Video Books

In the strange world of film collectors Klepper's book guide to silents on video is oddly not obsolete - most of us have huge video collections that will not be easily replaced for a long time to come. His reiews and insights are on target and the book is just generally a joy. This is a good one.

This is a terrific reference book! Klepper, a regular columnist for CLASSIC IMAGES, reviews videos and is both a fan and a scholar. One anxiously awaits for a sequel or another book from this writer!

It's about time someone paid attention to the thousands of silent films available on video, which are ignored in the mainstream video guides. Klepper gives an amazingly exhaustive overview of what's out there, even the video quality included. It's a shame he had to go with a small press; no doubt mainstream publishers though this was "not marketable" enough. But hurrah to Klepper for a much-needed work, which helps bring silent films into the video age.

Klepper has detailed reviews of 29 silent films, and compares the different versions available on video. Over half of the book is taken up with a listing of silent feature films (and a few shorts) that are available on video. If you are looking for a rare silent video, this is a great reference book. Addresses and phone numbers of silent film video distributors are listed in an appendix. The book has a few drawbacks. While Klepper does praise video companies like Kino, he doesn't say anything bad about companies that produce unwatchable tapes other than to say that tapes under $10 are usually of poor quality. He doesn't mention anything about whether or not a film is still under copyright or whether the video company went to the trouble to legally sell the video. And a few of the short blurbs at the back are a little off. Raymond Griffith's PATHS TO PARADISE (1925) is listed as a "crime drama" instead of a "caper comedy".

Leonard Kohl's book fills a much needed gap in my personal knowledge of cinema history. The serial is a form I remember with great fondness. As a child, it was a part of my first forays into the world on my own when my chums and I hoofed it to the Strand Theater on Saturday mornings for an hour of cartoons, a cowboy double feature, a humiliating go in the yo-yo contest and, of course, to catch the latest installment of ..... Radio Patrol....Don Winslow of the Navy...Tim Tyler's Luck... Whatever! By then (circa 1950), the heyday of the cheap and keep-em-coming-back cinema serial was ending and the subjects of Mr. Kohl's excellent work had gone on to bigger things (except, sadly, for Bela Lugosi, who -- as I discovered in "Sinister Serials" -- began his American film career with bigger things, only to slide into the world of serials).

This book is clear, concise, and well written. Kohl spins out the stories of these three seminal film figures and provides us with an outstanding look at a now-past era in film history. An excellent piece of work!

Because Mr. Kohl will blow you away!!!! This is a fine book. The research is impeccable. The photos are sublime. Kudos to the author!!! I saw Mr. Kohl give the commencement address at the University of Chicago and the crowd was mesmerized. Most likely, because he hadn't been invited by the school to give it.

Kudos to Kohl, who has done a fine job of presenting an informative, and always fair-handed, look at a fascinating period in movie making. This is clearly the product of painstaking research, resulting in a heaping-helping of historical data, elucidating testimonials, with a rich array of pictures to boot. Every true fan of "The Sreamsome Threesome"--Karloff, Lugosi, and Chaney--and the too-often overlooked serials genre, should get their hands on this.

Leonard Kohl's first book is a fine effort, a splendid purchase for any fan of the big three horror icons who made serials. It is loaded with interesting facts. Where else could you discover that silent comedy star Harry Langdon almost co-starred with Lugosi in THE WHISPERING SHADOW. The book is chock full of rare photos, and they are a genuine treat. Fans of Charle Chan would be happy to find rare photos of Warner Oland from silent serials. This volume is a recommended purchase. As an author myself, I can see the hard work and dedication that went ito this volume.

Great reference book written in an entertaining manner. All the jargon I wanted to know in the media fields.
I question a few of the entries (the few I knew something about !).
The "Telestrator" was not invented by John Madden, and
ironically (if you read the introduction to the entry)I believe "clap track" should be "clap trap".
In the Introduction, the author solicits corrections, but only provides a snail mail address ! "Old School"

Who would ever guess it would be so much fun to weave one's way through the mysterious words that appear on mastheads and screen credits? Richard Weiner has provided us with delightful stepping stones into the glamour of movie sets and editorial rooms. He's a best boy, and then some!

