Video Books

I had no idea the spectrum of videos available until I read this book. It's also the perfect book if you want to get a video to watch with your lover and tells you how to introduce the idea to them. Plus it tells you who the good filmmakers are. Comprehensive and highly recommended.

I always thought I would watch adult movies if only there were any good ones! I was never very excited about adult movies but I am a fan of the author, and the video guide is not only her best book to date but made me want to go out and rent some of these movies. As a woman I am used to being insulted by adult movies, but the guide is written by an intelligent woman and she's pointed the way for me to find hot movies, and her recommendations have been right on the mark. She gives the reader a guide with which they can make informed decisions about what they do and do not want to watch. How refreshing.

This is a great book! My girlfriend and I love it, and she's now happily put herself in charge of renting our videos. Violet Blue's tone is warm, funny, and excited about sex and adult videos, and she takes no prisoners in her hilarious video reviews. There are hundreds of films in this book and she explains how to find the good stuff. My girlfriend liked where Blue explained how to avoid seeing things that are offensive and we cracked each other up reading the "porn glossary" out loud to each other. It's nice to see a guide that takes us readers and porn watchers seriously. It's a great book for us couples. Don't read it alone! Thank you Violet Blue!

This is the ultimate consumer guide to porn and it's perfect for women and couples. The female perspecitve is utmost here and it shows you how to steer clear of low quality and female degredation while still finding really hot porn. This is an encyclopedia of modern adult film and nothing has been left out. History, backstories, profiles on interesting people in the business, lots of women-made erotic films and even softcore and mainstream titles are covered here. Nice sections on finding and selecting porn to suit individual's tastes. This book is a welcome relief and is intelligent, funny and free of the usual judgement and stigma in other porn writing. Blue treates porn like an independent film genre, and it's about time.

As someone who has been recommending intimate videos to my girlfriends for years, I was anxious to see what I might learn from Violet Blue's, `The Ultimate Guide to Adult Videos.' As it turns out - if you're an experienced porn watcher - not much! (More on why not later.) But if you're a newbie, this book actually has a lot to offer!

For those of you who might be hesitant to watch porn, this book offers many reassurances, such as - people who watch porn are NOT compulsive masturbators, or - porn watchers DO enjoy regular sex with their partners, and, most significantly - watching porn will NOT affect your ability to have a meaningful relationship but, in fact, it might do just the opposite! (Hear, hear!)

On the positive side, the book also provides many GOOD reasons for watching porn, such as - to satisfy one's curiosity (and to expand one's horizons), as education, as entertainment before (or during) sex, or quite simply - to get off! On this last point, Violet offers a lot of encouragement particularly to women - to allow themselves to masturbate while watching porn - which, for men, is only second nature (like breathing)! Lastly, for couples, this tome does review the sensitive issue of how to view porn with a partner - especially when one partner is reluctant. (Luckily, my husband has never had this problem!)

Violet also reassures us - that it's not always necessary to attempt (in one's own bed) everything we might see in porn - and that it's ok for certain types of action to remain in the realm of `fantasy.' In fact, one of porn's strongest roles - is to dimensionalize (add realism) to our sexual fantasies. So even if your boyfriend watches some of the raunchiest porn imaginable - that doesn't require you to try it (or even admit to liking it, even if you do) - so long as he's able to separate fantasy from reality (which most men are surprisingly able to do.)

Probably the most useful sections of the book deals with the types of porn available, such as - feature films, educational videos, all-sex videos (all sex, no plot), to name just a few - as well as my favorite, girl/girl -- which is sometimes called lesbian videos, even though most of the performers are not true lesbians. So if you're unsure of what to watch, this book can add structure to the sometimes bewildering array of porn that's available.

On the downside, this book was published in 2003 -- just a few years ago - but a long time, unfortunately, in porn years! As a result, most of the movie titles it recommends - which make up about 2/3rds of the book - may be difficult, if not impossible, to find today (unless one looks in the classics or marked-down sections). Fortunately, some of the directors, studios, and series listed -- may still be around in some later incarnation.

There's also very little mention of one of the hottest new genres - gonzo -- in which the director interacts (verbally) with the actors -- which saves cost, since there's no script and no rehearsing - but results in some of the hottest, most spontaneous action you'll ever see on screen.

For the experienced porn watcher, this book also seriously dates itself by pointing out that the most prevalent and brazen type of (male) climax available at the time - were facials (an ejaculation served across a woman's face) - which are as useless and degrading back then as they are today! (Ladies, honestly, how often have you asked your lover to do this for you? If you're like me - how about NEVER!) Let's get real!

Fortunately, achieving a climax within a woman's body (on screen) is much more accepted and commonplace in porn today - which makes the action more realistic, more romantic - and much more emotionally satisfying to watch! (It's about time!)

As another nit, the book sadly has only a brief chapter on lesbian and girl/girl videos, which is a shame. And it mixes them with bi-videos (where the men do it with both men and women) which have an entirely different audience and a much more limited appeal.

Luckily, the author, Violet Blue, has a new book coming out, `The Smart Girls Guide to Porn,' which sounds well targeted - since its women who will probably seek out this type of info, especially in a book!

As a happily married (bisexual) female, here are my suggestions for what I'd like to see included in her new book - which this present edition was sorely lacking:

There are now genres of porn - which explore the lovingness of every orifice (such as oral and anal) - and the creative after-climax uses for a man's output (such as swallowing, swapping, and cream pies which is the oozing of ejaculant out of the orifice where it was deposited, plus other combinations of the above).

The natural eroticism of girl/girl should be more strongly highlighted - especially for women. In my own experiences, I've yet to meet a girl who doesn't like to watch two cute babes making love to each other. And I've also found that a woman's enjoyment of porn will increase tremendously - after she discovers girl/girl, which only makes sense since porn is about women - and women have always had an appreciation for the beauty of the fairer sex. (Said differently, it's harder to believe that porn exploits women, and to restrict one's own enjoyment - when pretty girls can now be an object of desire - for both men and women!)

