Movies Books

Barry Gifford clearly knows and loves his noir. This book is comprised of columns Gifford wrote -- I forget the publication they originally appeared in -- recounting the plots of noir cinema, both from the '50s and from more recent times, in a stripped-down prose any hardboiled novelist would be proud of. These aren't reviews so much as praising bits of imitation -- Gifford seems to be challenging himself to write the perfect synopses of the movies he recounts, with a language that truly captures the feel of the genre. Minimalist meditations on crime films. You won't learn much about the movies Gifford writes about from this book (other than the stories) but if you've seen them and love them, you'll enjoy reading his prose, and if you haven't, you might get motivated to hunt them down. I forget the films he lists, exactly -- Nick Ray's excellent IN A LONELY PLACE is in there, but that's not pure noir by a longshot. David Lynch fans might note that the book also includes a critical piece on BLUE VELVET that puts the film down as "academic pornography" and sick stuff, and further lays down the putdown of calling it "phlegm noir." This is particularly funny in that Lynch ended up adapting Gifford's subsequent WILD AT HEART, and that the two collaborated together on LOST HIGHWAY... a film which I suspect contains buried references to Gifford's writing about Lynch here -- when Robert Blake (as that demon-figure) and Robert Loggia (as the pornographer) are squaring off and one of them, I forget which, says "No one makes ugly like we do..." Lynch and Gifford's alter-egos? Anyhow, it's a fun book...

This is a handy book, and in Kindle format even more so. I carry my Kindle in my bag, so this book, among others is always with me. Since I eat out a lot that is very handy. The Kindle is lighter and thinner the the print edition of the book, so this is one book that becomes more useful because it is on Kindle. It has information of grocery store products and a huge number and variety of resturants. If the resturant you go to isn't listed one with very similar is, and it isn't difficult to translate the ideas of nutritional info from resturant to the other. I do a quick look up in the car before I go in, or at the table sometimes, and I have the info for a good choice. The Kindle edition is well formatted, the graphs are big enough to read, and the links work.
One of the most pratical Kindle purchases I've made.

For anyone wanting to learn how to film, produce video in digital format as well as conventional sources, this is the ultimate reference guide. It takes you through every step. From purchasing the right equipment even on a budget, tips on how to produce the perfect video and sound through to editing, encoding and delivery. Not only it is a must for beginners but an excellent source to professionals as the detailed information and recourses contained are second to none.

The book is divided into compressive chapters, which are very easy to follow and are written in plain English. Diagrams and pictures take you through all the necessary steps. Although the title "Digital Movies with QuickTime" falls short, yes the use of QT video is explained in great detail but also the use of other programs like iMovie, Final Cut Pro and Abobe Premiere as also perfectly explained. There is also the added bonus of Terrain Cleaner, which lets you export to other formats like Real Media, Windows Media as well as CD, VCD and DVD delivery.

The book includes aa CD with step by step references and examples. Personally I didn't get to use it as not being a beginner, I could relate to most of the explanations given just on the book. The author even goes to the extreme on teaching you how to do a professional film production, how to budget, hire actors, etc.

I strongly recommend this book, it's very well written, easy to follow and totally up to date.

Juan Aneiros
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In "Doing Philosophy at the Movies" Gilmore opens the philosophical `doors of perception' and exposes the magic of holarchies, i.e. the discovery of patterns in parts of wholes that are parts of still greater wholes.

He suggests that "if philosophy and movies can be usefully thought of as tools, then their uses will be determined by what we need to get done with them." Movies offer a means of "transport...into a new condition...[which] may be a new state of mind or a new perspective or a new mood." He argues that in a state of "transport" we are leaving something and approaching something else, motions (and emotions) from and to, simultaneously.

In order to understand the nature of the journey, however, there needs to be a certain amount of reflective activity, incorporating a sense of story integration, assimilation or application that is best accomplished through philosophical investigation and discovery. We understand things by thinking about them, and in that regard movies constitute "externalized thought". The further back the archer can draw the bow, the further the arrow will fly: the more we understand the trajectory of investigation, the more likely we will experience growth.

"Philosophy is done for the sake of the community because without someone observing and tracking the unseen forces operating in a society, the society is blind. Without philosophy, society moves forward through new situations, new crises, new economic as well as new ethical conditions without any sense of where it is going." This argument is especially poignant today as the forces of globalization flatten traditional hierarchies, forcing previously insulated groups and individuals into new ethical dimensions and moral dilemmas. Doing philosophy at the movies means understanding the framework and the method by which the producer tells a story.

Gilmore offers a number of excellent philosophical investigations of issues inside certain movies (that are the subject of the text) that could also well stand on their own, independent of a relationship with a movie. Perhaps most importantly, he makes movies relevant. This is new territory for movie producers. More than mere entertainment with popcorn, movies explore serious ethical and moral issues, with direct application to everyday circumstances. By examining the issues, we grow a little closer to understanding those things we do not understand. The book will be an excellent resource for anyone wanting to dig deeper into the relationship between philosophy and movies; in fact, this book would be a great item for a book reading club or discussion group.

I have been reading Doug Pratt's video reviews for years. His newsletters have been an incredible resource, steering me toward movies or television programs on video that I might not have tried without his recommendation. His reviews not only include criticism of content but bonus materials and audio/visual quality. While there may be a lot of free reviews online, I have found many reviewers do not take the time to fully inspect bonus features on video nor are their appraisals of technical features (e.g., picture and sound) trust-worthy. Pratt's efforts should be praised.

