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Library | Material Type | Call Number | Status | Item Holds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Searching... Sugar Grove - Todd Library | Reference Book | PN1993.5 .U6 E15 2010 | Searching... Unknown | Searching... Unavailable |
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Summary
Summary
An authoritative and extraordinary guide To The 500 most significant films ever made in the United States, from big-budget blockbusters to experimental shorts.
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
The great, the historic, and the lousy (but, alas, influential) all find their place in this engrossing survey of titles selected by the Library of Congress's National Film Registry. Eagan (HBO's Guide to Movies on Videocassette and Cable TV) chronologically catalogues 500 Registry films, from 1893's 30-second Blacksmithing Scene to 1995's Fargo, jumbling Hollywood classics together with obscure art films, cartoon shorts, documentaries, industrial and student films, newsreel footage from the Hindenburg disaster and the Zapruder film. Each entry includes complete cast and credits lists and an engaging one- to two-page historical and interpretive essay. These are packed with biographical thumbnails of actors and directors and making-of narratives-from screenplay rewrites to on-set feuds and hysterics to final-cut showdowns-that buffs and scholars will delight in. Eagan dutifully assesses the artistic merits of each film (yes, even Animal House) in critiques that abound in pithy and sometimes contrarian opinions: he rates Clint Eastwood rather higher than either Orson Welles (Citizen Kane is, merely, "a delightful stunt with the appeal of an eager puppy") or the "glib, cruel" Robert Altman. The result is an erudite, perceptive, always entertaining cinematic encyclopedia. Photos. (Jan.) Copyright 2010 Reed Business Information.
Choice Review
Each year 25 American films that are deemed "culturally, historically, or esthetically significant" are selected by filmmakers/historians for inclusion in the National Film Registry. The list of films now totals 500. Each has an entry in this one-volume reference, which is arranged chronologically from 1893 (Blacksmith Scene) to 1996 (Fargo). The registry includes documentaries, propaganda films, cartoons, experimental shorts, and every type of feature film, from Hollywood blockbusters to independent films. Interestingly, with every advance in film technologies (e.g., in film formats and digital sound/effects), preserving films has become more difficult, since new formats threaten the existence of older ones. For preservation purposes, the Library of Congress holds an archival print of each film. Besides the usual classics, some of the more interesting entries include San Francisco Earthquake and Fire, April 18, 1906, Hindenburg Disaster Newsreel Footage, and Zapruder Film (of the Kennedy assassination). For each film, Eagan (independent scholar) has included all the pertinent information about how and when it was made. Each essay is written in an entertaining yet informative manner, indicating the film's significance in American film history. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-level undergraduates and above; general readers. L. Kong California State University, San Bernardino
Library Journal Review
This weighty volume catalogs 500 films currently part of the National Film Registry, which selects 25 historically or artistically notable films each year for preservation, in order to further memorialize, in print, these ephemeral records, many printed on fragile celluloid. Studio researcher and story analyst Eagan (MGM) organizes each brilliantly written entry chronologically, starting with an 1893 30-second film of blacksmiths and ending with 1996's Fargo. Each entry opens with details on cast, director, set, production, and current availability. A multipage essay of each film's backstory follows. A genuinely exciting and absorbing read, it relates vital details about early filmmaking and film culture. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.