I love movies. I see an inordinate amount of movies, and Hollywood (well, and a large number of “independent” producers) take a large percentage of my disposable income. I’m fortunate enough to live in a city with some great theatres that show more than just the common Hollywood fluff. I can be found pretty often at the Music Box.

So, in the interest of providing some movie resources to the visitors of my site, here are 10 great American movies which you should have seen (or should rent sometime). There are so many great movies, it’s impossible to list them all. I’ve limited this list to 9 so as not to bore you, but it was not an easy list to compile, and the list is constantly evolving and changing according to my interests and whims at any given moment. And of course, America does not have a monopoly on great movies. In fact, my favorite movie of all time happens to be Der Himmel uber Berlin (Wings of Desire) and my second favorite is Les Quatre cents Coups (The 400 Blows).

But I am an American,and the majority of films shown world wide originate in the US, so here, for your enjoyment are some American movies you should see:

Citizen Kane
Citizen Kane is one of the great defining movies of American cinema. Orson Welles, with much assistance from the great cinematographer Gregg Toland defined many conventions of cinema which are still used today. A great story (and a highly politically charged one at that, based loosely on the life of William Randolph Hearst) combined with an excellent cast, and revolutionary film work. This is a must see for anyone serious about movies.

Casablanca
Casablanca is often touted as a great romance, and certainly that might be true. The romance between Ilsa and Rick is classic, and it avoids the pitfall of Hollywood predictability. However, what interests me most about Casablanca is the film as a piece of propaganda supporting the American entry into WWII. The overt emotional appeal (the Nazi’s marching into Paris, for example) are one aspect, but the entire story of Rick, the isolationist, disinterested American, who is eventually exposed as a sentimentalist and ally, is a great allegory for the role of America in the war.

Network
Without a doubt, Paddy Chayefsky’s masterpiece, Network is often overlooked by many “movie buffs”. You’ve probably heard people quote from it (“I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!”) without even realizing where the quote originated. I don’t think any writer has so eloquently enumerated the emergence of the corporate nation state as Chayefsky, in the speech delivered by Ned Beatty’s network president’s soliloquy. A must see for anyone feeling a bit subversive, or concerned about the rise of corporate media and corporate power in America. Chayefsky was very much ahead of his time.

Matewan
John Sayles is one of the greatest living American filmmakers, and it is so unfortunate that more people are not familiar with his work. Selecting one great Sayles film is a very difficult task, but Matewan captures an incredible period of American history (the emergence of labor unions in the coal mines of West Virginia in the 1920’s). When you add the incredible performance of Chris Cooper, the cinematography of Haskell Wexler, and you have what I consider one of the greatest American movies of all time.

The Limey
After Erin Brockovich and traffic, you are undoubtedly aware of Steven Soderbergh. If you are into independent cinema, they you were probably already aware of him for the groundbreaking Sex, Lies, and Videotape. The Limey is actually one of his lesser known films, and very underrated. The cast is superb, and Terence Stamp and Peter Fonda deliver performances that confirm their status men of astounding talent. The natural light cinematography of Edward Lachman is also incredible, and a solid screenplay from Lem Dobbs makes for an excellent film.

Magnolia
I don’t really know what I can say about Magnolia. P.T. Anderson has created a beautiful piece of cinema, which is one of the most touching tales of human existence I think ever to be filmed. There are amazing performances (from Tom Cruise, Philip Seymour Hoffman, William H. Macy, and John C. Reilly, just to name a fraction) and great direction. It’s a three-plus hour movie, but I didn’t even notice. There are several moments which are so absolutely touching, I have no words to describe them. This is a movie about humans, and being human, and it succeeds so well on so many levels. I recall reading in an interview that Anderson wrote the film around the soundtrack, which features the songs of Aimee Mann. Well, Aimee Mann is a songwriter of incredible insight and talent, and Anderson has created quite an homage.

Fight Club
Every American should see Fight Club. I avoided this one for a while because of the Brad Pitt factor, but that was a tragic mistake. Pitt is excellent, as is Edward Norton. David Fincher brings his music video sense of style to this shattered story, and it fits perfectly. When you add the great direction, acting, and delightfully subversive screenplay from Chuck Palahniuk (who wrote the novel) and Jim Uhls and this is a movie that every good consumer should see.

