Robert De Niro Books

Now that Hollywood has finally given Scorsese his due with what amounted to a career-Oscar, the time is ripe to read the revised edition of this superb book. The questions asked of the director are intelligent, not fawning, and his answer's are lengthy and fascinating. The generous space devoted to his childhood and early years help one better understand why Scorsese has been so attracted to a particular genre and how he executes it so well. This director is, of course, immensely knowledgeable about the history of film, and his comments on other directors' work are fascinating. A readable mine of information about one of the most important popular artists of our time.

I bought this book out of respect and deep admiration for Martin Scorsese. What I got was keen insight into a creative genius. The numerous interviews reveal a side to Scorsese that not many people see outside the camera. It's a lot more personal than that. When he talks about his movies, he ultimately parallels them to what his life was like at that time. So it's a fine blend of his personal life mixed with his professional life. There's also the obvious vibe that this man always was and always will be a student of film; his passion is infinite. Perhaps that's what makes him as influential and well-respected as he is.
You're the best there is, Marty!!

There are few filmmakers more brilliant than Martin Scorsese, and this book provides wonderful insight into the sources of his obsessions. Almost any book on Scorsese is worth reading, but this volume gives equal time to his less-appreciated, (but no less wonderful), films like The King of Comedy and After Hours. By far, the most informative book on Scorsese yet.

This reader felt almost privileged to read these interviews, lectures, and conversations with Martin Scorsese. He simply shares everything, and indeed he is, if nothing else, a true fan of movies!

The insightful words of Scorsese, arranged to parallel his filmography up through New York Stories, are annotated by the redoubtable editors Thompson and Christie. Scorsese is arguably the greatest postmodern artist, (and I would have to say the only postmodernist I unhesitatingly adore -with possible exception of Matt Groening), and the reader really gets to see how Scorsese constructs a film. His inspirations are as predictable as directors Pasolini and Powell, yet as diverse as Mahatma Ghandi and Little Richard. He loves all with equanimity and enthusiasm.

That's the joy of this book... the guy loves movies, loves making them, and all that energy just shines through.

Extremely valuable resource for the student of film, but good fun for the humble film buff, too. Bonus: interesting black and white photos you won't find elsewhere. Excellent (though naturally out-of-date) filmography appendix.

I absolutely devoured this book, essentially reading in two sittings a day apart. A rare and privledged look into the mind of Scorsese in his own words, followers of his work will be thrilled with the insights and anecdotes. Anyone half-aware of the man's work can recognize the thought that goes into it, but these interviews reveal the incredible depth and passion for film and its history that underlies his craft.

An essential read for anyone that considers her- or himself a film buff.

You may think that Bobby D is the man, and you'd be right. But do you really understand WHY he is the man? Douglas Brode does, and in this project, he lays out all of the reasons De Niro has become one of the most prolific actors of his time. Informative and entertaining, The Films of Robert De Niro is a must read for fans of the actor and his movies.

This series of books is always outstanding for the bunch of pictures it contents. But the text equals the image, there's a lot of research for each movie De Niro's done -critic-guru Pauline Kael's comments among others-, and a few insights on the flaws of some of his movies, that may give you the right impression that this author knows some things about craftsmanship.

Robert De Niro is without a doubt one of the best actors of all time. This wonderful in-depth book covers his film career, from his early student films of the 60's with Brian De Palma through 1998's "Ronin". It briefly mentions his roles after "Ronin" and ends with "Meet the Parents" and "Men of Honor". As this fourth edition was published in 2001, an updated fifth edition is badly needed. But, even the most hardcore De Niro fans like me must admit that he hasn't had many memorable roles since "Ronin", although "Analyze This" was very funny.

When looking through this book I'm surprised at how many De Niro films haven't been released yet on dvd. With each of his movies, the author lists the cast, gives a plot summary, and tells how the critics and public reacted to each movie upon its initial release. There are hundreds of great photos from his movies (including a nice color section in the middle of the book) that fans will appreciate. I was already a major Robert De Niro fan before I bought this awesome book, but reading it helped me discover many more of his great movies. This book is an absolute must for any De Niro fan!

I have been eating periodically at the Tribeca Grill since it opened in 1990. It is a restaurant that continues to get better with age: hearty food, friendly, professional staff, a great wine list, and celebrity buzz. Now there's a book that really captures the spirit and excitement of Tribeca Grill and brings it to my home. The book is lavishly illustrated, the recipes are simple to follow, and the stories are interesting. Even if you've never been to Tribeca Grill, you'll enjoy this book.

I have visited the Tribeca Grill several times on trips to NYC and have always enjoyed it. I was intriguied to learn that they now had a cookbook, and purchased a copy. It's a thoroughly enjoyable book. The recipes are great and very accessible, and the annecdotes are interesting and capture the personality of the restaurant. If you can't get to New York, this is a nice alternative to experience the Tribeca Grill.

This is truly one of those exceptional cookbooks from a famous restaurant which is accessible for the home goumet.

The recipes are of exceptional creativity and taste and style, yet they are not of such ingredients that you have to scour the city or internet to find, nor learn exotic techniques.

For example, Lamb and Portabello Skewers with Mint Pesto, Goat Cheese and Oven-Dried Napleons, Crab-Crusted SeaBass with Briased Endive, Pine Nut Polenta, and RedWine Fumet, or my favorite so far from the collection: Molasses-Cured Pork Loin with Boston Baked Beans. And for finishers, you've got to try the Carmelized Banana Tart with Malted-Milk Chocolate Ice Cream.

This is outstanding collection of Italian, Mediterrean, and mixture and fusion of oriental and Middle-east dishes. Great stuff, not too difficult to prepare. Looks great, and the taste is sophisticated, but comfort food as well.

This is one of the best recent new ones out.

I don't have much to say about Rent except for that it was well directed and has a great story line. It's definitely not a "for everyone" movie, but for the right person it definitely tugs at the heart strings. I cannot count the number of times I have watched it and/or listened to the soundtrack. The movie was very well cast and the addition of Rosario Dawson & Traci Tomms as JoAnne and Mimi were exquisite - I actually prefer them over the originals.

I have never seen the play, i wasn't all that interested in Rent as a whole until i actually saw it. I fell in love with this instantly and wouldn't mind seeing the play sometime now. Just goes to show, never judge a book by its cover.

Rent is the most amazing and touching movie I have ever seen in my entire life! The songs, the characters and the story are all completely real. The songs are catchy, the characters are colorful, and the story is beautiful. This is the most beautiful movie I have ever seen and it is AMAZING!

The musical RENT is a film adaptation of a Broadway play. I've recently seen a pretty dang good Chicago production of it. It's got no shortage of heart, lots of energy, and lots of laughs and tears. It's also got some weaknesses that are precariously close to being its death blow. Its flaws don't kill it, but they come close.

The performances are absolutely amazing. I don't have a single critical thing to say about any of the actors.

Musically, I know this music has made the global rounds and it's huge. I don't think there's anything bad to say about the musical score either.

But looking critically at RENT, both as a story and as a film, reveals glaring flaws that keep me personally from falling head-over-heels in love with it and becoming a full-fledged RENT-head. This story has some problems that are both unfortunate and major, paradoxically leaving me with a sense of disingenuousness. Which doesn't make sense considering its origin, where it came from, Larson. I shouldn't be able to call 'BS' on RENT and be justified, and yet I can.

RENT assumes rather than earns its authenticity.

RENT has an unflinching, unapologetic self-centeredness that both serves it and cripples it. It has devoted so much focus and effort into being Gen-X'y, bohemian, and anti-establishment, that it has overlooked having a genuine identity of its own. Its uniqueness is stereotypical. It's confined to its freedom. Its portrayal of village artists and photographers is obvious, clunky, one-dimensional, cliché. The film is far too self-congratulatory to even consider noticing this.

RENT is trying (plaintively?) to make its characters' last year on Earth a celebration, but the thing is, I feel like a terrible situation of tremendous gravity, urgency, and despair has been turned into something of a 3-ring circus. On some level I feel like I have to question how seriously this was meant to be taken. Only its origin saves it from being creatively bankrupt. The exact same story coming from any Hollywood writer would rightfully get burned at the stake. Ultimately, these decisions ARE Larson's prerogative. I guess that being homeless and your imminent AIDS-related death doesn't automatically require an uptight documentary-style treatment.

RENT's excessive prettiness is also a big detriment to the film's authenticity, honestly. These people are awfully beautiful to be homeless AIDS victims. These are all designer characters. Their appearance is a deliberate, calculated, manicured image designed to make the idea more digestible. I rather suspect some watch this so they can feel like they've adopted some of the suffering of an underprivileged group of people. Do those individuals spend any actual time with the homeless? Who's to say. This mentality has infected other visual aspects of the film, too. Everything is so manicured and staged it becomes false. Everything is designer and Hollywood and perfect, including--nay, ESPECIALLY the abandoned buildings and alleys. The cinematography is a technical masterpiece and everything happens much too perfectly for me to believe in the world of RENT. It's not to be unexpected in a musical, but the nature of the subject matter changes the game quite a bit. Would I apply that equally to all films everywhere? Unfortunately, we're in the territory of art criticism here and it's subjective--and context matters, so no. For instance, Chicago has all the exact same traits, but they work for the film it instead of against it. And, say, a maverick cop out to kick some butt lacking authenticity is an entirely different ball game than being fake about THIS.

The entire scene with Sarah Silverman is the epitome of what I'm talking about. It fails to be the stark contrast with the rest of the film that it's trying to be. Furthermore, the entire subplot is an absurd non sequitur, but that's beside the point. It's trying to contrast how perfectly neat and tidy this corporate world is with how free and loose the world of the rest of the film is, but the entire film is actually neat and tidy--the spontaneity and freedom are artificial. I don't buy it.

But thanks to the performances, damn, RENT sure does have a fire in its britches.

In a way, it is simultaneously justified and questionable to call this film fakey, as it is just Jonathon Larson's feelings on the subject rendered in musical form. It really has an energy to it, no denying that. It really challenges you to drop your hangups and relax and enjoy the ride.

I'm not a RENT-head, nor do I hate it. I don't think it's mediocre, canned, or kitsch. I don't think it's amazing or enlightening. Calling it pretentious isn't exactly fair, though there is a pretentiousness to it. I do, however, feel confident in saying both that it has flaws and has something to it.

So, how you feel about RENT will always come down to how deeply you connect to the characters and how much you're feeling the music. Is it an electrifying, heartbreaking celebration of life and love, or is it a mockery? Both cases could be made. My bottom line opinion: RENT is successful in spite of itself. The actors work harder than they should have to to sell a story that's working against them, confined by excessively stiff character molds--and they are so good, they pull it off. What's strong is incredibly strong. But to pretend its flaws didn't exist would be, for me, an intellectual suicide.

The musical "Rent" was a phenomenon in the '90s. It served as an interesting period piece- all about the '80s and the destructive rise of AIDS. Its creator's premature death added luster to the updating of "La Boheme." The movie version of "Rent" is fascinating, considering it was directed by Chris Columbus of Home Alone&Harry Potter fame. Columbus sanitizes the drug use&promiscuity issues,making them sugar-coated and almost family-friendly. Columbus also renders such controversial issues as homosexuality normal,daring in a mainstream film.

