The New York Times “Book of Movies” Is A Cinephile’s Dream
Of all the great Christmas gifts I have been given, of all the great reference books I have referred to, none are quite as cool as the New York Times Book of Movies: The Essential 1,000 Films To See. 500 Great Places To Visit in Alabama, Best Guantanamo Surfing Spots, and The Ultimate Map of Payton Manning’s Forehead all pale in comparison to this magnificent book of films. All it’s missing is a more concise title, but I’ll forgive that.
I mean, I could look at this thing for hours. It’s got all kinds of awesome movies and things everyone would enjoy. It’s also a great reference book for people who want to watch a bonafide classic. Like, a lot of people don’t want to waste their time watching a movie that may be bad, and I totally get that. Who would? (Besides me, who loves that sort of thing.) Also because there’s all kinds of movies in here (literally a whole K), you can pretty much find a film of any length or genre that will suit your situation. The other day I was tired but not ready to go to sleep so I found a nice 90 minute Japanese movie to throw on. Gate of Hell. Yes we’re gonna talk about it. Later.
What makes this book great, is I would recommend this book to almost everyone. If you don’t like movies, this will keep you on a path of good ones. If you love movies, there will be absolutely be some cool ones you haven’t seen in here. If you’re just a normal person who enjoys a flick every once in a while, this is a great reference book. You could watch something shitty if you want though. I endorse that as well.
Point is, this is a cool book, and maybe you should buy it. This isn’t a promotion or anything (could you picture? me getting paid to do something I enjoy?), but it’s a strong recommendation. If I hadn’t been given this book and still had the chance to buy it, I would. Hell, I might buy it again.
The book is also a great source of classic film criticism. Though it’s lovingly compiled by Manohla Dargis and A.O. Scott and edited by Wallace Schroder, most of the content in here is just original film reviews. Which is awesome. It reinforces the greatness of the films it discusses because you see a contemporary opinion, and then obviously it’s in a book of great films. So, you just know this is a movie that has held up.