Requiem for a Dream
When I first saw Pi (Darren Aronofsky’s first film) I was impressed with the style, but nothing could have prepared me for Requiem. This is not the first film based on Hubert Selby Jr.’s novel “Last Exit to Brooklyn” (Jennifer Jason Leigh and Stephen Lang star in the movie of the same name), but Requiem for a Dream is a punch-you-in-the-gut high impact film. I was left speechless at the end, and although I did see it twice, I was afraid that I couldn’t take the emotional impact of a second viewing. I know this is going to sound like I’ve started smoking crack, but Jared Leto, Marlon Wayans, and Jennifer Connelly give the performance of their careers. The soundtrack (by Clint Mansell and performed by the Kronos Quartet) is haunting. And Ellen Burstyn? She *was* the actress of the year. Period. I think she delivered the single best performance of an actor that I have ever seen. Everyone should see this movie, but be forewarned, it is a very difficult film to watch.

Waking Life
Waking Life is an American masterpiece. Richard Linklater has already established himself as a pretty innovative filmmaker (even though he sometimes misses, big time, ala The Newton Boys). There are obvious elements of Slacker in this animated tale of dreams. There is no real plot to speak of, but a series of interactions of characters discussing philosophy and life in an animated dream world. I know many will criticize it for some pop philosophy, however I think those people are missing out on an amazing collaborative art event. Waking Life was created using some innovative animation software from Flat Black Productions, and is the result of over 30 different animators. The final film represents the best in cinema as a collaborative art. I recall reading Roger Ebert’s review in which he said that he’d seen it four times and wanted to see it again. Well, I’ve seen it four times myself…

This is by no means a complete list of movies you should see– just 10 movies that I found to be essential in the vocabulary of a modern lover of cinema. Of course there are scores of others: Midnight Cowboy, Taxi Driver, Touch of Evil, To Kill a Mockingbird, Notorious, The Big Sleep. The list of movies you should know could go on forever. But this list is a good start, and hey, it’s my site, my opinion.

Tonight I saw an interesting movie, Serendipity, which is pretty much standard Hollywood romantic fare. Basically, it’s the story of two lovers, who meet by accident, are torn apart by a Hollywood plot device, and then reunited under such contrived circumstances that it could only be fate (of the Hollywood variety) once again. The specifics of the movie really aren’t that important, however, if you do decided to go see it, leave when Cusack is walking through the park, reading his “Obituary” and it will actually be a damn good movie. Stick around (if you’re with a date) and it will be a standard piece of Hollywood fluff, but a decent date movie.

What is disturbing about this movie is what it reveals to me about the American mindset when approaching issues of love and life, especially where the ideas of fate and destiny are concerned. It’s frightening how soon we all give up on something that takes work, if we can write it off with “it wasn’t meant to be”. God forbid the relationships in our lives should take effort, or that the people in our lives should happen to be less than perfect. Hollywood movies like this work because we’re conditioned from an early age to be dreamers. We’re taught from day one to dream big in this land where dreams come true. Or do they?

Take the mythos of the “American Dream”: you start off as a busboy, but through diligence and hard work, you end up owning the restaurant. Maybe even a chain of restaurants. It sounds like a movie plot, where suspension of disbelief is essential, but everyday millions upon millions of Americans buy into it, working towards a dream they will likely never see realized. Americans are not lazy. We’re dreamers, and we often delude ourselves beyond reason in our fervent pursuit of those dreams. We are a tenacious bunch, and when it comes to our careers we don’t give up so easily.

It really is a pity that ethic doesn’t seem to carry over into our personal lives. As a culture we put in long hours to succeed at the workplace, but we’re reluctant to put those same hours into making our personal relationships work. Instead, we put our lives in the hands of fate. What would you say if I told you that my strategy for finding my dream job was to go to my neighborhood bar, and strike up conversations with people, until I found someone who was looking for an employee and who also had a job I found interesting? You’d think I was nuts. But how many people do that regularly in order to find a date?

Why are we conditioned for patience, hard work, self sacrifice, and struggle to make our careers, but in our personal relationships we want to fall madly and deeply in love with the stranger on the train, ride off into the sunset and live happily ever after?

I certainly don’t have an answer. I think it would be easy to blame the media or the entertainment industry, but I think that is a cop out. Hollywood perpetuates the myth, this is certain, but only because it is the myth that we so desperately want to believe. I consider myself a critical thinker. I know people are fallible. I know that relationships take work, hard work. I know that what makes a relationship work is not bailing out at the first sign of trouble. I know these things. I can write them down, and I can speak them aloud. But I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t dream of romance, of being carried away by raw emotion, ruled by my heart instead of my brain.

I just wish I understood why that is.