specific American tradition. There is a troubling parallel between America (the country) and the superheroes it created – think about Spider-man, think about “with great powers come great responsibilities”… apply that quote to US politics. But beyond the political subtext, superheroes are typical of America: heroism, action, amazing powers, drama, doubt, secrets… You can probably learn as much about America in one (good) superhero film than in any documentary. Great stuff.

Runners-up in the superhero section: Spider-man; Batman Returns; Hulk

J F K

– Here again two good reasons to include that film in this list:

1. Although I was born in Europe in the early 70’s, I have always been fascinated by the 60’s in the US – when I think of America, I think the 60’s was the most influential decade ever. Not only for America itself, but also for the rest of the world. Historians and sociologists could disagree with me and prove me wrong, but I cannot split the 60’s from America and vice-versa. And JFK is all about the 60’s – again, it does not matter if you buy Oliver Stone’s theory or not, the importance here is how it shows the 60’s and the effect of JFK’s murder.

2. In direct link to my “documentaries” section, I think America has a great tradition of creating the most exciting political thrillers (France and Italy were good at it in the 70’s but nothing much since then). They work well not only on a cinematographic level, but also – and again – as a proof that freedom of speech is alive and kicking in America… Think about all the films that have blamed the government for the Vietnam fiasco… Think about releasing Jarhead just in the middle of the war in Iraq. If Hollywood is often too PC on certain issues, it can also deliver the goods by releasing a provoking movie… Like JFK was.

Runners-up in the golden 60’s section: Born on the Fourth of July; The Doors; Malcolm X

Runners-up in the un-PC political thriller section: Munich; Traffic; Syriana

DANCES WITH WOLVES

– You cannot make a list of films about America and not include a Western in it… Purists will probably hate me for using Dances with Wolves as THE Western example. But for me, Westerns have always been more about the so-called “wild west” than cow boys chasing Indians. Here the main character wishes to see the frontier “before it disappears”. There is a sort of nostalgia about the early years of America, when it had still to conquer itself or when it maybe should have conquered less… I love this film because it is about the end of a civilization and the beginning of another one. I love this film because you realize how vast America is (was?).

Runners-up in the Western section: Unforgiven; Open Range; The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (I know it is an Italian film, but still very much about America)

BASIC INSTINCT

– I know this is a strange movie to put in a top 10 list, especially about America… let me explain. I saw Basic Instinct in 1992 when I was living in the US – I remember the buzz about how “pervert” it was, and I remember coming out of the film thinking “is that it?”. America has a strange attitude towards sex, easily offended by it – see the Janet Jackson breast scandal – while it is still one of the most natural thing in the world. As a European, I like very much that we are more open towards sex but more strict when it comes to violence… I think that more healthy than the other way around. This is for me one of the most surreal paradox in American culture: nudity is bad; but rape and murder is okay (on screen I precise). Basic Instinct is here because it linked sex to gore effects…

Runners-up in the American sex section: Boogie Nights; Kids; Pretty Woman

WHEN HARRY MET SALLY

– another good film with two reasons to be in this list… the dating film… The whole “dating” concept is very American also – maybe because I am now a married man I lost touch with the celibacy world in Europe, but I think that here you are with someone or you are not, there is no “trial period” like the date. This is why romantic comedies about dating seem very American to me – I felt that my list has been quite serious and dramatic so far, I had to add a light touch. When Harry met Sally is just perfect in this category… New York – well for many Europeans, New York is the most American city (sky crappers, yellow taxi’s, wall street, etc…) and the least American city (multi cultural, more liberal, etc.) at the same time. Any movie that is a love letter about New York is for me a movie about America.

Runners-up in the dating section: Sleepless in Seattle; The 40 Year Old Virgin; Rules of Attraction

Runners-up in the NY section: Manhattan; Die Hard with a Vengeance; 25th Hour

AMERICAN HISTORY X

Because you cannot have a list of movies defining America without including movies with America in their title… I mean what could be possibly more American than a movie claiming in its title it is about something American?? I selected American History X because it is of course a typical American topic (Ku Klux Klan and all); and yet it is not only American – we do not have the KKK here in Europe, but we have other assholes in the same leagues. American History X could take place in France, UK, Germany… America is also about the rest of the world.

Runners up in the America section: American Beauty, American Pie, American Splendor

Thanks Harry and co for 10 good years of movie news on AICN…

Beware of getting old and bitter like many movie critics or professional – keep your love for films fresh and simple.

Edgard

I asked Hercules The Strong to contribute a list, and he replied quite succinctly:

I don't like America. I have no list.

Sweeeeeet. Anyway, now we’re up to the lovely Annette Kellerman, Austin’s femme fatale, and it’s awesome to have her be part of this. She was out of town all week working on a film, and when she sent me this, she was concerned she was too late to be part of the article. Nope. And aren’t we glad?

Annette Kellerman

Oh man, do I hate these kinds of lists. Everyone seems to love compiling these, but I, on the other hand, agonize and deliberate until all the fun is sucked out of it. I never have a definitive list going in my head- my list revolves, and evolves. So, in an attempt at retaining my sanity (and fun), I compiled my list off the tippy top of my head and I'm keeping it short and sweet. While many on this list lack any patriotism whatsoever, to me the following films characterize this grand country of ours in their own subtle way.

Singin' In The Rain

This masterpiece not only embodies the American Dream, but also reminds us of the hard work and dedication it takes to get there. Plus, Gene Kelly melts my heart.

Rocky

Ditto on the hard work and dedication with a sucker punch to remind us that even champs lose at first.

Breakin' 2 Electric Boogaloo

Yeah, I know this sounds like a joke, but break dancing was one of those cross-cultural phenomena that pervaded even MY early-80's, middle class, white bread life. We all wanted a cool rec center to hang out at and practice our moves.

The Goonies

This is not only the best adolescent adventure movie of all time, it introduced me to my first teen idol-give me some tongue Mouth.

The Wizard of Oz

Need I explain? Metaphors and urban legends aside, its hard to dispute this one belonging in ANY top ten list.

Kelly's Heroes

This was one of the first films to make me realize that most everyone is always on the make one way or another. It's truly the American way.

Top Gun

Don't even act like you didn't cry when Goose died the first time you watched this one. I think they played this soundtrack in lieu of the National Anthem at all public events in 1986.

Sixteen Candles

This film is simply the epitome of great teenage comedy while hilariously dissecting all ages, cliques, and social groups along the way.

Bonnie and Clyde

One of my favorite examples of America's romanticism of its public enemy number one.

Well, that's it. Now that I'm warmed up I could go on and on and on... but you just want TEN titles, so there ya go.

It makes perfect sense to me to put Annette and our next writer back to back, since the first time I met them, they were joined at the hip, the bestest buddies. I’m sure they still are, but they live in totally different parts of the country now, so it’s nice to see a reunion, if only here on the site. Ladies and gents, the drifter with a dream...

Tom Joad

Tom Joad here, weighing in with a list of my own. Right off the bat, I wanna apologize for the brevity of some of the arguments that I will make for some of the movies on my list. This article was brought to my attention in the bottom of the ninth inning, but I couldn’t pass up the chance to delve into what, from my perspective, are the top 10 movies that define American Film.

Last night, after hearing of this article, many movies sprang to mind, bringing my list of ten to more than twenty titles. If only ten films could exist from America? Holy shit, that’s a tough call. So I decided to pick roughly one picture per genre that defines American film. Guided by the fact that all lists are really a forum for conversation and debate, I add to the fray:

Obviously, “The American Dream” is a recurring theme in these films. What “The American Dream” means to different people and how each of them goes about achieving their vision of “The Dream” is a subject that is represented time and again in the films on this list.

The perception of “The American Dream” is many things to many people. The common denominator is that intangible something, that impalpable urge to achieve, the freedoms themselves that this country provides and protects in order to allow one to create a style of life that is both specific and desirable to them.

The reality of “The American Dream” is that very few people actually achieve their ultimate dreams, goals, or their lifestyle. The theory that “The Dream” is achievable and available to anyone who is brave, bold, and clever enough to obtain it can become the ultimate enigma to those who fail to meet their own expectations. Case in point:

MIDNIGHT COWBOY

Joe Buck believes he is meant for big things. Plucking himself from his down-home, Texas roots, Joe moves to New York City with little more than the money in his pocket and the cowboy clothes on his back. In his quest to become a successful, big-city, male hustler, Joe is the quintessential example of someone taking their destiny into their own hands and not having one clue how to go about it.

With no firm plan in mind, Joe drifts from one failed hustling attempt to another, before being taken advantage of and ultimately befriending Ratzo Rizzo, a homeless con man. Like many Americans, Joe possesses the talent and the ability to succeed at his goals, but just cannot figure out how to make the most of his abilities.

While it is widely regarded that “The American Dream” is the end zone of achieving one’s goals, the truth is that the journey - and the ability to choose to take the journey, are “The American Dream”; the actual achievement is only one step along the way. Many people find themselves in the perceived end zone, but unable to maintain the pace that got them there, find themselves floundering to find happiness within the dream. Case #2 in point:

CITIZEN KANE

The story of a man who creates the most successful and dominating newspaper in America, only to lose focus and allow his American Dream to slip from his grasp.

There are almost as many detractors to the belief that CITIZEN KANE is the best American movie as there are supporters. I, obviously, am of the latter.

Orson Welles, the American poster boy image of youth, brazenness, and hubris, perfectly embodies the form of Charles Foster Kane: the cinematic poster boy for youth, brazenness and hubris. Using all of the standard tools of the trade, Welles not only demonstrated how to raise the bar of American storytelling through the use of film, he used it to smash through the ceiling, effectively throwing down the gauntlet for everyone else in the industry.

Spanning the life of one man, from boy to elder, from poverty to wealth, from wife to wife, CITIZEN KANE is a terrific example of how the achievement of money and power is less an accomplishment than that of maintaining said money and power for the duration of one’s desire to do so. For me, this was the movie to watch, to dissect, to analyze, to make an example of: the cinematography, the blocking, the editing choices, the script, the sheer execution of this film is near perfect.

THE GRADUATE

As an indecisive man comes of age, he is faced with taking his future into his own hands. A wonderful example of how the limitless options allowed by “The American Dream” can overwhelm and confuse those who become old enough to grasp the concept. Inexperience causes everyone to make choices they invariably regret. The arrogance of youth has instilled many a man with a sense of indestructibility, that their actions are true and their decisions are wise. Everyone makes mistakes.

Benjamin Braddock has a wonderful life: parents who love him, friends who support him, and a community that accepts him. Benjamin finds himself in an affair with the married, twice his senior, Mrs. Robinson. Spearheading Benjamin’s transition from boy to man, Mrs. Robinson is devastated when he eventually falls in love with her daughter, Elaine.

Although Elaine is betrothed to another man, Benjamin relentlessly pursues her – eventually stealing her away from her groom at their wedding altar. Boarding a bus, Benjamin and Elaine take their seats to share a quiet moment of uncertainty. This scene perfectly captures the indecisiveness of American youth. That moment we’ve all experienced where we have blindly stormed ahead to see our own self-righteous ambitions through to completion, only to find ourselves in limbo, wondering whether we’ve made the right choice and if not, how in the world to rectify the situation.

THE LORD OF THE RINGS

Although it may be argued that this actually counts as three movies, there is little argument that may be made against it representing the best example of a fantasy world brought to life in American film. Painstaking attention to detail, incredible casting, and groundbreaking special effects have created a world so rich and so convincing, that many a viewer still believes in the existence of Middle Earth long after the honor has been restored to Gondor and the credits roll.

STAR WARS

Okay, I’m talking about the original here, the initial 1977 explosion of imagination. A long, long time ago… before George Lucas created the model for the ultimate and eternally-kicked dead horse of a director’s cut, he took his love of the American Serials of the 40’s and 50’s and created the model for the ultimate and eternally worshipped mother of all science-fiction movies. I’d love to go on a thousand-word spiel about how universal this movie has become to the world, but time is short and I suspect that at least one other contributor will expound breathlessly on this particular film.

THE GODFATHER

Seriously? You mean I actually need to defend this one? Okay, quickly: This version of “The American Dream,” from the perspective of a fictional Italian-American family, whose rise to power and long reign as the most influential family in American organized crime is a testament to the power of American film. The grace and savagery with which the Corleone Family dominates New York is exhilarating, horrifying, and unquestionably one of the greatest stories ever told.

