Movies Books

I got this book in 98 and i absolutely loved it. It is in complete japanese but who cares it is the greatest item for a real dragonball fan. If you have only seen the show on cartoon network and don't know what the word manga means or you pronounce kuririn "krillin" then don't buy this. this book is for the fan that knows everything and hate funimation. If anyone agrees with me then spread the word of real dragonball.

Beautiful. This book is one incredible piece of work. It contains info, pictures and summaries of each and every Dragonball and Dragonball Z movie and TV special. This is great to know so you can tell if you'd like to purchase a special movie, or whether you shouldn't buy it at all. The pictures inside are wonderful, they are of the best quality available in any artbook related to Dragonball. Like the other Daizenshuu it is entirely in Japanese so if you don't know it, don't buy it unless you are a hardcore fan. And I mean hardcore. I don't know Japanese at all but I would definitely buy it anyway for the pure value, and especially for the artwork.

Just As good as the movie, well a little better. this is a pretty good book. It's Enjoyable to read. This is a book all Marvel comic fans have to have.



If you liked this book. Check out Daredevil.

I loved the book because there were more scenes in the book that weren't in the movie or that were just deleted out of the movie. I like Elektra because I like how she is just so cold and never wants to get close with someone because she doesn't want to hurt them our herself. I also like her because of the weapons that she uses (their pretty cool). Anyways I gave this book 5 stars because like I said before there are more scenes in the book than in the movie and like I also said before "My Opinion".

Fantasy Femmes interviews 20 lovely actresses who starred primarily in B-Films in the '60s. The main genres - as stated in the sub-title are Biker, Beach, and Elvis films (particulary the latter - most of these gals made at least one movie with the King) as well as Alienated Youth and Horror films. The author Tom Lisanti knows these genres well and his affection for the ladies that he interviewed is clearly evident.

Among my personal favorite '60s superchicks that Lisanti profiled are Deanna Lund (from tv's Land Of The Giants), Irene Tsu (the native girl who duets with Frankie Avalon in How To Stuff A Wild Bikini), and Salli Sachse (a staple of the Frankie & Annette beach movies, she was "the girl with her hair in a bun"). My only complaint is that Lisanti did not interview my very favorite '60s sweetie Mary Hughes, the Bardot-look alike who joined Sachse in the background of the Beach Party films (Hughes was the girlfriend of guitarist Jeff Beck and the subject of the Yardbirds' song "Psycho Daisies"). My main woman Mary does appear in a photo in the Sally Sachse chapter though and you can read more about her in one of Lisanti's other great books, Drive In Dream Girls: A Galaxy Of B-Movie Starlets Of The Sixties. It profiles 50 superbabes of the '60s, none to the extent covered here.

The other 17 lovely ladies profiled in this book are:
Joan O'Brien (Operation Petticoat, It Happened At The World's Fair); Diane McBain (Spin Out, The Mini Skirt Mob); Joan Staley (Roustabout, The Ghost & Mrs. Chicken); Jill Haworth (It!, Haunted House Of Horror); Pamela Tiffin (For Those Who Think Young, The Pleasure Seekers); Francine York (Tickle Me, Curse Of The Swamp Creature), Joy Harmon (Young Dillinger, Village Of The Giants); Eileen O'Neill (A Man Called Dagger); Julie Parrish (Winter A Go-Go, Paradise Hawaiian Style); Jean Hale (The Oscar, St. Valentine's Day Massacre); Chris Noel (Get Yourself A College Girl, Girl Happy); Lana Wood (Girls On The Beach, Diamonds Are Forever); Celeste Yarnall (Eve, Live A Little Love A Little); Judy Pace (Three In The Attic, Brian's Song - as Gale Sayers' wife); Karen Jensen (Out Of Sight, tv's Bracken's World); Linda Harrison (Planet Of The Apes, Bracken's World); Tisha Sterling (Village Of The Giants, Norwood).

