Movies Books

Ably compiled and edited by Kevin Conroy Scott, Screenwriters' Masterclass: Screenwriters Talk About Their Greatest Movies is an exclusive compendium interviews, commentaries and writings from professional screenwriters about their most famous film projects. Included are interviews with Ted Tally, Carlos Cuaron, Darren Aronofsky, Jim Taylor, David Russel and a great many more. Screenwriters' Masterclass offers an in-depth and "behind the scenes" look into the world of professional screenwriters, as well as a fun and informative background into the making of so many amazing and well known films. Screenwriters' Masterclass is a very strongly recommended addition to professional and film school screenwriting and film production reference collections.

Ably compiled and edited by Kevin Conroy Scott, Screenwriters' Masterclass: Screenwriters Talk About Their Greatest Movies is an exclusive compendium interviews, commentaries and writings from professional screenwriters about their most famous film projects. Included are interviews with Ted Tally, Carlos Cuaron, Darren Aronofsky, Jim Taylor, David Russel and a great many more. Screenwriters' Masterclass offers an in-depth and "behind the scenes" look into the world of professional screenwriters, as well as a fun and informative background into the making of so many amazing and well known films. Screenwriters' Masterclass is a very strongly recommended addition to professional and film school screenwriting and film production reference collections.

Williams book is an in depth look at sports related films. Although the theme of competitive sports is a consistent link throughout his list of 100 movies, the varied themes that intertwine these films tell the stories of their times as well as illuminate the universal experiences that we all share to some degree.
Williams provides the reader with a background in film history, a look at the creative process, and he also reveals the life affirming stories that are not always apparent on the field of play but play out in these films.
Besides the well thought out and illuminating text, there are many accompanying photos in this intelligently written reference to the greatest sports films.
I don't necessarily agree with all of his choices, I would think that the original version of Angels in the Outfield should have found a place somewhere in the top one hundred as well as the Dizzy Dean story, Pride of St. Louis. That being said, I discovered the film entitled This Sporting Life in Sports Cinema which I was not aware of, and found it to be a remarkable movie. I wish I could find Phar Lap as well.
If you are looking for an intelligent take on sports themed movies, this is a book worthy of your time, you won't be disappointed.

Ok, so I know that references 'On the Waterfront,' but I think this book could really be huge. Any time someone publishes a top 100 list, critics are sure to disagree. But whether you agree with him or not, Randy Williams did an excellent job of highlighting some of the best sports movies ever. Everything from 'College' to 'White Men Can't Jump' to 'Million Dollar Baby'...movies like 'Breaking Away' and 'Brian's Song' that my parents had me watch when I was little (I still love the music from Brian's Song) bring back the memories. Tons of pictures, a throrough yet brief synopsis for each flick, and some cool stuff at the back (actor's comments on their favorite sports movies, trivia, and an Academy award list) make this a great 'anytime' book. Wondering what to get the sports fanatic in your house for Christmas? Problem solved!!!

