Movies Books

Beautifully written novel about fame and it's price. Clementine is sent on her final assignment for Flame magazine about the rise of current 'hot' actress Allegra Coleman. The car carrying the two women, which Allegra is driving, is involved in an accident. Clementine loses an eye and Allegra disappears. The resulting media frenzy that follows is deeply explored, Allegra is hotter than ever and Clementine, being the last human to see her alive, is suddenly thrust into the spotlight, eye patch and all.
Sherrill writes with such intelligence and insight on the evanescence of celebrity that I came to look at this Hollywood hyped world in a different way. Heavy quotes such as "Every star is born of a conspiracy of sorts." stick with me still.
The inclusion of ghosts of movie stars past is deftly executed and adds glamour and intrigue and got me interested in these women (Loretta Young, Tallulah Bankhead, Myrna Loy, Mae Busch) and their movies.
A finely crafted novel you won't regret spending time with.

My Last Movie Star by Martha Sherrill is a clever, funny send-up of Hollywood that will suit those who've succumbed the glamour of Tinseltown, as well those cynics that view Hollywood Fame as a force wholly independent of the deserts of its victims.

Elements of the book read as truth. Sherrill presents an authentic insider's view of the star-making machinery that occasionally turns interesting, quirky personalities into genuine Hollywood Stars. The story line and characters are as real as anything you might find in the magazine racks at the grocery store checkout line. Lest the reader confuse Hollywood truth with reality, however, the book is punctuated with supernatural visits from Stars of the past, providing an effective and comical vehicle for examining the nature of Fame.

For those that revel in the fiction of the real Movie Star world, Sherrill is respectful of history, and pays homage to the oeuvres of forgotten Stars. For those who choose to laugh at the self-importance of Hollywood, the story is told through the jaded eyes of an outsider journalist that cuts through sycophantic phoniness like a laser. And provides plenty of belly laughs along the way!

Truth or fiction, Hollywood idol or idiot, My Last Movie Star will appeal to just about anyone the relishes a good story well-told.

My Last Movie Star by Martha Sherrill is a clever, funny send-up of Hollywood that will suit those who've succumbed the glamour of Tinseltown, as well those cynics that view Hollywood Fame as a force wholly independent of the deserts of its victims.

Elements of the book read as truth. Sherrill presents an authentic insider's view of the star-making machinery that occasionally turns interesting, quirky personalities into genuine Hollywood Stars. The story line and characters are as real as anything you might find in the magazine racks at the grocery store checkout line. Lest the reader confuse Hollywood truth with reality, however, the book is punctuated with supernatural visits from Stars of the past, providing an effective and comical vehicle for examining the nature of Fame.

For those that revel in the fiction of the real Movie Star world, Sherrill is respectful of history, and pays homage to the oeuvres of forgotten Stars. For those who choose to laugh at the self-importance of Hollywood, the story is told through the jaded eyes of an outsider journalist that cuts through sycophantic phoniness like a laser. And provides plenty of belly laughs along the way!

Truth or fiction, Hollywood idol or ..., My Last Movie Star will appeal to just about anyone the relishes a good story well-told.

Clementine James, journalist to the stars, embarks on her last celebrity interview with up-and-comer Allegra Coleman. After the interview, Clementine has plans to retire from movie star journalism and live with her stable, steady boyfriend Ned on his farm in Virginia.

But her plans go awry when Allegra crashes the car they're driving in - Clementine winds up in the hospital minus an eye, and Allegra disappears. Instead of going to Virginia to mend, Clementine becomes wrapped up in Allegra's disappearance and southern California culture, attending vigils and having one night stands with TV sitcom stars. Meanwhile, she's getting visits from yesterday's silver screen sirens - Myrna Loy, Loretta Young and Gloria Swanson, just to name a few.

Sherrill really seems to know this territory - stars and the culture of fame - and she writes very believably and farcically about it. Mostly, I found this to be an enjoyable read about the cult of celebrity, but after a while I grew tired of her "encounters" with dead movie stars; it was just kind of annoying quirk that didn't really move the story along. And if you're not familiar with old movies, you may have no idea who most of these women are. But the back of the book does include a cheeky "filmography" that offers a brief synopsis and critique of the movies mentioned throughout.

...and it turns out it goes down a little too smoothly. If you've ever wondered what it might be like to suddenly have the world's celebrity spotlight searching you relentlessly out, My Last Movie Star is a must read.

This book, about a cynical celebrity journalist who accidentally crosses over to become a celebrity in her own right, gives hilarious insight into the seductive but ephemeral allure of sudden fame.

My favorite sub-theme is the author's biting description of the self-important self-adulation of movieland's beautiful elite. The story's protagonist, Clementine James, ends up making some surprising choices when she is thrust into the glare of Hollywood's klieg lights.

One of the inventions that makes this book an original and a great read is the way the writer effortlessly weaves in appearances from the spirits of formerly-exalted-but-now-forgotten movie divas. You'll find out why Demi Moore named her unfortunate daughter Tallulah, among other tidbits.

