Movies Books

Television writing is simply not supposed to be this good. Or at least we have become acclimated to a good deal less even in very good shows. But I am not sure that any other show in the history of television has put together five shows with scripts this strong. In the history of Buffy, these are the episodes in which the show moved to an entirely different plane from all other contemporary shows. Not since TWIN PEAKS had TV seen anything this well written. Seeing these episodes for the first time, I was in complete awe that the Neanderthals running the WB had actually allowed anything this good to hit the screen. These are also significant episodes because in them Buffy started becoming a show that appealed as much to adults as to teens, as the themes and issues became progressively more complex and darker.

"Surprise" was written by Marti Noxon, who had very quickly in her first season on Buffy established herself as one of the best writers on the show. She was not merely good; she was prolific. This is one of the more interesting scripts to compare to the actual show produced. These collections compile the shooting scripts; they are not transcripts of the final product. Usually, one will find slight wording alterations, or small scenes that got excised in the final shooting. Often shooting instructions provide a great deal of insight into what is happening in the scenes. But in this script, there are significant differences between the final result and the script, especially scenes involving Cordy and Xander. The script was much, much too long for the time slot, and heavy editing took place. The story itself, of how Buffy came to lose her virginity to Angel, resulting in his losing his soul, provides the foundation for everything that happens thereafter in both BUFFY and ANGEL. We'll leave aside the fact that the gypsy curse-that because he has a soul Angel lives in torment for his past crimes, but if he achieves a moment of perfect happiness he loses his soul and reverts to the evil Angelus-is a bald and rather dumb plot device. It makes no sense as a curse, and his potentially becoming evil again makes the curse profoundly self-defeating. But so much else is tremendous, I and apparently everyone else cut them some slack on this one.

Joss Whedon himself wrote "Innocence," in which we learn that Angel, after having made love to Buffy, has lost his soul. If the show had been a teen series before, it was not after we see Buffy's boyfriend literally transformed into a monster on the morning after. It's an old adage that bad characters are more interesting than good ones, and it is reproven in the transformation of Angel into Angelus. But not just Angel, but Buffy is transformed as well. I believe the title in part is a reference to Blake's SONGS OF INNOCENCE AND SONGS OF EXPERIENCE. Buffy loses her innocence as she gains in experience. Willow also struggles with new pain when she catches Xander and Cordelia kissing in the stacks. (By the way, part of the joy of the scripts is reading the directions. As Xander and Cordy begin to kiss we read: "They haben der big smootchen." And when Willow sees them she "has pain on her face like a blush.") In an episode of many awesome moments, one of my favorites is the freshly reborn Angelus killing a streetwalker smoking a cigarette, and then him expelling her smoke out of his lungs after he kills her. That was shot precisely as written.

"Phases" was written by the team of Rob Des Hotel and Dean Batali, who were also the final script editors on the show until they left for THAT SEVENTIES SHOW. Often in Buffy episodes as strong as "Surprise" and "Innocence" are followed by relatively weak episodes, as if they are trying to create a balance between weak and strong scripts. But "Phases" is a fun, fascinating, and tragic episode in its own right, although it provides a break from the emotional roller coaster of the previous two shows. Buffy never deals with potentially hackneyed subject like werewolves in unoriginal fashion, and that is true here.

Well, others start noticing Cordy and Xander's not-terribly-well-hidden relationship, so Cordy dumps Xander to salvage her social reputation. Marti Noxon produced yet another stellar script in "Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered," in one of the funniest shows ever in the series. Because Cordy dumped Xander, he wants revenge by having Amy the school witch (from the first season) created a love potion that would make her love him, allowing him to then dump her. But it backfires and every girl in the school EXCEPT for Cordelia falls her him. After the emotional stress of the previous episodes, the show provides a great deal of comic relief. Great moment: Xander demands that Cordy give back the necklace he gave her as a Valentine's present. She goes to her locker to get it, but discretely takes it from around her neck.