Either overlooked or outvoted, here is a survey of famous movies that failed to shine in the bright lights of Hollywood awards. Despite their enormous appeal to general moviegoers, both Errol Flynn's "Four's a Crowd" and "Footsteps in the Dark" failed to ignite a single spark among award committees. Admittedly, these are not Flynn's most well-remembered crowd-pleasers, which makes it harder to understand why director William Wyler's acclaimed "Detective Story" (it figured on the Ten Best lists of every critic in the country) also won no Hollywood awards at all. Nor did "Footlight Parade", although James Cagney's bravura performance was one of the factors that made this Busby Berkeley musical even more popular when first released (number 8 at U.S. ticket windows) than it is today. Critical acclaim and contemporary popularity also failed to help Fritz Lang's "Metropolis". Or "On Moonlight Bay" (such a huge success for Doris Day, it inspired a sequel), "Poor Little Rich Girl" (boxoffice giant Shirley Temple joined by Alice Faye and Jack Haley), "Queen Christina" (often cited as the legendary Garbo's best film), "Rhythm on the Range" (only western outing for Bing Crosby in his salad days. In fact, his only other western was the 1964 "Stagecoach"), "Rhythm on the River" (Crosby at his boxoffice zenith again, this time joined by Mary Martin, Basil Rathbone and Oscar Levant), "She Done Him Wrong" (Mae West's smash hit with both hat-tossing critics and adoring public), "Storm Warning" (Doris Day in her first dramatic role), "Sunnyside Up" (rave reviews and a boxoffice stampede for talkie debuts of Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell, with some of DeSylva, Brown and Henderson's most memorable melodies including "I'm a Dreamer, Aren't We All"), "Wee Willie Winkie" (Shirley Temple directed by John Ford, another sensational boxoffice bonanza), "Words and Music" (the critics praised it, moviegoers loved it--number 9 at USA ticket windows); "Carrie" (although censored in the USA to remove its most horrific scene, William Wyler's no-holds-barred picturization of the Dreiser novel, held both critics and public spellbound). That's just a brief runthrough of some of the movies that captured the praises of both professional reviewers and general moviegoers, but won no awards from Hollywood. Then there are the movies that captured awards everywhere else but Hollywood, and the films the critics hated but compelled intending audiences to queue up for miles. I've also detailed a number of surprises like Albert Lewin's "Pandora and the Flying Dutchman", Otto Preminger's "Fallen Angel", Michael Curtiz's "Flamingo Road" and Alfred Hitchcock's "Young and Innocent" that captured little attention when first released but have since amassed a considerable cult following. Finally, I've devoted 26 pages to a monograph and revealing interview with Henry Hathaway, one of Hollywood's master directors. Despite the ongoing popularity of his movies with both fans and connoisseurs, he won no awards either.

The author and his fellow critics are very gifted in their analysis of classic American and British films. They really love these films-and I always get a kick out of their right choice of words. Did I agree with every review? Of course not. However I agreed 85-90% of the time!!! I used to get the separate issues of their old magazine. How fortunate, after 20 years, to be able to renew my acquaintance with these Aussie film fanatics. Their description of a film will make you want to track a print of the film and see it-for the heck of it!

What a magnificent publication once again. The range, the colour, the class of every one of Mr. Hershenson's books continues with this latest volume. The only critcism is that it isn't in hardcover. I will buy every book that is to be published. An essential volume, as are all of the volumes so far. Excellent. Dietmar Lederwasch

What a magnificent publication once again. The range, the colour, the class of every one of Mr. Hershenson's books continues with this latest volume. The only critcism is that it isn't in hardcover. I will buy every book that is to be published. An essential volume, as are all of the volumes so far. Excellent. Dietmar Lederwasch

You would only be looking at this book if you love the movies, and if you love the movies, this is a book for you. The sheer volume of quotes is quite amazing. From the obscure to the well known and loved. It's a great book for compiling quiz questions or to simply flick through if you have a lazy moment. The very nature of the ever evolving movies means that of course it will quite quickly become out of date, but never obsolete as the quotes from these movies are timeless.

The more than 11,000 quotes in this book, consecutively numbered, are listed under 900 subject categories, as for instance Bodies, Money, etc. Within a subject category, the quotes are ordered by the year of release of the movie in which they appear.

This book provides the reader with a massive collection of motion picture quotations.

This is an amazingly fun book! Not only does it test your knowledge of pop culture, it also included quizzes to tell you things like, "If Your Life Were a Teen Movie, What Would It Be?" SHare it with your friends, and you'll have a blast.

This is an amazingly fun book! Not only does it test your knowledge of pop culture, it also included quizzes to tell you things like, "If Your Life Were a Teen Movie, What Would It Be?" SHare it with your friends, and you'll have a blast.

L. Frank Baum's Wizard Of Oz has created 39 official sequels, over a hundred unofficial sequels, nearly 40 films, and much more: so any collector seeking a comprehensive guide to all Wizard products must have The Wizard Of Oz Catalog to keep track of all the formats and take-offs. All forty Oz books in the original series, related books, films, videos, comics, radio shows and more are cataloged in entries which cover performers, plots, and more. No price guides, but this is intended as a catalog of Oz products.

