Movies Books

I started buying products in Amazon this year and i'm very satisfied with your service. It's easier and cheaper than our products here in Portugal. I'll be back soon on amazon!

Lázaro Silva

São Mateus, Terceira Island
Azores, Portugal

i am writing this for the benefit of non US readers especially those from my country india which makes 900 films every year.i am in the process of writing a book on screenplay in my native language Telugu and i have been devouring every book that's available.I was thrilled to read about the 'belatedness' Bordwell describes as i share the same dilemma.his summing up of the film writing & film making arts is very usefully informative and inspiring,too.Tollywood( Telugu film industry) churns out around 200 films every year,but nobody here treats screenwriting as something one could learn, and excell if one had the creative talent.I am glad Mr.Bordwell applauds the value of screenwriting books in helping keep the narrative standards from falling.wish guys from my film industry read this book.

David Bordwell is one of the most widely read film scholars around, and not without reason: he writes with ease and ellegance, his insights are often deep and almost always relevant, his starting points are usually essential for better understanding cinematic art. Is he always right?
Of course not, he is not a religious profet or Jacques Lacan (Oops!).

However he usually describes the area of his study quite well, cites references and data he would like you to check in order to see whether he is right and, well, does serious scholarly work. Not a small achievent in a fastly globalizing (and fastly "mcdonaldsizing") academic community of cultural gurus who know everything about everything... Therefore, when you disagree with him (as I sometimes do), you usually know what your are disagreeing about and why.

This book is another Bordwell's insightful contribution to the study of American and global cinema (styles in cinema are basically more international/global than in literature; probably less than in classical music or jazz), explaining how contemporary cinema develops from older stylistical patterns. From the era of silent movies or Slavko Vorkapic's experiments for Frank Capra to modern-era (greatly digitalized) blockbusters, Hollywood's manners and procedures of telling a story can be compared with quite a fruitfull result.
Ofcourse, simple description of stylistic trend or procedure does not directly serve as a proof of aesthetic value, but the subject of this book is, basically, style, not aesthetic value or anything else that can be connected to (and is intertwined on many levels with) style.
This book is equally useful for scholars, teachers and (thanks to his nice style and clear argumentation) students of cinema and all other educated art lovers.

Like the author's other works, this is a highly meticulous and empirical study of the way contemporary Hollywood films function. Paying close attention to selected films by intensive frame analysis, Bordwell calls into question many contemporary "sibboleths" concerning the status of "post-Hollywood" which he reveals as having more connections with its classical counterpart than most critics believe. His attention to fine detail and references to "American Cinematographer" and screenwriting manuals reveal that he has really done his homework. He challenges his contemporaries to do likewise before they engage in problematic "post" judgements whether they be on the realm of postmodernism, post-colonialism, and post- anything which may become academic equivalents of those formerly fashionable platform shoes or flared trousers that often date episodes of the 1970s British cop series THE SWEENEY.

The references to contemporary Hong Kong cinema and analysis of films such as Johnny To's A HERO NEVER DIES are also valuable components of this book. Like DRAGNET's Sergeant Joe Friday, Bordwell insists that we supply facts based on viewing the evidence ourselves. We should not ignore important empirical aspects before we begin to make meanings that may eventually prove to be non-substantial. Those who choose to avoid the well-researched findings of this book should be issued with speeding tickets and forced to attend a scholarly version of "community service" or "boot camp" involving the detailed viewings of as many films as possible, reading interviews with film directors, and studying important journals such as AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER. This is equally important for those newly converted "film experts" in English Departments of postmodernist persuasion who recently discover Laura Mulvey's 1975 essay on "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema" and regard it as a "gospel" truth which remains unaltered today! These feelings are more akin to non-linguistic theological studies and not the highly textual, linguistic based explorations of biblical and near eastern studies that relay on studies in pre-semitic studies, Canaanite, Aramaic, and Arabic studies to reveal key empirical structures influencing "holy writ."

This is another indispensable work by an important scholar that every serious professor and student should learn from even if it only involves better interpretation and a more professional "making of meaning."

I have found this to be one of the clearest, most concise books on Jungian dream interpretation that I have ever found. It is also perhaps the best introduction to Jungian analysis itself, for such analysis is essentially educating people to hear their inner voice and follow it with the help of dreams.

As for those who dismiss dreams as trivial things that reflect their own wishes, or worse yet, mere static and ephemera from their daily lives- why then do so many dreams deal with what we hate hearing? Why do dreams carry eternal archetypical symbolism of which the conscious mind has absolute ignorance? No, dreams have a superior intelligence to them that goes far beyond that possessed by the conscious mind.

Dreams take us into mysteries of nature absolutely strange to our rational mind. Thank God, that they do, for our hyper-rational, materialistic, mass-statistical worldview is killing us- both as individuals and as a viable civilization. Dreams are the way that our inner center, our Self, can make connection with our ego consciousness. This connection is always an attempt to tell us how we are off-balance. The central message is always what path that we need to follow to balance and stabilize our personality.

The basic fundamentals of Jungian theory are fully explained in the text: the basic archetypes of the shadow, the anima, the animus, the Self; the concept of complexes; the goal of individuation, etc. The greatest part of the book is involved in case studies of actual dreams, however. While there is a danger of applying individual case studies to other unique cases this danger is pointed out. Every dream is unique, because every dreamer is absolutely unique.

If you're looking for an introduction to the symbolic life lived close to the unconscious, it doesn't get much better or more concise than this. In a question and answer format, you'll find an easily accessible introductory guide to analytical psychology and Jungian dream analysis.

"The Way of the Dream is based on an extraordinary series of films made by Fraser Boa, who collected first-person accounts of dreams in street interviews with ordinary men and women in various parts of the world. He then asked the eminent psychoanalyst Marie-Louise von Franz to interpret these dreams on film, just as she would in a private analytical session. The resulting text is a primer explaining and demonstrating the art and science of dream analysis for the general public. The material covered includes dreams of men, dreams of women, what dreams tell us about ourselves and our relationships, the historical significance of dreams, and dreams about death and dying. Dr. von Franz concludes that one of the healthiest things people can do is pay attention to their dreams: 'Dreams show us how to find meaning in our lives, how to fulfill our own destiny, how to realize the greater potential of life within us.'"

This book was a very interesting, readable, understandable introduction to Jungian psychoanalysis. Reading like the transcript from Boa's documentary film, it introduces von Franz' comments between quotes from everyday people about their own dreams. Fascinating dialogue and question/answer format makes this easily understandable and prompts an appetite to learn more. For everyone who ever had a dream and wondered about its possible meaning, this book is a treat and can set you on a journey of self-discovery that is both fun and challenging.

Extremely pertinent, extremely easy-to-read, extremely helpful - and a superb introduction for persons learning about the importance of dreaming to our daily lives.

We absolutely love this book along with every other Charlie and Lola book and movie!!! ABSOLUTELY!

Christmas gift for my 9-year old niece...Easy order process and quick delivery!

Thanks!

My son who is 3 1/2 loves Charlie and Lola. Perfect content for this age.

My 2 and a half year old LOVES this book!!!!! Charlie and Lola are favorites of hers and this episode always brings giggles galore! Now that she has the book at least once a day she "reads" it herself. It has traveled with us everywhere and I am going to have to get a spare just in case something happens to the one that she has... it is a keeper!!!!

This dictionnary is very good. I love the homework help and the definitions. It's great for elemantary, high or college students.

While not the most sophisticated dictionary ever, it does well with technology-type words that older dictionaries lack. (Computer and scientific words are well defined and plentiful). This is not to say that it fails in other areas, but rather that these technology-based words are well accounted for.

I purchased a set of dictionaries for use in my 6th grade classroom and they are AWESOME!!!!!!!
They are easy to use, but still have the words that the kids need as well as definitions that are not too easy, but not way over their heads either.

There is a new edition available for Webster's New Explorer Student Dictionary that is specifically intended for students ages 9 through 12. In addition to compiling more than 32,000 "user friendly' definitions, there are special features including more than 10,000 word-use examples, 400 highlighted synonym and word history paragraphs, 600 detailed illustrations, and all new homework help sections.

