{"id":120,"date":"2009-01-06T09:25:01","date_gmt":"2009-01-06T09:25:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/textmessages\/2009\/01\/stanley-fishs-top-10-american.html"},"modified":"2009-01-06T09:25:01","modified_gmt":"2009-01-06T09:25:01","slug":"stanley-fishs-top-10-american","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/textmessages\/2009\/01\/stanley-fishs-top-10-american.html","title":{"rendered":"Stanley Fish’s Top 10 American Movies"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"double_indemnity.jpg\"<\/span>That’s the top story<\/a> on the NY Times Most Emailed List right now (another list that never fails to fascinate–subject for another post). Stanley Fish is a hugely influential literary and legal scholar, and I’ve long been an admirer–but Fish on film? And a Top 10 list to boot? I clicked expecting to snort.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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But it’s a list of movies to savor, and a fairly unique list, as these things go. The Best Years of Our Lives<\/a>? Check–a gorgeous movie that manages to be both sentimental and realistic, which is no small feat. Sunset Blvd.<\/a> and Double Indemnity<\/a> would make my own American Top 10; Red River<\/a>, Raging Bull<\/a>, and Vertigo<\/a> are among the best movies by three of our best directors. Groundhog Day?<\/a>\u00a0Why not? It’s definitely worth considering a smart, subversive comedy like that for inclusion on a list like this.\u00a0<\/div>\n
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I’d quibble with Meet Me in St Louis<\/a>–you gotta include at least one musical on any list of great American films, but many entries could trump that one: Singing in the Rain<\/a>, Swing Time<\/a>, Mary Poppins<\/a>, Moulin Rouge!<\/a>.\u00a0<\/div>\n
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I’ve not seen Fish’s others, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn or Shane.\u00a0<\/div>\n
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What’s missing? Fish says he could have included Nashville<\/a> (Altman definitely deserves props) and The Night of the Hunter<\/a>, a film after my own heart<\/a>. I’d also want to include Annie Hall<\/a>, Citizen Kane<\/a>, The Godfather<\/a> (and II), Imitation of Life<\/a>, perhaps Do the Right Thing<\/a>, and something by the quintessential American director, Stephen Spielberg (tho I’d have to consider which is more essential–E.T.\/War of the Worlds Spielberg, or Schindler’s List\/Munich Spielberg).\u00a0<\/div>\n
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That’s the top story on the NY Times Most Emailed List right now (another list that never fails to fascinate–subject for another post). Stanley Fish is a hugely influential literary and legal scholar, and I’ve long been an admirer–but Fish on film? And a Top 10 list to boot? I clicked expecting to snort.\u00a0 But…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-movies"],"yoast_head":"\nStanley Fish's Top 10 American Movies - Text Messages<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/textmessages\/2009\/01\/stanley-fishs-top-10-american.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Stanley Fish's Top 10 American Movies - Text Messages\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"That’s the top story on the NY Times Most Emailed List right now (another list that never fails to fascinate–subject for another post). 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