The New York Times Guide to the
Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made,
Updated & Revised (Film Critics of
the New York Times) by The New
York Times
Before The Rain Must Be Macedonia's Greatest Film, Ever
Everyone knows that a good canon debate doesnt get interesting until you
reach the realm of the top 100. But by listing the top 1,000 movies, as the
editors of The New York Times have done with this fat, readable collection
of reviews, you get to skip all that huffing and puffing about quality and
head straight for the fun. With a little elbow room, theres space for
ineffable stuff like Mr. Hulots Holiday and The Match Factory Girl. Room,
too, for the nuance-free Mrs. Doubtfire and the free-falling Die Hard (which
makes it, yep, right next to Diner). Pillow Talk squeezes in just one down
from The Piano. Whats really new about this book, though, is that the
reviews have been culled from the Timess archive--reaching back to

1931. So you can read Vincent Canby reacting to Taxi Driver in 1976, just
days after first seeing it: The steam billowing up around the manhole
cover in the street is a dead giveaway. Manhattan is a thin cement lid over
the entrance to hell, and the lid is full of cracks. Not bad for a guy on
deadline. Bosley Crowther, who preceded Canby, fares less well, waving
off Rear Window as Hitchcocks new melodrama, and Psycho with, It
does seem slowly paced. By contrast, Janet Maslins more recent reviews
hum and gush, unraveling the merits of Pulp Fiction and Lone Star. At
collected-Shakespeare size (999 pages), the title is probably too vast for
schlepping around, but go ahead, try reading just one. With plenty of
international selections, including usual suspects from France (Truffaut),
Italy (Fellini), and Japan (Itami), as well as some unusual ones from
Brazil, Mexico, India, and Czechoslovakia, theres enough canon fodder
here for at least five Top 100 books. --Lyall Bush
Personal Review: The New York Times Guide to the Best 1,000
Movies Ever Made, Updated & Revised (Film Critics of the New
York Times) by The New York Times
I won't say this is an indispensible book. Swap one film reference book for
another and you're likely to learn about films and directors you otherwise
wouldn't. The operative word there was likely. I've had Ebert books,
Pauline Kael books, VideoHound's books, Entertainment Weekly
references, etc. They are all good, but the critics works especially.
As opposed to getting a shortened synopsis and rating system, you can
get a critical eye, with contextual perspective and a detailed analysis. The
New York Times Guide to the Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made offers that.
And not from one voice but from over a dozen NYT critics over the
decades.
I don't abide by those who call this dated. It was published when it was,
and though there may be updated editions, this is still a fantastic book to
have. After all the majority of films made were in the 20th century, and the
influence those films and filmmakers have resonates now. Including the
archived reviews, which feature the NYT tradition of refering to people as
Mr., Mrs., Ms. etc., each films leading castmembers, their characters, the
lead production credits and film lengths are given. Plus a year-by-year list
of the paper's Top 10 films, and an index of the films featured categorized
by genre and country of origin.
Oddly enough though is that there are reviews in this that are negative and
sometimes scathing. Perhaps this is because the films were appreciated
by other Times critics, enough to place them on the Top 10, or the films
themselves have proven better than initially thought. Neither Bonnie &
Clyde or Chinatown made the Top 10 list.
But this is a trifle, and enforces the critical need that films, as art &
commerce require.
If you are a devoted film lover as I am, this book is a terrific member of any
collection.
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