TOP TEN LISTS

TopTen lists are entertaining and informative. I've been a fan of David Letterman's Top Ten Lists for a while, and I love ESPN's Page2 lists, such as "All-time clutch performers" and their interactive readers' lists. MSN just put out some topten lists, but I only found a few interesting or from respectable sources:


Screen classics: A critic's take on the top 10 American movies
By JOHN HARTL
Special to MSN

American movies now dominate the international market in a way they haven't since the days of silent films, which (aside from title cards) didn't have to go through the bother of translation to another language.

But our movies have always been influential, demonstrating to Russian filmmakers the possibilities of creative editing and even affecting the way French critics and directors looked at the world. More recently, action films and blockbusters have been more commercially successful overseas than in this country. We're everywhere, to the distress of some countries that sense there's no way to compete.

No matter how foreigners may fear this cultural dominance, everyone seems to have a favorite moment or song or performance from an American movie. Perhaps it's Donald O'Connor knocking himself out in "Singin' in the Rain," or Chaplin eating his shoe in "The Gold Rush," or Angela Lansbury embodying Machiavellian fanaticism in "The Manchurian Candidate."

Some movies even worship other movies. In "Play It Again Sam," Woody Allen obsesses over Bergman and Bogart in "Casablanca." On the bumpy road to the White House in "Primary Colors," only Alan Ladd's "Shane" provides a glimpse of a true hero. In the new British comedy-drama, "Love Actually," a widower and his son drown their sorrows by watching Kate and Leo in "Titanic."

Here's a roundup of 10 classics that seem (to me) essential:

"Intolerance" (1916). D.W. Griffith's costly and insanely ambitious epic, often called the only "film fugue," wasn't as popular as his first blockbluster, "The Birth of a Nation," but it's had a more lasting impact. The director uses four stories from different periods of history to illustrate religious or social intolerance through the ages. The ancient-Babylon section is the most famous and spectacular episode, but the 20th Century American story is the most moving. In the never-topped finale, all four stories are brilliantly edited into what appears to become one sweeping chase sequence.

"Sunrise" (1927). When he came to Hollywood near the end of the silent era, the groundbreaking German director F.W. Murnau ("Nosferatu") was given the run of 20th Century Fox. He responded by creating a visual tour-de-force (and the first Oscar winner for best cinematography) from a simple story of adultery, attempted murder and redemption. The elaborately staged scenes in which a rural couple are overwhelmed by their visit to the big city are among the most lyrical in all cinema.

"The Wizard of Oz" (1939). Thanks to dozens of network television showings, more people have seen this MGM musical than any other film in history, and for good reason. Everything clicks here: the songs, the casting, the sepia-toned tornado scenes in Kansas, the dazzling switch to the Technicolored land of Oz, and of course the story of a charlatan exposed by four humbler people in search of things they've always had.

"Gone With the Wind" (1939). The Civil War sometimes seems less important than the romantic troubles of Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler — so perfectly embodied by Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable — but what a fascinating backdrop it provides for nearly four hours. While many talented people worked on the picture, including three directors, "G.W.T.W." is perhaps Hollywood's best argument for a producer's control. David O. Selznick's touch is visible in every richly detailed frame.

"Citizen Kane" (1941). Orson Welles' barely disguised treatment of the life of newspaperman William Randolph Hearst is a tragedy about a man who almost literally gains the whole world and loses his soul. Welles tells the story with such wit and bravado that the movie's serious intentions don't really announce themselves until it's half over. This is, almost despite its ambitions, a very funny movie, filled with withering, still-potent commentary on the state of American journalism. (Welles' followup film, "The Magnificent Ambersons," is nearly its equal.)

"It's a Wonderful Life" (1946). Frank Capra's post-war masterpiece, starring James Stewart as a harried family man who tries to commit suicide on Christmas Eve, introduced a dark side of Stewart's personality that Hitchcock would later explore in "Vertigo" and "Rear Window." Despite its happy ending, it's the edgiest tale Capra ever told. Most of the film's final third is a nightmarish episode in which Stewart's home town is transformed into the greed-driven Pottersville. It stands as a film-noir-ish warning of the potential corruption of the country.

"Lawrence of Arabia" (1962). David Lean's deeply personal epic, which deals in part with the birth of Iraq, has never seemed so timely, though it's always been timeless. Focusing on a foreigner's love affair with the desert, Lean presents this infatuation in a way that allows the audience to share it. In one lengthy sequence, Freddie Young's camera deliberately dwells on the image of a mirage, recording the heat waves and distortions that separate a camel from its rider. The result is a sense of mystery that no special effects can touch.

"2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968). Perhaps the most experimental multi-million-dollar production ever released by a major studio (MGM), Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke's science-fiction epic imagines the evolution of mankind from desperate ape to corporate-speak space traveler to ecstatic Star Child. Like "Lawrence of Arabia," it takes its time to establish the nature of the environment which defines its characters — who are (almost) no match for a diabolical computer with murder on its mind.

