It& #39;s so hard not to give in to doomscrolling & depression right now. But my lifelong critical optimism ain& #39;t giving up that easy. So for each day of August, I& #39;m gonna highlight one good thing. Today, it& #39;s my favorite filmmaker, the great @john_sayles!

There are lots of reasons why Sayles is my favorite, but as you might guess, high on the list is that to my mind no filmmaker (& few artists of any type) has better plumbed the depths of American history, culture, & identity than Sayles.

That starts w/Lone Star, my favorite film & one that, w/its depictions of the border, of cross-cultural American stories & families & identities, of collective memories & myths & histories beyond them, should be required viewing in 2020.

https://americanstudier.blogspot.com/2019/03/march-6-2019-remembering-alamo-lone-star.html">https://americanstudier.blogspot.com/2019/03/m...

I could add just about every other Sayles film to this thread, but will just highlight a couple more:

The vastly under-rated Amigo, to my mind the best cultural depiction of the Philippine American War.

https://americanstudier.blogspot.com/2012/11/november-25-2012-extra-thanks.html">https://americanstudier.blogspot.com/2012/11/n...

Matewan, which helps us better remember the similarly under-remembered West Virginia coal wars of the 1920s:

https://americanstudier.blogspot.com/2016/09/september-9-2016-cultural-work-miner.html">https://americanstudier.blogspot.com/2016/09/s...

& Brother from Another Planet, which more 35 years later remains a unique & compelling representation of race & community in America.

http://americanstudier.blogspot.com/2013/10/october-15-2013-john-sayles-america.html">https://americanstudier.blogspot.com/2013/10/o...