Jürgen Müller

As the 20th century came to a close...All the 1990s movies most worth remembering. It was tough, but we did it: we whittled down the best and most memorable movies of the 1990s into a list of 100 titles from around the world. Packed full of photos and film stills, TASCHEN's "Favorite Movies of the 90s" is more than just a best-of roundup. It's also an opulent factbook that any self-respecting moviegoer shouldn't be without. It features: four to ten pages for each film, including lots of illustrations, cast/crew credits, and a summary of the film describing the genre, history, filming, facts, budget, box office, etcetera; list of Academy and film festival awards; bloopers, trivia, memorable lines, gossip; and actor, director, subject, and title indexes.

Positioned precariously between the uptight 50s and the freewheeling 70s, the 1960s marked a turbulent time in the film industry. Though the term “feminism” may not have been ready for prime time, the 1960s were dominated by women’s liberation&894 from Jane Fonda’s Barbarella to Holly Golightly of Breakfast at Tiffany’s to Bonnie Parker of Bonnie and Clyde, screen females graduated from decorative accessories to complex, kick-ass personas. Now that audiences were more and more glued to their TV sets and the abolition of the Production Code loosened up the rules about what was “permissible” in cinema, filmmakers had more freedom to explore the possibilities of film as an art form. As was often the case, the Europeans were more daring—the French with Nouvelle Vague directors like Godard and Truffaut, and the Italians with such innovative films as Fellini’s 8 1/2 and Antonioni’s Eclipse—but by the mid-60s the Americans also showed signs of exercising creative liberties, especially in films from young underground directors such as Russ Meyer, John Frankenheimer, and Sam Peckinpah. Meanwhile, Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music ushered out the grandiose Hollywood musical era with a bang, the Spaghetti Western became an instant phenomenon, and Bond—James Bond—first appeared on-screen. In true pop art form, the movies of the 60s blurred the lines between art, mass market, and popular culture into a colorful, psychedelic oblivion. Dig it?

At a time when people were terrified of UFOs and Communism, the movie industry was busy producing movies that ranged from film noir to suspense to grandiose musicals&894 apparently the paranoid public in the 1950s craved family entertainment and dark, brooding pictures in equal doses. The result is a decade’s worth of truly monumental cinema, from Hitchcock masterpieces (Vertigo, Psycho, Rear Window) to comedy classics (Tati’s Mr. Hulot’s Holiday, Billy Wilder’s Some Like it Hot) to groundbreaking nouvelle vague films (Godard’s Breathless, Truffaut’s The Four Hundred Blows) and profound, innovative dramas such as Antonioni’s L’Avventura, Fellini’s La Strada, John Huston’s Misfits, and Kubrick’s Paths of Glory. Though censorship kept sex safely off-screen, sexy stars such as James Dean, Marlon Brando, and Marilyn Monroe provided plenty of heat in Rebel Without a Cause, A Streetcar Named Desire, and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes respectively. This survey of the most important films of the 1950s covers all the wholesome, subversive, artistic, thrilling, and mysterious trends in cinema worldwide.

The 40s were the decade of the movies. With the world at war, directors served up propaganda and escapist entertainment to the massed moviegoers of the pre-television age. Yet in many countries, there was also a parallel tendency towards greater realism. In Italy, for example, the spirit of the resistance culminated in the neorealist movement, which inspired the world’s moviemakers with masterpieces such as De Sica’s Bicycle Thieves (1948). In Hollywood, the 40s were probably the most creative phase in the studios’ history. Never before had the Dream Factory brought such compellingly edgy and experimental films to the silver screen. The most seminal work of the decade was Citizen Kane (1941)&894 Orson Welles’s extravagantly original debut anticipated the expressive visual style that would come to typify film noir—the genre of “dark movies,” populated by romantic antiheroes and femmes fatales, that still represents the essence of cinema for many passionate movie buffs. In the atmospheric black-and-white universe of noir, Rita Hayworth, Ava Gardner, and Lauren Bacall became timeless erotic icons, while Bogart—following The Big Sleep (1945)—was the very quintessence of cool. While these movies bore witness to the cracks in America’s façade, another genre was busily reconstituting the nation’s identity. In the films of John Ford, the Western came back with a vengeance, Monument Valley embodied America’s incomparable grandeur, and John Wayne (The Duke) was a natural aristocrat of the wild frontier.

