Movies Books

THREE WORDS: A TREKKIES MUST-HAVE

The StarFleet Academy Entrance Exam is a great book for all Star Trek Fans to test their how well they know Star Trek. It is a simple book with questions and answers. It has loades of triva packed in one book. If you think you know a lot about the Star Trek Universe get this book and test yourself

My husband and I have had loads of fun quizzing each other on this great collection of Star Trek Trivia!! One of my favorite parts is where you have to match up the episode title to certain events, or characters, or planets, etc. ( Only the true geeks of trek, myself included, can even scratch the surface of this one!!) Overall, lots of fun for all Trek fans

Even though I've only been watching Star Trek for about three years, (considering I'm only twelve) I did well on most of the questions. I thought the book was very entertaining, a must-have for any Star Trek fan!!!!

Hollywood. So glamorous. All those stars, all that money, and the fame. Such a dream come true! Well, perhaps not.

Hollywood also has a much darker side to it. Hundreds of young want-to-bes get off the bus everyday hoping to become rich and famous. Usually within their first few days in the city, these hopeful individuals realize that Hollywood is a very dangerous, lonely place and that being discovered is pretty unlikely.

Starstruck: A Hollywood Saga follows the life of one such hopeful actress, Betty Lumpkin from Mackford Falls, Iowa. Betty, who quickly changes her name to Carrington Carmichael, finds out that the road to stardom isn't paved with gold and silver. The young woman falls victim to a lot of tragedy and trauma in her climb to the top. Then, when she has finally "made it" her past comes to haunt her.

Starstruck: A Hollywood Saga shows the highs and lows of making it big in Hollywood. Although Carrington is the main focus of the book, the author has integrated the stories of several other aspiring stars within this main story. This aspect rounds out the book very well to give the reader the feeling of being part of the group and the action that occurs throughout this interesting story. Definitely recommended.

Hilarious book, for the "Showgirls" fans out there. The author, however, succeeds in painting a sympathetic portrait of the lead character, unlike the unredeemable Nomi Malone from "Showgirls." Good trashy, campy fun...(with a heart)

I'll say this right up front. "Starstruck: A Hollywood Novel" is not normally my kind of book. But I read Perronne's coming of age novel, "A Time Before Me" and I decided to give Starstruck a try, based on Perronne's considerable writing skills. Even so, I was prepared to be disappointed. I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed Starstruck. Sure, it's campy, but Perronne's characters have depth I didn't expect to find in a potboiler. As a transplanted midwesterner, I really identified with Carrington (well, not EVERYTHING about her) and I really felt for her. The book jacket calls Perronne an entertainment industry escapee, and his descriptions of the business feel real. My only complaint, without giving anything away, is that I wanted the end to be a little more drawn out - for Carrington be a little more eloquent about her past. It just ended a little too quickly for me. That being said, the read was just great fun, and I will continue to pick up Perronne's books, whatever the genre.

Starstruck: A Hollywood Saga tells the story of Carrington Carmichael and her struggle to make it big in Hollywood. She escapes her stifling small town of Mackford Falls, Iowa with only five-hundred bucks to her name and hops on a bus to LA to make her dreams come true, and make something of herself. Along the way she meets a cast of colorful characters, and her adventure is only beginning. She survives being broke and homeless, deaths of friends and husbands, jealous co-stars, and much more, all in pursuit of her dreams, and true love. Through the campy fun of it all, I loved all the many characters in this book. All of them rang true, and I wanted to see Carrington come through in the end. It's a quick and fun read, and in the style of Jackie Collins, Perronne ends each section with a hook, making for a page-turner you won't be able to put down. Kick your feet up, relax, and enjoy the ride.

I really didn't expect too much out of this book. But I was quite pleasantly surprised to find myself thoroughly enjoying it. It gives background to so many of the customs and questions about Siam. It was very interesting to read because it made the story of Anna and the King more understandable and easier to relate to. It gives real story behind each character, but it also explains where this movie came from. If you enjoyed the movie, this is the book to get. It has a lot of awesome pictures, and it tells how the story developed from the true story to a wonderful tale. I think everyone understands that the movie isn't very true, so this book is perfect for learning the truth, and also learning more about the movie. If that's what you're looking for...here it is!

Being obsessed with all things 'Anna', I had to have this book, just because its about 'Anna'. But I can't believe how cool it is beyond that. It is a behind the scenes guide, beautiful, glossy picture book, and well-researched, informative, awesome history lesson in one. It totally quenched my need for 'Anna'!! I reccomend this to fans, historians and movie buffs alike. Ceccelia Holland is brilliant; you can tell she really thought about this and did her homework. My copy is priceles to me. Please get this!

