Movies Books

This book is a great buy for anyone interested in Ridley Scott or in filmmaking in general. His interviews if looked at closely reveal mountains of filmmaking knowledge as it goes through most of his major motion pictures in a series of varying inteviews dating from around 70's to when the book was published. True film buffs might get a good bit of pleasure out of this text as well.

I've been a fan of Ridley Scott's films since I first began to study film as an art form and not just as something to do on a weekend. Your eyes are never bored, he constantly produces great images to take in and transport you to new worlds. The level of immersion he allows an audience to indulge in is amazing, there are not too many other filmmakers who are able to do this.

This interview book starts at his early beginnings at art school and his long and lucrative foray into the commercial world and proceeds chronologically through Matchstick Men. There is some mention of Kingdom of Heaven, but no heavy material, as this book was published around the same time this movie came out.

Although a couple of the articles were somewhat familiar to me, most were first time reads for me, and so the book was very fresh and informative. Some of his lesser known or less popular films like White Squall and 1492:Conquest of Paradise have some very good making-of articles and were the most surprising. Much is discussed about Alien, Blade Runner and Thelma and Louise, which is a given, but this doesn't diminish their interest.

What unfolds is a well drawn picture of a man who didn't start making features until he was nearly 40, whose film career has had its ups and downs over the last nearly three decades, yet who has not tired of making pictures that stretch over vast and small spaces and will hopefully continue to innovate and challenge audiences for years to come. I highly recommend this book for his fans, and for those who have taken even passing interest in his films.

I usually own all the movies directed by my favorite directors. Even their lesser achievements often prove to say a lot about them. And you usually get to understand the man (if not know them) through their filmography.
I must admit that I never thought of Ridley Scott as one of my favorite directors until I read this book. I never actually realized that I actually own all his movies! and the reason for that is because I was not always connecting the themes and constants all along his career. If you take Alien and Thelma&Louise, one could wonder what is the link between the 2 films. I am not saying that we should always try to connect every filmmaker's movie to his previous ones but after reading Ridley's interviews, I really started understanding the man's endeavour. All through the interviews, spreading from 1975 to 2000, he actually never discusses politics or mystical matters. He is a filmmaker with a pragmatic approach to his art. Coming with an art director background, he likes to build his movies. At some point, it is said he likes to create universe. And this is the connection between all of his movies: the sets speak for Ridley. He seems to take acting very seriously as well so he is not just painting on the surface; content does matter equally as the surface but Ridley works in subtle touches. He obviously demonstrates through the years that he leaves nothing to chance.
Highly recommanded.

I saw this play in London a year or so ago, then again at a festival in Toronto. Reading the text brought the entire experience vividly back to me ... I particularly loved the way the text seamlessly blends poetry and humor. And that the 'gay' subject matter is a springboard into something universal and accessible to just about everyone. A brilliant read, and a neat format, like having a little poetry chapbook in my pocket !

Godfrey Hamilton has created one of the defining works of gay theater with his play "Road Movie." At once uplifting and heartwrenching "Road Movie" is a journey of self-discovery for both the characters and the audience. The plot centers upon the experiences of Jeff, a gay man with AIDS. His search for emotional fulfillment in the face of an uncaring community and fatal disease is extraordinary and realistic.

Seeing an announcement for an upcoming stage production here in Los Angeles, I decided to read this text. What I read not only moved me, but Hamilton's use of romantic and phantastical landscapes took me on a journey I have never before experienced. Joel, a hard driving, hard drinking publicicty director drives across the US to a voice (a siren?) calling him to the shores of love. Along the way he encounters three very damaged and very strong women. Ma Diva, a condom distibuting mother, Myra, a diner-locked divorcee and Dharma a sad and wounded child of a hippie. The strength love and loss these women pass on to Joel serves as the spine of this incredible poem....play....landscape. Read This Book!

Filmmaker Pak provides not just the award-winning ROBOT STORIES screenplay, but four other tales which are all infused with considerations about technology. It's not only the futuristic settings which link these plots: it's an exploration of the problems between men and machines, the created and the natural worlds, which creates such a compelling dynamic in these motion pictures. Small black and white shots pepper the account, but it's the screenplays which are the heart of this fine title.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

I hadn't seen the Robot Stories movie, but a friend of mine did and raved about it. I'd read a few of Pak's comics for Marvel, so I picked up the book and was actually blown away by the amount of thought Pak has put into not just that movie but his career of writing in general. He gives insightful introductions to his many scripts, which run the gamut from sarcastic short spoofs about sex to the recreation of the life of a pioneering surgeon, and finally to the sci-fi feature from the title.