The stock market crash of 1929 had left the America—and the globe—in a devastating depression that would not begin to lift until World War II. With so many jobless, penniless, broken people singing the blues, is it any wonder that Hollywood strove to distract viewers from their misery with comedies like Chaplin’s Modern Times (1936), Capra’s feel-good Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), and the Marx Brothers’ hilarious Duck Soup (1933), thrillers such as Hitchcock’s seminal The 39 Steps (1935) or Hawks’s Scarface (1932), or the epic romantic classic Gone with the Wind (1939)?

Hey, did you realize you were making history when you went to see The Blair Witch Project, one of the most profitable movies ever made? Do you know what it took to recreate the sinking of the Titanic, what a jump cut is, or who the leading box office stars of the 90s are? These are just a few of the countless things you'll learn in this new book dedicated to celluloid history of the 90s. This guide presents our selection of the best movies from the years 1990 to 1999, covering a wide range of genres, budgets, and cultures, and revealing details from behind the scenes. Packed full of photos and film stills, this opulent factbook pays homage to cinema around the world at the end of the 20th century.

From the first moving pictures (the Lumiere brothers' 1895 L'arrivé d'un train), early westerns, fantastic pictures, and nickelodeons all the way through the golden age of silent film in the 1920s, this book covers the first three decades of the movi ng picture around the world. In America, we witness the birth of Hollywood, circa 1910, where film quickly became a powerful industry and D. W. Griffith put American cinema on the map; later, Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton developed a new language of visual comedy while eccentrics like Erich von Stroheim and Cecil B. DeMille turned cinema into a high art form and show biz respectively, and sex symbols like Rudolph Valentino and Greta Garbo heated up the screens.

Step right up and get your fill of 80s nostalgia with the movie bible to end all movie bibles. We’ve diligently compiled a list of 140 of the most influential movies of the 1980s that’s sure to please popcorn gobblers and highbrow chin-strokers alike. The 80s was a time for adventurers, an era of excess, pomp, and bravado. In the era when mullets and shoulder pads were all the rage, moviegoers got their kicks from flicks as wide-ranging as Blade Runner, When Harry Met Sally, and Blue Velvet. Without a doubt, sci-fi was the most important genre of the decade, with non-human characters like E.T. winning the hearts of millions while the slimy creatures from Aliens became the stuff of nightmares and movies like Ghostbusters and Back to the Future fused comedy and sci-fi to the delight of audiences everywhere. In fact, the 1980s saw the invention of a new reality, a movieworld so convincingly real - no matter now far-fetched - that spectators could not help but abandon hemselves to it. Now that’s entertainment, folks.

The 1970s: that magical era betwixt the swinging 60s and the decadent 80s, the epoch of leisure suits and Afros, the age of disco music and platform shoes. As war raged on in Vietnam and the cold war continued to escalate, Hollywood began to heat up, recovering from its commercial crisis with box-office successes such as Star Wars, Jaws, The Exorcist, and The Godfather. Thanks to directors like Spielberg and Lucas, American cinema gave birth to a new phenomenon: the blockbuster. Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, while the Nouvelle Vague died out in France, its influence extended to Germany, where the New German Cinema of Fassbinder, Wenders, and Herzog had its heyday. The sexual revolution made its way to the silver screen (cautiously in the US, more freely in Europe) most notably in Bertolucci's steamy, scandalous Last Tango in Paris. Amidst all this came a wave of nostalgic films (The Sting, American Graffiti) and Vietnam pictures (Apocalypse Now, The Deer Hunter), the rise of the anti-hero (Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Dustin Hoffman), and the prestigious short-lived genre, blaxploitation.

