Video Books

I've worked in the film business for 30 years and enjoyed reading stories and tips from these film makers. Everything they say is true!! Most Thespians ARE neurotic and if you're going to work with them, you had better be prepared.

No matter what the filmmaker's experience may be, John Badham's book is a necessary tool in becoming a greater director. Through stories, quotes, and excellent instruction, this book illustrates top notch methods of working with actors as the creative partners they are. It bridges the gap between crew and talent, and combines the efforts of both for a greater end result that flows easily and successfully conveys the natural emotions and feelings of a directed scene.

As a film student, I have constantly gone back and referenced the book, as well as reading and re-reading particular chapters that are easily outlined and provide excellent advice on everything from holding rehearsals to working with potentially "difficult" actors on the set. Reading this book has changed my methods of directing for the better and given me a greater understanding of how to work with actors for the greatest result of acting. Since I began practicing the techniques found within it, I have seen improvements in my directing, leading to greater performances and all-around better end results. With a fun reading style combined with priceless advice and entertaining stories, I highly recommend this book to anyone wishing to become a greater filmmaker.

John Badham has had an amazing career in film and television. He has had great success in every genre, including directing SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER which is, possibly the greatest 'coming of age' film ever made. It is certainly one of the best films of the amazing decade of the 70's which featured so many great films about the Mean Streets of New York. Any aspiring or seasoned director would do themselves a big favor by buying and STUDYING his wonderful book, I'LL BE IN MY TRAILER. Calling upon nearly 40 years of directing, Mr. Badham fills this book with a myriad of object lessons. Mr. Badham focuses, with great insight and humanity, on the relationship between the director and actor. In addition, he incorporates dozens of interviews and quotes from great directors, actors, cinematographers, etc., to give his reader a rich and broad picture of the movie-making process from casting to post-production. It is a rare book that can encapsulate such a range and depth of experiences about the art of filmmaking into all of 200 pages. Mr. Badham's tone is friendly and conversational. Reading this book is like having lunch with a legend and casually discussing the work of directing actors. A rare opportunity indeed; and one that should not be passed up.

Most directing books, I've noticed, are either basic primers (how not to cross the "line") or books of chatty anecdotes by major directors. Sidney Lumet's book is about the only one that gives away trade secrets, and he doesn't give many of those.

Finally John Badham has written the book I was hoping to get to read. I'll Be in My Trailer: Creative Wars Between Actors and Directors is as full of director tradecraft as you might hope, coming from the very crafty director of Saturday Night Fever, Stakeout, WarGames and The Jack Bull. Badham hasn't stopped at his own knowledge; he's interviewed fellow directors like Mark Rydell and Richard Donner, and quoted from interviews with other directors.

The tradecraft I'm talking about includes things like shooting closeups first if you're dealing with a scene that might wear out your actor emotionally (generally you shoot the master first, closeups last); the two points of view about rehearsals; what it means when an actor says, "I want to talk to you about my costume; and how not to waste your casting sessions looking important.

This book only focuses on dealing with actors. I'd love to hear what Badham and his colleagues have to say about the more subtle uses of different lenses, when to shoot at a location and when a studio, six day shoots vs. five day shoots, and other technical and production questions. But that really does deserve another book.

If you want to direct, or if you're just a writer or actor who wants to appreciate all that a director has to deal with, buy this book.

The stories of actors being difficult to work with have long been a staple of Hollywood. And of course some are, and not only in Hollywood but in filming a 30-second commercial, a music video, or even the local church choir.

In this book John Badham, a director of reknown tells these stories from the other side. Here are stories of what he has had to do to get the performance he wanted out of the actor he was using. Most of the stories tell of his own personal expeiences, some are related stories of friends and associates of his. For any director, in business or just aspiring, this should be required reading. For any actor, here is what the educated director should be able to do to convince you that what he needs is what will produce the best work of which you are capable.

Besides being very informative and supplying a lot of tricks of the trade, this book is well written and delightful reading in its own right.

