The New York Times Guide to the Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made

by Vincent Canby

In The New York Times Guide to the Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made , the film critics of the Times have gathered the original reviews of their list of the best.  Covering every conceivable genre, from comedies, dramas, and science-fiction to foreign films, musicals, and others, this book provides the student with an essential resource.  How were Psycho or Fantasia originally received?  For movies that are often subsumed in their own legends,  the original review is a corrective lens for a hindsight that is often anything but 20/20.  This volume also includes and introductory essay by Janet Maslin and modern postscripts to movies that survived their original trashing to become classics.

Genres: Film, Nonfiction, Media Tie In, Reference, History, Journalism

1024 pages, Paperback

First published October 12, 1999

Reviews

[Jackie "the Librarian" · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read all the original reviews of 1000 great movies as they were published in the New York Times. You may not agree with their picks, and some of the older reviews are awfully smug, but that's the fun of this kind of book. Not all of these reviews are positive, as even they changed their minds, sometimes!
They limited their picks to movies with sound, so you won't find any Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton here. That doesn't mean you shouldn't watch them, though!
See if your favorites are included!

[Julio The Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a fool and fall guy for a classic movie. The fun and profit of this book is in upgrading your taste in movies and disagreeing with some of the greatest film critics who ever penned a review, Bosley Crowther, Vincent Canby, Janet Maslin and other NEW YORK TIMES eminences, on what constitutes a great film and which directors are likely to endure in film history. This compendium is unusual in that the reviews of the 1,000 best movies are all contemporary. If a movie came out in 1946, say THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES and ANNA AND THE KING OF SIAM, we get the review published in the TIMES. No second-guessing or "time has vindicated this film". This can be a dangerous practice, and misleading. Alfred Hitchcock's PSYCHO opened to terrible reviews in 1960, but today is considered, by me anyway, his masterpiece, especially compared to the Oscar Best Picture winner that year, Billy Wilder's THE APARTMENT. On the flip side, Bernardo Bertolucci's LAST TANGO IN PARIS from 1973 was hailed for having "changed the face of an art form", yet it is little viewed, much less praised, today. Here's an infuriating item on this list. The TIMES critic hated THE GODFATHER PART II, calling it a shallow, nonsensical rehash of the original. He even profanes the one gem most critics spotted in this sequel, Robert DeNiro's performance as the young Vito Corleone; "he seems to be doing a nightclub imitation of Brando". That made me go out and watch GF II again, for the sheer pleasure. Silent films always need a rescue for modern audiences, and I'm glad THE GENERAL, BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN and all of early Chaplin is here. Americans require a reminder now and then that local manufactures are only a small part of global film output. The masters of foreign cinema earn their stars from the TIMES; Kurosawa, Ozu, Fellini, Herzog, Wenders, Visconti, Bergman, Truffaut, Godard and Bresson. My one complaint about this list of all-star films is that small budgets are under-represented. Where are WHEN FATHER WAS AWAY ON BUSINESS, DETOUR, GUN CRAZY, WITHNAIL AND I, and I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE? Though 1,000 BEST FILMS is too high-brow I still recommend this thick volume for a launching pad into world cinema.

[John Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

First off this is a really good diverse list of films. I went through and read all the reviews for the films I had seen. Which is only about 1/4 of what is contained in this massive volume. Now I have a long list of great films to go through when I am stumped for something to watch.

[Bagger · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want to watch them all :)

[Catherine Woodman · Rating 4 out of 5]

He is a great resource when thinking about films and teaching

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

If, like me, you love movies & lists then you will enjoy this!

[Andrew Pierce · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great reference for any film lover that gave me lots of great suggestions, especially some foreign films that I need to catch up on!