FRANKENSTEIN

To the attentive, a basic truth may be learned from the horror films produced from any given country. Examining the horror film phenomenon as a product of culturally specific fears, each country possesses a definite set of stories, rumors and legends inherent to itself.

I would love to take the time to detail a few examples from various countries, or go stream-of-consciousness on my two other favorite Universal monsters: INVISIBLE MAN and WOLFMAN. But time permitting, I’ll just add my two cents on the most influential American horror film legend: FRANKENSTEIN.

The combination of the multitalented (and often underrated) James Whale, visionary Jack Pierce and iconic Boris Karloff make for one of the finest features starring a creature to ever come out of America. The power and energy Karloff was able to exude without speaking a single word still resonate today. A strong case may also be made for the revolutionary KING KONG (I betcha there is another who will pontificate ad nauseam on that one.)

PULP FICTION

Quentin Tarantino possesses the unique talent of being able to distill the most obscure, striking, human and inherently cool elements from thousands of films, drop them into a blender, and create a cinematic world that is familiar to many, but is intrinsically his very own.

Guilty as charged for spinning string into gold; his dialogue creates a cadence. The rapid-fire exchange of words between characters is both infectious and addictive. The way in which he injects life and honesty into his characters allows the audience to identify with them and, regardless of their moral ambiguity, eventually root for them.

The reason this film made the list? Because it’s cocky, loud, visceral, balls-to-the-wall, in-your-face filmmaking. Just like America.

THE WILD BUNCH

The American West: vast, untamed, primal, dangerous, lawless. Many different films exemplify various visions of the Old West. While scores of fans have an affinity for THE SEARCHERS or HIGH NOON, both feel strangely dated to me.

If there were only one American western in existence, I would want it to be Sam Peckinpah’s THE WILD BUNCH. Prior to World War I, as the Wild West is being consumed by the Age of Industry, this story of an aging team of outlaws planning to make one final run at “The American Dream” is the stuff dreams are made of.

The exemplary cast embodies characters so real you can smell their sweat and blood through the screen. William Holden laces his every word with piss and loads his every glance with vinegar. Displaying the tragic lengths at which some people are willing to go to achieve their dreams, this movie hits you like a sucker punch.

ROCKY

Of all American sports films, I nominate ROCKY as the most universally uplifting. Rocky Balboa did not only provide motivation for pugilists, he became the iconic underdog of inspiration for millions.

Now I love ROCKY IV, but I believe I can make a better case for it being a piece of cinematic, Cold War, propaganda than I can for it as an iconic American film. But the original ROCKY, the tale of an underdog with a snowball’s chance in hell of becoming a contender, still inspires athletes to this day. Further proving that “The American Dream” holds a different, personal meaning to everyone, ROCKY defied convention by chronicling one man’s quest to prove that he was capable of going the distance. Not by beating Apollo Creed… Not by winning the championship of the world… But that he is more than just a warm-up fighter; that he could challenge the champion of the world and survive fifteen rounds.

How much more American can you get than a hero who inspires millions despite losing the big bout?

You can’t.

Now that’s America.

Another guy who got his party invite a little late was our favorite outlaw, Vern. How late? Well, I’ll let him explain it to you...

Vern H.

Moriarty emailed me and asked if I could be part of this tenth anniversary deal where everybody lists "ten films that you think best speak about America." Only two problems: 1. the deadline was July 1st and 2. it was July 2nd.

Disclaimers: I gotta do this shit fast, like, yesterday. So no looking back. Also, I don't really understand what this America thing has to do with the tenth anniversary. I talk to readers from many different countries and continents and I apologize if this thing alienates anybody. The movies on my list aren't just for United States Americans in my opinion, they are for Americans of all nationalities as well as non-Americans. etc. Like I said I had to write this fast, sorry.

10. AMERICAN PSYCHO.

I chose this one as the dark side of America that we need to get rid of. Patrick Bateman represents a competitive, superficial type of American who obsesses about wealth and status, but has no humanity, and he takes it out on women. In fact, he thinks so poorly of women that he runs around naked with a chainsaw trying to catch them, sometimes biting them on the leg. This is, in my opinion, a metaphor, and not literally a common occurrence in American society. I like this movie because it has something to say but it is more of a gimmicky slasher movie than a message movie.

Also I chose it because it has AMERICAN in the title and fits this list better than AMERICAN PIMP.

9. THEY LIVE.

This is my choice to remind the rest of the world that Americans aren't stupid. We know what the Patrick Batemans are up to. More and more of us got the sunglasses on and can see through this shit and we agree with Roddy Piper that "it fuckin' figures." And we're gonna take care of it if that means wrestling Keith David in an alley for 7 minutes or however long that fight is.

If I had to choose another movie with this theme it would be a little movie called THE MATRIX. To me "the matrix" of the movie is a perfect metaphor for the fake world of news, advertising and propaganda that some people choose to live in. Then there are other people that fight within that system for the truth. And sometimes they wear trenchcoats and think they're cool and, like in THEY LIVE, they wear sunglasses. It's a pretty good movie but I'm not gonna say it's a tie for #9 because that's cheating. People always do ties on these things, even Martin Scorsese when he did the ten best of the '90s with Roger Ebert. But I'm not doing it because I'm not a cheater like Scorsese. Fuck THE MATRIX.

8. MASTER GUNFIGHTER.

Yeah I know, too obvious. EVERYBODY probaly has this one on their list. They'll all mention how it's the 1975 Tom Laughlin western with Ron Superfly O'Neal as the villain. The master gunfighter of the title (who actually uses swords more than guns) is not only a badass but an outraged individual who stands up against his own people when they're going to commit genocide. It's a movie that glorifies the lone voice, the conscientious objector, the whistleblower, the civilly disobedient. In a free society like the U.S. of A. these type of people can often be the ones who make the difference, blah blah blah. You know what I'm saying.

7. WHITE DOG.

This is the basically unreleased Sam Fuller exploitation classic, a movie that works as both a thriller and a parable about racism. Harry, please have your Hollywood buddies release this fucker on DVD. It's the story of a woman who adopts a stray dog that turns out to be an attack dog. Not just an attack dog, but one trained by racists to only attack black people. Paul Winfield plays the most badass animal trainer of all time who becomes obsessed with trying to untrain the dog. We can't deny the slavery in our past or that the fucked up deeds of our ancestors still echo today. But can we unteach racism? That's what the movie is about.

Honorable mention for this particular theme: CANDYMAN.

6. DO THE RIGHT THING.

Here's a more literal take on modern racism. But that's not why I chose it. To me this is a good depiction of American life. Hanging around on stoops, talking shit on the corner, going to buy batteries, complaining about shit that goes on at the pizza parlor. ("You wanna boycott someone? You ought to start with the goddamn barber that fucked up your head.") Before the riot at the end alot of this movie is actually a fun time.

5. CHARLIE'S ANGELS: FULL THROTTLE.

That's right motherfucker, I said it. This is pure, undiluted, stupid fuckin American pop culture power shake. It is available in both cool ranch and jalapeno flavors. I'm sure many Asians are proud of their craziest kung fu epics, and some Indians are proud of the weirdest, least explainable to outsiders Bollywood musicals. So I, on behalf of all Americans and the founding fathers, am proud of C's As: FT. This movie is so American that most Americans can't even comprehend it. They're too close. The only other movie that comes to mind as being this stupid and insane is CRADLE 2 THE GRAVE, but FULL THROTTLE is on purpose and therefore more worthy of sending into space (I know Moriarty didn't mention that but I'm assuming that's where this is going. Hey Martians - you're welcome.)

4. UNFORGIVEN.

Everybody's gonna be so mad I put C's As on there that I gotta do another bummer movie to regain all that credibility of mine. UNFORGIVEN is another American movie dealing with our past sins, our legacy of violence, etc. It's about how we get more thoughtful when we get older but we still shoot people, I guess. I don't know. Honorable mention for this theme: FIRST BLOOD and ROLLING THUNDER.

3. KNIGHTRIDERS.

That's right, the George Romero movie about knights jousting on motorcycles. This movie is the greatest because that's what it's about, but then it's a serious drama and it's about 2 1/2 hours long. Ed Harris is the leader of the troupe who follows a strict code of honor and gets pissed when Tom Savini splinters off a group of sellouts who play disco music while they joust and pose for photos for magazines and shit. To Ed that's not what it's about. This is obviously symbolic of Romero's experiences as an independent filmatist but it can stand for anything where you follow a code instead of just trying to be a celebrity or get rich or some stupid shit like that. If it was about rappers, it would be about trying to write good lyrics instead of trying to buy jewelry.

2. DAVE CHAPPELLE'S BLOCK PARTY.

This seems kind of ridiculous because it came out this year, but hear me out. This is a great movie. You know how Harry always says everything is "bliss?" That's all this movie is. Bliss right and left and up and down. The negatives are actually printed out onto a flattened sheet of bliss before they are transferred to film or DVD. This is a movie about American music and people who love it getting together and having a good time together on a block in Bed-Stuy. (also the site of #6. Not sure what that means.) It's about how strangers from different walks of life can respect each other and enjoy beautiful things together and all that shit.

I thought about choosing a jazz movie in honor of a great American artform, but most of my favorites are about one person, like STRAIGHT NO CHASER. BLOCK PARTY is more all encompassing. And I like all encompassing stuff. You know what they say about how Americans always encompass stuff.

1. GHOST DOG: WAY OF THE MOTHERFUCKING SAMURAI. Most individuals wouldn't understand what would make a man choose GHOST DOG as the number one movie to represent all of America, but what did you think I was gonna say, ARMAGEDDON? To me GHOST DOG is all about the sharing of cultures and philosophies. Ghost Dog represents the dying tribe of the samurai, in league with the dying tribe of the mafia. But he doesn't just learn from the Hakagure. He enjoys the way of the books (Frankenstein, The Wind in the Willows, Rashomon), the way of the rappers (the freestylers in the park), the way of the Native Americans when he talks about the way of the bear. He's like Bruce Lee's Jeet Kun Do, taking pieces from all the ways he likes to create his own way. And it's a movie about multi-culturalism. Ghost Dog's best friend only speaks French, they don't understand each other's language but they always understand each other anyway. In other words, this is a movie about that melting pot we used to hear about. I think the philosophy of GHOST DOG is also the philosophy of America when it's operating correctly. (Except GHOST DOG has more gunfights, I hope.)

Anyway that's my list but I'm gonna throw in some honorable mentions that were also considered: COCKFIGHTER, COMPULSION, DERBY, FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS, FIGHT CLUB, GARFIELD, THE GODFATHER, GUMMO, HUMAN NATURE, OVERNIGHT, SCARFACE, SLAM, SLASHER, STONE COLD (just because it's awesome), THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE, DIE HARD, DIE HARD and finally, DIE HARD.

Congratulations Harry and everybody on ten years of puke colored internet. You boys have been really good to me, I really appreciate it. Thanks for everything, keep up the good work and don't blow it. Also, God bless America.

Your friend,

Vern

Mr. Beaks started as a talkbacker, joined the site as a frequent contributor in NY and then in LA, and then left to edit his own website. Gotta love that story. He remains one of my favorite guys on the web, and I’m glad he agreed to come back for this one article to help class the joint up.

Mr. Beaks, editor of COLLIDER.COM

The Right Stuff

Tom Wolfe’s New Journalism masterpiece about the ineffableness of the seven American test pilots chosen to pop the country’s space exploration cherry gets transformed by writer-director Philip Kaufman into one of the most purely cinematic experiences in the history of the medium. Beginning with Chuck Yeager’s taming of the demon in the sky that is the sound barrier, and moving on to Project Mercury, which would overshadow Yeager’s once-unthinkable accomplishment and relegate him to bridesmaid status in the nation’s aviation history, Kaufman’s film swaggers for three-plus hours, reminding us that America is at its best when proudly risking life and limb reaching for the unattainable. The Right Stuff is also an unflinchingly accurate portrayal of the modern American cowboy, who, six out of seven times, is a skirt chasing sex maniac with as little regard for the feelings of those close to him as for his own physical and spiritual well-being (Ed Harris’s John Glenn being the exception). While these men are horrible husbands and virtual Neanderthals, they also have encoded in their DNA that most integral American virtue, valor, and that makes them honorable and worthy of celebration despite their personal failings. Far too much ink is spilled excoriating America for being a puritanical society; Philip Kaufman’s The Right Stuff exalts the awesome vulgarity that pushes us to go higher, farther and faster than anyone else – and, in this ideal case, with only the pilot’s life at stake. That’s important, too. Though Americans have certainly been at their best on the battlefield, I think we’re never better as a people than when yearning wildly, but peaceably, for the impossible. That’s why The Right Stuff isn’t just the greatest film about America, but quite possibly the greatest film ever made.

