Movies Books

Tom Schiller has an amazing filmic vision. It was great to read all the details of the making of this overlooked classic film.

I'm an older SNL fan and I do remember seeing several of Schiller's films on SNL. What I enjoyed most about the book is the details provided for every step of Schiller's cinema portfolio. I never realized how involved the filmmaking process was for a short clip. The writing is easy-going and quite engaging. The photos are precious, and I would have preferred to see them on glossy paper as opposed to on regular paper. Any one who loves films and is considering film as a career should pick up the book. The book really provides a bird's eye view of what the industry is really like: the good and the bad. Makes me appreciate Schiller's work even more.

"Nothing Lasts FOrever" gives SNL fans like me an inside account of how the show was put together in the early years. It's sort of a book within a book. The detailed accounts of Shillers short films, combined with a summary biography of Schiller, provide the background for the intriguing inside story of a feature length film, "Nothing Lasts Forever", written and directed by TOm Schiller in 1982. MGM commisssioned the making of the film but decided not to release it. The six chapters dealing with that film leave the reader interested in seeing it. And the choice of the title of Michael Streeter's book makes it clear that at least one of his motivations for writing this very well researched book is his hope that "Nothing Lasts Forever" will not be lost forever.

As a Destination Imagination team manager, I highly recommend this book for its potential as an improv tool. Teams can create an assortment of wild scenarios and enact the scenes, improving their ability to improvise. With 27,000 possible scenarios, it is a resource that will last teams for years!

Kris Bordessa, author
**Team Challenges: Group Activities to Build Cooperation, Communication and Creativity

The Official Movie Plot Generator is an engaging means to generate 27,000 admittedly cliche movie plot possibilities. Not an ordinary book, The Official Movie Plot Generator is spiral-bound and divided into three segments that can be mix-and-match flipped to put together a number of familiar movie hero styles with two possible yet predictible sidekicks, plot twists, or other features. Sample phrases to mix and match including "A cop who doesn't play by the rules" / "fights crime" / "with a mischievous orangutan" and "a fraternity of lovable slobs, misfits, and drunks" / "indulges in beer bashes, toga parties, and an assortment of ill-advised high jinks" / "despite being admonished by a crusty old dean", and many more. A fun and entertaining sourcebook for linking retreaded popular themes into hilarious combinations.

You can literally spend hours flicking through this book, and it never gets old! It's really good fun, and had my entire family begging for more. I would highly recommend it, both for your own entertainment and as a gift for almost any occasion. Highly addictive!

This is Anthony Quinn's second autobiography. Since he lived to be 86, he apparently felt that he couldn't tell his life story in only one autobiography. He was probably correct in that assumption. As of this moment, I've not read his 1972 "The Original Sin" but it will probably be my next read. Quinn was an excellent writer as well as a visual artist and famous stage and film actor. He was also a very randy fellow he couldn't keep his hands off the beautiful women he attracted like bees to honey. He had thirteen children from his three wives and three known,long-time mistresses. Like most motion pictures stars he had affairs with most of the beautiful actresses he met in his 100 plus motion pictures and plays. One of his affairs involved actress Ruth Warrick in 1945. "Years later, she offered the following comment to a reporter: `Anthony Quinn, in the middle of a love affair with me, once said he wanted to f**k all the women in the world, and impregnate all of them. I never knew he'd get this far.'"
Despite his inability to resist the ladies for whom his addiction and appeal was legendary, Quinn lived a life that could not have been fictionalized to be more interesting. He was born in a Mexican hut to a mother who had only recently been sent home from the front lines of the Mexican Revolution. She had wanted to remain and continue fighting, but her obvious pregnancy resulted in her being sent home. Her husband stayed and continued fighting with Poncho Villa. Years later his father moved to Los Angeles and eventually became an assistant cameraman at Zelig's Movie Studio. Anthony showed a talent for art early in life. Quinn studied briefly with Frank Lloyd Wright through the Taliesin Fellowship he won in a high school architectural design contest. Quinn was sent to have his speech impediment surgically corrected on Wright's recommendation. To further correct his speech he was sent to an acting school. That, combined with his father's friendships at Zelig's, led to Quinn being hired as an extra in the movies.
This second autobiography was published in 1997 when the actor was eighty-two years old. His last two children were born in 1993 and 1996 to Quinn and his third wife Kathy Benvin. Both his first wife Katherine DeMille and his third wife were named Katherine, which is one of those odd coincidences that make his life a bit confusing for the reader.
This memoir is 419 pages long and is written in such a way that the reader never gets bored. The reader may, however, get exhausted because the vehicle Quinn uses to tie his life experiences together is one of his day-long bicycle rides around the steep hills of his Italian Villa. He is constantly climbing another hill or avoiding a swerving truck coming around the next mountain bend. During this physically tiring day of bike riding he reminisces about his long life, his many crazy experiences, the people he has met and many of the women he has loved or bedded. He is old enough to be trying to make sense of his rich life experiences and to understand his purpose in life. As an artist he feels that he must constantly be creating or he will die.
Quinn turns out to be a deep thinker in addition to a talented actor, painter, sculptor and writer. It's useless for me to even attempt to convey some of the wise sage advice and observations that Anthony expresses so eloquently. So I won't try. His book is peppered with fascinating characters he has met. Frederico Fellini who directed him to an academy award nomination in "La Strada" gave him some memorable advice about giving interviews to journalists. "Why do you tell these people the truth?"
"Me, I never tell the truth to a journalist. I always lie. It is like an exercise to me, because when I lie I have to use my imagination...you will read it in the papers the next day."
After reading that summary of Fellini's advice to Quinn I wondered if Anthony might not have taken it too much to heart. I especially wondered when I read the last few lines of the book when Quinn wrote: "I wish to go out in style. There will be no pine box sunk six feet under ground, no urn to be placed on a mantle and forgotten. No...There will be my dozen children, carrying me up a hill in Chihuahua and leaving me to rot in the hot sun. I can picture the scene, transposed over the fertile ground of my youth. (I have the specific hill mapped for my executors.) I will be laid to rest at the top of the rise, a feast for the vultures. My children will go back to the rest of their lives and the birds will pick at what is left of me. They will lift me up, piecemeal, and defecate me out all over the countryside, returning me to the earth from which I had sprung, leaving me forever a part of all Mexico.
"And the dance goes on."
Now the book doesn't tell you if that is what Quinn's executors really did concerning his funeral arrangements. If you are like me, you will head straight to the Internet to find out where and how Quinn's funeral was actually carried out. The reader may be surprised.
The reader definitely won't be bored with this book. Anthony Quinn was a man peddling madly on his bicycle to find the truth of life. He was always in search of the answers to the age-old questions: "Who Are We, Why Are We Here, Where Are We Going?" Remember than Quinn won an Oscar for his role as Gauguin in "Lust for Life." During the filming of that motion picture he felt that Gauguin's ghost had actually taken over his body and soul in order to properly portray his life for the silver screen.
Quinn always leaves the reader of his autobiography wanting to know more. This is one of the most enjoyable autobiographies this reviewer has ever had the multiple pleasures of reading.

Here is a biography worth reading, about a man whose life was worth living and worth hearing about: a man who lived every inch of his life on the edge and to its fullest. Even with its foibles and demented aspects, one cannot read this well-crafted biography without being envious of Quinn's life.

Quinn, a Mexican from Chihauhua, possessed an inner drive and an ego destined to make him larger than life in one arena or another. Although with multiple hidden talents, most of which only to be discovered later in life, Quinn became an actor in order to learn English better. But during a bumpy life course he became much, much more than just an actor, he sculpted, painted, cycled and kept a string of younger ladies and a host of wives and families happy until his death as an octogenarian. All of which required considerable talent.

Had it not been told so well and with such passion and verve, and from Quinn's own deeply passionate and artistic mind, this could have been a very tragic story indeed, but the way the events of his life actually unfolded lent itself to the pure poetry that is exhibited here; and the way they have been collated arranged and sorted out by Daniel Paisner, makes them a "song" to all of those like myself who only knew Quinn vicariously through that "rough but exciting" screen persona, as "Zorba the Greek" and his many other characters.

Unlike the biography of one of Quinn's (and my) heroes, Marlon Brando, which was lifeless to the point of being depressing, this one is alive and sparkles throughout. Both Quinn and Dan Paisner are to be commended for, at the same time raising the level of biographic writing, while also raising the human spirits in a story exquisitely well told.

One of the few books on any subject that is so full of life's dramas and metaphors, that you will love reading it so much that you will want to read it over and over. Fifty Stars.

I really enjoyed this book by Anthony Quinn. At first, I was put off by the way his thoughts jumped around, but in retrospect, I realize that this was just his way of getting his point across, and I became mesmerized by his thoughts and the disparity of his early years. Mr. Quinn did not flower his book with how great he was, or even sound like a celebrity, in the description of his life. In his early years he was very poor, and really let the reader feel his thoughts on his poverty, and how he fought to stay alive. It is a great example of coming from a life of nothing, with seldom having food to eat, to become a great actor, artist, lover, and family man.

Although he would never receive accolades as a husband, he truly loved his family. He mentioned several times, his grief at the death of his son and the loss of father.

He made many friends along the way, and treasured every one. Not caring whether they were paupers or kings.

In 1983, we had the pleasure of seeing and meeting Mr. Quinn on Broadway, in Zorba the Greek. We had invested in several of his paintings and sculptures, and was invited to a party for him at the Helmsley Palace in New York City. We were really impressed with his ability to encompass a room with his presence, while giving every person a piece of his persona.

This book is excellent reading, which keeps the reader waiting for his next thought. The world will truly miss this great man.

What a fun book! Every chapter is thoroughly researched and provides juicy details about each actor's screen debut. Mr. Bona engages you at every turn. He should be at your next dinner party. A must-read for movie afficionados!

James Dean as a boxer's corner man in a Martin-and-Lewis comedy film?
Gregory Peck as a Soviet partisan fighting Nazi invaders?
Sally Field as a Lolita-like teenager on a Westward bound wagon train?
Kevin Costner in a soft-core "T&A" film?
Michael Douglas as an antiwar activist who joins the Army?

Every career has to have a beginning, and acting in films isn't any different, as readers of Damien Bona's Opening Shots: The Unusual, Unexpected, Potentially Career-Threatening First Roles That Launched the Careers of 70 Hollywood Stars will discover when they explore this witty, informative, and even a bit biting tome by the author of Starring John Wayne as Genghis Khan and Inside Oscar: The Unofficial History of the Academy Awards.

Starting with Woody Allen's appearance in 1964's What's New, Pussycat? and concluding with Pia Zadora's debut in that same year's epic Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, Bona, a former lawyer who switched to entertainment reporting (he has contributed film-related articles to TV Guide, Entertainment Weekly, and Premiere), examines and sometimes skewers some of filmdom's greats (and not-so-greats) in their fledgling film appearances.

Of course, Bona points out the good "opening shots" as well as the weird or just-plain-bad ones. Take Robert Duvall's career-starting role of Boo Radley in the 1962 classic To Kill a Mockingbird, where he plays the oft-talked about but not-seen-till-almost-the-end of Robert Mulligan's adaptation of Harper Lee's best-selling novel. He is only onscreen for three and a half minutes (appearing 113 minutes into the film, at that!) and has no dialog, but he does save Jem and Scout from a vicious attack, revealing himself to be not a monstrous freak but just a mentally retarded man with the gentleness of a child trapped in an adult man's body.

Many of the 70 entries deal with short first roles that don't add or detract from a film's positive qualities, but the more fascinating ones involve such possible career-enders as Sally Field's appearance in 1966's The Way West "as one Mercy McBee, a teenager whose personality is entirely defined by her sex drive." Who would have thought that this future two-time Academy Award winner (and TV's cute Gidget) made her film debut as a 19th Century Lolita of the Oregon Trail?

Equally silly was Walter Matthau's villainous turn in Burt Lancaster's only directorial effort, 1955's The Kentuckian, a Western which starred Lancaster, Dianne Foster, Diana Lynn, and Donald McDonald, with Matthau earning fifth billing as a saloon keeper with a very cruel streak. He clashes with Lancaster for various reasons, not the least of which is the fact that they both want the attentions of the lovely Miss Lynn. Now, the idea of Matthau as a heavy is not ridiculous, since he could play cold and unendearing characters (as he did in 1964's Fail-Safe), but the idea of rumpled, New York City-born-and-bred Matthau as a villain in a Western is, sadly, rather ridiculous.

Another surprising first film appearance, considering his later appearances in The Big Chill, The Right Stuff, and Jurassic Park, was Jeff Goldblum as "Freak Number 1" in that Charles Bronson vigilante vehicle, Death Wish (1974). There, the guy Bona characterizes as "an expert interpreter of neurotic intellectualism" has what the author describes as "one of the most unpleasant screen debuts ever, Jeff Goldblum goes through his paces robbing ...and... murdering." (I'll take Bona's word for it; I've never seen this "classic" vendetta-driven flick that started a franchise, and judging by the obscene lines written for Goldblum by screenwriter Wendell Mayes, I don't plan to!)

Debra Winger, she of the sexiest voice (at least to me) in movies and star of the somewhat mawkish but enjoyable An Officer and a Gentleman, made her film debut in a soft-core flick called Slumber Party '57, in which six nymphets gather for a, you guessed it, a slumber party while their boyfriends are out of town. Winger (who omits this film from her official resume) bares her assets and acts poorly in this "sex-ploitation" film that Bona says "is definitely in the running as the worst film in this book." Fortunately, not many people saw this film, much less read the few obscure reviews in the Hollywood trade publications, and Winger went on to other roles until finally catching the audience's imagination in Urban Cowboy.