This was the first time I've actually read a screenplay, and it is different than reading a novel. But the book gives some helpful tips to make the adjustment easier. After I while I got used to the format to where I could really visualize the actors and actresses talking to each other.

Somehow I think that is one of the points of the book: to make films more accessible and to inspire people to create their own vision. Pak touches upon a lot of issues: from the craft of writing and the challenges of making an independent film to the media images of Asian Americans (David Henry Hwang's foreword is excellent in this regard). So it has something that can appeal to most everybody. But ultimately, I found the collection to be oddly inspiring to the artist hidden in me, and has made me want to see Pak's movies.

Cliff's Notes Review:
+ 4 Awesome, distinct stories
+ Novel central theme "human emotions and robots"
+ Represents the Asian American/Mixed-Race Community without beating you over the head with issues.
+ Charming and Provocative like an independant film/Professional and polished like a high-budget studio film.

My Take:
Robot Stories is awesome. Its is broken up into a series of 4 charming shorties, each related around a theme of "how humans develop emotions when dealing with robots". Each story has a distinct perspective on this central theme. For example, one story is about a couple who wants to adopt a child, but must babysit a "robo-baby" to prove their worth as parents, while another is about a mother trying to re-connect to her sick son through his collection of toy robots. I think the final point that I'd like about Robot Stories and Greg Pak as a director was that he was able to represent the Asian American/Mixed Race characters in normal situations. While this may feel like a minor point, its refreshing. Its nice once in a while to see an Asian American on the big screen who isn't a Lucy Lu Dragon lady, or a Connie Chung newscaster, but as a normal protagonist whom i can identify with.

It's a refreshing change to see a tough, hard-bitten detective roaming Hawaii. Florida's had more than its share, and Baron Birtcher has finally brought a great one to polynesia. Great action scenes, and a surprise ending. This one is worth the money.

I read this in one sitting, and it really moves. I read a little bit of everything, but keep coming back to mysteries. This one is a standout.

Baron Birtcher proves with Ruby Tuesday, his second Mike Travis novel, that Roadhouse Blues, his first, was no fluke. We now have a Great New Series Writer amongst us. In this newest adventure, Mike Travis, Ex-L.A. homicide detective, sails his yacht from Southern California to Kona Hawaii, only to find trouble awaits. As was the case with his first novel, this book is very fast paced, with more twists and turns than you'll find on the Saddle road between Kona and Hilo. Having moved from Southern California to Kona himself, Baron not only takes us on a wild ride of emotions, but also adds the natural beauty of the Big Island. As is the case with most excellent reads, the end, although unexpected, comes way too soon. I'm already looking forward to the next Mike Travis novel,and another trip to the Big Island of Hawaii.
I suggest, that as is the case with most series, if possible they should be read in order.

This Shirley Temple Scrapbook is really a wonderful little treasure for all the Temple fans out there. As the name bestows, this book is fully loaded with all kinds of images of Shirley Temple. These photos range from publicity shots to movie scenes to private photo collections. Many I've never seen before.

Additionally, there are interesting little tidbits about Shirley's experiences while filming her movies. Also, there is a cronological listing of all her movies starting from her Baby Burlesque material all the way till A Kiss For Corliss, which was released in 1949. There is a short listing of plot as well as all the characters, producers, and directors for each movie.

Overall this is a very a nice and thorough visual document of Shirley Temple's amazing career. Her sparkle is well evident in many of these photos and proof of why she was such a success and why you will really enjoy this wonderful scrapbook.

If you're looking for that "everything you need and want to know about Shirley Temple" book, then this is the one for you!

Carefully divided between Shirley's personal life and her film career, the book's clever design displays the abundance of fabulous photos and text as if it were truly a scrapbook.

Loraine Burdick helps us get to know Shirley Temple the child star, the teenager, the young adult, the mother, the wife, and the ambassador.

Whether you are looking for a fun book to leaf through or a solid front-to-back read about Shirley Temple, this book is a must!

The Shirley Temple Scapebook is not only a great picture book but it gives a good deal of interesting detail about Shirley's life. I love the way Loraine Burdick takes information from several other resources and books about Shirley and combines them to create a broader picture. Thus, leaving you to your own opinion. It is wonderful to look through the scrapebook and relive old memories. I think the book would be appealing to both adoring fans and those with only mild interest. However, how many people can resist Shirley Temple. Enjoy. I highly recommend the book.

