4th of July Roundup

Happy Fourth of July, all, to readers foreign and domestic. Our special treat today is a curated collection of past posts to get you in that Independence Day spirit. (We could have just reviewed Independence Day or The Patriot, but that'd be too predictable.)

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

Captain America: Civil War (2016)

Obviously, we begin with a tribute to our founding first Avenger, Steve Rogers, alias Captain America. Steve embodies all that America strives to be, its greatest ideals and its toughest challenges.  In a first-rate trilogy, Marvel Studios has given us "Marvel's most improved" (in the sense that The Winter Soldier is leaps and bounds better than its still-quite-good predecessor). You might not do better today than watch the adventures of a man clothed in the flag. Be sure also to check out Cap's first and second appearances in this year's hit Cinema King-exclusive series, "The Grand Marvel Rewatch."

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1980)

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

While we're on the subject of fighting Nazis, nobody does it better than Indiana Jones. On the eve of an impending remake/reboot/sequel from Disney, the one-two punch of Indy's finest hours sees him rescuing major artifacts from Nazi forces who would use them to bend the world to Hitler's will. Armed with only a whip, a hat, his wits, and the occasional firearm, Indiana Jones is a rousing companion for your Fourth of July celebration.

American Psycho (2000)

Maybe a movie in which Christian Bale murders a whole lot of folks isn't your idea of Fourth-of-July appropriate. But it'll beat the socks off of any fireworks show you might be planning to see. Bale is deliciously mad in this evergreen film that isn't scary so much as it is a grimly hilarious satire of 80s narcissism and consumerism. Captain America might be our best ideal, but Patrick Bateman is our worst national nightmare.

The Rocketeer (1991)

I will recommend this movie under any circumstance until the day I die. Right at home with Captain America (in fact, both Rocketeer and First Avenger were directed by Joe Johnston), The Rocketeer is the story of an aw-shucks pilot who finds a rocket pack that allows him to stave off gangsters and Nazis run amuck, all while wooing the love of his life. These were the days when good guys were unflappable, lawmen were "g-men," and movie stars might be Nazi sympathizers. It's a fine celebration of America, and a finer anticipation of most of the superhero genre today. It's 25 years old this year - if you haven't yet,  give it a look.

Stalag 17 (1953)

Finally,  while we're in the terrain of World War II,  there's no finer flick than Billy Wilder's Stalag 17, in which American POWs in a Nazi prison camp discover one of their own is a traitor. William Holden leads the investigation once he's falsely accused, and it's as near to a perfect movie as most of us will ever get, even if it's a very sanitized version of the war (Hogan's Heroes "borrowed" more than a few pages from Wilder's playbook). You'll laugh, you'll gasp, you'll cheer. What more could you want on the Fourth?

What are your favorite patriotic films? What's your Fourth of July tradition, cinematically speaking? Are movies really better than fireworks? Take to the Comments to sound off!