1607 : English settlers land on what comes to be called Jamestown, Virginia.
Movie : The New World(2005)
Genres : historical drama

Reason Not Used
A beautifully filmed movie with great special effects for the Mayflower. But the movie concentrated on a supposed love affair between the Captain (Spenser Tracy) and Mrs. William Bradford (Gene Tierney). It presented the landing at Cape Cod as a conspiracy formulated in England. It also said nothing about the time the Pilgrims spent in Cape Cod or the journey to Plymouth. It doesn't say anything about the make up the majority of the passengers (the Strangers). It made the Captain out to be the hero as he stayed with the Pilgrims during their first winter, even though he really stayed because it got too late and the winter sailing was too rough. Didn't even show an Indian. Mrs. Bradford did jump over board when the Mayflower got to Plymouth but there is otherwise very little history in this movie.
This is the kind of movie that gives historical movies a bad name.

Reason Not Used
The presentation of the Native Americans is too stereotypical. Topic covered much better in Last of the Mohicans (1992). It does have a nice representation of what life was like on the frontier in that time period.

Reason Not Used
I liked it, I just didn't think it was that good. It is supposed to be pretty accurate. My main problem is I have just seen Jeff Daniels in so many goofy roles I have a tough time visualling him as the dignified, heroic George Washington. I kept expecting him to break out in a dance or something. It really should be a very important movie, showing how Washington's personality helped overcome great difficulties.
Close, but no cigar. (I'm going to watch it again, though.)

Reason Not Used
Ultimately, even though there many interesting scenes, the movie came down to a show down between the American Psycho and Jack the Ripper. The battle scenes, battle tactics and representation of the climate of the times were interesting. It's too bad the movie veered away from a historical representations of the times to a personal battle between the antagonist and protagonist. I also wasn't really happy with the representation of all those happy slaves and free blacks in 1776 South Carolina either.

Reason Not Used
Besides the faulty history (Custer hadn't even graduated from West Point yet), the movie is an apology for the slave culture of the South. It blames the abolitionists and John Brown for the Civil War and not slavery,

Reason Not Used
May show clips of Atlanta after Sherman's March and some of the early plantation scenes. Also may show some of the stereotyped and racist representations of the slaves for mirror into 1930's America.
Ultimately, the scene that took this off my list was the one in which Big Tom comes out on to the streets of Atlanta and Tells Scarlett that he and the other Tara slaves are going off to "dig for the South". To me this scene was an attempt to portray slavery as a paternalistic sort of institution that was destroyed by the meddling Yankees. If someone got their history from this movie they would blame the Yankees for starting the Civil War.

Reason Not Used
I really liked that they used the native languages and it had good depictions of Indians' way of life. I don't , however, think it was a balanced movie. The Cheyenne were too good, Pawnee and whites were too bad and the movie was just too long. If you want to look at this movie from the point of view of having Dunbar as the villain because he personifies how the Europeans corrupted the Indian way of life and changed the way they fought, it becomes much more interesting.

Reason Not Used
Just not as good as it should have been. Almost more soap opera than historical drama. Could have been so good.

Reason Not Used
I love this movie but it was over four hours long. I will definitely show some scenes from it including Pickett's Charge. The book that this movie is based on, Killer Angels, is definitely one I would have my students read.

Reason Not Used
I really liked the Coalhouse Walker Jr. thread in this movie but the other threads really don't mesh too well and it makes the movie kind of confusing (particularly on a first viewing). Foreman was probably too ambitious. He would have had a better movie if he stuck to one storyline.

Reason Not Used
I may use this movie in the future. It is a little long (140 minutes) and I wish they didn't create the fictional character of Mann who rides in to town to save the day. I think the events were dramatic enough without having to create him to help the narrative.

Reason Not Used
As much as I love this movie I was having trouble justifying the historical or sociological importance of it. Just see it if you get the chance.

Reason Not Used
I really love Chinatown but it is perhaps a little too bizarre and confusing on a first viewing for high school students. Some movies need to be seen multiple times to be appreciated and this is one of them.

Reason Not Used
I showed it as an example of screwball comedy and the students really didn't like it. I think screwball comedies are an acquired taste.

Reason Not Used
I really like this movie. However its docu-drama style with all the characters in and out is a little hard to follow in the classroom setting. It is an excellent movie and any one who likes war movies should have this near the top of their list.

Reason Not Used
I love The Maltese Falcon and I think it is an excellent representative of film noir, however, I'm definitely showing Bogart in Casablanca and I'm definitely showing Double Indemnity so no room for this.

Reason Not Used
As much as I love this movie, it really isn't a historical study as much as it is a psychological study.

Reason Not Used
I really liked this Canadian, made for TV, exploration of the dropping of the atomic bombs on Japan. It was very informative and also did a very good job of presenting the Japanese point of view. It runs over three hours. If it was shorter I would definitely use it.

Reason Not Used
What should have been a fascinating topic was rendered kind of boring by this treatment. Even Paul Newman was like a cardboard character here.

Reason Not Used
I love this movie, but it's not Double Indemnity.

Reason Not Used
I originally picked this because the character was Hispanic and I wanted some movies with Hispanic themes. However this movie really doesn't have anything to say about Hispanic culture and the lead wasn't even played by an Hispanic actor. I like this movie but its pretty far down on my list of Hitchcock films.

Reason Not Used
There are some really great performances in Network and I really think the movie has a lot to say about the news business and contemporary society. I do think the movie tends to come a part a little towards the end. For the purposes of this class All The President's Men is much better.

Reason Not Used
Historical inaccuracies make this film more trouble than it is worth. Three civil rights workers were killed but that is about the only thing this film gets right. Having two white FBI agents come in and save the day while the black community silently watches makes this movie closer to science fiction than drama.

Reason Not Used
Too much of a Hollywood production of a time that really wasn't as pleasant as it was portrayed in the movie. Movie might actually have done a disservice to the people who had to go through those very difficult times.

Reason Not Used
I really think that this is an excellent movie. It addresses the very important issue of American corporations' influence on the media. While I found the movie fascinating and gripping, I'm afraid the students would find it slow and dull. It runs a little too long at 157 minutes.

Reason Not Used
I liked the movie. I don't think it was as good as The Insider but it was a nice expose on the dangers of taking on big business. The real problem that I have with the movie is the message that I got from it. To me, the movie is saying you are crazy to try to pursue a case against a big corporation because you really can't win. This is probably a really good movie to show to law students.