MLMS will appeal to the serious movie buff, as well as anyone who has wondered about the ridiculous--and lucrative-- conniving that goes on behind the fame-making machine.

Hilarious. Entertaining. Soon to be made into a major motion picture, no doubt directed by Robert Altman, with Renee Zellweger cast as Clementine and Tim Robbins as the manipulative publisher Ed.

Mark Feeney's book provides a more intelligent examination of Richard Nixon, the movies and the twentieth century than anyone writing. That he blends them all together in a seamless narrative is just amazing. He is fair minded and, rare for an intellectual, brimming with common sense.

That doesn't mean that I agree with his analysis of Nixon. In particular, there are three substantive events of the Nixon era on which it is easy to disagree with Feeney:
1. Cambodia: Feeney seems to buy the line that Nixon brought about the fall of Cambodia. He should have read less Anthony Summers and more Lewis Sorley. No respectable historian believes Summers, William Shawcross and their ilk anymore. Sorley (no friend of Nixon) shows just how nearly we came to winning. A quick glance at the map should show anyone that once South Vietnam fell, so would Cambodia. Blaming Nixon is just the way the left avoids its responsibility for genocide.
2. Yom Kippur: Feeney treats Nixon's rescue of Israel in a couple of subordinate clauses, but this was one of the great moments of his Presidency and it was Nixon's personal peculiarities that brought it about. The military tried to block him, his advisors were unenthusiastic ("Get off your fat ass and get those planes in the air, Henry," Nixon is quoted as saying) and the left accused Nixon of organizing a coup d'etat. Only Nixon made it happen and saved Israel in the process.
3. Civil Rights: there have only been 5 US Presidents who furthered civil rights (Grant, Harding, Truman, LBJ and Nixon). Interestingly, they all left office at the bottom of the list of Presidential reputations and they all have revisionist cheerleaders, although only Truman has been pulled out of the gutter so far (Grant will be next). Nixon's signal acheivement was to pursue a liberal civil rights program (integrating the schools in the South, affirmative action, etc.) while winning white southerners to the Republicans. This depoliticized civil rights to such an extent that today the most conservative institution in America - the military - is also the least racist.

There is far too much emphasis generally on Nixon's anger and poverty creating the "Nixon Era" of break-ins and wiretaps (Feeney does a better job than most). The "Nixon Era" began in 1931 when Herbert Hoover used Naval Intelligence to break into the office of an unfriendly biographer (see Conflict of Duty by Dorwert). FDR, JFK and LBJ expanded the "Nixon Era" until, about the time Bill Moyers, then LBJ's aide, ordered the FBI to dig up dirt on Republican homosexuals for blackmail purposes, the FBI decided to go freelance, setting up COINTELPRO and assorted other programs without outside knowledge (possibly even without J. Edgar's knowledge). Ironically, it was Nixon's efforts to make the FBI more responsive to elected officials that turned Mark Felt into Deep Throat and brought Nixon down.

Nixon ended the Nixon Era by being so uncharismatic. Just as OJ, Robert Blake and Michael Jackson could get away with their crimes because of their celebrity, FDR and JFK could, too. The growth of government has not been ended but the growth of its shadier bits is firmly under control thanks to Nixon, because when he fell, so did a lot of average people. The rules changed for public servants. "Just following orders" no longer got you a gig on public television the way it did Bill Moyers (just compare the good Charles Colson has done for society with what Moyers, a premature angry old man has failed to do). Bill Clinton's sale of technological secrets to China for private gain was made known by the Director of the FBI, because he knew that if he stonewalled, he would be punished.

And Nixon's contempt for the Ivy League was far healthier than LBJ's awe of them. LBJ had big doubts about Vietnam but yielded to the "Harvards" in his administration who ran the war into the ground. Nixon's contempt for their intellect kept them in line ("Get off your fat ass, Henry"). Nixon may have been angry at Kissinger's attempt to steal credit for his own ideas, but he must have gained a certain satisfaction out of it, too. What better way to prove your superiority than to have a Harvard professor cheat by copying from your exam?

Today, it is obvious that Nixon really won. Richard Ben-Veniste, the golden boy of Watergate, was last seen engineering a crude and sordid coverup of a scandal in which, unlike Watergate, Americans did die, thousands of them. The media now is rated by the public [another irony!] on a par with used car salesmen. Dan Rather, the newsreader who delighted in tormenting Nixon, was forced to resign, proving himself to be both unethical and stupid to boot. And for the first time since 1930, conservatives control all three branches of the government.

It is that last point with which Nixon would not take so much satisfaction. Nixon was the most leftist President we ever had, the "last liberal," Garry Wills called him. "I gave them a sword," Nixon told David Frost. But he didn't give it to the Democrats; he gave it to the right wing of his own party. It was Barry Goldwater and Howard Baker who told Nixon that he had to resign because the rightwing wouldn't stand by him. The right took Nixon's sword and gave us the modern world of Reagan and Bush2 by thrusting it into the belly of liberal Republicanism.

