Book Recommendation for Movie Buffs

For my extended family, I often run the annual Oscar Pool guessing game.  Everybody pays me a few dollars, and I try to be creative and have fun with the awards basket.   We create a “gift” basket, not unlike those received by the stars on awards night. However, our budget is somewhat limited in comparison.

Two years ago, one of the items in the gift basket was the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, edited by Steven Jay Schneider.   After I flipped through the copy I purchased for the basket, I decided I had to have one for myself.

The appeal of this book is not so much which movies are on the list, but the way they are presented.   Most of the movies have a glossy spread with movie stills, synopsis, awards won, and so on.   What appeals to me is how each movie is discussed in terms of why it made it into the list.  What is important about the movie?  Did it break new ground or use new technologies?  Was it controversial, and why?  What was the history behind bringing the story to the screen.  It is this collection of elements that makes this book a fabulous edition to any movie lover’s library.