"Passion" by Ty King is simply stunning. The show had often proven it could be funny, and sometimes scary, but there is gothic horror in this episode that can bring a tear to the most hard-hearted. Angel's voiceovers would work perfectly in the final shooting, giving a structure to what is one of the most tragic episodes in the run of the show. The episode also served as a warning to its fans: anything can happen on this show. On other shows, the main characters are safe, but here they can die, and proved it by having Angel murder Jenny Calendar. But her death was not as horrific as the macabre scene where Angel has rearranged Giles's apartment to make it seem like Jenny had staged a romantic tryst, only for a romantically touched and excited Giles to ascend his stairs to find Jenny's body in his bed.

This is by far the best single collection of scripts yet published in this series. One writer in the early nineties stated that television had a greater potential for excellence than cinema, and that eventually a series could come along to prove this. I believe that it was in these five episodes that BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER did precisely that.

This collection of shooting scripts contains three of the greatest scripts ever produced for the show, as well as one of the weakest. The two-part "Becoming" solidified the emergence of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER as one of if not the best-written shows in the history of television. Although the season as a whole was remarkable, earlier in the season with "Surprise" and "Innocence," the show moved beyond being merely one of the finest shows on television to one of the finest ever produced. The emotional depth and complexity of those two episodes, and later of "Passion," signaled that this truly was a remarkable series.

The question as the second season began winding down was whether the season ending could match the highpoints of the season.

"Killed by Death" didn't bode well for the end, being the second weakest show of the season (following "Some Assembly Required"). It was not a flat out dreadful show, but it failed to match the inventiveness and passion of earlier episodes. Whenever fans vote for the weakest episodes in the history of the show, "Killed by Death" usually receives a significant number of votes, though it never rivals such shows like "Some Assembly Required" or "Beer Bad" for the top (bottom?) slot. The episode provides some opportunities for some funny lines, such as Xander's "My whole life just flashed before my eyes. I've got to get me a life."

If one had any idea that the show might be slipping at all, "I Only Have Eyes for You," put any fears to rest. Marti Noxon's final script for her first year with the show, is arguably her best in the superb way she blends a wonderful ghost story about a female teacher who had been murdered by a student with whom she had been having an affair, with Buffy's feelings about her relationship with Angel. Although the scene between the dead lovers is played out twice earlier in the episode, the force and power when the two ghosts reenact the scene near the end is almost overwhelming in its power, not least because the ghost of the murdering male enters Buffy, and Angel speaks the lines of the school teacher. When it was filmed, an actress I have always loved but have too rarely seen, Meredith Salinger, plays the schoolteacher. I'm baffled why she hasn't been in more roles in her career.

"Go Fish" is not an episode that I like very much. It doesn't do much in carrying forward the story arc, though it was probably helpful to have a tiny bit of a break before the emotionally overwhelming end to the season. The episode provides a few laughs at the expense of Xander, but I just couldn't get into the story of a high school coach who biochemically alters his swimmers to enhance their performance.

Joss Whedon saved the final two episodes of the season, "Becoming," for himself. I am not sure that anyone not named Joss Whedon has ever written two better scripts for a television series than these, and in non-series perhaps only Rod Serling. Whedon is like a juggler with eight or nine balls in the air at once while riding about on a unicycle. The balance between all the elements in these two shows, as Angelus gradually brings the crisis to a head, Kendra returns to Sunnydale and is killed by Druscilla, and Buffy is separated from all her friends and mother is nothing short of astonishing. Every few seconds in the show brings forth some gem, either a new shock (like Kendra dying or Joyce learning that her daughter is the slayer) or line (as when Joyce asks "Have you ever tried not being the Slayer?") or comic moment (such as Joyce and Spike sitting silently in the Summers's living room, and her asking whether they had met before) or jolt (such as Angel recovering his soul only to have Buffy kill him a few seconds later) or even introducing a new character (the extraordinary and mysterious Whistler, who tragically did not become an occasional visitor on the show, but who at least managed some utterly memorable lines), all of it culminating in that one heartbreakingly awful moment when Buffy finishes kissing Angel, and whispers to him, "Close your eyes." For me this remains the two most emotionally devastating hours in the history of television.