Needless to say, a section of the book should be added to reassure MEN - that watching girl/girl videos will NOT turn their girlfriends or wives into lesbians! (Take it from me -- they won't!) Unfortunately, the most common reason I've found to explain why some women DON'T watch girl-only videos - is because their men don't (yet) approve. Fortunately, that attitude is quickly changing.

I didn't say this earlier, but back in 2003 - it was also taboo to mix boy/girl and girl/girl action - in the same scene. The thinking was (and still is) that guys will be turned off. But one of my favorite type of videos today is girl/girl/boy threesomes, where the girls are free to make love to each other early on (usually in the segment's opening) - and later all throughout the scene - even after their guy has joined in, which is pretty heady stuff!

As further expansion, the nastiest and most romantic of these girl/girl/boy threesome titles are probably more easily recognized under the `swapping' genre where the girls do just that orally with their lover's output - which, for me, is a great heterosexual reassurance - which allows the intimacy of the girl/girl action to go even higher! (As a watch-out, these videos are probably better suited to the more advanced porn watcher - but they are items which I suggest quite often - to my girlfriends who really enjoy porn!)

In conclusion, Violet Blue's `Ultimate Guide to Adult Videos' offers some timeless advice to overcome one's hesitation when it comes to watching porn. The plethora of videos it recommends, though - are hopelessly out-of-date! Fortunately, porn just keeps getting better and better - for both men and women! Enjoy.

I imagine due to the holidays was the reason that it took so long for this item to arrive. (mid January) However! The book is a quality item, it arrived in excellent condition and the person who received the gift is extremely happy. A very worth while purchase.
Some things are worth looking forward to. Very satisfied. thank you.

This book is a real treasure if you are enamored with the film! When you just can't get enough, it gives you a play by play of the whole script, side notes, and facts about scenes and the making of them. The pages are wonderful along with the pictures. I would highly recommend this collectable book for true V fanatics at heart!

(from an extended feature, copyright 2006 Michael F. Hopkins)

Few literary masterworks offer more narrative wonder,
and more frustration to adapt to the silver screen,
than the socioculturally-charged V FOR VENDETTA by
writer Alan Moore and illustrator David Lloyd. Its
mix of Fascist horror, Romantic adventure, and
Science Fiction contemplation, has thrilled readers
of Sequential literature and a world of enthusiasts
for over 20 years.
The questions posed by its pages, particularly the
point at which Terrorism becomes the State, or the
crucible in which Dissent can be compelled to fashion
the tools of Rebellion from the State's own Terror,
still await finer resolutions in the trouble-torn
world of the Here and Now.
As ambivalent as the tones of a William Blake painting,
V FOR VENDETTA strikes as aggressively for the souls
and minds of thinking, caring people who refuse to
settle for any quick emotion, and easy answer.

These are the focused aims superbly met by the wondrous
film from the shapers of THE MATRIX Trilogy. Larry and
Andy Wachowski spent many years forging their prodigious
script, and director James McTeigue brings the momentous
tale to stunning life.
Not a word-for-word adaptation of what is perhaps Alan
Moore's signature work, the film masterfully embraces
Moore's questing spirit; holding true to the original
author's vision while imbuing the film with a life and
character all its own. Its myriad inquiries into the
nature of Faith and Wisdom in a bigoted World run by
Lust without Ethics, and Reason gone mad without Virtue,
mark the cinematic V FOR VENDETTA as a classic tale of
the Human spirit prevailing against all odds.

Those who love to look within the shaping of such
presentations would do well to purchase V FOR VENDETTA:
FROM SCRIPT TO FILM, a handsome coffee-table book
(Hardcover, as well as paperback) from Rizzoli's
Universe Publishing which offers the film's complete
shooting script, a wealth of photos and pre-production
art from the movie, along with invaluable insights from
director McTeigue himself.
Edited by Spencer Lamm (who edited THE ART OF THE MATRIX)
and Sharon Bray, the volume is a massive tribute to the
power of gifted artistry; crossing idioms to make even
broader points to ever-growing audiences with unimpeachable integrity.

If there continues to be confusion regarding author Moore's
disavowing of such a landmark adaptation of his work, it
is hoped that this volume will make the adaptation's
worthiness crystal clear, beyond any shadow of a doubt.
Perhaps only Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Phillipa
Boyens (LORD OF THE RINGS) along with Ray Bradbury
(John Huston's MOBY DICK) had a more imposing task of
adaptation.
Those who admire both the Literary original and the
Hugo Weaving-Natalie Portman tour de force can respect
-if not agree with- author Moore's disavowal of film
adaptations. By the very breath, one can only hope that
the excellence of this motion picture -ably reflected
by this book- will earn Mr. Moore's respect, in turn.

Differences between parties notwithstanding, the film
is a masterpiece; one which ably complements the book
from which it came. Each holds wonders for all. Time
for the idiomatic skirmishes to end.

Come in, and be enlightened.

Great book containing the shooting script with director's notes and hundreds of stills. The last third of the book contains artwork and storyboards and how they were transformed into film, complete with explaining notes by the film's makers. Poster gallery and credits included. All color photos and artwork, high quality print, great book on this great film!

Has the full shooting script. Lots of behind the scenes stuff.

THICK, glossy pages (the kind you sort of get a high from, from such heavy gloss fumes).

Wonderful artwork from the film!!!! Mock movie posters and the print posters. All very nice.

A must have if you're a fan of the film!

Tried to covered a broad concept and has done it well. He is more a video expert than an IP expert but given the breadth of the concept he is trying to cover, I must say, he has done a great job. I would have given him 5 starts if he had not use the term "signal" in the IP and RTP discussions.

This is one of the most in-depth and comprehensive books I have ever seen covering IPTV, security, streaming, conferencing, compression and network transport. If you are professionally involved in video, this book serves as the perfect first stop reference that will give you a quick understanding of what the technologies are for and how they interrelate. Information is very well organized and easy to find.

Excellent book for technical professionals looking to go deeper into video. All the relevant protocols and technologies are surveyed, and enough detail is provided to give an understanding of their relevance. Highly recommended - this will point you to the areas to explore in more depth if you need to go further.

This book provides an excellent basis for anyone working in the field of video transport over IP networks. The author is a highly-respected expert in this field and speaks with authority on the subject, yet has written a volume that is very readable and useful as a reference. I can highly recommend this work as an up-to-date review of the topic.

As a video engineer for over 30 years, I am constantly amazed by what passes for reference work in the field of television, communications and computers. Most of the technical books answer a few questions at best and are very good at putting one to sleep, very quickly!

Not so with Mr. Simpson's book. "Video Over IP, a Practical Guide..."is,indeed, just that. With the convergence of entertainment communications and computers, the plethora of acronyms in this field is worse than it's ever been. Video over IP cuts through the clutter and provides concise, easy to understand answers. Mixed in are real life application descriptions, and practical examples that describe the technology clearly and in a way that can be understood by engineers and managers alike. An example is Mr. Simpson's analogy comparing MAC addresses and IP addresses, where the MAC address is similar to an automobile's VIN number and the IP address, which may vary over the life of a piece of hardware, is analogous to the registration or plate number. Brilliant! Couple this with the review and checklist update at the end of each chapter, and what we have is an excellent reference work that is both easy to read and up to date. A must have for anyone in the video, telecom or entertainment fields.

I can only comment on 1 video bucause this was all i got when i received the package ( there is supossed to be 8 videos and a book) i asked for a replacement wich i got and received again only 1 video then i asked for a refund wich i am still waiting.
The only video i watch was excellent, clear images and a very important thing, the author explains things in a way that you do not only understand the image but you also understand why it looks that way.
So i recomend that you buyit but be sure you get the all material and not just a part of it.

Anesth. Analg. 90, 235 (2000)

Video Seminars on Transesophageal Echocardiography (TEE) consists of eight video tapes and an accompanying soft-covered manual. Three sections on basic TEE techniques, four on applications of TEE in the intraoperative and critical care setting, and a self-assessment test compose the series. The first three chapters and video tapes describe in detail the step-by-step sequences of horizontal, vertical, and oblique plane imaging. Particular attention is given to economy of motion, eliminating repetitive maneuvers for the novice. Diagramatic representations of each tomographic window in the basic TEE exam are juxtaposed with actual black and white TEE images. These diagrams are extremely helpful for orienting the beginner to the tomographic windows used in the basic exam.

The fourth and fifth chapters and videos describe TEE findings in a series of 22 cardiac surgical patients with mitral valve disorders (specifically flail mitral leaflet and mitral valve prolapse). Mitral valve pathologies are described from both an echocardiographic and surgical perspective using Carpentier nomenclature. Sample cases address both pathophysiologic and surgical approaches to mitral valve abnormalities. Post repair systolic anterior motion is presented and thoroughly discussed. The process of localizing mitral dysfunction and repair is presented in a logical and reproducible manner.

Sections 6 and 7 review the uses of TEE in noncardiac surgery settings. TEE is used to evaluate and diagnose various hemodynamic and embolic insults during hip surgery. This is discussed in the format of both case presentations and didactic form. Critical care applications are presented in Section 7. Topics include regional wall motion abnormalities, atrial septal defect, ventricular septal defect, pericardial tamponade, and intracardiac masses. Representative cases are used to illustrate these TEE diagnoses.

The final section consists of multiple-choice questions that test basic TEE interpretation and image recognition of real-time echocardiographic images. The questions address thoracic aortic pathology, ventricular dysfunction, atrial masses, native and prosthetic mitral valve function, aortic and tricuspid valve pathology, and left ventricular outflow tract pathology.

The major emphasis of these TEE video seminars is simplification of a rather technical methodology of image acquisition and recognition. Particular attention is paid to economy of motion in attaining the echocardiographic windows utilized in the basic TEE exam. The tomographic diagrams in the tapes and book are very useful to the novice attempting to understand the three-dimensional orientation of TEE anatomy. Although mitral valve pathology and its surgical approaches are covered well, the aortic valve is not addressed as extensively. The case studies are a very valuable inclusion in the seminars because they logically review the nomenclature used to describe mitral valve pathology and other uses of TEE. In general, these seminars are an excellent primer for establishing the "groundwork" knowledge for further study of perioperative TEE.

Anand Tewari, MD, Department of Anesthesiology, St. Francis Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA

Clin. Cardiol. 22, 684 (1999)

BOOK REVIEW

Video Seminars on Transesophageal Echocardiography is a book (126 pages) and eight 45-minute to 1-hour video tapes written by a cardiac anesthesiologist. It focuses on transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) performed intra-operatively. There are three chapters on TEE techniques (transverse, vertical, and oblique plane imaging), four on applications (mitral valve, mitral valve repair, and orthopedic and critical care settings), and a self-assessment test.

The text and video tapes provide a comprehensive and practical introduction to the field of intra-operative TEE. The intention is to simplify TEE by using techniques to analyze and explain the patient examination process. The focus is primarily on the intra-operative evaluation of the mitral valve. A particularly useful chapter is the evaluation of the various regions of the mitral valve, including the identification of each of the scallops of the two leaflets. The 20 mitral valve repair cases presented are excellent, especially those showing the results of the different types of repair.

