1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (Relié)

Film lovers seeking critical guidance more discerning than daily newspaper reviews but less daunting than scholarly journal articles depend on a handful of critics who write about rarefied films for a general audience. 1001 Movies You Must See before You Die puts a user-friendly mask on the serious thought animating its effort to create a roster of indispensable films and rather belies the erudition of its well-qualified contributors. The chosen 1,001 are chronologically listed, from the surreal sf short A Trip to the Moon (1902) to Russian Ark and chicago (both 2002). This list has been compiled with an eye to historical importance and popular acclaim, which explains the presence of such critically suspect crowd-pleasers as Saturday Night Fever, Top Gun, and E.T. Since Chantal Akerman's nearly four-hour Jeanne Dielman and the Czech psychedelic farce Sedmikrasky (Daisies) also appear, it can't, however, be accused of pandering to popular taste. Attractive design, incorporating stills from most chosen titles, makes the volume a browser's delight as well as a useful guide for casual viewers and film buffs alike. Gordon Flagg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

"You played it for her, Sam. Now, play it for me." Everybody loves a good movie, and Casablanca is just one of the classics described in this, the ultimate book about movies! This volume's expert team of authors spans a full century of production, concisely describing 1001 of the best films from around the world. The listings are dramatically augmented with memorable photos, both in color and black and white. The book is a chrono-logical survey covering the best cinematic dramas, comedies, westerns, musicals, suspense and horror films, gangster classics, films noir, sci-fi epics, documentaries, and adaptations of novels and stage plays. Starting in 1902 with the French production, Le voyage dans la lune (A Trip to the Moon) and the famous 1903 American short, The Great Train Robbery, this immensely enjoyable read moves forward chronologically. Film fans review the 1920s silent classics of D. W. Griffith and the comedies of Chaplin and Keaton, then go on to the era of sound films, beginning in 1927 with Al Jolson in The Jazz Singer. Soon to follow were von Sternberg's 1931 classic with Marlene Dietrich, Der Blaue Engel (The Blue Angel), the Bela Lugosi portrayal of Dracula, and the inimitable King Kong. Other highlights from the 1930s include screwball comedies like It Happened One Night and Bringing Up Baby, the elegant song-and-dance fests that paired Astaire and Rogers, the crazy antics of the Marx Brothers, and the classic Warner Brothers gangster films where James Cagney, George Raft, and Edward G. Robinson were brought to justice in the final reel. In the 1940s, The Maltese Falconand Casablanca made Humphrey Bogart a household name--and spanning nearly a half-century, from the 1930s to the '80s, Alfred Hitchcock's suspense classics thrilled millions. Also well represented are the post-World War II European New Wave directors, including Pasolini, Fellini, and Antonioni from Italy, Resnais and Truffaut from France, and many others. Here too in words and photos are the classic westerns, from epics starring John Wayne and Gary Cooper to those in which Clint Eastwood shot it out with the bad and the ugly. --And certainly not to be overlooked are the great musicals, from Singin' in the Rain to Chicago.Readers who open this book to any page will find a major film described with a complete list of credits, an essay summarizing its story line and screen-history, and still shots of some of the film's memorable scenes. At the back of the book, both an alpha-betical index and a genre index will help readers find any film they're looking for in a hurry. Collectors of DVDs and video tapes will find this volume a must for their bookshelf, but even casual moviegoers will enjoy browsing through this big, entertaining reference book. For students of cinema, for discerning film buffs, for general moviegoers, and for readers who enjoy reminiscing over unforgettable lines of dialogue, here's the best place to start.