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Whenever I note Harvey Keitel’s name in the credits of a film, its stock automatically goes up a bit. His involvement may not guarantee a great film, but it does guarantee a remarkable performance within it.

Quarantining over these past three months has made me appreciate even more those elements of everyday life that give me comfort and joy at home. Among them, listening to music ranks high.

This Independence Day, America confronts a host of serious challenges, and appears diminished on the world stage. There’s a vacuum of leadership for all the world to see.

Great speeches have always made history, and in the movies, the voice of a single character, equipped with just the right words to suit the moment, can stir the emotions and stick in the memory, almost to the exclusion of everything else.

Here are ten special movies that capture the unique spirit, grit and energy of this incredible town.

The season is short, the mania extreme. On any given Sunday in the fall, a sizable share of the nation is binging on football, mostly on television, getting its fill before the window closes in January. But football is just as watchable on the big screen, as the drama plays out on and off the field. There are build-ups to the climactic championship game, with the clock counting down the minutes into those final tense, ticking seconds. Whether closing in on the huddle, or going wide for a field kick, the feeling is more like war than sports. Razor-sharp editing speeds along each pass and touchdown. Cheerleaders swing pompons, owners and coaches watch intently from the sidelines, and the crowds cheer from the stands in a roar that, with or without Dolby, is awe-inspiring. 

Given the subjects of Errol Morris’s previous films (including such titles as “Vernon, Florida,” “The Thin Blue Line,” and “Tabloid”), you could safely assume that Morris enjoys filming offbeat, bizarre and disturbing subjects. “Disturbing” is certainly an apt description of his latest release, “The Unknown Known,” an up-close and not-so-personal look at Donald Rumsfeld.  Rumsfeld is the man who (twice!) led our Armed Forces as the Secretary of Defense. He’s also one of the forces behind the infamous “torture memos,” the government’s internal memos that temporarily made certain acts of torture “legal” when used against “terror suspects.”  Documentaries about larger-than-life characters like “Rummy” are often notable for their filmmakers’ ability to coax candid admissions from their subjects. For instance, Morris interviewed Robert McNamara (the Secretary of Defense who presided over Vietnam) in 2003’s Oscar-winning “The Fog Of War.” In it, McNamara made the startling admission that he behaved “like [a] war criminal.” His shocking and preternaturally calm recollections were the thoughts of a man who had spent years reflecting on the nature of war, and his own key role in a costly and misguided one.