Grindhouse: The Sleaze-filled Saga of an Exploitation Double Feature

Customer Reviews:

Explotation Goodness.......2007-09-14

This book is an excellent companion piece to the two movies that were part of the in theater double feature collectively known as Grindhouse.

The book treats us to plenty of pictures of not just the lovely ladies, of which there are many, but of everything from the movie. Included is the script for Planet Terror along with plenty of commentary about the filmaking process and the support network of both Robert and Quentin.
Unlike other film related books this one is not a fluff piece, there is a lot of material between the covers and this book is definately worth reading more than once.

Awesome.......2007-08-24

It's everything I expected and more! Loads of pictures and information. Even QT's AMI playlist. I love it XD

What a Ride.......2007-06-27

Talking about the movie, the girl riding on the hood of the challenger was quite a stunt and I have to admit that it was original and very edgy.
The girls in this movie were well cast and Cherry is hot.I can't wait to buy the DVD, hurry up and release it!

Not sleazy at all.......2007-05-25

Great transaction! No SLEAZY here! The book is great. The shipping was super fast. Thanks a whole bunch!

Grindhouse: The Sleaze-filled Saga of an Exploitation Double Feature.......2007-05-18

fantastic book with interviews, heaps of behind the scenes info and photos, screenplay for Planet terror and the trailers a very comprehensive book for any movie lover

Leni: The Life and Work of Leni Riefenstahl

Average customer rating:

Good Intro to Leni
Brilliant But Petty and Cruel -- Oh, Wait, That's The Author!
Double standard
Good book but, a little too long
Leni survives all

Leni: The Life and Work of Leni Riefenstahl
Steven Bach
Manufacturer: Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0375404007
Release Date: 2007-03-13

Book Description

The definitive biography of Leni Riefenstahl, the woman best known as “Hitler’s filmmaker,” one of the most fascinating and controversial personalities of the twentieth century. It is the story of huge talent and huger ambition, one that probes the sometimes blurred borders dividing art and beauty from truth and humanity.

Two of Riefenstahl’s films, Olympia and Triumph of the Will, are universally regarded as the greatest and most innovative documentaries ever made, but they are also insidious glorifications of Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich. Now, in this masterful new biography, Steven Bach reveals the truths and lies behind this gifted woman’s lifelong self-vindication as an apolitical artist who claimed she knew nothing of the Holocaust and denied her complicity with the criminal regime she both used and sanctified.

The facts and her actions, many unknown until now, bear chilling witness: her passionate enthusiasm for Hitler from her first reading of Mein Kampf; her involvements with Nazi leaders Joseph Goebbels, Martin Bormann, Albert Speer, and Julius Streicher, who advanced her career, and with Hitler, who personally helped finance it; her role as silent eyewitness to wartime atrocities against Jews; and her use of slave labor in the form of concentration camp Gypsies destined for Auschwitz. We see her after the war trying to sell footage to Hollywood under an alias, manipulating a sham “discovery” of the Nuba tribes of Sudan into a career comeback, fighting to disinherit her closest living relatives, and—to the end—unable to express remorse for the millions murdered by the Nazi regime made mythic by her work.

Relying on new sources—including interviews with her colleagues and intimate friends, as well as on previously unknown recordings of Riefenstahl herself—Bach gives us an exceptional work of historical investigation that untangles the past and is also an objective but unsparing appraisal of a woman of spectacular gifts corrupted by ruthless personal ambition.

Customer Reviews:

Good Intro to Leni .......2007-08-29

After reading Jurgen Trimborn's admirable but somewhat inaccessible biography of Riefenstahl, I sought out this book in hopes that it would be friendlier to a Riefenstahl novice such as me. It certainly is an easier read and a much better starting place.