Teachers, writers, midtown bartenders, and anyone else who needs a crash course in today's media terminology should pick up Richard Weiner's new book, The Skinny about Best Boys, Dollies, Green Rooms, Leads, and other Media Lingo. It's a great desk reference and a good gift for media junkies, theatre and film buffs and crossword types. The author has a wit as quick as Google and a nice prose style. I was informed and delighted by this book.

Ever wondered about the meaning of terms listed at the end of a movie? (It's called a "crawl".) Here's a book that, for the first time, explains it all. I found it indispensable for understanding the various terms involved not only in tv, but media in general. Weiner has provided an easy-to-read, interesting compilation of these terms, written in an engaging personal style. More than a straight-laced dictionary, it gives you insight into newspapers (see the entry of the Los Angeles Times), public relations (see marcom), politics (see Beltway), tv and motion pictures (see Lucille Ball), football (see John Madden), comics (see Borscht Belt) and thousands more. All in all, a fascinating look into the insider's world of communications. I can not recommend it more highly.

"Small Talk" has less vocabulary than other Jazz Chants books, and thus is good for true beginners. Chants are wonderfully empowering for students; they make students feel fluent right away, as well as starting them down the road of acquiring the rhythmn and intonation so particular to American English. Great concept!

These chants not only demonstrate the intonation and rhythm of American English, they are American culture at its best. If you have been speaking American English all your life, you hear yourself and laugh because the small talk chants are so typically American. I have used the chants and worksheets with beginners and intermediate students in the upper elementary grades. The students have enjoyed them and the worksheets that go with them. At first, it's hard for everyone, but the students get the hang of it and look forward to new ones.

From the first moment I heard these everyday conversations put to classic jazz music, I knew that I would be using Jazz Chants as long as I was involved in ESL. As the author of American Accent Training, I use Jazz Chants in conjunction with Dr. Seuss for a well-rounded accent program. The songs are catchy, and students find that the rhythms and patterns become ingrained in their memories far more effectively than with text study. They are constantly amazed that "Americans really talk this way!" and "I can actually hear the speech music!" Mere words cannot convey what a wonderful series of exercises this is. Carolyn Graham is a musical genius.

I am a Korean MATESOL student studing in the US. I have heard that Grahamn's Jazz chant is very good ESL source,and I have used her chants in my classes in Korea. The Jazz chant is very helpful in teaching rhythm and flow that English cotains. However the Jazz chants I have used before was just chants. They didn't have any guide lines. However,what drove me to attempt to write review of this book is that while I was looking for a book for pronunciation micro teaching, I happened to find this book in the library(Actually I didn't know this book was what my professor recommanded in class until I went over my notebook couple of minutes ago!) This book is very well organized and presents clear lesson points. It is definately wonderful to teach oral skills to English learners with fun. Not only does this book present chants but also has written exercises. I strongly recommand this book to ESL/EFL teachers.

If the goal of secondary English education is to foster in our students the ability to read texts closely and well, and an ability to think independently and critically, then Victor Moeller's Socrates Does Shakespeare: Seminars and Film is spot on. The book is not burdened with theory over practice, but it is thoroughly grounded in sound theoretical and pedagogical principles. For the beleaguered secondary and college English teacher facing all those students in classes or blocks every day, the practical helps in the book are life-savers. For anyone who wants to help the process of effective learning in the Shakespeare classroom, this book is a "must have." Do yourself a favor; read the book-and use it. Michael E. Travers, Ph.D., Professor of English, Southeastern College at Wake Forest (NC)

A teacher's teacher, former Great Books leader-trainer Professor Victor Moeller applies the insightful questioning methods of Socrates to selected works of Shakespeare with detailed time-lined lesson plans incorporating films, time-saving quizzes and original essay exams. Every English department's treasure and every English teacher's must-have, this busy-teacher-friendly resource is indeed the gift that keeps on giving and is never returned.
Geri Secora
High School English Honors 9 teacher