"Rent" opens simply. On a bare stage,the cast sings the powerful "Seasons of Love." There are three parallel stories going on,making it more layered than the original La Boheme. Taye Diggs stars as an evil developer who wants to destroy an artists' collective to make way for corporate power. Maureen (Idina Menzel) is a performance artist,in a conflicted relationship with her girlfriend (Tracie Thoms) Jesse L. Martin stars as a gay philosopher whose life is saved by a drag queen named Angel. Adam Pascal stars as an aspiring songwriter,Roger,who encounters a stripper named Mimi (Rosario Dawson) Anthony Rapp stars as an aspiring filmmaker capturing the drama of life- from Maureen's protest to the support groups for those suffering from AIDS. There are musical highlights along the way,such as the hilarious "Tango Maureen",the hedonistic "La Vie Boheme" and the joyous ode to the Southwest,"Santa Fe." One of the best scenes is when Pascal is briefly in Santa Fe,among the canyons&before the St. Francis Cathedral (it is spectacular)

The story is complicated. Roger&Mimi deal with her heroin addiction,they break up&later reconcile. Maureen&her girlfriend have a lavish engagement,a falling-out,but they soon reconcile. The only couple that doesn't split is the professor&Angel. However,Angel dies from AIDS (while Mimi is miraculously healed of it) It's the gay couple that lasts--again,daring for a mainstream film. Homosexuality is presented in a normal way; Angel's gender ambiguity is treated as a fact of life,being called both "he"&"she" at his funeral.

"Rent" has catchy songs,spectacular production&a strong cast. Underneath its flashy&romantic facade,it's a thought-provoking musical. Rent is worth paying!

Very disappointed as the book is more like a movie script (i.e. "He enters the room, voice over") This makes it very dull and I couldn't get into the book altho I tried several times.

Book came in the time frame and in the condition specified.

It has been a long time since I fell on such a good book. Interesting characters intertwine in a decisive decade for Vegas. The story is based on the real life of Frank (Lefty) Rosenthal who left his mark in the gambling industry.

Money, power, greed, lust, and crime with flair intertwine in seventies' Sin City. Pileggi is a natural born story-teller who knows how to make it all work and keep you glued to the book with every turn of the page. The writing is style is spot on. It's so hard to find contemporary literature written with such a simple language, yet capable of conveying an intriguing story.

The fact that I had only seen bits and pieces of the movie, also helped. I could place the faces of De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Sharon Stone behind the characters while still enjoying the novelty of getting acquainted with the story for the real time.

I would recommend this to anybody who is interested in recent history, the mob, and the gambling industry overall.

This book is really great.Hate to tell that jackass who wrote the olsen casino review but its a non fiction story and it was written long before the movie came out. Anyone interested in the mob or vegas will love this book!

Perhaps a little more well known for "Wiseguys", the book that became the movie "Goodfellas", Nicholas Pileggi is as good as they get when it comes to writing about the Mafia, its people and the drama of living the life. It is unfortunate that he doesn't work very fast - more books would be welcome.
"Casino" is the true story of Vegas in its heyday prior to the mega resort/casinos we see today, like Excalibur, New York New York, The Luxor, etc. Before large corporations turned Las Vegas into a theme park with casinos, the Chicago mob pretty much controlled the then famous casinos of the day, like the Stardust, where the movie "Casino" disguises it with the fictional name of The Tangier. Skimming the profits was the mob's business. Perhaps the greatest handicapper of all time, Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal, ran three major casinos and ran them well. Chicago sent out the legendary Tony Spilotro to keep an eye on "Lefty" and protect him and the moolah. Spilotro, however, had ideas of his own and soon became mired in a horrendous mess, dragging Rosenthal and eventually all the mob controlled casinos to their demise with him. Rosenthal still lives, and even has a web site, but Spilotro at books' end learns the hard way that being insubordinate to the mob and skimming their skim has dire consequences.
Pileggi is a master at showing a picture of the lives of these people, the shady deals, the threats from every corner, from the state, other criminals and the Mob, and how difficult life is for those who choose the gambling scene as a way of life.
It's morbid but fascinating reading. A must for fans of organized crime books.

Very funny--yet warm--film, despite some negative critic reviews (perhaps because it centers around Catholicism???). And great on-location scenery! If you like more subtle humor, and don't need pies in the face and crass jokes, give it a go. RD's facial expressions alone will crack you up! And, there are redeeming resolutions to all the comedy in the end--w/o any particular religion being force-fed to you. I just have to keep watching this one again and again.

