Here I have to declare an interest, in both senses: an enduring love of the Western, and a role in editing the much-expanded second edition of 2004. Ever the disappointed idealist, Agee offered grudging praise to such compromised efforts as Meet Me in St. full sizeThis ought to have been the most controversial book I produced, but although many have dismissed what they take to be its conclusions, I’m aware of only one sustained critique (by V. The second essay analyzes visual style and is an expansion of the essay, “Intensified Continuity,” which appeared in Film Quarterly some years ago.

Although it’s hard to arrive at a single title by my favourite academic film critic (my second choice would probably be the updated edition of The Magic World of Orson Welles), this is probably the most enjoyable, edifying, and rereadable of Naremore’s books – and certainly the best study of noir ever published.

The Art of Ghost in the Shell follows this unique adventure taking Ghost in the Shell from an overseas manga/anime into a full-blown live action movie. Employing a strategy common in slapstick shorts, it sets up a situation and then has the characters perform a series of nearly self-contained skits or gags, building up as the film goes along. First published in 1988, and thus the only one of my choices not first published in the 1960s (showing my age).

This was the volume that made a god awful 26-hour greyhound bus trip to New York seem bearable – in fact, time well spent. This long-unfindable book (now revived in a new edition) brings together essays that can stand alongside those of Borges, Barthes and just about anyone who helped shape it. I’ve put together this huge list of the best movie art books featuring the best that cinema art can offer.

When faced with most films, these critics would have been looking for implicit meanings behind the plot.