Steven Bach, of Final Cut fame, writes from the standpoint of a motion picture enthusiast. He also has a POV where Riefenstahl's Nazi associations are concerned and he doesn't hide it. For Bach Riefenstahl is the living version of Klaus Mann's Mephisto, a careerist willing to do anything and associate with anyone to advance her "art." He also makes the case (clearly building on Trimborn's work, among others) that Riefenstahl not only had no problem with anything Hitler did or said, she likely agreed with most if not all of it.

Bach's style is that of a gossipy Hollywood bio, which is fine by me, but he's no fan magazine hack. He knows the power of the snide observation and, best of all, how damning Leni's own words were. At times Riefenstahl comes across as downright delusional about her artistic abilities and men's lust for her. To hear her tell it no man so much as entered the same zipcode as Leni Riefenstahl without falling madly in love with her.

Some may have disagreements about Bach's assessment of Riefenstahl's artistic contributions. I've only seen clips of her work so my own opinion is somewhat limited. Bach does make a good case the Riefenstahl either stole the ideas of others or took credit for their work. Bach doesn't buy the argument that the art is more important than the character or actions of the artist. He also doesn't buy that Riefenstahl was much of an artist.

This is no love letter to Leni. It is an entertaining read. Gossipy, slightly bitchy (as one reviewer here has aptly noted), and full of telling details and quotes, this is a easy entry into the myths and controversy that make up Leni Riefenstahl.

Brilliant But Petty and Cruel -- Oh, Wait, That's The Author! .......2007-08-26

Not since Albert Goldman's ELVIS has a dense, full length biography of a sexy, glamorous larger than life legend been written with such sadistic relish, such delicious malicious bitchery and pure venomous guile.

There's no question that Leni Riefenstahl, the stunningly beautiful German woman who made hypnotic propaganda films for the Nazis, was guilty of moral cowardice and hypocrisy, if not during the war, then certainly afterwards. She persisted to the end of her life in wanting to have it both ways -- saying in effect "I didn't know," and at the same time "I was too scared to stop Hitler -- too scared that I would be next." She claimed to have legions of Jewish friends before the war, but she never tried to help them when things got bad, even though she had lots of Nazi influence and power. And she always seemed weirdly out of touch with the human results of Hitler's evil deeds.

The problem is, Steve Bach doesn't know when to quit. He sneers at Leni Riefenstahl not just for the big things -- not strangling Hitler with her bare hands, the way he seems to imagine he would have done -- but for the little things too. The book is full of catty little remarks like, "Leni was always conscious of her hypnotic effect on men" or "Leni didn't mind having handsome, powerful men buy her presents" or "Leni's fearless mountain climbing only made her feminine allure more overpowering to the distinguished male cinema artists who indulged her every creative whim."

It's hard to tell whether Bach hates Leni for being heartless and callous or for being beautiful, talented -- and very knowingly seductive.

There is a much more serious issue here than the hissy ALL ABOUT EVE style bitchery of a jaded Hollywood insider. Bach insists on judging a German film maker by a far more rigorous standard than he would ever apply to the film industry in Hollywood today -- or seventy years ago, for that matter. When Leni goes to Hollywood he brags that the left-leaning Hollywood of 1938 treated the lovely German visitor with scorn -- but how did they treat Margaret Mitchell when she came to town the very next year? Bach has nothing to say about why those same "leftists" failed to prevent the making of a racist epic like GONE WITH THE WIND.

If Leni Riefenstahl shares any part of the guilt for Auschwitz -- and I agree that she does -- then David O. Selznick is equally responsible for the murder of Emmitt Till, the bombings in Birmingham, and all the other hate crimes perpetrated in the Jim Crow south. Bach is in a big hurry to compare Leni to the Stalinist film maker Eisenstein -- arguing in a feeble and half-hearted way that Eisenstein "probably" rebelled at what he was doing. But why not compare Leni Riefenstahl to D.W. Griffiths, or Margaret Mitchell, or David Selznick? All of them dealt in racial hate. They looked the other way while helpless people were tortured and murdered, too. But mentioning America's poisonous history of racial hate would reflect badly on Bach's own milieu. Bach's beloved Hollywood elite never questioned the racial status quo in the Jim Crow south -- at least, not until long after blacks had begun risking their lives to bring the horror of their situation to national attention.