I ordered the movie "we're no angels". When I could find no way to continue to buy it, I cancelled the transaction.....I thought. Your system saved my first order. I ended up with two copies. It made a nice Christmas present ,but I wish your system was better.

This is simply another film that I had seen years ago, a film that I wanted to add to my DVD collection that began not all that long ago.

This movie makes me think of how great things can be achieved out of lack of choice and desperation and how people imate things without understanding the reasons underneath those things.

This is a very funny movie that seems to get better the more you watch it. DeNero and Penn are great as two escaped convicts posing as priest to get accross the border into Canada. Try it you'll like it! Very funny with an excellent cast.

First, I must say that the writer must be British, because of his spelling. However, I personally believe that only a New Yorker can really accurately capture a man like Robert De Niro's life. I also believe that the author engages in speculation on more than one occasion and oftentimes his speculation is presented as fact. Granted, Robert De Niro is an "intensely private" individual, as the author says. So an author must engage in some speculation, however there is too much ambiguity, tenuous speclation in this biography, for my taste. But, Mr. Dougan's alleged reputation as "a respected film reviewer and broadcaster" became a matter of speculation itself, when Andy Dougan makes the impugnable offense of claiming that "De Niro, incidentally, is the only person in the Godfather films who utters the immortal phrase about non-refusable offers...When Al Pacino as Michael relates to Vito's negotiating ploy in the first film he says only, 'My father made him an offer he couldn't refuse.'" (page 65, second to last paragraph) Marlon Brando as Vito Corleone tells his godson, Johnny Fontane, that it's too late for the Godfather to get him into an acting role, because the part has been cast,
Fontane: "It's too late, they start shooting in a week."
Don Corleone (Brando): "I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse."
I only realized after this review that other Amazon reviewers spotted the mistake, however when I read it, I almost fell out of my chair; I knew it was a mistake immediately. How can a "respected film reviewer" forget about one of the most famous lines, in perhaps the most famous film ever made? For me, a movie purist, this casts a shadow on the veracity of this biography, or any of this author's speculation and/or conclusions. This is not pedantry, I believe that when writing a biography of Robert De Niro, and proclaiming yourself as a respected film reviewer, one cannot make these mistakes. Also, the author does not make much reference to the friendship of Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci. Personally, through some inside knowledge, I happen to know quite a bit of their relationship through a source who "hung out with them" during the early to mid 1980s in Jersey City, NJ and Manhattan. However, let me point to some positives, I did in fact learn several little trifles of knowledge and interesting facts about the legendary screen actor, director, and film-maker.

UNTOUCHABLE is a decent book. I agree with the others that state some obvious errors, such as the famous Godfather quote. Another is the Scorsese/Raging Bull quote. Scorsese actually greatly admired Buster Keaton's work in Battling Butler (and Keaton never hit anyone over the head with a chair in it). Dougan has it all wrong.

Having said that, this is about the only biography of Robert De Niro available and Dougan does a good job of covering his personal life which is not well known.