The real success of this book lies in the many clear illustrations of mitral valve anatomy and pathology that are shown both in the text and on the videos. Since echocardiography is primarily a visual modality, the video tapes are an excellent enhancement to the text. Despite excellent descriptions in the text, however, I sometimes found myself wanting to see better use of the video medium. Too often the author is shown simply talking, whereas the echocardiograms or animated illustrations to which he is referring could have been shown simultaneously on the video tape. He also could have been an insert while most of the screen showed the echocardiograms. In addition, a more effective video presentation would have included still-frames and better labels with arrows to identify the particular abnormalities being addressed. Nevertheless, this video tape series will enhance the understanding of intra-operative TEE for both cardiologists and anesthesiologists and permit a more effective working relation-ship with the cardiac surgeon.

Joel M. Felner, M.D. Associate Dean for Clinical Education Professor of Medicine (Cardiology) Emory University School of Medicine

Clin. Cardiol. 22, 684 (1999)

Book Review

Video Seminars on Transesophageal Echocardiography is a book (126 pages) and eight 45-minute to 1-hour video tapes written by a cardiac anesthesiologist. It focuses on transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) performed intra-operatively. There are three chapters on TEE techniques (transverse, vertical, and oblique plane imaging), four on applications (mitral valve, mitral valve repair, and orthopedic and critical care settings), and a self-assessment test.

The text and video tapes provide a comprehensive and practical introduction to the field of intra-operative TEE. The intention is to simplify TEE by using techniques to analyze and explain the patient examination process. The focus is primarily on the intra-operative evaluation of the mitral valve. A particularly useful chapter is the evaluation of the various regions of the mitral valve, including the identification of each of the scallops of the two leaflets. The 20 mitral valve repair cases presented are excellent, especially those showing the results of the different types of repair.

The real success of this book lies in the many clear illustrations of mitral valve anatomy and pathology that are shown both in the text and on the videos. Since echocardiography is primarily a visual modality, the video tapes are an excellent enhancement to the text. Despite excellent descriptions in the text, however, I sometimes found myself wanting to see better use of the video medium. Too often the author is shown simply talking, whereas the echocardiograms or animated illustrations to which he is referring could have been shown simultaneously on the video tape. He also could have been an insert while most of the screen showed the echocardiograms. In addition, a more effective video presentation would have included still-frames and better labels with arrows to identify the particular abnormalities being addressed. Nevertheless, this video tape series will enhance the understanding of intra-operative TEE for both cardiologists and anesthesiologists and permit a more effective working relation-ship with the cardiac surgeon.

Joel M. Felner, M.D. Associate Dean for Clinical Education Professor of Medicine (Cardiology) Emory University School of Medicine

Terence Rafferty of Yale University has put together a very extensive and complete video series covering basic and advanced Transesophageal Echocardiography (TEE) examination sequences, views and clinical applications. A soft cover book accompanies the video series to complement the eight VHS videos and allows for off-line review.

The author provides content and instruction that is comprehensive and accurate. Three tapes cover the basic anatomy and "how to" standard for transesophageal echocardiography examinations. These three tapes provide the beginner with the framework for performing a complete echocardiography examination. For the experienced echocardiographer, these three tapes provide an extensive review that is of refresher course quality.

Two videotapes are devoted to an extensive anatomical and clinical review of the mitral valve. High quality multiple clinical examples of mitral valve pathology are provided. Other videos covering critical care applications and utilization of TEE in hip replacement were of moderate utility. The critical care medicine applications provide nice examples of important critical care pathology; however, more clinical information, background, differential diagnosis, and management strategies for the presented pathology would have made this tape more informative and might have further emphasized the vital role of echocardiography in critical care medicine. The last video in the series provides multiple good examples of challenging video clips with an accompanying multiple choice examination.

Although the content and organization of material within the video is excellent, some of the stills were less than optimal. The audio presentation of the material, although lacking in dramatics, is clear. The quality of the text material is adequate. The pages of the provided text were out of order.

In summary, this video series is an excellent review of an approach to the complete transesophageal echocardiography examination. Institutions with intraoperative TEE services would benefit from the availability of this fine reference. I look forward to a DVD version with expanded references and content.

Corey Sawchuk, MD, FRCPC, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

I liked this book a lot. I am not a video engineer - however, I need high performance hardware and I need to understand how to connect it all. I needed to understand what it takes to put together a networked high performance system of relational databases (emphases on high performance and databases) - SAN's, NAS's, RAID's, etc. This book describes it at the correct level.

I was looking for a general overview of SAN's, NAS, DAS, and other high throughput fast storage and networking descriptions. This book has it without overwhelming you with 8B/10B encoding and modulation nonsense.

As a systems integrator in the broadcast and professional video industry, we face issues associated with the converging IT and professional AV media environments on almost daily basis. To date, we have had to build our own knowledge base to address these matters and have found no one source that appropriately deals with these merging industries - well this book addresses these issues head on.

Personally, I found this book really "hit the spot" as it relates to the broadcast and media industry as it stands today (as well as in the near future). I found this book to be up to date and topics discussed exceedingly relevant. Although this book tackles a broad array of topics, from media network deployment and management to video system fundamentals and architectures, the information covered was well presented and logically organized which made it a very comfortable read.

This book is a must for anyone (IT managers, as well as network and video engineers alike) who have an interest in producing, managing, and distributing video media.

This book is of interest to any technical professional working with video. In the past, we could view the world of IT as of increasing value but not central to a video system. No longer. This book comprehensively lays out the myriad of technologies and issues to be considered as we incorporate the power and economy of IT servers and networking ever more broadly into our broadcast and production facilities.

Last year at a Hollywood Post Alliance meeting a senior technical production executive said to an audience of technical professionals, "If you don't have a strong foundation in video, networking and IT....you will not work in our business any longer."

What he was really saying is, go out and get Kovalick's book and read it. And then read it again.

As a professional who serves the pro-video and broadcast market, I've been eagerly awaiting my copy of Video Systems in an IT Environment. I just received my order a few weeks ago from Amazon.com and I've now had a chance to absorb several chapters -- with more to come.

