Queue Tips: Discovering Your Next Great Movie

by Rob Christopher

Offering a garden-variety of carefully cultivated lists, this suggestion guide for the at-home movie viewer incorporates classic films with those more obscure for a full menu of watch-worthy films. Online streaming services might present their own recommendation services, but little is provided about the film beyond a snippet description and further research is usually required. This all-in-one recommendation source provides descriptions, a capsule review, trivia, and helpful tips on where to locate the movie—whether in DVD format or online. Hosting a mini-film festival or coordinating the programming for a film class or club becomes an easy undertaking with this guide on hand, or it could simply be the solution for any given Friday night. Such figures as authors, film bloggers, and columnists contribute to the suggestions, incorporating the respected views of people that include Julia Sweeney, Barry Gifford, and Bilge Ebiri.

Among those contributing to this book
Bilge Ebiri (popular film blogger)
Barry Gifford (author of Wild At Heart )
Bill Ott (Publisher of Booklist )
Julia Sweeney (Saturday Night Live cast member and monologist)
Zoe Trope (author of YA memoir Please Don’t Kill the Freshman )
Ken Vandermark (MacArthur "genius" grant-winning jazz musician)
Eugenia Williamson (pop culture columnist for The Boston Phoenix )

Genres: Nonfiction, Film, Media Tie In

168 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Rob Christopher wrote, directed, and starred in the acclaimed feature film "Pause of the Clock," which had its World Premiere at the Denver Film Festival in 2015 and screened at the Gene Siskel Film Center in 2016. In January 2017 it was nominated for “Best Chicago Film” by the Chicago Independent Film Critics Circle. He wrote the introduction to the young adult edition of "Sad Stories of the Death of Kings," by Barry Gifford and edited several Roy stories for publication on the website Chicagoist. He is also author of the book "Queue Tips: Discovering Your Next Great Movie" and has written articles for such publications as the Chicago Reader and American Libraries. His film writing frequently appears in Cine-File Chicago. His current film project is the documentary "Roy's World: Barry Gifford's Chicago," which features narration by Willem Dafoe, Matt Dillon, and Lili Taylor.

Reviews

[Trudi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love lists, I love movies, so when a little book like this comes along compiling lists of movies using unconventional themes then I'm there, popcorn in hand. This is a cute book, but it isn't revelatory, and it isn't going to turn you into a slavering film buff if you aren't already one. There's a bit of trivia embedded in the concise film annotations, but nothing you're not going to stumble across on IMDb.

The real value of this book is to pass it around amongst friends and get inspired to make your own lists. The one thing it does well is to showcase that there are other ways to group movies together than the traditional "Best" lists critics and organizations like the AFI are famous for.

For example:

Flops That Aren't Actually Half Bad
Great Movies Based on Plays
Better Than the Book
Psycho, and Other Surprising Christmastime Movies
Nine Westerns That Aren't Westerns

As readers it's almost inconceivable to imagine a movie surpassing the book it's based on, but it does happen. My Better Than The Book list would include:
The Godfather
Jaws
Silence of the Lambs
The Exorcist
Stir of Echoes
Friday Night Lights
A Simple Plan
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Here's a few lists this book inspired me to make:

The Monster Mash: Monster Movies that Don't Suck
The Evil Dead and The Evil Dead II
Jaws
Jurassic Park
Alien
An American Werewolf in London
Jeepers Creepers
Pitch Black (that one's for you Carol)
District 9
The Brood
Lake Placid
Tremors
The Thing (1982)


WTF: Movies that broke my brain
Memento
Jacob's Ladder
Inception
The Machinist
The Game
Moon
Being John Malkovich
Eraserhead
Twelve Monkeys
Donnie Darko
Videodrome
The Jacket
Event Horizon
Repulsion
Happiness
Irreversible


That Didn't Suck: Sequels (Almost) Better Than The Original
Terminator 2: Judgement Day - I actually think this one surpasses the original.
Die Hard 2: Die Harder
Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn
The Godfather: Part II
The Road Warrior
Aliens
Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 3
Rocky II
The Dark Knight
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Magnum Force


How about: Baby, It's Cold Outside: Movies for a Snowy Evening
Fargo
A Simple Plan
The Thing
The Shining
The Gold Rush
Winter's Bone
Groundhog Day
Die Hard
Planes, Trains and Automobiles
30 Days of Night
Let the Right One In and Let Me In
Alive

I'm just getting warmed up here -- stop me before I make another list!! As I've said, I love lists. If you feel so inclined, please share in the comments.

