MADness—the Blog

It’s the country’s birthday, a time to celebrate America.  I’m not going to come up with a list of movies for the holiday, because there’s just no end to them.  The country is too big to be defined by a few movies, or even genres.  There have been musicals, westerns, war movies, film noir, to name just a few, that are distinctly American, one way or another.  Take your pick.

My picks aren’t meant to be representative, but each reflects an aspect of the country worth noting.  One takes its name from a George M. Cohan song, and its story is about a man whose ideas of patriotism are challenged until finally he must redefine what the country means to him.  The next takes its title from “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” and tells a story about people living through one of the most difficult times in our country’s history.  The third film’s opening sequence is set to one of the greatest pieces of American music, and celebrates one of my favorite corners of the country.  When I think about fireworks in movies, this is the one that jumps to mind.

---

Born on the Fourth of July (1989)
Oliver Stone, director
Prologue

He’s my little yankee doodle boy.

---

The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
John Ford, director

---

Manhattan (1979)
Woody Allen, director
George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue”