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Movies Books sorted by Average customer review: high to low .

Movies
CultTVman's Ultimate Modeling Guide to Classic Sci-Fi Movies
Published in Paperback by CultTVman (2002-06)
Authors: Steve Iverson and Anthony Taylor
List price: $19.95
New price: $19.95

Average review score:

Covers some unsual model kit builds...
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-08-31
Everything from a Disney Nautilus to George Pal's Time Machine. Tons of tips and how to do casting, making molds, tricks for better details on models. If you like to scratchbuild, this books is chocked full of good information.

Classic kits, Classic reviews
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2002-07-13
I picked up Cult's book at WonderFest with egar anticipation. What was contained in the book did not dissapoint. It was filled with great kits I never knew existed (& now want) as well as great ideas & tips on building them. I can't say enough about this book & how it will help me build a better kit.

Excellent resource for SF Modeling
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2002-07-12
If you love to build scale models from classic sci-fi movies, then this is the book for you. This book covers a wide range of subjects: plastic model kits that you would remember from your youth, some of the coolest offerings by the contemporary garage industry, and techniques for beginners and experts. Since no single project requires EVERY modelling skill (typical of the hobby), each chapter takes a classic movie robot or spacecraft and details the building process in its own unique way.

CultTVman's guide offers tips on building, painting, customizing, and displaying some of the more obscure kits out there - kits that are only offered in the "garage scene", never produced by a major plastic model company. It was a blast to see these familiar subjects built by some very talented people.

Belongs in every Sci Fi Model Library
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2002-07-16
Few books devoted to science fiction modelmaking have punctuated the monotonous and predictable landscape of model building related books, and this one is a stand-out! "The Ultimate Modeling Guide..." covers a broad range of science fiction hardware and model making techniques. Excellent photography supports detailed and authoritative text. I've found it to be instructional and inspirational. This book is for anyone interested in modelmaking. And for the sci-fi specific modelmaker, you library is sorely incomplete until you get this book. I highly recommend it!

At last, a book for sci fi modelers!
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2002-07-13
Reference books and how-to books for modelers are a small niche in the market, and they've been almost entirely oriented toward the military modeler. Now at last is an in-depth how-to book for the science fiction kit builder. We're not out in the cold any more! Steve Iverson has gathered a gaggle of the best sci fi modelers from around the CultTVMan internet community, and they've given us step-by-step articles on building and improving such kits as Polar Lights' Robbie the Robot and C-57D spaceship, Lunar Models' Proteus and Discovey, and many other mainstream and garage industry models. The book is capped off with a fascinating history of the filming model of the Starship Enterprise from Star Trek: The Motion Picture through its retirement, with some wonderful reference photos of the ship - worth the price of admission alone!

Movies
Disney Pixar Toy Story and Beyond Carry Along Treasury
Published in Board book by Reader's Digest (2003-09-01)
Authors: Lori Froeb and Disney Screen Caps
List price: $14.99
New price: $40.86
Used price: $5.58

Average review score:

Great take-along book for busy kids!
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-04-16
This book is a great book for young kids-- it is very durable with sturdy pages and has a convenient plastic handle for them to carry it around with them. It also has a plastic clamp on the side to hold the book closed while carrying it, but very easy to operate for little hands. This is a great book for toddlers and preschool-aged children who enjoy Toy Story and it's characters Buzz Lightyear and Woody. My son loved this book and carried it around everywhere.

Toy Story Carry Along Treasury
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-01-05
My daughter loves the Toy Story movies. This book follows the story closely and has great photos. Since it is a board book the pages won't get ripped and it will last a long time.

Great take-along!
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2006-11-14
This book has been a favorite to bring along in the car, whether it is for long trips or even short ones. The children get to read about their favorite movie, instead of watching the whole movie! It's been great! And the handle means they can carry it, one less thing for me to carry!

A beyond treasure
Helpful Votes: 12 out of 12 total.
Review Date: 2005-06-13
This book is great for the rough and tumble child. My son loves this book and since its super sturdy, I don't worry about him destroying it. The illustrations are incredible and the book is constructed really well. A great find for the buzz lightyear fan.

FABULOUS!
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2006-03-20
My son loves this book. The handle makes it super easy for him to carry and he loves to take it with him everywhere.

Movies
The Duchess' Lover
Published in Paperback by Jove (2002-03-26)
Author: Julie Beard
List price: $6.99
New price: $0.01
Used price: $0.01
Collectible price: $10.00

Average review score:

Beard at her Best!
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2002-04-28
Julie Beard's THE DUCHESS' LOVER, is a multi-faceted, sparkling gem of a book! She deftly weaves the subplots while keeping the readers' emotions focused on the sensual, yet poignant, unfolding lovestory between a lonely duchess and her forbidden lover. Several secondary characters enliven the story with their authenticity and humor. Beard always manages to delve deeply into the dark complexities of human nature to mine out shining shards of humanity and compassion and love and hope.

Cheers for Older Women and their Younger Men!
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2002-04-17
Lady Chatterly isn't the only woman who loves her gardener--but Julie Beard tells a much more compelling, satisfying tale than the classic by giving us a heroine and hero who develop their own dreams while making each other's come true, societal pressures be damned! And she leads us down a delightful primrose path with plenty of misleading clues as we discover who dunnit to the Duke.
It's been a long time since I've enjoyed a cast of such well-developed, interesting characters, and I literally couldn't put this one down.

Making it work!
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2004-01-22
If you read the other reviews you should know that Oliva is in her 40's and Will, the gardner cum artist is in his twenties. Her husband dies, they get together, fall in love and he helps find a killer. Besides the murder mystery, the story looks at society's ills and examines not just the main couples relationship (although it does focus on them) but the fascinating secondary characters' as well.

What really is astounding though, is that Ms. Beard makes this whole May/December plot work. Completely.

Ordinarily, I don't really go for the older woman/younger man scenario. I have the usual hangups about it and wonder what will happen when she is 60 and he is 40. But the author really sells the whole kit and kaboddle. It's so well written and the characters are so well defined that I can picture Livie and Will falling in love. I can see them facing anything to be together. I can feel the love they share and I believe that they can each change enough to make a life together.

This is no small feat, let me tell you. ;-)

So if you're squeamish at all about the older woman/younger man scenario, please, don't be. It's a terrific book. One of the best I've ever read. I've read it many times now and it will definitely be on my keeper shelf for many years to come.

A beautiful story of love against all the odds
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2004-01-18
Beard triumphs in this well-constructed and touching tale. The hero and heroine are well-rounded and beautifully developed. Any woman who's had to or is reassessing her life will immediately relate to Olivia. Her courage is inspiring. And the hero is everything such a woman could dream of. Theirs is a powerful story of unexpected love and passion in spite of the strictures of society and differences in age and social rank.

In addition to the wonderful love story, one that had me wondering how Beard would manage to come up with a happy ending, there are a number of wholly satisfying subplots, including a secondary love story that parallels Olivia's discoveries about love and life and a who-done-it murder mystery with plenty of red herrings, possible suspects, and titillating clues. On top of all this are penetrating looks at social mores, societal ills, and personal foibles, dreams, and heartaches. The doubts, joys, and anguish experienced by the characters ring true, allowing the book to do what the best literature should do: question ourselves and the world around us, reevaluating what we believe and how we live.

"The Duchess' Lover" is a riveting book that should be on everyone's to-be-read list, reminding us that real love truly is the most important thing. This is probably a book that needs to be read periodically, just to remember all these things when the tyranny of the urgent and the expectations of others begin weighing us down.

Scandalous!
Helpful Votes: 7 out of 7 total.
Review Date: 2004-03-03
Olivia "Livie" had been very young when she married Quinton Thorpe and became the Duchess of Brandhurst. For almost twenty-five years she lived with her husband's cruelty by shutting off all emotions. As the book opened, I learned Quinton had been murdered, stabbed in the back with a letter opener by an unknown person (while trying to kill Olivia), and Livie was still in shock.

Few knew the Duke had been murdered. Those few, which included Olivia, felt the Duke had gotten what he deserved. So the murder was covered up and kept quiet. The title fell to Andrew Thorpe, an American. Until he could settle his affairs and get to England, Livia was to be in charge.

Neville Thorpe, second in line for the title, was jealous. He stayed by his Aunt Olivia's side and took charge of everything in her for her. He used his time to plot and scheme ways of obtaining the title he so coveted. He was aided by Quinton's wicked valet, Antonio. Neville found Olivia to be easily controlled until ...

Clara Peabody was an advocate with the Ladies' National Association. She approached Olivia, a year after the Duke's death, about helping fight to help the suffering of the match factory ladies. Olivia's eyes opened to possibilities and she developed a backbone.

Willoughby Barnes was an unknown artist. Since his deceased father had worked in the Duke's garden, Will had grown up learning the trade. He was asked to design the garden around the Duke's burial plot. Out of money for paints, he agreed. There, Olivia and Will met and fell in love. Olivia felt true love for the first time. However, Livie was forty and a duchess while Will was in his twenties and a gardner. It could never work.

***** The author, Julie Beard, keeps the reader guessing as to who really murdered the Duke. At the same time, she succeeds in keeping romance, betrayal, compassion, and several wonderful sub-plots going in the story. Normally this would not work. However, Julie Beard MADE it work! It all blends smoothly together and becomes as beautiful as Will's painting of Olivia! An enlightening and graceful story that I highly recommend to one and all! *****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

Movies
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind: The Shooting Script (Newmarket Shooting Script Series)
Published in Paperback by Newmarket Press (2004-03-15)
Authors: Charlie Kaufman and Michel Gondry
List price: $18.95
New price: $11.31
Used price: $7.51

Average review score:

Eternally spotless
Helpful Votes: 16 out of 20 total.
Review Date: 2005-06-27
"Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!/Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd... Desires compos'd, affections ever ev'n,/Tears that delight, and sighs that waft to Heav'n." The original Alexander Pope poem suits the movie whose title it inspired, "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," a unique, surreal film about memories, love and sorrow.

"Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" deals with timid, conservative Joel, who bumps into ex-girlfriend Clementine at a store -- and finds she doesn't remember him. He finds a notice in his mail that she has had him erased from her memories, and angrily decides to have the same done. But during the procedure, Joel revisits the good times they had together, and finds that he doesn't want to lose his memories with Clementine.

This movie, by Michel Gondry and Charlie Kaufman, was one of the best of 2004, and one that isn't quickly forgotten. The screenplay is an excellent accompaniment; if there is a line or an image that didn't seem to make sense, it might make more sense here. "Eternal Sunshine" fans will also like the scenes that never made it to the final cut, and one scene got shuffled around.

Additionally, there is an interview at the end with Kaufman. In it, he describes his writing background, his collaborations with Gondry, clashes with Ben Affleck's horrific "Paycheck," memory, and that wonderful "Velveteen Rabbit" scene. Although, it could have used more of Kaufman's thoughts on the final product and the actors.

The stumbling blocks? Don't try reading the screenplay BEFORE seeing the movie, or you will be hopelessly lost. The script cuts wildly from the past, the present, inside and outside the characters' heads. It works wonderfully on the screen, but on paper it's hard to visualize just by the words alone. That, and this richly visual film is only represented by some murky black-and-white photos.

"Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" is a wonderful script, which spawned a wonderful film. And for fans of that film, this is an excellent accompaniment and resource.

memories are to be remembered
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2004-12-10
this is a brilliant affecting screenplay..like much of kaufman's work it combines inventivness and originality with the creation of well drawn poignant complex characters trying to make sense of and live as best they can in this world we live in. amidst all the craziness and surreal aspects of his work there's a real humanism that shines through...i once read in an interview charlie did that he consider's himself primarily a book person not a film person..i loved that...the world needs more screenwriters who look at themselves as primarily book people particularly when they can team up with such visual artists as michel gondry or spike jonz..no wonder these collaboratons produce such great films..these artists perfectley complement each other..nonetheless this screenplay stands on it's own as a work of art..

This is a truly beautiful movie...
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2005-05-27
This is a truly beautiful movie. I seriously think it is one of Jim Carey's best films. The cinematography is provocative and intelligent. The acting is flawless. And the plot is a well devised mesh of fantastical conception and blatant realism mixed with subtle humor. It should have one an award. It was certaintly better than Million Dollar Baby.

Provides the reader with a 165-page shooting script in book
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 9 total.
Review Date: 2004-05-02
A Hollywood film script book from Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Charlie Kaufman (whose previous credits include "Being John Malkovich" and "Adaptation"), for the very highly acclaimed film "Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind", this provides the reader with a 165-page shooting script in book form and will prove to be a welcome addition to the growing library of Hollywood film scripts and "must" reading for aspiring film students. Enhanced with a Q&A with Kaufman, black/white movie stills with commentary, and complete cast and crew credits, Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind will also prove of great interest to the legions of Jim Carrey fans who enjoyed his performance as Joel, a young man who wants to have the painful memories of his girlfriend Clementine (played by Kate Winslet) erased from his mind.

Thought provoking and truly original
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2005-01-19
This was a movie I didn't expect to like. I hadn't heard that much about it and wasn't all that enthusiastic about seeing another Jim Carey movie. Boy, was I pleasantly surprised.

First of all, this movie is truly original. That's rare these days. It revolves around the premise that you can erase someone from your memories. In this case, the "someone" to be erased is Kate Winslet's character of Clementine. She is wacky and artsy, and plays against Carey's straightlaced character Joel perfectly. I had just seen an interview with Winslet before this movie and was amazed at her accurate American accent. Very well done.

And Carey is brilliant. His toned down, not over the top portrayal of Joel was delightful and wonderful. This is the first time I actually thought of Carey as a very good actor. Both Carey and Winslet deserve an Oscar for this film.

In addition, the film is beautifully shot as well. This could have been a very goofy movie, with a premise that was hard to actually get into and believe, but this film worked perfectly on all accounts: writing, cinematography, acting. I would recommend this film to anyone that wants to see a thoroughly enjoyable, funny, sweet, interesting, wonderful film that is unlike any you've seen before.

From the author of The Difference Now, A New Dish, and At the Coffee Shop. (www.thedifferencenow.com).

Movies
The Films of John Cassavetes: Pragmatism, Modernism, and the Movies (Cambridge Film Classics)
Published in Hardcover by Cambridge University Press (1994-03-25)
Author: Ray Carney
List price: $59.95
Used price: $221.95

Average review score:

Scientific writing at its best
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-06-23
Carney's book is scientific writing at its best. The book, despite the level of abstraction, is totally captivating. A lot of connections to sociological theories (pragmatism) are used to penetrate the characters and C:s way of filming (as well as interesting observations about Hitchcock and Orson Welles). Also, this is a book about being human as much as it is about the films of Cassavetes. The book is well structured with one film and analysis per chapter. I'm not a film student but I learned a lot from reading this. Highly recommended!

Read and Reread
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-03-29
I doubt that I can say anything about this book that hasn't been said before but this is, by every measure, an outstanding examination of Cassavetes amazing body of work.
I go back to this book every six months or so and have for a number of years. It is a very thorough, reverent, and insightful reference book but it goes well beyond that. Though very full of information, it is personal enough that it has allowed (and encouraged) me to go and evaluate the films myself without the feeling that there is a "law" or an agenda already set with these films.
The greatest beauty of Cassavetes' films is that each one belongs to the individual; meaning that every person who chooses to lend his or her heart to the characters, stories, and subject matter(s) can get something out of it that belongs solely to that person. The films can excite, enrage, entertain, and rattle you in ways that films seldom do.

Cassavetes films make you more than an audience member as they make you more aware than ever that you just might still be human.

Great book and highly reccomended.

a very interesting and important book
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2003-09-06
I originally got this book and read the whole thing, before i had seen any of cassavetes movies. This is not a recommended route. I have now seen all of his films, except for husbands, and i can't tell you how amazing i think the importance of this book is. I wonder what the ratio is between the people who disagree and agree with it's context, in respect to it's attitude towards american cinema. the book really does rewire your brain. The people who i am friends with, who are also interested in film are dumb founded when ever i casually undermine 2001 or citizen kane in a conversation. More importantly though, this book, like Cassavetes films, extends into life and actually opens you up to knew spiritual territory
you didn't think about. One last point: Does any one notice how suprisingly objective Carney is when he mentions his most hated film makers like Spielberg ? Get this book. It may feel too intellectual, but it really isn't. If you think that then you are reading it too quickly and not thinking about what it's actually saying.

Boring is as boring does
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2001-11-21
I'm not sure what book the reviewer below this read, but I don't know how many times I'd have to read about films that completely re-imagine the way I (and our popular culture) see the world and my own experience before I'd feel "bored" or anything less than inspired and envigorated. In fact, I read this book very often - not just to gain information, like a dictionary or an encyclopedia, giving me facts and figure data I didn't have before, but as mental calethenics, or something like spiritual openess training. This is a much more meaningful and important activity than thematic comparison and contrsating, no matter how technically interesting that is. As the concepts and points of view on the world process thru my brain as I read them off the page, I gain new abilities to understand and see - and this takes work, and often repetition. So I reccomend anyone who reads this book and hopes to gain insight, not just into Cassavetes and his films, but into their own personal attitudes, to keep themselves OPEN, as Cassavetes explicitly did in every frame of film he exposed, and to always give the artist (or author) the benefit of the doubt before passing judgement based on arbitrary ulterior motives (which, naturally, we all have). This isn't easy (especially to the greatly film cultured), but I dare say you'll enjoy this book, and your life, a lot more.

Don't read it without support
Helpful Votes: 7 out of 8 total.
Review Date: 2000-05-10
Almost everything Carney says, you tend to utterly hate him for at first. His most recent article seemed so pessimistic that I spent an hour in my apartment, sitting in front of the TV depressed by it all.

Everything Carney writes tends to be tough at first, because, like Cassavetes, he mentions truths about life that very few people wish to confront. There is no evasion of reality in this book. People can be horrible to each other. We all die in the end. That's life.

Carney doesn't analyse Cassavetes' work in relation to other movies and cultural trends (as most film professors tend to do), but prefers to focus entirely on the performances of the characters on screen. Like Cassavetes, he never really explains the characters' motivations, but instead focuses on how they react to their environments. Everything he writes is about life -- you'll find nothing about tendentious compositions, popular culture, or auteur theory. The only important thing here is Carney's love for the characters and their creator.

