Not to be Missed: Fifty-four Favorites from a Lifetime of Film

Description

The images and memories that matter most are those that are unshakeable, unforgettable. Kenneth Turan's fifty-four favorite films embrace a century of the world's most satisfying romances and funniest comedies, the most heart-stopping dramas and chilling thrillers. Turan discovered film as a child left undisturbed to watch Million Dollar Movie on WOR-TV Channel 9 in New York, a daily showcase for older Hollywood features. It was then that he developed a love of cinema that never left him and honed his eye for the most acute details and the grandest of scenes. Not to be Missed blends cultural criticism, historical anecdote, and inside-Hollywood controversy. Turan's selection of favorites ranges across all genres. From All About Eve to Seven Samurai to Sherlock Jr., these are all timeless films—classic and contemporary, familiar and obscure, with big budgets and small—each underscoring the truth of director Ingmar Bergman's observation that “no form of art goes beyond ordinary consciousness as film does, straight to our emotions, deep into the twilight room of the soul.” Content: In the beginning. Fantômas (1913-1914) Silent comedy double feature : Sherlock Jr. (1924) and Pass the gravy (1928) -- The Thirties. I am a fugitive from a chain gang (1932) Bombshell (1933) The dybbuk (1937) Leo McCarey double feature : Make way for tomorrow (1937) and Love affair (1939) -- The Forties. Pride and prejudice (1940) Ernest Lubitsch double feature : The shop around the corner (1940) and To be or not to be (1942) The Lady Eve (1941) Strawberry blonde (1941) Casablanca (1942) Random harvest (1942) Children of paradise (1945) Great expectations (1946) Bicycle thieves (1948) The third man (1949) -- The fifties. All about Eve (1950) The asphalt jungle (1950) Sunset Boulevard (1950) Casque d'or (1952) The importance of being Earnest (1952) Singin' in the rain (1952) The earrings of Madame De ... (1953) Seven samurai (1954) Kiss me deadly (1955) Seven men from now (1956) Sweet smell of success (1957) Vertigo (1958) -- The Sixties. The man who shot Liberty Valence (1962) The Gospel according to St. Matthew (1964) Point blank Le samouraï (1967) Kes (1969) -- The Seventies. The Godfather (1972) Chinatown (1974) -- The eighties. The day after Trinity (1981) First contact (1983) Distant voices, still lives (1988) -- The Nineties. Howards End (1992) Leolo (1992) Unforgiven (1992) -- The new century. Spirited away (2001) The best of youth (2003) The five obstructions (2003) Documentary double feature : Stranded (2007) and Senna (2010) A prophet (2009) Of gods and men (2010) Footnote (2011) -- Orson Welles double feature. Touch of evil (1958) and Chimes at midnight (1965) -- The fifty-fifth film -- A second fifty-four.