Product Description

Updated with brand-new entries to describe the most recent major motion pictures, this critically-acclaimed volume spans more than a century of moviemaking, concisely describing 1001 of the best films from around the world. New in this edition are entries to describe such film hits as Lord of the Rings, Mystic River, Farenheit 9/11, and Million Dollar Baby. But in fact, this volume's team of critics goes back to 1902, describing such films as The Great Train Robbery, and progressing chronologically across the decades to cover 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 made by filmmakers around the world. Each entry includes a full list of cast and credits, awards won by the film, an essay summarizing the story line and screen-history, and still shots of the film's memorable scenes. At the back of the book, both an alphabetical index and a genre index will help readers find any film they're looking for. Movie fans will find descriptions of great musicals like Singing in the Rain, westerns like High Noon, science-fiction classics like Star Wars, dramas like Chinatown and Schindler's List, and international classics from master directors who include Fellini, Antonioni, Resnais, Truffaut, Eisenstein, Kurosawa, and many others. Here is a volume that belongs in the personal library of film buffs, movie reviewers, collectors of DVDs-and every reader who enjoys reminiscing over great movies of the past and present. Hundreds of movie still shots in color and black and white. "... a great motivating guide to cinema. After reading one of its engaging, often profound entries on a missed film, you want to ... rent it. Best of all, it includes international, silent, animated, and recent films."
--Dallas Morning News

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #46454 in Books
• Published on: 2005-10-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 960 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780764159077
• Condition: USED - VERY GOOD
• Notes:
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Booklist
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

Review
“We at Gotham love, love, love our movies. So when we received 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die…we started taking notes for our next Netflix order. 1001 Movies is a cinephile’s dream: From the silents (The Birth of a Nation) to 1940s film noir (The Maltese Falcon) to the first of the independents (Cassavetes’ Shadows) to 2004’s Oscar-winning Million Dollar Baby, the book gives an extensive history of each film, with most entries accompanied by stills. We found plenty of little-seen gems, too, like Japanese director Kon Ichikawa’s The Burmese Harp from 1956.”


—Gotham





“This gargantuan volume is the perfect tip sheet for cinephiles, and includes everything from 1920’s A Trip to the Moon to last year’s Million Dollar Baby. Its balanced diet of indisputable classics (The Godfather), cult flicks (Eraserhead), and obscurities (The Ear) oughta keep you and your DVD player busy for many, many years…or until Ben Affleck makes a movie worthy of inclusion.”


—Scene



“…terrifically useful. You can reacquaint yourself with old favorites you haven’t seen for years and remind yourself of what to pick up for home viewing. Editor Steven Jay Schneider and his team deliver succinct plot summaries and smart comment.”


—Houston Chronicle

“1001 MOVIES You Must See Before You Die ... a great motivating guide to cinema. After reading one of its engaging, often profound entries on a missed film, you want to run out and rent it.” —Dallas Morning News

“If you’re constantly wondering what to pop into the VCR or DVD player, get this book!” —The Star

“An excellent new film anthology...1001 Movies will serve as one of your ultimate movie guides. It presents everything you need to know about the must-see films...” —The Wave Channel Guide

“Instead of simply summarizing the plot, Schneider and his team of experts briefly explain why each film is a must see.... Schneider’s choices are irrefutable. Highly recommended...” —Library Journal

“... a browser’s delight as well as a useful guide for casual viewers and film buffs alike” —Booklist

“...Schneider’s sources are solid...” —Buffalo News

From the Inside Flap
(back cover)
5TH
ANNIVERSARY
EDITION

“I have, by the way, seen 943 of the 1001 movies, and am carefully rationing the remaining titles to prolong my life.”
--Roger Ebert

“. . . a great motivating guide to cinema. After reading one of its engaging, often profound entries on a missed film, you want to run out and rent it.”
--Dallas Morning News

“Both a fun stroll through some all-time favourites, and a guilty reminder of just how many great movies I haven’t seen yet....”
--Aubrey Day, Total Film (U.K.)

“As edited by Steven Jay Schneider, it makes for addictive browsing, and likewise features top quality stills.”
--Film Review (U.K.)

“One of the best desert island books about art house film in print.”
--The Times (London)

(front flap)
With over 750,000 copies sold worldwide in twenty-four languages, the newly revised and updated 5th Anniversary edition of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die celebrates the great and groundbreaking, classic and cult must-see movies of all time and offers a treasure trove of incisive, witty, and revealing insights into the world of film. Illustrated with hundreds of stunning film stills, portraits, and poster art, 1001 Movies brings together the most significant movies from all genres, from action to western, through animation, comedy, documentary, musical, noir, romance, thriller, short, and sci-fi. The selection includes movies from over 30 countries and spans more than a century of extraordinary cinematography. Whether your passion is romantic comedy or art house, The Blue Angel or Blue Velvet, 1001 Movies is the book for you.

(back flap)
Steven Jay Schneider, one of the true connoisseurs of movie horror, has written, talked, taught, and published extensively on all aspects of film, from aesthetics and psychoanalysis to the joys of the slasher flick. Here he has brought together over 50 of the finest writers, reviewers, critics, professors, aficionados, and filmmakers from across the globe.

From Le Monde’s Jean-Michel Frodon in Paris to Undercurrent’s Chris Fujiwara in Tokyo, the team comprises the best that film writing has to offer and includes contributors to Empire, Sight and Sound, Time Out, Rolling Stone, the New York Times, Total Film, International Film Guide, LA Weekly, CineAction, Film Quarterly, NME, the Washington Post, Filmmaker, Moviemaker, and many more.

Customer Reviews

Caution
Although this book provided an acceptably organized compilation of movie classics, I was bugged by the fact that reviews/thoughts included spoilers, or revelations of the movies' endings.

I purchased this book in order to discover movies I knew not of previously or had heard of and was interested in seeing. The occasional spoilers are given without warning and made me read with caution to those movies that I did not yet know the outcome of, which was quite tedious.

Overall, the reviews were convincing and thoughtful when not completely blatant, but do proceed with caution.

Beware the spoilers!
1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die could be a great film guide. It is loaded with both well-known and obscure films, many of which I have sought out and enjoyed after reading about them in the book. I've really started to enjoy noir films because of this book's recommendations.

The fatal flaw in 1001 Movies is that they frequently give away the endings! For example, they often tell you when an important character dies at the end of the movie -- what is the point of that? Look for a different guide that doesn't spoil the endings.

Great source but a few errors....
As soon as I saw this book on the shelf I knew it was for my ever-expanding collection of cinema sources & the selection contained herein did not disappoint. Except maybe for the alarming number of errors I found. ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN did not win best picture in 1976; as the next page testifies, ROCKY did. THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW was not narrated by Dr. Everett Scott; it was narrated by The Narrator(Charles Gray). DANGEROUS LIAISONS did not win Best Picture in 1988; a few pages later it states,correctly,that RAINMAN did. In the piece on Charles Chaplin's brilliant MONSIEUR VERDOUX, the end result of his work & the sentiments expressed in his film made him the target of the political right which led to his permanent departure from the United States in 1952. He returned in 1971 & was presented with a lifetime achievement award at The Academy Awards.