First off, the paper and print is very good. Some of the posters in this book are great, specifically the Sean Connery "From Russia with Love" posters (which there are a lot of). My only issue is really that many of the Bond posters are awful. Specifically the Roger Moore era... The posters are so bad that they are in some cases comical. Overall, there's enough content to please fans, but I think it would be great if there were even more classic and foreign posters.

I purchased this for my James Bond fan and he loved it--much larger than I expected and a very cool collection of posters and images.

I bought this book as a present for the huge James Bond fan in my life and it was perfect. He really enjoyed looking at all of the classic posters from the various movies. If you have someone who really is a Bond fanatic, this is the way to go!

I bought this for my husband's birthday, he's a HUGE Bond fan...he was really excited about this book, and i was impressed with the large format and the posters from around the world for the different Bond films. Definitely worth buying, even as a book to leave on the coffee table for people to flip through.

This is a wonderful collection of James Bond Movie Posters. The illustrations and quality of the images are outstanding. They are crisp and sharp and very colorful. This book covers Bond posters from all over the world. The composition of the Japanese posters are quite eye catching and innovative. This is a wonderful and essential book for James Bond enthusiasts.

New Orleans is my favorite season of Real World thus far, and i am a little disappointed in the contents and layout of this book in comparison to editions for later seasons (ie, chicago and las vegas). Instead of putting cast member information in an orderly fashion, they throw around the facts over various pages. castmember david's fact sheet is also suspiciously missing. I didn't like the rw reunion junk at the back of the book to pad its length. they should have included the floor plans of the house and more photos taken by the cast instead of this.

If you watched the Real World New Orleans, this is a great guide to what you didn't see. If you DIDN'T watch the show, well, then there's no reason to buy the book!
My favorite part about the book was the information about the Kelley/Danny and Melissa/Jamie "feud." With quotes from the sources themselves, it adds even more drama than was on the show! VERY interesting!

This book is amazing!! anything you ever wanted to know is answered!! It even goes into a bit of stuff from other seasons, with pictures of Rachel(S.F) and Sean's (boston)wedding! as well as tonnes of pictures what they're doing now etc....etc.....
You will really enjoy it!!

I liked this Real world book a lot in fact I like most of them, all except Seattle which was incredibly boring . But this book gives you a lot of insight into what the camera didn't show. Some of the things mentioned don't seem to make sense b/c when you see the reunions on tv they don't act towards each other they way that you would think w/some of the comments that they have made about each other in this book. Besides that it is well worth your money and time to read it.

It's amazing how much is told in this book that wasn't revealed on the show. This book gives the show and the cast (which I think is the most interesting cast yet) more depth. The thing dealt with most in the book is something that wasn't hardly dealt with on the show, and that's Kelley and Danny's dislike of Melissa and Jamie. There's way more content than that, but that is what's focused on a bit. 'Unmasked' also put to rest the answer of some questions, such as "Why was Kelley not in the house a lot?" and "What did Matt really think of Julie the whole time she crushed on him?". All the cast members let out what they really thought about each other, and some of the results could be surprising. All in all, I found that this season and this book is the best ever. Can't wait until next season!

This book has stayed with me like few other things, since reading it many years ago. I often find occasion to quote from it; brilliantly witty, charming, scathing and life affirming all at once. Bunuel led an unusual life, but his autobiography is filled with universal truths to which any reader can immediately relate. Buy it at once, and you will find yourself reaching for it often...

An interesting short semi-bio, in whuch Luis speaks about his life and the people he has met.

Bunuel gave some interviews towards the end of his life discussing his long list of movies. That's why I was delighted to find that his autobiography--which is one of the greatest, if not the greatest by a filmmaker--does not dwell on them. Instead Don Luis chronicles his childhood and upbringing, the relationships he cultivated, and meditates on life, love, death, art, alcohol and cigarettes. Many of the stories from his younger days are even more surreal than his movies. He writes in detail about his stormy friendships with Garcia Lorca and Dali, about his half-hearted attempt to try Hollywood on for size, meetings with Hitchcock, Fritz Lang, and others. The book is not somber or sentimental, it's not over-inflated. Bunuel's voice does not intimidate, it soothes. He's a master storyteller, a very gifted and generous writer.