At the end of the first season, BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER had established itself as an absolutely first rate, funny, and exceedingly hip show, but one wouldn't after the first twelve episodes have been able to describe it as truly great. But Season Two changed that. Buffy became a genuinely great show this season, one of the high-water marks in the history of the medium. And the foundation for that was the writing. It isn't an accident that the scripts of this show are being reproduced: it is a demonstration of what truly great writing grounded the whole show.

"Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Script Book, Season Two, Volume 4" finally provides in print Joss Whedon's scripts for the two part of "Becoming." It was the second season of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" that established the show as being operatic television, in which case "Becoming" is the grand aria in which Whedon hits the highest note on the scale. "Becoming, Part 2," in which Buffy has to kill Angel and send him to a demon dimension to save the world, is still one of the ten best television episodes I have ever seen in my life. Having a copy of the script in my hands puts the final touches on my enjoyment of these episodes, not because it is a question of finding differences between what is in the final shooting script and what got aired on television, but simply because I finally get to see Whedon's stage directions. For example, after Joyce has learned Buffy is a vampire slayer there is a scene in Buffy's living room. There is no dialogue, just the shot, which is described as follows: Joyce sits in the living room with Spike. They both are silent and uncomfortable, like it's Sunday and he's come a 'courtin'. Joyce has a glass of bourbon in her hands, which shakes only slightly.

For such small gems of insight into the mind of Joss Whedon picking up this collection of scripts is going to be worthwhile for "BtVS" fans. Completing the Angelus story arc that covered the second half of Season Two begun in Volume 3, you will find in Volume 4 "Killed by Death," "I Only Have Eyes for You," "Go Fish," "Becoming, Part One," and "Becoming, Part Two." Actually, I enjoyed "Go Fish" a lot more being able to read the inside jokes, production notes, and cut dialogue than I did actually watching that rather [weak] episode. Overall I think it was a good move to have divide the scripts for Season Two this way, so that the first two volumes do the Spike-Dru story arc and the last two the Angelus story arc. I was going to point out that all six of the episodes for the "BtVS" Season Two video tape set are from this latter arc, but now that we are in the world of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" on DVD this is no longer a concern.

Though the quality is not as great as the previous script books, Volume 3 of Season 2 does have some of the best scripts of the season!
The book is slightly smaller than the previous 4, yet holds as many scripts. The pictures of the side and cover are smaller as well. Still, it holds the scripts that are the main point. Nice otherwise for any Buffy fan!

Although a number of memorable plays and films featured characters with various disabilities and handicaps, including blindness, it wasn't really until the 1960s that blindness as such became the focus of the material. Two plays in particular, and the films based on them, brought blindness to the fore: Frederick Knott's 1966 thriller WAIT UNTIL DARK and Leonard Gershe's 1969 comedy-drama BUTTERFLIES ARE FREE. It would be difficult to imagine two more different plays, but between the two they altered public perception of how blind people dealt with their disability and how effectively they could operate in the "sighted" world.

BUTTERFLIES ARE FREE was suggested by the life of Harold Krents (1944-1987), who was so skillful that he attained national celebrity when his local draft board refused to believe he was in fact blind and classified him as eligible for military duty. Kent, who studied at Harvard and Oxford and became a noted Washington D.C. attorney, worked closely with playwright Leonard Gershe, serving as technical advisor to the play and ensuring that the play depicted both blindness and the coping skills the blind use in an accurate and unsentimental manner.