Most of these ladies were finished in the business by the age of 30. Society at the time dictated that they marry and have kids, and having a family back then usually meant the end of a woman's career. Too bad for us, as most of these ladies had a lot more to offer the big screen than beauty (fortunately, their luminous performances in these often cheesy movies will live forever). For anyone who is a big fan - like I was - of a few of the ladies interviewed here, I suggest you get this book right away. You'll find yourself becoming an admirer of all of them by the time you finish reading it.

All your faves are covered...and maybe a few you forgot about! This book is campy and fun, but also quite informative for movie buffs and anyone old enough to remember the babe-a-licious actresses of the 60's. Would also make a great gift!

What holds the Fast & Furious franchise together? The actors have changed, so it can't be that. The stories have a similar theme- racing, so that's a part of it, but not all of it. Why, it's the CARS! Finally, a book has been put out on the cars of Fast & Furious. I love these movies. If you want plain old good guys v bad guys entertainment without a heavy message these movies fit the bill. The producers wisely highlight not only today's rice-rockets used by kids, but spotlight American Muscle, too. What's not to like? This book goes over all the cars of the three movies- and is fairly accurate (I read that the Mustang in the last movie had to have the import motor taken out because it wasn't up to speed, so to speak. This is not mentioned here, and implies the import motor was used). Nice photos, nice descriptions, and a nice addition to my Star Cars Library.

a nice book to have if you love the cars from the 3 movies. theres a lot of pictures of the detailing of each one of the vehicles from the movie. its a good book to look over once in a while, eventually youll get tired of it once youve looked thru it a hundred times, but once in a while youll get that fast and furious bug bite you. especially if you play juiced 2 hot import nights for the xbox 360. youll look over this book and copy out the body kits which is actually in the game.

its a good reference book without too much technical details. although most of the stuff in it actually was stolen from the first two editions. if they release ff4 they'll most likely have all the same pages from this book transfered over. but hey its only $10 bucks on amazon so just buy it anyway. dont take my word for it, check it out on your local borders store first before you buy it here on amazon if youre not convinced. reatil for this is about $30....so dont act a foool!

"Film Noir" is an excellent introduction to film noir theory. Author Andrew Spicer, a professor of film studies, has packed all of the key definitions, elements, and influences on film noir into just over 200 very readable pages. "Film Noir" is well organized, in the style of a text book. Pictures are few, as are detailed descriptions of plots. The book covers both classic and neo-noir,1940-2000, with about half of the book dedicated to each. The discussion of classic noir includes the definitions and evolution of the style, the conditions of production, themes, narrative strategies, gender roles, and three noir auteurs (Anthony Mann, Robert Siodmark, Fritz Lang). Spicer divides neo-noir into two periods: modernist and post-modern. Modernist refers to the 1967-1976 period when films were characterized by the near-complete collapse of the Hollywood studio system, unprecedented directorial power, and a conspicuous absence of femmes fatales. The post-modern era began in 1981, with studios jumping back into the noir picture and dedicating big budgets and big stars to noirs, betting on commercial success. Most of the films discussed in "Film Noir" are American, but the book's last chapter is dedicated to British film noir. Appendices (although they are not labeled as such) include excellent lists of American and British film noirs, organized chronologically and grouped by era. There is an index of names and an index of films. "Film Noir" is academic, but it's a good, concise analysis for anyone who wants analysis but isn't up to heavy-duty film theory that is so often tedious. It's a very readable, useful intro to film noir theory, covering 60 years of American and British noir, with the occasional reference to German and French films as well.

This is a textbook designed to introduce film noir to college students. However, it could be read with profit by anyone with an interest in the film noir phenomenon.

Spicer packs an incredible amount of information in the small space he has. He refers to the latest books and is incredibly thorough. He does a fine job on the origins of film noir, covering not only "tough guy" authors and German expressionism, but also Weimar "street films," French poetic realism and expressionism in American film before noir.

