Movies Books

This was the first of Dixon's books I picked up (quite by chance) about six years ago, and it's what initially got me hooked on this idiosyncratic, one of a kind writer. I recently reread some of the stories, and enjoyed them just as much the second time. The stories here predate Dixon's foray into the obsessive, long paragraphs that would distinguish his trademark style in novels such as "Frog", "Interstate" and "Gould". The pieces in "Movies" deal with isolation, paranoia and absurdity in a bleak, nameless urban landscape that could be the New York City of a parallel universe, or perhaps one of Beckett's nether regions. The characters face their respective situations with such neurosis that it is at times unbearable. There's always a kind of gallows humor on hand, and Dixon manages to make us laugh at the same time that he forces us to cringe. The title story, in particular, is darkly hilarious. Highly recommended for fans and students of Kafka, Beckett or even Woody Allen and Bergman. Great stuff.

From the Basilisk to the Yowie, this book contains 44 impressively illustrated mythical monsters.

These monsters are neatly contained (!)according to their origin - `Ancient Legends and Folklore' includes the Black Dog, the Golem, the Leviathan and the Troll.
`Mythological Monsters' includes Cerberus, Scylla, the Hydra and the Wyvern.
`Media Monsters' feature Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, Gargantua, Godzilla, King Kong, Mothra (my personal favourite) and the Werewolf.
`Modern Monsters' currently includes creatures as diverse as Bigfoot, the Hopkinsville Goblin, the Jersey Devil, the Loch Ness Monster and the Yowie.

This is a book aimed at ages 7 and up. Reading it as an adult, I was impressed with the way in which the author included maps and information boxes describing the background to each monster. I was also impressed with the full colour artwork. Writing as a mother (and also as a 7 year old once upon a time, in a century now past) I am not sure that all seven year olds would be capable of differentiating fact from fantasy. Personally, I wouldn't suggest it as an unsupervised read at that age. Children are different: some will enjoy the pictures, accept the stories and move on. Others might incorporate the monsters into their own rich inner world and be afraid. Some children, though, will rejoice in an opportunity to explore myths and this book may well provide a useful starting point.

This is a book I would not hesitate to buy for some children, and welcome into my own library.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

This Englishman, who I guess spent time in Hollywood gathering information for a British television show on same, has done a good job in collecting quotes, pictures, and information about Hollywood in the 1980s. The book's drawback is that it is necessarily restricted to that decade, and earlier. It hasn't been updated like a college textbook, edition after edition, although conceivably, it could be so updated.

Mr. Kent talked to many people in the movie business, from actors to directors to producers to studio executives and agents. The book presents "naked" Hollywood in the sense that Kent describes how emotions, including especially Hollywood's version of machismo, play a large role in running the business.

At one point, Kent writes that creative people are generally anxious about the opinions of others. This struck me as a true statement, and worthy of reflection.

Creative people, unless they are satisfied with their creations in themselves, always have to look to others for recognition and approval. Especially actors and actresses, poor souls, but musicians, artists, etc., the same thing.

I wonder how many creative people there are who actually never look for approval from others, and recognition, but are happy with their own creations? Hobbyists?

Anyway, this book has many interesting photographs and I'm surprised no one has reviewed it heretofore. It will probably be a collectible someday. Anyone collect books for a hobby? Not too creative.

Diximus.

Another story from the master of the "South Florida Wacko Genre" is a fun read. The only reason it does not get 5 stars is that it is not as rich as Basket Case or Stormy Weather, both masterpieces from Carl Hiaasen. In this one, Honey Santana takes revenge on an irritating telemarketer who calls, when else? at suppertime! She leads him into the swampy everglades where predictable hilarious plot twists develop. In all of Hiaasens novels you can depend on: Engaging flawed protagonists who love the unspoiled beauty of Florida, and moronic spoilers of the environment, and always: Skink the righteous hermit who is the conscience of all that is uncorruptible.
Plenty of laughs.

I've found this to be an invaluable reference when I'm looking to catch up on my film education. I like to watch modern films, but just as often I like to pause in front of the classics section at the video store and pick something out I feel I should have seen. This book is the one I usually take with me, and it has paid off handsomely. I'd have never seen the wonderful "Touch of Class" (Glenda Jackson/George Segal) without this book, or "Lilies of the Field", or many others.

The book has useful lists of all Academy Award winners, and I like the way he keeps separate lists for the "big four" (director, picture, actor, actress) and all the other awards. A movie that wins one of the big four awards is almost always worth seeing; a movie that wins one of the others is a bit more of a risk, especially after forty or fifty years have passed.

The book is useful for reference, but less valuable as a source of information about the quality of the films. It seems clear Pickard hasn't actually seen every one of these movies. He does give clear and (I've found) reliable opinions about many films, but quite a few of the descriptions just give the facts and some background information.