If you enjoyed "Anna and the King," I think you will love this book. It is filled with huge glossy photos, many of them close-ups of Jodie Foster and Chow Yun-Fat as well as the beautiful sets and landscapes. It contains tons of historical background information on the movie and makes for a very interesting read. I highly recommend it.

A good book on the making of the movie Anna and the King and a brief on the history of the Chakkri Dynasty. Disapointed only that the author did not give details on production of the movie. Such as why did they produce the film in Malaysia recreating elaborate sets and imitations of the real thing in the real country, Thailand? And the fact that it was banned in Thailand. Otherwise a good buy, especially if you enjoyed the movie.

Whoever does not have a copy of this beautifully written book on their bed-side table, should have. It is a true gem!

"Good writing is like poison gas. It should bring tears to your eyes. It should excite your nervous system. It should knock you out". That's what Sairica's book does!! =)

I had the privilege of being given a preview of this book by the author herself....It was awesome! I very much look forward to receiving my copies!
-J.F.

This slim book contains some powerful words. Beautifully written with evocative verses which conjure up those unsaid moments that form part of contemporary life. Poems to read over and over, a book to treasure.

This is my all time favorite book. It is about thirteen year old Eric Kirby. He went parasailing in hopes of seeing real live dinosaurs. His parasail crashed on Isla Sorna. He made
friends with a young iguanadon he named Iggy and at the end of
the book he rescues Dr.Grant. It is continued by Jurassic Park 3 the Junior Novelization.

Thirteen-year-old Eric Kirby goes para-sailing above Jurassic Park with his friend Ben, with hopes of seeing real live dinosaurs. But after a minor accident where Ben dies he is trapped on the island... With no escape. It's just him and a dynasty of ferocious dinosaurs!
This isn't a very good adult book, but children with an intrest in dinosaurs or Jurassic Park will love it.

All thirteen-year-old Eric Kirby wanted was a chance to get to see real, live dinosaurs up close. So when his mom's boyfriend, Ben, offered him the opportunity, he jumped at the chance. Eric and Ben will get to parasail over the Jurassic Park Island, observing the dinosaurs from a safe distance. But something goes very wrong, and the two fall from the sky onto the island. Only Eric survives the fall, and he is trapped in a hostile prehistoric environment where he is the prey. It will take all of his wits and courage to stay alive until help arrives - but how can one kid survive among the deadliest predators ever to walk the earth? This was a thrilling story, not only for fans of the movies, but for readers who like adventure stories. The book ended with a cliffhanger that will lead into the new Jurassic Park movie, so now I have to wait until the movie comes out to find out what happens to Eric, which won't be for a whole month, or read the novelization. Still, this was an exciting, although short, book.

Jurassic Park Adventures One Book Review

Jurassic Park Adventures One is a book about a kid named Eric Kirby who has to get to a test safe house to escape dinosaurs on an island. When he tries to get out of the test house, he can't. Some people have to save him. Their plane crashes in the rescue. If you like dinosaurs, this is the book for you. The stars of the book are Spinosaurus, T- Rex & Raptor. Eric makes friends with an Iguanadon & names it Iggy. Eric is a hero. He goes out to save a man, but does not know who he is.

By James

Wonderfull story telling, wonderful stories of Minnesota farmers.

I'm going back to the library in an hour to look for Red Earth, White Earth by Weaver and A Gravestone Made of Wheat and Other Stories. The rest of his books appear to be geared towards young adults.

Novels and novellas
Saturday Night Dirt (2008)
Defect (2007)
Full Service (2005)
Claws (2003)
Memory Boy (2001)
Hard Ball (1998)
Farm Team (1995)
Striking Out (1993)
Red Earth, White Earth (1986)

Short story collections
Sweet Land (2006)
A Gravestone Made of Wheat and Other Stories (1989)
WWJD

Nonfiction
Barns of Minnesota (with Doug Ohman) (2005) a picture book

Will Weaver - what an interesting writer! His word pictures and the way he presents his characters are intriguing. Each story in Sweet Land has a different flavor; some thought provoking and some hysterically funny! Our book club will be adding Will Weaver to our "must read" lists!

I enjoyed all the stories in this collection. Great reading for relaxation in a hurry. Will reread them all.

I watched the movie Sweet Land before I read the story, A Gravestone made of Wheat, and I loved it. But after reading the 15 page story, I was wondering why in the world the movie director chose to interpret the story as he did. Seems to me he completely missed the essence of the story - which is as elegantly simple as Karen Blixen's Babette's Feast. The other stories are amazingly well written as well, but the idea behind "The Gravestone made of Wheat" makes it the jewel of the book. I love it!

One of the central facts presented is that Technicolor is like no other motion picture color process. And that it has been nearly abandoned in the USA in favor more efficient processes, none of which are as good as Technicolor.

Amazingly, the only remaining Technicolor lab on earth is in Beijing.

