Reading the Movies

The Dancing Cinema film blog has asked film bloggers to list the film books that have enriched their passion. This is my list after excluding my latest disappointing purchase - "Have You Seen...?" by David Thomson, which I review here.

Landmark Films William Wolf A selection of films that Wolf saw as representing their time: from Griffith's Birth of a Nation (1915) to Wertmuller's Seven Beauties (1975)

Film Noir Andrew Spicer Essential introduction to film noir.

Film As Film: Understanding and Judging Movies V. F. Perkins A critique of film theory and criticism.

A Panorama of American Film Noir, 1941-1953 Raymond Borde and Étienne Chaumeton THE seminal survey of film noir.

More Than Night: Film Noir In its Contexts James Naremore A deeply insightful review of the the meaning of noir.

American Movie Critics ed. by Phillip Lopate A compendium of American film criticism from the silent era to the present.

The Art of the Film Ernest Lindgren How movies are made and the aesthetics of film-making.

The Contemporary Cinema: 1945-1963 Penelope Houston A survey of post-war cinema.

The Story of Film Mark Cousins A complete reference endorsed by Bernardo Bertolucci.

The Philosophy of Film Noir ed. by Mark T. Conrad Anthology of the philosophy of noir from Plato and Nietzsche to Sartre.

The Film Handbook (1989) Geoff Andrew A reference of major world directors with an introduction by Martin Scorsese.

1001 Movies (2005) ed. by Steven Jay Schneider Film reviews of top 1001 films by selected major international critics