Bill Clinton was a bigger crook than Nixon (beginning with Hillary's shortsales of pharmaceutical stocks as a newly appointed health care czar and ending with a wholesale auction of pardons to any gangster with enough Benjamins). He was also as rightwing as Nixon was leftwing, with his main accomplishment being the shutting down of the SEC, turning Wall Street over to crooks who cost the economy a larger share of the national wealth than was lost in the Great Depression. Clinton gave the leftwing of his party a sword too, but the left, fools that they are, committed hari kiri with it.

Feeney may disagree with the above, but his splendid book shows how we got here nonetheless.

I absolutely loved this book! Every chapter is full of insights into Nixon and the movies. Mark Feeney takes five movies Nixon is known to have enjoyed, and wrings out all kinds of fascinating connections between the story line and Nixon's own personality. Not only politics, but culture and sex and money and ambition and pain -- this book teaches amazing lessons on everything that shaped Nixon. Don't miss the sections on Elvis and Nixon as twin icons of un-cool!

My only complaint is that Feeney never brings Humphrey Bogart into the mix. The amazing and authentic "movie diary" at the end of the book makes it clear that Nixon screened both THE CAINE MUTINY and THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE while in the White House. Why didn't Mark Feeney jump on the SCREAMINGLY obvious ties between Nixon and Bogey?

Look at Humphrey Bogart's face -- the mean, kicked around face of Richard Nixon. Look at the unshaved beard, the shifty, beady little eyes. Look at how every man Bogart ever played was a cold, paranoid loner at heart, often with a homicidal streak. It's much easier for me to see Nixon as the vicious small time prospector Fred C. Dobbs (in TREASURE) or as the frightened, incompetent naval officer Philip Queeg (in CAINE) than as the smooth, sexually confident insurance salesman played by Fred MacMurray in DOUBLE INDEMNITY.

Note how Fred C. Dobbs is convinced everyone is after him. Note how he's capable of holding on to sanity -- just barely -- until he finally strikes it rich. The fact of finally having gold is what makes him lose his fragile grip on reality -- just the way Nixon survived years of political exile but cracked up the moment all his dreams were within his grasp. By turning on his buddies in bandit country, Dobbs ensures his own downfall systematically. He commits all the most horrifying acts of betrayal, but in his tortured mind it's always a matter of self-preservation. ("No, not murder, partner, not murder, your mistake! I'm saving my life that you'd be taking from me!")Sound familiar?

And how could Feeney have skipped writing a chapter on Bogart's role as Commander Philip Queeg in THE CAINE MUTINY? Nixon is so obviously Queeg it's like the movie was an eerie prophecy. Queeg is a weak, shifty eyed nervous wreck pathetically masquerading as a heroic military commander. Queeg knows he's not the John Wayne type. And he knows his officers know it. He constantly feels menaced by "disloyal officers" and insists "from the first they were all against me." Queeg routinely lies and cheats in order to avoid taking responsibility for his own ineptness as a commander. ("Take the towline . . . defective equipment . . . nothing more!")Queeg longs to rouse and inspire with his speeches, but his attempts at frank man to man talk are pathetically hollow. ("I kid you not.")THE CAINE MUTINY is the best movie ever made about Watergate.

Humphrey Bogart would have been the most logical choice to play Nixon in a major motion picture. He understood Nixon and acted out his tragedy back when Nixon himself was just a young congressman from California. How did the brilliant Mark Feeney miss the Bogart connection?

This is an incredible book, approaching Nixon's life through the movies he was known to have seen and liked. The result is an overlapping portrait that is both unexpected and insightful--in one chapter he's being likened to Walter Neff from Double Indemnity; in the next he's seen wishing desperately (yet a touch ambivalently) to be John Wayne. I'm entranced--something I never thought I'd say about anything related to Nixon.

There should be equal time for a book about JFK and the movies. JFK appears everywhere in the American cinema, from THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE to PT-109 to THE GREEK TYCOON, not to mention his own real life romances with movie stars like Gene Tierney. His father made a pass at becoming a tycoon during his own affair with silent star Gloria Swanson. It might be, however, as Feeney suggests, that Nixon is a more natural film subject, if only because the shadows are darker when it comes to Nixon, and the contrasts between the light of California and the darkness of Watergate and Cambodia is more shocking.

We knew that Nixon watched a lot of movies while he was President, but it's startling indeed to see him attending several movies a week even when he was "in between jobs." Feeney shows how Nixon and American film grew up at the same time, even though he may be stretching a point to cite De Mille's SQUAW MAN (1913) as the first American full length film, that's simply wrong. You might as well call John Waters' SERIAL MOM the last American movie, since bizarrely enough that was the number one movie at the box office the day Nixon died (April 22, 1994).

I liked Feeney's writing throughout, and the parallels he makes between Nixon's character, and the character of several American film heroes (like the part Jack Lemmon plays in THE APARTMENT) is always clever and rings surprisingly true. There is something, perhaps, about identifying oneself as a member of the moviegoing audience, as Nixon did, that makes you a little more --what, passive? -- than other US politicians.