What's really going on here is not genuine, humanistic outrage, but elitist hypocrisy. Bach hates Leni Riefenstahl because he knows that, for all their tiresome liberal cant, just about everyone in Hollywood (and the book world, and the world of leftist Manhattan politics) has the same rat-like survival instincts that Leni had. None of the liberals who demonstrate their courage by hating her guts now ever had to look Hitler in the eye. But they know who would have blinked first. And they know themselves too well to ever show mercy to someone just like them.

Double standard.......2007-08-22

Most of the facts and "facts" in this book cannot be disputed. Only one comment - there were many other people who "cooperated" with the Nazis, but who escape any oprobrium, Richard Strauss name comes to mind. In 1938 he composed "Festliches Praeludium" for the occassion of NSDAP Parteitag, he was the president of Reichsmusikkammer, directly working for Goebbels, he never lifted a finger to help his Jewish friends, etc. etc. Maybe Richard Strauss could be another topic for Steven Bach to delve into.

Good book but, a little too long.......2007-08-11

This was a very good book but, I think Bach gives us too much detail on Leni's life after WWII. I thought the book could have ended much sooner than it did. After all, did we really have to hear about Leni's search for a particular tribe in Africa? It would have suited me fine to hear about her various means of defending herself from various charges as a result of her association with Hitler and the Nazis. I don't see what benefit the inclusion of the African tribe info was to the reader. Still an interesting read.

Leni survives all.......2007-06-14

The author tries and fails to give an evenhanded account of this much reviled woman's life. All this proves once again that the winners write the history. In the meantime he does portray a fascinating and beautiful woman as the opportunist she was without detracting from her worth as a great artist. All in all the best effort so far reflecting an eventful life.

Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide 2007 (Plume Paperback)

Average customer rating:

Great resource
Reviews are fine, but it's not alphabetized correctly!
A Neccessary Reference
The Best Overall guide to movies (mostly mainstream)
All the info on your movies

Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide 2007 (Plume Paperback)
Leonard Maltin
Manufacturer: Plume
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0452287561

Book Description

The 2007 edition of Leonard Maltin's definitive bestselling guide to the movies

Since its first edition decades ago, Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide has been the standard bearer for cinematic reference books. The 2007 edition of this essential movielover's companion includes hundreds of new entries, with capsule reviews and comprehensive information on date of release, running time, cast and crew, and MPAA ratings. Within this compact volume, you'll find:

• Listings for over 17,000 movies, including more than 300 new entries
• Authoritative notations on format availability (DVD, video, and laser disc)
• Up-to-date indices of top directors and actors
• Maltin's “Fifty Best Films on DVD” and “Fifty More Films You May Have Missed”

From the masterpieces of classic cinema, to cutting-edge independent films, to the latest summer blockbusters, Leonard Maltin's 2007 Movie Guide is truly “the best organized . . . the most complete” (Newsday).

Customer Reviews:

Great resource.......2007-09-21

I buy this book every few years to look up that odd movie title to see if it's worth watching on TV. I only wish there was more synopsis of the movie and a less lengthy list of actors.

Reviews are fine, but it's not alphabetized correctly!.......2007-08-13

The review and facts in this book are fine, but the editor should be fired. What good is movie review book if you can't find the reviews because they aren't alphabetized correctly?? Go ahead -- try to find "The Manchurian Candidate" in there. Let's see, that should be listed as "Manchurian Candidate, The" and that should come after all the titles that start with "Man" but NO -- it's in the middle of all the "Man" movies. What??

There is a standard method of alphabetizing that has been around for a long time and is well-accepted and understood. It's used in every phone book in the country and every other movie review guide that I've used, but for some reason this book decided to do something different. The standard method says that a space in a multi-word title is alphabetized before any letters. Thus "Man in the Iron Mask" comes before "Manchurian Candidate" because "man[space]" comes before "manc" at the beginning of the titles. This book decided to just ignore spaces and alphabetize only by the letters. It's almost like having a dictionary that's not in alphabetical order -- all the facts are in there, but they're kind of hard to find.

