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Volume 1 of a pair (see The Great Movies II which I reviewed earlier) of collected extended critical reviews of the most important movies of all time. This book includes all the expected, including some of my all time favorites like "Casablanca", "Chinatown", and "Citizen Kane", and some of the more obscure critic's-picks type of movies like "Woman in the Dunes" and 'Un Chien Andalou"--most of which I find are available on Netfllix, the modern movie maven's mecca.
Ebert's Great Movies wraps up my recent tour of movies from worst (The fifty worst films of all time: (and how they got that way)) to bad (I Hated, Hated, Hated This Movie) to evey day (A Year at the Movies: One Man's Filmgoing Odyssey), and while it is fun to laugh about and even admire the worst in movies, it is the best that makes us look forward one more time to willful suspension of disbelief in the dark.
But while Ebert and others can act as guides, we will each find our own place in the dark. One movie ("Last Year at Marienbad") makes both the worst and the great lists. Put these movies in your Netflix queue (yes, Last Year is available), turn out the lights, open your eyes, and you decide.
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"The Great Movies" Overview
From America’s most trusted and best-known film critic, one hundred brilliant essays on the films that define for him cinematic greatness.
For the past five years Roger Ebert, the famed film writer and critic, has been writing biweekly essays for a feature called "The Great Movies," in which he offers a fresh and fervent appreciation of a great film. The Great Movies collects one hundred of these essays, each one of them a gem of critical appreciation and an amalgam of love, analysis, and history that will send readers back to that film with a fresh set of eyes and renewed enthusiasm–or perhaps to an avid first-time viewing. Ebert’s selections range widely across genres, periods, and nationalities, and from the highest achievements in film art to justly beloved and wildly successful popular entertainments. Roger Ebert manages in these essays to combine a truly populist appreciation for our most important form of popular art with a scholar’s erudition and depth of knowledge and a sure aesthetic sense. Wonderfully enhanced by stills selected by Mary Corliss, film curator at the Museum of Modern Art, The Great Movies is a treasure trove for film lovers of all persuasions, an unrivaled guide for viewers, and a book to return to again and again.
The Great Movies includes: All About Eve • Bonnie and Clyde • Casablanca • Citizen Kane • The Godfather • Jaws • La Dolce Vita • Metropolis • On the Waterfront • Psycho • The Seventh Seal • Sweet Smell of Success • Taxi Driver • The Third Man • The Wizard of Oz • and eighty-five more films.
From the Hardcover edition.
"The Great Movies" Specifications
If Pauline Kael popularized “movie love,” Roger Ebert is the eloquent Valentino of cinephiles. This invaluable volume gathers 100 of the Pulitzer winner's mini-essays composed since 1997, revised and updated, to form a love letter that could only spring from decades of devotion. A feat of superlative analysis, historical reflection, personal diary, and journalistic odyssey, The Great Movies combines an accessible style with an academic’s precision. Accompanied by photos perfectly chosen by Museum of Modern Art film stills archivist Mary Corliss, the 100 films are irrefutably worthy of inclusion, allowing room for debate (John Ford’s My Darling Clementine is in, The Searchers is not--arguably a wise decision) while placing each film into its own undeniable context of superiority. Admirably, Ebert recognizes that no critic writes in a vacuum; he dedicates the book to eight master critics hailed as “teachers,” quotes many of his contemporaries, and carries on the debate with Kael’s lingering spirit (Ebert counters her on Body Heat, praises her on Nashville). His appreciation of E.T. is written as a letter to beloved children in his life, and the entire book breathes with an awareness of legacy--the cinema’s and Ebert’s own--that underlies the sobering theme of his introduction. We need these movies (and this book) to remind us that movies can be so much better than they typically are. --Jeff Shannon
Expected pleasures and few surprises from this populist critic - Muzzlehatch - the walls of Gormenghast
I have a long history with Roger Ebert's criticism; growing up in the midwest in the era of "Star Wars", I remember Siskel and Ebert's "Sneak Previews" (later "At the Movies") as an early guide to the newly-discovered world of cinema. I remember eagerly tuning in every week, and often being disappointed that an interesting-sounding film wasn't going to show in the small town I lived in. Later, when I moved to Chicago to go to school, I discovered that the town was a treasure-trove for movie criticism, with not just Siskel and Ebert but also Dave Kehr and later Jonathan Rosenbaum among many others. Eventually Ebert, who I generally liked more than Siskel, became less interesting to me and less a must-read as he concentrated less on the obscure and arthouse worlds and became a bigger celebrity. So my feelings about him have run through a wide range over the years...
...and this book is full of perfect examples of why that is. On the one hand, he communicates an enthusiasm that is hard to ignore, and his writing is always lucid and entertaining; on the other, he is sloppy and sometimes dead wrong in his facts or prone to ignoring pertinent information. I'd think most readers would be interested to know that Ozu's "Floating Weeds" is a remake of an earlier film BY THE SAME DIRECTOR, for example. And making a snide comment about the failed "futuristic city" in Albert Brooks' "Defending Your Life" makes me wonder if he actually saw that film -- actually a vision of the afterlife. He could have picked a more accurate example for a throwaway line in his otherwise decent discussion of "Metropolis". His choices generally are very conservative, films that anyone with a smidgeon of knowledge of film will know -- though they're (nearly) all great films, it would have been nice to see him point his way towards directors and films that need the exposure more than "Singin' in the Rain", "Vertigo" and Frank Capra. Then again, he does push the "Up" documentaries and "Gates of Heaven".
In the end, you've got to take my review with a grain of salt - just as you should Ebert's, or any critic's. For those just starting off on their explorations of the wonderful worlds of film, this will be a much more valuable and intriguing work. Those who, like me, have stepped a good ways outside of the mostly safe waters that Ebert generally resides in will probably not be as enthralled by it.
Great Book for Movie buff - Film Lover - Miami, FL USA
I gave this book as gift to my son, who loves film (in his twenties now) who grew up with good movies, and yet is still young enough to have never heard of many great ones of the past. Terrific guide for a discerning film viewer with a Net flix account. Oh, and did I mention I bought a copy for myself as well? Truly wonderful films in mostly short, incisive, entertaining, readable reviews, from the late Roger Ebert.
Two Thumbs Up - Benjamin Devey -
Roger Ebert has become an established film critic, more because of his picks than his pans. The Thumbs-up guy shares a wealth of insights that ties the stories together, gives you historical perspectives, and helps you understand why each film is significant. Ebert writes in simple eloquence that anyone can understand. The experience is almost like sitting together in a living room away from the shushing crowds, and sharing stories with the expert movie guy. From what he says, It seems Ebert reviewed each film afresh after years of compiling notes. Each capsule review answers the why. What makes each of the films important, and why would I want to see it for the first time or again? It's a great guide to catch up on what you haven't seen.
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