Movies Books

Alias is one of my favorite shows. I loved the prequal series but was a bit dissapointed with the APO series. This one though did not let me down. The story line was believable and the author wrote the characters well. I would definately reccomend this book to anyone whose looking for some light reading!

Mind Games (book 24 in the Alias series) is all about the drug trade, and a new drug on the market known as Sway. Sway does not get you high, in fact, when you take it you feel completely normal. However, whenever somebody tells you to do something, you must obey. Sydney and Dixon go undercover to try to find Sway and its creator. It is one of the better of the series, and an enjoyable couple of hours.

I'm hooked. I felt like I was there throughout the entire book. I highly recommend it for anyone looking for a fun and exciting adventure. I'm off to buy Miranda Goes to Hollywood!

This is one of my favorite children's books ever! It's funny, and silly, and slightly romantic, though not in a mushy way. Here's the basic plot: 12 year old Miranda Louis Gaines is bored. And I mean BORED! The other girls only like dolls, and so she plays with the boys (unthinkable to the well brought up ladies of the neighborhood, btu it's fine with her aunt). School's almost over, and her summer fun will begin, or should begin. On day, she overhears that new people are moving in next door. She dreams of meeting them until she hears the news: they aren't just any people; they're ACTORS! Strictly forbidden! She promises not to go talk to them, but what's the harm in eavesdropping from a tree? To make it short, Miranda gets involved with the American Moving Picture Company, and everything going's fine until the day of her birthday, when she goes with her aunt Lucy into New York...

Wish I had this book in my Intro to Psych college course...I would have enjoyed the class much more!

I recently read Indick's "Psychology for Screenwriters" and enjoyed it, so I took a chance and bought this book. Though some of the same theories are covered, Indick actually takes a very different perspective in this one, approaching movies from a film analysis approach rather than from the point of view of the writer. It's an excellent companion to "Psych for Screenwriters," or just on its own. There were also some very original psychoanalytic takes on the religious symbolism in movies, the female hero in Disney pictures and the psychosexual aspects of monsters in horror movies. Also, the chapters on Carl Jung's archetypes and Otto Rank's "Myth of the Birth of the Hero" really helped me understand Joseph Campbell's theory of the "Hero's Journey" a lot better. All in all, a very worthwhile book for anyone who wants to gain a deeper understanding of film.

"W.E. Butts possesses all the character and perceptiveness which makes for strong poetry. He sees the world of common things with a scrupulous attention to detail that makes the familiar strange; and more importantly, his character studies and poems of recollection are filled with a rare sort of empathy and generosity of spirit. Movies in a Small Town is a distinguished accomplishment."--David Wojahn

Movies in a Small Town by W.E. Butts. Mellen Poetry Press. ISBN 0-7734-2705-8. $14.95 paper. Reviewed by Rustin Larson When I was government worker in Washington, D.C. during the latter part of the Reagan administration, I would often sink into my routine wondering how much of my self I would be able to redeem at the end of the day. There seemed to me such relentlessness to the city and the system in which I was entrenched that it was a miracle I wrote any poetry at all. Most people didn't bother. To write poetry or create much of anything other than a positive bank balance was slacker's play. And so the grind took its toll on many people's lives, marriages, sanity and sense of identity and worth. It is for these silenced people W.E. Butts Movies in a Small Town speaks to and for best. In these poems we see everyday people in different moments of inwardness. Some are commuting to work acutely aware of the devastation their jobs have rendered on their lives and identities to a point society itself is disturbingly altered: Like one of those lost expeditions of arctic explorers who, when discovered after years of ingenuity and survival, no longer devour each other from hunger but for the ritual. ("The Commuters") The actors in these poems struggle with loss, aging and the pain of solitude. They display for us such courageous and bittersweet beauty. The sensuousness of life's brevity is exponentially enhanced by Butt's keen observation and delicately rendered lines: The dead lie beneath such noises where dogwood petals slip and fall like a lover's gown. ("Appearances") There is an oriental grace and delicious directness here, much like Jack Gilbert, but less elliptical in other pieces, and more with a novelist's eye for character and ear for telling soliloquy and dialogue. I draw attention to the marvelously conceived voices in "The Suicidal Teenager is Interviewed by Her Psychiatrist, After an Attempt," "The Patient is Admitted to the Psychiatric Ward," "The Head Trauma Patient Does, and Does Not, Remember," "After Losing his Patient, the Psychiatrist Speaks with a Colleague" and others. Many poems deal with the contrasts between youth and age as does "Chloe's Epistemology," an homage to life's continuity or "deathless flowering." Many poems evoke the sweetness of being alive despite the harshest experiences. Some poems are excursions into memory, youth, and how the past has molded our creative and philosophical values, such as in "1948" and the collection's title piece "Movies in a Small Town, 1957." It is a fine metaphor to base this excellent collection upon-how we are all in the title role of our own movie, and how the director has handed us the whole ball of wax: the minor catastrophes and the one's that scar forever; love's loss and the seeds of memory that grow into a lasting love of what we know and can't, without the ultimate pain, escape.

