''1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die'' is a film reference book edited by Steven Jay Schneider with original essays on each film contributed by over 70 film critics. It is a part of a series designed and produced by Quintessence Editions, a London-based company, and published in English-language versions by
Cassell Illustrated
Cassell & Co is a British book publishing house, founded in 1848 by John Cassell (1817–1865), which became in the 1890s an international publishing group company.
In 1995, Cassell & Co acquired Pinter Publishers. In December 1998, Cassell & ...
(UK), ABC Books (the publishing division of
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...
), and
Barron's Barron's or Barrons may refer to:
*Barron's Educational Series, a publisher of books, as well as college entrance exam preparation classes and materials, now an imprint of Kaplan Test Prep
** B.E.S. Publishing, the former owner of Barron's
* ''Barr ...
(US). The first edition was published in 2003. The most recent edition was published on
14 December 2021. Contributors include
Adrian Martin
Adrian Martin (born 1959) is an Australian film and arts critic. He now lives in Malgrat de Mar in Spain. He is Adjunct Associate Professor in Film Culture and Theory at Monash University. His work has appeared in many magazines, journals and n ...
,
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jonathan Rosenbaum (born February 27, 1943) is an American film critic and author. Rosenbaum was the head film critic for ''The Chicago Reader'' from 1987 to 2008, when he retired. He has published and edited numerous books about cinema and has ...
,
Richard Peña
Richard Peña (born 1953) is a Professor of Professional Practice at the Columbia University School of The Arts. He was formerly program director of the Film Society of Lincoln Center (organizers of the New York Film Festival and the New Direc ...
,
David Stratton
David James Stratton (born 10 September 1939) is an English-Australian award-winning film critic, as both a journalist and interviewer, film historian and lecturer and television personality and producer.
Life and career
Born in Trowbridge, ...
, and
Margaret Pomeranz
Margaret Pomeranz (born 14 July 1944) is an Australian film critic, writer, producer and television personality.
Early life
Pomeranz was born Margeret Anne Jones-Owen on 14 July 1944 in Waverley, a suburb of Sydney.
She was educated at the P ...
.
Each title is accompanied by a brief synopsis and critique, some with photographs. Presented chronologically, the 14th edition begins with
Georges Méliès' ''
A Trip to the Moon'' from 1902 and ends in 2020 with
Chloé Zhao's ''
Nomadland
''Nomadland'' is a 2020 American drama film written, produced, edited and directed by Chloé Zhao. Based on the 2017 nonfiction book '' Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century'' by Jessica Bruder, it stars Frances McDormand ...
''.
The book has been popular in Australia, where it was the seventh best-selling book in the country for a week in April 2004 and was promoted alongside the presentation of the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...
's ''
My Favourite Film
{{Italic title
''My Favourite Film'' was a television special broadcast on the ABC on 4 December 2005. After public voting took place on the show's website, the special listed the top ten most popular films as chosen by voters, and these films w ...
'' special.
My Favourite Film
, Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...
Statistics
Most nominated directors
Most nominated countries
Contributors
Jason Solomons
Jason Solomons (born 16 October 1969) is a British film critic, journalist, broadcaster and author.
Career
Solomons is a critic who has appeared on BBC News, Sky News and BBC Radio and is the former Chairman of the London Film Critics' Circle. ...
, who writes movie columns for ''The Observer'' and ''The Mail on Sunday'', wrote the foreword. As of the 5th anniversary edition, over 70 critics contributed essays (of up to 500 words), including: Geoff Andrew
Geoff Andrew (born 1954) is a British writer and lecturer on film, and Programmer-at-large at BFI South Bank. After gaining a First in Classics at King's College, Cambridge, he was for some years programmer at London's Electric Cinema in Notting ...
, Linda Badley, Kathryn Bergeron, Garrett Chaffin-Quiway, Roumiana Deltcheva, Nezih Erdogan, Jean-Michel Frodon
Jean-Michel Frodon (born 20 September 1953 in Paris) is a journalist, critic and historian of cinema.
Biography
Born Jean-Michel Billard, he writes with a pseudonym borrowed from Frodo of ''The Lord of the Rings''. He has a master's degree and a ...
, Chris Fujiwara, Tom Gunning, Ernest Hardy, Aniko Imre, Kyung Hyun Kim, Frank Lafond, Adrian Martin
Adrian Martin (born 1959) is an Australian film and arts critic. He now lives in Malgrat de Mar in Spain. He is Adjunct Associate Professor in Film Culture and Theory at Monash University. His work has appeared in many magazines, journals and n ...
, Kim Newman
Kim James Newman (born 31 July 1959) is an English journalist, film critic and fiction writer. Recurring interests visible in his work include film history and horror fiction—both of which he attributes to seeing Tod Browning's ''Dracula'' at ...
, Devin Orgeron, Marsha Orgeron, Richard Peña
Richard Peña (born 1953) is a Professor of Professional Practice at the Columbia University School of The Arts. He was formerly program director of the Film Society of Lincoln Center (organizers of the New York Film Festival and the New Direc ...
, Margaret Pomeranz
Margaret Pomeranz (born 14 July 1944) is an Australian film critic, writer, producer and television personality.
Early life
Pomeranz was born Margeret Anne Jones-Owen on 14 July 1944 in Waverley, a suburb of Sydney.