Moeller's book is very helpful to a high school teacher interested in better teaching his students how to think about literature. After laying some helpful groundwork about how and why his socratic method works, Moeller offers seminar guidelines for students to co-lead fifteen-minute discussions of specific Shakespeare plays.
In addition to useful film guides and writing assignments, the lesson plans feature effective scaffolding techniques which lead students to compose their own effective socratic questions for use in a class discussion to facilitate thinking and understanding.
Supplemental reading suggestions, such as John Updike and James Thurber stories for "Macbeth", invite students to make connections beyond the Shakespeare text, and are well chosen and relevant to students' lives.
"Socrates Does Shakespeare" is a framework that will equip teachers like me, already employing socratic methods once in a while, to do it more consistently with texts I already teach, and to consider new units based on texts and films not yet part of our curriculum. Moeller has done much of the work for us by creating thought-provoking questions which lead students to explore the ambiguity of the plays and appreciate their complexity. I know my own students will benefit from the carefully thought out sequences he employs.
I recommend this volume to teachers of upper division or honors high school students or adults.

Finally, I have found a most useful book that has already helped me to conduct good discussions that involve all my students with the plays of Shakespeare that I take up in my Advanced Placement classes (on a two-year cycle)--Macbeth, Hamlet, Much Ado, Henry V, King Lear, and Merchant of Venice. The focus of the book is not on expert critical opinion but on helping teachers and students to arrive at their own individual interpretations based on a close and active reading of the text. Comparison-contrast
discussions of the film versions of these plays involves today's visually-minded students in ways that I have been unable to do until now.
John Bardin, Jacobs High School, Algonquin, IL

The SA2 Prima Guide is very helpful but is has a few mistakes in it. 1. Page 5 In the section Knuckles and Rouge Punch or Kick attack. They have a picture of Eggman instead of Knuckles. 2. Page 6 In the swimming section it shows Rouge using her treasure scope instead of swimming. 3. Page 39 For Mission 4 In Metal Harbor it says you have 5 minutes. This is not true you only have 2 minutes in the game.

This guide is great helped me alot to find those things that I just couldn't seem to be able to find as well as with the chaos I like giudes to help me get te full experience from a game and this one did.

I really liked this book.It follows the game of Sonic Adventure 2 very well.In the beginning, sonic is making his way down a down-hill slope, escaping some sort of military attack,and in the end,he has to do some more running escaping from a giant truck that takes up the entire road!!!!This book will keep you on the edge of your seat,folks!So, to all of you readers out there, this is a book you'll enjoy. Chow!!!

Very resourceful and complete. Detailed maps for each stages, hints, tips and boss explanations! Covers the Story, Characters, Controls, Hero Story, Dark Story and Last Story. Highly Recommended!! If you have Sonic Adventure 2 BUY THIS ITEM!

This is a great book for any Sonic Adventure owner. Extremely detailed and (as corny as it may sound) fun to read. It helped me beat the game.

Absolutely great! A little confusing with the maps. Very detailed and the best Sonic Adventure strategy guide that I've seen. Even includes information about the chao. Racing, caring and even a map showing the names of the different areas on the VMU for Chao Adventure! Also includes the places for the bullies. This strategy I would recommend out of all of the others!

This is a great book for any Sonic Adventure owner. It is very detailed and has great tips with roll-through maps of all the levels. It's the only way to get all the A emblems.

This is an excellent book. it has everything you need to finish the game. It also shows you all about the chao.

I recomend it to evryone.

An in-depth review of the narrative and style (hence the title!) of Stan the Man. This book covers several Kubrick films(The Killing, Lolita, Barry Lyndon, etc), and it focuses on and is arranged by topic (eg filmic narration, patterns of organization, etc) rather than by individual film. An excellent study that should be on your bookshelf.

Falsetto really takes us inside the creative process of the Stanley Kubrick with his book STANLEY KUBRICK: A NARRATIVE AND STYLISTIC ANALYSIS. It is more than just an hommage to the late film master (there are plenty of those out there already), rather, it is a clever and insightful excursion into what makes Kubrick one of the great film artist of all time. The author is tracing the stylistic development of Kubrick's career, through carefully selected examples from some of his powerful films (THE KILLING, PATHS OF GLORY, LOLITA, 2001, A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, BARRY LYNDON among others). At the same time, he brillantly analyzes the way Kubrick is telling us story with images and sound, his method for organizing the material into a structured and conceptual cinematic "whole". STANLEY KUBRICK: A NARRATIVE AND STYLISTIC ANALYSIS should be seen as a serious (but nevertheless entertaining) investigation into the heart of Kubrick's work, and I strongly recommend it to anyone who appreciate good comprehensive writing about the master.