We love this entire series! The stories are great and educational, the sound effects are excellent and the music is amazing! My boys, ages 3 and 6, have enjoyed these on trips for over a year now. I love that it teaches history, great values and engages their imagination. The sound is all there, but all the visuals have to come from the child's mind.

This recording is great. It is entertaining and had my daughters imagination working all the way through. We both enjoyed the stories and sound effects. It will improve any childs imagination and listening skills. We love it!!!

Fully satisfied
Movies of the 50s by Jurgen Muller delivered in perfect condition thanks to Amazon perfect wrapping solution.

This continues in a great series of books on cinema that Taschen has put out. The films are a well selected lot representing the 1950s with good write-ups and an excellent selection of photos accompanying each film chosen. I can't wait for them to come out with editions on films of the 1940s, 1930s and the Silent period (covering the years 1900-1929).

My only complaint is why the year 1950 has been missed out from the decade of the 1950s while 1960 is included instead!

Way back in 1958, long before The Time Out Film Guide or Videohounds Golden Movie Retriever were a twinkle in anyone's eye and a full decade before Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide first appeared on the market was this Movie Review guide by Steven Scheuer. From the 1960's through the 1980's it was basically a choice between this book or Maltin's for those of us wanting a comprehensive movie guide with capsule reviews and ratings. As of 1994 this guide mysteriously ceased publication, an event so unexpected that rumors began circulating as to the death of Mr. Scheuer himself! These rumors appear to have been greatly exagerrated as he recently edited a book on building a DVD library that is now for sale right here on Amazon.com.

Maltin's annual Movie guide is of course indispensable but I fear that at times people take what amounts to one critic's opinion as gospel. Comparing the two books is instructive as to the ultimately subjective nature of film viewing. Scheuer's guide gives Brazil(1985)*1/2 stars while Maltin gives it ***, Scheuer gives Blade Runner(1982)**** while Maltin gives it *1/2, Scheuer gives the gay art film Sebastiane(1979)***1/2, John Waters' Pink Flamigos(1973)**1/2 and cult sci-fi film Punishment Park(1971)*** while none are even included in Maltin's guide. That's the most surprising thing in flipping through this book...the odd, art-house omissions that have never been included in Maltin's book and apparantly never will.

When you step into a used bookstore to browse through the film section and see hundreds of obscure, out of print tomes that have unfortunately "died" due to not being read anymore please remember that there are a few titles out there that desperately SHOULD be in print again. Books like Danny Peary's Guide for The Film Fanatic, Lotte Eisner's bio of the great German director Murnau and this guide by Steven Scheuer.

I bought every edition of this film guide until they apparently stopped making it in 1994. What a shame! The reviews are almost always dead-on and occasionally very funny. Also, the reviews are thoughtful and insightful despite being relatively brief. Still, this is one of the few movie guides that managed to say everything it needed to in a single paragraph to get its point across.

In the later editions (like this one) there was an appendix included so you could easily see all films made by a certain actor or director, which was very helpful.

The four star rating system was expertly used in this guide as well (generally, I prefer the 4-star system to the somewhat more prevalent 5-star), and small indicators let you know if the film is available on video or not.

One of the best features of this book was that it included made-for-TV films as well as those getting a theatrical release, plus many, many foreign films.

This book should be revised, updated, and published again!

History of cinema as it stands has been basically changing over the last decade or so. Like all forms of history, the on-going quality of film history can affect how we regard the past. However with the DVD revolution and the like, more and more of such stuff as the Silent Era and foreign films is resurfacing, affecting how we view current cinema. For instance, it was a popular idea of the past that D.W. Griffith invented all of the techniques used towards how we edit movies today. With more and more pre-Griffith silents appearing, his height on that column is gradually decreasing...

This book is, in general, pretty up to date with the current times, ending roughly late nineties or so. Each section of film history has its own two-page spread, which is neat and VERY nice. Some of the choices are kind of surprising, but in a refreshing way, not a "what the--?" way.

I don't know much about how it would help someone who doesn't know that much about film, but it seems pretty user friendly and its conciseness prevents it from becoming too much a cineastes booklet. I don't agree with some of their opinions (I happen to like Abbott and Costello, I don't care what you say), but for a quick, "Okay so here's what's up" it is pretty well-made.