Having worked and managed movie theatres from the 40s thru early 70s, and now considered a "dinosaur" of that age, was completely captivated by the coverage accomplished by Ms.Valentine, especially on the accomplishments of architect Lee.She captured the "flavor" and context of that wonderful era,never to be again. And surprise of surprises,I actually managed or knew intimately of some of the theatres Mr.Lee designed or worked on! I have nearly all the books published on movie theatres,et al,but have to admit this particular tome really grabbed me emotionally with text and photos so for the while it took me to read this book(hard to put down)I re-lived that era in a way I never thought possible. (The Arden in Lynwood, Tower in L.A., the old Alhambra in Alhambra, are only a few I "set foot in again"!)..if I could give it more than 5 stars I would! A tip of my hat to Ms.Valentine, to Mr.Lee, and the great bunch of people I worked with, and for, oh, so many, many years ago

My sister has written a very intelligent and well thought out book. She deserves to be rich and famous.

I am a brazilian architect, working now in a thesis research about movie theaters located in my city, Porto Alegre, in the south of Brazil. I found this book in B&N store, in New York. It's a great book! GOOD for my work in research end for teaching architecture design (at an architecture school)about movie theaters. (sorry for my poor english...)

Great Read! A wonderful disney story! Many different emotions throughout the book and life learning experiences that happen through all the events. Best sequel I've ever read in a children's book!

It was the best Disney book I have ever read. I am a Disney fanatic, and would have wished so much, to meet Walt Disney, even though he is frozen at the moment. I loved this book, because it was so heartwarming to me, and it reminds me of everyday life...I mean the story. You never know what is going to happen next. Something dangerous, something funny, or something romantic? I guess it was so special, because my life is exactly like the ones of Kovu and Kiara. The writers must have put a lot of time and thinking for this story. I wish the best. Thanks!

I am a Lion King freak, and so have collected many children's books. I often am disapointed that the drawings barely resemble the actuall characters. This book is not a disapointment, the pictures are wonderfull, and I flip through it again and again. It also goes very in depth with the story, readers with a short attention span may get bored with the long text.

Songs in the key of springfield is on of my most cherrished cd's in my collection. It is an exquisite blend of songs and skits. GO SIMPSONS!

the best song is "around the house" featuring cherry bobin

One may lament the fact that the best work in original musical comedy today is being done, not on Broadway, but in animated cartoons (the Simpsons, Disney films like Beauty & the Beast and the Little Mermaid, South Park, etc.) However, that shouldn't stop us from enjoying good show tunes in whatever form and this Simpsons show compilation is a collection of true classics of the genre. I find it much superior to the "original" Simpsons collections on CD ("The Simpsons Sing the Blues" & "The Yellow Album.") and can hardly wait until enough material is available to issue a second TV show collection.

There have been a lot of wonderful books released over the past decade on the subject of classic horror films of the 30's, 40's, and 50's, with many coming from Mcfarland & Co., who are also the publishers of this book. While most of these books focus on the films or biographical accounts of the actors, Mark Clark's book spotlights the great performances in horror films, a decidedly refreshing take. Clark seeks to give credit for these wonderful performances that often have been ignored by mainstream film critics.

As mentioned in the introduction, Clark mainly looks at the classic horrors of the 30's through the 50's because that's what he likes and it's what he grew up watching. Clark is a "monster kid" one of those lucky youngsters who grew up in the 50's and 60's watching the classics on late night TV. Plus as he points out, classics and old are relative terms. Some consider "Halloween" to be an old horror film.

The first part features the well-known horror stars in roughly chronological order beginning with Lon Chaney. Each actor covered features a close look at one to as many as four or five of their most notable roles, but also has smaller sidebars on some of their other notable performances. For example, on Chaney Clark features The Phantom of the Opera as his most famous film, but then also notes the lost film "London After Midnight" as the first American film that dealt with vampirism.

Karloff gets the largest treatment from Clark with no less than seven of his films featured, and who can blame him..."Frankenstein", "The Mummy", "The Black Cat", "The Walking Dead", "The Body Snatcher", all are recognized classics of the horror genre. Clark Keenly points out that Karloff did more with his body language, facial expressions, and a few grunts in "Frankenstein" than most actors can do with hundreds of lines of dialog. Although Clark does mention it in Karloff's other notable performances, I think his work in "The Mask of Fu Manchu" deserved to be note as one of his best roles. Karloff is at his most sinister as the sinister oriental menace.

Next up is Bela Lugosi and in a rare circumstance, two actors (Karloff & Lugosi) are noted for great performances in the same film: 1934's "The Black Cat". Lugosi's role as the avenging Dr. Werdegast afforded him the rare opportunity to play the heroic role to Karloff's villainous Hjalmar Poelzig. Other great Lugosi films covered are "White Zombie", "Murders in the Rue Morgue", "Son of Frankenstein", and, of course, "Dracula".