Opening Shots is a light and entertaining read, and Bona mixes short star biographies, anecdotes (there is, for instance, a list of Hollywood stars who married co-stars they met on sets), and witty asides on the margins of pages. Each entry is presented in alphabetical order and introduced with a major credits box to the "first film," a still, and a Bona-ism (Meryl Streep's for 1976's Julia reads, "Already with the accent") which sets the tone for the short chapter.

What a fun book! Every chapter is thoroughly researched and provides juicy details about each actor's screen debut. Mr. Bona engages you at every turn. He should be at your next dinner party. A must-read for movie afficionados!

I read this book when i was 10 and absolutely loved it! the illustrations gave me hours upon hours of enjoyment beyond reading. i strongly recommend this book for any child who is in for a good read and loves art.

I read The Pagemaster, written by David Kirschner. Richard is a boy that loves safety he made his own bike. This book is a book of fantasy it is for all ages because little kids and older kids would find it cool and funny, it is very detailed and very enjoyable. It is about Richard going into a library and everything is coming to life. I recommend this book because it is interesting and it makes you want to read it again. The problem is that he can't get out of the library, so the books are trying to help him

Richard Tyler is scared 10 year old boy. After stumbling into the library during a storm, he meets the Pagemaster and explores the world of fiction books with three companions, Adventure, Fantasy and Horror. Richard deals with his many phobias through his journey from Fiction A-Z, encountering characters of famous stories. The illustrations were brilliant, colourful, and contained lots of detail which made them interesting. The story was well paced with lots of action which made it enjoyable to read.

Love the book - would love to listen to the Chieftans "Song without End" - Patrick and Marty's music - if I could find it. Miss these characters on One Life to Live.

I enjoyed the book and the tape. I would hope that patrick would return but I understand that that won't happen. I wish you luck and happiness.

Seldom, in one's all too mundane existence, does so utterly sublime a tome as Patrick's Notebook fall into the humbly outstretched hands of the ever-optimistic reviewer. This book is a gift from the goddess. The reviewer's patience has been magnificently rewarded.

In his own words, our own courageous, selfless, devoted, and poetical Patrick Thornhart lays bare before us his noble soul, writing movingly of his eternal love for the bewitching but troubled Margaret Saybrooke, who became the love of his lonely life the instant he lay his eyes, not to mention his lips, on hers.

The story of how Patrick and Margaret met on the enchanted Irish isle of Inish Crag sets the stage for the timeless romance with which the author spellbinds his readers in these pages. Not only is this tale mesmerizing on its own terms - a captivating story of lovers equally as captivating - but Thornhart gifts us with many lyrical poems that reflect on his feelings for Miss Saybrooke - and that also offer a welcome opportunity for the reader to reacquaint herself with some of the world's most senstive love poetry.

Some of the immortal poems included in Patrick's Notebook are the Shakespeare sonnet 116 ("Let me not to the marriage of true minds admit impediments..."), A Thing of Beauty, by John Keats, How Clear She Shines, by Emily Brontë, She Walks in Beauty, by Lord Byron, Miles From Home, by Thorsten Kaye, and Longing by Matthew Arnold. Each of these poems, and all the others here besides, enhance Thornhart's true story of love, heartbreak, turmoil, and determination, and his own words suffer not by comparison...

We have in Patrick Thornhart an instinctive, articulate, and irresistible writer of the first rank, and we have in Patrick's Notebook that rare maiden effort that is destined to become a classic. Incredibly, the book comes packaged with an audiocassette of Thornhart's own recital, in his deep, warm, velvety Celtic-tinged voice, of several of the poems found in the book. His rendering of Sonnet 116 is especially heartfelt, and you'll hear his ringing Mother Ocean in your dreams for many nights to come.

Everything you always wanted to know but were afraid to ask about the freaky Dutch filmmaker.

This is a fantastic biography of the director of The Fourth Man, Robocop, Basic Instinct, Showgirls and Starship Troopers. The first half of the book extensively details Verhoeven's childhood, education and early film career in the Netherlands, then switches to chapter-long "making of" stories on each of his American films up through Showgirls (Starship Troopers was still in production at the time this book was published).

Verhoeven is a VERY smart man and has led an intriguing life. If all you know of him is that he's "the pervert who made Showgirls," you'd do well to read this book. Good job, Rob Van Scheers!