What I found especially interesting was the way Spicer continually breaks down noir and neo-noir into different eras. He sees a difference between noir of the Forties and Fifies, and he distinguishes between early neo-noir and late neo-noir, with Body Heat being the breaking point. I found that very useful, since the neo-noir era has lasted so long by now. It is hard to think of The Long Goodbye and Reservoir Dogs as fitting in the same era, so it is good to have a distinguishing framework.

Spicer also covers British film noir, and he breaks that down into different eras as well. To someone very familiar with the American noir cannon, this is like discovering a new continent of films.

So I would strongly urge any film noir enthusiast to get Spicer's book. You will learn something you didn't know before, or find out about films you will want to see.

So this is a book that

College-level libraries strong in film studies courses will find moving this collection of short essays on books about film, coming from a critic who not only reviews these books but offers uses them to discuss movie content, actor approaches, director and producer influences, and how the film industry operates as a whole. His different approach provides plenty of detail perfect for any college-level collection strong in film studies - and many a general interest lending library as well.

To begin with, who'd a thunk that a collection of book reviews of old and new movie books would be this good? Well, I would if only because I've never been disappointed in ANYTHING Schickel writes since the days of "The Disny Version" back when he and I were young (maggie, dear). So, it's not the money for this book that he owes me. Rather, well let me come at it in a roundabout way: The mark of a really good critic is that you will either NOT NEED to read/see/hear what he reviews because he has saved you from wasting precious time or you will be so caught up in his (or, yes, her) enthusiasm that you MUST partake of the object of same. Since Mr Schickel is one of our best critics... and documentarians... and historians... and biographers, I found far too many books I had to have within this one. Sadly (but, for one on a fixed income, fortunately) many of the best reviewed books are out of print. But, yes, weak vessel that I am, I have ordered several (from Amazon, of course) that are not. Hence the title. After all, it isn't MY fault that Schickel writes as well as he does!... is it?

No solamente la musica fue victima de la cultura POP, sino tambien el cine y es en este libro con los posters mas relevantes de le época en donde el arte POP se ve a la perfeccion. Desde los poster clasicos hasta lo posters mas extraños. Ya que esta recopilacion no solamente tiene los artes que conocimos pegados en los carteles del cine, sino que ademas contiene artes muy extraños. Destaca la recopilacion de artes de las cintas de David Cronenberg. Muy REcomendable.

This is by far the greatest collection of the essential movies of the decade series. The 80's created blockbusters like The Terminator, Friday the 13th, Poltergeist, Fletch, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Raiders of the Lost Ark, ET, Rainman, The Breakfast Club, Lethal Weapon, Die Hard, Beverly Hills Cop, Robo Cop and Rambo to name but a few. They're all inside just begging to go up on your wall and be admired along with heaps of others.

You could either keep this intact as a collection of posters in a book to show and discuss with friends, or cut the book up and actually have a vast number of posters up on your wall. This book is about a third the size of your standard film poster and most movies are full page colour. Any of them would look great up on the wall. If there's a better poster collection out there then it must be really good as this is sensational!