First impressions: Wow! Substantial. Meaty. First of its kind. When you receive this book in the mail, the first thing you notice upon opening the package is the sheer weight and tasteful abstract art on the front cover. This is a hefty 600-page volume packed with hundreds of detailed illustrations and lots of examples. When it comes to understanding principles of modern networked media for video and audio, this Focal Press work deserves a prominent place in any serious video or IT engineer's reference library.

Although this book is oriented towards the professional media or broadcast systems engineer (as opposed to a video consumer building a home media network), the author does a nice job of weaving together the essentials of networked media from "A to Z" including a handy glossary of terms for those of us who can't keep our acronyms straight. I've known the author, Al Kovalick, who's a well regarded figure in the broadcast community. His breadth of knowledge is evident throughout each chapter, yet he writes in a witty, practical style that's both educational and fun to read (including some pretty subtle humor that will make an engineer chuckle). Without sacrificing depth, this book takes a complex technical subject and brings it down to earth, making it suitable even for less technical (but motivated) readers. I like the "It's a Wrap" section found at the end of each chapter that summarizes the salient points of each chapter.

Bottom line, this book is for you if you're seeking a solid overview of key engineering considerations when designing or recommending networked video architectures, including networking fundamentals, virus and firewall protection, video servers, NSPOF (no single point of failure) storage design including RAID and RAIN methods, as well as other innovative architectures. Several real-world case studies complement the teaching benefits including specific examples by leading-edge media companies and broadcasters.

Chapter Highlights:
Networked Media in an IT Environment
The Fundamentals of Professional Networked Media
Storage System Basics
Storage Access Methods
Software Technology for AV Systems
Reliability and Scalability Methods
Networking Basics for AV
Media Systems Integration
Security for Networked AV Systems
Systems Management and Monitoring
The Transition to IT: Issues and Case Studies
A Review of AV Basics

As an avid horror fan, I must say Vincent Price is the long-standing king of horror. When I think of horror movies, he immediately comes to mind. Finally, a book that specializes in the work of a true master who truly loved his work. Having recently purchased this, I look forward to mulling through its contents and watching the many films of "The Master of the Macabre." Long live Vincent Price!!!

True fans of Vincent Price don't really care whether or not we're watching something badly made like SCREAM AND SCREAM AGAIN or some auteur-approved masterpiece like TOMB OF LIGEIA. As long as Vincent Price is in it, hamming it up and acting all others right off the screen we are in hog heaven. It's a strange, fervid fraternity and way back when someone started calling us The Price Club and the name just stuck.

Denis Meikle has given us a book that clears up some of the myths surrounding Price's career, but he seems determined to create a new one, based somewhat on Victoria's great book. His thesis is that the McCarthy hearings and the "graylist" of which Price was the victim made him scared that he would never work again, so that afterwards, from the mid 1950s on, he consented to appear in any piece of schlock if the "price was right." Again and again he evinces this theory to explain, for example, why VP appeared as "Egghead" on TV's BATMAN. Price himself often stated that he wanted money to but more modern art with, but Meikle discounts this simple explanation.

I am the proud owner of a signed copy of Price's awesome book THE ART IN MY LIFE and I think that he indeed loved art and that he wasn't just "running scared" from the HUAC police.

But everyone deserves a forum for their views and Meikle makes a good case for his.

When I was a kid way, way back in the late sixties to the early
seventies I never failed to catch a great Price film on the late night Creature Features. This book is hard to put down.
Dennis Meikle does'nt white wash the Master of Menace, nor present him in any unfavorable light. All of Price's successes
and failings are told here in a very respectful manner. As a
matter of fact there were some parts of Price's life I did'nt want to know. This is the story of a great actor the likes of whom we will never ever see again. Well illustrated. A really
excellent book.

I just finished reading this excellent book on Vincent Price. It concentrates just on his work in the horror film genre which is primarly what he is remembered for. Denis Meikle follows Vincent's career chronologically film by film, giving details of the production as well as what was going on in Price's life at the time. While this is not an exhaustive work on this wonderful actor, it makes a great companion piece to his daughter's book "Vincent Price: A Daughter's Biography" which covers his personal life and Lucy Chase Williams' excellent "The Complete Films of Vincent Price" which covers all his film output. All together, these tell the story of one of the last true renaissance men. Recommended.

Vincent Price came into horror films by way of the studio system. His body of work is amazing, and he showed a fine sense of comedic timing in His Kind of Woman, with Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell, playing an OTT hammy actor. Later this tough for droll comedy would show in two gems - The Raven and The Comedy of Terrors. However, he really gathered attention in 1952 with House of Wax. After that wonderful performance, it was non stop fun all the way.

Many of his films were for William Castle or Roger Corman, and often considered Drive-In fodder - such as The Fly, The Bat, House on Haunted Hill. It was the series of Poe movies that firmly linked the word horror to Price - and I think it was a term he enjoyed completely. At the time the Corman-Price-Poe series of movies - The Pit and The Pendulum (with Scream Queen Barbara Steele), House of Usher, Tomb of Ligeia, Masque of the Red Death, Haunted Palace (which was really Lovecraft not Poe, but what the hey...) were often dismissed. But looking back, you will see finely crafted horror films that are still a pleasure to what now, with many of Price's wonderful performances.

Even later, he continued to seek out this same spotlight with the campy Theatre of Blood and the Dr. Phibes duo of films or the more serious Cry of the Banshee and Conqueror Worm (one of his most underrated performances).

He scared us with a gentle boo, mesmerising with that voice, thrilled us with the wondrous menacing laugh, enchanted us with his devilish twinkle in his eye...he entertained us cooking fish in his dishwasher on Johnny Carson.

His legacy lives and this is wonderful tribute to the master! Loaded with pictures, it is a must for Price fans.

The book is well written and is a great overview of the VJ culture, the DVD is full of excerpts form live perfomances by the major artist around, interviews and CGI videos. A must-have for VJS!

Just finished reading this book and have to say its amazing.

very insightful cross section of the Vj community. Much to be learnt about the wide range of VJs out there.

