DVD Corner

Legendary Movies Book Review

While “Legendary Movies” has its faults, it’s still a respectable film book.

As I cracked open a package to find a spectacular lenticular cover image of Gandalf the White plastered on the oversized “Legendary Movies” book, I immediately felt the urge to flip the book open. As you may or may not know, I’m an absolute sucker for film list books and have poured over a countless number for decades now. While many of them (including this one) often list the same expected masterpieces such as “Citizen Kane,” “The Godfather,” “Psycho,” and “Taxi Driver,” I am absolutely addicted to reading various authors/critics’ opinions. I also love discovering films that I may not have heard of (although that rarely happens these days). While there are a few surprise picks in these pages (namely “Don Camillo” “The Great War” and the non Peter Sellers film titled “The Party”), author Paolo D’Agostino mostly sticks to the basics. With that said, “Legendary Movies” is still a thoughtful and eloquently written piece about film history.

With a title like “Legendary Movies,” one would expect the contents of the books to be about the best films in all of cinema, but that’s not quite the case. Paolo D’Agostino set out to only cover influential and iconic films, but also films that have made a splash in the world of pop culture. While a large majority of the films are important and renowned works of art, there are a few not so classic films that are included merely for their popularity (see the “Twilight” and “Pirates of the Caribbean” films).

Going in chronological order from 1914 to 2013, “Legendary Movies” covers cinematic works from numerous countries and genres. Each film is accompanied by B&W or color film stills (that range in size) and an eloquently written piece by D’Agostino in which he honestly discusses that film’s history and importance. While some entries are strangely shorter than others, D’Agostino’s writing is always insightful. Whether he’s talking about the messages of “Modern Times,” giving much deserved props to “Escape From New York,” or discussing Audrey Hepburn’s stunning performances in multiple films, there’s no question that the author has a high film IQ.

Since there are only 140 films listed, there are expectedly many “legendary” films that are not listed. The most notable omissions include “The Apartment,” “The Jazz Singer” (this is kind of a big deal with it being the first full-length talkie and all), “Halloween,” “Batman” (instead of “Batman Returns”) and the lack of any films by Buster Keaton, the Coen Brothers, and the Marx Brothers. The biggest shocker is that not a single animated or documentary film was included here. How do you not include a Disney or Pixar film at the very least? Animation is a huge part of the film industry (especially these days). Any one of the above listed works has more of an impact on the film industry than say “The King’s Speech” or “Nikita.”

Aside from the film entries, readers can also expect to see a superb preface by director Franco Zeffirelli (best known for 1968’s “Romero and Juliet”) about cinema as well as a listing of Academy Award, Golden Globe (comedy and drama), Cannes International Film Festival, Venice International Film Festival, and Berlin International Film Festival winners by year. While there could be more than one error, it should be noted that D’Agostino incorrectly listed “Sunrise” as the 1929 Academy Award winner when it was in fact “Wings.”

Overall Thoughts: As with many film list books, “Legendary Movies” works best as a starting point for those just embarking on their cinematic journey, but longtime film buffs and or casual film fans can still be entertained by this thick book as well.

February 15, 2014 - Posted by nicklyons1 | Book review | Audrey Hepburn, Legendary Movies Book Review, Lord of the Rings, Psycho, Taxi Driver King Kong