Only Angels Have Wings

I guess I prefer my cowboys to fly, which is ironic since I can’t set foot on a passenger jet without getting viciously drunk. The mantle of Greatest American Filmmaker is shared by John Ford and Howard Hawks, and while I am going to work a Ford title into this list, I much prefer the gentler humanism of Hawks, who collaborated with the great Jules Furthman for this 1939 classic about stupidly brave mail couriers cheating death in a treacherous region of Colombia. Cary Grant plays Geoff Carter, the alpha male of the outfit whose self-worth is all tied up in what he can do with an airplane. Despite solid turns from Jean Arthur and Rita Hayworth, it’s a guy movie – probably the most eloquent discourse on manhood to ever go before cameras. It’s also got a wonderful fatalist streak that reminds us Americans can romanticize losing just as much as winning. Hawks would do male bonding better in Rio Bravo, but he’d never capture the essence of the American male more palpably than he did here. “No looking ahead. No tomorrows. Just today.”

Bull Durham

Football – the non-sissy kind where “diving” pertains to laying out prone for a pass over the middle of the field – may be the most popular sport in America today, but baseball will always be its true pastime, and Ron Shelton’s soulful love triangle centered on a scrappy AA minor league organization remains the truest evocation of its charms (whereas Field of Dreams and The Natural serve as wonderful, if mawkish, valentines). Kevin Costner’s journeyman catcher Crash Davis is the guy we’d all like to be as we saunter into middle age – rakish, articulate and still capable of a few good swings at the plate. It’s so good, you forgive it for helping to launch Robert Wuhl’s career (which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing until Arli$$ happened, which did for comedy what The China Syndrome did for nuclear power).

My Darling Clementine

When the legend becomes fact, film the legend. The particulars of the infamous Gunfight at the O.K. Corral would get cleared up with time (and staged to bracing effect in both Tombstone and Wyatt Earp), but the friendship between lawman Earp (Henry Fonda) and libertine Doc Holliday (Victor Mature) would never be more poignantly dramatized than in John Ford’s terse masterpiece. Holliday reciting Hamlet’s suicide soliloquy after the Clanton gang has interrupted a traveling Shakespearian actor’s performance is an inspiring defiance of wanton ignorance that carries particular weight today. Holliday may be a rapscallion, but the man values civilization.

The Great Escape

Sandwiched in between this ebullient struggle between British POWs and their German captors during World War II is Steve McQueen as the dogged “Cooler King”, who spends most of his time rebelliously thwacking a baseball off the wall of his solitary cell whilst waiting for the next, inevitably thwarted escape attempt. If you’re not cracking a smile at the end of this film (particularly with that rousing Elmer Bernstein score), let’s never meet.

Do the Right Thing

Why can’t we all just get along? This is why, Rodney. There are no heroes in Spike Lee’s portrait of Brooklynites under duress, only flawed human beings who refuse to listen to or understand each other. Still sadly relevant with each passing year.

M*A*S*H

Set in Korea, but obviously critiquing the then ongoing Vietnam War, Robert Altman’s 1970 anarchic satire is an inspiring tribute to irreverence in the face of death that’s as necessary now as it was during America’s last poorly thought out conflict. Its gallows humor is clearly patterned after the Marx Brothers’ Duck Soup, but Altman’s film sticks to the bone thanks to its protagonists (the iconic duo of Donald Sutherland and Elliot Gould) being stuck in the shit rather than instigating it. M*A*S*H also captures the absurdist rebellion of Catch-22 better than Mike Nichols’s adaptation released in the same year. When no one will listen to reason, behaving twice as irrationally may be the only way to get the point across.

Used Cars

Wanna see good old-fashioned American venality at work? Throw on Robert Zemeckis’s and Bob Gale’s Used Cars, and pray that you don’t see much of yourself in Kurt Russell’s unscrupulous salesman who’s not afraid to turn a fire hose on those protesting his outrageous (i.e. bare-breast reliant) ad campaign – even if they’re nuns! Everything that’s wrong about our consumerist culture and soulless worship for the almighty dollar gets absolutely savaged. It’s timeless stuff – applicable to everyone from the smalltime huckster to the malfeasant CEO.

Red Dawn

John Milius’s supremely idiotic and surreally entertaining wish fulfillment fantasy is required viewing for anyone who wants to know why we’re currently mired in Iraq with no exit strategy or clearly defined purpose. It’s not the fault of the soldiers, who go where they’re told; it’s the fault of the hawks-at-home typing tough at their keyboards or shouting “Amen” to the Fox News talking heads without ever giving thought to the implications of our invade first, suss out the situation later foreign policy. And while I’m sure these misguided creatures love Rambo: First Blood Part II with equal ardor, this is by far the more seductive film for the unadventurous observer who’d rather dream of battlefield glory than place him or herself in the line of fire. The asthmatic Milius is their godfather, and this is his orgy of improbable heroics in the face of communist incursion, which can easily be transmuted to al Qaeda sleeper cells or pesky Mexicans straying over our southwestern border. This is the movie that plays in the housebound patriots’ heads nightly whether they know it or not; it’s simple, enthralling and, if you crave a black-and-white reality where combat plays like a childhood game of make believe, gospel.

Road House

Let’s end this on an upbeat note, shall we? As Americans, it is our God-given right and occasional duty to drink copious pitchers of priced-to-guzzle beer and kick the living shit out of each other. In my estimation, you’re not a man until you’ve tasted your own blood and spilled someone else’s courtesy of your fists in a barroom brawl. And while this tradition is not specific to America per se, no other country does it with our chair-tossing, lip-splitting, airplane-spinning, and, in the case of Rowdy Herrington’s paean to pain, throat-ripping panache. Patrick Swayze’s Dalton (and I’m completely aware that I’ve concluded my list with back-to-back Swayze), the world’s greatest “cooler”, is intended to be the film’s civilizing influence, but no one makes a living as a bouncer – particularly those with a degree in philosophy from NYU – without enjoying a bracing set-to every now and then. I mean, Dalton’s “Be nice until it’s time to not be nice” credo is simply an acknowledgment that the action will inevitably haymaker his way before last call, and you’ll notice that, save for the regrettable throat-ripping episode, Dalton doesn’t exactly seem disappointed at having mixed it up a little. That’s because he’s a real red-blooded American and he likes throwing hands, which, aside from flash animation and decoupage, is what we do best.

Rav’s a guy who busts ass in Austin on the local film scene, and who may actually be producing a film of his own this year. I hope so, because I’d love to see what he does. In the meantime, he may have turned in one of the shortest lists in this article, but it’s fascinating because of the specific choices he made.

Rav

ten films I'd show to perfectly explain America in no particular order

The Landlord

The Last Detail

Harold and Maude

Bound For Glory

Coming Home

Being There

Shampoo

Lookin' To Get Out

8 Million Ways To Die

Let's Spend the Night Together

I know it sort of feels like a cop out to have all Hal Ahsby movies, but to be honest I tried to put together a list with other films. That other list included things like the big lebowski, all the presidents men, red dawn, and other movies that are absolutely wonderful and work very well for a "america" list. But I kept going back to Ashby, I love that these ten films perfectly exemplify america better than any AFI hundred best or what-not. Theres some crap in there, but hell theres some crappy 80's cop movies littered around america too.

Nordling’s the perfect example of a talkbacker who has been here since the early days, and who continues to contribute to the site any time he can. His Bruce Campbell interview is the stuff of legend, and he’s one of our most avid BNAT attendees. We had to include him in this list, and his choices make for a good read.

NORDLING

For me, the films that best describe America run the gamut from brutally honest to cheesy sentimentality to a mixture of both. I love America, faults and all, and I think for us to get the complete picture we shouldn't either hide from the raw unpleasant parts, or embrace the truly great wonderful parts. Here's my ten movies that best describe America, in no real order. You'll notice I didn't pick any war films. That's because I don't believe our wars define us. It's our character, how we respond to our various challenges, that make us American.

LONE STAR - This is my favorite John Sayles film. He treats everyone with the same eye - from the immigrant owner of a Mexican restaurant to the town sheriff trying to live up to (or down, depending on how you look at it) his father's legacy. Anyone from Texas can tell you how honest this film is. It's one of the few that gets Texas intrinsically right. It can be a brutal place to be sure, but for those who put in the sweat and tears it can also be immensely rewarding. Anyone with an interest in the immigration debate should see this film.

JFK - It doesn't matter if this film is right. It doesn't matter that both Oliver Stone and Jim Garrison may be as nutty as a Pay Day. What matters is that this is a film that not only questions authority and government but swells with American pride while doing so. It shows that patriotism comes in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes the message isn't as important as the language it's given. This is a great American film.

UNITED 93 - It's been almost three months since I've seen this and it still won't leave my mind. It would take a British director to tell this American story. I know for many people it's rough and many still won't see it. But let me tell you something - when those passengers storm the cockpit it's one of the single great patriotic moments I've ever seen on film. I was very, very proud to be an American right then.

DO THE RIGHT THING - If you don't know that this is a great American film by now, turn in your geek card. It's the single most resonant statement about racism in America ever put to film. The ending isn't comfortable for many people. But just ask yourself this - what's more important to you, a pizzeria, or a man's life? This is damn near required viewing.

FIELD OF DREAMS - I picked this over THE NATURAL because it's about so many things we Americans hold true to our hearts. Baseball, fathers, sons, our great authors, our great causes, our scandals and our dreams, all wrapped up in a box called Iowa. Want to make me cry? Make me watch this. That shot of the dad and his son playing catch gets me every damn time.

THE EVIL DEAD - What the hell? Yeah. This movie makes me proud to be an American, and I'll tell you why. Read Bruce Campbell's book IF CHINS COULD KILL. Look at all the painstaking work that Sam Raimi, Campbell, and many others went through to make this B-movie classic happen. If that's not pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps American moxie, I don't know what is.

MURDERBALL - When we first meet Mark Zupan, he matter-of-factly tells us abouthis injuries that left him a quadraplegic, and then he tells us later on it was the best thing that ever happened to him. As we see his and the other player's stories of the USA Quad Rugby team, we are not inclined to disagree. This film is the heart of America - judge our actions, not what we appear to be. By the end of the film we weep, not for their physical handicaps, but because they lost a hell of a game, and they have earned our respect. That's America all over.

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD - Harper Lee's classic novel is also a classic film. Gregory Peck speaks for all of us who want nothing but fairness for our fellow man as he defends a black man falsely accused of raping a white woman. But this is told from the perspective of those who have to live in that future - the children. I plan on showing this to mine when she's old enough. "Jean Louise, stand up. Your father's passin'."

AVALON - Barry Levinson's masterpiece. What? You haven't seen this? This film about an immigrant family through the generations is a beautiful statement about America. That one glorious shot as Sam walks through the light to arrive in America still gives me goosebumps. Look close enough, and this is the story of every family.

JAWS - Okay, Nordling, you're just stacking your favorite movies now. But really. This movie's about as American as it gets. First off, this movie couldn't possibly be set anywhere else. It's so American that you can pick it out from the opening scene. Quint's tale of the USS Indianapolis is one of our great American tragedies. And it shows real American spirit, from its making to its characters. It's a blast of a movie, one that I don't think really could have been made anywhere but America. Want to step into our shoes? JAWS is every American, from our sometimes greasy politicians to our salt of the earth workers to our noble police (at least as we want them to be) to our ingenuity and know how.

Happy 10th Anniversary, Ain't It Cool News! I'll be here as long as you people keep writing.

Ladies and gentlemen, I bring you the one... the only... Neill Cumpston.