"The Godfather, Parts I and II" (1972-74). For too many years now, Francis Ford Coppola seems to have been content to create mere entertainments. Not since the 1970s, when he made "Apocalypse Now," "The Conversation" and the first two "Godfather" movies, has he directed anything exceptional. But "The Godfather" raised the bar as high as "Citizen Kane" did three decades before. Movies have not been the same since Coppola found, in the family bonds and betrayals of the Mafia, his great metaphor for 20th Century America.

"The Thin Red Line" (1998). Terrence Malick's expansive adaptation of the James Jones novel is a surprisingly spiritual war drama. The Eden-like quality of a Pacific island (so reminiscent of the "magic hour" beauty of the images in Malick's "Days of Heaven") becomes as much of a presence as the two armies that battle over it. This contemplative stream-of-consciousness epic plays like the "Red Badge of Courage" of World War II. It presents war as a circumstance to be transcended, even in death.

John Hartl writes film reviews for MSNBC.com and was formerly the chief film critic for The Seattle Times. American Dreams is a special report from MSN.


The 10 greatest adventure vacations in America
By RICHARD BANGS
Special to MSN

Once a province of the improbable, practiced by mythopoetic men, the likes of Edmund Hillary, Jacques Cousteau and Thor Heyerdahl, "adventure travel" was something seen in the pages of National Geographic, not available to the average Jane or Joe. The only adventure travel on Main Street was when a well-planned vacation went wrong.

Now, with the prospering of a generation steeped in environmentalism, self-health and individualism, adventure travel has become the vogue. By one survey, fully half of all U.S. adults took an adventure getaway within the last five years.

I've spent a career exploring and adventuring, and am always delighted to rediscover how varied and rich the adventure opportunities are in my own backyard. You don't have to cross a border to find some of the best adventures in the world.

The adventures cited below were chosen because they have personally delighted. It is unfair — to say nothing of impertinent — to list only a small percentage of the great adventures in America. But that is the nature of a list. I have attempted, though, to use criteria, including location, duration, activity, and a quality I might as well call wonder.

So, herein a list of the 10 best adventure vacations in America, as scientifically calculated with subatomic precision by yours truly:

Llama Trekking the Hoover Wilderness Area
California's High Sierra is a toothed landscape of lodgepole pine and red fir, arid desert, U-shaped glacial valleys, a place of solitude and spectacle. The Hoover Wilderness is 42,800 acres of primitive country in the east-central part of the state, touching Yosemite National Park at the Sierra Crest. This adventure features a five-day trek among the sage brush and thistle, the escarpments and the late summer snow fields, as South American llamas carry the cargo. Expect to see mule deer, and perhaps bobcats, coyote, bear and maybe even a mountain lion. The streams choke with trout, while the high peak region — including Matterhorn and Dunderber (each over 11,000 feet) — host schools of technical and amateur climbers. A llama can carry 70-90 pounds and doesn't have to carry extra food for itself. Llamas are browsers, like deer, and will eat grass found in the mountains. Llamas are very quiet, very friendly to the environment and do not destroy trails. August is the best month.

Adventure Sailing Florida's Gulf Coast
Sail aboard 26-foot Commodores through the small islands off Fort Myers for seven days and nights in flotillas of up to six boats at a time. The crafts are designed for four adults, and qualified sailors can captain their own craft for the duration. Lots of time to free sail, and explore the tropical barrier islands inhabited only by gulls, pelicans, and man-of-war birds. Dolphins lace the bow, red snappers snap at the lines, living shellfish color the limpid waters, and Gulf breezes fill the foresails. Fort Myers is on the Southwestern coast of Florida near Sanibel and Captiva Islands, 120 miles south of Tampa and 110 miles north of Key West and the Dry Tortugas. Available year-round.

Kayaking the San Juan Islands
Scattered like precious jades within the sheltered waters of Washington's coastal zone, the San Juan's are treasures not so hidden, yet not overly touched. In waters flat as a Bible belt, the boats glide like a prayer. Bald eagles swoop to scan the emerald waters; orcas dance and dine in the salmon-laced tides; scaups and scoters drive for fry near the forested isles. Sea kayakers meet them all, eye to eye and beam to beak. No previous experience needed. June-September.

Canoeing the Boundary Waters
The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, largest in North America, has over 1,500 icy, clear water lakes accessible by paddle only in an area of well over a million acres, unchanged since when the Sioux, Chippewa and French-Canadian voyagers navigated through hundreds of years ago. Every fall from about 1750 until the mid-1800s, the Voyageurs carried trade goods through the Boundary Waters as far as the Great Slave Lake in Canada's Northwest Territories. They spent the winter in the interior trading with the Native Americans. When the ice went out of the lakes and rivers, they returned with beaver and other pelts. In fact, the Voyageurs' route through the Boundary Waters defines the Canadian-U.S. border. Trips begin at Gunflint, Minnesota, and head out for six days of paddling and portaging. Canoeists typically encounter moose, beavers, black bear, eagles, loons, otters, and timber wolves, the last large packs in the lower 48 states. Fishing lines bring in walleye, northern and lake trout, as well as smallmouth bass. May through September.

