American movies show, with a contrast and vividness perhaps unmatched in any other medium, the depths and the heights of our collective culture. This goes some distance toward explaining why movies exert such an enduring fascination on the American mind. COMMENTARY has, for more than fifty years, published some of the most incisive and provocative writing on American films. We offer some of the best of that writing for this weekend’s reading.
The Movie Camera and the American
Robert Warshow – March 1952
The Strangely Polite “Dr. Strangelove”
Midge Decter – May 1964
The Man Who Refused to Watch the Academy Awards
David Evanier – April 1977
Woody Allen on the American Character
Richard Grenier — November 1983
A Dissent on “Schindler’s List”
Philip Gourevitch – February 1994
Journalism, Hollywood-Style
Terry Teachout – December 2005
Spielberg’s “Munich”
Gabriel Schoenfeld – February 2006
Kwame Kilpatrick and John Edwards don’t even make the scandal cut?
Republicans need to keep out of trouble. No toe tapping under bathroom partitians guys!
Chris Dodd should be in the next cell to Madoff. His actions have cost millions of individuals significant percentages of their savings, much more in total than $50B. The Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac situation started the whole financial meltdown and this guy is still in office? Where is th outrage?
I’m more interested in who Madoff’s husband will be in prison. Not some pencil-necked accountant in for stealing from widows, I hope. I hope it’s some guy with tear-drop and neck tattoos named Tiny.
Every circus needs a clown, that’s why we elected you.
Al Franken. Al Franken.
It’s becoming a bad joke, so it makes sense to have you.
Al Franken. Al Franken.
Caligula at least sent the whole horse, Minnesota just the back.
Al Franken. Al Franken.
Now excuse me while I vomit, I can taste it in my mouth.
Al Franken. Al Franken.
We have become Bolivia. We are corrupt beyond belief.
Too much power in kleptocrats. Too many excuses.
End it all now. Call a constitutional convention.
Ms Rubin, You post too often.
They will all fizzle because the media will not pay nearly as much attention to them as they deserve. They sold their souls this election and therefore have too much at stake and invested in the Democrats. Yes, this is a very dangerous condition for continuing American freedom.
Frank? Mahoney? Jefferson?
This is all the result of Bush’s example. The Bush Adminstration was the most corrupt bunch on the planet. The Democrats are now being victimized by the public’s assumption that every politican is corrupt because when the Republicans were in power, they were totally and completely corrupt. Now, the Democrats are paying for it because the right wing attack machine wants to ruin Obama before he can bring Bush and Cheney to justice and turn them over to the Hague as war criminals. Plus, anything to protect Haliburon, Diebold, Bush’s tax cuts for the rich, Big Business, and Big Oil, no matter whose character has to be ruined.
Oh, and big deal about Dodd. I once got a good deal on a mortgage. So what? I guess I should got to jail now because I didn’t vote for the Bush theocracy and support his illegal war on Iraq.
Vinney (11) is a typical not too bright dumocrat voter. As long as corruption is packaged as I am stealing from the rich it is ok. He is not informed enough to know that somehow Bill Clinton’s words over the last 8 years were so valuable that he has been able to accumulate a personal fortune in excess of 100M. (Anyone say corruption Vinney)
Vinney is the reason that the founders in their wisdom allowed states to establish requirements for voting beyond 18 years of maintaining your body at a temperature of 36C.
Yeah, I like the way Vinnie carefully listed examples of Republican corruption for us. Vinnie, got any examples? We gots a really big list that says you are full of … it.
Yes, Vinnie, you should go to jail – you are just a bit too dense to be let out among the rest of us.
Hey, let’s see ‘totally and completely corrupt’? So if I can give just one example of Republicans not acting corruptly, your argument will shrivel up and wither away. Would that you would do the same. Of course, that Burger Sink job of yours get you free meals, so I guess we’ll have to wait a while for you to pass…
Mind shutting up while you die? thanks
Joe said:
“Caligula at least sent the whole horse, Minnesota just the back.”
Okay, that has to win some kind of award.
When will we learn that when Dimocrats call anything on Republicans, one thing is certain…they are doing it themselves…every single time. Making the accusation is morally equivalent to exoneration for themselves
On fiscal and government ethics issues, the GOP needs to start listening to Tom Coburn. As it stands, he is one of the most despised men in Washington, D.C. If you are a “business as usual” incumbent, that is. If they had listened more to Dr. Tom, and less to Trent Lott, Ted Stevens, Jack Abramoff, Duke Cunningham, Don Young, and their ilk, the GOP would not be in the mess it is in today. And they would probably still be the majority congressional party.
Hah, I caught you. It is racist to criticize the president or his party. Especially that guy who mentioned Kwame Kilpatrick. I have called the appropriate authorities and you will all be in big trouble on January 21.
The bit about the horse and the back end is an old, old line. I first heard it attributed to Carter Glass, a senator from Virginia from way back when, but I have a feeling its provenance is even older.
Jennifer, despite grumpy Mrs. Green my view is you don’t post often enough.
I’d like to see some investigation of Schumer’s initiation of a run on Indymac, whose distressed assets were recently bought by a firm which has donated to his committee. This firm specializes in garage sales, so to speak.
Don’t blame the recount in Minnesota, blame it on the thousands of voters who must have had their heads up their cow’s behind.
It’ll be such a *fun* four years! “Hope!” “Change!” “Indictment!” “Conviction!”
What`s all the fuss about?Aren`t we a Government of the people,by the people for the people?ONLY IF YOU ARE MEMBERS OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY serving in congress;rich men,thieves and liars,they are all of that!
Other Democrat crooks not mentioned include: Reid and crooked land deals in Nevada; Feinstein and Pelosi and earmarks that directly benefited husband’s or family businesses; Mollohan and pay for play earmarks; Jefferson; and the Leader, himself for a few hundred million of illegal campaign contributions.
I’m just glad that, ever since the Democrats took control of Congress a couple of years ago, that the “swamp of corruption” is no more.
The Democrats, after all, portray themselves as environmentally friendly… so it’s now “protected wetlands of corruption”. A much better ring to it, don’t you think?
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