A few critics said, 'I want to write on such and such,'

Some films are in ['The A List'] because they're pop cultural landmarks,

This is a grid. It's a map that captures the landscape of film, ... If you think, 'This book is all over the place,' that's the intention.

[Mel Brooks, for example, was one director who missed out.] 'Young Frankenstein' came close, ... but we ended up with old 'Frankenstein.'

Comedy is always slighted,

[There weren't many easy choices.] There have been more than 30,000 films made, at least, ... To extract 100 was difficult.