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Here's a different kind of movie guide — not one that lists the critics' favorite films but a compendium of the movies you must see to intelligently discuss, write about, or make motion pictures. The analysis runs the gamut from Citizen Kane to Pillow Talk, from The 400 Blows to Plan 9 From Outer Space.

Veteran film critic Joe Leydon takes you on a rollercoaster ride through more than 60 movies that have defined genres, influenced filmmakers, and still serve as standards by which other films are measured.

And that's just the beginning. He explains in an entertaining and witty style why these titles are often used as shorthand in pithc meetings and plot synopses — precisely why thes are the movies you must see.