The Power of Place in American Life
by apjrtheme | created - 31 Aug 2011 | updated - 19 Feb 2013 | PublicHow does the power of place shape personal identity and American identity? To what extent does place shape the people who live there and to what extent do the people shape the place? How permanent is the sense of place in American lives? Can one ever really transcend their place of origin? Should they? What really defines the sense of place? Is it more regional (Texas, California, the South, New England, the Midwest)? Is place based on the nature of the community (city, suburb, small town, rural)? Is place defined in a cultural way, based on the values of a place? Or is it something different or a combination of all of these?
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1. American Beauty (1999)
R | 122 min | Drama
A sexually frustrated suburban father has a mid-life crisis after becoming infatuated with his daughter's best friend.
Director: Sam Mendes | Stars: Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Thora Birch, Wes Bentley
Votes: 1,211,340 | Gross: $130.10M
2. Brighton Beach Memoirs (1986)
PG-13 | 108 min | Comedy
Eugene, a young teenage Jewish boy, recalls his memoirs of his time as an adolescent youth. He goes through the hardships of puberty, sexual fantasy, and living the life of a poor boy in a crowded house.
Director: Gene Saks | Stars: Blythe Danner, Jonathan Silverman, Stacey Glick, Lisa Waltz
Votes: 3,864 | Gross: $11.96M
3. Chinatown (1974)
R | 130 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A private detective hired to expose an adulterer in 1930s Los Angeles finds himself caught up in a web of deceit, corruption, and murder.
Director: Roman Polanski | Stars: Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston, Perry Lopez
Votes: 349,995
4. Coal Miner's Daughter (1980)
PG | 124 min | Biography, Drama, Music
The fictionalized life of singer Loretta Lynn, a girl who rose from humble beginnings to become a country music star in the 1960s/70s.
Director: Michael Apted | Stars: Sissy Spacek, Tommy Lee Jones, Levon Helm, Phyllis Boyens
Votes: 20,518 | Gross: $67.18M
5. Country (1984)
PG | 105 min | Drama
Gilbert Ivy and his wife Jewell are farmers. They seem to be working against the odds, producing no financial surplus. Gilbert has lost hope of ever becoming prosperous, but his wife ... See full summary »
Director: Richard Pearce | Stars: Jessica Lange, Sam Shepard, Wilford Brimley, Matt Clark
Votes: 2,238 | Gross: $9.64M
6. Crossing Delancey (1988)
PG | 97 min | Comedy, Romance
A Manhattan single meets a man through her Jewish grandmother's matchmaker.
Director: Joan Micklin Silver | Stars: Amy Irving, Peter Riegert, Reizl Bozyk, Jeroen Krabbé
Votes: 4,972 | Gross: $16.26M
7. Do the Right Thing (1989)
R | 120 min | Comedy, Drama
On the hottest day of the year on a street in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, everyone's hate and bigotry smolders and builds until it explodes into violence.
Director: Spike Lee | Stars: Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Richard Edson
Votes: 112,474 | Gross: $27.55M
8. Fargo (1996)
R | 98 min | Crime, Thriller
Minnesota car salesman Jerry Lundegaard's inept crime falls apart due to his and his henchmen's bungling and the persistent police work of the quite pregnant Marge Gunderson.
Directors: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen | Stars: William H. Macy, Frances McDormand, Steve Buscemi, Peter Stormare
Votes: 726,983 | Gross: $24.61M
9. Garden State (2004)
R | 102 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A quietly troubled young man returns home for his mother's funeral after being estranged from his family for a decade.
Director: Zach Braff | Stars: Zach Braff, Peter Sarsgaard, Natalie Portman, Ian Holm
Votes: 223,224 | Gross: $26.78M
10. Giant (1956)
G | 201 min | Drama, Western
Sprawling epic covering the life of a Texas cattle rancher and his family and associates.
Director: George Stevens | Stars: Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, James Dean, Carroll Baker
Votes: 42,260
11. The Graduate (1967)
PG | 106 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A disillusioned college graduate finds himself torn between his older lover and her daughter.
Director: Mike Nichols | Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft, Katharine Ross, William Daniels
Votes: 288,511 | Gross: $104.95M
12. Hester Street (1975)
PG | 89 min | Drama, Romance
In 1896, a Russian Jewish woman immigrates to New York's Lower East Side to reunite with her Americanized husband, but has difficulty assimilating.
