American movies to watch...

Here is a list of recent American movies that I have enjoyed, most of which were rented through Netflix over the last five years. I recommend the following movies, in order of how I liked them:

1. DOUBT -- (2008) -- This story was first produced as a play and I can see why it was awarded a Pulitzer Prize. There is so much to discuss and consider after watching this movie which involves roles of power, gender, race. This movie would be great for a college film discussion class. I also think this was the best movie of all the Academy Award movies of that year. To me, it was better than The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Milk, Slumdog Millionaire, and The Reader. Cast: Meryl Streep.
2. IDIOCRACY -- (2006) -- A comedy about a guy who is frozen and then awakened in the year 2505, to find that, since the world has been so dumbed down over the centuries, he is the smartest person on the planet. This movie was funny and goofy and often adult-themed obscene, but, to this day, many of my fellow faculty members will mention it in terms of the onslaught and downright slaughter of academe, education, and media.
3. LARS AND THE REAL GIRL -- (2007) -- A delusional young man orders a life-sized doll who he then treats as his girlfriend. At first, I thought this likely plot was ridiculous, but as the movie progressed, I found it to be interesting and believable because of the acting performances. Here, also, I thought the way the community was depicted as responding to the guy, who is in need of mental health assistance, was inspiring. The community showed that they cared about him and if real communities showed the same concern about real people who often fall through the societal cracks with rejection, it would be a better world. Cast: Ryan Gosling, Emily Mortimer.
4. BELLA -- (2006) -- A pregnant, unmarried waitress gets fired and then is joined for the day by the restaurant's chef. The day actually leads to a lifetime connection. It's rather rare to see a good movie portrayal of a Hispanic family, which is also why I enjoyed the movie. Cast: Tammy Blanchard, Eduardo Verastegui.
5. UNLEASHED -- (2005) -- I think this is an American movie. Raised as a slave and trained as an animal to fight for survival, a martial arts expert who even wears a dog collar meets a blind piano tuner and his daughter, who help rescue his humanity. There is a very nice scene where the woman removes the dog collar and kisses his neck, a moment of change for his life, from violence to love. The movie was also called "Danny the Dog." I don't normally like martial arts movies, but the action was choreographically artistic. Cast: Jet Li, Morgan Freeman.
6. FROST/NIXON -- (2008) -- I wondered how a filmmaker could make the story about the David Frost interview of Richard Nixon interesting as a movie, but director Ron Howard pulled it off. Howard is my age, so he probably remembers the Frost interviews, as I do. Nixon probably shaped my early politics more than anyone--not that I liked him, just the opposite. There was much to dislike about Nixon, and I celebrated when he resigned. I remember how I was irked that Nixon got big bucks for the interviews. But I was glad when Nixon revealed himself with the statements about a president being above the law. As for the movie, it held my interest to the end. I saw a recent interview of David Frost who said most of the movie was historically accurate. The midnight phone call, however, did not happen. So, that was one detail of movie-making license.
7. THE WRESTLER -- (2008) -- I thought Mickey Rourke's performance of a tired, aging professional wrestler was the best of the year. The wrestling match scenes were tough to watch. I have known characters like that wrestler, so it was easy for me to like him despite his lone ability just to wrestle. Cast: Mickey Rourke, Marissa Tomei.
8. ACROSS THE UNIVERSE -- (2007) -- The music of the Beatles in music video-like sequences. What more can be said. The Beatles made great music but terrible movies in those days. This movie makes up for it, though I think the movie missed portraying the song "Blackbird" in a Civil Rights Movement way. McCartney said one inspiration for the song was the famous photo of Elizabeth Eckford, the teenage black girl, who was jeered at and mobbed by an angry crowd of white people as she tried to go to the newly-segregated Little Rock, Arkansas, high school. "Blackbird singing in the dead of night" was what McCartney said could have been "Black girl walking in Little Rock."
9. RAILS AND TIES -- (2007) -- A story about a train engineer who couldn't stop the train from hitting a car on the tracks. It is the first movie to be directed by Alison Eastwood, daughter of Clint Eastwood. Cast: Kevin Bacon, Marcia Gay Harden.
10. EASTERN PROMISES -- (2007) -- Intriguing but violent story that held my interest, with interesting characters and relationships. Actor Viggio Mortensen was great. It seems like he can bring believability to any role. I also liked his movie "A History of Violence" and I am not one who tends to like violent movies.

OTHERS: The Visitor (about an immigrant's deportation and the unfairness of an inflexible system), Apocalyto, Journey to the Center of the Earth (modern version, though I also liked the earliest version), Peaceful Warrior, Lassie (the latest version), Away From Her (about dealing with Alzheimer's), 3:10 to Yuma (good western), the Onion Movie (funny but not for Puritans to watch), The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (I liked that the movie didn't portray Jesse James as a hero because, in reality, he was a murderous Confederate sympathizer), Breach, Freedom Writers (and there is a good book about it by the same name), Disturbia, Happy Accidents, and The Prestige.