APUSH+AT+THE+MOVIES

AP U.S. HISTORY AT THE MOVIES--Day One (5/25)
After you finish your multiple choice test, juniors meet with each other and figure out two movies you would like to watch the rest of the year that examine U.S. history and culture in the late 20th century. We will use Spike Lee's //Do The Right Thing// as model of how we will examine movies as both primary sources and artistic expression. For the rest of the period, you may consider the movies/genres I have listed here or propose your own. Please vote for and choose the two movies we will watch together beginning on Tuesday, May 28th by posting one message in the Discussion Tab of this page so that I can have the movie ready for class tomorrow. I would also like you to collectively come up with some type of meaningful outcome from this exercise that will be your final assessment for this last unit of study. Be ready to propose that for me at the beginning of Tuesday's class. I look forward to hearing what you come up with.

Here are a list of movies that I have come up with grouped by different themes. By no means am I saying that you need to choose any of these movies, but I think it will help you get a sense of what types of movies I think are worthy of our time.

10 Things I Hate About You Orange County Napoleon Dynamite American Teen Better Luck Tomorrow Coach Carter Lean On Me Freedom Writers Dangerous Minds
 * High School in America**

Higher Learning Good Will Hunting Wonder Boys With Honors
 * College in America**

Brokeback Mountain Milk
 * Homosexual Issues in Contemporary America**

American Beauty Better Luck Tomorrow
 * Middle Class Contemporary America**

Crash The Exonerated
 * Race Relations in Contemporary America**

Platoon Full Metal Jacket Born on the Fourth of July
 * Vietnam Revisited**

Frost/Nixon All The President's Men Nixon*
 * The Nixon Era Examined**

Mi Familia* Stand and Deliver*
 * Latino Issues in America**

Smoke Signals*
 * Native Americans in Contemporary America**

Bulworth Wag the Dog
 * Politics in Contemporary America**

Children of a Lesser God
 * Handicapped Issues in Contemporary America**

8 Mile Freedom Writers
 * Urban America**

Saving Face The Joy Luck Club
 * Asian American Issues**

Erin Brockovich North Country
 * Women's Issues in America**

JFK Dr. Strangelove
 * The Cold War**

World Trade Center Redacted Battle for Haditha Lions for Lambs The Kingdom* Rendition* In the Valley of Elah* The Kite Runner Fahrenheit 9/11
 * 9/11 and the War on Terror in Film**


 * = I do not have access to these movies and may need to rely on class members to rent a copy.

Article for Consideration
I handed out an article about Nixon that I thought would help give you context about Nixon and his Presidency called **"'I Have Never Been a Quitter': A Portrait of Richard Nixon"** by Otto Friedrich.

**Questions to Consider after Day One:**

 * 1) What similarities do you see between Frost and Nixon in the film?
 * 2) What did you think about Nixon's comment that he would not want to be a Russian leader because they never know when they're going to be taped?
 * 3) Who was "Nixon the Man?"
 * 4) The movie is set up to juxtapose Nixon and Frost. Compare and contrast these two vibrant characters.