NEILL CUMPSTON:

10 MOVIES THAT WEAR KICKASS PANTS OVER FUCK-YOU-UP BOOTS (AND ALSO A COOL BITE-MY-DICK SHIRT WITH NO SLEEVES)

WILD WILD WILD WEST and GOOD THE UGLY AND THE BAD

Usually when you watch one of those films that try to teach you stuff about history (GHANDI, ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN, VAN HELSING) you get all bored because you start thinking about books and books make you gay.

So I wish more filmmakers would watch WILD WILD WILD WEST AND THE GOOD THE UGLY AND THE BAD. Because even though they’re about real stuff that happened in American history, they make sure to put in lots of fun, interesting stuff like chases and gunfights so you don’t feel like you should put a skirt on and read something. WWWW is especially kickcock ‘cuz Will Smith is so hilarious, and they even use him to do an authentic Old West rap song at the end, which they should use rap songs to write about all history ‘cuz then maybe I could remember it more, or at least blast it when I’m out crusin’.

Interesting note: One thing that a lot of people miss (which is why you need to see WILD WILD WILD WEST a few times – I didn’t even catch this until I saw it the third time) is when the white guy says “Air Gordon”, which is he’s mentioning those sneakers that Michael Jordan wears (“Shoe Jordans”) and you’re supposed to say (when you hear it) “I get it”.

RED DAWN

This film is why Sadaam Hussien flew planes into buildings and scrapped his plans to parachute dudes into the Midwest: ‘cuz he knew the high schools were full of jock dicks who would get machine guns and blow his ass off. People try to argue with me that that’s not true and I’m all like, “How many parachute attacks by Sadaam Hussein?” and they stop talking and look at me real hard ‘cuz they’re thinking, “What a bad-ass arguing dude.”

ALL THE FINAL DESTINATION FILMS

Remember the Grim Reaper in that black and white Swedish film? What’d he do?

Played chess on the beach.

Well, the American Grim Reaper clearly plays PS2 and not chess, ‘cuz he’s setting up motherfuckers to die like Capture the Flag in Halo.

CON AIR

Again, let’s say you put a bunch of French criminals or British criminals on a plane. Would they even take it over? No, ‘cuz they’re probably only in jail for drinking box wine (the French) or for not putting cream a teacup before the tea ‘cuz it’d stain the porcelain (the British).

We have the best history, the best Grim Reaper, the best high school jock dicks and the BADDEST ASSED BAD GUYS! CON AIR is also the one movie that if you’re a guy and you masturbate to it, you’re DOUBLE not gay. It’s cooler than a shotgun that shoots miniature Jessica Albas that blowjob you to death.

EVERY WHICH WAY BUT LOOSE

Clint Eastwood and a Mexican can win the Civil War (see above). Clint Eastwood and a finger-flipping monkey? I’ll bet they could’ve stopped the asteroid in ARMAGEDDON. And I also think that the monkey giving the finger should be on the ten dollar bill, and if you sniff the back it smells like bar-b-q Fritos.

NASHVILLE

Robert Altman’s post-Watergate, anti- hagiographic tapestry of homespun values and the darker shadows they help to obscure is at once a product of the growing malaise and faithlessness in the American Dream inimical to the inexorable (but equally hollow) “Morning in America” of the early 80’s, as well as a defiant re-assertion of those same values; an acknowledgement of their illusory and vaporous nature, and a final (if tentative) epiphany that illusions can enrich even as they enervate.

PINK FLAMINGOS

A fat dude in a dress eats poop!

Dr. Hfhurrhurr has taken some serious flack here on the site because of his open Republicanism, but that’s exactly what I love about him. I love that he represents a voice that doesn’t show up in film criticism often, and that he does it all with a smile. His choices may look the same as some of the others on this list, but for different reasons, and that says a lot about how we could all get along better if we actually listened to one another a little more and remembered that right... left... we’re all American.

Dr. Hfhurrhurr’s Top 10 Films that Define America

How do you define a big ol’ diverse, crazy country like the U.S. of A? The way we have always defined it: through our single greatest export - the movies. It really aches my cranium these days to see so many people working in Hollywood complaining about our seemingly soiled image with the rest of the world. “Why do they hate us?” many people ask. Well...perhaps it’s because we make so many films full of national self-hatred and loathing that makes us look like a bunch of evil, selfish, corrupt greedy pigs. Hell, Superman can’t even say he stands for “the American Way” anymore. Instead of airing our dirty laundry to the world, we ought to start airing our daisy fresh skivvies and silky, colorful Hawaiian shirts to ‘em like we used to. Then we’ll get some lovin’. Even from the French. And if we must expose our dark side we should at least strive to do so in a constructive way. So with that in mind, here are the ten films that I would pick to show America at its best. To show what we strive to be and what we could be if only the wimpy whiners, crybabies, freeloaders, CNN and the NY Crimes, er, Times would take a vacation.

In no particular order:

1. TO KILL A MOCKING BIRD. Sure we screw up once in a while and there are some racist shit bastards living among us, but overall we’re a pretty fair and tolerant bunch trying to do the right thing. We may slip and we may fall on occasion and sometimes we have our collective heads up our butts, but I believe there’s an Atticus Finch at the very heart of “The American Character.”

2. MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON. You can’t help but stand humbly in awe of the great Idea for a democracy “of the people” that those white-wigged Founding Fathers came up with all those years ago when you watch this film. It's an idea that's so crazy it just might work. Once we get all the kinks out. Right now we're all suffering from a bunch of self-interested Claude Raines-types in Washington, but that’s only until another Mr. Smith hasn’t comes along. And he will. And he’ll be calling himself a Libertarian. And when that day comes, the far red and the far blue will fall off and decay and the 70% of us in between will have a party.

3. RED DAWN. Let me make this perfectly clear: if you mess with us, if you threaten us in any way or try to harm our friends and family, we will hunt you down and fuck you up. And even though there will by whiny appeasers (like the Mayor in this film) trying to sell us out, we will have our revenge, we will take our country back, and we will secure our borders! Do not under underestimate how much we love our freedom. Or how much we love kicking ass. Or how much we love spray-painting the word “Wolverines” under overpasses.

4. ROCKY. This film is America. It is everything we strive to embody: working hard, pulling ourselves up buy our own bootstraps, having the heart to go the distance, overcoming seemingly insurmountable obstacles, believing in yourself...and doing it all for love. Rocky was an immigrant (or was from immigrant family) who through hard work, faith in himself, and perseverance - and without asking for handouts - got to live the American dream. A lot of people these day like to piss on the notion that anyone in this country can rise from nowhere to achieve there dreams and become anything they want to be, but I think everyone writing for this site - myself, Harry, Moriarty, et al - and the many filmmakers we’ve seen come from nowhere to achieve great success in the past ten years would have to respectfully disagree.

5. SCARFACE. Um...is this really America at its best? In a way, yes. This is the Anti-ROCKY and it shows that if you try to steal or cheat or chainsaw your way to the American dream, you will die in a pool of your own blood. Or at least you should. Make no mistake about it, this is a morality tale. DO NOT ABUSE THE IDEA OF THE AMERICAN DREAM. It is a mistake to idealize Tony Montana. He could have had it all...including Michelle Pfeiffer. Freakin’ Dumbass. Don’t be a dumbass. Learning is cool!

6. SUPERMAN. Superman is America. I don’t care what Bryan Singer, Warner Bros,, and the PC writers of SUPER RETURNS want you to think. He is not the world’s hero, he is ours. We invented him. We own him. He does not stand for Truth, Justice, and the Iranian Way. He does not stand for Truth, Justice, and the Chinese Way. He stands for Truth, Justice, and THE AMERICAN WAY! Live it, learn it, spread the word.

7. NETWORK. Written as a satire. Now it’s completely true. The shadow side of America is embodied in our media and in our corporations. These don’t have to be bad things. But they certainly have one foot in the Dark Side. And we’re just about to the point where we’re not gonna take it anymore. And that, my friends, is what’s so great about living in America. We the people have a voice. And we won’t get thrown in prison for using it. Not if we’re Rush Limbaugh, not if were Cindy Sheehan. Unless, of course, if we want to make fun of Mohammad or use a non-gender-neutral pronoun.

8. DIRTY HARRY/WALKING TALL/DEATH WISH. Dear scumbags of the world: shape up or feel the whack of our big fucking sticks and guns. Although these films are about the micro-scum oozing within our own pearly gates, the macro is obvious. America, as Teddy Roosevelt so eloquently stated it, is a big fucking stick. We are Harry Callahan, Buford T. Pusser, and Paul Kersey. I’m not ashamed of that. Nor should anyone else here on Team America be ashamed of it. Spare the rod, spoil the U.N.

9. BREAKING AWAY. Maybe it’s because I grew up near Bloomington, Indiana where this film takes place (and was shot), but I have always felt that this film perfectly captures what it was like to be an American youth in that angsty stage between childhood and adulthood when you are trying to find your voice and your place in the world. This film captures the heart of the heartland and perhaps even the heart of the America experience.

10. SULLIVAN’S TRAVELS. I began by talking about the power of film and the images we export to the world. This classic Preston Sturges film is about a successful comedy director who wants to make a serious film (incidentally called “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”). In the end he realizes that his seemingly inconsequential comedies have more of an impact on people’s spirits then he ever realized.

Americans are a fun people. But every once in awhile we get a little too serious and full of ourselves. And our films start to reflect it and, lo and behold, people stay away from the theaters in droves. Maybe, like Sullivan, America (and the American film industry) should start spreading a little hope, humor, and optimism. Imagine the world, if these were our greatest exports.

Happy Fourth of July and may the God, anti-God, no-God, or Force of your choice bless America.

Copernicus may well the smartest guy who has ever contributed to this site on a regular basis, and that’s no exaggeration. This guy’s brain is so big he’s got an entourage just to carry it. Yet, somehow, he still finds time amidst his important scientific work to send us reviews occasionally, and we’re always thrilled when he does. As a current resident of Canada, I thought he’d have a particularly interesting perspective on this question.

COPERNICUS

I don't live in America anymore. There are some things that I was happy to leave, but there are other things that I really miss. Since it is pure folly try to pick the 10 best films about America, I came at the task from a slightly different perspective. I chose 10 defining characteristics of America, and then picked 10 films that uniquely illustrate each trait.

To Kill a Mockingbird American not only allowed the wholesale enslavement of people, we wrote it into the founding documents of the country, and fought a war to perpetuate it. Racism is as American as apple pie. Is there a more iconic representation of it than the shot of the "colored balcony" in To Kill a Mockingbird? Or is there a more iconic American hero than Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch? The small-minded town here is who we are at our worst. But at our best we're Atticus Finch, risking our own well being and for justice and reason.

Syriana Imagine the richest guy in the world. If he lied and killed people to preserve his way of life, declared himself above the law, and turned his back all of his friends save those that kissed his ass, he'd be the classic cinematic villain. That is how the rest of the world feels about the US on the oil issue, and rightly so. Syriana is one of the few American films to show us as we truly are when there is oil at stake – a gang of thugs.

The Straight Story I normally avoid heartwarming stories, because they can be so damn ham-handed, but I gave this one a shot because it is directed by David Lynch of all people. Damn if that fool didn't make me cry like a bitch. Seriously, Richard Farnsworth caps an amazing career as a stuntman and actor with this moving Oscar-nominated final role. This is the true story of Alvin Straight, a 73 year old who tried to ride his riding lawnmower from Iowa to Wisconsin to see his brother who had had a stroke. Along the way he meets all kinds of people that define the generous and friendly spirit of the Midwest.

Hustle & Flow The American dream is a complex thing, and few movies treat it with as much balance as Hustle & Flow. It is possible to go from the bottom of the underclass to the top of the world in many societies, but what makes America interesting is that we really believe our own propaganda. We really do believe that anyone can achieve greatness, and you can get there through hard work. But this can't happen for everyone. Of course, I know I'm going to get rich, it's the rest of you fools that don't have a chance. The irony is that this simple delusion is what drives the country to the heights that it achieves. I've lived in countries that don't have such a bizarre belief system and they may be more realistic, but they are also a lot more complacent. People can be unmoved to strive for anything past mediocrity. I love that Hustle & Flow is the American dream with an edge, and it comes with a good dose of a truly original American art form. Bonus points for being set in the real South, not some Hollywood caricature of it. And how could a movie about a philosophical pimp not be on my best-of list?