As a young person, don Luis helped me find my way out of the hormone fog, ... authoritarian adults and their institutions, and equally lost peers. Years later upon reading MY LAST SIGH, I was not surprised at all at the depth of don Luis' humanity and intelligence.

Nevermind the moniker "filmmaker" when talking about don Luis; he is an artist's artist. With his autobio, he only confirms what an equally supreme being he was. I miss him. However, encounter this book and become lit by life itself.

Writings by film directors tend to resemble their films, and "My Last Sigh" is no exception. Bunuel's films are anarchic, funny, unpredictable, subversive, and often disturbing in a way that's hard to pin down. So is this, his autobiography!

Though he disclaims literary talent, Bunuel turns out to be a wonderful writer, and the book is stuffed with piquant anecdotes and elegant observations. I'm afraid to quote examples, because this review would go on forever. Suffice to say that, if you could choose to live any person's life, Bunuel's would be a hard choice to beat, just for the adventure and entertainment value. This may be my favorite book written by a filmmaker.

This book is 8 pounds of all you wanna know about exploitation movies.i cant beleave how big this book is.If you consider yourself a horror freak and you love to learn every thing about those movies..... get this book !!

So great a book I bought two one for my business partner and one for me!

I've written a longer, more extensive review for Film Threat, but I'm going to do another one here because I believe this book belongs on the shelves of every horror/exploitation fan, film buff and film journalist. Yes, it is expensive, but it's also a 500+ page oversized hardcover with color and black and white photos (many from filmmakers' personal collections), movie reviews and interviews (many with directors who have never spoken about their films publicly before). As I said in my previous review, this is probably the best film book of the decade.

If exploitation films are your cup of tea, you need this book. Period. At some point this should become some sort of mandatory college text book, as it is not only a history in filmmaking that is rarely covered by more "serious" journalists, it's also a crash course on filmmaking.

Once you read this incredible book, which will cause you arms to fall off if you try to do it in one sitting, you'll be thrilled to know it's only the first volume (the second one, according to the author, is scheduled for 2010). And you thought things couldn't get any better.

Simply put, you aren't a fan of exploitation/horror if you don't have this book in your library.

Price:
I've talked to many people that feel the price is a bit steep and I agree the book isn't cheap. It is however 500 pages filled with interviews, pictures (everywhere), and essays. Think Arnold Schwarzenegger's The New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding : The Bible of Bodybuilding, Fully Updated and Revised size wise but about horror films. I mean the book is no joke and there could be an exploitation horror film made about a serial killer who uses this heavy book as his weapon, that's how big it is. I felt the price was well worth it as a horror fan and film lover in general.

For those of you who aren't the biggest readers:
Basically, all you have to do is read section I The Exploitation Independents which is the history of American independent exploitation films during 1970-85 and goes from page 11-48. After you start reading you'll want to keep going and after that it's basically a reference book with essays and reviews, so you could read up on a particular film. What I'd do is either read up on a film I found prior to watching it or after I watched it to learn more.

THE BOOK:
Stephen Thrower appears to know film even though he made a rule to not include reviews on classics, foreign, and studio made films, he still makes tons of compare and contrast references to classics and mentions great directors such as Bergman and Fellini. I highly recommend this book to horror and film fans, my friends in everyday life not so much but I think my horror Amazon friends will love it, specifically reviewer Clint Bronson. Clint has crazy knowledge on horror and from my readings of his reviews 1970s imparticular which, after much thought, is the best decade for horror hands down. Be sure to check out Clint's reviews as well.