Falsetto's guide to Kubrick is as Dante's to the Inferno: that is, DIVINE. Never mind the price, this book is worth it! Easy to read, scene breakdowns ( sometimes shot-by-shot ), and narrative patterns. Read another review for what they're like, I won't waste time trying to recite something too perfect to recite:
This is the DEFINATIVE Kubrick book. It offers descriptions from The Killing to Eyes Wide Shut, and it does a good job. Thank you God for Stanley Kubrick, and thank you God for Mario Falsetto
for telling about him!

Falsetto blends thoughtful, intellectual critques of Kubrick's work focusing on his editing choices and the tension between subjective and objective storytelling. It is by far the first comprehensive analysis of Eyes Wide Shut to be included in a book on Kubrick's style. Falsetto's discourse illuminates previous themes that never occurred to me such as the fact that the narrator in Barry Lyndon probably represents the eighteenth century aristocratic viewpoint, and therefore is not really an objective storyteller at all. Falsetto's articulate analysis of Kubrick's narrative themes are completely engrossing and fascinating without ever getting lost in technical jargon. His analysis is particularly right on when discussing such an underappreciated work such as Full Metal Jacket. He argues that Kubrick was aiming for hyperrealism, and that many of the scenes seem very surreal thus penetrating the heart of what war is about. I highly recommend this thoughtful and well thought out book to anyone interested in a fresh look at one of the greatest filmmakers who ever lived.

Provides an in-depth and fascinating account into how Star Trek productions are conceived, filmed and produced. The book showsthe transition from initial idea to final product in 3 Star Trek guises - DS9, Voyager and the film Insurrection. The book is jam-packed with pictures throughout and Erdmann's dialogue is very much narrative in style, as the story is told for much of the book in the quotes of various cast and crew. The book particularly highlights how stories are formed and the various inputs from script writers, producers, directors and cast, and it is fascinating to see how a story develops and changes throughout time. An extremely good read.

From the first writers' meeting to the satellite upload, this book describes in detail every step taken by actors, producers, designers, directors and editors to create an episode of Star Trek. Terry J. Erdmann has had unprecedented access to production meetings, film sets and post-production facilities to unveil how various Star Trek incarnations get from idea to (small of big) screen. If you're interested in what's going on behind-the-scenes, I highly recommend this title.

For any star trek fan, or just for those interested in the making of tv series and films, this book outlines, in high detail and many photographs, the process of producing an episode of DS9, Voyager, and a portion of Star Trek: First Contact. A must for any fan's collection.

With print and pictures detailing EVERY inch of the making of three Trek productions, this is a book that is a treasure for any student of filmmaking. One does not have to be an aficionado of the offspring of the original series to appreciate the work that went into the publication of this book.

The book is a fascinating (to use Spock's word) how-to-make-a-television episode (or movie scene) primer.

This book is filled with some of the greatest portrait art I have ever seen! Kruger uses a wide variety of styles. Some images seem to be caricature in nature, while others are more realistic, and still others are totally unique in style and hard to catagorize. The common thread of all the images in this book is that they portray the character of the subject with unmatched accuracy and ability. The images in this book can best be described by one word, 'WOW'! The high quality of this book's printing also does great justice to these astounding images. All in all I give this book 'two thumbs up' 'way up'! Highly recommended for those interested in art that is innovative and masterful.

No need to say that it is again the collection of Mr Kruger's brilliant caricutures of stars from which you can find out those great brush strokes stand out.

Outstanding illustrations of celebrities in verious fields, such as movie stars, singers... Great reference and resource for character design.

sebastian kruger is the best caricaturist of his generation. i would put him up there with levine and hirshfeld. but unlike those two kruger doesn't have a style. his consistency lies in his constant exploration of other styles. He approaches each celebrity with a fresh eye. No two pictures in this book look the same, but all are done with impeccable skill. This book is wonderful at showing some of his more popular subjects. The reproductions are great except for two blurry images. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in celebrities, caricatures, acrylics, airbrushes, and people with big noses.