Did Nixon miss his calling? Should he have been a Hollywood film reviewer? Nixon was born near Hollywood, where characters were reshaped and manufactured, in 1913, the same year that Hollywood produced its first film, Cecil B. DeMille's "The Squaw Man." In a time before DVD's and VHS/Betamax (when "R" rating meant Regular, not Restricted (hehe)), he watched 538 films during his 67 months in the Presidency (not counting his Vice Presidency under Eisenhower); he was screening about two 35mm films per week, sitting in a darkened room. But aside telling us that Nixon viewed PATTON three times during the VietNam War and Cambodian incursion (both Patton and Nixon suffered the indignities of serving under Eisenhower), or that he loved the works of John FOrd, and in his last White House years, more classic films were selected for him, the author creates a fascinating portrayal of Nixon and a cultural history of America's hopes and dreams and myths and realities, specifically through the metaphors of some of the following films: THE CONVERSATION (1974, Gene Hackman is filled with guilt and secrets, hidden away); PATTON (1970, war, leadership, and Eisenhower); MISTER ROBERTS (1955, the banality of being an administrator); DARK VICTORY (1939, Reagan plays a playboy as Bette David is dying and George Brent is trying to sure her, contrasting Nixon's ambitions to those of a playboy); and DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944, growing up in Southern California)

Cute and adorable and gentle, just like the TV show. Has fun words for kids to say, "Splinkie, splinkie" for the piano, "Hoo-wee" for Daisy, etc. Introduces all the main characters.

The illustration style and plot is well done. I only wish I could have some of that quaint music from the TV series included herein.

I have to read it before nap and bedtime. If your child loves watching Oswald, they will love this book. It's written so you have to act out sounds and, of course, imitate the character voices. The illustration is just like the show. Great book for any child.

I have not read this book, but the TV show (starring same Octopus and airing on the cable channel Nickelodeon) is wonderful. It is very gentle and promotes good values. Most importantly, it is not drawn in that weird "hurky-jerky" style that so many cartoons are drawn in today. My kids love the show, and will probably love this book after it arrives. PS to the previous reviewer, a CD of music from the show is available on the nickjr.com website. An interesting note: Fred Savage (from the Wonder Years) is the voice of Oswald, and other notables are: Squiggy from Laverne and Shirley as the Penguin, Lorraine Newman, Mac Davis, and Tony Orlando as other characters. The show is great, check it out!!

My children love the show and so I bought this book for them. They love it. It is repeative as Oswald keeps meeting more and more neighbors in Big City. This type of repeative reading is good for young children. Funny sounds and friendly characters adds to the charm of this tale of how Oswald meets all of his friends.

It's hard to find information on Pier Angeli so this book written by Jane Allen is a perfect source. I originally bought this book because I am a huge fan of James Dean and she is mentioned in so many of his biographies. After reading the chapter on him, I felt compelled to find out about what happened to her later on after his death. And it was not happy. I see Anna Maria Pierangeli as a young woman looking for love in all the wrong places and in the wrong people, hoping to recreate the security and comfort she had with her father who had died just as she reached stardom.

She was a misunderstood young woman who wasn't prepared for how big she was getting in the movie industry and who was too trusting, though this was not her fault but mainly part of her nature. She was a kind person who had a good heart and had the best intentions for those she cared about, especially her sons. But too many heartbreaks (the end of her relationship with James Dean, his death), failed marriages to Vic Damone and Armando Travajoli, the physical and mental abuse she endured from lovers she hoped to find companionship with, hoping that it would lead to some sort of happiness in the end.

All of this took over her life, thereby making her believe that she could not find the happiness she longed to have. This biography is very intimate and shows the readers a side of her that she desperately tried to hide away for fear of rejection, rejection that she frequently experienced. A lot is provided about her personal life, the betrayals, the never-ending events of unhappiness, disappointment, etc. It seems that life never really treated her fairly and during the times when it seemed that all was well, they were simply too good to be true and always came to a miserable end. I felt sympathy for her because of what she had to go through, an independent life which she desperately wanted when she was dating James Dean and when she got it, she found that she couldn't harness it herself, especially after James had died. All that she went through led to her untimely death, which was NOT suicide, apart from what fans and/or other biographers claim.

It hurts me to think of all her pain and misery, thinking that Jimmy Dean would have been heartbroken if he was watching over her after his death. It's true, she was a loving person even though at times she turned to alcohol and pills to relieve her of her pain, even if it was only temporary. She believed she could depend only on love to get her through, part of her idealistic life. But in the end, she could not have this. As true to the title of her biography, she did have a fragile life. I could not put the book down and page by page, I felt that I could relate to her, her emotions, her views, and her reasons for her actions which weren't in her best interest, though through no fault of her own but simply her misguidance by those who controlled her and her weakness to stand up for what she wanted, to be a non-conformist (an influence that Jimmy Dean had tried to help her to demonstrate).