Section I- As I mentioned details the history of the exploitation film from 1970-85
Here is how Thrower breaks down section I and the history, this was a great read.
The roots and the Godfather of gore H.G Lewis.
Romero and the Modern Horror Pantheon
Critical Responses to Exploitation Cinema
Drive in Massacres
42nd Street Monsters
Serial Killers
Psycho-Killer, Qu'est-ce que c'est?
Slashers- J'adore
When Blood Is Not Enough
Torture
R ape
It Came from the Stars/Swamp/Bushes/Caves
Things That Go Bump in the Night - One of my favorite avenues of horror being the ghost story. Thrower is honest in this area saying a bigger budget with good acting helps this area of horror.
Art of Perversity-Horror and Incoherence
Decline-Carpenter, Hooper, Romero, Craven
Hollywood Trash

Section II
Essays on Films and Filmmakers
This goes from 73-373 and like I said at this point it's a reference book. You can skip around read films that interest you and as you see others go back to the book and read up.

Section III
Reviews
118 Additional reviews. These are done in a shorter format then the essays above.

Section IV
Appendices and Index
Including an exploitation independent checklist Horror, 1970-85
A Bibliography
Index

I actually learned about this book in a non horror magazine Film Comment which gave it very high praise as well.

If anyone wants to know if a particular director or film they like is talked about in the book feel free to ask.

Being somewhat obsessed with the period and films covered in this mammoth tome I can unreservedly say that reading this was a religious experience for me. The amount of research gone into this project is extraordinary and the enthusiasm author Thrower has for forgotten gems like THE CANDY SNATCHERS, DEATH BED, BOARDING HOUSE and others is truly infectious. Not since Mike Weldon's original PSYCHOTRONIC came out in the early 80s have I been this giddy about a movie book.

Part 2 is announced in the back of the book which means the good times keep coming.

Bengston is insane. He's also a genius. Only crazy person would put as much work as he did into creating a masterpiece in an art and science that, until he came along, no one ever dreamed of.

Think "silent film archeology," but instead of digging into the earth. Bengston dug *above* ground in today's Hollywood to find remnants of the vanished world Charlie Chaplin used as a backdrop. And he found them - lots and lots of them.

Bengston is a man who deeply loves Chaplin's work, the world Chaplin worked in and the world we live in now and he's expressed that love in an entirely unique unprecedented way. This book is beyond great. It's a WONDER. Get it before it goes out of print. Bengston's similar work on Buster Keaton is selling at a massive premium as well it should.

Add me to the list of people raving about this book. If you have the Keaton book (Silent Echoes) you'll love this one too. I can't imagine a Chaplin fan (or any fan of classic movies) who wouldn't want to add this to their collection. That "Add To Shopping Cart" button is calling your name!

Excellent book with great number of photographies and explained of very detailed form. I recommend them for buying futures.

In 1999, I posted a 4-star Amazon review of John Bengtson's "Silent Echoes--The Films of Buster Keaton." While I praised the book as a masterpiece of urban archaeology, I think...at the time...I ultimately considered it to be an accomplished curiosity. It's not and, if I had it to do over, I'd opt for a 5+ rating. "Silent Echoes," and now "Silent Traces," are ingenious works of film scholarship that use environment and architecture to map the unique genius of their respectives subjects. At the time of the "Silent Echoes" publication, I lived in California and made a number of trips to LA armed with my now dog-eared copy of the book. (The related website was an equally dazzling revelation in unearthing long-lost LA.) The more I used the book to guide me through the landscape of Keaton's filmography, the more it became apparent that Bengtson was, in fact, charting the manner in which Keaton spun comic genius from the world around him. He constructed a unique world view from the pieces of the real world...a now quaint and unrecognizable LA of a past age more akin to the gentleness of spirit that imbued his work. If nothing else, the book was worth it for its view into the now faded glories of Venice Beach. I'm now on the East Coast, so I'll have less opportunity to trace Chaplin's journey through old LA, but that doesn't make the book any less rewarding. Now, we can only hope that, six or seven years down the road, Mr. Bengtson does the same service to Harold Lloyd, thus completing a study of the Holy Trinity of silent comedy. The rating for the Keaton and Chaplin books: Not enough stars in the heavens!