While I had to use this book for a class I particularly wasn't interested in - Western and Cowboy Art - with this book, I have actually began to appreciate its contents for what they are. The book has some amazing paintings and sculptures included as well as details about the artists and information about the art included within the book as well as some other art by the artists. It has a good sampling of Western art from George Caleb Bingham to Frederick Remington and has a wide variety each artists work so the reader can get a good idea of how the artist worked and what sorts of pictures they favored. I only gave it 4 stars because of the subject matter, but all in all, a very good book.

An outstanding work by an outstanding scholar. I too am a former student of Dr. Goetzmann -- twenty years or so ago. His work really changed the way I look at America -- American history and American landscape. Try to rent or buy the PBS television show this book went with....

I first read this book as a student in Dr. Goetzmann's undergraduate class at the University of Texas at Austin. Although not an Art History major, this is the best course I have ever taken. The book is an excellent compilation of the influence of History/Culture on the Art of the American West. There is also a PBS series which accompanies this book. I highly recommend both. I keep this book on my coffee table, and enjoy reading it regularly.

As of this writing (Aug. 2002) this fine book is out of print, and shouldn't be. It is an informative and well illustrated survey covering almost 200 years of pictorial representations of the American frontier.

Because of my interest in the mythology that developed around the cowboy, I found the chapters on Frederic Remington, Charley Russell, and Buffalo Bill Cody especially absorbing. Magazine illustrators who further developed imagery of the "wild west" are represented here in discussions of N. C. Wyeth and Maynard Dixon.

On a parallel track, the authors give a chapter to the early silent Westerns, highlighting the careers and contributions of Tom Mix and William S. Hart (a precursor of Clint Eastwood). Another chapter is devoted to the Hollywood Western during the sound era noting similarities between Remington's imagery and that of director John Ford. There's also a discussion of the evolution of western movie themes from "The Virginian" (1929) to "The Ballad of Cable Hogue" (1969).

This book is a rewarding study of the American West as its visual artists inspired the imaginations of people around the world. Definitely worth having.

An excellent way to savor the brilliance of the television show. Witty, insightful, intelligent dialogue...pristine story structure.

It begins with the idea, the vision, then the words go down on paper. Without the words, all an actor can do is stand there and emote, maybe. Without the words, all the crew can do is sit around and play with their equipment and watch the money fly away. Without the words, the studio has nothing to offer. It's the words first. Always.

This is an easy review, a simple review.
Buy this book to see how the words made the show.
Buy this book to see how a television script looks.
Buy this book to read excellent television scripts that became excellent television in the hands of a cast and crew of talented people.
Buy this book to get a taste of the wider political times out of which the series came and to which the series spoke volumes. It is all here in the words.

This is as good as a Master's Class in writing screen plays. Style, form, manuscript format, plot, character, how the background of the set can become a character itself, how the sum of the parts can definitely become greater than the whole. Great companion to the DVDs. Read the script first then watch the show. Then watch the episodes with the script at hand to see what went up on the screen. Annotate your copy, make notes, study and there's your class.

Tuition? $13.57 plus shipping (or not - could be free.)

Other ideas: The West Wing Script Book


Enjoy. It's the Words first.

Excellent service. No complaints. Product looks great! Exactly what I expected.

"The West Wing Seasons 3 & 4" is a must for fans of this show. With eight scripts accumulated from the third and fourth seasons, not to mention black and white photos from the set, the biggest fan of the show will be in paradise. If the pace of the show is too fast for you, reading it at your own speed will clarify what went on in the episode. If you own "The West Wing Script Book" then you must get this with it. I recommend.

The Mom's Choice Awards® honors excellence in family-friendly media, products and services. An esteemed panel of judges includes education, media and other experts as well as parents, children, librarians, performing artists, producers, medical and business professionals, authors, scientists and others. A sampling of the panel members includes: Dr. Twila C. Liggett, Ten-time Emmy-winner, professor and founder of Reading Rainbow; Julie Aigner-Clark, Creator of Baby Einstein and The Safe Side Project; Jodee Blanco, New York Times Best-Selling Author; LeAnn Thieman, Motivational speaker and coauthor of seven Chicken Soup For The Soul books; Tara Paterson, Certified Parent Coach, and founder of The Just For Mom Foundation(tm) and the Mom's Choice Awards®. Parents and educators look for the Mom's Choice Awards® seal in selecting quality materials and products for children and families. This book has been honored by this distinguished award.