After reading that Pier considered Jimmy to be her one true love, you start to think about what could have been between them had fate not intervened, leading up to his unexpected and sudden death. Pier went through many hardships, many that she should not have had to endure. Whether you are a James Dean fan or not, this book is a must-read, you won't be disappointed.

And I don't say that lightly. This is an incredible book for several reasons.

Information, especially good detailed information on Pier Angeli is quite hard to find and here is a whole book in English, just about Pier.
The book is well researched and is written in a warm , respectful tone towards its subject.
You don't always see that in a biography.
I also enjoyed the format and layout of the book. I thought it was done beautifully.It also had some photos of Pier I'd never seen before.

Most of all I was just grateful for an opportunity to find out more about Pier . And I was happy to see her story sympathetically told.Her story should be much more well known and she is sadly underrated as an actress.
I first heard of Pier because I am a huge fan of James Dean.
But I have became a fan of Pier in her own right.The book touched me deeply. I did not know that Pier had experienced so much unfairness and agony in her life, especially in her final years. I knew she had experienced some rough times throughout her life, but I did not half the things she had been through.I think Jimmy would be saddened to know all the pain that his "Annarella" has suffered.
Pier was a sensitive , fragile, unique woman and I relate to certain aspects of her character such as her oversensitivity and the part of her that never wanted to fully grow up and let go of the innocence and free spirit of childhood very much.
What happened to Pier was a tragedy.I still don't understand why the studios turned their backs on this beautiful , talented actress. That was a huge mistake because it cheated both Pier and her fans out of all the terrific work she was capable of doing.
If the major studios hadn't unfairly turned their backs on her , she would have had the lasting quality career she deserved.Her life would have probably have been different and she might even be alive today.Who knows?
I don't mean to make this book seem all negative because its not.Pier's story is a heartbreaking one thats for sure, but the book also celebrates the good things in her life-her beauty, her love and loyalty to family, her love for her children, her talent, her once luminous career.And the book also presents proof that Pier DID NOT commit suicide as is so wildly reported and believed.
I would recommend this book to any fans of Piers, any fan of classic Hollywood , its personalities and its darkside,and also to fans of James Dean. There is a chapter about her relationship with him and several mentions about him in the book.

My only possible complaint about the book is sometimes I feel the Author tried to insert her own speculations as to what Pier was thinking and feeling at certain moments, when nobody not even her family or friends could know that unless Pier came out and explicity told them, but I suppose thats common practice in a biography.
But it don't feel it takes away any from the high quality of the book.

Jane Allen, lets us all know the truth about how much Pier Angeli and James Dean really loved each other. The questionable paternity of one of her children. The shocking papers that were found in James Dean's Porche after his death. The eyewitnesses who saw the lengths each one had gone to to see each other. There has to be a movie made about this relationship that gets deeper into their rocky romance not just their intimate moments in Malibu at the beach house but their long talks. They had so many interests in common not just a loss of a parent which is what everyone who has seen the other television movies about James Dean have found out. Their love for each other was emphatic in every way. I know that they were reunited when she left this world, accidentally, as Jane Allen points out, on September 9th, 1971. This is a great book.

The only thing I have to negatively comment about is Jane Allen's belief that Pier wanted to be envied. Pier wanted to be adored by her fans. She always wanted praise but not envy.

this was a wonderful read, and beautiful written story of the life of the equally beautiful yet flawed pier angeli, i think the title was a bit misleading because i don't think pier was as fragile as the world thought she was, in the book i saw a woman who just didn't really have her piorites right and made bad decisions.the only thing i critize about the book is the book format, it's written as though you are reading a newspaper with very small print.

Information on Pier Angeli is hard to find; I'm so glad I found this book! Pier's story is wonderfully told - I simply could not put this book down. I highly recommend it!

Buy this book right now. Even if you aren't interested in film. If you've ever walked by a poster advertising a film, buy this book. Why are you still reading this review? Why aren't you ordering this book? In fact, don't order it online here, run to your local Borders and pick it up right now. Hurry, it'll close soon! Well, okay, buy it online, but you'd better use overnight shipping! I'm warning you!!! Buy it.

Now!!!!!

"Saying that Jerry Ziesmer probably has delivered the greatest assistant director book ever written doesn't do it justice. His tales from the Kleig was in "Ready When You Are, Mr. Coppola, Mr. Spielberg, Mr. Crowe" are not only an insider-insider's look into what actually happens in the making of movies--from "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" to "Apocalypse Now" to "Jerry Maguire"--but also a compendium of perceptive glimpses at the personalities and decision making by great filmmakers and actors across four decades. This book relates the biz and its lore with color, intimacy, candor and horse sense..."

An amazing inside story of filming with Frances Coppola, Steven Spielberg, and Cameron Crowe told by their assistant director. The author relates the tales of filming "Apocalypse Now", "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", "Jerry Maguire", "Scarface" and so many others. A truly enjoyable book for the film professional or for those who just enjoy films.