Set in the late 1960s, the play concerns Don Baker, a young blind man who has spent his life being cared for by his wealthy family--but who now feels that he spent his life inside a comfortable but restrictive cocoon. Desperate to break out, he leaves his mother's Scarsdale home for a low-rent apartment in New York, where his next door neighbor turns out to be Jill, a free-spirited hippie chick who has lived her life running from emotional responsibilities. Jill is astonished to learn that Don is blind; she is also sexually and emotionally attracted to him, and the two soon begin an affair. But they reckon without Don's mother, who appears on the scene determined to coax Don back to the safety of home. And she is not above playing on Jill's resistence to emotional involvement to motivate Don to come back home.

At the time, BUTTERFLIES ARE FREE was considered a bit of a sexual shocker, for Jill takes Don to bed in a very casual manner--and much of the second act is played with the actors stripped down to their underwear after clearly having spent the past few hours in bed with each other. It wasn't something that was done on Broadway at the time, and one reason the play sold so well was the titillation factor involved. But audiences that came to the play just for the sight of skin also found themselves at an extremely well-written comedy-drama with very strong dramatic underpinnings: how blind people manage in the sighted world, the many challenges they face and risks the must take, and to top it off the story of a mother so concerned for her son that she would rather suffocate him than let him take the risks necessary for him to grow up.

The script is particularly memorable for its witty zingers, and although these do not always read well on the page I have seen the play in an excellent production and can attest to the fact that they do indeed work on the stage; the audience roars with laughter. Yes, BUTTERFLIES ARE FREE is indeed a "light" play, but it's light qualities are supported by supported by excellent construction and thematic foundations that continue to resonate. Strongly recommended.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

the blind boy loves jill and he wants her to stay with him but she doesn't want to stay only in one place. She wants to be a star and while these problems are there his mother comes and sees the happens. Mother wants her son to be with herself and at the end jillsays yes to don for all life.

"Butterflies are free, and so are we," sings Don Baker, the play's hero. 20-something and blind, Don has just escaped the binds of his overprotective family in Scarsdale, NY, and found solace in an East Village apartment. As he is learning to survive on his own, he meets Jill Tanner, the 19-year old actress who lives next door. Jill is a free spirit, a former hippie, a sweet, impressionable, ditzy-yet-perceptive girl. She has never known the word "commitment" or its meaning. Don has never known freedom.

A match is made even through their differences. Don and Jill start to fall for each other, Jill never giving much thought to the fact that Don is blind. That is, until Don's mother appears on the scene, eager to take her son back to Scarsdale. What transpires is a battle to free Don of the perennial 'apron-strings' that bind him. Jill discovers that she must give up some of her freedom if she wants to be with Don, and Mrs. Baker must give her son more if she truly loves him.

Leonard Gershe uses humor and pervasive sarcasm to chip away at the intensity of the storyline. He shows how love can help a person change themselves, and does so in a way that can only be described as enthralling. As riske and hilariously funny as it is in the first act is how touching, bittersweet, and poignant it is in the second. It is a human, universal story, a beautiful way of describing different types of love.

I started reading this book while babysitting. I knew i was going to be babysitting for 8 hours and i needed something to do. I had to read a short play for my english class and i was recommended this book. The first page simply took my breath away. It started the way that i love every book to start! It got me so interested that I could not put the book down! I literallly could not put the book down. I was so interested that I forgot that i was babysitting. The book made me cry and i loved it. It is a great way to show the different kinds of love that people go through and the denials that people are put through because they are afraid of committment. This book took me a total of an hour to read it. started crying because the book was so beautiful and i was also sad that it was over! Its only 80 pages. So, if you have an hour free, take the time to read this book! I highly recommend it!

This book is really good as a novelization, and also contains things not found in the movie. I really recommend it to anyone that's seen Can't Hardly Wait

This book was great! You're always hearing about what happened during the high school years, but never what happened after the graduation. You never hear about the intense plots, the funnies, the occasional tears. Not until this book anyway. It was great, and I loved it. The movie was pretty good too.

This book is really great and it really explains the movie and the characters in the movie. If you haven't seen the movie, it was great! And even if you have seen the movie you should read this book.