This book provides an extensive review of the technicolor procsss and its development over the history of its use.

The author correctly points out the weaknesses of the Eastmancolor process and gives support to the superiority of dye transfer processed films. Mr. Haines has an excellent eye for color, and he lists a complete history of films using three strip technicolor and dye transfer matrices. He is not afraid to attack the studios and Kodak's short sightedness in dumping the process. As a result, film negatives are fading fast, and many films are losing their original look. He does list one chinese company that still uses the process, and I hope that they are still in business. Sadly films will never look as good again. END

This is a very complex book with a lot of technical information, some of which I didn't understand. However, I did get the overall gist of the writer's arguement which is the Technicolor process was vastly superior to the Eastmancolor process that replaced it. I've seen some 16mm film collector prints in Technicolor which were gorgeous. One of them was "The Adventures of Robin Hood" which was beautiful. Rich and vibrant...it took my breath away. I also saw 16mm Technicolor prints of "North by Northwest" and "Singin' in the Rain" which were spectacular. Boy do I love Technicolor. You can actually buy these prints on ebay if you have a lot of money.

I can't believe Hollywood abandoned this process. It's hard to compare old Technicolor movies with current Eastmancolor films like "Minority Report" which is drained of color and looks terrible. Are current directors color blind? I guess most people have never seen a Technicolor print and don't know what they're missing...

This book is better than Fred Basten's "Glorious Technicolor" in that it details all the different processes that used dye transfer printing including Cinerama, Technirama, 3-D, VistaVision and CinemaScope. Basten's book only covers the 3 strip camera and pretty much ignores the fifties and sixties. This book lists every film that was printed in Technicolor and lists them in each category or process. My only complaint is that unlike the Basten book, there are no color pictures. There are a lot of technical diagrams though.

In Haines second book, "The Moviegoing Experience 1968-2001", he made the technical aspects of his subject a bit easier to understand but this book is still an excellent reference source.

Haines is also a film director and made a very interesting 'film noir' movie called "Unsavory Characters" which I saw on DVD. The color portions of that movie resembled a Technicolor film from the era so he seems to understand the aethetics of cinematography. I also saw his "Alien Space Avenger" on videotape. According to The Perfect Vision magazine, it was printed at the Technicolor lab in China!

I read that Technicolor dye transfer printing was revived a couple of years ago and used on "Rear Window" and "Apocalype Redux" but few people in Hollywood cared and it was shut down again. Shame on them!

There's no question that the author is the greatest champion of Technicolor and has made an impact on film history by chronicling the story. He's one of the most interesting writers and directors out there and I hope someone discovers him soon!

This book is delightful. It is a must for every theater goer, folk music lover. I think it should be required reading for ALL drama students and students in general. It is a rollicking story of a lifetime spent being in the present moment, facing all forms of worldly turmoil from a childhood in Vienna as a jewish boy to manhood and family in America.
It is the loving story of a man choosing to fight for human rights with only his guitar as a weapon.
From his days in Israeli theater and on to England in Repertory theater to appearing on American stage, movie screen and television to activism of all colors, this story reveals a man whose quest for LIFE brings him into our lives. And we are all the better for it.

SHalom and God speed to a wonderful character in my life.
Mrs. Leslie Van de Ven, RN, BA

"Theo" is a wonderful journey through the life of an interesting, entertaining, many faceted person. You'll be facinated to follow him from his birth place in Vienna, through his many travels and career to his comments on the present day world conditions.

He is a jack of all trades and master of all!

Theodore Bikel's name is syynonymous with the Arts. His autobiography detailing his years on the London and Broadway stage and his Hollywood film career is stuffed with anecdotes about actors and legends. It brings a real sense of living that charmed life. I enjoyed every minute of his story.

His experiences escaping the Nazis as a child, his passion for folk music, and his stewardship of actors' and civil rights show him as a champion of the less fortunate and a righteous individual. This is the story of a totally expansive life and in spite of my earlier knowledge and enthusiasm for his work and music, I came away with greater insights and understanding of the man's drive and achievement. It's a great book. I recommend it to every theator-goer, activist, music lover, and any soon-to-be fan of Theo Bikel.

I first discovered Theo when I was in college -- and a friend of mine found some folk music records of his at a campus record store.

Then I discovered he's an actor. And a writer. He's written some wonderful books on folk music, with the stories that go with the music. He wrote the back jacket copy for the records, and it opened gateways into the music and out of the music into the world that music came from.

He's appeared on almost all the major hit TV series. Most memorable for me is that he is/was Ivanova's Uncle on Babylon 5 and Worf's human father on Star Trek: DS9 etc.

You surely know who he is -- you've seen him again and again.

But only a true die-hard fan like me -- who goes to his concerts whenever I can -- picks up enough about his life history to get a feel for where this immense talent comes from.

