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vanessakm's review against another edition
3.0
While I enjoyed the oddball lists in this lengthy book (the titular DeNiro list, 10 Gratuitous Uses of Sex and Nudity by Paul Verhoeven, 10 Great Uses of Poetry in Movies), I ran out of steam near the end. Like most list compilations, this would be a great book to pull off the shelf and read occasionally, but not to try to barrel through. It was published in the UK, which explains the particularly British brand of pomposity from a few of the contributors-in the preface where all of the writers list their favorite films, one chooses the 1895 opus La Sortie des Usines Lumiere. (This is one of the very first films ever made; it’s choppy b&w footage of workers exiting a factory, and it’s less than a minute long. Give me une break, dude.)
It also explains why some of the choices will seem hopelessly obscure to American readers. For example, the list on great animal performances includes...the donkey from the 1970's Italian religious film The Tree of Wooden Clogs. Uhhhh? No For the Love of Benji?
All snarking aside, I did learn some interesting film trivia and the list "10 Bad Films That Are Actually Terrific" completely won me over by naming Tough Guys Don't Dance, a film that probably was sunk by haters of Norman Mailer and Ryan O'Neal (no small demographic.) Genuine film directors like Mike Figgis and Steven Soderbergh pop up to offer their opinions. And I also found some films to add to my viewing queue (Red Road, Julien Donkey-Boy, Simon of the Desert.) In case you were curious, the Catholic clog movie did not make the cut.
It also explains why some of the choices will seem hopelessly obscure to American readers. For example, the list on great animal performances includes...the donkey from the 1970's Italian religious film The Tree of Wooden Clogs. Uhhhh? No For the Love of Benji?
All snarking aside, I did learn some interesting film trivia and the list "10 Bad Films That Are Actually Terrific" completely won me over by naming Tough Guys Don't Dance, a film that probably was sunk by haters of Norman Mailer and Ryan O'Neal (no small demographic.) Genuine film directors like Mike Figgis and Steven Soderbergh pop up to offer their opinions. And I also found some films to add to my viewing queue (Red Road, Julien Donkey-Boy, Simon of the Desert.) In case you were curious, the Catholic clog movie did not make the cut.
jakewritesbooks's review
3.0
Had some good recommendations. Nothing exciting. Dunno if it was worth the price.
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