Clark goes on to look at other great horror stars including the overlooked George Zucco and Lionel Atwill, Lon Chaney Jr., Peter Lorre, Vincent Price, Peter Cushing, and Christopher Lee. While they don't get full sections, I credit Clark for also not forgetting to mention some lesser known horror stars such as Tod Slaughter, J. Carrol Naish, Rondo Hatton, and Tor Johnson.

There's also a chapter on leading ladies horror that runs the gamut from Gloria Holden in "Dracula's Daughter" all the way to Jodie Foster in "Silence of the Lambs" although the fact is that most of these women only made perhaps one true horror film in their careers while true scream queens like Fay Wray and Evelyn Ankers are relegated to the "Other Leading Ladies" section. It's the only thing I can really find fault with in this great book. For fans of classic horror, Clark even provides a comprehensive bibliography.

Reviewed by Tim Janson

Do not let this book's rather flippant title fool you. Mark Clark engages in thoughtful, relevant criticism of the subject matter. He even manages to re-engage the reader in discussion of films one would think had already been talked to death. In an era when much of what passes for "criticism" is in reality extended plot summaries with very little analysis, Clark delivers the real thing. If you are a student of horror cinema (and/or acting) this is a must have.

SMIRK, SNEER AND SCREAM closely examines a broad range of great performances in horror movies, from as early as Lon Chaney in THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA to Anthony Hopkins in SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. The book has three sections, with the first covering 12 horror stars with in-depth examinations of some of their greatest performances, the second section examining key horror roles played by nine mainstream actors, and the third section looking at nine superlative performances by actresses in horror movies. In addition to close dissection of performances by these actors, there are brief overviews of other actors who have contributed to the horror genre.

Clark has a very warm, and often humorous, writing style, so even though the book is packed with detailed descriptions of individual performances, it is often very funny and sometimes refreshingly personal. He's very open about the frankly subjective nature of his approach. It's a fun book to read.

Clark's emphasis on acting is very welcome. There have been many general surveys of the horror genre, biographies of horror film stars, and even auteurial approaches to the great horror directors. The decision to concentrate on acting is overdue, allowing the book to fill an important niche. As Clark writes: "After all, filmgoers during horror cinema's Golden Age didn't pay to see the latest James Whale or Tod Browning picture. Most paid no attention at all to the director's credit. Audiences paid to see Boris Karloff or Bela Lugosi or, on a few happy occasions, both."

The book is at its strongest and most memorable when it gets down to very close study of the performances. Some of Clark's opinion are a little off the mainstream, but that just makes it more interesting. While the sections on major horror stars like Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi are excellent, my favorite sections covered more obscure horror luminaries, like Dwight Frye, George Zucco, and Lionel Atwill. All in all, it's a fun and informative book for movie enthusiasts and horror fans.

This book goes way beyond the usual movie companion book genre or the groupie can't get enough photos of the leading guy (or gal) genre for a very simple reason - its terrific design.

After flipping through a few pages, I knew I was in for a visual treat. Great layouts - the more powerful images rightly stand alone in a spread, while background and other less important photographs appear side by side. Creative use of color - Black and white photos are often on wonderful purple or red backgrounds that make them jump and don't distract. Great graphic and type choices are everywhere. Congratulations go to the book's creative team. The credits from Vision On Publishing list "Book Design by Nuisance" and "Reprographics by AJD" - great work.

Of particular note was the well-balanced choice of photos and interviews to include. Normally, movie books have way too many shots of the name-brand stars. Of course we hear from Guy Ritchie and Brad Pitt in Snatch, but great coverage of extras, production people and even Holly the Dog (who gets a two-page spread) make this more than the usual fanzine. In fact, its more like a coffee table art book.

This is a well-produced book and was worth the wait (I first placed an order for it in October). This book features many photos I had never seen before on nice thick pages. Some of the photos were full page and some covered two pages. There were over two dozen pics featuring Brad Pitt. Most of the photos are pretty good resolution though some are a bit blurred. Overall, a pretty good book. As for what it says ... the text was very little but always very amusing. Since I bought it for the photos, this did not matter. Buy it while you can!

If youv'e not yet read this book, you need to do so now, to put it simply, although difficult, is that it is an amazing insight into the creation and the characters that star in the film, from their character traits to their own personalities comming through into the making of the film. The comical attitude of each character is an exception to the book, giving it a humorous yet serious and 'real' content. This book is definately a must buy for Snatch fans, and espcially for those who have not yet seen the film.