All the President's Men In America, somehow we have set up a system where power-lording ogres can their asses handed to them by ordinary citizens using the first amendment. Gotta love that Bill of Rights -- guns are the second amendment, behind the one about words and ideas. For all the kids: we used to have this thing called the Constitution. It was great.

Contact If there is one thing America leads the world at by a greater margin than anything else, it may be science. Carl Sagan is my hero, and this is (almost) pure Sagan. The opeing shot may be the best ever put to film. Just think, at the beginning of the era of cinema we didn't even know there were other galaxies out there. This one opening shot ranges from the scale of the largest structures in the universe to the human eye, and summarizes the work of thousands of astronomers over thousands of years in about a minute. Sure there are lamentable elements to the rest of the film. I throw up a little every time I see the Dad bit at the end. And I could do without Matthew McConaughey's asinine preacher (the character wasn't in the book). Still, the movie really captures the core of what it is like to be a scientist. It also shows that even when America is a global leader, it is at its greatest when it works together with the world to achieve something greater than it can on its own. American scientists do this every day. Why can't the politicians? Bonus points for being the movie I met Harry at, way back in 1997.

The Godfather, Part II We used to be very welcoming to immigrants. Ok, this is a story about killing and stealing your way to the top, but that is a lot more cinematic than hard work.

My Darling Clementine On the surface, this is a film directed by American legend John Ford, starring American legend Peter Fonda, about an American legend – Wyatt Earp and his boys versus the outlaw Clantons. But deeper down, this story is about the last days of the frontier West, just as it was becoming civilized. The American West was a unique time and place in the world. It was an experiment to see if our actions could keep up with our ideals in a frontier with few laws or women to keep men in check. I could have put any number of westerns in this slot, hell this entire list could be westerns, but My Darling Clementine is my favorite. Having said that, if it were a movie, I'd put Deadwood, up against anything.

Fight Club Maybe the most representative value of Americans is that money is our top priority, and all other values are secondary. We work too hard in soul-crushing cubicle jobs. Then we fill the hollowness with consumption of meaningless crap. We've lost touch with our primal needs. Enter Tyler Durden.

O Brother Where Art Thou / The Blues Brothers Maybe it is cheating to name both of these, but they are essentially the same movie. Scruffy outlaws seek guidance from a blind man and set out on a quest, ostensibly for money, but really for a higher calling. They are being chased by the law, and manage to run afoul of racists to boot. On their odyssey they encounter some of the best America has to offer, whether it is Wrigley field, rowdy honky-tonks, bluegrass-singing lake sirens, preachers and politicians of all stripes, or Carrie Fisher with a flamethrower. As our heroes try to navigate the hateful side of our nature at one extreme and the overly righteous side on the other, they are exposed to people and forms of music that just can't be found anywhere else.

So in summary, we're a bunch of money-grubbing, oil-thieving, hate-mongering, murdering assholes. But our delusions of grandeur may be our saving grace. We are just stupid enough to believe that it isn't hard to accomplish great things, and sometimes we do. Through our art, science, and people, every so often we manage to kick ass and show the world new stuff.

Next up, we’ve got Quint. You all know Quint. He started here as a six year old, and his raw enthusiasm has somehow remained unchanged even as he’s become more and more experienced and as he’s traveled the world visiting sets and meeting filmmakers of all stripes. Okay, maybe he wasn’t six, but I’ve always loved that he really was a kid when he started here, and we’ve seen him grow up on the site. This article simply wouldn’t be complete if he wasn’t part of it.

QUINT

ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN (1976)

This is the most obvious pick of the list and one I expect to see repeated here. I have deliberately not looked at any of the other submissions for this 10th Anniversary article, so if I copy some choices from our regular contributors then... well, great minds, right? Or I guess it'd be more like "geek minds."

Anyway, this one is a double header. One of America's most valuable commodities are the freedoms of speech and the press. This film tells the story of how two men, Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, toppled a corrupt leader in politics. Not two Generals. Not two politicians. Not two assassins. Two reporters armed only with the truth and the freedom to put that truth before the eyes of the American people. Even if this film were fiction and not based on the true life story of the Washington Post reporters who unraveled the Watergate scandal this would be on this list.

I am personally far removed from the time of Richard Nixon, so don't think this is me just happy about a Republican getting caught with his hand in the cookie jar. It's the constitution protecting the American people from corruption (doesn't matter which party that corruption lies in) and the courage of these men to bring that truth to light that put this one at the top of the list. Add on to that the fact that it's one of the best made movies of the 70s and that's saying a whole lot for a decade that rich with brilliant film.

FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF (1986)

Nice pair-up, huh? This might seem an odd pick because some will think of the film as being about shirking one's responsibilities and throwing caution to the wind. Well, that last part actually is part of the reason I'm adding this to my list. Ferris Bueller's philosophy of living life to its fullest ("Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while you could miss it.") isn't strictly American, but it's certainly part of the American dream, to be able to enjoy your life and not get bogged down in the details.

Ferris bucks the system, he's a terror to the authority figures, but he's also everyone's best friend. After all... "The sportos, the motorheads, geeks, sluts, bloods, waistoids, dweebies, dickheads... they all adore him. They think he's a righteous dude." He's the hero of the young generation, the future of our society. You get the feeling that if Ferris Bueller was President everything would be right in the world.

ED WOOD (1994)

ED WOOD shows us the true American Dream, a man who overcomes all obstacles to do what he genuinely loves to do. These obstacles include no budget, no sets, angry producers, absolutely zero talent as a filmmaker, but you know what? The Ed Wood Johnny Depp portrays in this film has heart and determination. He's not in it for the fame. He's not in it for the notoriety, the parties, the whores, the drugs or even the angora sweaters. He's in it because he loves film.

That's why I cringe whenever someone compares Uwe Boll to Ed Wood. Boll may make movies as horrible as Ed Wood did (especially Wood's '70s softcore stuff... about as unwatchable as anything I've ever seen), but it's clear from any interview with the man that his passion isn't in making movies, but in "being cool" and being "in the industry."

For Ed Wood's personification of the American Dream and how infectious it can be, ED WOOD is on this list. Plus it's probably Tim Burton's best movie (behind PEE-WEE'S BIG ADVENTURE, of course).

12 ANGRY MEN (1957)

Our court system here is pretty crappy. I'll be the first to admit we live in a pay to play legal system, which is about as unfair and unAmerican as you can get. However, this film shows what the dream of our court system should be. Without a good lawyer and against much prejudice a Spanish-American youth accused of murder stands trial. All but one member of the jury believes in looking at the case beneath the surface level (and beyond the prejudice of the time). Henry Fonda plays the juror fighting for this young man. As he argues with the other jurors, he slowly exposes their true selves and forces them to dig deep and find the strength to be fair and right.

The dream of the American legal system is on display in this film and it's a dream that is expertly directed by Sidney Lumet, with a stellar cast.

THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE (1962)

This is the movie that made me get into Westerns. John Wayne, Lee Marvin, Jimmy Stewart, Woody Strode and even a small role for Lee Van Cleef. On one hand it's about a powerless man who finds it within himself to confront someone with great power, despite the odds against him. On the other hand it's about perception and truth vs. myth. The movie has a very famous line: "This is the West, sir. When legend becomes fact - print the legend."

Not that I advocate falsifying history, but this story is about self-sacrifice and doing the right thing even if it means death (Stewart facing down Liberty Valance) or helping a friend (Wayne giving the credit of Liberty's death to Stewart). And the Tall Tales from the Old West make up a big part of America's history. It's our very own mythology.

Friendship plays a large role in this John Ford movie and I think that's what grabbed me the most the first time I saw it. I have a feeling that many of my collaborators will pick another James Stewart movie, MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON, but for me... this film's message about a coward finding the courage within himself to protect those that need protection is very powerful and what I'd hope would be in the hearts of all Americans.

SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (1998)

Here's another fairly obvious pick, but there are different levels to this film that I feel make it perfect for this list. One, it's a war movie and we Americans sure love us our wars. But perhaps more than any other war we've been involved in World War II showed our true spirit. I'm not one who rah-rah's while waving the American flag, saying if it wasn't for us Europe would be goosestepping right now. I don't believe that. I think we helped the effort and along with the Russians turning on Hitler shifted the tides of battle, but I think it's ridiculous to say we are the sole reason the Nazis were stopped.

So, it's a WW2 movie, but it's not about fighting the enemy. The plot is a rescue mission, men putting their lives on the line to rescue a complete stranger. Friendship, leadership, courage and everything I believe is in the true American spirit is on display in this film.

JAWS (1975)

To be completely honest, if this list was about the top 10 movies that prove why ponies are cute JAWS would still find its way on here. It's my favorite movie, hands down. So, while it may be a stretch I can point at a good man, a protector of the people, fighting against the corrupt politicians for the public good. There's also the fact that 3 radically different people have to get past their differences in order to achieve a common goal, which would highlight America's melting pot society.

Okay, so it's a stretch. But it's in my list. One could also point to JAWS' importance as a product. It started the blockbuster phenomenon that has shaped the movie industry. Once again, it's something that struggled against a difficult production with a relatively green filmmaker and ended up changing the entire industry.

STAND BY ME (1986)

If Ferris Bueller is a great American teenager, then Vern, Gordie Lachance, Chris Cambers and Teddy Duchamp are the typical American children. Joe Dante's THE EXPLORERS would also be a good pick for this slot, but as much as I love EXPLORERS there's just something about STAND BY ME that peels it out of the nostalgic and places it firmly into great filmmaking.

The reason STAND BY ME works for this list is because it's not just an ideal look at children of the '50s. You can pick these children out of that era, change some of their slang and drop 'em in American era and they'd work. They're flawed, they curse up a storm, the cause trouble, but when you see the real delinquents in this film (Kiefer Sutherland's Ace Merrill) you understand immediately that our leads aren't the real troubled kids.

The movie captures the wonders of childhood, that age of exploration where friendship is probably more important than at any other point in your life. Your friends can be just as flawed as you are, but goddamnit they're there for you and you for them. As a child of the '80s I felt I connected with these characters than in most movies about childhood in the '80s.

A CHRISTMAS STORY (1983)

We've had a film example of an American Teenager, American Childhood and now here's my pick for the American Family. Dysfunctional, a bit on the weird side, angry, always fighting, but held together with a strong bond. Plus Christmas is a massive holiday in this country, even those heathens like me who don't necessarily celebrate it as the birth of our lord and savior. Christmas means general good will and even though it can be a very stressful holiday you do notice a shift in people's attitudes. The holiday season seems to become bigger and bigger every year. Lights up and down every suburban street in America, stores filled with Christmas items, bums ringing bells... the works.

Much like the kids in STAND BY ME, this family (The Old Man, Ralphie, Randy, Mrs. Parker) could be plucked out of the Norman Rockwell time period and placed anywhere in America's history. I think the tag line of the movie even says it's the All-American Christmas.

VACATION (1983)

There's nothing that says All American like the family road trip summer vacation. The Griswold family might not be typical of American families, but I have seen families with the same sort of dynamic... hillbilly cousins always asking for money, bitchy Aunts, etc. So, it's not atypical of the American family, but the process of the family road trip is right on. Driving across our large country, getting on each others' nerves, yet still bonding from the experience even if the whole trip is a disaster.

And that's about that. Can't wait to read the other lists! Thanks for sticking with us over the last 10 years. Here's to 10 more. After that, I think we're just going into overkill, don't you?

-Quint

And now for the man I lost my virginity to... John Robie:

John Robie's top ten "Movies About America" in no particular order. Please forgive any grand pronouncements made below, and sorry these aren't colored by more cynicism. That's just not who I am (cue the chorus of "then you're an idealistic idiot!" and then I march off the stage to a Francis Scott Key tune carrying an American flag and a fistfull of sparklers).

"Raising Arizona" -- It's one of the best, funniest movies ever made (that's two points for team America!!), one half of the title is a state (err... half a point for team America?), and I very much want to believe that there are plenty of H.I. and Edwinas out there, though I hope the real life versions are just as charming and funny and not also bigots and gay haters.

"Rocky" -- because we love it when the little guy wins, even when he doesn't "win." Fuck it, I choose "Rocky IV" instead. Because I love it when the little guy really wins -- except he's not the little guy, he's a roided up giant guy, and he wins against an even more roided up guy except that guy is a Ruskie. And there's a robot!