It has a good mix between articles on specific issues, looking at the world of VJs, and technical articles explaining how established VJs have their setup.

The DVD has been produced to a very high standard, and like the book lots of informative content is on it.

The book looks beautiful with all the UV pages, and so much design work has gone into it.

anyone who has not got this book yet is missing out big time, recommended to the highest degree.

I was contacted by D-Fuse for an interview for a book a few months ago. I am a VJ as well and I was expecting some sort of paper bag book when it came out. I got it yesterday, a day after my birthday in fact and I have never seen a book (if you can call it just that) with so much detail and so much artistic value.

The audio-visual art + vj culture is one of those books you need to have in your livingroom for your friend to look up despite its content yet. Tp make it better there is so much information inside, even a graphic on how many VJs are per country.

Is a book compared to those of Frank Lloyd Wight. Is one of those books that make you feel like having one even you do not know what is about. The best thing is that you will learn a lot because of the way all reference are managed. And you know what? I'm on page 160!!!

Really good work regarding content and desing, I am very very impress. I am about to get another one, one to show to the people and another one for me.

This book is a brilliant piece of art as much as it is a great resource for beginning and established VJs. The presentation of pictures and graphics is stunning, and looking at all of the eyecandy in the book can be inspiring.

This book does a great job of showcasing the best talent in the business in the form of interviews and articles. There are also some really great tips and how-to guides that even the most experienced VJ can learn from. Equipment hardware and software is covered thoroughly and explained in detail.

This is truly a book all VJs should add to their bookcase because it will always serve as a great reference tool as well as entertain and enage you as a casual reader. I highly recommend this book to all VJs and people that have a passion for motion graphics and live performance art.

This book was several years in the making, and I admire the dedication of those involved in getting it to print.

Unfortunately, that means that in such a rapidly-moving field, it's a bit out of date. Several of the acts featured have disappeared off the radar by now, and there are some quite glaring omissions - such as the EyeWash DVDs, Resolume software (currently used by around a third of the world's top VJ's) and uh... PC's. This wouldn't bother me as much if not for the tagline on the back cover which touts 'full details of the hardware and software available for VJing are provided'. I'd suggest that 'examples of hardware and software available for Mac-based VJing are provided'.

If you get the impression that you need a pair of Mac Powerbooks to VJ from the setups and info given in this book, don't worry - that's not the case. The scene featured in this book is just one aspect of international VJ Culture, and it's been curated from a particularly Mac perspective.

It's a graphic-design triumph - you couldn't ask for more beautiful, slick presentation. The background of Faulkner and other members of D-Fuse as print-based graphic designers with decades of experience between them really shows. Personally, I find the layering and shiny panels a bit distracting and hard to read at one sitting, and I feel like I should put on gloves every time I pick it up as the slightest touch leaves great grubby fingerprints on some of the shinier pages. But it's a stunning, jaw-dropping book, which is just what the scene needed.

To be honest, I don't see this as a book to read so much as to show-off. VJing is a very visual artform, so what better way to communicate what it's all about than in gorgeous, awe-inspiring imagery? Even if it's a bit of a struggle to actually sit and read it cover-to-cover, it's the PERFECT coffee-table book. You couldn't ask for a better showcase for potential clients, newbie wannabes or... well... your Mum... to show what VJing is and why you're dedicating yourself to it despite the bad pay, the expensive equipment, the long hours, etc etc.

A friend of ours runs a Band House, where touring members of bands stay when they're performing in her town. She's a VJ, and so in a good position to plug 'have you thought about using visuals?' on a daily basis. She said this book's been the perfect way to do that - she just leaves a copy lying around and the muso's thumb through it over their breakfast.

The DVD is a huge improvement over that provided with Spinrad's 'the VJ Book'. There's a load of great material on it, and most of it's of an equivalent standard to the imagery in the book - the glamour, high-end of the VJ scene. Positively wow-worthy, and the most impressive DVD collection of live VJing I've seen to date. Some of my favourite parts though were cut very short - eg just a minute or two long - and then there's the bizarrely out of place inclusion of long swathes of content by Elliott Earls, most of which has little to do with the VJ scene - eg a long mockumentary called the Saranay Hotel. Given that there was so much other great VJ content that could have gone on there, I can't work out why Earls' doco was included. It's got nothing to do with VJing or audio-visual art, and the quality is so vastly different to everything else on the DVD.

Like Spinrad's VJ Book before it, I've bought multiple copies of this book/DVD to give away whenever I can afford it. I take a copy to meetings with new clients, and I lend copies to newbie VJs that come along to our Plug n Play nights. The real problem is keeping a copy for myself, as everyone wants to take it home.

The VJ scene is really still very young - maybe equivalent to the DJ scene of two or three decades ago - and we need some impressive look-at-me Superstar VJ's to get the public to take notice, so that the rest of us can get on with doing what we do with hopefully a bit more attention being paid to what's going on behind the scenes on the screens.

I think this book is probably the single biggest factor so far in that process of getting the public to take notice. It's a lush, visually stunning celebration of a new phenomenon. Thanks so much to Faulkner and the rest of D-Fuse for giving this to the scene. Every VJ should own a copy. Or three.

VJ kattyb, VJzoo.com

Probably the only work available that pairs a film scholar/interviewer with the masters of the screen. Obviously a must for any film enthusiast.

VOICES FROM THE SET is a MUST READ for all film historians, film students and cinephiles. Macklin gains amazing insight into the working lives of such screen legends as The Duke, Altman, Beatty and Peckinpah, all captured in rare form. This is an excellent read.

When teaching film and television in Los Angeles, I had the luxury of having top industry professionals visit my classes. This is simply not possible at universities distant from the major centers of production. However, with Tony Macklin's unique and special tome, I can have many of the all-time greats "visit" my class anywhere. VOICES FROM THE SET will be required reading for all future "Masters of American Cinema" courses I teach-- anywhere...ever.