If you want to engage in a meaningful dialogue with your child, buy "What Kids Really Want to Ask". I had this book in the car when my 13-year-old daughter and I were driving to pick up my nephew. She began reading the questions in the appendix and at first thought they were a bit silly. When she realized they were questions kids like her had asked, she became a bit more serious. She began reading the questions aloud and when she paused, I knew it was a question she really wanted answered. It was a fun, light-hearted way for us to have a meaningful conversation. Other times she would voice how sad it was that a child had to ask something like, "Do you love me and would you ever give me up?" This opened another level of dialogue and brought out a sense of empathy in my daughter. She recognized many of the movies discussed in the books, and we are going to re-watch them and use the book as we do. A great book for helping your child through those difficult middle-school years!

As the mother of an 11 1/2 year old boy, I loved this book. I loved the basic parenting of pre-teens advice in the beginning. Honestly, nothing was new AND I was grateful for the reminders as they helped me remember what I already knew and believe in. I loved the reviews and all the detailed information provided about the movies they recommend. For the movies I have seen, they were very accurate. And for the movies I have not yet seen, I appreciated the information the authors provided...very relevant to what I would want to know about a film I was planning to watch with my son for the sake of a deeper conversation about ourselves and what he was curious about. Probably my favorite part of the book was the research about the 12 basic themes that youth this age are interested in. Some I wouldn't have imagined...like that he'd be interested in our extended family or about me as a child. I always thought I was supposed to ask the questions about him...show I was interested in his world. This was a different perspective. I like that they chose movies as a way to relate...but even if someone didn't want to watch any of the films...there are great questions/prompts for richer conversations. And if someone has already seen the films with their child...it might be a way to begin talking about some of the themes. The other things I like is that by just having the book in my home, my son sees that I am wanting to have meaningful conversations with him...my guess is that he'll pick up the book himself and probably ask to watch some of the films we haven't seen together.

I'm grateful that I heard about this book and read it while my son was still entering into this period in his life. I know I will re-read it and use it throughout our relationship during this time.

Thank you, Margaret adn Rhonda for connecting the dots between film, pre-teens, questions, and parenting!

A very clever approach to opening up important conversations with kids that's based on solid university research and written by two seasoned Moms with stellar educations and backgrounds. Each chapter focuses on questions from one theme, and gives lots of points for discussion based on a movie selected to bring out that theme. Both kids and parents are given lots to think about and share with one another. Chapters end with great suggestions for creative activities to further facilitate conversations.

As a psychologist, as much as I love getting paid to have deep, meaningful conversations with kids, I much prefer kids to connect with their own parents in that way. This book offers a fun and practical way to do that in a busy family.

Any and all chapters can be used in any order. Also a great quick reference for numerous topics bound to come up between parents and kids because each chapter begins by answering many questions parents may really want to ask about kids. Even after years of counseling families and kids, I was surprised and delighted by some of the questions kids had. It's worth the price of the book just to read the 450 questions printed out in the appendix.

This book was for my granddaughter. She loves Maisy and it is very hard to find books or DVDs in the stores. She was very happy to receive this book. It came quickly, in good condition and the best part for me was that there was no shipping charge.

I love all the Maisy Books. I send them to my friend in Pennsyvania all the time.

My daughter, the 2-year-old Maisy fan, has not been disappointed by this one. All of Maisy's friends are hiding, and somehow, she finds them all... including Maisy herself at the end!

These Maisy books are so colourful and have very simple pictures that are great for my 16 month old. It also has really bold brilliant colours to help toddlers learn their colours!

My daughter just turned two and she is a huge wiggles fan. She absolutley loves this book. The pictures are bold and bright. The lift the flaps feature makes for great interactive fun. This is a must have.

This book is my(...)daughter's favorite, but my (...) son still likes it, too. You don't have to be a Wiggles fan to enjoy the bright pictures, the fun lift-the-flaps, and the cute story. My daughter delights in finding Wags at the end of the book, no matter how many times she's done it before. This is a great book for the car because it keeps her occupied for a while on her own.