Along with Bengtson's previous SILENT ECHOES (Buster Keaton) this is absolutely amazing stuff!!! I've been fascinated by this before & after photography since purchasing several Dover books (NEW YORK THEN AND NOW; WASHINGTON...etc)in the 1970's (still available at amazon) & Frassanito's series of Civil War books (GETTYSBURG...ANTIETAM, ETC...1980's) that show modern views of battlefield sites (also still avail...). But Bengtson clearly is the undisputed master of such "STUFF". The detective work involved in locating the actual sites where Chaplin (& Keaton) filmed their masterpieces is nothing less than astounding! Why isn't this guy working for our government on some top-secret spy project? I was & am simply blown away by Bengtson's books! I've revisited Chaplin's & Keaton's films & have enjoyed them even more (if that can possibly be) thanks to Bengtson. What's next...Lloyd?...Sennett& Keystone?...Fatty?
AN ABSOLUTE MUST-HAVE FOR FANS OF CHAPLIN, KEATON & SILENT SCREEN COMEDY!!! BUY AT ALL COSTS.

This book appears to have been inspired by the superior "Batman Collected" by Chip Kidd. Far from an analysis of Spider-Man as a character, or the various Spider-Man comics as works of fiction, this volume concentrates on Spider-Man as a pop culture phenomenon and commercial exercise. As such, equal emphasis is placed on TV and film adaptations and in particular ancillary merchandise as on the comics themselves.
The book is lavishly illustrated with quality reproductions of a wide range of comicbook covers and interior pages as well as screen grabs from animation and movies and photographs of various (often amusingly incongruous or shoddily made) Spider-Man products from across the decades.
Sadly the book is let down by the text. Contrary to the reviews above, the author does assume familiarity with Spidey as well as with Marvel Comics in general. For example, in his opening chapter he offers no definite summary of the character's fictional origin, making it neither explicit that Peter Parker was bitten by a radioactive spider nor that he later neglects to halt a criminal who goes on to murder his uncle. Other characters, titles and story-lines are tossed into the prose casually ("...Cap's shooting...") with no supporting explanation.
Worse, the author was on Marvel's pay roll in the past and as such certain passages come across as trade puff. Saffel is unwilling to engage critically with his subject. To cite a few examples: we are given no account of the well-known creative differences between Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, nor is the contention that Jack Kirby designed the costume addressed ; the recent "One More Day" reboot is described, correctly, as "controversial", but there's no description of why; "Spider-Man 3" was the most critically derided of Sam Raimi's movies (62% "fresh" at rottentomatoes.com compared with 90% and 93% for the previous instalments) but is nevertheless painted as the most successful.
This book therefore has the same frustrating lack of depth as the various DK "Ultimate Guides" to comic book characters whose authors also fail to make any attempt at critique, or even be encyclopaedic in their approach. The definitive Spider-Man book is yet to be written. One longs for something in the style of Les Daniels' "Complete Histories" of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman.

I have been a Spider-man Collector for 32 years and this is by far one of the best books you can buy. This collection is very informative and has great pictures by all the best artists.

Buy this book now.

This is an excellent, entertaining history of Spider-Man. Saffel has done a terrific job of chronicling the long and strange history of one of the most popular fictional characters in the world.

There are lots of interesting tidbits that will surprise even the most dedicated of fans. Entertaining details and gorgeous photography are the clear highlights of this massive package.

The coverage of how Spider-Man made it to the screen is particularly interesting.

Plus the evolution of the character is great, even if it just touches on some key milestones.

Three minor complaints:
1. The book tries to cover too much ground. That is, there's so much to report that the author must sometimes merely gloss over interesting historical details. Perhaps if the focus was mainly on comics and media and toys, it would have been more effective.

2. This book would have been the perfect place to offer some historical perspective on key story lines. The author spends some time on current history (Civil War) and some recent history (Clone Wars, Black Costume, Wedding), but very little on other history. It would have been very interesting to know more about certain story arcs from the 70s and early 80s.