Jerry Ziesmer tells the kind of inside stories you usually only hear (if you're lucky) over beers after shooting's wrapped for the day. Without ever whitewashing or pulling punches, he offers a thoughtful, compassionate perspective on the trials and tribulations that led to some of the greatest films of our day. This is simply one of the best books ever written on the nuts and bolts, the passions and personalities of filmmaking, period. Thanks Jerry.

Disclaimer--I know Jerry from working with him on the Director's Guild Council, and I have utmost respect for him as a professional filmmaker. But I never knew his talents extended to such cogent, fun-to-read, full-of-insight writing until reading this wonderful book. It combines the best of both worlds--the "inside baseball" stuff that pro's with years of experience will still find new and fresh and helpful to their work AND the "Hollywood" anecdotage that any fan of great movies and moviemakers will read with a chuckle and a tear and a lot of smiles. If you really want to go "Behind the scenes"--save the trip to Universal's tour and get this book instead. You'll learn a lot, and have a great, great time!

Sabrina the teenage witch competes in a witch's spelling bee(a spell-casting contest)and her prize is a reality check(a cheque she can cash in to change any event of her choice)Only problem is that EVERYTHING is going wrong so how is a girl to decide what to change?!!!!!!!!!!Life's hard!

This is a pretty good book.On this book Sabrina competes in the Other Realm spelling bee,wins and gets a Reality Check!But Aunt Hilda and Zelda are under a 24 hour time-release spell witch is causing a disruption in their lives!To learn more just read the book!

Reality Check (Sabrina The Teenage Witch)is a great book. I could read it over and over again. It's fun reading about all the trouble that she gets herself into, and how she gets herself out of it. It's fun and easy to read. Everybody should read it.

This book was completely a breath taking addition to this sereis.Tooooooooo coooooooool. Sabrina wins the national spelling bee and the first prize is a REALITY CHECK. but she doesn't have a single idea on where to use it. because her spelling bee prize has her world abuzz. Finally, she uses it in the right way - by using it to save - no no no i don't want to spoil your read . The ending was a little dissapointing though. anyway the style of writing was great . Diana.G.Gallagher is by far one of my favourite Sabrina authors.Keep up the good work!

Sabrina wins the first prize in the spelling bee contest -- and it is a reality check.her spelling bee prize has her world abuzz.she can change only one incident. but which one? she has no idea.Aunt hilda and zelda are in a 24 hour time release spell which is causing many complicated problems in their lives,HARVEY Needs money after his motor cycle accident,Val resigns as school news paper editor and libby twists her ankle just before her cheerleading stuff.

in the end she used it wisely though. it was a great read. the ending of this book was mind boggling. it was too good a read. She finally uses the check to save - nah fooled you. I am not 1 bit interested in spoiling your read. so i suggest you to buy this book which is another great book added in this great series.lllooooovveeeeellllyyyy.Got to read it

I found Ms. Gray's study of Ron Howard to be a highly creative and attention-grabbing presentation of a man with a constantly developing and fascinating career and personality, ranging from his child-actor beginnings through his current reputation as a successful director in many genres. The book brought to life his early years in the Andy Griffith television series and "The Music Man." The author's treatment of his recent film, "A Beautiful Mind," is especially moving and insightful and tied together Howard's consistency and creative exploration in all of his work. His ever-present optimism, human decency, energetic habit of taking on new challenges, and loyal respect for others in his life and his work is presented in a very appreciative and in-depth way.

Beveryly Gray is truly a wonderful biographer. She captures the tone and warmth of Ron Howard throughout the book. Beverly also puts you "in the know" for the locales, such as Greenwich, Connecticut, where Ron Howard moved to partially shield his children from the "glamorous temptations of the film industry." This is a book for people who want to take a walk with Howard and really get to know what drives him. It's warm, friendly, and low-key, just like its subject. And a great read! Well done, Beverly! Oh, by the way, did I mention Beverly also teaches film at UCLA Extension. A wonderful, warm person in her own right.

One of the advantages of an "unauthorized" biography is that it should offer a more creative and exciting challenges to the biographer and a much greater illumination to the reader.
There is always the danger when a biography is authorized that a conflict of interest may arise and the truth may be compromised.

Beverly Gray's unauthorized biography Ron Howard From Mayberry to the Moon..and Beyond is a "putting the record straight" kind of a book, wherein some of the myths that have been prevalent in the press for so many years are explored and set aside.

Many of us have grown up with Ron Howard the child actor Opie Taylor on The Andy Griffith Show, and then as Richie Cunningham of Happy Days.
Today, Ron Howard is a well known Hollywood film director and producer, who directed such films as: Through the Magic Pyramid, Night Shift, Cocoon, Willow, Parenthood, Backdraft, Far and Away, The Paper, Apollo 13, Ransom, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and Academy award winner, A Beautiful Mind.

Gray practically begins her story from the cradle. Howard was born of parents, who themselves were actors, and at eighteen months he captured his first acting role as a crying baby, thanks to the efforts of his father.
Throughout his life, his parents, Rance and Jean Howard, played a tremendous role in shaping his life, and at the tender age of five years his father had imparted in him professionalism and basic acting techniques that have remained with him throughout his career.