Our choice of must-see masterpieces "Well-researched, encyclopedic, full of fascinating facts and an ideal present for silver screen enthusiasts." - "The Sunday Post," Dundee They say that in life, there are winners and there are losers. Though the movies we selected for this two-volume collection are winners indeed, those that didn’t make the cut aren’t losers. We just didn’t like them quite as much. It was a tough, soul-searching process, but after much debate and deliberation TASCHEN settled on what we believe to be the 100 finest examples of 20th century filmmaking. From horror to romance, noir to slapstick, adventure to tragedy, epic to musical, western to new wave, all genres are represented in this wide-ranging and devilishly fun compendium. "Metropolis"? Check. "Modern Times"? Yep. "Citizen Kane, The Seven Samurai"? Of course. "La dolce vita, Psycho, A Clockwork Orange"? You bet. Plus "The Godfather, Annie Hall, Blue Velvet, Pulp Fiction.".. and so many more cinematic gems including lesser-known masterpieces like Buñuel’s "The Young and the Damned." Think of this collection as a celebration of contrasts, an homage to the seventh art, a gathering of greats, and a nostalgic romp through celluloid history. Chronological entries each include a synopsis, cast/crew listings, technical information, actor/director bios, trivia, and lists of awards, as well as film stills, production photos, and the original poster for each film. The chapter for each decade begins with an introduction exploring the historical and social context of films made in that era.

Our groundbreaking movies by decade series continues with this new volume dedicated to the most interesting and important films made in the decade since the turn of the millennium. This jam-packed volume, covering a crucial decade characterized by globalization and digitization, covers an inspiringly broad range of titles including "Avatar", "the Bourne trilogy", "Moulin Rouge", "Babel", "Bowling for Columbine", "Borat", "Y tu mama tambien", "City of God", "Mulholland Drive", "Dogville", "Talk to Her", and "No Country for Old Men". It includes film entries such as: synopsis; film stills and production photos; cast/crew listings; trivia; useful information on technical stuff; and, actor and director bios.

Binge watching. The trendsetters and triumphs of the TV boom. Their names are Walter White, Birgitte Nyborg and Don Draper and they are the stars of a cultural revolution. In the last decade, shows like Breaking Bad, Borgen and Mad Men have toppled cinema from its leading position in the popular culture universe and ushered in a whole new level of small screen excellence and appreciation. With ambition to tear down the barriers around commercial television networks such as HBO, AMC, and ABC have launched a new era of cinematic narrative, while cable TV networks, DVDs, and the Internet have brought about new, flexible ways of watching and engaging. Global fan communities devour episode after episode, season after season, independently of programs and broadcasting schedules and probe the multiple levels of meaning in their favorite series in blogs, fan groups and online forums. Alongside a wealth of stills, this overview of the TV revolution presents the most important and successful series of recent years from David Lynch's groundbreaking masterpiece Twin Peaks to current highlights like Game of Thrones, Girls and House of Cards. Who were the trendsetters? What inspired the creators? You can find all of the facts about authors and actors, influences and backgrounds, sequels and spin-offs. You can learn something new about your favorite shows, and about those you're still to discover.

2000s: A cinematic odyssey The films that defined the noughties Our Movies series enters the 21st century with this definitive line-up of 99 of the most important films made during the 2000s, an age of evergreen franchises, historical epics, and comic-book superheroes, as well as fast-evolving CGI aesthetics, low-key global indies gaining unprecedented audiences, and hard-hitting documentaries (and mockumentaries) becoming mainstream feature hits. Through the gripping stories, insightful dramas, and thrilling, mindless escapism, Movies of the 2000s gathers the best of the best round the globe, from the blockbuster Harry Potter and The Lord Of The Rings installments to cult classics Lost in Translation, Inglourious Basterds, and No Country For Old Men, The Lives of Others, and Y Tu Mama Tambien. Each movie masterpiece is profiled with stills and production photos, a synopsis, analysis, and movie-buff trivia, as well as cast, crew, and technical listings.About the series: Bibliotheca Universalis-- Compact cultural companions celebrating the eclectic TASCHEN universe at an unbeatable, democratic price!Since we started our work as cultural archaeologists in 1980, the name TASCHEN has become synonymous with accessible, open-minded publishing. Bibliotheca Universalis brings together nearly 100 of our all-time favorite titles in a neat new format so you can curate your own affordable library of art, anthropology, and aphrodisia.Bookworm's delight -- never bore, always excite!