Voices From the Set is Tony Macklin's collection of interviews from the magazine he edited, the Film Heritage series. Exploring an underappreciated era in film, the early to mid 1970s, Macklin gathered interviews with directors, actors, producers, writers, even film critics who blazened a trail for independent cinema between the twilight years of the studio system and the birth of the blockbuster. The book is meant to be savored one interview at a time, and should give you a great list of films to rent if you're not familiar with them. In his introduction, Macklin calls this particular group of interviews "precious cameos that gain more value as time passes." His discussions include several maverick filmmakers still influential today, such as Martin Scorsese, Robert Altman, Sam Peckinpah and Warren Beatty. Voices also captures the essence of legendary directors and actors Alfred Hitchcock, Howard Hawks, Charlton Heston and Macklin's favorite, John Wayne. Macklin artfully probes below the surface and discusses the artists' feelings and visions, not just dry facts and dates. In the Scorsese interview, Macklin asks him for his opinion on "the new Hollywood" during the early to mid '70s. Scorsese talks at length about this group of influential filmmakers graduating from universities, himself numbering amoung them. He succinctly sums up the era and the reason for reading this book: "They [the old Hollywood] took it as a job...we come in from a whole different level...The old day is dying out, and there is a new Hollywood..."

Tony Macklin's collection of interviews, Voices from the Set, provides us remarkable reflections by some of Hollywood's greats--reflections of a Hollywood balanced at the crossroads of its artistic Golden Age and the modern-day blockbuster. Macklin's interviews with such influential film greats as Hitchcock, Altman, Scorsese, Heston, Hawks, Peckinpah, Wayne, and Beatty give us a fresh look at many of old Hollywood's most powerful, while providing us a peek at some of new Hollywood's up-and-comers.

Macklin, in skillfully eliciting responses that are compelling, honest, and human, allows us to witness a side of Hollywood that is rarely seen. Voices from the Set's subjects are willing to talk to Macklin, and Macklin is willing to give us the full transcripts of his interviews. No sound bite answers here. Macklin asks the tough, thought-provoking questions and we are rewarded with direct, insightful answers.

Both fans and students of film will not be disappointed in this book. Virtually every interview in Voices will sing to you.

I have always been a fan of Orson Welles on radio and television. Having collected a ton of radio broadcasts on CD and audio cassette and having watched most of his movies, I appreciate the genius of his work. I picked up a copy of this book recently and am amazed at the amount of research put into it. An aspect of Welles rarely discussed is his magic career. At the Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention this September in Aberdeen, Maryland, I plan to attend the presentation about Orson Welles and his magic career so I can watch rare footage and films with Welles, and get an even deeper insight to his trickery. Book comes recommended.

This book's title aptly describes its critical task in taking issue with the misleading images perpetuated by certain critics and journalists concerning the significance of Orson Welles as a major cinematic talent who developed, rather than declined, after making CITIZEN KANE. The author had the benfit several years of contact with the director before he died as well as the opportunity to appear before the camera in the still unreleased THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND.

McBride has been engaged in Welles's scholarship since his early 1970s monograph dealing with the director and is in a good position to promote the case that Welles was more of what we would describe as an independent film director rather than a Hollywood figure. This book covers similar territory to the first two volumes of Simon Callow's biographical project but has the advantage of extending beyond the final chapter of HELLO AMERICANS to document Welles work in Europe and his return to Hollywood up to his eventual death. It is also a much more balanced work than either of Callow's two volumes by avoiding tendencies towards cheap character assassination (mercifully limited in Callow's second volume but still present in certain instances) to document a person who was both a genius and a difficult person.

The key argument of this book is that the director was more sinned against than anything else. His Hollywood career was deliberately sabotaged by studion executives and he was under surveillance by the FBI for some 15 years. Despite that, Welles never gave in but directed several fascinating films and worked on others that still remain to be completed up to the very moment of his life. Welles was a fascinating character, a product of the New Deal Cultural Front, and a cinematic innovator in many ways. He left a legacy of completed American and European films as well as other works that challenged the boundaries of mainstream cinema. McBride delivers this argument in an eloquent manner and documents his sources meticulously.

This is one of the best biographies that has appeared so far on the subject. It aims to reveal the truth concerning Welles's real creative challenge to the establishment which several notorious treatments have attempted to deny. McBride writes in a very engaging manner and makes a strong case for the reassessment of the legacy of Orson Welles as one of America's major talents of the twentieth century. It is a really important work demanding wide readership and respect for its very valuable achievement.

The University of Kentucky Press also deserves congratulations for publishing this work along with the recent books on Cecil B. De Mille, Thomas Dixon and Peter Lorre which are all instrumental in rewriting film history and refuting so-called standard interpretations.

Everyone knows that Orson Welles made _Citizen Kane_, possibly the most audacious and most analyzed movie to come out of Hollywood. And then what happened? He had been called a "boy genius", having made the movie (co-written, directed, and starred) when he was but twenty-five years old, but within a decade the term was used with sarcasm, and Walter Kerr wrote that Welles had become "an international joke, and possibly the youngest living has-been." Welles had been knocked down, and in the view of many, he never got up. Certainly, he never made anything like a _Kane_ again, but that isn't really fair: no one has. It is true that he never produced the sorts of films that were Hollywood-popular, but he did not at all disappear. Joseph McBride, a film historian who knew Welles, has answered the title question in his book _What Ever Happened to Orson Welles? A Portrait of an Independent Career_ (The University Press of Kentucky). The answer, quite simply, is that Welles worked and worked for decades in film, writing scripts, making movies, and (perhaps because few would bankroll him) doing things his own way. It's a sad story, in many ways. No one could doubt Welles's genius, and there are so many "if only" episodes in this book that it is often a depressing account. But Welles was not a tragic figure; he reflected years later that he might have made a mistake in staying in films (rather than, say, returning to the theater in which he had previously made his mark). But he would not have had it any other way: "I'm just in love with making movies," he said, and indeed, it was only death that stopped him.