Recommended, as a reference at least, and for the comments on some of the films.

This is an awesome and awakening introduction to the concept of visualation. Works excellent for a beginner like me. Very informative with concrete steps and stories to bring one into the awareness of visualizing.

Every author wants as large an audience as possible. Given his field of philosophy, Falzon takes the approach that teaching this via popular movies is one way to get attention. Hence, by looking at examples like Star Trek: The Next Generation, he segues into discussions of self and personal identity. Bringing in luminaries like Locke and Kant. Probably a far easier approach than traditional philosophy texts that invoke these people and their writings.

It also affords some lighthearted ways to raise serious issues. By considering Groundhog Day or High Noon, the book brings in questions of morality and justice. At a level made comprehensible by these common cultural references.

... I first learned of this book as a college student in the 1970's, but was unable to locate a copy of the book until 2003. ...

The Plastic Age was a best seller when it was released in 1924. ... (This 1980 edition is painstaking reproduced from a first edition giving the reader the impression of reading a 1920's style of typesetting, formatting and punctuation.) In addition, this 1980 edition contains a brief afterward written by R.V. Cassill, a professor at Brown during the 1980's, discussing the merits and issues raised by the book.

There are essentially five reasons for which you might want to read this book, and depending upon which reason, the book may or may not be a worthwhile read.

First, as a work of fiction, the book chronicles the life of Hugh Carver, a straight-laced boy who attends fictional Sanford College, from his matriculation as a naïve freshman to his graduation as a worldly senior. On this level, the book is entirely linear, predictable and pedestrian. The lead characters are virtual stereotypes of geeks, jocks, BMOCs, frat boys, cool professors, bad professors, and every other type of flora and fauna encountered in any college work of fiction. Hugh wrestles with the issues of work, stress, the meaning of life, as well as the perils of gambling, alcohol, fraternity life and fast women as the book progresses. Clearly I would not recommend the book to anyone seeking an entertaining novel.

Second, The Plastic Age was written an expose of college life in the 1920's. I believe this in fact was the primary reason the book was written, and the reason why it was a best seller in the late 1920's. (The book even became a movie in 1925 featuring the "It girl", Clara Bow.) In the 1920's, going to college was rare, with well less than 10 percent of the population attending college, and extremely prestigious. Yet, Marks, who was a lecturer at Dartmouth College at the time he wrote the novel, realized that much of college life was largely boorish, anti-intellectual and not worthy of such admiration. The masses apparently enjoyed his expose and the healthy doses of sex and alcohol featured in the book, although these "racy" descriptions would be rated G by contemporary standards. If as a reader or a student of history, you were interested in learning about what intrigued the book buying public in the 1920's, The Plastic Age would be well worth your time.

On a third level, if you are interested in reading a historical time capsule from the 1920's, once again The Plastic Age admirably fits the bill, complete with colloquialisms long since vanished. If the reader were writing a screenplay or novel concerning college life in the 1920's, The Plastic Age would serve as an excellent reference for manners, language and activities of the time period.

The last two levels are the ones I found the most enjoyable. Fourth, the book is stunning confirmation of the phrase, "the more things change, the more they stay the same." College life for Hugh in the 1920's seems extremely similar to my nephew's contemporary life in college as well as my own twenty-five years earlier. You realize that students the world over, and probably since the time of Socrates, wrestle with their place in society, while experiencing the adult pleasures and risks of sexuality and mind altering substances, for the first time in their young lives without parental control.

Finally, there is a fifth level that would appeal to a niche audience, and that is alumni of Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. Author Marks was a lecturer at Dartmouth at the time he wrote this book, although he was a Professor at Brown when it was published. Fictional Sanford is clearly a very thinly disguised Dartmouth College. The landmarks, college traditions and even the geographic layout of Sanford are so unique to Dartmouth that it would be unimaginable for him to be writing about another place. As such, the book becomes a fascinating read of past lives lived and the seemingly universal experiences encountered while attending the College on the Hill.

This little book could easily have been a fully fledged tome. Loss surveys the popular American media in the 1960s. He shows how it echoed and in turn fed back on the burning issues of the times. The Vietnam War and the civil rights movement.

There is discussion of politics at the Federal level, with the actions of US Presidents being key events. But Loss manages to tie this all into a narrative that also encompasses analysis of the rock and roll scene and the counterculture.

The book is aimed at an undergraduate or high school reader, as a quick synopsis of trends that Loss traces back to 1945 and the emergence of the US from the Second World War. He hopes to whet the reader's appetite for more detailed reading of these vast topics.

This book is succinct and simple but full of usefull information. It helped my clinical skills significantly. I highly recommend it to everyone.