Customer Reviews

100 Nights in the Dark: A Collection of Contemporary Film Reviews and Essays

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Joe Barlow is more than just another film reviewer with columns in various publications. He is also the director of the cult spoof movie - The Wicked Witch Project, the author of numerous screenplays, and a musician. His reviews are refreshing, immensely readable, and believable. No-one is going to suspect that Joe is in league with the Hollywood Studios; he is impatient with triviality, mawkishness, formulaic movies and poor acting, which means he is out of sympathy with much of Hollywood's output. Equally, he is the first to welcome quality and originality wherever it originates. Frankly, if you're planning to see a movie or rent a video, avoid disappointment, by finding out what Joe thinks of it first.

Not so much a book, as a bible of 100 films to see or avoid. Barlow's writing is inspired, varying from irreverent and satirical to poignant and pointed. Guaranteed to make you laugh and update your Netflix queue at the same time.

I had the pleasure of meeting Joe in a book store a few years back. I bumped into him and struck up a conversation about film. We went back and forth with "have you seen this?" and "what did you think of that film?" for quite awhile. Thinking of myself as a film buff, I was baffled that someone knew more than I did. A few weeks later, I saw a copy of his book in a popular book store. At first I didn't think it was the same Joe Barlow I met, but it was.

Joe Barlow is modest to the core (a rare trait in a writer these days) and has a true passion for film and the arts. Why he doesn't have three or four books on the market by now is beyond me!