It was overall a okay book. It was somewhat funny. But if you have seen the movie can't hardly wait don't buy the book it is word for word the same

My 3 yo daughter LOVES backyardigans.
THis is such a fun book for us to read at bedtime together.
If she feels like it she gets to "read" along with me when I get to the picture clues.
Ever since they came out with the backyardigans books she wants at least one read everynight at bedtime. I really dont get sick of them myself, yet :).

My daughter is obsessed with books and we end up having to read long books to her each night. This book is quick and fun. There are also pictures in place of the words to help preschoolers with their reading.

My Daughter loves this book and memorized it in the first day. She reads it daily.

Ahoy!

In the softcover book Castaways!, Uniqua, Pablo, and Tyrone pretend that their leaky ship was lost at sea, and now they're stranded on a desert island.

What they don't realize is that Austin has been "stranded", too, but he's too shy to say "Ahoy!" to the rest of the castaways.

While Uniqua, Pablo, and Tyrone look for wood, vines and leaves to build a hut for shelter, they soon realize that everything they need mysteriously shows up. Where did it come from? Could it be that they aren't alone on the island?

Castaways! is a Level 1 Ready-to-Read book which uses simple stories and rebuses to help teach reading. My son loves this book and can now read it on his own. It's a colorful, engaging bedtime story for younger children, and good for older children who are beginning to read.

My daughter (age 2) and I love the Backyardigans! She has all the books and she really loves this one!! I read it to her every night and she points at the pictures as I tell her what they are. It's a very easy read and easy to follow along.

It's a long book for a little one, but it's great since the story is simple, cute, and fun to read!!

Though he hasn't made a movie since the 1950s, CB DeMille is still a name that says "Hollywood" to anyone who hears it. But, aside from The Ten Commandments, it's possible that most people today don't know who he was or what he did. Robert Birchard's book, written in a blithe, easy-going style -- as if you're talking to him -- reminds us who CB was and how important he was to the history of film. Using original sources as much as possible (rather than second and third hand accounts) Mr. Birchard has traced DeMille's career through his films, in the process seeing as many as are still available (sadly not all are). In doing so, he manages to trace much of DeMille's life and the life and history of Hollywood as it grows and learns to use new and better technology to tell its stories. This book is both easy to read, fun to read, and even (gasp!) informative! But don't let stop you from buying and enjoying it!

Mention Cecil B. DeMille to many serious film fans, and they might snicker. DeMille has a reputation for corny, big-budget epics like THE TEN COMMANDMENTS or THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH. DeMille also has a reputation as a dictatorial director whose politics were extremely conservative.

DeMille was not really that simple of a person. He made some very personal films, some really entertaining films, and even some daring films for the time. Although he was politically conservative, several of his films preached the dangers of religious intolerance. His battle with the Radio performer's union was a matter of principle, and not money. And while the stereotypical Hollywood director was modeled on him, part of it was an act. DeMille had a great respect for his actors, as long as they were professional. DeMille also had a sense of humor, as some of his cameo appearances in films show.

Robert Birchard has assembled an incredible history of DeMille's film and radio work. DeMille was around during the birth of Paramount in 1915, and he was still a successful director all of the way through the 1950s. Using DeMille's original papers, telegrams from studio moguls like Jesse Lasky, and other direct sources of information.

You will read about DeMille's struggles with technical issues like poorly perforated film stock, cameramen, good and difficult actors, and pressure from management to get his films completed on time and under budget. Mr. Birchard has viewed all of DeMille's films that still exist, and he gives a candid review of all of them. The book also contains very detailed cast and crew listings, a list of DeMille's many cameo appearances, and everything is painstakingly documented in the end notes.

I can guarantee you that after reading this book, you will be very tempted to rent or buy a Cecil B. DeMille film and rediscover this master director yourself.