As we read Howard's "unauthorized" biography, we are amazed at the extensive research that must have gone into the writing of this book, most of which was gleaned from Howard's interviews with the media over the years, as well as the author's interviews with many of his associates.
One advantage of writing Howard's biography in the prime of his life is that almost everyone is still around from his youth and his filmmaking career.

Practically no stone is left unturned, as we trudge along with the author from Howard's early childhood until his present day directing achievements.
We learn of his successes as well as his failures, and very often we are privy to some little known facts about him.
As an example, Howard was in awe by director George Lucas's talents and counter culture approach to filmmaking, as was in evidence in the film American Graffiti, where Howard had been asked to improvise scenes with other actors.

Movie buffs will surely appreciate the four appendices included at the end of the book that provide a timeline for the actor, filmography as an actor, filmography as a director and producer, and his major awards and honors.

One deficiency I found with the book, and one that is very prevalent in many biographies, is the creation of a narrative pattern that relies on the chronological tick of events; the day- by -day or year- by- year pattern should have been re-imagined. If the author had made Howard's story more innovative, it would have been more attractive to its readers.

Norm Goldman-Travel Writer and Editor Bookpleasures

Did you ever want to be Opie when you were a kid? I did. The thing about Opie was that even when he got into trouble, and he did get into trouble, everybody still liked him. Beverly Gray, in Ron Howard From Mayberry to the Moon, presents a good case that the same is true of Mr. Howard. Everybody in the motion picture business likes him, that is if you exclude a few pretentious critics (and even they probably like him, just not always his happy endings). Nice guys do NOT always finish last.

Howard did not cooperate with this biography because "he felt himself to be in midcareer and not ready to participate in a long range assessment of his accomplishment." OK, fair enough. Keep that in mind while you are reading, but do read it.

From Opie to Richie to director, this is a detailed portrait of a man whom everyone agrees is a real mensch and who is wildly successful. It is also fascinating, and adds to Howard's charm, to realize who loyal he is to his family and friends, yet how honestly he treats them when casting projects. Simply put, if he feels they are right for a part, they get it; if not, they don't. That takes quite a bit of respect and love - from the actor and the director.

Gray's extensive interviews bring out some interesting bits of trivia about Howard. Her prose flows nicely and her organization is excellent. Maybe in another forty years or so, she can write an update - next time with Ron Howard's input.

I read Beverly Gray's book on "Ron Howard: From Mayberry to the Moon... and Beyond". I found it to be very easy to read, very entertaining and full of interesting stories about Ron. Ms. Gray was objective, diplomatic and kind, never to offend any party involved. I thoroughly enjoyed the book so much so that I finished reading it in one and a half day while sun bathing in Del Mar, California recently.

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 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.

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.

A compelling read for movie fans and industry professionals alike. Cohen's book covers twenty-five scripts, each script following its own unique and sometimes tumultuous journey. The book feels like a backstage pass, as if a secret spy cam was tethered to each script from beginning to end and Cohen plucks out for the reader the most fascinating twists and turns of each journey, giving us plenty of gems of insider information: including personal quotes from various people involved with each film, to the internal processes of the writers, to the bickering about who deserves who's writing credits, to the being replaced as the writer on the writer's own script. Cohen's hard-fact journalism is mixed with a perfect dose of compassion for the messy humanity that is required to make any work of art come to life. A fascinating view into just what it takes to get a script made in Hollywood.

I caught up with this book in the library -- (and then actually bought a copy)...it serves as a warning to anyone that trys to talk-the-walk of attempting writing screenplays. If they only knew how Hollywood eats you up, and leaves you as road kill...I found the authors conversations with the people that lived to talk about their films -- (with the best of intentions) a Testament to the flawed movie making process...sad but amazingly fascinating. Eat it up, this is a good one!!

That's the eye catching sub-head for Mr. Cohen's very candid essay on the making of the movie "Bounce." It is not even a movie I saw and yet, I couldn't get myself to put down the book (and get back to work) until I finished this painfully insightful memoir by writer/director Don Roos.

In fact, the entire book is a little tough to put down because each story gets your foot inside the door of what writers had to endure to get their stories on the big screen. In some cases, you get the impression that the stories glided between the cracks. But in most cases, you wonder how anyone could ever have the tenacity to see a script to the end. And in many cases they don't. A recurring theme in these pages is how often the script changes hands, as old writers are fired, new one's hired, and the first one re-hired. Ugh. Makes me glad that I'm a Graphic Designer...something I thought I'd never say.

Surprisingly, the best story is found right smack dab at the beginning from Mr. Cohen himself. I'm talking about the Introduction, which most people skip. Don't do that. Read the introduction. All of it. It's honest. It's brave. And it's even more tell-all than the stories that come after it. Oh, and it's so funny at times that I embarrassed myself when laughing at the bookstore. I wrote the author an email, giving him a little wink about his story. He wrote back. That was enough for me to buy the book.