"Born on the Fourth of July" -- because you're all rah rah war, and then you go to war, and then you get hurt, and then you come back and go hey wait a sec that war might nota been such a good idea. Hindsight is 20/20, which is a program on the ABC network, which stands for American Broadcasting Network, which is American, dipshit. Hindsight is American. Seriously this is actually fantastic movie about, among other things, loving your country even when you hate it and the freedom to express that. Though that freedom isn't uniquely American, I think we're better at it than anyone. And being number 1? That's American!

"The Right Stuff" -- though the Russians got up to space first, we did it cooler. If the story of Chuck Yeager and the Apollo 7 astronauts doesn't make you go "wow, we did that?" then, seriously, you're a tool. Plus Remo Williams, Pollack, Bishop, one of America's best play writers and Barbara Hershey's big ass lips are in this.

"Godfather 2" -- blah blah sums up the American experience like no other blah blah. Well all I know is that this movie is still just so jet black and I still can't get enough of it. And if that means I love a dark dark story about being an American, in a story that could only happen in America, then I love America and I love the mob.

"All the President's Men" -- because sometimes things here are reeeeeal messed up, and when that's the case it's nice to know two handsome reporters will come along and call a spade a spade. Okay I've never seen this movie but I basically know the story. They still bring Carter down, right?

"The Bridge on the River Kwai" -- This movie I've seen about 80 times. I'm not going to try to pretend I understand war or how this nation was founded on it or it's constant involvement in some form of it. What I do know is that this movie encompasses most everything about war I've ever heard, and appropriately enough the ending is sadly triumphant -- nah, it's more just devastatingly sad. Or maybe I just like William Holden too much.

"Back to the Future" -- because American suburbs rule and really, what other country could do a time-traveling car movie this perfectly? And Michael J. Fox? American.

"Badlands" -- because even our lunatics are beautiful and charming and beautiful.

"Superman (Donner's original)" -- because like this movie, America fills me with wonder and yet every once in a while it makes me shake my head and go, "god... you're so cheesy." Fills me with wonder? Yes. Because I'm unapologetically cheesy myself.

Now, I wrote my own list six years ago, as I mentioned in the opening to this article, but six years has given me some time to realize that I need to do a whole new list, completely different, to reflect where I think America is now. I’m going to try to keep this (for me) brief, but I’ve got to play, too, since this has been so fun so far. My list will be followed by some closing comments by Harry, so I’ll take this last chance to say thanks and goodbye, and I hope we’re here making some totally different type of lists on the 20th anniversary, and that all of you are here to share them with us.

MORIARTY

MELVIN & HOWARD

Jonathan Demme started his career making small movies about small Americans, normal people, and this is the best of those films. Melvin Dumar (Paul LeMat) is a truck driver with a dream, a guy who wants to be a songwriter, and one night, driving across the desert, he picks up a stranger who looks like he’s been in a crash of some sort. They have a strange and hilarious ride together, and it’s only afterwards that Melvin learns he was driving Howard Hughes. No one believes him, though, and the film makes some remarkable points about how we want shortcuts to fame, how we treat the famous, and how sometimes a simple kindness can get you punished more than doing nothing. Demme perfectly captures the mania that fame and money can cause, and the film features some of the best performances of the ‘80s.

SCARFACE

And speaking of the ‘80s, if you want to know what excess looks like, search no further than this hilarious, harrowing, deranged corruption of the American Dream. Al Pacino and Oliver Stone and Brian De Palma pervert the immigrant experience in a canny way here, and the result is a film that plays different for me each and every time I watch it. Fascinating.

FEAR & LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS

There’s something about looking at ourselves as Americans that seems to scare us, which is exactly why FEAR & LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS is essential. Hunter Thompson was able to strike an outsider’s pose and really lay us bare, and Terry Gilliam seems to have tapped into that perfectly in his scathing, ugly film version of Thompson’s brilliant book-length rant about the atrophy of the American dream. It’s a cynical movie, but there are times when we are a deeply cynical nation, and we deserve this film.

BOOGIE NIGHTS

BOOGIE NIGHTS does so many things so well that it’s hard to know where to start. It’s about our love of celebrity for the sake of celebrity. It’s about figuring out what your gift is and how to make the most of it. It’s about finding your family among your friends, something that happens more often than ever now since people rarely live where they grew up anymore. It’s about the way we destroy ourselves when we get hold of our dreams. And it’s about the way we slip from era to era, the way fashion and music and culture shift and how we try our best to keep up or get crushed by it. It’s still the best thing Paul Thomas Anderson’s made so far, and the love that is evident in every frame of the film makes it a joy to revisit.

WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE

Childhood sucks in America, especially if you aren’t cool. And no film says that with a clearer voice than this one. Dawn Weiner speaks for more people than I’m sure would admit it.

DELIVERANCE

Has there ever been a more accurate depiction of the dangers lurking just off the main highways of this country, or the horrors that await us if we completely stripmine our natural resources in the name of “progress”? The more we do to this country what those toothless freaks did to Ned Beatty, the more we lose track of ourselves. Our country is filled with natural beauty and genuine menace, and it’s all about finding some sense of balance.

HOOP DREAMS

We cannot all be famous. We cannot all be rich. We cannot all get everything we want. And this film illustrates that with a brutal honesty that is still impressive a decade after its initial release.

DIRTY HARRY

Our relationship with the law in this country is a complicated thing, and this film sums it up perfectly. We want our cops to be badass motherfuckers who will do anything it takes to keep us safe, but at the same time, we want to give everyone a barricade of inalienable rights that make justice nearly impossible at times. It’s hard to figure out how to reconcile those two things, and Dirty Harry represents that dichotomy and the madness it creates more than any other character I’ve ever seen. Screw the sequels... this film, like Callahan, stands alone.

LOST IN AMERICA

We often find ourselves longing for an America that doesn’t exist, an idealized America, and sometimes, when we go looking for it, what we find can ruin us. Albert Brooks manages to make that both funny and horrible at the same time, and his honesty is the real ideal that we should aspire to here.

FIGHT CLUB

FIGHT CLUB was too new for me to include on the first version of this list that I wrote, but looking back at it now, it seems prophetic. And, no, not just because of that haunting final image. We are raising a generation of veal, soft kids with no spines, and it’s terrifying. More than ever, materialism seems to be all they aspire to as they spend all their time absorbed in video games and concerned with what they wear and what cell phone they have and whether or not they drink the “right” water, and it’s just mind-boggling. I’m not sure Space Monkeys are the answer, but somewhere in the venomous message of Tyler Durden, there are words of wisdom, and I think we’d do well to man up, throw a few punches, and get back to the business of being real leaders instead of crazy, out of control children with no moral compass.

Hey folks, Harry here – sorta giving the last word. People talk all the time about the good old days of AICN. The wild west of the internet. When we used to call studio execs out by name for their shitty films. Like we did with folks like Eisner and Lorenzo DiBonaventura and Bill Mechanic. When we would passionately scream about how fucked up or how unbelievably cool it was. How studios went out of their way to make sure to keep us out of screenings of their films… not just test screenings, but any screenings. Well – personally – I still think we do that. We’ve been fighting with FOX more often these days – Warners and Disney have their shit together most of the time. Most of the studios don’t have a problem with us seeing films of theirs early, except Fox, but that’s because they’ve learned that we really do go into films wanting to love them… it’s only if they aren’t what we hoped that it begins to get ugly.

In 10 years, a lot has changed for me. I don’t live in the back bedroom of my father’s house he was renting. I bought the house, and my father lives there, but I live next door in my house with my fiancée. Life is good. I started the site with mobility problems and I still have them, but just as when I started the site, I’m slowly getting better. Doing crutch walk more and more… beginning to ween myself out of the damn wheelchair. Eating yogurt, drinking decaf ice tea, no sweetener. As I compose this – I have a chat window open to the director of 2GETHER 4EVER as we’re discussing casting offers out to talent on the film. That’s something I never thought I’d be doing when I started the site. Something I won’t believe till the cast is assembled on our set and the cameras start shooting.

However, a lot of things are the same. My desk has bubblegum (Trident), Comic Books (DC: THE NEW FRONTIER vol1&2), CD (SING COWBOY SING – GENE AUTRY COLLECTION), Action Figures (Silver Age Luthor & Jimmy Olsen, Starman, Elmer in Viking Gear, Adam Strange and DAVY JONES), it’s covered with stacks of DVDs too many to mention, and a prop face from WHAT DREAMS MAY COME’s Hell sequence… and then there is my block of Aerogel. On the screen is KUNG FU HUSTLE. The posters on my walls have changed. I’m looking at KISS OF DEATH, STRANGERS ON A TRAIN, BLADE RUNNER and MODERN TIMES. And I have Ringling Brothers & Barnum & Bailey Circus Clown Shoe House Slippers on my feet and I’m in a fishy Hawaiian Shirt.

The key thing that hasn’t changed is my love for films. I love them. I wake up every day eager and giddy to check my ludicrous email to see what has come in. I still read Hollywood Reporter, Variety each day, while my net reading consists of Twitch, CHUD, Dark Horizons, Film Threat, Superhero Hype and JoBlo. However, most of the time – I’m in love with AICN. Reading the other articles that Moriarty, Quint, Merrick and Herc post up. Reading the reviews of Massawyrm, Capone, Latauro and you good folks send in.

I love getting test screening reviews and script reviews… but with so many other sites online, I don’t seem to see as many of those popping in as in the old days. But whether they appear on AICN or elsewhere… I’m still reading.

I have a hunger for seeing movies early and often. I love the advancements in Home Theater that have occurred since the advent of AICN. Watching now on my nine foot by twelve foot screen on a digital projector in full surround sound. And what am I watching right now? KUNG FU HUSTLE.

The best part of AICN for me, for the past 10 years, meeting 1000s of you. AICN has introduced me to many of my best friends like Moriarty, Quint, Tom Joad, Annette Kellerman, Flesh Gordon, Copernicus, Robogeek, Joe Hallenbeck, Cartuna, Capone, Hercules, Aguirre, Piotro Pinkie, Mongo, RoRo and even my future wife, Yoko came into my life through AICN (and Myspace).

And the very best part of all – has been spending the past 10 years working, talking and living through movies with my Dad. The site has brought us together in a way that I feel too few fathers and sons get to know one another. Through mutual respect and a shared passion in life – we continue to see films together and loving the experiences. Whether it is eating seafood after PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN’S CHEST – or watching a ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST upon the Alamo Drafthouse’s Rolling Roadshow screen in Monument Valley… I just feel that there’s a magic to seeing films with Father Geek. And I can’t wait to see a few thousand more.

And if you’d be so kind, I’d like to continue to share that with you. And I’d love to continue to hear about your adventures with cinema. Be they on a set, behind the scenes, in a theater or however and wherever you find yourself at a movie uttering the phrase “Cool!” That’s what Ain’t it Cool News is about. It’s about that moment of elation when you have a connection with a movie or an experience that just makes you geekgasm out and shout, “Cool!” Take care, and God Bless.

Harry Knowles. 1:10am July 3rd, 2006 – nearly 10 years to the moment that I posted AICN at http://www.bga.com/~rodan - shame there isn’t a marker there.