3. Listing of facts. Sometimes the author seems to be simply listing information, like names of episodes or other stuff that doesnt really progress your knowledge of the character's history. It's almost as if the author is filling space to round out a chapter or section.

Again, these are minor complaints, and I still give this 4 of 5 stars.

This should be Book 1 in an ongoing series of books like this. Well worth the price.

This is an amazing book, filled with all kinds of fascinating information about everyone's favorite wall-crawling hero! Steve Saffel has done an incredible job, drawing together historic items, wonderful photos of toys, games and other items that feature the iconic Spider-Man. This book is both a fascinating history of Spidey and a warm nostalgic trip through the "life" of a character that has achieved mythical status through comics, books, TV shows (animated and live action) and now a terrific movie trilogy. Highly recommended!!!

I'm one of those guys who started reading Spider-Man back in 1962 with his first appearance in Amazing Fantasy #15. I've kept up with Spidey's adventures all these years through all sorts of titles, and episodes. I even worked for Marvel as a freelancer during the `80s & `90s (a little bit of that time for author Steve Saffel while he was an editor over there), so it is entirely possible that I'm a tad biased when it comes to this subject.

I believe that one of the reasons that I became a professional writer was because of my love for this character. When I spotted this book at a local bookstore, I knew I had to have it. Having Steve's name on the cover clinched it for me.

Now as I read the book, rediscovering all of the things that made me a Marvel Zombie, and Spidey fan as a teen came flooding back. This is a terrific book, and if I, who not only knew much -- if not all -- of this stuff already still finds it fascinating, think how engrossing it will be to someone who doesn't have my history with the character. Going through the book I see snippets of conversations I had with Steve about the history of both Marvel and Spider-Man, as see that he has taken the care necessary for dealing with a subject that is near and dear to the author's heart.

Yes, this is a great coffee table book that is a great research tool as well as a wonderful trip down memory lane for any fan of May Parker's beloved nephew. All of which brings up an interesting point.

As much of the early accolades for Spidey (as reported in the book) revolved around the degree of realism that Stan Lee, Steve Ditko, and John Romita, Sr. put into the series (Spidey lived in New York, not "Metropolis" or "Gotham City," He suffered from real-world problems (school bullies, an ailing aunt, death of close friends), and that he was allowed to grow up and age (Peter went from a 15-year-old High School student to a young adult attending and then graduating college).

Thus, given this early ground-breaking work by Lee and those that followed, one has to wonder why the current editorial management team has decreed that Spidey's clock be reset to an earlier time via a magical "solution" (to a problem that wasn't there)? Ah well, perhaps Steve will be able to explain that in his follow-up tome.

An excellent book reflective of the current practice or Trauma Medicine today.

This book is great if you didn't understand what the Jedi were trying to teach in Star Wars. I don't think it is a book that you can read if you haven't seen Star Wars, because you won't know what he is referring to. Watch the Star Wars movies, then get the book. Also it is a great introduction to Taoism.

I just finished reading this gem. It is a very nice introduction to the Tao with a Star Wars Twist, wetting the appetite for more. If your interested in Taoism and you are a Star Wars fan, a Jedi perhaps ;) you can not pass this up.

The Tao is a path...the only logical act is to travel it. ~John M. Porter, M.D. (Professor of Clinical Surgery in Arizona)

John M. Porter has been studying the Tao and believes following the Tao is like "walking a living path." I loved how he takes The Star Wars series and explains how it is connected to the basic tenets of Taoism. He shows how Taoist roots touch every aspect of life from feng shui to qu gong or I Ching.

If you are new to The Tao Te Ching, it will be interesting to read the translated portions from Stephen Mitchell's translation. If you are a Star Wars fan, then you will enjoy a wealth of quotes. The author's comments are interspaced between quotes from the movie and The Tao Te Ching. You may also find the Chinese characters to be interesting. There are drawings throughout.

The Chapters Include:

Taoism - an overview and an explanation as to why the Tao is highly personal. There is a brief summary of the concepts to follow in each additional chapter.

