All The Right Movies: The Kid Who Stayed for the Credits Wrote a Book

Everyone else left the cinema. John Barker was the kid who stayed for the credits, and now he and Luke Cardy have turned that habit into All The Right Movies. I have to admit, I think I found the movie book I’ve been looking for. I love the format, I love how much they pack into it, and I already want to see more.

My favorite part might be the infographic at the end of each chapter because it wrecked a few of my assumptions. Some movies I thought were huge money-makers really weren’t, while films I barely think about made an incredible amount of money. Being a classic and being profitable aren’t the same thing. It’s like being the most popular kid in school and being the richest kid. Sometimes they’re the same person, but usually they’re not. The Shawshank Redemption became hugely loved without being a major theatrical hit, while The Blair Witch Project turned a tiny production budget into a remarkable financial success.

The book doesn’t get bogged down in film-school theory, which is another reason I like it. It is divided into five genres and covers 25 films, with 50 quick facts about how each one was made. You get the big crowd-pleasers, the classics and some more artistic choices, all broken into little pieces that make you want to keep reading. It is the kind of book where you say, “I’ll just read one more,” and suddenly you’re another chapter in.

What I really like are those moments when I stop and think, “I never knew that.” Give me the weird story, the unexpected fact or the thing that happened behind the camera that changes how I look at a movie. That’s the fun stuff. The stories behind Blue Velvet, The Godfather, Alien and The Blair Witch Project are exactly the kind of details that keep me turning the pages.

The interviews add another layer because cast and crew members get to tell their own stories. Making a movie is never just about the stars on the poster. There are directors, writers, designers, technicians and countless other people putting the whole thing together, and hearing from some of them makes these familiar movies feel a little different.

That same curiosity is what made All The Right Movies work for me in the first place. The show has been around since 2019, with John, Luke, Westy and Matt spending hours digging into how movies were made, why they worked and all the strange little stories hiding behind them. That research eventually found its way into this book, and you can feel the work behind every page. John Barker summed it up perfectly: “Great creative works deserve great creative conversations.” Exactly. This book feels like a great conversation about movies with people who clearly can’t stop talking about them, and honestly, I don’t want them to.

If you’re already a fan of the podcast, this book makes a great companion. If you’re discovering All The Right Movies through the book, I’d definitely go back and explore the podcast too. You’ll find even more of those stories and conversations that make this so much fun. Quarto’s Epic Ink imprint made a great choice bringing this book to readers, and they’ve produced something that is just as enjoyable to hold as it is to read. A well-crafted book about movies just feels right.

I’d love to see John and Luke tackle more films because they’ve found a great formula: movies we know, stories we probably don’t, and enough surprises to make you want to put the book down and watch the movie again.

If you love movies, this is the kind of book that makes you want to put it down, turn on the movie, and watch it all over again. Sometimes the best part of a movie starts after everyone else has gone home.

All The Right Movies: The Kid Who Stayed for the Credits Wrote a Book

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