Product Description

The 101 best movies ever made—from around the world and across a century—unfold here in order, along with critical commentary, behind-the-scenes information, and hundreds of lush photographs.

Movie ranking has become an annual sport, and this global, all-encompassing list features the best of all time. It is sure to be a must-have for every dedicated filmgoer eager to watch the greats that he or she has not yet seen and to recall favorite films from every era. Completely revised since its hardcover publication, it features movies from as recently as 2007, plus a new foreword.

Full-color, three-page sections celebrate each film on the list, which has been carefully compiled by two expert critics to include films from every decade, every genre, and a wide variety of cultures. Classics include Citizen Kane, Casablanca, The Wizard of Oz, and Star Wars; international films include Rules of the Game, The 400 Blows, and Rashomon; additions to the list since publication of the hardcover include The Lives of Others, City Lights, Pan's Labyrinth, and Groundhog Day. Each section includes cast lists, plot synopses, biographies of the director and key actors, Oscar nominations and wins, "behind-the-screen" anecdotes, and more.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #48031 in Books
• Published on: 2008-10-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 324 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781579127824
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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From the Back Cover
From a century of great comedies, dramas, musicals, romances and more, Kinn and Piazza have selected and ranked the top 101 films worldwide—and provided insightful commentary, facts and figures, behind-the-scenes info, and lush photographs that bring each film to life on the page. Call it a celebration of movies, a peerless guide to the best of the best—or call it the best checklist ever compiled for movie lovers. (How many have you seen?) The Greatest Movies Ever is a must-have for film buffs of every age and taste.

About the Author
Gail Kinn has conceived and edited a wide range of film books. She lives in New York City.

Jim Piazza is an essayist, screenwriter, playwright, and script analyst. He is the author of The King. He currently resides in New York City.

Customer Reviews

good read for film fans
The book is interesting to read when readable. The print is so tiny it was very difficult to make out. Good contents and interesting comments and back stories of each film. Wonderful photos as well. A few glaring errors though. One in particular was on the bio of NATALIE WOOD. Listed as one of her credits was DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER. Wrong. That was sister Lana in that film. Inaccuracies like these and others harm the book, but still a good read.

Impressively put-together, if you ignore the glaring errors
I am something of a collector of "Best movie ever" type books, so believe me when I say that in many regards this is one of the best. The amount of information presented for each entry is very impressive, the color photographs well-chosen, and the writing of a high caliber. The book passed the ultimate test: it made me want to watch the movies listed that I hadn't seen so I could read the articles about them. However, the amount of factual material that is incorrect is somewhat staggering. A previous reviewer already mentioned a point about Natalie Wood; let me simply list the ones I saw off the top of my head.

-The authors say that The Graduate was Mike Nichols' directorial debut, when in fact he directed the (hardly obscure) Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf the year before
-The authors talk about how the characters in The African Queen are worried about alligators. Alligators live in America and China, Crocodiles live in Africa.
-The authors say that Jean Renoir made Rules of the Game "having grown disturbed by France's complacency over the German occupation." Obviously untrue if you consider the fact that the movie was released in 1939 and the occupation didn't begin until 1940
-In the entry for Chinatown the authors state that Rosemary's Baby was released in 1963, a full five years away from its actual 1968 release date. Additionally, they attribute the famous "Forget it Jake, it's Chinatown" quote to Lt. Escobar when in fact Walsh says it.
-The authors state that The Last Picture show was released in 1968, when in fact it was released in 1971
-For some reason the authors write that Elia Kazan "made a comeback, after years of inactivity" with Reversal of Fortune when he did absolutely no such thing--Barbet Schroeder directed that film.

I watch a ton of movies, but I'm not getting paid to write about them--Gail Kinn and Jim Piazza are. Most of these errors are incredibly easy to avoid (just by plugging them into IMDB you can get your release year). I mean, anyone who knows the slightest detail about WWII would realize that a movie released in 1939 couldnt possibly be made to describe the French occupation by Germany. These authors' job is to write about movies; they should not be making half a dozen errors that I easily notice in the SECOND EDITION of their work. Other that that, though, as I mentioned before, it's a worthy read.

This is not a real list!
There are so many obvious omissions as well as many others that are better off listed as greatest overated, that this book is not only a joke, but purposefully misleading. First some omissions-Where is Ben-Hur, 10 Commandments, Usual Suspects, Stagecoach or the ridiculously funny A Shot in the Dark. There are many things that make up a great movie- great acting(not actors), great unique story, and It's impact on future generations of the public and movies. Movies that have no business in the book are- 1-#11 Nashville. Come on; I love Robert Altman, but that is 3 hours of one of the most boring movies I have ever seen. It was shot more like a Documentary. Lots of great actors but that is about it.#22 Double Indemnity-Great actors but the script is completely implausable and just plain stupid. A better choice for film noir is Out of the past, with Robert Mitchum, Kirk Douglas and the greatest Femme-fatale- Jane Greer. Now on to the gangster movie-Yes the Godfather Saga is great, but Citizen Kane is still #1, and Goodfellas as #26 is a joke. A much better choice is Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in America, where the first hour is devoted to backstory explaining why the main characters are what they became. Not to mention the amazing performance by the then 12 year old Jennifer Connelly. The authors obviously don't like Sergio Leone, otherwise how can you not have The Good, the Bad and the Ugly on the list, when it should be in the top ten. It's influence even today is indeniable. Instead they have a movie like Bonnie and Clyde- again great actors, but stupid movie.Oh yeah, how about a Beatle's movie-please that is just plain ridiculous. Or Star Wars as only #52, and the Third Man as #57. It seems like they put them in there as an afterthought, when both belong in the top 20. There are many more "errors", but it is pretty clear that this book was designed for the uneducated movie fan in order to sway them away from some obvious classics. Only buy this if you want to be angered by the horrible choices and order in which they were placed. Any book of great movies that leaves out Ben-Hur and the Good, the Bad and the Ugly, should be read with a grain of salt(poisoned salt).