Obama and British PM Make it a Blockbuster Night

To reciprocate a recent gift by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, President Obama handed over a collection of 25 classic films, assembled for him by the American Film Institute. It's quite a collection, containing Citizen Kane, The Godfather, Casablanca, Gone with the Wind, E.T., Star Wars, The Graduate, and more. Brown's gift couldn't even come close: A stupid old pen holder. Blah. (Actually, the pen holder was made out of wood from the HMS Gannet, an anti-slave ship that was a sister vessel to the Resolute. The Resolute's wood later was used to make the Oval Office desk. Now that's a gift.) Although I think it would be cooler to give Brown a collection of films that highlight British aggression through the ages - Zulu, Gandhi, Braveheart, The Patriot, In the Name of the Father - the Obama collection is still a pretty sweet haul. Take a look: Citizen Kane
The Godfather
Casablanca
Raging Bull
Singing In The Rain
Gone With The Wind
Lawrence Of Arabia
Schindler's List
Vertigo
The Wizard Of Oz
City Lights
The Searchers
Star Wars: Episode IV
Psycho
2001: A Space Odyssey
Sunset Boulevard
The Graduate
The General
On The Waterfront
It's A Wonderful Life
Chinatown
Some Like It Hot
The Grapes Of Wrath
ET: The Extra Terrestrial
To Kill A Mockingbird

Comments

[Sarkazm]

"Although I think it would be cooler to give Brown a collection of films that highlight British aggression through the ages"

Pretty good one, but you forget "Americans" are the aggressors!

Is that a gift from the prime minister to say "Sorry for slavery... have a pen holder."

[Mike]

Far be it from me to question your sources, but I have to ask: Why is "25 classic films" a link to an article entitled, "Hilton dedicates song to new boyfriend"? I feel like I'm missing the connection between Obama's selection process and the Paris gossip-of-the-day, but I'm sure it's worth spelling out for the laymen out here!

[Get The Big Picture]

Oops...

Fixed that link. Thanks for the head's up.

[~Rupe]

Heya Colin -
Does anyone know... are those Region 1 DVDs being given to a Region 2 politician?
Just curious!

[Evan. G.]

haha nice call Rupe. How much would that suck if all those dvds were NTSC. I doubt it though, but it would be kind of a funny oversight.

[hcb]

what, no Antonio Fargas movies? No Pam Grier?

You know what, it would have been interesting at least if there were more than a couple of films in the list that actually had black people in them. I don't think that Dooley Wilson and Butterfly McQueen are quite up to snuff here. And I'm not talking Sidney Poitier, either. Maybe Putney Swope.

[Rupe]

Sure enough -- they were R1 discs....
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mandrake/5011941/Gordon-Brown-is-frustrated-by-Psycho-in-No-10.html