She was educated at the P ...
, Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jonathan Rosenbaum (born February 27, 1943) is an American film critic and author. Rosenbaum was the head film critic for ''The Chicago Reader'' from 1987 to 2008, when he retired. He has published and edited numerous books about cinema and has ...
, David Stratton
David James Stratton (born 10 September 1939) is an English-Australian award-winning film critic, as both a journalist and interviewer, film historian and lecturer and television personality and producer.
Life and career
Born in Trowbridge, ...
, Adisakdi Tantimedh, Michael Tapper, Sam Umland, Matt Venne, Ginette Vincendeau
Ginette Vincendeau (born 1948) is a French-born British-based academic who is a professor of film studies at King's College London.
Early life and education
Vincendeau was educated at the Lycée Lamartine and Lycée Sophie Germain in Paris, ...
, Andy Willis, and Josephine Woll.
Editions
* (cover: ''Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
''Ma Rainey's Black Bottom'' is a 1982 play – one of the ten-play Pittsburgh Cycle by August Wilson, and the only one not set in Pittsburgh – that chronicles the 20th-century African-American experience. The play is set in a recording stu ...
'')
* (cover: '' Joker'')
* (cover: '' A Star Is Born'')
* (cover: '' Blade Runner 2049'')
* (cover: ''Arrival
Arrival(s) or The Arrival(s) may refer to:
Film
* ''The Arrival'' (1991 film), an American science fiction horror film
* ''The Arrival'' (1996 film), an American-Mexican science fiction horror film
* ''Arrival'' (film), a 2016 American science ...
'' - US / '' Moonlight'' - UK)
* (cover: '' The Revenant'')
* (cover: ''Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
''Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)'', or simply ''Birdman'', is a 2014 American black comedyDrama (film and television), -drama film directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu. It was written by Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Ale ...
'' in the paperback, a poster montage in the hardcover)
* (cover: ''Gravity
In physics, gravity () is a fundamental interaction which causes mutual attraction between all things with mass or energy. Gravity is, by far, the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, approximately 1038 times weaker than the stro ...
'')
* (cover: ''Life of Pi
''Life of Pi'' is a Canadian philosophical novel by Yann Martel published in 2001. The protagonist is Piscine Molitor "Pi" Patel, an Indian boy from Pondicherry, India who explores issues of spirituality and metaphysics from an early age. He ...
'')
* (cover: ''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'' is a 1974 spy novel by British author John le Carré. It follows the endeavours of taciturn, aging spymaster George Smiley to uncover a Soviet mole in the British Secret Intelligence Service. The novel has receive ...
'')
* (cover: '' Black Swan'' – US / ''Inception
''Inception'' is a 2010 science fiction action film written and directed by Christopher Nolan, who also produced the film with Emma Thomas, his wife. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as a professional thief who steals information by infi ...
'' – UK)
* (cover: ''Avatar
Avatar (, ; ), is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means "descent". It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, goddess or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appeara ...
'')
* (cover: ''The Dark Knight
''The Dark Knight'' is a 2008 superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan from a screenplay he co-wrote with his brother Jonathan Nolan, Jonathan. Based on the DC Comics superhero, Batman, it is the sequel to ''Batman Begins'' (2005) and t ...
'')
* (cover: '' Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom'')
* (cover: ''Return of the Jedi
''Return of the Jedi'' (also known as ''Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi'' is a 1983 American epic space opera film directed by Richard Marquand. The screenplay is by Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas from a story by Lucas, who ...
'')
* (cover: '' The Shining'')
* (cover: '' Psycho'' / ''Pulp Fiction
''Pulp Fiction'' is a 1994 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, who conceived it with Roger Avary.See, e.g., King (2002), pp. 185–7; ; Starring John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, Tim Roth, Vin ...
'')
* (cover: '' Psycho'')
:''Source: WorldCat
WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the O ...
''
See also
* List of films considered the best
* ''1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die
''1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die'' is a musical reference book first published in 2005 by Universe Publishing. Part of the ''1001 Before You Die'' series, it compiles writings and information on albums chosen by a panel of music critics ...
''
* ''1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die
''1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die'' is a literary reference book compiled by over one hundred literary critics worldwide and edited by Peter Boxall, Professor of English at Sussex University, with an introduction by Peter Ackroyd. Each tit ...
''
* '' 1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up''
* ''1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die
''1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die'' is a video game reference book first published in October 2010. It consists of a list of video games released between 1970 and 2013, arranged chronologically by release date. Each entry in the list ...
''
* ''1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die
Onekama ( ) is a village in Manistee County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 411 at the 2010 census. The village is located on the shores of Portage Lake and is surrounded by Onekama Township. The town's name is derived from "O ...
''
References
Further reading
*
*
*
* {{cite news, author=Peter Haran, title=The must-see movies of all time, work= Sunday Mail, date=23 May 2004, page=84
External links
1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
from Barron's Educational Series
Kaplan, Inc. is an American for-profit corporation that provides educational and training services to colleges, universities, businesses and individuals around the world. Founded in 1938 by Stanley Kaplan, the company offers a variety of test pre ...
, wit
A Peek Inside
(ten sample essays from the book)
1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (All Editions Combined)
fro
IMDB
Top film lists
Film guides
2003 non-fiction books
British books
Cassell (publisher) books