I think Lizzy Caplan could someday pull off a role like Sugarpuss O'Shea, but maybe that's my eyes talking.

I never had the pleasure of taking a film class, so books that may not stand up to scrutiny after all these years have a lot of sentimental value for me. These authors were my first teachers. Some of the ideas here I've grown beyond; some of them I've hardened into a kind of belief system. All said and done, I find the contradictions on this list pretty interesting. Anyways.... Here's ten books that set me adrift: "Cinema, or the Imaginary Man," by Edgar Morin For his comparison of cinema and the airplane at the turn of the century, but also for the revelation that cinema was not cinema until it was projected on the wall. "From the Atelier Tovar," by Guy Maddin For exuberance and love. "Documentary: A History of Nonfiction Film," by Erik Barnouw For scope and an immensely readability, whatever its shortcomings. "American Silent Film," by William K. Everson For a vanishing perspective. "Underground Film," by Parker Tyler For glimpses of films I may never see, as well as better looks at films that I have seen. "The Parade's Gone By," by Kevin Brownlow For saving all those stories that could have been left in silence. "The Camera I," by Joris Ivens For a lively account of the birth of a form. "The Silent Clowns," by Walter Kerr For being like a book-length "Comedy's Greatest Era." "Figures Traced in Light," by David Bordwell For explaining how the narrative strategies of cinema are so very distinct from other forms. "The Genius of the System," by Thomas Schatz For putting a new spin on what I thought I knew. PLUS: "Negative Space," by Manny Farber For rising above list-making to establish something of a taxonomy. "Agee on Film" For passion and plain (if beautiful) language.