McBride necessarily describes the problems that beset Welles immediately after _Kane_, when Welles could no longer get anything close to the full control of a film which he had practiced on his first movie. Still wanting to make movies, he left Hollywood to continue in Europe. McBride makes the case that contributing to Welles's decision for self-exile was his fear that he would be called to testify in the Communist witch-hunts. Welles loved shooting films and he especially loved editing them (as anyone who has seen _Kane_ can tell). There are plenty of pictures Welles worked on whose footage has been lost, but many others have the footage saved by fans or by creditors, and they frequently propose bringing out a finished version, hiring someone to pull the scenes together into a finished movie even so long after Welles's death in 1985. One producer mentioned she'd like to see a particular film screened not as an unfinished work by Welles, but as a film the way he might have finished it; but she says, "Finished by whom? Who can you substitute for Orson Welles?"

McBride does not go deeply into Welles's inability to finish things. Certainly it was attributable in a large part to Welles's way of skin-of-his-teeth filmmaking, whether or not it was some deep-set psychological disability. Welles could have written a magnificent autobiography, but when he got advances for such a work, he always returned them to the publishers. McBride writes, "Welles was deeply ambivalent about reminiscing, perhaps because he would have had to address issues he usually found too painful or delicate, such as his sexuality, his family life and some of his more traumatic experiences in Hollywood." Some of the stories of incompletion here, however, are extraordinary. His finished negative of _The Merchant of Venice_ was simply stolen from Welles's production office in Rome. The Iranians held funding for his meditation on filmmaking in the sixties, _The Other Side of the Wind_, and then the Shah was overthrown. "It's hard to imagine a movie career more littered with sensational catastrophes than mine," Welles admitted. He seldom admitted that he was the source of the less sensational catastrophes; a cameraman who worked with Welles late in his career said that Don Quixote was never completed because Welles "moved around too much, stuff got lost." For sensational and unsensational reasons, the losses recounted here are staggering. Nonetheless, McBride shows that they cannot be blamed, as some critics say, on Welles's being lazy or dilatory. The decades were filled with work for him, and he was pounding out a manuscript for a brand-new project on the night he died. As an independent filmmaker, Welles may have never fully lived up to his potential, but with a record of films that includes _Touch of Evil_ or the supremely weird _Lady from Shanghai_, his pattern of incompletion must be a minor sin. Much of McBride's personal account comes from his being an actor in _The Other Side of the Wind_ (of course, never finished) as were such droppable names as John Huston and Dennis Hopper. McBride's story won't re-make Welles's post-1950 career, but it isn't just a story of loss and lost opportunities; it is one of real movie history and at least some genuine artistic success.

Mention the name Orson Welles and his most famous involvement - with the radio scare 'War of the Worlds' - immediately comes to mind; but for a deeper understanding of Welles' life and career you need What Ever Happened to Orson Welles?: A Portrait of an Independent Career. His later projects were largely self-financed and erratically distributed, but film critic and biographer Joseph McBride has a personal familiarity with Welles from previous projects worked on with him and here shows how the Hollywood studio system forced Welles out of the industry. Its value thus is twofold: as a biography for Welles fans, and as a history of film industry operations and politics.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

While I might be biased because a many parts of this book included stories about my father, Gary Graver, this is not something you want to miss out on if you have any interest in Orson Welles or the inner workings of the Hollywood movie industry. I knew Orson when I was a young boy and teenager during the time my father worked with him, but my memories are nothing compared to the vivid details and thoroughness of Joe's writings.

This book taught me a lot about a man whom I admired and feared. He was rather scary from the perspective of a ten year old, but he often took time to have me sit with him while he taught me card tricks. I am so grateful that these stories are now available for everyone to read. Thank you Joe for your commitment in documenting what no one else ever has and sharing these wonderful stories.

Shipped really fast, and the book was good for a paper i had to write

One word can adequately describe this book. FANTASTIC. I was in heaven (Oz) while reading this book. It is the best book ever written about the making of "The Wizard of Oz". Jay Scarfone has out done himself. I have gone back many times to look at many of the rare photo's he has included in this book. I got it for Christmas and it was my favorite gift. Want to learn something about the making of this beloved classic GET THIS BOOK NOW!

This is a truly great book and you won't be sorry if you get it, but I want to clarify that it is not huge and heavy. It is 8.5 x 11, normal paperback edition size and weight. The Judy Portrait in Art and Anecdote book, now that is huge and heavy!

Now in a newly revised and expanded edition, The Wizardry of Oz: The Artistry And Magic of The 1939 MGM Classic is a colorful companion to the 1939 classic movie that brought Baum's famous children's classic of a magical world to vivid life. Black-and-white as well as full-color photographs and a text that explores the movie's creation from its initial design concepts to casting, shooting, and release in theaters. The expert collaboration of Jay Scarfone and William Stillman, The Wizardry Of Oz is a superb treasure filled from cover to cover with little-known behind-the-scenes stories and is most especially recommended for dedicated movie buffs with fond memories of going over the rainbow and entering Oz!

This book is the greatest book I've ever seen on the 1939 MGM musical masterpiece. Any OZ lover will be in heaven over the vast amount of rare, and NEVER before seen photos -- all presented in top-notch quality, many of them looking astounding crisp and clear, like never before. Even the PAPER used in the book is thick and rich. The book is huge and heavy, and must be one of the bargains of the century. Only $19.95 list price? Astounding. You simply will be OVER THE RAINBOW when you read the insightful history of the production. These gentlemen are THE top authorities on OZ, and it shows. Click on the Buy Now button, and you will be so happy you did. If Ever Oh Ever a BOOK There Was, THIS One's THE One, the WIZARDRY one, Because, Because, Because, Because, BECAUSE : Because of the WONDERFUL Book It Is!