The A List: The National Society Of Film Critics' 100 Essential Films
By (Author) Jay Carr
Hachette Books
Da Capo Press Inc
4th January 2002
United States
General
Non Fiction
Other performing arts
791.4375
Paperback
368
Width 152mm, Height 229mm
The 100 essential films of all time (you might be surprised what they are) and why they matter (you might be surprised about that, too).. People love movies. People love lists. So The A-List is a natural. While there are plenty of encyclopedic lists of films, this compulsively readable book of 100 essaysmost written expressly for this volume-flags the best of the best as chosen by a consensus of the National Society of Film Critics. The Society is a world-renowned, marqueename organization embracing some of America's most distinguished critics: more than forty writers who have national followings as well as devoted local constituencies in such major cities as New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, and Minneapolis. But make no mistake about it: This isn't a collection of esoteric "critic's choice" movies. The Society has made its selections based on a film's intrinsic merits, its role in the development of the motion-picture art, and its impact on culture and society. Some of the choices are controversial. So are some of the omissions. It will be a jumping-off point for discussions for years to come. And since the volume spans all international films from the very beginning, it will act as a balance to recent guides dominated by films of the last two decades (hardly film's golden age). Here is a book that is definitely ready for its close-up.
Jay Carr has been the film critic of the Boston Globe since 1983.