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Reader Talkback

And...
by TheRealMoriarty		Jul 3rd, 2006
05:52:17 AM
"Kickcock."
by Nordling		Jul 3rd, 2006
05:54:21 AM
Congrats on ten years guys...
by Kraken		Jul 3rd, 2006
06:02:06 AM
Congratulations
by Monkey Butler		Jul 3rd, 2006
06:08:20 AM
Happy Birthday AICN
by Rupee88		Jul 3rd, 2006
06:10:58 AM
Thanks for all the good times, everyone!!
by count numbers		Jul 3rd, 2006
06:13:50 AM
Congratulations and...
by m_reporter		Jul 3rd, 2006
06:18:46 AM
Happy Birthday guys!
by Primus		Jul 3rd, 2006
06:20:42 AM
Yeah, I saw the reference
by Monkey Butler		Jul 3rd, 2006
06:23:58 AM
So I hear you are a big 1-0 today???
by ChickenGeorgeVII		Jul 3rd, 2006
06:25:13 AM
Congrats on the anniversary!
by dimnix		Jul 3rd, 2006
06:29:06 AM
Neill Cumpston...
by MKiro		Jul 3rd, 2006
06:30:54 AM
Congrats Harry & co!
by Tubbs Tattsyrup		Jul 3rd, 2006
06:33:21 AM
FUCK ALL THAT SHIT
by ALUCINOR11		Jul 3rd, 2006
06:51:27 AM
Harry's Al-Qaida recruitment list
by SickPuppy		Jul 3rd, 2006
06:56:24 AM
Congratulations, everyone
by zencat		Jul 3rd, 2006
07:18:53 AM
I know nobody asked...
by BDT		Jul 3rd, 2006
07:21:08 AM
TEN YEARS
by Evil Chicken		Jul 3rd, 2006
07:25:11 AM
Run on sentence, the world without commas
by BDT		Jul 3rd, 2006
07:26:36 AM
Congrats!
by JoeyRusso1290		Jul 3rd, 2006
07:27:03 AM
early morning, bad punctuation, must wake up!
by BDT		Jul 3rd, 2006
07:29:03 AM
Best choice up there: They Live
by chrth		Jul 3rd, 2006
07:32:23 AM
What about To Kill a Mockingbird???
by eppdude		Jul 3rd, 2006
07:37:53 AM
and also, happy b-day AICN
by eppdude		Jul 3rd, 2006
07:38:49 AM
Congratulations
by nadroj		Jul 3rd, 2006
07:41:21 AM
Man, has it really been ten years?
by brokentusk		Jul 3rd, 2006
07:44:52 AM
Happy 10th Harry.
by Canino		Jul 3rd, 2006
07:48:55 AM
Godzilla
by DocBosch		Jul 3rd, 2006
07:49:32 AM
Happy B-day!
by FearlessJay		Jul 3rd, 2006
08:02:55 AM
America Shmerica:- An Essay by Seppuku D Kurosawa
by seppukudkurosawa		Jul 3rd, 2006
08:11:47 AM
I'm a 1 year noob here.
by Shermdawg		Jul 3rd, 2006
08:15:21 AM
Excellent Article! Thanks for 10 years!
by Atomik Steve		Jul 3rd, 2006
08:30:00 AM
great read - happy anniversary!!!!!!!!
by vicious_bastard		Jul 3rd, 2006
08:32:40 AM
Congrats!!
by rob_da_bank		Jul 3rd, 2006
08:32:50 AM
LOTR is NOT AMERICAN!!!
by Roguewedge		Jul 3rd, 2006
08:42:36 AM
Yeek, what horrible lists.
by moondoggy2u		Jul 3rd, 2006
08:48:44 AM
What no Starship Troopers?
by jasper Stillwell		Jul 3rd, 2006
08:49:37 AM
LOTR produced with American money...
by DocBosch		Jul 3rd, 2006
08:51:53 AM
Happy Tenth... that's diamonds right?
by Pee_Tear_Griffin		Jul 3rd, 2006
08:56:34 AM
Memorable Talkback Threads
by Mistermussel		Jul 3rd, 2006
09:08:02 AM
10
by reni		Jul 3rd, 2006
09:20:03 AM
Great Job!
by Chadillac69		Jul 3rd, 2006
09:24:19 AM
ooh2 more
by BDT		Jul 3rd, 2006
09:30:38 AM
10 years of film reviews & buzz from yo mom's basement?
by newc0253		Jul 3rd, 2006
09:34:23 AM
THANKYOU ALL VERY MUCH!
by silentbobafett2		Jul 3rd, 2006
09:42:36 AM
Illuminating Lists
by Fireball XL-5		Jul 3rd, 2006
09:43:31 AM
Happy 10th
by DocPazuzu		Jul 3rd, 2006
09:46:02 AM
Harry's List is the only one that makes sense
by Elmore Rigby		Jul 3rd, 2006
10:04:43 AM
Happy 10th, AICN!
by The Pusher		Jul 3rd, 2006
10:06:02 AM
Happy Birthday from sunny old England
by The Equalizer		Jul 3rd, 2006
10:08:23 AM
10 years!!!
by imkindofabigdeal		Jul 3rd, 2006
10:12:34 AM
Congrats, guys!
by Sod Off Baldric		Jul 3rd, 2006
10:22:23 AM
Congratulations on 10 Years!
by KingKirby		Jul 3rd, 2006
10:24:48 AM
Congratulations
by Harold The Great		Jul 3rd, 2006
10:27:37 AM
Congrats y'all!!!
by Darth Thoth		Jul 3rd, 2006
10:40:18 AM
I cry, laughing on AICN, more than anywhere else...
by Billyeveryteen		Jul 3rd, 2006
10:44:22 AM
Why is Herc on this site anyway?
by Engineer_at_peac		Jul 3rd, 2006
10:50:17 AM
Happy 10th!
by whytee		Jul 3rd, 2006
10:54:25 AM
American Graffiti. Clerks. The Music Man.
by durhay		Jul 3rd, 2006
10:55:44 AM
I nominate 'Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater'
by Johnno		Jul 3rd, 2006
10:56:59 AM
Correction
by homer40		Jul 3rd, 2006
11:04:27 AM
I stopped reading after the fourth Oliver Stone movie.
by PsychoCrash		Jul 3rd, 2006
11:04:29 AM
Well slap my ass can call me Shirley
by Tony Mike Hall		Jul 3rd, 2006
11:13:26 AM
Happy birthday Harry and Company!
by RenoNevada2000		Jul 3rd, 2006
11:16:23 AM
Forrest Gump
by Alex Douchepot		Jul 3rd, 2006
11:17:51 AM
Tin Rojo's got Heartbleeps hair
by BrandLoyalist		Jul 3rd, 2006
11:21:03 AM
Animated Films
by Drunken Irishman		Jul 3rd, 2006
11:21:31 AM
IRON GIANT
by Nordling		Jul 3rd, 2006
11:27:58 AM
Ten Not mentioned
by homer40		Jul 3rd, 2006
11:30:37 AM
Because all of you care so much, my top 10...
by DirtyRatBastard		Jul 3rd, 2006
11:31:10 AM
What about Brown Bunny? (n/t)
by oceanfrog		Jul 3rd, 2006
11:41:03 AM
I'll second Johnno's nomination of Snake Eater.
by Shermdawg		Jul 3rd, 2006
11:42:18 AM
HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I owe you guys
by enemakid		Jul 3rd, 2006
11:42:55 AM
Once Upon a Time in America
by IceySpoons		Jul 3rd, 2006
11:43:44 AM
hey dirtyratbastard...
by Windowlicker74		Jul 3rd, 2006
11:44:50 AM
you gay anti american fucks
by Blacket-Man		Jul 3rd, 2006
11:50:58 AM
Tom Joad's list is the best
by VanLingoMungo		Jul 3rd, 2006
12:15:03 PM
C'mon Windowlicker...
by DirtyRatBastard		Jul 3rd, 2006
12:18:32 PM
American movies? The films of Capra and Cassavetes.
by TopHat		Jul 3rd, 2006
12:19:48 PM
My top 10 (every poster join the fun!)
by Larry of Arabia		Jul 3rd, 2006
12:34:22 PM
Congrats on ten years Harry
by mortsleam		Jul 3rd, 2006
12:35:45 PM
Quint
by reni		Jul 3rd, 2006
12:36:59 PM
No Bad News Bears?
by fuldamobil		Jul 3rd, 2006
12:44:23 PM
Hats off to Quint
by kai028		Jul 3rd, 2006
12:45:08 PM
10 years?
by rev_skarekroe		Jul 3rd, 2006
12:47:33 PM
Fuck you, Herc
by I Dunno		Jul 3rd, 2006
12:48:46 PM
It
by SHWIGGINSTEIN		Jul 3rd, 2006
12:56:12 PM
BrandLoyalist- BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA!!!
by RenoNevada2000		Jul 3rd, 2006
12:58:51 PM
Combined List
by JayFlashGarrick		Jul 3rd, 2006
01:12:21 PM
The real Dr, Hfuhruhurr chiming in!
by Doc Hfuhruhurr		Jul 3rd, 2006
01:34:06 PM
SHWIGGINSTEIN
by Vern		Jul 3rd, 2006
01:35:49 PM
Harry's the reason I have a child.
by Glenda		Jul 3rd, 2006
01:40:03 PM
Happy Birthday, AICN!
by zombieslayer		Jul 3rd, 2006
01:41:49 PM
Apologies...
by SHWIGGINSTEIN		Jul 3rd, 2006
01:45:42 PM
Happy 10th Guys....what mammaries...I mean memories.
by RobinP		Jul 3rd, 2006
02:01:09 PM
Buffy
by shutterghost		Jul 3rd, 2006
02:01:33 PM
My first time on AICN?
by Ribbons		Jul 3rd, 2006
02:02:15 PM
shutterghost: fuck yeah
by chrth		Jul 3rd, 2006
02:06:44 PM
A longtime troll's memories
by mattso		Jul 3rd, 2006
02:21:30 PM
Herc's Anti-American Top 10.
by Hercules		Jul 3rd, 2006
02:25:48 PM
Happy 10th Headgeek and all the rest.
by morGoth		Jul 3rd, 2006
02:31:04 PM
Congratulations AICN and this
by CurryIce		Jul 3rd, 2006
02:31:28 PM
One last thing
by mattso		Jul 3rd, 2006
02:32:46 PM
What'm I sayin'?!!
by morGoth		Jul 3rd, 2006
02:34:40 PM
Dad?
by buster00		Jul 3rd, 2006
02:47:27 PM
not bad lists
by bigbadbua		Jul 3rd, 2006
03:17:57 PM
What the fuck is wrong with Hercules?
by mr_macphisto		Jul 3rd, 2006
03:20:57 PM
morGoth
by Ribbons		Jul 3rd, 2006
03:24:17 PM
10 Years. Congratulations guys!
by Mr Nice Gaius		Jul 3rd, 2006
03:26:02 PM
Re: What's wrong with Herc
by asleeplessmind		Jul 3rd, 2006
03:28:22 PM
best wishes to all the AICN writers
by Rindain		Jul 3rd, 2006
03:38:56 PM
No EASY RIDER?
by brokentusk		Jul 3rd, 2006
03:40:09 PM
Uhh...
by samuraisix		Jul 3rd, 2006
03:43:53 PM
Hey Capone...
by KabutoKoji		Jul 3rd, 2006
03:48:11 PM
cool
by drjones		Jul 3rd, 2006
03:57:45 PM
I chose today to register
by REBEL_SKUM		Jul 3rd, 2006
04:20:34 PM
The Godfather? It insists upon itself...
by champkind		Jul 3rd, 2006
04:30:13 PM
chronicle of wasted time
by drjones		Jul 3rd, 2006
04:43:41 PM
The Birth of a Nation, anyone?
by Euangelion		Jul 3rd, 2006
04:59:16 PM
Right you are Ribbons...
by morGoth		Jul 3rd, 2006
05:04:31 PM
We had no exit strategy for Germany
by DigitalDong		Jul 3rd, 2006
05:07:35 PM