Before David Lean, before Michael Curtiz, and waaay before Ridley Scott and Steven Spielberg, there was Cecil B. DeMille, the creator of gargantuan epics from Hollywood's Golden Age. C.B. started making movies the year that D.W. Griffith shot "The Birth of a Nation" and died when Steven Spielberg was a kid in Arizona, shooting home movies. In between, he wrote, produced, directed and acted in close to a hundred films

Today, of course, DeMille is remembered for "The Ten Commandments" and "The Greatest Show on Earth," but Demille was far more than that. The Great Man directed westerns and bedroom comedies, time travel adventures (in the silent days, no less), and even a musical.

Remarkably, most of Cecil B. DeMille's five decades of film work survive, and Robert Birchard has seen all fifty years worth, and written about each film in a lucid, graceful prose; Birchard has delivered a feast of information for anyone who's interested in the history of Hollywood. (Did you know that Charlton Heston, the star of "The Ten Commandments," was making less than Yul Brynner? Did you know that during the filming of C.B.'s FIRST "Ten Commandments" (a gargantuan hit in 1923) that the slaves who were supposedly sweltering in the Egyptian desert were actually extras on the central California coast FREEZING in chilly Spring weather, and who bundled themselves into coats as soon as the director yelled "Cut"? Mr. Birchard lets us in on the behind-the-scenes action on each of C.B's films (each movie has its own individual chapter), as well as when the films were shot, when they were released, what they cost and what they made at the box office.

This is a book for anyone who wants to know where American films have been...and how we got to where we are today.

This excellent book rates 5 stars for a very factual, no-nonsense in-depth research job on the work of famous director/producer, Cecil B. DeMille. And the emphasis is on his work in Hollywood (hence the title) not on DeMille himself as a person, although quite a few passages throughout this book do shed light on his character and mentality. Rather than a biography-style work with speculation, rumour and gossip, the author of this book has painstakingly searched for, found and quoted all kinds of correspondence and other written records to tell the story of DeMille's career. At times it was quite fascinating to read telegrams and other notes between DeMille and producers or other co-workers, for instance, and while explaining certain events or procedures in the film industry, these letters also reveal a lot about DeMille's thoughts and ways of doing business.

Another highlight for me personally is how the book goes through DeMille's films chronologically, with a chapter on almost every film he directed (and he produced many more) often giving a summary of the plot, which is especially interesting in the case of his early silent films which are not readily available at present. Besides details of cast, crew and plot, many business aspects of the film industry are related, giving an overall comprehensive story of the course of DeMille's career such as how he moved from one type of film to another, or from one studio to another when circumstances changed. Even though this book deals with hard facts only, it is easy and enjoyable to read, and does not get bogged down with too much detail. As a bonus, there are sections of many good photos, further notes and information in the appendixes for anyone who is looking for more in-depth material. For anyone interested in DeMille's work and getting a realistic look into the film industry from the early 1910s onwards, this book will definitely fit the bill.

I loved this book and liked the mix-ups about Cher and "Shar" you should read it.

This book was awesome!!!!!! I love it when Cher and De do makeovers, and it was cool how the story tied in with Frankentstein (dont worry, it isnt dorky, its awesome). This is a total must read!!!!!!!!!

I love these books!I's really funny how Cher talks using words like chronic,betty, baldwin,rampant,snaps,etc. and how she's always talking about her designer clothing.Aside from that,these are very humorous books.All of them are great!

another one of the best clueless books. i really enjoy reading it. and all you people out there, read this book!!!

This book is perfect for the intermediate player, it's not too hard yet easy enough to play from the first time you open the book. It has all the songs you love from the movie and a few pictures as well.

I have the Broadway Vocal Selections, and that was just fabulous, but this one is by far my favorite. Kander and Ebb (Cabaret) are the kings of Broadway. And this one has my favorite Chicago song, "Cell Block Tango" which i loved on stage and loved even more on screen. These songs are the best, and I hope broadway shows get better and better, because in my opinion, these two gentlemen have set the bar...and it is high!!

You don't need to play the piano to enjoy this book. With 8 pages of picture, it's pretty enjoyable. Plus it has the lyrics, and the different stage ending for "cell Block Tango".