One of the greatest books ever written on American film.

Movies
The flight of the Phoenix
Published in Unknown Binding by Avon Books (1966)
Author: Elleston Trevor
List price:
Used price: $1.25
Collectible price: $12.00

Average review score:

A Best All-Time Adventure Story
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-05-09
If you haven't read this all-time best adventure story, do so. You're in for a treat (it beats the movie versions hands down). During World War II, a plane crashes in the North African desert, and the survivors reconstruct it to fly again. That's enough to tell. Read a longer review after you read the book.
I hope you find the following suggestions useful. All great African adventures:

Also read "Cry Wolf," by Wilbur Smith--another great African story (set in Ethiopia in the 1930s): Cry Wolf

And don't miss "The Sands of Kalahari" (a plane crashes in the Kalahari desert): The Sands of Kalahari

"The Sapphire Sea" (a modern adventure in Zanzibar), by Ben Robinson.
The Sapphire Sea

Book continues to elude Hollywood hoo-ha
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2004-10-17
With yet another movie treatment of this clever and accomplished novel about to explode onto our screens, it's even more to readers' advantage to check out Elleston Trevor's original story.

The 1965 Robert Aldrich version was a worthy effort but nevertheless held back from tackling the undercurrent of menace and sheer adult writing that made the novel such a triumph in the first place. The 2004 Hollywoodization, with Dennis Quaid. G Ribisi and Miranda Otto, barely seems to pay lip-service to the title before galumphing off in good old 'Indiana Jones-meets-Hidalgo' fashion towards lowest common denominated Phantasia-in-the-Sands.

Read quick to avoid disappointment.

Great story of survival!
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2005-10-06
This book has a fairly simple overall plot. A plane crashes in the desert, and when dealing with dire conditions the men who survive the crash try to find a way to survive the desert. The writing is gripping, and the personalities of the characters build through the book. The descriptions of the harsh conditions of the desert on the men, leave the reader disturbed, but wanting to read more. Themes that include the power and beauty of nature are intertwined throughout the book. Survival for these men is presented almost as a complicated puzzle which must be solved to avoid deadly consequences. It was a page turner for me- the writing is excellent!

Exciting, well-told survivor story
Helpful Votes: 6 out of 8 total.
Review Date: 2005-03-06
The Flight of the Phoenix by Elleston Trevor is an excellent story that has spawned two very good movies. Pilot Frank "Shut It Down" Towns is sent to shut down an oil rig that has gone dry in the middle of the Libyan desert. On the way home, the plane crashes in a horrific sandstorm, killing two of the passengers. The survivors of the crash must band together to survive. Their original plan is to sit tight and wait for someone to come and rescue them until one of the passengers, a young aircraft designer named Stringer, proposed building a new plane out of the wreckage and flying to safety. What follows is a race against time as the survivors must battle the elements with limited supplies as they try to survive.

Elleston Trevor's novel is a well-told character study of what happens when people are placed in horrific conditions. Much of the novel centers around the fight for authority between Towns, the experienced yet self-doubting pilot, and Stringer, the young, obsessed aircraft designer. By the end of the novel, Trevor has fleshed out all the characters so the reader legitimately cares whether they survive or not. If you enjoy this novel, check out the 1965 classic starring Jimmy Stewart and Richard Attenborough and the exciting 2004 remake starring Dennis Quaid and Giovanni Ribisi. For a well-told story with believable characters and an unexpected twist, check out Elleston Trevor's Flight of the Phoenix!

Asperger's Syndrome character makes this book stand out
Helpful Votes: 8 out of 10 total.
Review Date: 2004-11-25
"Flight of the Phoenix" held my attention, as an adventure novel should. What makes this book stand out is a character who is ignored for the first half of the book, because he's quiet and keeps to himself. In the middle of the book he becomes the most important character. In the penultimate chapter the plot twists around this character in what has to be most unexpected surprise I've ever seen in a novel. The character is a young engineer with Asperger's Syndrome, although the book was written thirty years before Asperger's Syndrome was discovered. Individuals with this form of autism are extremely intelligent but have poor social skills. They're ability to focus on a task can be their greatest strength or their downfall. In "Flight of the Phoenix" this is what saves the men, but then...well, I won't give away the plot! I listened to the audio download, which was very good except you really need to see what a Skytruck looks like, as the characters talk about different parts of the airplane wreckage. A quick Google search will find you photos of this type of aircraft.