It took me a while to decide whether to give this book 3 or 4 stars. As you can see, I decided on the lower number. I have many reasons for this:
1. This is an interesting book, but only because it is about Robert De Niro. Not because the information is presented in an interesting fashion. In fact, my Calculus textbook presents its information more interestingly than this bio. Mr. Dougan either doesn't know how to write, or had his 9 year old write this book for him. The language of his writing is awful. The way he states things is bad (he also uses the word "keen" at least once every 2 pages-what's up with that?)You'll understand what I mean
if you have read this.
3. He doesn't do everything in chronological order. For example, he'll go on for a few pages about a movie De Niro was doing, than he'll suddenly go back five years and tell us about De Niro's relationship with one of his wives or something like that. He could definately have done this in a way so that it isn't so grating on the reader.
4. He uses quotes that are at times unrelated to what he's talking about.
5. He repeats the same information multiple times. For example, I think that he has John Belushi dying about 5 times in 2 chapters. In fact chapters 22 and 23 three begin with almost the exact same sentence ("The death of John Belushi was a devastating blow for De Niro." and "Since the death of John Belushi, De Niro had been taking stock of his life." Tell me that those two chapters don't sound like they are both about the same thing, De Niro dealing with Belushi's death.)
6. He uses unrelated things to make the book seem bigger. For example, a little over two chapters are devoted to John Belushi's life, his relatationship with De Niro, his death, and the investigation after his death.
7. He doesn't have enough actual information about De Niro preparing and making his movies. He tends to spend much more time quoting reviews that various critics gave of De Niro's performances. In fact, I'd say that the critic quotes outnumber actual facts about making the movies 3 to 1.
8. He has absolutely no interviews that he specifically did for this book with anyone who would know anything about De Niro's life, preparing for roles, making his movies, anything! Instead he relies on past interviews that other people have conducted with De Niro and people who know him.
So, overall this was an interesting book since it is the first bio of Robert De Niro that I read. However, that is the only thing it has going for it. Unless you can't find ANYTHING at all better, don't read this. If you have to read this because your library doesn't have any other bios on De Niro (the unfortunate situation that I fell into), then I guess this is okay.
Oh, I almost forgot one more thing:
9. He gets a lot of his facts wrong. For instance, he says that De Niro, playing Vito Corleone in Godfather II, was the only one to say the famous "offer he can't refuse" line. While in fact, Brando says it in the first one when telling Tom Hagen what to do about Woltz, the movie producer, AND Michael (Pacino) also says it in the first one when Fredo asks how he will convince Moe Greene to sell the casino. And those two are just off of my head (he does say that Pacino "alluded" to the famous line while telling Kay about Luca Brasi and the band leader during the wedding scene, but he says that that apparently doesn't count).

I'm a big fan of Robert DeNiro.This book help me to see him in different view.The way he's prepare for each role his endeless hard work and great performing.He's know as a private person and the book is not only talk about his great movies,but tell a lot of his private life.I learn so much and I recomended everybody who loves him.

It took me a long time and I mean a very long time about 6 mths. to actually get into this book but after I did I enjoyed it and found out alot of information that I never knew about Deniro. The one thing that bothered me about this book and took me so long to get into it was the grammar in this book I mean I am no English lit. teacher but at least proofread the book before publishing it. I mean come on there was alot of mispelling of words and missing words that you just kind of had to fill in for yourself along the way, and it was a little confusing the way the author went back and forth with certain events and movies you really had to follow along every single step of the way. Overall I liked it because it was a good book as far as info. was concerned. I really only bought the book because I love Deniro as an actor and think he is THE sexiest man alive!!!

DEE-Cleveland,OHIO

Bill Cosgrove's recounts his friendship with Robert DeNiro and the movie Backdraft in his first book, "Robert Deniro and the Fireman". Bill tells us about meeting the famous actor, and eventually he is hand picked to be DeNiro's technical advisor for the movie. We follow the pair around the streets of Chicago, to the different places Backdraft was filmed at. Bill tells us where many of the scenes were shot at, and what its like to be on a movie set. But most of all, it tells of a friendship- one that brought a regular firefighter together with one of Hollywood's famous actors, and a pair of socks.

Brother Bill Cosgrove did an excellent job when writing this book. What an experience he must have had.

Willaim Cosgrove is probably an excellent fireman, good husband and father, etvc. But he is not even a fair writer. Hired to be Robert De Niro's technical assitant for the making of the movie Backdraft, Cosgrove's prose resembles that of a love-sick tween describing a back-stage encounter with a pop music star. Other than knowing that De Niro is famous, and that movies are made, Cosgrove shows no deeper knowledge of his subjects than was presented to him during this experience. Thus, no analysis or depth - strictly a chronological narrative, without any insights.