The Force as the Tao - Quotes from George Lucas and the connection between his movies and Joseph Campbell's teachings.

Each additional chapter takes one quality and explores how it shows up in the movies:

Acceptance

Patience - This chapter was of special interest to me since I once prayed for patience and since then have been thrown into the patience journey. (You sometimes get what you pray for...) In this chapter he shows how Luke needs patience. He then quotes "Patient with both friends and enemies, you accord with the way things are" from chapter 67 of The Tao Te Ching. Then he gives these quotes:

Yoda: (signing) Will he finish what he begins?

Then the author shows how patience and perseverance work together to yield good results. Thinking of "patience in action" was a new concept for me.

Uncarved Block
Wu Wei
Simplicity
Humility
Life Experience
Present Moment Living

Yoda the Sage Master - I loved the "Traits of a Master" in the Yoda chapter. These can be wonderful goals for anyone seeking to live a more spiritual existence.

John M. Porter is a natural teacher who knows how to take examples and fill them out into life teachings. This book made me want to go rent the entire Star Wars series and it is a must-have for Star War fans. I found this book to be a peaceful, healing read and I can highly recommend it to you.

~The Rebecca Review

This is a good, simple book that shows the correlation between taoist philosophy and the Star Wars films. The author's writing style is enjoyable and the book is very easy to follow. If you are a fan of the Star Wars films and would like to learn about taoism, then I recommend this book. Of course, you should also pick up a copy of the Tao Te Ching, which is the cornerstone of the philosophy -- I recommend the translations by Jonathan Star and Brian Browne Walker.

Love it! Someone asks "What was Casablanca's rating?" and the answer is at your fingertips! Looking at woofs is so funny, I reread them hundreds of times. Best book to read when you have finished the latest New York Times Bestseller and are waiting for your next book to be mailed. Fabulous!

I love this book! I find myself agreeing with almost everything they have to say about a movie. (Unlike my experience with Maltin's guide-- can you believe he didn't like "Dead Again"?)

My only wish is that they'd put it out on CD-ROM!

This guide covers movies, video and high quality DVD. Titles are set forth alphabetically with meaningful descriptions of each
movie/presentation. Samples of rated movies are as follows:

o Castle of the Living and Dead
o Diamonds Are Forever

This volume is updated each year to reflect new acquisitions.
It is a good value for the price charged.

Since I am a movie buff, I LOVE this book, and read it in bed! It's a good read for anyone wanting to know what kind of movies they would like to see. It's a lot better than anything Leonard Maltin has ever done, and it's also better than Roger Ebert's I hated, I hated, I HATED this movie, which is good, but it contains mostly B-movies.

Anything you want to know about movies, awards and stars can be found in this book.

this book is a decent hands-on approach to creating video players using AS3 & AS2. Two of the missing things that I think are necessary are creating custom volume controls and handling full-screen mode.

Rob Reinhardt is the master of Video deployed in Flash. I was so happy to see he finally has written a book that captures his knowledge, experience, and excellent teaching skills. Rob is clear, concise and you can be guaranteed that he has tested, used and deployed all the techniques he demonstrates.
Bravo!!!!!

There's nobody more prolific and comprehensive in the world of Flash video delivery than Reinhardt. Considering the enormity of topics and goals addressed in this book, he's really outdone himself this time. Essential for anyone interested in serious deployment of Flash video.

What's amazing about Robert Reinhardt's books is that they're incredibly easy to follow. As a relative newbie to Flash video, I don't quite understand all the thick nerd-speak you find in some books but this book is not only easy to understand but FUN (I love his examples!).

Also, other reviews refer to the book's CD-ROM, but the book actually comes with a DVD-ROM packed with over 8GB of files!

My company bought other Flash Video books, but this book had the ActionScript 3.0 code I was looking for. The DVD included with the book rocks--I've always wanted to test HD footage in Flash, but didn't want to spend too much time looking for huge files on the Internet. The DVD has lots of HD content to use as sample content.