Movies
Frank Miller's Sin City: The Making of the Movie
Published in Hardcover by TroubleMaker Publishing (2005-04-25)
Authors: Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez
List price: $30.00
New price: $6.00
Used price: $3.38

Average review score:

Fabulous Insight into the Making of the Film
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-07-24
This book's a prefect exmaple of how a "making of ..." book should be written. It's choke full of conceptual designs, screen tests, screen shots, comaprison between the comic books and the film's visuals. Plus the script. I find it extremely worth the price. If you are a fan of movies with great visuals and comic book-based movies, this one is a can't miss.

Superb for price
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2005-08-30
One of the most informative and professionally layed out books about a movie I have ever read. Usually you would have to pay top dollar to buy a book of such high quality. Definately recommend to any film enthusiast or maker!

Astonishing & insightful
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2005-08-17
Simply all you could ask for. Detailed journey through the entire movie with quotes from the director and the author. Excellent quality pictures. Great behind the scenes information and gossip. Can't wait for the sequels!!!

Frank Miller's Sin City : The Making of the Movie
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2005-08-28
Frank Miller is a comic book god, rejuvenating classic stories like Batman and Daredevil while simultaneously conjuring up well-written and provocative tales of sinister film noir and graphic novel impressionist avant-garde violence. One of the most impressive and original movies I've seen for years, SIN CITY blew me away with its knowingly malicious nature, razor-edge script and frenetic action. To have such revolutionary geniuses like Miller and Quentin Tarintino collaborate on a film like this, it's more than welcome for American audiences looking for a non-traditional event that shakes the rule book, rips out all the pages and burns them. This behind the scenes tome, penned by Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez is filled to the brim with all the essentials that make a great backstage look at the absorbing world of filmmaking. Containing the entire screenplay for Sin City, a widespread behind the scenes photo collection, cast and filmmakers feelings on the film, nicely presented publicity material for the marketing, and so much more. Lavishly presented and with enough info to satisfy the most ardent fan, what more could you want? This is indispensable material for any film fan, and a great value, it makes this even more appealing. If you don't already have this enthralling manuscript, buy it now!

If you loved the movie you'll love the book...
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2005-08-04
If you know a decent movie when you see one, you'll love this book on the making of Sin City. It explains how the movie was taken from graphic novel to screen. It has quotes from the cast and crew, the screenplay in it's entirity, as well as some awesome pictures. It goes into detail about the wardrobe and cars in the movie, and how they achieved the comic-book style that they were going for. Plus, almost every page has a page from the graphic novel in the background, so if you've never read the original Sin City you pretty much can by buying this book (If your eyesight's good enough, that is).

Movies
Franklin in the Dark (Franklin Series)
Published in Hardcover by Kids Can Press, Ltd. (1986-09-01)
Author: Paulette Bourgeois
List price: $10.95
New price: $0.99
Used price: $0.01

Average review score:

Great springboard for discussions with a preschooler
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2006-11-12
I found this book to be helpful in getting my daughter to realize that everyone is afraid of something and that fear is a natural emotion. This books helps to show how the characters deal with their fears. If your child is very fearful of the dark, I would recommend you read the book before sharing with your child. I had no problems with an increase in fears after reading this book but neither of my children are very fearful of the dark.

One of my favorites
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2002-12-15
This Franklin book is one of my favorites! All the Franklin books are great! This book teaches kids not to be afraid of the dark! Lots of reading for smaller children, but great pictures!

good book
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2004-11-24
I GIVE THIS BOOK A FIVE STAR BECAUSE IT TEACHES YOUNGER KIDS BETWEEN THE AGES OF 1-6 ABOUT THE DARK AND HOW IT IS NOT SCARY.

This was a bad book for us
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2006-10-19
This was our first Franklin book and my son really, really likes Franklin now. I had never heard of him before this book, which was a "gift" from the pediatrician for my son's pre-preschool check-up.

The Franklin books are great.

This one, however, I wish we had skipped.

The thing is, my son was never afraid of the dark. I don't think it ever occurred to him that you *should* be afraid of the dark. But after reading this book, he started to have nightmares. We can't get him to tell us what they are about exactly but they have something to do with Franklin and his small, dark shell.

This might be a good book to help a child who is afraid of the dark get over it. But unless our child is some sort of anomoly, it could also have the potential of giving bad ideas to a child who is not afraid of the dark.

Consider your child when you purchase this book.

Please read Franklin in the Dark
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2006-03-19
This is the best of all of the Franklin stories, and the first one published. It's a wonderful read aloud story, a great story for children to act out, and an easy way to begin a discussion of "things that scare us". Children are amazed to learn that grownups can be frightened of things too. This book should be in every child's home collection and in every elementary teacher's too!