The script behind the smash hit broadway show "CHICAGO!". Complete with original cast list, synopsis at the beggining, characters and descriptions, and lyrics/libretto included in the text of the show. A wonderful play that wraps you in the wrath of two young women, Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly, in a murder scaldal trying to escape with the help of sleezey lawyer, Billy Flynn. A great read and fantastic musical. Availabily my be difficult as it is out of print (I bought it used) so you can buy it from the publiser, Samuel French online from the website by the same name (samuelfrench.com) Thanks for reading!

A great book by Jack Hunter. Christopher Walken is a very gifted actor, and Hunter gives loads of insight into the many characters he has played throughout the years. You may even be inclined to view some of the movies, again after reading this book. It is obvious that Hunter recognizes talent when he sees it. Hunter goes beyond the typical type-casting, that many film critics are stuck on. This book has many nuggets of wisdom, and is laced with respect. Christopher Walkwn is very fortunate to have an insightful author, like Hunter, write about him. Thanks Chris for sharing your gift of acting. Thanks Jack for sharing your gift of writing. The pleasure has been mine from Indiana.

A great book by Jack Hunter. Christopher Walken is a very gifted actor, and Hunter gives loads of insight into the many characters he has played throughout the years. You may even be inclined to view some of the movies, again after reading this book. It is obvious that Hunter recognizes talent when he sees it. Hunter goes beyond the typical type-casting, that many film critics are stuck on. This book has many nuggets of wisdom, and is laced with respect. Christopher Walkwn is very fortunate to have an insightful author, like Hunter, write about him. Thanks Chris for sharing your gift of acting. Thanks Jack for sharing your gift of writing. The pleasure has been mine from Indiana.

This is a great source of information about Christopher Walken, his movies, and the themes that drive them - however - it does tend to overanalyze, and contains little information on Walken that you could not pick up yourself on the internet. It seems that Walken is not the chatty type. In his own words, he enjoys working and is not proud of all the 90+ features he has appeared in, but he does have his favorites. I have no idea after reading this book if one of these top ten are in fact the actors favorite - rather they are showcased as his best performances. This is a lot of speculation, as Walken has an incredible amount of work, including broadway shows to choose from. So if you are looking for that personal touch, it's not really there. You have to ask yourself though, is there really anything behind Walken as a person that would warrant a personal touch? From all appearences, he works, he goes home, he works some more. He has been married to the same woman for 30+ years, thinks he cooks really well, and aside from the really odd stab at screenwriting (he wants to do the John Holmes story - apparently he is fascinated with Holmes' life, and the attention paid to Holmes' member vs. the real man behind the porn - Okay Chris - you get the different award) he would appear to be reasonably stable (discounting the Natalie Wood thing, but even that is scandal of the most mundane variety.). Christopher Walken is a person who has lived his entire life on film (since the age of 3) and no doubt will die on film as is his wish. So perhaps there is no personal touch to be had and his films are the only window into his life, aside from the odd interview (such as his most recent wish - to host a cooking show). If you want to experience an exhaustive analysis of ten of what are his best well-known films by good reviewers that have never interacted personally with Walken himself - this is for you. If you want to read Walken on Walken, get the playboy interview.

I only rate this book with 4 stars because of its interesting subject - not for the editor Jack Hunter. Did Hunter actually read it? I was completely distracted from the material by the numerous spelling and grammatical errors. An actor like Christopher Walken deserves better treatment than this sloppily thrown together collection of essays. Though some of them were pretty interesting (Deer Hunter, Comfort of Strangers), I found myself wondering if Hunter actually watched all of the actor's major films. How could he include The Addiction and Suicide Kings in the Walken Top 10 but leave out the awesome performances in At Close Range and Biloxi Blues - both with gripping climax scenes that deserve essays of their own. A comparison of Walken in his stand-off with Sean Penn to Walken's flip-flop stand-off with Mathew Broderick (Walken is held at gunpoint by Penn/ Broderick held at gunpoint by Walken) sorely needed to be added to this collection. Will someone please re-write this book?!?!! Heck, give me a week; I could do better than this.

