A friend of mine sent me an e-mail last night, subject field: “blog fodder?” In the e-mail, a link to a New York Times blog. Here it is. When you open this page, make sure to hold your breath, because it stinks.
http://fish.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/04/the-10-best-american-movies/?em
It stinks so bad, I don’t want to acknowledge its existence. But since it is THE TIMES, I feel like attention must be paid.
Still, the stink of cynicism is so bad I’m not even going to take the time to proofread this post or spell check it. If you haven’t opened that link yet, here’s the gist. Brainy Stanley Fish has decreed the following are “The 10 Best American Movies.”
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
Sunset Blvd. (1950)
Double Indemnity (1944)
Shane (1953)
Red River (1948)
Raging Bull (1980)
Vertigo (1958)
Groundhog Day (1993)
Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945)
These are great films, no question. But, c'mon. Let’s start with the title of this piece.
“Best”? No. How can Citizen Kane not be on this list? Leaving it off is just being reactionary.
“American Movies”? I don’t even know what an American movie is anymore, and it seem ridiculous to think in terms of nationality. A quick look and I see two of these films were made by an Austrian born director, one by an Englishman, another by a Frenchman. Does “American” mean made with Hollywood money?
No silent films? No films made before 1944? No documentaries? No films made in the 1960s or 70s? No films made after 1993? Kind of a narrow range there, don't you think?
This blog’s comments mostly attack Fish’s frozen in time list, and another comment suggests the title of post should have been “Stanley Fish’s Favorite Films.” Both are on the mark. Another suggests this list was made to create a stir in the blogosphere. It worked, right. Look, here I am writing about it. But I'm hating myself for doing so.
Ultimately, any list of best anything by one person is going to be a list of personal favorites. The difference here is Fish comes with the imprimaturs of academia and The New York Times.
Are you as bemused by this list as I am? What films would be on your list?
Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go throw up.
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