[Ionia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read a few pretty basic film guides, but this one puts them to shame. When you read this book, you not only get excellent advice on where you can find rare films and which ones to choose and why, but you also get a healthy dose of the author's humor, which made this a lot of fun to read.

One of the things that impressed me so much about this guide, is that Rob Christopher doesn't focus all of his time on movies that have come out in the last couple of years. He offers tips for finding movies all the way back from the beginning of film to the present. I was also highly impressed by the sections of the book where he discussed the importance and value of the library system in relation to the preservation and ability to obtain movies that would otherwise not be available.

There are recommendations of movies for a lot of different genres, even including kids and teens and most of them were movies I hadn't seen in other books on the subject. There is a little something for everyone in this book. I liked the way the author surmised the plot of the movies and didn't give away too much information. The introduction for this also contains a lot of valuable information and he has included resources at the end of the book to help us all locate the films we wish to find as well. I thought his views on the changing times of film were very to the point and interesting.

I was thrilled to see that he had included "Christine" by Stephen King in his list of movies, as it is one of my very favorites and truly under appreciated in my opinion. No matter what type of movies you enjoy, this book can help to point you in the right direction and plan for what to watch next.

[Penny Peck · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a quick and joyful read, offering two dozen lists of movies based on themes. Not necessarily the best films, but all films that are interesting to watch. The themes are unusual, too, each with just a paragraph on things to look for in the film. This isn't the typical cynicism exhibited in many current movie books, but instead focuses on what is right with certain films. Plus, most of the films are not the mainstream films we have all seen but some unusual choices. Spanning films from a few silents to recent films, there is something for everyone. Anyone who recommends Beulah Bondi in "Make Way for Tomorrow," or Roger Corman's "The Intruder" has me convinced. Plus, Rob Christopher has a great conversation tone to his text, mixed with a few academic observances, like the best film appreciation class might have.

[Tankboy · Rating 4 out of 5]

In age age where firing up Netflix can lead to instant paralysis, this is a book that can steer you right and pick out films you might otherwise pass up. The only flaw in the whole thing is the leaving out of 'Raising Arizona,''Vampire's Kiss' AND 'Valley Girl in the Nic Cage chapter, but in Rob's defense that was a guest contribution. Rob's suggestions and commentary are spot on though.

[XiangYu · Rating 4 out of 5]

An eye-opener to the wide variety of movies. I like how this book has a collection of lists, rather than the usual 'clickbait' kinds of online articles: MOVIES YOU REGRET NOT WATCHING SOONER etc. I have shortlisted movies from 1937 to 2011 - this book basically covered all the bases.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

This erudite, enjoyable guidebook asks ten writers from different disciplines for lists of their pet films to rent or stream. (Editor Rob Christopher himself contributes the best lists, including “Nine Westerns That Aren’t Westerns” and “Flops That Aren’t Actually Half Bad.”) The resulting syllabus is heavy on the work of late lamented visual artists who wouldn’t stand a chance of getting their now classic films made today (Welles, Penn, Tarkovsky), as well as recent titles by the few contemporary American filmmakers (Malick, Lynch) who still joust at the windmills of Hollywood, Inc., stubbornly refusing to let go of the now downright quaint notion that movies are not just market-driven digital content, but an art form. (Full disclosure: I penned one of the book’s lists, “Tropical Cocktails at the Movies.”)

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good group of movie lists for both well-known and slightly obscure titles. I didn't know until after I started reading it that it was produced by the ALA (American Library Association), which is pretty cool. I made a list of about 20 films that I would like to watch from the book. 4 stars.

[Brendan]

Rating: 3 1/2

It's a quick, easy read. More suitable for the ordinary film fan than for serious cinephiles. Making lists of movies in various categories isn't anything new, but there are a few different ways of thinking of films here. There's a good mix of well-known movies, lesser known, and foreign (so better known there than here perhaps). Different eras are represented as well.

Of the 24 sections, twelve are by Christopher with the other half carrying a different credit for each one. My three least favorite sections are all by others: Barry Gifford (who mailed it in), Zoe Trope (whose focus on Nic Cage seems way too random), and David Kodeski (who thinks shirtless man = homoerotic). Though two of my favorite sections are by others as well. Speaking of...

Favorites:
"Extraordinary Sound, Music, and Film" - jazz musician Ken Vandermark
"Nine Westerns That Aren't Westerns" - Christopher
"DIY First Amendment Film Festival" - the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom (a bit of a left-leaning bias, but interesting picks)
"Point of Order: Riveting Movies About the Law" - Christopher
"Ten Movies So Bad They're Good" - Christopher