A Neccessary Reference.......2007-06-08

This is an excellent guide to the movies - an absuolutely necessary reference for any true movie buff

The Best Overall guide to movies (mostly mainstream).......2007-04-16

Leonard and his staff are movie lovers and experts, and this the most comprehensive guide of its kind. They are American movie historians at heart. They love the recognized classics and they seem to particularly appreciate film-making craft and professionalism. I think they implicitly favor Hollywood movies or better produced independent films over low-budget and many foreign films because of the often notable difference in production values, and I think they are usually correct.

I have personally used this guide for 20 years to find the gems I may have missed and weed out the forgettable and regretable films that often get the big promotional budgets and their accompanying gushing,albeit seemingly paid-for, over-appreciative reviews (Mr. Ebert???).

A guide like this, which focuses on quality first and foremost, is particularly useful if you go to a Blockbuster (they have that name for a reason) or use Netflix. The Netflix associative predictive rating system is really crude at best and does not filter out some seriously flawed recommendations.

One warning: Matlin's ratings reflect mainstream film history thought. If you like the really edgy, the impressionistics, or other things "arty" in film, you may find the coverage and the ratings too traditional. But I think they recognize quality in new films, not just old ones. Highly recommended to all but the bleeding edge cinema buffs.

All the info on your movies.......2007-03-19

A great reference for when you're checking out movies in the last 60 years or so. Ratings (his own-I don't necessarily agree with all of them and you might not either) for movies, data on when they were made, who starred in them, plot summary. etc. If you are a movie buff but just don't have room in your brain for all the data, don't sweat it--this can be a handy book to have when you have a question about a movie and you need simple answers.

The Way We Lived Then : Recollections of a Well-Known Name Dropper

Average customer rating:

--Interesting glimpse of old Hollywood--
Mr. Dunne, I adore you!
Dominick Dunne is fascinating
Beautiful collection of photos
THE WAY WE LIVED THEN

The Way We Lived Then : Recollections of a Well-Known Name Dropper
Dominick Dunne
Manufacturer: Crown
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0609603884
Release Date: 1999-09-28

Amazon.com

In a previous incarnation, writer Dominick Dunne was the toast of Hollywood--entertaining movie stars and socialites and invited by moguls to clambakes and black-tie dances. Long before he started churning out his romans à clef set in the private recesses of Hollywood and penthouses of New York City and his dispatches from notorious murder trials, he spent his days on movie sets, producing films like Ash Wednesday and working as an executive at various studios. In the off-hours, he and his wife Lenny ate dinner with Vincente Minnelli, Jack Benny, Rock Hudson, and Elizabeth Montgomery. They went to beach parties hosted by Jane Fonda and Roddy McDowall--and threw not a few bashes of their own, attended by, well, everyone and often photographed for Vogue magazine. Dunne seemed to carry his camera with him everywhere and "was always sticking [it] into someone's face." Kirk Douglas biting into an oversized hotdog, a scantily clad Paul Newman perusing a picnic table, Princess Margaret smoking, Mia Farrow dancing, and Natalie Wood hamming. Each weekend he carefully arranged his snapshots along with the week's invitations, telegrams, and news-clippings into a set of scrapbooks.

