- The Great Movies II

Roger Ebert's "Great Movie" books offer a more in depth look at some terrific movies. Mr. Ebert's approach is not to try to rank the movies (i.e. a greatest list), but to examine movies that pass his test as a great movies. The criteria he uses (and freely admits borrowing) is that a great movie is any movie you couldn't bear to not see again.As I write this review, he has extended this series to a third volume.Each volume contains an approximately 3-4 page discussion of each movie. This allows more discussion/explanation than the 1 or 2 paragraphs you get in the 500 or 1000 "best" movie books.Ultimately, the books depends on the selection of movies included. That depends to a great extent on the purview of the critic. Mr. Ebert has shown himself to be open to a wide range of films. His selections reflect that vision. They include, I suspect, a few "guilty pleasures" -- lesser known or less arty films that are appealling and/or very entertaining. Nonetheless, the vast majority of films included would be on anyone's "best" list. The movies included in "Great Movies II" cover the full gamut of American movies from silents to present day. They also include a wide selection of prominent foreign films.I've found the essays on each film spot on for the many films that I've seen. They range from information about how the film was made, what it's about, facts/history about the actors/directors, to discussion about what the film means or what the director is trying to say. It's just the kind of thing that someone looking for a more in depth understanding of these movies will find useful.The information can also be very useful to someone just getting into being a movie buff. It can help that person decide which of these movies to see next. It can also provide a nice introduction to each film.As to the films included in the book, I was delighted with the overall selection. It includes everything from "guilty pleasures" like "A Christmas Story" and "Say Anything", popular blockbusters like "Jaws", "Patton", and "Raiders of the Lost Ark", to acknowledged classics like "The Bridge on the River Kwai", "Breathless" (foreign), "Rashomon" (foreign), "The Searchers", and "West Side Story".I would also encourage anyone using this book as a guide to make the extra effort necessary to view foreign films and silent movies. I recently got a chance to view the classic silent romance "Sunrise" (listed in the book) and was blown away by its spellbinding story. Foreign gems like "Children of Paradise", "The Rules of the Game", and "Ugetsu" are not to be missed.

I confess I read this book looking for movies I had seen or heard about, which was most of them. I like Roger Ebert and mostly agree with him. This book follows the same format as the first, listing his noteworthy movies alphabetically from 12 Angry Men to Yankee Doodle Dandy. Reading about the movies is like watching them all over again, only not as time-consuming.

This was a Christmas gift for my husband. He loves it. Shipping was quick, no problems at all.

I have this in my kindle. If I'm waiting in line at the post office, or some other place, it's easy to just drop in and read about a good movie. I like Roger Ebert's writing. There's a table of contents at the beginning, so the reader can pick and choose.

I can't get enough of these books. For a reviewer's perspective, he understands the importance of great film as art, and his deep understanding of direction and writing has made me go back to watch many of the movies he reviewed.

Over the years I have come to believe that Ebert's motion picture reviews are the most cogent and well written; more often than not I find myself in agreement with him. This volume contains the reviews of a number of movies that I have enjoyed over the years and I wanted to recall Ebert's reactions to them. In a number of instances he has modified his original comments about a specific film and makes strong cases for the changes.

A movie fanatic's dream come true. Ebert has fascinating insights into why certain movies stay with us, and why others don't. I love how clearly he articulated why Alien was so great, and why West Side Story was on the list, even though it wasn't great.

I am a big Roger Ebert fan. I have the vol. 1 of Ebert Greatest films book. I always wanted vol.2 but I didn't want to pay 30 dollars for it. The used cpy I got was perfect. It was almost an unopened copy in great library covered condition.