...about Oz in all its permutations. This compendium of Oz knowledge was not only educational in all of its entries but it was fun to read, too. Sherman imbues his catalog with critics reviews, editorial comments and asides that make the factual information come alive with the Hollywood of old and today's fascination with the movie, books, and memorabilia.

There are capsule synopses of all the original books along with movie, radio, stage, advertising, and computer game adaptations as well as actor/production credits. Pictures and illustrations give an insight into the characters and the graphics of the time.

Some of the interesting info covered in the book:
1. Baum intended to break many of the unofficial "rules" for children's fairy tales
2. David's Lynch's movie WILD AT HEART staring Nic Cage is a retelling of the Wizard of Oz story.
3. Baum's widow decided to reject Disney's offer to purchase the rights to make an animated movie and instead sold the rights to an animator who failed to bring the story to the screen.

I bought this as a gift for a friend and wound up keeping it for myself.

This is an excellent book!!! This book provides an intelligent, engaging and enjoyable perspective of reading, writing and understanding literature. What makes this book captivating is the personal tone of the book, it really has a unique approach to teaching literature and it's very lively copy. Captivating literature choices!!! I really enjoy this book, it not only teaches about literature, it also touches on the life around us and how we interact with that world. This book comes in handy for any stage of your writing and it is an enjoyable read. Intelligent writers, whose strongest asset is their own fresh thoughts they share with the reader!!! Highly recommend this book!!

Using poetry, fiction, photos, and essays, the book offers a colorful tour of the subtle and not-so-subtle influences Americans deal with every day, and it guides the reader through the process of 'reading' these 'texts' that make up our world. The texts include not just the written variety but also television, movies, popular music, and public space.
The readings include essays on 'Seinfeld,' 'The Simpsons,' and the Rosie O'Donnell show, in addition to choice works by Neruda, Langston Hughes, Chris Haven, Kate Chopin, and many others. I haven't found a dry one in bunch, honestly, though at first glance I was afraid the section on public space would be a snooze. Not so! It's actually pretty thought-provoking.
The book's pedagogical emphasis is on getting readers to find and analyze the subtexts that run through cultural influences of all kinds and to explore their reactions through writing. I think this aspect of the book is very well done and would be effective in getting students to think critically about the world.

The strange and beautiful (not to mention utterly surprising) thing about this work is that it makes for consistently fascinating reading despite its status as a composition/cultural studies text. I've been leafing through the selections for pleasure reading, and from that perspective, it's an uncommonly tasty collection.

As a reader for a class, I think this book would be tremendously effective, and were I to teach a composition or cultural studies class, it would be my first choice.

Riley's and Rimmer's guide is a must-have for serious comsumers of pornography, covering, as it does, the years when (arguably) porn first skirted the crusted fringe of mainstream pop-culture. True, pornography perhaps first demanded critical scrunity when VHS brought it out of the ... booth in the 80s; but such a demand was, at best, muted. But when "Ass Rage 3" and "Natural Bone Drillers" (both given 5 stars in this guide) hit the shelves we witnessed an artistic reclamation which enabled the soi-disant culturally savvy elite to buff the chubster and bandy about terms like "Gen-X kitsch" and "post-PC irony." This tremendous guide is alive to that seminal shift, and indeed provides video-still evidence of several graphic examples of it. Hats off to the authors for such a perceptive treatment.

I thought that it was a very good book if you like sex and I tried a few of the suggestions on getting to know your lover with my wife and she seemed to enjoy the new me.So that is why I am interrested in futher videos and books.Please give us new material to enjoy!!!!!!!!!!

The first part of this book covers the historic aspects of Stereoscopic film making and is well written and interesting but the majority of the book is a reference guide to 3D movies. It is a great reference guide for anyone interested in 3D movies but it is not the greated book if you are looking for an in depth historical look at this genre. If you are a true 3D movie fan, this book is an indespensable reference.