Not the most scholarly of works, but not a trivial listing of scenes either. Rather, an interesting collection that seems so natural that you wonder why no one has done this before. Each moment presents a glimpse into a film that makes you want to see it in its full context; the whole collection reminding you of one of those "desert island movie lists" that you talk about with friends, or perhaps on a first date as you try to figure out who 'who is this person?' Sure, there are some obvious mome...

Beautiful book. I really enjoyed it.

The book title piqued my interest, but it was the book cover that roped me in (Golden Boy floating face down in Norma Desmond's swimming pool). And admittedly, at P350, the price was hard to beat. (Thank you, Big Bad Wolf.)I had never heard of David Thomson prior to reading this, but expectations were low, at first blush: the dust jacket's uncredited blurb made me cringe with "focussing." I thought it was a glaring misspelling, until a quick Google check explained its wider use in British Englis...

I meant to casually leaf through a few selections...impossible. About as much fun as books about movies get.

This book covers some good movies, some of my fave movies, loved it, with 200+ illustrations.

A book for people who appreciate movies in greater detail than me but I appreciate the selection and found some new films to watch. I will watch some of the scenes again from films I’ve seen as a result. A different view and appreciated

This book looks at memorable scenes in certain movies that have been seen as samples of outstanding film making, even though in some cases the film as a whole may not have been that remarkable. I've only seen 23 of the more than 70 films included here, but I would agree with the author's selections on most of the films I've seen. That includes films like Chinatown, Blow-Up, The Passenger, One False Move, and others. The book is nicely illustrated with many photographs and is a good quick way to

You can tell Thomson had a lot of fun with this one. A great book to pick through. A reminder of why our favorites resonate to us, and an intro to some future caves. My Queue just grew quite a bit.

Moments That Made the Movies contains some pleasingly atypical selections of both films and moments within them, but too many that seem generic. Even more surprisingly, Thomson's prose is for large stretches equally generic. Thomson is an excellent and astute critic, but seems too constricted by the conceit, the format, and the restrictions which he's placed upon himself. To his credit, he recognizes this, stating multiple times the flaws in the model, including the difficulty and/or impossibili...

I'm not quite sure what you'd make of this book if you weren't already familiar with David Thomson's work. Paradoxically if you are familiar with Thomson's work, you maybe frustrated by some of the repetition. Thomson's basic thesis is that we don't remember film's whole, it is normally two or three key moments that encapsulate a film for us. He proceeds to illustrate this by writing vignettes about key moments from 70 odd films spanning, near enough, the history of cinema. The approach has weak...

During a 4 hour lull for a movie, I stopped into an Indigo in Toronto on Bloor St. W and got lost in several books, one of which was this one.It's actually incredible the power of cinema and the breakdown of some of the most iconic and amazing moments ever recorded on film and audio.I don't know if I'd own a book like this, but it was great to pass the time enveloped in the magic of the story again and the pages of the book.

Slight. Doesn't exactly fulfill what it sets out to do. But David Thomson is a film critic I almost always enjoy reading.

My favorite writer on film. Shaking my head all throughout this book, marveling at the intelligence and wonder of his prose. Truly inspiring to me.

I don't think David Thomson has to write books for anyone but himself anymore, and this book seems to be mostly about his own reveling in the movie moments he most likes. You're better off with his Biographical Dictionary of Film to learn about the movies and stars. The narrative of this book is mainly You Gotta See This plus a reflection on how most of these movies are about watching movies. Which is more reveling on Thomson's part, I think. I want to say that this book's best feature is its la...

Esteemed critic Thomson picks his most memorable movie moments. He narrows it down to the top 100 or so and gives explanations for them. These kinds of lists are very personal what is memorable for him is not necessarily so for you. Thomson has a weakness for early comedies and dance. Some French and Japanese movies are included. Even in movies I'd have chosen myself he has picked scenes that are odd. Frankly a good bit of Thomson's criticism is lost on me. I did pick up names of a handful of fi...

A mixture of the repetitive and the brilliant, David Thompson's picks of cinematic moments is a really enjoyable read with some great pictures. And this being a personal list, it's not too surprising how many of his picks involve sex or sexual undertones (some obvious and some reaching). It's not a fault, it just gets old quickly. Admitting how his words and pictures can't accurate describe the scenes, Thompson's writing is persuasive and touching enough that you want to see the films right away...

Thomson does it again. A book that is closer to his "Biographical Dictionary of Film" series or his "Have You Seen...?", the "Moments..." he picks are illustrated with breath-taking stills from the films giving the reader a 3D entrance into how the critic's mind works. A perfect coffee table book and another great addition to David Thomson's pantheon of film writing.

David Thomson is my favorite film critic, partly because I like how he picks what he wants to review and doesn't have to be in the grind of publishing reviews week after week. He's can be his own man. Also, he's a very good writer.I love his encyclopedia of film where he chronicles all the big names (according to him and their place in film history). Made him being British is also a reason why I think he stands out. He doesn't have to deal with the American film crap that comes out year after ye...

Interesting concept from a great movie writer: Pick a moment from a famous (or lesser known) movie and describe how it feels, or what it does to you, or how it makes you think. I haven't seen all of these movies, by any means (particularly the French and Japanese films), and some I would definitely not have chosen (Burn After Reading?), but every discussion is thought-provoking. David Thomson makes us look at movies in a different way, and I will be giving a lot of these movies a second (or firs...

Thomson has a nice writing style and a lifetime of insight in analyzing movies to back it up. His choice of movies in this book is diverse, with not just the obvious choices but also some more or less uncommon ones. This is not a history of movies, nor does it aspire to be. This is a personal selection of movie moments that made a particular and lasting impression on the author, and leave it to Thomson to explain why.