Director: Joan Micklin Silver | Stars: Steven Keats, Carol Kane, Mel Howard, Dorrie Kavanaugh
Votes: 1,884 | Gross: $5.00M
13. The Last Picture Show (1971)
R | 118 min | Drama, Romance
In 1951, a group of high schoolers come of age in a bleak, isolated, atrophied North Texas town that is slowly dying, both culturally and economically.
Director: Peter Bogdanovich | Stars: Timothy Bottoms, Jeff Bridges, Cybill Shepherd, Ben Johnson
Votes: 52,408 | Gross: $29.13M
14. Lone Star (1996)
R | 135 min | Drama, Mystery, Western
When the skeleton of his murdered predecessor is found, Sheriff Sam Deeds unearths many other long-buried secrets in his Texas border town.
Director: John Sayles | Stars: Chris Cooper, Elizabeth Peña, Stephen Mendillo, Stephen J. Lang
Votes: 32,358 | Gross: $13.27M
15. Manhattan (1979)
R | 96 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
The life of a divorced television writer dating a teenage girl is further complicated when he falls in love with his best friend's mistress.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Mariel Hemingway, Michael Murphy
Votes: 147,319 | Gross: $45.70M
16. Midnight Cowboy (1969)
R | 113 min | Drama
A naive hustler travels from Texas to New York City to seek personal fortune, finding a new friend in the process.
Director: John Schlesinger | Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Jon Voight, Sylvia Miles, John McGiver
Votes: 120,881 | Gross: $44.79M
17. Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
Not Rated | 115 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A unassuming greeting card poet from a small town in Vermont heads to New York City upon inheriting a massive fortune and is immediately hounded by those who wish to take advantage of him.
Director: Frank Capra | Stars: Gary Cooper, Jean Arthur, George Bancroft, Lionel Stander
Votes: 23,226
18. Nashville (1975)
R | 160 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
Over the course of a few hectic days, numerous interrelated people prepare for a political convention.
Director: Robert Altman | Stars: Keith Carradine, Karen Black, Ronee Blakley, Shelley Duvall
Votes: 28,573 | Gross: $14.82M
19. October Sky (1999)
PG | 108 min | Biography, Drama, Family
The true story of Homer Hickam, a coal miner's son who was inspired by the first Sputnik launch to take up rocketry against his father's wishes.
Director: Joe Johnston | Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Chris Cooper, Laura Dern, Chris Owen
Votes: 98,085 | Gross: $32.48M
20. Pleasantville (1998)
PG-13 | 124 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
Two 1990s teenage siblings find themselves transported to a 1950s sitcom where their influence begins to profoundly change that colorless, complacent world.
Director: Gary Ross | Stars: Tobey Maguire, Jeff Daniels, Joan Allen, William H. Macy
Votes: 136,351 | Gross: $40.57M
21. Rushmore (1998)
R | 93 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A teenager at Rushmore Academy falls for a much older teacher and befriends a middle-aged industrialist. Later, he finds out that his love interest and his friend are having an affair, which prompts him to begin a vendetta.
Director: Wes Anderson | Stars: Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Olivia Williams, Seymour Cassel
Votes: 198,041 | Gross: $17.11M
22. Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
Passed | 108 min | Film-Noir, Thriller
A teenage girl, overjoyed when her favorite uncle comes to visit the family in their quiet California town, slowly begins to suspect that he is in fact the "Merry Widow" killer sought by the authorities.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Teresa Wright, Joseph Cotten, Macdonald Carey, Henry Travers
Votes: 70,524
23. Sunshine State (2002)
PG-13 | 141 min | Drama, Romance
A woman and her new husband returns to her hometown roots in coastal northern Florida, and must deal with family, business, and encroaching real estate development.
Director: John Sayles | Stars: Angela Bassett, Edie Falco, Alex Lewis, Alan King
Votes: 4,242 | Gross: $3.06M
24. Tender Mercies (1983)
PG | 92 min | Drama, Music
A broken-down, middle-aged country singer gets a new wife, reaches out to his long-lost daughter, and tries to put his troubled life back together.