The Way We Lived Then closely resembles those scrapbooks, filled as it is with images culled from them. Dunne sews the scraps together with a loose memoir that moves from the mundane (how the house was decorated for a certain party, how the subjects of a given photo were feeling about one another at the time) to the grand (meditations on his marriage and his children). All of these famous friends, glittery parties, and cozy evenings did add up to a picture-perfect life for a time. But by the mid '60s, Dunne was drinking hard, insulting acquaintances in public, and being a perfectly terrible husband to the lovely Lenny. He was soon arrested carrying drugs into the country from Mexico, divorced, nearly poverty-stricken, and living in a cabin in Oregon. But he lived to tell about it, and though his story is something of a cautionary tale about the dangers of success and excess, punctuated as it is by his dreamy photos, one can't help but wonder if he'd happily go back to the way he lived then. --Jordana Moskowitz

Book Description

Mesmerizing, revelatory text combines with more than two hundred photographs -- most of them taken by the author -- in a startling illustrated memoir that will both astonish and move you.

When Dominick Dunne lived and worked in Hollywood, he had it all: a beautiful family, a glamorous career, and the friendship of the talented and powerful. He also had a camera and loved to take pictures. These photographs, which Dunne carefully preserved in more than a dozen leatherbound scrapbooks -- along with invitations, telegrams, personal notes, and other memorabilia -- record the parties, the glittering receptions, the society weddings, and scenes from the everyday lives of the Dunnes and those they knew, including Jane Fonda, Frank Sinatra, Paul Newman, Roddy McDowall, Elizabeth Taylor, Natalie Wood, Brooke Hayward, Jennifer Jones, and David Selznick. You'll meet them all in this fascinating book -- captured in snapshots as these celebrities relax at poolside barbecues, gossip at cozy get-togethers and dance at the Dunnes' dazzling black-and-white ball. And you will meet Dominick Dunne's beautiful wife, Lenny, and his children, Griffin, Alex, and Dominique, as they celebrate Christmases, birthdays, and graduations. But, most of all, you will meet Dominick Dunne and learn about the peaks and valleys of his years in Hollywood, the disastrous turn his life took, and the long road back that led to his triumphant career as a writer. With its engaging photographs and candid text, The Way We Lived Then is a riveting and unvarnished account of a life among the stars and a life almost lost.

Customer Reviews:

--Interesting glimpse of old Hollywood--.......2005-08-18

THE WAY WE LIVED THEN is a look at the lives and personalities of some of the most famous entertainers in the world.

I've been aware of the author, Dominick Dunne for a long time, but until reading this book, I had no idea what kind of background he had or what made him so knowledgeable about so many celebrities. Dunne was a director and producer of various TV shows and apparently was good at his job. People enjoyed working with him and he and his wife gave wonderful parties and were invited everywhere.

The book is as much about Dunne and his family as it is about the people that he socialized with. His story is rather sad because he ended up losing his wife because he became addicted to drugs and the fast Hollywood lifestyle. There are more than a few moving stories in the book. One pitiful entry has Dunne and Peter Lawford sharing drugs at a party. Years before, they had been friends and neighbors, but at this low point in their lives, they were both broke and seemingly without friends.

You can also read about Elizabeth Montgomery, Gig Young, Natalie Wood, George Hamilton, Frank Sinatra, Elizabeth Taylor, Jane Fonda and dozens of other Hollywood "big" names. Dunne took a lot of photographs and I think that I enjoyed the snapshots as much as I did the text of the book.

Mr. Dunne, I adore you!.......2004-02-03

I think I was probably one of the very first people who purchased this book...and I loved every page and every minute of it! Some of the earlier reviewers I read below simply don't seem to "get" this book. It is not meant to be great literature. It is meant to be a great read with one-of-a-kind photos, and it delivers both in spades! Also, I believe it is meant to be somewhat of a love letter, both to the parts of Mr. Dunne's ealier life that were happy and held great promise, AND perhaps to the fans of his books...giving all of us glimpses into what was an incredibly fascinating "Hollywood existence" and giving us a peek at the REAL people that he has thinly veiled, completely disguised, or combined to create the fascinating characters that populate his terrific books. Mr. Dunne, if you read these reviews (I know that I probably would!!), please know that I eagerly await everything you publish, including your monthly "Diarist" articles in Vanity Fair. Your writings are so incredibly enjoyable, fascinating, and provide a much-needed escape for me. You must feel very blessed to have finally found your calling - so many never do.