Puerto Rican poet and playwright, Rane Arroyo could be introduced with several more identifiers before his name. Perhaps the poet himself would add titles such as Intellectual, Gay, Dreamer, Comedian, American, and Friend. Invoking this multitude of identities, Rane Arroyo's collection of poems, Home Movies of Narcissus, playfully explores realms that are forbidden, imagined, and erotic. There are few borders in Arroyo's writing: his poems seamlessly fuse humor with sincerity as they capture the truths of loneliness, sex, culture, and history. At times merely a stream of consciousness while other times careful constructed stanzas, Arroyo's poems are structured as diversely as the stories which they reveal. Arroyo's poetry artfully recreates its subjects in terms of the emotions that they illicit, not just the linear definitions of or societal reactions to them. Such multi-dimensional reflection and writing are a testament to Arroyo, a poet with strong identities and a deep personal awareness. I think that you will find your own adventure as you read Home Movies of Narcissus. This book of poems reads like a cultural biography of America, featuring a multitude of fascinating worlds and people, both real and imagined.
In the first section of the book "Yes, Si, Aha," poems such as "The Cousins" and "Delicious Parable" articulate truths of Arroyo's Puerto Rican identity during the author's childhood and adult years. In the poem "Cousins," Arroyo references his "tropics-starved parents" (9) while recounting a homoerotic conversation among childhood friends. This scene is among countless others in the collection which juxtapose multiple identities, in this case exploring notions of cultural relocation as a Latino and internal exile as a gay adolescent. The reader can only smile as he is left to ponder "Zorro's erection" or a childhood game about "the addict's attic" in the hometown "cha-cha-cha Chicago." Classic poetic devices such as alliteration describe unconventional or even taboo subjects, creating poetry that is both interesting and entertaining to read. Such poems relive moments which border between nostalgia and dysfunction, adding to the lure of Arroyo's dynamic writing.
The poem "Delicious Parable" details a poignant sacrifice, an impoverished Puerto Rican mother who struggles to provide a traditional meal for her son. The speaker in the poem cries when he realizes that the dried codfish "with chance bones in it" is the "only inheritance she can give." As he describes the memory, Arroyo's tone is playful yet upfront. He avoids making a political statement about poverty (or any of the other numerous issues in the book). Rather, Arroyo's identity as a poet and his powerful honesty about life experiences (and dreams) awaken the reader without offending him.
In the section of poems entitled "The Mask Museum" Arroyo reinvents traditional notions of identity, death, and art. In "Bad Disguises," a clever poem about Halloween with characters such as Antonio Banderas, Richard Nixons and Andrew Carnegies, the speaker ponders, "Someone in a devil's mask / demands my green card. / It's a joke, / but not for me. When is this home?" (12-14). Throughout the book, Arroyo's confessions of fear, loneliness, and pain can be intimate, sudden, and even haunting. In "Bad Disguises," Arroyo conveys the powerful pain evoked by racism, while the humor of Halloween deflects but does not undermine his message. This is one of several poems where Arroyo narrates struggles of discrimination as a Chicago-born Latino. A search for a home within a world of discrimination is a reoccurring struggle in his stories of identity.
"Unfunded Art" searches for beauty in a bizarre studio of nude models with "gunshot craters," "gang tattoos," and "stone testicles." In choosing to write about such a place, the poet celebrates imperfection and garners respect for it among his readers. Arroyo celebrates such characters not because they are marginalized but because they have discovered their own beauty. These triumphs of discovering personal identity give a voice to the marginalized without clouding the message with political protest.
In the section "Hungry Ghost," a series of poems about Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon, Arroyo creates a clever banter between a witty poet and the arrogant historical figure who demands that the poet memorialize him. Arroyo expresses the shared frustrations of a poet and a historical figure, with statements such as "To be forgotten is a daily death" and "You are all memorialists with / nothing to confess." However, from the frustrations of the speaker arise humorous and playful images, and even a Ricky Martin reference. Arroyo reawakens the identity of a Puerto Rican with words that passionately long for a homeland and mourn a commercialized paradise. The Ponce de Leon sequence of poems explores an interesting concept that appears throughout poems of Latin American identity, such as Arroyo's: Spanish conquest wrote history with violence and a sword. The Latin American poet recreates history with his pen and words. Arroyo's poetry is particularly successful in such creation because he does not taint the art or history of his work with politically charged messages. If anything, his personal commentary merely adds humor that is both quirky and enchanting.
"The Black Moon Poems" contains some of the darkest moments of Arroyo's book. Sleepless nights and drunken moments paint images of struggle, anger, and confusion. Yet, in recounting his searches for identity, Arroyo's identities are never undermined. The reader is given a glimpse into the sufferings and frustrations of a self-proclaimed "double exile." Arroyo's yearning for mutual acceptance and understanding of his gay and Latino self's echoes throughout his poetry. His writing expresses the physicality of such yearnings. They are eroticized with frequent references to images such as pubic hair, hard laps, wet dreams, and masturbation.
Underlying Arroyo's tales of exile and frustration are a message of acceptance and a desire for human dignity. Arroyo is an openly gay, Latino man who powerfully and successfully describes his experiences, creating an art form. Arroyo's existence alone is a political poem; yet, his life professes truth by experience rather than protest. His work is thought-provoking, clever, and funny; however, at its core is a sincerity of experience which makes it a worthwhile read. With an open-mind, the reader can understand Arroyo's search for identity. Along the way, he will find all of the realities of the journey: humor, discrimination, love, and loneliness. Whether to savor the cultural experiences of an artist or to grow closer to one's own identities, Home Movies of Narcissus is a rare and wonderful journey of discovery.

