I think part of the problem is defining 'what makes it an American film'?

Is it the director or producer?

Is it the funding?

Is it the company that made it?

Is it the cast?

Is it the book/script writer?

Many of the films in the first list are not exclusively American. 'Sound of Mucus' has a mostly English cast. 'The Lord of the Rings trilogy' was produced and directed by a New Zealander. 'Vertigo was directed by an Englishman. 'Schindlers List (or Ark)' was written by an Australian and had a mostly English cast... the permutations are endless.

There are some great films there. There are some mediocre films listed too... I have seen 40 of them, own on DVD or VHS 19 of them and have the books or stories they were based on for 10 of them - most of which I got before they were filmed.

If this is a list of the top 100 AMERICAN films, it's flawed. If it's a list of the top 100 films WATCHED by Americans, it's probably closer to the mark.

I'm not entirely sure if I should be proud to say I've never seen 'Citizen Kane', any of the 'Godfather' movies or 'On the Waterfront'. On the other hand... I feel the same way about saying I HAVE seen 'Toy Story', 'Snow White' and 'Tootsie'.

LTS