One more great thing about this book. I've always felt that writers are the last vestige of the world's wisemen. They have an insight about people, places and situations that when I read books like these I begin to wonder if I'm really reading a psychological self-help book. I've underlined quite a few snippets, as so much of what is shared resonated with my own experiences as a creative person. It's very difficult to stand by and watch someone "bend" your idea until it breaks (that's me paraphrasing Mr. Cohen in his Introduction).

So the point is, Get this book. If misery indeed loves company, you'll have plenty of it.

Have you ever loved a book and then been disappointed by how it was butchered in the movie? Or, thought a book was nothing more than a movie script, and then be enchanted at how it came alive on screen?

This fbook traces the stories of how 25 movies made that transition, and I enjoyed every step of the way. Cohen interviews the "writer and explores the sometimes torturous path from idea to finished film from its very root the transformations.

Writers are sometimes blamed for the failures. But Cohen credits the complaint that changes in the scripts by directors, actors, and studio executives sometimes ruined the movie. On the other hand, Alan Ball believes changes to American Beauty he had strongly resisted significantly improved the film.

I found several of the interviews especially instructive: Charlie Kaufman (Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind), Sofia Coppola (Lost in Translation), and John Logan (The Aviator).

Cohen's quotes from his interview with Michael Cunningham, who wrote "The Hours" and has written for the screen, taught me something fundamental about movies (and novels and short stories for that matter):

"A novel can include a sort of panorama of characters, a little like the Breughel painting with Icarus going down in the lower right-hand corner of the canvas. That's one of the reasons there are novels. That's one of the reasons we need novels and we need movies. A novel can account for randomness and can include a wide range of people whose fates just barely impinge on one another. I can't think of a way to tell a story like that in a movie that I would want to see.

"I think movies are more closely related to short stories than to novels. A short story actually involves the compression you need for a movie, whereas a novel is another category of thing entirely. Was it Henry James who called a novel a big, baggy monster? That's what it is. That's why we love them. I think a short story, very much like a movie, has no room in it for extra baggage. It needs to move, it doesn't need to move directly, but it needs to move swiftly. It needs to be lithe and light and nimble, and though that forty-page digression to the Crimean War and how it resembles what's happening at the family dinner may be interesting, there's no room in a short story for it. Nor is there room in a screenplay for it."

I'm sure that aspiring screenwriters would learn a great deal by reading about the successes and failures described in this book. It will certainly inform and enrich my own movie viewing in the future.

Robert C. Ross, 2008

I've been a working writer for 30 years, so David Cohen's book is deliciously like listening in on the personal conversations of compatriots in the craft--but the more I read, the more relieved I was that I'd never been attracted to screenwriting. Cohen's fresh, entertaining and whip-smart insights help to lace these in-depth interviews with meaning and pathos, even when the writers themselves border on the vapid--and those with the most to say shine through, thanks to the author's careful balance between commentary and reportage. We may cringe when we read of a writer's summary dismissal from the movie script he's slaved over for years, but there are enough delightful stories in this book to make the chilling ones a bit more bearable. One way or another, we've all been there.

We get to know the inner Cohen as well, from his own foray into writing for Star Trek to his early naivete at the junket buffet table. Overall, this book is a great read.

Sadly, Robert Klepper died in 2000, at the age of 32. A very nice fellow and an important film historian. Do pick up this worthwhile book, and mourn the fact that there will be no more from him.

I bought this book last year and love it and use it all the time. I get films from libraries all over the country and look up the movies that come in. I bring it with me if I am going somewhere that I will be awhile and read each review. It has a permanent place on my coffee table. If you love silent films, this book is a must.

This is the best index of silent film that I've ever seen. The reviews are bold independent and informative, if not always completely objective, Mr. Klepper is not afraid to have an opinion. This is a reference that I keep going back to.

I have owned "Silent Films, 1877-1996" for two years, and use it as a constant reference. (If you are a fan of TCM "Silent Sunday" or are a fan of silent movies and would like a guide to watching or purchasing silent film, this is the first reference to which I turn.) This does not cover absolutely every silent film, but there have been very few which I did not find information upon here. "Silent Films" also covers actors, directors, and other cinematographical information. The price tag is high, but for the silent movie buff it is indeed worth the price. I journal my silent movie viewings on its pages to keep a record. "Silent Films, 1877-1996" has gone from investment to treasure.

Robert Klepper has a remarkable love and knowledge of silent film. His understanding of the historical place of any movie he reviews is impressive and thoughtful. The book is a standing resource for any film enthusiast. In watching these films some of our favorite practices are to look for scenes that more modern films either steal (or pay omage to - depending on your thinking) and to pay attention to stunts that no actor or actress will ever have to duplicate in a more advanced film age. These are things that Robert Klepper also makes notice of and shares with his readers. I find his rating system to be reliable to my own standards and his humor to be very welcome - though I think some readers might miss some of it.

I do cherish this particular book and guard it heavily - no one is permited to borrow it. (I am usually pretty generous with my shelves.)

I assure you that the book is well worth the price -it is an excellent resource to the novice or the expert.

J