by drjones		Jul 3rd, 2006
05:09:22 PM

by coolhanderik		Jul 3rd, 2006
05:12:27 PM
Escape from New York..
by Agent sith		Jul 3rd, 2006
05:25:39 PM
morGoth
by DocPazuzu		Jul 3rd, 2006
05:29:53 PM
Who the fuck said Hannah and Her Sisters?!
by LeFlambeur		Jul 3rd, 2006
05:29:56 PM
LeFlambeur
by Ribbons		Jul 3rd, 2006
05:41:47 PM
RenoNevada2000 - BIG TROUBLE...
by BrandLoyalist		Jul 3rd, 2006
05:45:10 PM
My list
by RobinP		Jul 3rd, 2006
05:45:25 PM
What does Bananas say about America?
by LeFlambeur		Jul 3rd, 2006
05:51:23 PM
Congrats!
by NNNOOO!!!		Jul 3rd, 2006
05:51:31 PM
Unfuckingbelievable
by DoctorWho?		Jul 3rd, 2006
06:30:01 PM
I'm going to cry...
by performingmonkey		Jul 3rd, 2006
07:41:14 PM
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND
by brokentusk		Jul 3rd, 2006
07:51:28 PM
AICN is....
by thebearovingian		Jul 3rd, 2006
08:03:55 PM
Happy Tenth!
by Barron34		Jul 3rd, 2006
08:08:40 PM
Hey morGy
by mortsleam		Jul 3rd, 2006
08:21:30 PM
You new-schoolers
by Nordling		Jul 3rd, 2006
08:23:07 PM
Something about top Amex commercials....
by Womb2dooM		Jul 3rd, 2006
08:31:17 PM
Congrats AICN! Herc, go fuck yourself!
by Flickerhead		Jul 3rd, 2006
09:08:20 PM
Beaks welcome back,And the rest of the crew a few words
by Everett Robert		Jul 3rd, 2006
09:17:32 PM
Lane Myers
by Everett Robert		Jul 3rd, 2006
09:20:39 PM
thanks for 10 years
by apfrance		Jul 3rd, 2006
10:26:10 PM
UPDATES
by TheRealMoriarty		Jul 3rd, 2006
10:40:05 PM
Mori
by Everett Robert		Jul 3rd, 2006
10:45:20 PM
Where's Massawyrm's top10?
by CheriBomb		Jul 3rd, 2006
11:08:32 PM
Cant believe i've been reading this site for 9 years! l
by Atomica		Jul 3rd, 2006
11:29:21 PM
Good lord!
by JumpinJehosaphat		Jul 4th, 2006
12:04:14 AM
Happy 10th Guys!!
by torpor_haze		Jul 4th, 2006
12:44:41 AM
Happy 10th, but that list...
by readingwriter		Jul 4th, 2006
12:45:53 AM
Sherm's Top10 American Films (off the top of my head)
by Shermdawg		Jul 4th, 2006
01:48:25 AM
Lighten Up
by Diazanon		Jul 4th, 2006
01:53:10 AM
Reality vs. Fantasy
by Crash Crator		Jul 4th, 2006
02:01:05 AM
My List: The Greatest Films About America
by Johnny Smith		Jul 4th, 2006
03:14:15 AM
a rant in defense of our patriotism
by Vern		Jul 4th, 2006
03:51:25 AM
Vern > Herc
by Ronald Raygun		Jul 4th, 2006
04:13:29 AM
From Superman to JFK
by Andy Dufresne		Jul 4th, 2006
06:08:08 AM
We are at 104% of the Plan, comrades!
by Diazanon		Jul 4th, 2006
06:18:04 AM
AICN is standing up for america???Good gravy!!
by moondoggy2u		Jul 4th, 2006
07:33:03 AM
continued
by moondoggy2u		Jul 4th, 2006
07:51:13 AM
Happy Anniversary, Big Guy
by Miami Mofo		Jul 4th, 2006
08:14:22 AM
thanks jarv--had a tear in me eye, too.
by moondoggy2u		Jul 4th, 2006
08:15:11 AM
Nice move Herc,
by Citizin_insane		Jul 4th, 2006
08:19:19 AM

by Citizin_insane		Jul 4th, 2006
08:21:01 AM
ah yes
by moondoggy2u		Jul 4th, 2006
08:22:29 AM
lol-jarv
by moondoggy2u		Jul 4th, 2006
08:29:26 AM
the term I used for the army was a joke, by the way
by moondoggy2u		Jul 4th, 2006
08:32:06 AM
Happy 10th & Thanks! And for Herc...
by Tufts2003		Jul 4th, 2006
08:42:11 AM
hey, tufts
by moondoggy2u		Jul 4th, 2006
08:44:33 AM
moondoogy and america
by Cameron1		Jul 4th, 2006
09:04:20 AM
cameron
by moondoggy2u		Jul 4th, 2006
09:46:12 AM
I'll admit,
by moondoggy2u		Jul 4th, 2006
09:50:08 AM
and this has nothing to do with political parties
by moondoggy2u		Jul 4th, 2006
09:56:50 AM
and this was on the 4th of july, for christ's sakes
by moondoggy2u		Jul 4th, 2006
09:59:08 AM
You've got a lot of goddamn nerve.
by Nordling		Jul 4th, 2006
10:27:39 AM
This Liberal Must Agree With The Republican
by Rebeck		Jul 4th, 2006
10:40:41 AM
I mean, Natural Born Killers?????????
by Rebeck		Jul 4th, 2006
10:50:06 AM
DocPazuzu...
by morGoth		Jul 4th, 2006
10:55:56 AM
american psycho
by Cameron1		Jul 4th, 2006
10:59:22 AM
moondoggy
by DocPazuzu		Jul 4th, 2006
11:00:00 AM
The Return of the Walrus!
by morGoth		Jul 4th, 2006
11:02:02 AM
"...not by along WAY"..
by Cameron1		Jul 4th, 2006
11:02:31 AM
morGoth
by DocPazuzu		Jul 4th, 2006
11:07:59 AM
Oh yeah...fucking Aay Vern!
by morGoth		Jul 4th, 2006
11:09:31 AM
DocPazuzu
by Cameron1		Jul 4th, 2006
11:11:16 AM
Jarv, re: V for Vendetta
by Johnny Smith		Jul 4th, 2006
11:16:12 AM
Jarv
by DocPazuzu		Jul 4th, 2006
11:55:03 AM
my list in no particular order:
by Cameron1		Jul 4th, 2006
12:11:36 PM
congrats on 10 years, buttmonkeys!!
by jig98		Jul 4th, 2006
12:16:30 PM
The rest of the list
by mortsleam		Jul 4th, 2006
12:17:46 PM
Serenity is the most American movie of all time.
by ForumFatale		Jul 4th, 2006
12:32:50 PM
Oh shit ^^! Here we go..
by torpor_haze		Jul 4th, 2006
12:35:43 PM
TomBodet
by DocPazuzu		Jul 4th, 2006
12:46:44 PM
Happy Birthday AICN and Happy 4th of July to America
by ATARI		Jul 4th, 2006
01:08:39 PM
"Modern Times!"
by morGoth		Jul 4th, 2006
01:23:27 PM
DocPazuzu and Tom Bodet...
by morGoth		Jul 4th, 2006
01:29:16 PM
morGoth
by DocPazuzu		Jul 4th, 2006
01:40:54 PM
to Moondoggy
by Vern		Jul 4th, 2006
01:49:28 PM
to Tom Bodet
by Vern		Jul 4th, 2006
01:55:30 PM
Good ol' Ringy
by Mr Nice Gaius		Jul 4th, 2006
02:45:59 PM
Coming out of retirement
by maxpower		Jul 4th, 2006
02:48:17 PM
What's really wierd is that they still do sort of exist
by mortsleam		Jul 4th, 2006
03:39:32 PM
Tom
by Vern		Jul 4th, 2006
03:48:39 PM
Hmmm...
by DocPazuzu		Jul 4th, 2006
04:06:10 PM
hahahahaha
by DocPazuzu		Jul 4th, 2006
04:12:39 PM
Happy 10th!
by Weezie-Fett		Jul 4th, 2006
05:21:59 PM
TomBodet
by Weezie-Fett		Jul 4th, 2006
05:25:51 PM
To Vern
by moondoggy2u		Jul 4th, 2006
05:40:33 PM
oops, that was for Doc, too. Oh, and jarv--
by moondoggy2u		Jul 4th, 2006
05:43:43 PM
Have a good fourth of July, everybody
by moondoggy2u		Jul 4th, 2006
05:46:42 PM
National Lampoon's Vacation - best movie about USA
by Elmore Rigby		Jul 4th, 2006
07:05:28 PM
To Moondoggy2u
by Tufts2003		Jul 4th, 2006
08:09:46 PM
THE SEARCHERS
by Moe Ron		Jul 4th, 2006
08:30:30 PM
Congratulations, Bloated Sell-Out.
by The-Warrior		Jul 4th, 2006
09:43:16 PM
One thing's for sure....
by JumpinJehosaphat		Jul 4th, 2006
09:47:02 PM
No Blues Brothers?
by Frankie Tic-Tac		Jul 4th, 2006
09:53:48 PM
Cut me some slack, Moondoggy
by Vern		Jul 4th, 2006
10:35:25 PM
to Frankie
by Vern		Jul 4th, 2006
10:36:08 PM
Scott Glen did not play YEAGER in The Right Stuffs
by Costachoco		Jul 5th, 2006
12:06:14 AM
Top Ten Films About America
by zacdilone		Jul 5th, 2006
12:26:20 AM
Any Michael Moore films?
by Kenny8		Jul 5th, 2006
01:59:26 AM
Vern: I think you're being a little hard on Red Dawn.
by FatPaul		Jul 5th, 2006
07:03:35 AM
"The absurdity of war"
by Dagan		Jul 5th, 2006
10:40:58 AM
Where is Rambo!!
by Costachoco		Jul 5th, 2006
12:42:08 PM
TEAM AMERICA
by mr jones		Jul 5th, 2006
12:57:51 PM
Mr. Jones: FUCK YEAH!
by FatPaul		Jul 5th, 2006
01:08:09 PM
1776
by MiserableRainGod		Jul 5th, 2006
01:17:44 PM
Fat Paul
by Vern		Jul 5th, 2006
01:23:14 PM
Dagan: The operative word is "sometimes."
by FatPaul		Jul 5th, 2006
01:36:19 PM
Fat Paul - Your allusion to Red Dawn/Iraq doesn't work
by Dagan		Jul 5th, 2006
01:55:05 PM
Fat Paul - "Sometimes"
by Dagan		Jul 5th, 2006
01:59:10 PM
Yankee Doodle Dandy
by homer40		Jul 5th, 2006
02:20:53 PM
As I sit right here-
by BayouWilly		Jul 5th, 2006
04:35:44 PM
Herc and what he said above
by Dagan		Jul 5th, 2006
04:42:10 PM
Dagan...
by morGoth		Jul 5th, 2006
05:27:54 PM
Palmer Joss WAS IN FACT in the novel CONTACT
by Kentucky Colonel		Jul 5th, 2006
05:38:07 PM
Was Black Hawk Down on any list?
by BayouWilly		Jul 5th, 2006
05:40:26 PM
My top 10 movies of all time
by crushi26		Jul 5th, 2006
05:41:04 PM
morgoth - "A well-regulated militia"
by Dagan		Jul 5th, 2006
06:24:35 PM
The only thing about LOTR that was American...
by hamo455		Jul 5th, 2006
07:53:36 PM
Happy Tenth!!
by psychedelic		Jul 5th, 2006
10:36:43 PM
Hustle and Flow is the American dream?
by rdcranium		Jul 5th, 2006
11:57:30 PM
Dagan: Re: Red Dawn- Wait. Who mentioned Iraq?
by FatPaul		Jul 6th, 2006
10:22:13 AM
Regardless of politics...
by BayouWilly		Jul 6th, 2006
10:29:25 AM
Dagan: Re: Sometimes.
by FatPaul		Jul 6th, 2006
10:52:17 AM
Fat Paul: Re: Everything
by BayouWilly		Jul 6th, 2006
11:10:16 AM
The Goonies?
by Krinkle		Jul 6th, 2006
11:30:06 AM
Finally! Thank
by morGoth		Jul 6th, 2006
11:46:53 AM
Bayou Willy: No, he was just talking shit.
by FatPaul		Jul 6th, 2006
11:53:27 AM
MorGoth and FatPaul - Guns and Iraq/Afghanistan
by Dagan		Jul 6th, 2006
12:13:29 PM
Dagan: Re: Talking shit, etc.
by FatPaul		Jul 6th, 2006
12:48:20 PM
These lists are just wrong.
by jollysleeve		Jul 6th, 2006
01:36:50 PM
Jolly Sleeve: You're way off on that one.
by FatPaul		Jul 6th, 2006
01:49:44 PM
FatPaul - Why you're wrong about Afghanistan
by Dagan		Jul 6th, 2006
02:34:59 PM
Happy Birthday, AICN!
by Avenger534		Jul 7th, 2006
12:04:49 AM
Dagan: A few points on Afghanistan.
by FatPaul		Jul 7th, 2006
07:15:09 AM
American Musicals & Human Comedy
by SeattleBuff		Jul 14th, 2006
09:08:12 PM
GWTW
by SeattleBuff		Jul 14th, 2006
09:22:21 PM

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