Director: Bruce Beresford | Stars: Robert Duvall, Tess Harper, Betty Buckley, Wilford Brimley
Votes: 12,031 | Gross: $8.44M
25. The Trip to Bountiful (1985)
PG | 108 min | Drama
In 1940s Texas, an elderly woman is determined to visit her childhood home one last time.
Director: Peter Masterson | Stars: Geraldine Page, John Heard, Carlin Glynn, Richard Bradford
Votes: 5,300 | Gross: $7.47M
26. Magnolia (1999)
R | 188 min | Drama
An epic mosaic of interrelated characters in search of love, forgiveness and meaning in the San Fernando Valley.
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson | Stars: Tom Cruise, Jason Robards, Julianne Moore, Philip Seymour Hoffman
Votes: 328,610 | Gross: $22.46M
27. Clear Cut: The Story of Philomath, Oregon (2006)
Not Rated | 72 min | Documentary
A documentary about a rural Oregon timber town and a rift between conservatives and liberals that threatens to put an end to a 40-year-old scholarship plan that pays the college tuition for... See full summary »
Director: Peter Richardson
Votes: 127
28. Winter's Bone (2010)
R | 100 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
An unflinching Ozark Mountain girl hacks through dangerous social terrain as she hunts down her drug-dealing father while trying to keep her family intact.
Director: Debra Granik | Stars: Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes, Garret Dillahunt, Isaiah Stone
Votes: 150,584 | Gross: $6.53M
29. The Fighter (I) (2010)
R | 116 min | Action, Biography, Drama
Based on the story of Micky Ward, a fledgling boxer who tries to escape the shadow of his more famous but troubled older boxing brother and get his own shot at greatness.
Director: David O. Russell | Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Melissa Leo
Votes: 389,011 | Gross: $93.62M
30. There Will Be Blood (2007)
R | 158 min | Drama
A story of family, religion, hatred, oil and madness, focusing on a turn-of-the-century prospector in the early days of the business.
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson | Stars: Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Dano, Ciarán Hinds, Martin Stringer
Votes: 641,402 | Gross: $40.22M
31. The Descendants (2011)
R | 115 min | Comedy, Drama
A land baron tries to reconnect with his two daughters after his wife is seriously injured in a boating accident.
Director: Alexander Payne | Stars: George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Amara Miller, Nick Krause
Votes: 251,864 | Gross: $82.58M
32. Precious (II) (2009)
R | 110 min | Drama
In New York City's Harlem circa 1987, an overweight, abused, illiterate teen who is pregnant with her second child is invited to enroll in an alternative school in hopes that she can re-route her life in a better direction.
Director: Lee Daniels | Stars: Gabourey Sidibe, Mo'Nique, Paula Patton, Mariah Carey
Votes: 116,271 | Gross: $47.57M
33. The Last Mountain (2011)
PG | 95 min | Documentary
A coal mining corporation and a tiny community vie for the last great mountain in Appalachia in a battle for the future of energy that affects us all.
Director: Bill Haney | Stars: Susan Bird, Don Blankenship, Ron Burris, Jenna Bush Hager
Votes: 310 | Gross: $0.12M
34. Vernon, Florida (1981)
Not Rated | 55 min | Documentary
A documentary on the eccentric residents of Vernon, Florida.
Director: Errol Morris | Stars: Albert Bitterling, Roscoe Collins, George Harris, Joe Payne
Votes: 3,586
35. Desert Bayou (2007)
Unrated | 90 min | Documentary
Questions of race, poverty, politics and religion hurdle towards each other in DESERT BAYOU, the story of 600 Hurricane Katrina evacuees who find themselves evacuated and deplaned from New ... See full summary »
Director: Alex LeMay
Votes: 49 | Gross: $0.01M
36. Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)
PG-13 | 93 min | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
Faced with both her hot-tempered father's fading health and melting ice-caps that flood her ramshackle bayou community and unleash ancient aurochs, six-year-old Hushpuppy must learn the ways of courage and love.
Director: Benh Zeitlin | Stars: Quvenzhané Wallis, Dwight Henry, Levy Easterly, Lowell Landes
Votes: 85,080 | Gross: $12.80M
37. New York in the 50's (2000)
Not Rated | 72 min | Documentary
Based on the book by Dan Wakefield, the film combines stunning archival footage of New York with interviews of the icons of the day - Kerouac, Ginsberg, Baldwin, Mailer, Basie, etc. Offering modern day perspectives.