We bought this book for my 18 month old who is in love with The Wiggles. It was perfect for her. She loves the lift the flaps and they were durable enough that they are still intact after quite a few readings. The text was just the right length per page so she will sit and listen to it the whole way through. And the pictures are colorfuland hold her attention. One of her favorites!

We got this for my daughter who is two and is a huge Wiggles fan. Her favorite characters are Wags and Dorothy, so we thought this would be great for her. It is time for their show and Wags is late. You help the Wiggles search for Wags. The flaps are sturdy and live through our toddler pulling on them. This has been added to our bedtime book list.

Many like golf. Some of them are obsessed by it. The only people who truely seem to object to it are those who have never even picked up a club and simply tried to hit a ball, despite the outcome.

What everyone, despite their own personal connection (or lack of) to the game, would like to know is why. Why do people spend sums great and small to play a game with more furver than has been seen in virually all of human history? Why do they keep it up year after year, even if they see to sign of improvement, or even a glimer of hope that they may some day win a championship? Simply put, why golf?

Cullen's journey to find this answer takes him to many possible fonts of wisdom: psychology, evolutionary science, Greek philosophy... His answer is, of course, not singular. He finds that, from an elemental instinctive level to a higher appeal to our intelects, golf satisfies and entices us in more ways than we are conciously aware.

The questions that come up and their answers will be of interest to the duffer and duffer-hater alike. If you still have a few weeks before the course thaws off, or you want to know what your spouse keeps sneaking out on Saturday morning to do, this is the book to go to.

This wonderful book answers the question that every golfer has been asked: "Why in the world do you play that stupid game?" Part of the answer that we duffers already know is that even the most modest golf course is a pretty nice place to take a walk. But Cullen goes beyond that, and shows that there might actually be a deeper reason, reflecting our species' emergence from the forest on to what Cullen calls the "clipped grassland" savannas of Africa, and thus the genetically-wired comfort a modern day "clipped grassland" can give. Another reason we love the game is that it's eminently companionable, allowing two, three or four people to spend a few hours together in an atmosphere wholly unlike that of any other sport. Cullen fleshes this out beautifully, with chapters on both an annual trek he takes with friends for several days of golf and side bets, and the delights of "twilight golf" with his kids when there are few other people around and you only play with the old balls at the bottom of your bag. He also points out that golf is the only sport where the weekend duffer can play as well as the pros, even if only for a hole or two or even if only once in his life. I once played with a friend, who could never hit a Randy Johnson fastball or dunk over Shaq, who had a hole-in-one during the round. It was a wonderful, exciting achievement, one that many pros never experience, but one which happens every summer weekend in foursomes of even high handicappers.

Read this book, and you'll never be at a loss to explain this most benign of obsessions.

As a curious, but skeptical non-golfer, I hoped Why Golf would reveal something which would turn around some dubious stereotypes about the game and the reasons people play it with such apparent zeal. To my surprise, I learned that while golf may appeal to primal human attraction to stretches of clipped grass, it is as much about enduring human nature as any endeavor which seeks perfection rarely if ever attainable. Bob Cullen's personal journey through an unlikely array of sites and characters made for an engaging, often funny, and inspiring read. Cullen provides insight into male fellowship in a sporting environment unique to golf that has nothing to do with making deals on the course. While Cullen's experience in Iran may not have exposed him fully to the cultural attributes of that society, his point relating to the ethnic origins and and ability to master the game are well taken. Fortunately, he does not stretch the point to cover geo-political themes beyond the game itself.

I'd recommend Why Golf to anyone considering taking up the game for the first time. The reassurance he gives to the novice that it is possible to experience the same satisfaction as the veteran in exploring this highly complex game, has nudged me closer to the links.

This is a good book for people who like to read about golf. The author's thoughts on the sources of golf's appeal to the human psyche and well observed accounts of golf charcters and out-of-the-way golf places yield intriguing insights into the special qualities of the game. The author's tone is genial and unpretentious. Reading it is a bit like meeting a pleasant stranger on the first tee and sharing some thoughts about golf as you play a round together.