The 1970s: that magical era betwixt the swinging ’60s and the decadent ’80s, the epoch of leisure suits and Afros, the age of disco music and platform shoes. As war raged on in Vietnam and the Cold War continued to escalate, Hollywood began to heat up, recovering from its commercial crisis with box-office successes such as Star Wars, Jaws, The Exorcist, and The Godfather. Thanks to directors like Spielberg and Lucas, American cinema gave birth to a new phenomenon: the blockbuster.Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, while the Nouvelle Vague died out in France, its influence extended to Germany, where the New German Cinema of Fassbinder, Wenders, and Herzog had its heyday. The sexual revolution made its way to the silver screen (cautiously in the U.S., more freely in Europe) most notably in Bertolucci’s steamy, scandalous Last Tango in Paris. Amid all this came a wave of nostalgic films (The Sting, American Graffiti) and Vietnam pictures (Apocalypse Now, The Deer Hunter), the rise of the antihero (Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Dustin Hoffman), and the prestigious short-lived genre, blaxploitation.

From Aliens to Amadeus, get your fill of '80s nostalgia with this movie bible of all things bold, bizarre, and boisterous. We've diligently compiled a list of the most influential films of the 1980s that's sure to please popcorn gobblers and highbrow chin-strokers alike. Adventurous, excessive, and experimental, '80s cinema saw moviegoers get their kicks from pictures as wide-ranging as Blade Runner, Gandhi, and Blue Velvet.Science fiction, horror, and action emerged as the defining genres of the decade, with non-human characters like E.T. winning the hearts of millions, and movies such as Ghostbusters and Back to the Future fused comedy and sci-fi to the delight of audiences everywhere. Inside this '80s encyclopedia each movie masterpiece is profiled with stills, a synopsis, and cast, crew, and technical listings.With high-concept Hollywood blockbusters, early CGI, and brilliant special effects, the 1980s saw the invention of a new reality, a movie-world so convincingly real-no matter now far-fetched-that spectators could not help but immerse themselves in it.

The life and times of Pieter Bruegel the Elder(c. 1526/30–1569) were marked by stark cultural conflict. He witnessed religious wars, the Duke of Alba’s brutal rule as governor of the Netherlands, and the palpable effects of the Inquisition. To this day, the Flemish artist remains shrouded in mystery. We know neither where nor exactly when he was born. But while early scholarship emphasized the vernacular character of his painting and graphic work, modern research has attached greater importance to its humanistic content.Starting out as a print designer for publisher Hieronymus Cock, Bruegel produced numerous print series that were distributed throughout Europe. These depicted vices and virtues alongside jolly peasant festivals and sweeping landscape panoramas. He would eventually increasingly turn to painting, working for the cultural elite of Antwerp and Brussels.This monograph is a testament to Bruegel’s evolution as an artist, one who bravely confronted the issues of his day all the while proposing new inventions and solutions. Rather than idealizing reality, he addressed the horrors of religious warfare and took a critical stand against the Catholic Church. To this end, he developed his own pictorial language of dissidence, lacing innocuous everyday scenes with subliminal statements in order to escape repercussions.This XXL-sized collection gathers all 39 paintings, 65 drawings, and 89 etchings, each piece a unique witness to both the religious mores and the close-knit folk culture of Bruegel’s time.Marking the 450th anniversary of his death and his first ever monographic exhibition at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, this monograph is the most immersive journey into Bruegel’s unique visual universe.