Dominick Dunne is fascinating.......2002-11-05

It is easy to see why celebrities, criminals and perfect strangers have told Mr. Dunne their secrets. He is so interesting in a gossipy, name-dropping but sweet way. His Hollywood life makes an engrossing tale, much more entertaining than fiction.

Beautiful collection of photos.......2001-10-06

This book is filled with beautiful photographs of almost every star imaginable with personal anecdotes from Mr. Dunne to go with them. There are beautiful photos of Natalie Wood and a young (brunette) Elizabeth Montgomery. Mr. Dunne's life has certainly had its ups and downs, but this is NOT another celebrity pity party...he writes of the bad times he has faced, as well as the good, in a very matter of fact style, which is (thankfully) not at all whiny. But, again, the real treasure here are all the beautiful photographs of beautiful people in beautiful places. Thanks, Mr. Dunne, for sharing them with us.

THE WAY WE LIVED THEN.......2001-06-27

Mr. Dunne can work the room no matter where he is, no matter what social strata. I would have had an anxiety attack had I been face-to-face with Betsy Bloomingdale. Yet, this why I love Mr. Dunne. Reading about Betsy, she retained the warm, kind, classy image that I imagined her to have from various books and magazines. I loved being a fly-on-the-wall when Mr. Dunne was in Washington since I knew so little about politics. It was fun the way he scribed it in the pages. I feel safe reading Dominick's stories - although I feel like I am there, I don't have the real fear!

Average customer rating:

An American Icon
As a glamour photographer myself...
ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL
Hurrell's Hollywood Portraits
EXCELLENT BOOK! Vieira's mastery of the written word brings that era to life.

Hurrell's Hollywood Portraits
Mark A. Vieira
Manufacturer: Harry N. Abrams
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0810934345

Amazon.com

They had faces then, in the golden age of Hollywood when a publicity photo could make or break a star. The visual power of George Hurrell's portraits, with their Rembrandtesque lighting and dramatic poses, shaped the careers of such stars as Joan Crawford, Jean Harlow, and Jane Russell, and did as much or more to establish them as their film performances. Mark Vieira, who adopted Hurrell's techniques and uses them to this day, explains how the master portraitist lit and retouched his photographs--a portrait of Crawford before and after retouching reveals what an artist the one-time painter really was--and analyzes their impact.

Customer Reviews:

An American Icon.......2007-08-25

George Hurrell is universally acknowledged THE Hollywood portrait photographer, the man who recreated during the talkies much of the mystery of the silent stars through his breathtaking photographs. At a time when the finest still photography was becoming more incisive and natural, Hurrell managed to balance this new naturalism and directness in highly manipulated ways, producing in his best work iconic images of the great stars of MGM. After the second World War his work became largely passe, appearing too contrived and built up for an age demanding grit and spontaneity and an off-hand naturalness.
This work seeks to both show and tell the story of Hurrell's highwater era as not only the major photographer of the stars, and MGM in particular, but also his development as artist. Hurrell's flamboyant personality, his novel and sometimes off-putting behavior during shootings, seems now unfortunately taken as role template by many lesser fashion photographers. In his day and at his height during the late twenties through the beginnings of World War II Hurrell dominates a demanding and highly accomplished professional field.
Whether you live in a sumptious penthouse overlooking Central Park, need a single book for the coffee table in the living room of that restored Neutra you just purchased, or just enjoy reasonably priced fashion books, Hurrell's Hollywood Portraits fits the bill. At a significantly reduced price its a lovely reminder of one of the nicer advantages of democratic publishing: not every fine art book is a prohibitively expensive limited edition printed by a small press.