--PolarisDiB

This little book is as much fun to read as watching one of your favorite films. Not only is it entertaining and informative, but it manages to be comprehensive and highly discriminating at the same time. The authors are fully aware of the "auteurs" who count, of the films that matter. I've read hundreds of film books, and I can guarantee that you won't find a better value.

This is a very child-friendly book that helps young children understand the story of the Bible.

I bought this book at Sam's Club for under $10. It's so short and sweet that it keeps even my 1-year-old's attention (unlike several other "first bible's" I've seen). My experience has been that other toddler bible stories are still too long for the very young, but these are not. One story is over in 2-3 minutes, usually. Also, nice big print for when the child starts reading on his/her own, and, of course, LOTS of pictures! I didn't know there was also a prayer book until I saw it on Amazon; I plan to order it.

FINALLY IT'S BEEN DONE!!!
Someone has finally written a scholarly work on the subject of the film ratings that is thoughtful and accurate! This book focuses on the criteria that distinguish R-rated films from those officially rated X or NC-17, but it also gives an excellent overview of American classification and Hays Code activities over the history of cinema.
Since I have done extensive research on this subject myself, I have been appalled at how much junk has been written in the mass media about it; most writers don't seem to be bothered by glaring factual errors and their own confusion about the subject. Instead of misattributing such confusion to the supposed inconsistencies of the ratings board (although their criteria do change over time, quite deliberately) this author Sandler correctly sorts the objective from the subjective, assesses the actual film content and key rating decisions, to provide an authoritative work on both the criteria, the process, the politics, and the occasional flubs involved in the ratings process.
This is the most important, authoritative book on the ratings system since Stephen Farber's 1972 insider work "The Movie Ratings Game" (and that was not written with scholarship in mind). This book does not go into details about the criteria for other ratings (my own research does that and is still being prepared for publication) but it provides a welcome change from the misguided and biased articles (and films) that have been appearing on the subject for many years.
Finally, a true scholar publishes an excellent work on the subject!!!
Although a previous book "Freedom and Entertainment" was also scholarly and of decent quality (and benefited from the newly available recollections of ratings board chair Richard Heffner, who was in the position longer than anyone else), that book had made some superficial errors and didn't quite convince as being rooted in a thorough and comprehensive understanding of the ratings system. By supplementing the Heffner material with actual content descriptions and comparisons, this book has filled in the last methodological step that was needed to produce a valid model of the system's operation. Bravo!! At long last!!
Finally placed into valid perspective is the long controversy over the supposed favoring of major studios over independent productions, as well as the numerous accusations about inconsistency in the application of ratings (not that the system is devoid of inconsistencies, but they are of a form different from what many have attributed to them).
Unfortunately falling outside this book's subject matter is the recent, widely publicized Harvard study on so-called "ratings creep," which would have made at least a nice footnote in the section in which Jack Valenti defends the rating system by explaining the many conflicting societal forces whose needs it must serve and try to balance. The blatant problems with the Harvard study included the assumption that unaccountable, pandering film websites would be less malleable in their standards over time than the main body that is answerable to congress and various interest groups.
In the meantime, this book is the most important one currently available on the subject! Anyone who wants to truly understand the system (and not just criticize) must buy and read this book! Nothing else comes close, except the very early and out-of-print book by Stephen Farber, called the "Movie Ratings Game" and (in third place) the recent "Freedom and Entertainment" (both of which have many key points summarized and included here anyway).

Awesome job!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dr. Kevin Sandler's diligent and unwavering quest to complete this work and answer some of the toughest questions in the movie business has finally paid off. Most of the general public know that Hollywood does not make X-Rated movies; however, not many know WHY this is the case and how this and the ratings system itself (with its methods shrouded in secrecy) came to fruition.
This incomparable text is a wonderful read due not only to its content, but also to Sandler's writing style. Through the course of his book, Sandler tackles the complex and interesting questions noted above, the story of which is compelling enough that his book itself could be made into a film (ala Kirby Dick's "This Film Is Not Yet Rated").
With the recent passing of Jack Valenti and with much of the criteria used to help determine what rating a film receives kept well-guarded under the auspices of the MPAA, research in the area that Sandler has been able to find his way into by mean of interviews, access to archives and other hard work has made "The Naked Truth: Why Hollywood Doesn't Make X-rated Movies," a labor of love on the part of the author and a work that needed to be written not only for film scholars, but for anyone and everyone to understand how and why the movies we go and see in the theater are the way they are and end up the way they do.