Movies
The Fugitive Recaptured: The 30th Anniversary Companion to a Television Classic
Published in Paperback by Pomegranate Press (CA) (1993-09)
Author: Ed Robertson
List price: $17.95
New price: $104.99
Used price: $64.95

Average review score:

And where is the companion for "Peyton Place"?
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2005-02-05
Ed Robertson's book is definitely the best. I also own "The Fugitive - A complete Episode Guide" by John Cooper and "My Fugitive" by David Janssen's former wife Ellie Janssen which is worth a read!
Another amazon.com reader mentioned the Twilight Zone Companion. But where is the Peyton Place Companion? I'm missing a book on the TV series "Peyton Place" for several decades and wonder why there is still no book out there.

Entertaining Book -- Filled With Fun "Fuge" Facts
Helpful Votes: 10 out of 10 total.
Review Date: 2004-11-05
"The Fugitive Recaptured" was published in 1993, thirty years after the TV series, "The Fugitive", premiered on network television in 1963.

This volume, by Ed Robertson, is just about all a "Fuge" fan could want in order to find out everything you'd need (or want) to know about this excellent TV drama, which was on the air for 4 complete seasons (120 episodes from 1963 to 1967).

The book features an "Introduction" by horror author Stephen King, plus a "Foreword" by Fugitive co-star Barry Morse, who portrayed police Lieutenant "Philip Gerard", star David Janssen's chief rival and nemesis during the course of the series. A chapter detailing the origins and conception of the series is also, of course, included here. Interesting stuff too.

Within these 208 pages, each and every episode of "The Fugitive" is dissected and examined in detail -- including cast lists, writing and directing credits, episode numbers, original air dates, episode descriptions, and verbatim "Prologue" and "Epilogue" text (the exact words spoken by series' narrator William Conrad at the beginning and end of each episode).

Many fun "Fuge Facts" are also revealed for many of the 120 episodes. These "Facts" are bits of little-known trivia that make this volume an even more enjoyable read.

In addition -- This book includes extended chapters on the series' Pilot episode ("Fear In A Desert City") and the two-part final episode ("The Judgment"), which remains to this day one of the highest-rated TV programs in the history of the medium.

There is also an "Appendix" area of the publication, with "Appendix 2" consisting of some very interesting trivial facts and data concerning every Fugitive episode -- including every single "alias" that was used by "Dr. Richard Kimble" during the whole run of the series. This appendix is useful to mega-fans of the series, as it also contains information about the "Location" (City/State) of each episode, as well as Kimble's "Occupation" on each show. Example --- Episode 31 had Kimble pretending to be "Frank Borden"; Occupation: "Dishwasher"; Location: "Harrisburg, Pennsylvania".

Many top-notch black-and-white photos are also scattered throughout this paperback publication, mainly publicity stills.

"The Fugitive" (1963-1967) is one of the best TV dramas ever put on the boob-tube. The long-running cat-and-mouse game between Dr. Richard Kimble (David Janssen) and the police officer who let him get away, Philip Gerard (Barry Morse), provided some of the finest tension-filled moments ever aired on television.

"The Fugitive Recaptured" does, indeed, "recapture" the magic that surrounded this first-class piece of television entertainment.

Very Highly Recommended.

The Running May Never Stop
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2005-11-21
Certain television shows were so enormously popular during their original runs that they have been reincarnated more than once. THE FUGITIVE is one such drama. When Dr. Kimble began to run in 1963 in a three partnered minuet with Lt. Gerard and Fred Johnson, the American viewing public was so enamored of the chase that they refused to accept the judgment of THE JUDGMENT (the series finale) that the running had indeed stopped. Ed Robertson in his THE FUGITIVE RECAPTURED analyzes just what it was that made millions of Americans tune in every Tuesday night to watch Kimble run from one man only to pursue another. Robertson captures the essense of the spirit not just of the show but also of the social subtext of the show. In his Fuge Facts and plot synopses, Robertson well delineates the motivation of a doctor who, in his forced travels, became a collective Keroukian ON THE ROAD, with every watching viewer able to tap into the flip side of the American Dream, that out there in every dusty small town and bustling big city lay adventures that we could not aspire to but Kimble could. Roberston reviews every episode, judges its intrinsic worth, provides the needed Kimble trivia of both character and actor, and adds a handy list of names that Kimble used over a four year run. This list resembles a phone directory of a small town that Kimble must have passed through more than once. Reading THE FUGITIVE RECAPTURED made me think of the follow up success of the filmed version with Harrison Ford and the less succeessful small screen run of Tim Daly. It is not likely that the latter two will ever be considered worthy contenders for a pantheon of running heroes, but Robertson's literary paean to David Janssen serves as a perpetual reminder that for a spirit of a character or of an age to be recaptured, then that spirit must have been worthwhile in the first place. Robertson's book will not let Kimble ever run far enough or fast enough to escape our notice.

