It is becoming clearer and clearer that Groundhog Day (1993), directed by Harold Ramis, is one of the masterpieces of 1990s Hollywood cinema. One of the first films to use a science-fiction premise as the basis for romantic comedy, it tells the story of a splenetic TV weatherman, Phil Connors (Bill Murray at his disreputable best), who finds himself repeating indefinitely one drab day in the milk-and-cookies town of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. At first glance it seems like a feel-good parable in the tradition of Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life (1943). But on closer inspection it is a deeply ambivalent fable, with strong echoes of Samuel Beckett: before he finds redemption Phil must plumb the depths of suicidal despair - and even after he has survived this, the film offers no guarantees that he will live happily ever after. Ryan Gilbey begins his account of Groundhog Day with the long and unlucky gestation of the script by Danny Rubin (who was interviewed specially for this book) which formed the basis of the finished film. Gilbey celebrates the inspired casting of Murray, alongside Andie MacDowell and less well-known actors such as Stephen Tobolowsky (who plays the reptilian sa

The 1970s were a Golden Age for American film-making, with the emergence of such talents as Scorsese, Coppola, Spielberg, Lucas, De Palma and Altman. Ryan Gilbey now looks afresh at the remarkable movies of this era, and their gifted makers. Today these directors are sometimes lambasted as sell-outs or burn-outs, but their best films of the Seventies - from American Graffiti to The Conversation, Nashville to Carrie, Badlands to Taxi Driver - still feel as urgent and innovative as they did on first release, and still inspire young film-makers at a time when movies are once more depressingly formulaic. These directors cultivated a fascinating eclecticism, driven by creative hunger and insatiable imagination. But what in the American scene were they reacting against, and just as crucially, what were they celebrating (or pillaging from other sources)? Gilbey also considers directors who established a body of work in the Seventies (Woody Allen), who blossomed as the decade progressed (David Lynch, Jonathan Demme), or who were prominent figures without being prolific (Stanley Kubrick, Terrence Malick). He takes each film and assesses its place in history while also scrutinising it as if for the very first time - as if it were coming to a cinema near you this Friday ...

One of the most revealing snapshots of British cinema-going ever produced, "The Ultimate Film" is the definitive list of the all-time top 100 films based on UK cinema admissions. From the 1930s to the present, the chart shows the diverse tastes that come together to make up Britain's choice of film favorites.
Is Harry Potter more popular than The Lord of the Rings? How does Bond compare with Bridget Jones? "The Ultimate Film" has the answers taking the reader from "Carry on Nurse" to "A Clockwork Orange, South Pacific "to "Star Wars" and "Ben Hur" all the way to "Doctor Zhivago,"
Each film is looked at in turn. What did the critics think of it when it was released and, with the benefit of hindsight, were they right? Who were the stars and who directed the action? What happened behind the scenes? What other films were being lauded at the same time? What was happening in the country and the wider world that led the film to be made, and then made it so popular?
Sure to provoke debate and discussion, this fascinating and lavishly illustrated book tells us much about our shared history, culture and attitudes.
This is the first time a list has been compiled based on the films people have most wanted to see. Some of the results will come as a surprise and the list has much to tell us about how we once were, and how cinema going has played no small part in shaping our culture and helped make us the way we are today.
"The Ultimate Film" contains a number of breakout sections--lists within a list to satisfy the most ardent film buff:
* Leading Ladies--discusses the female stars who did and didn't make the list
* My Name's Bond--Britain's most successful film franchiseexplored
* Missing Men--the male stars included and surprisingly absent
* Ones that Got Away--Classic films not in the list
* Drawing the Crowds--Animated films and their continued popularity
* Picture Palaces--The history and evolution of British cinemas
* The Film at War--How wartime affected film production and cinema going