Rane Arroyo has a quality refined by love and talent, which he has released on paper in the form of this collection. His humor, his emotions and his love for words makes him a modern-day legend. I am a fan!

Pauline Kael was a prophet of the times: she knew that people would eventually be addicted to the movies. But she was perceptive enough to realize from the onset that this addiction went beyond the inescapable, because grippingly overwhelming, magic of storytelling. She understood that movies were addictive because not only do they take on a life of their own, they also created a world of their own --- cult worship, technology wizardry, critical discourse, the vagaries of box-office results, and all that jazz. These Ms. Kael grasped, and armed with her stylish wit and whip, she rallied on to the cultural battlefronts of what would turn out to be our multi-media age. This book is therefore a must-read, because beyond the disparate individual movie reviews, Ms. Kael allows us to appreciate the intellectual and moral landscape of our times. She shows us that behind things are the more important scheme of things. For her, the reel is for real. And these days, who can say it isn't so

I grew up reading Pauline Kael's reviews, mostly by walking to the public library in the small town where I grew up -- I'd snag the New Yorker off the shelf and immerse myself in what she had to say about movies, many of which would never come to my town. But I was enthralled.

I love her reviews now for the same reason I loved them then -- she makes me want to see the movies she writes about. And more than that, she makes me want to see movies, period. Her passion for the medium -- even when she doesn't like a film -- is contagious, and she expresses it beautifully.

Surprisingly to me, in these early reviews she frequently quotes the reviews of other critics and then mercilessly takes apart what they have said. She particularly has it in for the New York Times' Bosley Crowther, but she doesn't let others off the hook easily, either.

Kael is fun to read, even if you haven't seen the movie she is talking about. I've never seen "The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone", though I have seen "Suddenly Last Summer" -- both based on works of Tennessee Williams. But Kael's 1961 review of "Mrs. Stone" is a hilarious read. In one part, she says:

"The men who filmed 'The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone' seem to think the idea of an aging woman seeking companionship and love so daring and unusual that they fumble around with it almost as much as the doctor in the screen version of 'Suddenly, Last Summer', who couldn't seem to cope with the simple facts of Sebastian's homosexuality and kept saying, 'You DON'T mean THAT?'-- 'No, it CAN'T be THAT?' -- 'WHAT are you saying?' -- 'What do you MEAN?' I assumed the youngest child in the audience would get the point before he did. By trying so diligently to make Mrs. Stone so sympathetic and understandable the director and writer, Jose Quintero and Gavin Lambert, kill all interest in her. We could accept a woman buying love, but why make her haggle over it?"

Kael is hilarious, maddening, and most of all, thought-provoking. And if you love movies, she'll make you love them more.

I'm not actually a James Dean "collector" yet, but I am so fascinated by him. The book was very interesting and informative, loaded with enough information. I'm sure it would be very helpful to any James Dean fan. I just may try finding some stuff on eBay!

This book is a must for all Dean fans.It has every item that has ever been made or written on Dean.......It is very informative and has lots and lots of pictures......I am so glad that I bought this book.