Directors Your 10 favourite American films? (1 Viewer)

[john davies]

1.Sunrise (Murnau)
2.North by Northwest (Hitchcock)
3.Some Like it Hot (Wilder)
4.Casablanca (Curtiz)
5.Letter from an Unknown Woman (Ophuls)
6.Vertigo (Hitchock)
7.Citizen Kane (Welles)
8.The Band Wagon (Minnelli)
9.Night of the Hunter (Laughton)
10.Singin in the Rain (Kelly, Donen)

also; The Searchers, Mulholland Dr, Top Hat, Apocalypse Now, To Be or Not to Be.

I'm excluding 2001 as officially British.

Just in case anyone hasn't noticed, i'm a listaholic. Humble apologies for taking up so much space. Until i've seen a shrink to resolve my underlying insecurity (anyone who sees a psychiatrist needs their head examining), i'll struggle to keep the compulsion in check...

 

[ErikG]

Right now:

Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Valley Girl
Last American Virgin
The Empire Strikes Back
Star Wars
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Jaws
The Thing
Return of the Jedi
Flash Gordon

 

[Patrick McCart]

In no order and off the top of my head:

Citizen Kane
City Lights
Being There
The Unknown
The Cameraman
The Court Jester
Around the World in Eighty Days
North By Northwest
The Maltese Falcon
Speedy

 

[john davies]

That's the first time i've come across The Court Jester in a top 10 (as far as i remember). Great fun! "The pellet with the poison's in the vessel with the pestle".

 

[Lew Crippen]

Unordered and just how I feel right now:

·Vertigo
·The Palm Beach Story
·Bringing Up Baby
·Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
·Singin’ in the Rain
·Raging Bull
·Citizen Kane
·Casablanca
·Apocalypse Now
·Some Like it Hot

I left all of the Kubrick’s off my list, not being able to decide if they were truly American.

 

[Angelo.M]

No order...

Unforgiven
Casablanca
North by Northwest
Zelig
Glengarry Glenn Ross
The Usual Suspects
This is Spinal Tap
Fargo
Blade Runner
Manhattan

 

[Brook K]

Guess I'll leave off Kubrick too, and for this one will go with no more than 1 film from a single director.

Taxi Driver
It's A Wonderful Life
The Maltese Falcon
Sullivan's Travels
Singin' In The Rain
Tabu
Sunset Blvd.
Unforgiven
A.I.
Psycho

 

[MartinTeller]

American Movie
American Graffiti
American Pie
American History X
An American Werewolf in London
American Beauty
American Pop
The American Friend
The Last American Virgin
American Pimp


But seriously, folks... this is pretty tough. Well, this is just off the top of my head and could easily change any time. I'm also going to leave off Kubrick, and just to simplify things, gonna leave off Hitchcock too.

Taxi Driver
Eraserhead
Sleeper
It's A Wonderful Life
Network
Star Wars trilogy (okay, so I'm cheating a bit)
Harold and Maude
Amadeus
Airplane!
El Norte

Boy, there's a lot that were really hard to leave off.

 

[Ric Bagoly]

10. True Romance (Tony Scott, 1993)

9. The Untouchables (Brian DePalma, 1987)

8. Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas (Terry Gilliam, 1998)

7. Escape From New York (John Carpenter, 1981)

6. American Beauty (Sam Mendes, 1999)

5. The Terminator (James Cameron, 1984)

4. Batman (Tim Burton, 1989)

3. The Doors (Oliver Stone, 1991)

2. Die Hard (John McTiernan, 1988)

1. Easy Rider (Dennis Hopper, 1969)

 

[Rob P S]

1. The Shawshank Redemption
2. Rudy
3. Searching for Bobby Fischer
4. Dominick and Eugene
5. Field of Dreams
6. A Midnight Clear
7. October Sky
8. What's Eating Gilbert Grape
9. King of the Hill
10. Mr. Holland's Opus

 

[Arman]

This sorted list is based on my outdated All-Time Top 20 or Top 10 movies I have the most fun watching thread and my feelings now. I'll make updates later. Unlike AFI, I do not consider Lean's Lawrence of Arabia as an American film. It will be included in my Best UK or British Films list / All-time Greatest Films List (American or Foreign). I'm also disqualifying a couple of UK and/or USA films, Ivory's The Remains of The Day, Welles' Touch of Evil & 2001: A Space Odyssey (would had been my choice in sci-fi or 60's category being the greatest sci-fi film ever)

1. Citizen Kane (Welles) - #1 spot for the serious film buffs' (all over the world) top favorite American film ; of course, it is indeed, one of the world's greatest films of all-time

2. The Magnificent Ambersons (Welles) - Why not a back to back spots for the genius, Welles with his America's greatest (or mother of all!) provocatively and profoundly thought-provoking soap opera of all-time.

3. City Lights (Chaplin) - most romantic American film of all-time

4. Singin' In The Rain (Donen & Kelly) - America's (or even World?) greatest musical ever. Period.

5. To Be Or Not To Be (Lubitsch) - one of America's funniest (for comedy /satire /anti-war ever) and in my mind, it also one of the greatest most underrated films of all-time

7. Psycho (Hitchcock) - a spot for the Master and why not the greatest horror/thriller of all-time made/released during the 50's/60's

8. The Godfather II (Francis Ford Coppolla) - need I say more? Every year since I saw this (greatest crime/mafia epic) film, it never fails to get a spot in my Top 10 favorite/greatest American films list.

8. Say Anything ... (Crowe) - coming of age masterpiece, Raising Victor Vargas is just as magnificent but I really have to pick one from the '80s

9. Tarantino's Pulp Fiction or Kill Bill Volume 1 - go figure why; like what some of the films in this list, they are both two of the most visionary / revolutionary / inventive / influential films of their (or all-) time

10. Finding Nemo (Stanton & Unkrich) - a spot for animation (?) & the greatest American animation film of all-time but as you would notice in my signature I would put the other (year) 2003 American masterworks Lost in Translation and Raising Victor Vargas ahead of Finding Nemo on Best of 2003 and/or of all-time lists

or

a spot for either (2002's gorgeously magnificent fantasy/sci-fi films), Lord of The Rings: The Two Towers (Jackson) or Minority Report (Spielberg) - I'm just tired of picking the equally spectacular and visionaries, Spielberg's E.T and Close Encounter of the Third Kind and Lucas Star Wars Trilogy.

I'm still trying to finish/finalize my own Top 100 American Films of All-Time list maybe I'll post it on 12/31/2003 also.

 

[Arman]

Another ooppss or in summary, here's my Top 10 American films at this moment:

1. Citizen Kane (Welles)
2. The Magnificent Ambersons (Welles)
3. City Lights (Chaplin)
4. Singin' In The Rain (Donen & Kelly)
5. To Be Or Not To Be (Lubitsch)
6. Psycho (Hitchcock)
7. The Godfather II (Francis Ford Coppolla)
8. Say Anything ... (Crowe)
9. Pulp Fiction or Kill Bill Volume 1 (Tarantino)
10. Finding Nemo (Stanton & Unkrich) or The Lord of The Rings: The Two Towers (Jackson) or Minority Report (Spielberg)