Whether you're a Verhoeven fan, or just want to read an interesting account of a director's relationship with the film industry, this book will satisfy you. The author interviewed past Verhoven associates from the stars of his Dutch films to Michael Douglas, as well as longtime friends like cinematographer Jost Vacano (who has worked with Paul for 25 years). He also spoke at length with Verhoeven himself, getting some great quotes--not to mention insight--in the process. The translator has done an excellent job of making this book engaging and readable, unlike some biographies where the recitation of facts can get boring.

The book covers Verhoeven's childhood, early student days, his time in the military making documentaries, and his entire film career in detail from his first major Dutch production through the making of Showgirls. For the length of the book (only 300 pages) there is A LOT covered. If you are hoping to learn more about this rather infamous director you will not be disappointed.
There is a new chapter for each of his major Dutch and American films.

Besides the biographical text, there are some black and white photos before and after each major section and a complete filmography (through Starship Troopers). The book also has an index that is actually useful in finding the info you need.

I recommend this highly for anyone interested in Verhoeven--you might even find yourself surprised at how personable, intelligent, and funny he is.

A riveting account of a year in the life of a zoo. Do we consider in our zoo visits the lives of the animals we gape at, or the caretakers who ensure their well being? This book will tell you all you want to know. For instance, did you know that polar bears, despite their depiction in holiday Coke commercials will kill for sport? Or, that elephants are quite aware of their physical superiority to man and will plot to kill a trainer they take a dislike to in a "squeeze play." The nature of these captive beasts is such that they can be profoundly disturbed by the changing of the seasons, or the unexpected backwards running of the zoo monorail. The author respectfully details the history of America's oldest zoo, acknowledges the controversy surrounding the continued captivity of animals for human amusement and rightfully details the role of those humans who are entrusted to their care. If you like a rousing tale written in a journalistic style, I implore you to give this one a shot. I picked this book up in a makeshift military library in Bosnia, read it in my bunk, and subsequently recommended it to several friends and family who loved it.

a wonderful documentation of the harmony, and discord, between the animal kingdom and the modern world. A must read for animal lovers

I grew up in Philadelphia, and have fond childhood memories of visiting "America's First Zoo," which is the subject of this book. Although some animal rights people are against zoos of any kind, the fact is, today's zoos do a great deal to help save endangered species through various breeding programs. In some cases, such as the Pere David deer from China, the zoos have literally rescued species from extinction (see p. 218). The author of this book does an excellent job of balancing biology with human interest stories, as he takes you behind the scenes and shares "animal gossip" about some of the zoo's most popular exhibits. "The Peaceable Kingdom" follows a year's worth of zoo activities through the four seasons, and is simply cram-packed with zoology, history, geography, and odd facts about animals. (Did you know that a male rhino has a two-foot long erection?) Absolutely a fascinating read!

This is the kind of bio that should be written about every important film director. Simmons is just detached enough to be objective, but not cold and removed so as to miss the color and flavor of this remarkable man. Highly reccommended for all interested in films - not just Peckinpah geeks.

Someone should get this guy to do a series of books on directors.

This is one of the first and best Peckinpah's biographies. Written a few years before his death but with a new preface and postscript it is a superb account about the life and films of Sam Peckinpah. Garner Simmons talked to many friends, family, actors and producers to make this a wonderful readable experience.If you are in the films of Sam Peckinpah get this book!

Peckinpah, written by Garner Simmons and published by the Universtity of Texas Press in 1982,is a no-nonsense, non-opinionated look at the life and work of director Sam Peckinpah. The first few chapters are devoted to his early life: parents, childhood, growing up, early TV work, etc. The rest of the book is presented in a movie-by-movie format, with one chapter being devoted to each film. The chronological discussion of each film pays great attention to detail form pre to post production. Lots of good insight from cast and crew members help make this book really special! There is little info on Peckinpah's final film, "The Osterman Weekend", as it had not been released at the time of this book's publication. The book is dedicated to the memory of Jerry Fielding, the extremely talented composer who worked with Peckinpah on several films.

I love Jack Sparrow, probably more than my ten year old son (but don't tell him that!).
In Dance of the Hours, I was once again on the edge of my seat (or the edge of my son's bed as I read it to him at bedtime) ! Jack is in possession of the time piece that is responsible (with his help, of course)for the world turning upside-down, literally and now he and Fitzwilliam have to fix it or Jack (and everyone else for that matter) will cease to exist.
Great read with pre-historic animals and twists and turns a long the way. I love being transported into Jack's world and I love being able to share it with my son.

Reading this series to the kids, blew right through this one, left us hanging for the next one.

I bought these books for my 12yr old daughter. She's a huge POTC fan & has gobbled these books down. Now she has the whole set (9 in all). She enjoyed them immensely & wishes more were available.