World Famous Comics: "Have You Seen . . . ?": A Personal Introduction to 1,000 Films
"Have You Seen . . . ?": A Personal Introduction to 1,000 Films
By: David Thomson Publisher: Knopf Average Rating: Binding: Hardcover Label: Knopf Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 1024 Publication Date: October 14, 2008 Release Date: October 14, 2008
Product Description: In 1975, David Thomson published his Biographical Dictionary of Film, and few film books have enjoyed better press or such steady sales.
Now, thirty-three years later, we have the companion volume, a second book of more than 1,000 pages in one voice—that of our most provocative contemporary film critic and historian.
Juxtaposing the fanciful and the fabulous, the old favorites and the forgotten, this sweeping collection presents the films that Thomson offers in response to the question he gets asked most often—“What should I see?” This new book is a generous history of film and an enticing critical appraisal written with as much humor and passion as historical knowledge. Not content to choose his own top films (though they are here), Thomson has created a list that will surprise and delight you—and send you to your best movie rental service.
But he also probes the question: after one hundred years of film, which ones are the best, and why?
“Have You Seen . . . ?” suggests a true canon of cinema and one that’s almost completely accessible now, thanks to DVDs. This book is a must for anyone who loves the silver screen: the perfect confection to dip into at any point for a taste of controversy, little-known facts, and ideas about what to see. This is a volume you’ll want to return to again and again, like a dear but argumentative friend in the dark at the movies.
Amazon.com Review: Amazon Best of the Month, October 2008: Having already written (and twice revised) the greatest bathroom book of all time, The New Biographical Dictionary of Film, David Thomson has refreshed his encyclopedic and idiosyncratic understanding of movie history to confect another giant slab of candy for anyone who loves movies or just likes to watch a great mind at work. "Have You Seen...?": A Personal Introduction to 1,000 Films is no cobbled collection of old reviews: written fresh from start to finish, Thomson's page-long profiles often ignore plot to focus instead on the people behind the film or the slippery, personal question of what the movie is actually like to watch. And writing about a thousand films pushes him beyond his favorites into more interesting territory: flaws and failures are often his best subjects. You'll want to discover movies you've never heard of before, and rediscover others you thought you knew well. --Tom Nissley
The author allocates a page for each movie giving him 600-800 words to play with. There are no images. The films are presented alphabetically and cover a wide range, with a strong bias for Hollywood product. The dustcover describes the contents as "including masterpieces, oddities, guilty pleasures, and classics (with just a few disasters)".
The marketing hype tells me the book is "a sweeping collection [presenting] films that Thomson offers in response to the question... 'What should I see?' ".
Sadly, the reviews are too self-consciously quirky and overly striving for knowing irony to be of any real assistance in their stated aim. I suppose you can put it down to dry English wit for it own sake. The short essays are full of arcane references for those cineastes who live for such trivia, and there is nothing wrong with that! But when you only have a page at your disposal, such indulgence costs. And the cost is high. After reading a review, if you have not seen the film, there is at bottom very little to inform your decision of whether to pursue it. If you have seen the movie, more often than not, you are left perplexed by the flippant tone and neglect of important elements.
As Thomson's bias is obvious I suppose it is to a degree acceptable. Though to my mind, this makes his survey rather limiting. For example, he writes-off the Marx Bros as mere vaudeville, refers to film noir as a "style looking for content", and barely tolerates Billy Wilder.
Better to spend your money on The Time Out Film Guide and 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (though I do resent having to pick up a book that has to always remind me of my mortality).
Surprisingly flat reviews of most classic films Here's a doorstop-sized book list that some moviegoers will read and argue over, and not necessarily for what Thomson leaves in or out of his survey of a thousand of his chosen must-see films.The reviews are one-a-page, so even the most casual moviegoer familiar with, say, "Jaws", will at least glance at it's opposite-page mate, "La Jetee", Chris Marker's 29-minute film about life after a Third World War.
Or maybe not. These essays are written in the newspaper style of film criticism -- with an assumption that the reader shares a common knowledge of, and admiration for, what goes on the screen, as well as behind it. Others less interested may find such details distracting in essays -- sketches, really -- that run only 750 words in length. And as might be expected, most of Thomson's list draws heavily from films before 1970.
Thomson reviews these films secure in the knowledge that he thinks they're great (and they undoubtedly are, most of them) but his enthusiasm for old Hollywood mostly misses the mark: as an introduction to movies, he tells us names and dates and stars (what makes the movies tick) but never really communicates what would make these films exciting to a first-time viewer. Young movie fans are missing in Thomson's book, unless they have an interest in exploring older films on their own. And without a younger audience of readers interested in movies, "Have You Seen ...?" loses is point, even as it tries to be entertaining.
That observation may sound uncharitable, but consider: Thomson begins his alphabetical list of reviews not with his original first choice, "Abe Lincoln in Illinois" but with "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein," so as not to open the book with a film that "would depress the ordinary heart." That's odd: the book is Thomson's personal introduction ... but he's talked into this choice by a Sony Pictures representative, who at least had the grace not to suggest one of his own company's films.
For a film buff such a marketing ploy throws the rest of Thomson's reasoning into a questionable realm. There are great choices in the book of course, but the sheer number of titles dilutes the power of truly great films deserving to be seen (Murnau's "Sunrise") and elevating some that are less than mediocre ("The Incredible Shrinking Man"). Thomson takes aim (repeatedly) at some directors whose reputations are secure at this late date: Kubrick ("strange," "straining," "pretentious") and David Lean (in "Lawrence of Arabia," "the sun shines over the shell of an empty film") are just two examples, and John Ford ("How Green Was My Valley") receives several backhanded slaps apparently for not attempting to be a better director than Carol Reed ("The Stars Look Down").
Since the Kubrick, Lean and Ford movies are included in the book anyway as worth seeing, Thomson's judgements seem awkward and arbitrary, and the reviews don't achieve any critical depth. As with any book of lists, the reader is free to agree or disagree with Thomson's broad generalities employing one's own standard of disbelief.
It's doubtful Thomson's book will spark any serious debate; it's not scholarly, and it's meant to be an introduction to movies that, by far, are not even making the rounds of art houses any more. More than likely it will be a handy, hefty guide next time you're rearranging your Netflix queue on a lazy Saturday afternoon.
Reflections on movies, not reviews Thomson's book includes 1000 essays--each confined to a page--reflecting from the vantage point of a lifetime of movie knowledge and wisdom on a thousand different films from around the world and from the silent era to the early 2000s. What makes the book special--even extraordinary--is the richness of Thomson's insights. Beware: the writing and thoughts are not linear: that is, he doesn't lay out the plot and analyze it. Rather, in no particular order at all, he casts his pearls--on acting, filmwriting, direction, production, whatever--on each movie for our further consideration. In doing so, he has given me many new ideas and avenues of approach for my own thinking. What more can a reader ask?
Book, entitled "Conversations with Woody Allen" Book contents was as good as I had expected (that's sarcasm); however, the quality of the actual book, e.g. the cover, labels stuck, etc., were a disappointment, especially since I had looked forward to passing it on to a friend. Moral of the story/review - don't buy books unless they're new.
Could be more useful The essays are engaging but the book is seriously flawed by not having an index to directors and other principals.
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
