Why release a film guide now? There are loads of genre websites dedicated to exposing a new “lost” masterpiece. There are so many entities jockeying to define a canon. And lists. So many lists. Many of these lists are designed specifically to evoke clicking, and as more streaming services search for new content, more obscure movies now get their poster-sized screen icon for your perusal. Still, many are still passed over by viewers. Some of the mystery and fun of searching for “cult” or “lost” movies dissipates as websites throw everything at the wall at once to see what sticks. But one thing the Internet can’t control is the compulsion of being as film buff. Billups Allen is a film critic and pop culture enthusiast who enjoys writing about films languishing outside the arena of cult status and/or movies derailed from the curve of the academic canon.

101 Films You Could See Before You Die: A Film Guide for the Disenchanted is not only a film guide, but a love letter to discovering movies: a handbook to expose films better run across than sought out. These are films reserved for turning on the television late at night or for accompanying a friend to the theater on a rainy day. The films in this book are a mixed bag. Some are lost classics. Others have interesting elements in place. But all of them deserve a look. Or not. You’ll be okay either way.

Author: Billups Allen
Publisher: Goner Records
Page Count: 278pp
Size: 5.5 x 8.5
Notes: paperback
Date of Publication: Fall 2022
ISBN: 978-0999540046