The Fugitive Revisited
Helpful Votes: 8 out of 8 total.
Review Date: 2000-04-13
I can certainly add my kudos to Ed Robertson for his labor of love in this book commemorating the 30th Anniversary of the famous television program. This work brings to life the entire four years that the series ran on network television, and gives the reader the feeling that he was actually "on location" with the cast and crew as they produced this first-rate series. Each episode is fully documented with full credits for the director and all principal actors in the series. The episode synopsis give the reader a feeling of being on the run with the Fugitive. The opening and closing narration for each episode certainly sets the tone for each nights program.

If you are a fan of this great television series, then this book is certainly for you. I highly recommend it.

Excellent book written by a true fan and author
Helpful Votes: 8 out of 8 total.
Review Date: 1998-12-25
Mr. Robertson has written a book that was done with an obvious love of the subject matter. Though he admits he discovered David Janssen via his post-Fugitive "Harry-O" series, his thorough research makes this a "must read" for Fugophiles. I was truly impressed by the celebrity interviews. Barry Morse and Stephen King were excellent frontline introductions that certainly legitimized this meticulous account of this classic Television series. Insights from the guest cast ranging from Richard Anderson to Carol Rosser as well as show creator Mr. Huggins were truly informative. However, it is Mr. Robertson who has set the tone of this labor of love by concentrating on what fans of "The Fugitive" want and should remember. This is not a tell all scandal written anthology, rather it is a reminder that this was and is a classic that will endure.

Movies
InuYasha : 2006 Wall Calendar
Published in Calendar by Universe Publishing (2005-07-01)
Authors: Universe Publishing and ShoPro Entertainment
List price: $13.99
New price: $126.49

Average review score:

The Legendary Hero, Inuyasha!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2006-03-09
I have always loved this series. it starts out in our current day and then travels, By means of a well back to the feudal era of Japan. Back in the day of Monsters and Magic with Demons (Good and Bad)According to Inuyasha himself "Don't kid yourself, They're ALL bad".

Not the typical hero here. Inuyasha Grudgingly at first, saves Kagome (the modern Schoolgirl who falls in the well) from a monster after the Jewel of the four souls.
Upon saving her declares he is after the jewel himself. After a mishap with the jewel they go on search together to recover it.
Here begins thier journey.
The calendar has most of the characters here. Inuyasha, Kagome, Shippo, Miroku (the monk)and Sango. these make up Inuyasha's team of experts and friends, for one reason or another all want the same thing. The Jewel.
On the other side is Inuyasha's Brother Lord Seshomoru, Kikyo (The Priestess) and others. A few pages in here Show the possibility that Inuyasha loves Kagome more than he lets on to her.
The all time bad guy Naraku is in this as well, Kagura and others he has created or turned to his uses all after Inuyasha Kagome and the Jewel with hopes of ultimate power.

The colors are amazing in this beautiful calendar, Showing different seasons along with different scenes of the conflict on going in the show.
If you love the amazing show you're going to love this calendar.

Money well spent
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2006-02-27
I bought this calendar for my 11 year old daughter who is enthralled in anime in general and has a particular fascination of the InuYasha series that she shares with the friends. I largely discounted her interest in anime until I ran across the adult anime series "Hellsing". The vivid colors and fast action gave me an entirely different prospective on this genre of animation.

My daughter was bouncing off the walls with excitement when she received this calendar and I felt that I received more than my monies worth because of the beautiful colors and high quality of the paper and printing. This calendar is an excellent choice of gift for the teenager in your life; and you might want to order a second one for yourself. Order quickly before the year gets to far past.

like it
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2006-02-23
I love Inuyasha so its really cool to wounder what day it is and look at my calendar.. But I think that they should have just put inuyasha in human form by him self and not the words new moon because if you watch the series you know what it means... Other then that its awesome.

wall calendar
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2005-12-14
Love it!!! I'm a huge fan of Inuyasha, and I was glad to see that the calendar focused on ALL the characters in the saga.Great pictures!

InuYasha all year
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2005-10-10
I bought the 2005 InuYasha calendar last year and couldn't wait for this one. I wasn't disappointed. The pictures are great! This isn't one of those calendars that just recycles images from the series. These pictures are unique. Some look like they are based on the movie versions of the characters, but that's fine with me. Almost all the characters have an appearance here, and human InuYasha marks every new moon for you. If you like InuYasha, and want to look at him every day, then buy this calendar!


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