Theo is one of the major influences that led me to become a professional sf writer. Today, I play his CD's and tapes made from the old vinyl in my car -- and it gives me the strength and energy to keep on. Keeping-on has begun to pay-off! Just today, I have another new title now available on amazon.[com], The Unity Trilogy.

The story of Theo's life is the story of Art. And here and there you get to peek into the world as it was during some terrible war times -- and what it meant to escape all that horror.

This is a book to treasure. It should be available as an ebook download forever!

Live Long and Prosper,
Jacqueline Lichtenberg

This is a great and QUIET toy that keeps my son entertained for quite a while considering he is only 2 yrs old. He only gets to play with it on Sundays during church which helps the book keep its "novelty" and keeps my son from getting bored during the hour that he needs to sit still. We like it and highly recommend it.

Peep, peep! Thomas and his friends are hard at work. All the people on the Island of Sodor depend on Sir Topham Hatt's railway every day, and they are always glad to see one of the engines coming down the line. Now, children can help, too, by creating their own scenes and stories with 9 fun magnets: Thomas, Gordon, Henry, James, Percy, Mavis, Harold the Helicopter, and two Troublesome Trucks.

There are 6 colorful, magnetized, glossy pages to the board book. The story features short sentences, and children are given plenty of space to arrange the magnets on the story boards. There's a plastic sleeve on the side that holds the magnets when not in use. The closed book holds it shut, so it's unlikely for the magnets to spill out when handled by children.

My son has gotten a lot of mileage out of the magnets, even using them on the fridge and other magnetic surfaces.

We got this before a flight and it has been a great activity book for my 2 year old. He loves putting the magnets on the tracks and then saying 'goodnight' to them each evening as we put them back in the case. It's more activity than book. He loves it! Not a day goes by when we don't read it at least once.

While the story is so-so, the fact that it has magnets is a definite plus! Keeps the kids busy in the car, at home, anywhere and the magnets store nicely on the side of the book!

This is a fascinating look at a long-gone time. Mr. Blake's book not only gives the reader great insight into the artistry and work of Lon Chaney, it is a peak into the past, of the days of silent film.

Beyond the other rave reviews for this book relative to the artist, what made this book all the more valuable to me was Mr. Blake's description on movie-making at the turn of the 20th century. We can hear, feel and almost smell the greasepaint of that time, the hard work, the ramshackle artistry of these cinema pioneers.

This is one of the best books on early film, and a credit to the magic of Lon Chaney.

Before reading this book, I knew almost nothing of Lon Chaney except his reputation as a horror actor. I was amazed to discover exactly how misleading that title actually was. Blake's work introduced a genius at makeup and pantomime who was capable of playing any role convincingly. Through it, I gained a respect for a great but seldom-discussed actor.

This is one sequel that is worth waiting for! Armed with new information from the files of Lon Chaney's former business manager, Blake has written a worthy follow-up to his first book on the famous actor. This time, Blake covers Chaney's performances and the making of many of his films in the reader-friendly tone he established in his first book. Blake has broken new ground in film history, revealing that it was Chaney's idea to make "Hunchback of Notre Dame", NOT Universal's studio head, Irving Thalberg!! It is just amazing what new nuggets of information Blake dug up, including lengthy interviews with probably the only surviving crew memeber from Chaney's MGM days and a nurse who attended him during his last trip to New York where he sought a cure of his cancer. He also debunks the myth that Chaney would have played the title role in "Dracula". It is heavily illustrated with many super rare photos. This book is just as good, if not better, than Blake's first effort. Both are a MUST if you're an admirer of Lon Chaney.

Michael F. Blake's second book on Lon Chaney, A Thousand Faces: Lon Chaney's Unique Artistry in Motion Pictures, is a worthy and much-welcome companion volume to the author's first book: Lon Chaney: The Man Behind The Thousand Faces. This book serves a two-fold purpose: First, Blake reveals a lot of new information he uncovered about the actor's life and films since his first book. Second, this time around biography takes a backseat to a detailed look at the films themselves (although there is still plenty to be learned of Chaney's life).

Being THE acknowledged Chaney authority and having acted himself at an early age, Blake is able to provide a knowledgeable and well-balanced analysis/commentary of Chaney's films (at least those that are not "lost"). While certainly the biggest fan of Lon Chaney, Blake maintains the needed objectively to fairly critique each film and performance. As with his first book, a big highlight here is the wealth of rare photos presented (including Lon both in and out of make-up), as is the always fascinating information on how Chaney, a make-up master, created those amazing characters. Blake is to be lauded for his vast efforts in keeping alive the legacy of one of the greatest talents of the silent era. Thanks to author Blake, all the many fans of Lon Chaney can be assured that Chaney's many talents and contributions to the world of film (and film make-up!) will never be forgotten.