Director: Betsy Blankenbaker | Stars: Ted Steeg, Jack Kerouac, David Amram, Sam Astrachan
Votes: 119 | Gross: $0.00M
38. The Bituminous Coal Queens of Pennsylvania (2005)
89 min | Documentary
In this documentary, Sarah Rush takes us back to the coal-mining town of her youth -- Carmichaels, Penn., population: 556. At the 50th anniversary of the Coal Queen Pageant in August 2003, ... See full summary »
Directors: Jody Eldred, David Hunt | Stars: Norrell Moore, Andrea Patrick, Sarah Rush
Votes: 54
39. Radiant City (2006)
93 min | Documentary, Comedy, Drama
An examination of the nature of modern suburbia.
Directors: Jim Brown, Gary Burns | Stars: Daniel Jeffery, Bob Legare, Jane MacFarlane, Ashleigh Fidyk
Votes: 498
40. The Town (2010)
R | 125 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A proficient group of thieves rob a bank and hold an assistant manager hostage. Things begin to get complicated when one of the crew members falls in love with her.
Director: Ben Affleck | Stars: Ben Affleck, Rebecca Hall, Jon Hamm, Jeremy Renner
Votes: 415,922 | Gross: $92.19M
41. Trouble the Water (2008)
Unrated | 93 min | Documentary
A redemptive tale of an aspiring rap artist surviving failed levees and her own troubled past and seizing a chance for a new beginning.
Directors: Carl Deal, Tia Lessin | Stars: Michael Brown, George W. Bush, Julie Chen Moonves, Ray Nagin
Votes: 2,071 | Gross: $0.52M
42. No Country for Old Men (2007)
R | 122 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Violence and mayhem ensue after a hunter stumbles upon the aftermath of a drug deal gone wrong and over two million dollars in cash near the Rio Grande.
Directors: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen | Stars: Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Woody Harrelson
Votes: 1,060,759 | Gross: $74.28M
43.
Frontline (1983– )
Episode:
The Farmer's Wife
(1998)
TV-MA | 390 min | Documentary, News
"The Farmer's Wife" takes us deep inside the world of Juanita and Darrel Buschkoetter, a remarkable young Nebraska farm couple, to tell a compelling love story. It follows the Buschkoetters... See full summary »
Director: David Sutherland | Stars: Darrel Buschkoetter, Juanita Buschkoetter
Votes: 187
44. The Spitfire Grill (1996)
PG-13 | 117 min | Drama
Oscar-winner Ellen Burstyn (The Exorcist) headlines this critically praised drama about a young woman, just out of prison, who finds spiritual redemption working at a cafe in Maine.
Director: Lee David Zlotoff | Stars: Alison Elliott, Ellen Burstyn, Marcia Gay Harden, Will Patton
Votes: 7,210 | Gross: $12.64M
45. The Straight Story (1999)
G | 112 min | Biography, Drama
An old man makes a long journey by lawnmower to mend his relationship with an ill brother.
Director: David Lynch | Stars: Richard Farnsworth, Sissy Spacek, Jane Galloway Heitz, Joseph A. Carpenter
Votes: 97,508 | Gross: $6.20M
46. Dancer, Texas Pop. 81 (1998)
PG | 97 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
Four high school friends that grew up together in a tiny Texas town, plan to leave for the big city the day after graduation. Over a week's time, their backstory and present day realities collide to determine how their plans play out.
Director: Tim McCanlies | Stars: Breckin Meyer, Peter Facinelli, Eddie Mills, Ethan Embry
Votes: 2,597 | Gross: $0.57M
47. Hoop Dreams (1994)
PG-13 | 170 min | Documentary, Drama, Sport
A film following the lives of two inner-city Chicago boys who struggle to become college basketball players on the road to going professional.
Director: Steve James | Stars: William Gates, Arthur Agee, Emma Gates, Curtis Gates
Votes: 28,023 | Gross: $7.83M
48. Dislocation (2005)
52 min | Documentary
In February 2002, families living in the Robert Taylor Homes public housing development were given a 180 day notice of eviction. In six months, the community that had been their home for ... See full summary »
Director: Sudhir Venkatesh
Votes: 15
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