Movies to inspire

This post is a gift to my young friend Davi Abreu, with whom, in the past few days, I have shared some talk about cinema. The subject is somewhat off-topic to this blog but at least it is something necessarily related to architecture: inspiration.

It is a very commercial list with a classification of the most inspirational American movies. On one hand it has some universality, causing identification with people all over the world. On the other, it is an expression of the American cinema imperialism, even when the themes are about others colonized countries. Whether one could watch those movies and get inspired will be a personal question, I know. I am just listing them, as those easiest to find ones according to AFI. Should one not agree with me, I cannot do anything...

In the top of the list there is one movie that I think is pretty related to Davi, through its main character, George Bailey. I hope he will find why.

1. It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
2. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
3. Schindler's List (1993)
4. Rocky (1976)
5. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
6. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
7. The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
8. Breaking Away (1979)
9. Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
10. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
11. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
12. Apollo 13 (1995)
13. Hoosiers (1986)
14. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
15. The Miracle Worker (1962)
16. Norma Rae (1979)
17. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
18. The Diary of Anne Frank (1959)
19. The Right Stuff (1983)
20. Philadelphia (1993)
21. In the Heat of the Night (1967)
22. The Pride of the Yankees (1942)
23. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
24. National Velvet (1944)
25. Sullivan's Travels (1941)
26. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
27. High Noon (1952)
28. Field of Dreams (1989)
29. Gandhi (1982)
30. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
31. Glory (1989)
32. Casablanca (1942)
33. City Lights (1931)
34. All the President's Men (1976)
35. Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)
36. On the Waterfront (1954)
37. Forrest Gump (1994)
38. Pinocchio (1940)
39. Star Wars (1977)
40. Mrs. Miniver (1942)
41. The Sound of Music (1965)
42. 12 Angry Men (1957)
43. Gone with the Wind (1939)
44. Spartacus (1960)
45. On Golden Pond (1981)
46. Lilies of the Field (1963)
47. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
48. The African Queen (1951)
49. Meet John Doe (1941)
50. Seabiscuit (2003)
51. The Color Purple (1985)
52. Dead Poets Society (1989)
53. Shane (1953)
54. Rudy (1993)
55. The Defiant Ones (1958)
56. Ben-Hur (1959)
57. Sergeant York (1941)
58. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
59. Dances with Wolves (1990)
60. The Killing Fields (1984)
61. Sounder (1972)
62. Braveheart (1995)
63. Rain Man (1988)
64. The Black Stallion (1979)
65. A Raisin in the Sun (1961)
66. Silkwood (1983)
67. The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
68. An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)
69. The Spirit of St. Louis (1957)
70. Coal Miner's Daughter (1980)
71. Cool Hand Luke (1967)
72. Dark Victory (1939)
73. Erin Brockovich (2000)
74. Gunga Din (1939)
75. The Verdict (1982)
76. Birdman of Alcatraz (1962)
77. Driving Miss Daisy (1989)
78. Thelma and Louise (1991)
79. The Ten Commandments (1956)
80. Babe (1995)
81. Boys Town (1938)
82. Fiddler on the Roof (1971)
83. Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
84. Serpico (1973)
85. What's Love Got To Do With It? (1993)
86. Stand and Deliver (1988)
87. Working Girl (1988)
88. Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
89. Harold and Maude (1972)
90. Hotel Rwanda (2004)
91. The Paper Chase (1973)
92. Fame (1980)
93. A Beautiful Mind (2001)
94. Captains Courageous (1937)
95. Places in the Heart (1984)
96. Searching For Bobby Fischer (1993)
97. Madame Curie (1943)
98. The Karate Kid (1984)
99. Ray (2004)
100. Chariots of Fire (1981)