Mountain Biking the Grand Staircase
Between the pink cliffs of Bryce Canyon and the sheer walls of the Grand Canyon's north rim, an expansive geological staircase climbs skyward in rainbow pastels. Through the vast wilderness of remote forested mesas and flamboyantly stained buttes flows the Paria River, whose waters, cutting unceasingly through layers of sedimentary rock, have formed some of the finest slot canyons in the world. On this adventure fat tires float through the sinuous yet spacious backcountry of the upper Paria, which flows out of Bryce Canyon. After descending Echo Cliffs and rumbling along dirt roads to the rim of the Grand Canyon, the bikes climb from sagebrush valleys to groves of pinon to tall ponderosa pine forests following jeep trails into the Kaibab Mountains, where vestiges of the Anasazi culture are ever-present. April through July.

Climbing Denali
An ascent up the west buttress of Denali, North America's highest point, is no slick adventure tour, as there is no easy way up. An outfitted climb takes about three weeks on the mountain, living and climbing in true expedition style. Base camp is set at 7,000 feet on the tongue of Kahiltna Glacier, and from there relay loads are made over the course of a week to the 14,000-foot level, and finally to high camp at 17,200 feet. Then the team waits-for the crystal clear morning when the wind is still and the horizon line sharp and the snowy route to the summit firm. The final push to the 20,320-foot apex makes the most of mountaineering skills honed while on the climb. Although previous climbing experience is helpful, it is not essential. Far more useful is the physical and mental health necessary to cope with the long days of glacier travel, the snow and ice climbing, and the possibility of poor weather delaying, or perhaps canceling, the summit attempt. April-June.

Riding the Tetons
Sally along the edge of the Continent Divide through the lush meadows and pine forests of the Snake River canyons, passing herds of elk and bighorn sheep. Pause to fish for cutthroat trout in the clear blue waters of Jackson Lake, glancing about for beaver, otter, osprey and moose, and perhaps even the recently reintroduced gray wolf, all enjoying protection of the National Park. Then meander along the Buffalo River, through aspen forests to open meadows, where brilliant wildflowers and awesome views abound. Traveling this way you'll regret the invention of the car. July and August.

Hiking Hidden Hawaii
Step through the natural wonders of Kauai, an island so diverse in color, mood and miracle that one wonders what keeps the feet on the ground. Traverse the mottled and multi-hued cliffs of Waimea Canyon, the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific," and negotiate through the bamboo forests and rainbow-draped scenery of the Na Pali Coast. The pali, or cliffs, provide a rugged grandeur of deep, narrow valleys ending abruptly at the sea. Waterfalls and swift-flowing streams continue to cut these narrow valleys while the sea carves cliffs at their mouths. Extensive stone walled terraces can still be found on the valley bottoms where Hawaiians once lived and cultivated taro. The Kalalau Trail provides the only land access to this part of the rugged coast. The trail traverses five valleys before ending at Kalalau Beach where it is blocked by sheer, fluted pali. The 11-mile trail is graded but almost never level as it crosses above towering sea cliffs and through lush valleys. The trail drops to sea level at the beaches of Hanakapi'ai and Kalalau. Year-round.

Dogsledding the Gates of the Arctic
One of the largest and most remote wilderness areas in North America is the 8.4 million-acre Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve. Alaska's Brooks Range runs through the park, with two peaks, Frigid Crags and Boreal Mountains, forming the "Gates" from the central Brooks Range into the high Arctic. This adventure begins with a ski-plane flight from Bettles, Alaska, to a wilderness outpost at Eroded Mountain. Over the next nine days, you travel north through the dramatic Koyukuk River Valley. Dog teams carry all communal gear and heavy personal items while tour members take turns skiing and mushing. Camps are made in heated-wall tents along the trail. Moose, caribou, dall sheep, bears, wolves, and foxes inhabit the park. The longest day's run goes approximately 15 miles, and daytime temperatures average 20 degrees. April.

Rafting the Grand Canyon
The Colorado River through the Grand Canyon is the best single adventure trip in America, and a marvelous paradox: a wet and wooly whitewater ride in one of the most peaceful places on earth. After caroming down some of the biggest rapids on earth, such as Lava and Crystal, bask in the spectral beauty of Elves Chasm, lounge in the turquoise waters of Havasu, and wonder at the mysteries of the Anasazi ruins. The Colorado cuts a course 2 billion years and a mile deep into the Earth's crust, exposing the rainbow colors of Marble Canyon, the dark foreboding rock on the inner gorge, and side canyons of exceptional beauty. May through October.

Richard Bangs is founding partner of the adventure company Mountain Travel/Sobek, is author of 14 adventure travel books, and is currently editor of www.greatescapes.msnbc.com. American Dreams is a special report from MSN.