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Did you know there were two big films titled “Lone Star”? We’ve added an alphabetized list of key movies about Texas. Texans adore movies about Texas and Texans. In my May 10 “Think, Texas” column ( Starring Texas: What you can learn about the state through its movies ), I tried to sort out what it means to be a “Texas movie,” and argued that such a film must be about our state, not just shot here. It must tell us something about who we are. I applied that standard to 32 movies, starting with the two versions of “The Trip to Bountiful,” one starring Geraldine Page, the other Cicely Tyson, and ending with the never-ending “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” franchise. ....
Michael Barnes thinks the exchange should start with “The Trip to Bountiful.” Although he isn’t a fan of horror movies, he agrees that “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” is among the most influential movies about the state. To salute Texas Independence Week in 2019, my former American-Statesman colleague Dave Thomas and I put out a list of the 53 best books about Texas. It contained some beloved classics, such as John Graves’ “Goodbye to a River,” and some thrilling newcomers, like Attica Locke’s “Bluebird, Bluebird and Monica Muñoz Martinez’s “The Injustice Never Leaves You.” We encouraged readers to respond with their favorites. They did. On June 14, 2019, I published those provocative responses, including several from folks who wondered why we had left off James Michener’s doorstop novel, “Texas.” ....