His critical writing is also excellent. While my tastes do not exactly fall in line with his, I have always enjoyed reading his work. With the appropriate subject matter, Mr. Pratt can make draw connections in film or filmmaking itself to life. I wish I could make that sound less pretentious because Pratt's work is not pretentious. He is a grounded critic who understands that video can be valued in many ways (e.g., purely for entertainment's sake or, when it aspires to, for opening a viewer's mind). He also covers an incredible range of viewing from Hollywood blockbusters to family fare to documentaries to whatever one can imagine has been released on DVD. Plus, the man has a very good sense of humor.

The only thing that has stopped me from purchasing this work is the price. I was hoping my wife was going to order this for me, but I will have to be less subtle when the next gift-giving holiday comes around. I am looking forward to having his writing collected in these volumes. Highly recommended.

NOTE: I finally just up and ordered the set, and my recommendation stands. Terrific set, though an index might have been helpful. I know this is an expensive purchase, but I swear that if someone posted a link above to Pratt's remarks on Steven Soderbergh's TRAFFIC, these volumes might just fly out of the warehouse.

This is a great book! Anyone interested in Dracula/ Hammer horror/ Christopher Lee must read this fascinating critique of the first Hammer horror Dracula film (titled simply "DRACULA" in the UK, "HORROR OF DRACULA" in the US). The serious, in-depth analysis of the film was so fascinating I read the book through in one sitting. Granted, it is a slim, 100 page volume, but it is a thoroughly interesting and very compelling read. Finally, serious film historians are taking a second look at these fine old Hammer films, and seeing that they are much better than critics originally thought. It is a volume no true Hammer fan can do without! I kid you not!!! -George Bauch.

A very cool book about how technology is changing the way we see movies, make movies, and think about movies. DVDs give us the capability to see a lot of movies---all kinds of movies----again and again. They provide a way to challenge the one-size-fits-all attitude of corporate America (in this case, corporate America is Hollywood.)

You could almost say the advent of the DVD is a little bit like the advent of the Internet---it gives a lot of people the ability to access information, thus increasing their appetite for it. And if you can skip from a Bollywood DVD to Persona to The Wizard of Oz to the Creature from Planet X all in the same night---sort of like surfing the net---it's got to do something to your approach to movies. I've done that, but until I read Barlow's book, I never thought about its effect.

Barlow has a very easy, readable style, and has a real knack for writing about things that could be dry---like questions of copyright, or the Special Edition DVD---with liveliness and insight. And I loved the discussions on the history of film collecting and the impact of the video on the work of Quentin Tarantino (and in turn, his impact on the world of film).

For film students such as myself, I would say that the DVD Revolution is almost a necessity---we need to know more about the world that we are going to make films in! But I think anyone who has a passion for movies would enjoy this book.

Essentially an attitude depending on an educated aesthetic, detached, deconstructive, and usually bemused disposition, "camp" is a slippery concept. One person's camp can be another person's earnest literalism. Camp doesn't have a simple or comprehensive definition. Over two pages in the Introduction, Feil enumerates some attributes of camp: "...variety of coded meanings, from 'declasse' vulgarities and underground subcultures...juxtapose low, trivial pop culture sensationalism with the high and important fight for group survival...exploit serious topical concerns...self-parody, ironic pastiche, and special effects...." And throughout the book, he specifies other aspects of camp before analyzing or interpreting certain horror movies to show how they participate in camp, sometimes unintentionally. Starting with the campy disaster movies of the 1970s, the book moves right up to date in dealing with the changed perspective on disaster, threat, and survival after 9/11 and some recent, tentative, ambiguous gambits to reinvigorate camp. As expected in any book on camp. Feil makes regular references to Susan Sontag's perceptive, seminal essays on camp in the mid 1960s. Feil greatly elaborates on Sontag's central, stimulating insights with his "hybrid" method involving "historical reaction analysis, genre criticism, queer studies, and historical poetics" applied to many disaster movies and the reviews, notices, promotional materials, and marketing surrounding them. Feil is with the Department of Visual and Media Arts at Emerson College.

In Easy Digital Home Movies, computer expert Jake Ludington provides able, step-by-step instruction in just how to go about making flawless home movies with just a camcorder and a PC. Ludington utilizes a visual, four-color approach that is completely accessible to even the most novice student. Easy Digital Home Movies provides illustrative and detailed instruction on how to capture and edit home movies, how to e-mail movies, how to stream movies on the Web, and even how to transfer movies to DVD for later viewing. If you want to get into the fascinating and creatively rewarding field of digital movie making, then Jake Ludington's Easy Digital Home Movies is the ideal instructional reference book for you!

Wakoski's most recent work is the third in her series of "An Archaelogy of Books and Movies.: Combining pop culture references about current movies with notions on quantum physics, Wakoski's voice lends a poetic wit to present society. After over twenty books of poetry, Wakoski's "personal mythology", which involves such key players as Medea, Jason, the Steelman, and the King of Spain is still being recreated. Her poetry (which some label as "confessional" constantly reaches new stylistic heights and challenges the reader to dig deeper into themselves and explore their relationship with the worlds she creates. Her search for beauty and artistic passion in the world is still as strong. What better place to look than Vegas