| The Great Movies | 
 enlarge | Author: Roger Ebert
Publisher: Broadway
Category: Book
List Price: $17.95
Buy Used: $3.69
You Save: $14.26 (79%)
New (28) Used (34) Collectible (3) from $3.69
Avg. Customer Rating:  38 reviews
Sales Rank: 43346
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 544
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.7
Dimensions (in): 9 x 6 x 1.4
ISBN: 0767910389
Dewey Decimal Number: 791.4375
EAN: 9780767910385
ASIN: 0767910389
Publication Date: November 11, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
|
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com Review
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 academics 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 Fords 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 Kaels 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 cinemas and Eberts 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
Product Description
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.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 33 more reviews...
 Great Book for Movie buff December 21, 2008
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 November 12, 2008
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.
 At least it's worth a look... September 28, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I don't see how this is "film-school in a book". I've learned more about films just by watching them and acknowledging them for myself. Although, Roger Ebert does make some interesting insights, even though they are sometimes insights that I have already considered, and don't really need a book to help me point out. And Ebert have listed a couple of films that I've never heard of that I might be interested in checking out, like The Apu Trilogy and The Exterminating Angel.
The Great Movies II has a listing of movies that I'd be more interested in reading, so I might check into it someday.
It's an okay book and is worth a look, at least for any beginner. But it's no film-school to me. 3/5.
A Great, Accessible Resource On Great Cinema. July 16, 2008
"The Great Movies" by world-renowned film critic Roger Ebert is a highly valuable resource. In this beautiful volume of film scholarship, Ebert brings across a true love of film and an urge to inform, educate and enlighten readers not just about blockbusters and well-known classics, but he also takes a look at independent, foreign and arthouse features that are rarely mentioned, much less known by the average movie-goer.
Unlike the typical Leonard Maltin guide, this isn't just some quick flip-through to check what's good to go out and fetch at the local Blockbuster, Ebert takes his time to really analyze and discuss each featured movie. There are brushtrokes of history, criticism and sometimes just good ol' fanboy cheer. Some of the entries have a wonderful originality, such as the entry for "E.T." where instead of a traditional essay, Ebert presents a letter written to grandchildren, remembering their reactions to the film. Other essays are both fascinating and interesting insights into Ebert's history as a film critic, consider "Bonnie & Clyde," a good essay to read for Ebert's analysis of the movie but also biographically interesting because it was the first masterwork Ebert reviewed on the job. He brushes modesty aside and mentions that his was the only positive newspaper review the film received upon its original release.
As a basic resource on classic film this is also a magnificent work. Readers will find titles that are known to all such as "Gone With The Wind" and "Dracula," but Ebert also gives space, sometimes with more enthusiasm, to classic yet little-known works in the mainstream sphere like Luis Bunuel's "The Exterminating Angel."
"The Great Movies" is very enjoyable also because it isn't just recommending movies, it is ABOUT each of these movies. Ebert brilliantly discusses the history behind the films, the lives of the directors and the historical relevance of many of the presented works and how they represent the times of their release. Essays for French New Wave movies like "Blowup" don't just discuss the techniques and performances, but the entire culture which made these movies popular and possible. Disney fans will enjoy the review of "Pinocchio" where Ebert goes into detail into the pioneering animation techniques featured in the film. Ebert's section on Oliver Stone's "JFK" is a fascinating look into how historical dramas are not really meant to document cold, hard facts like a documentary or book, instead they are meant to evoke the moods and feelings of the subject and event.
Roger Ebert, like all film critics, may not always give an opinion you may share on a certain movie, but "The Great Movies" is a perfect example of how his work is much more important and worth reading than typical critical work because he has a true grasp of history, art and even how a good discussion of art need not feel stuffy. For film students and film buffs, "The Great Movies" should be required reading.
Film School In A Book October 12, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I couldn't believe how many of the films listed in this book I had never heard of before, let alone never seen. Now, after going right down the list, I can't imagine not having seen them!
|
|
|