Lots of good recipes and that means GOOD EATING!!! A+ for the book...has lots of pictures too!

Who knew there was a right meal to eat with a certain movie? For people who like good movies and great food, this is the cookbook to have.

As another reviewer has said, this is the companion book to the tbs dinner and a movie weekly show. I am a big fan of the show and will actually make these recipes to watch with the movies. Some of my favorite movie and recipe combinations from this book are: The Cutting Edge, The Breakfast Club, The Outsiders, Fargo, Groundhog Day, and too many more to count. Hopefully, in a few years they will release another edition featuring even more of their wit, movies, and recipes.

Chef Claud Mann has turned cinematic cuisine into a television art form on his popular TBS Superstation weekly program, "Dinner & A Movie". Now with Claud Mann's TBS Superstation Dinner & A Movie Cookbook, he has brought together 100 of his favorite recipes in this third edition of an enduringly popular cookbook. From Beetlejuice - Dearly Departed Sole; Sleepless in Seattle - An Eclair to Remember; and U.S. Marshals - We always Get Our Manicotti; to Ferris Bueller's Day Off - Can't Go To School, I Falafel; Tootsie - What's Under Your Skirt Steak; and Conspiracy Theory - It's All In Your Headcheese, the individual recipes are served up with an on-air wit and an in-kitchen wisdom. If you like to combine watching movies with great do-it-yourself cooking, then Claud Mann's TBS Superstation Dinner & A Movie Cookbook is the one for you!

Being a fan of some Bette Davis movies, I purchased "Deception" and was stunned by the performance of Claude Rains. Since then, I have purchased as many Claude Rains performances as I could. Here was a man who overcame a childhood of abject poverty, little education and two forms of speech impediments. He became a performer of such intensity it is difficult to notice anyone else in the scene. Although his height, or lack of it, usually kept him from getting the girl, Miss Davis admitted that he reeked of sex appeal. What Elvis evoked with a wiggle, Claude was able to do with that left eyebrow and that voice. Naturally, after seeing some performances, I definitely wanted to find out all I could about Mr. Rains and "An Actor's Voice" did not disappoint. This is a penetrating book about a brilliant. irreplaceable artist.

This book is exactly what it says, it is comprehensive (it covers his whole life in great detail). It's Illustrated (it has pictures and photographs throughout the book). It can most definitely be used as a reference to many things, Drama, The Arts, Claude rains, life in british poverty. Overall this is a very good book.

Another great biography from John Soister. Mr. Soister wrote the definitive book on Universal horror films from the 1930's a year ago, now he publishes the definitive biography of one of filmdon's acting giants, Claude Rains. A book on this wonderful actor was way overdue. Soister proves it was well worth the wait! Each of Rains' films is recounted in detail, with Soister's well informed opinion on each film, and Mr. Rains' performance. If you are a fan of Claude Rains, or Hollywood's Golden Era, THIS is a must book for you! He may have been short in physical stature, but Claude Rains was a towering giant when it came to talent, style, and film presence. You won't be disappointed in buying this great work!

As a life-long film buff, I've long regarded Claude Rains as one of the finest screen actors in movie history. He stole every scene he was ever in and enlivened even the worst of his movies. His voice was incomparable, like "honey with a little gravel thrown in." In addition, there was his formal manner, the way he moved... the whole package was quite mesmerizing. Prior to this book, I had to glean my information on Claude from various Hollywood books and many interviews with the inimitable Bette Davis, who adored "my gorgeous Claude." I have to agree with Bette, Claude Rains was everything in a man that discerning women want: sweet, brilliant, a gentleman and sexy as hell. If you're a Claude-besotted soul, this book will please you enormously. The photos alone are worth the price, as are the all-too-brief recollections from his daughter. Excellent work on an essential actor.