As a glamour photographer myself..........2007-04-13

As a glamour photographer myself, this is a book I own and use for inspiration. I love the way Hurrell not only captures the inner-beauty of the subjects, but his photojournalistic approach. I often graze through this book as I've read it many times over--the grazing gets me going when it comes to my own glamour photography. I recommend anyone interested in this book, buy it now! If you'd like to see how it's affected my career, also check out the following books, Garage Glamour: Digital Nude and Beauty Photography Made Simple, Rolando Gomez's Glamour Photography: Professional Techniques and Images and even a book where I have a chapter, Professional Portrait Lighting: Techniques and Images from Master Photographers (Photo Pro Workshop series) This book should not only be on a collector's list, but for any student of photography--we're always learning no matter what level your photography. ---Rolando Gomez, contributing writer, Studio Photography magazine

ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL.......2006-08-19

This book -- how beautiful. I have photography books by several of the great portrait photographers of the 20th Century, and this one is the best. There are a wealth of photographs, and the story of Hurrell's life is also interesting. If you ever thought about seriously learning about photography and taking some good pictures, this book will take any hesitation out of your mind. Gorgeous!!

Hurrell's Hollywood Portraits.......2006-07-25

This book is everything I expected. The pictures are great and the text very informative. I am enjoying it very much and it is a valued addition to my film library.

EXCELLENT BOOK! Vieira's mastery of the written word brings that era to life........2005-12-03

I thoroughly enjoyed browsing through and then reading this beautiful tribute to the legendary work of George Hurrell. As compelling as Hurrell's photos are it is the author's indepth knowledge and understanding of Hollywood and Hurrell that set this book apart.

Mark Vieira's own photographic artistry is based on Hurrell's techniques, providing current-day enthusiasts with authentic glamour photography of their own.

Average customer rating:

Is there a reason for this book?
classic films
indispensible
Leonard Maltin's Classic Movie Guide
A Good Companion that shouldn't stand alone

Leonard Maltin's Classic Movie Guide
Leonard Maltin
Manufacturer: Plume
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0452286204
Release Date: 2005-02-22

Book Description

From Leonard Maltin, author of the bestselling annual Movie Guide, comes this guide to classic movies. Leonard Maltin's Classic Movie Guide includes more than 7,000 capsule reviews of classic movies, including: The Birth of a Nation (1915), Gone With the Wind (1939), The Philadelphia Story (1940), High Noon (1952), and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967).

In addition, this unique volume also offers a star and director index, a full listing of classic movies on DVD, and Leonard Maltin's unique Top Ten lists. The result is an authoritative, dynamic guide to the classics no film aficionado should be without.

Customer Reviews:

Is there a reason for this book?.......2007-08-07

In the past, Leonard Maltin has provided us with helpful movie guides that have served their purpose for many years. They are revised every year and provide invaluable information concerning availability on VCR and DVD along with thumbnail sketches of the plots. His reviews are aimed at Joe Q Average and dwell on the well-known Oscar-oriented qualities such as acting performances which bring attention to themselves, heavy-handed films with The Message, verisimilitude as a be-all and end-all and film only as cerebral as the public will be able to understand with little or no effort. His Classic Movie Guide is precisely more of the same, more so. The film choices are overwhelmingly American a la American Film Institute and largely oriented to hit the largest segment of the viewers most often, a public where so many still think that their favorite stars not only act in but direct, script, score, edit, shoot and generally make up their films as they go along. With this in mind, Maltin's book will hit his target. For those of us who take the movies seriously, there are better sources almost anywhere else.
Curtis Stotlar

classic films.......2007-02-21

It's too bad you now have to buy two books to get all of Maltin's reviews, but it is nice to have this volume as Maltin has an appreciation of older films that is often lacking in today's reviewers.

indispensible.......2007-01-04

a superb reference book, an absolute must for any film fan & a historical record of past films, easy to read,easy to digest.

Only quibble, I am not a fan of Gene Autry & could have used smaller descriptions of his & the other B westerns.
Of the major films I probably saw 80 % of them,been going to the movies since I was 6 or 7 yrs old & was able to remember the theatres I saw some at.

Leonard Maltin's Classic Movie Guide.......2006-08-23

I like old movies like are shown on Turner Classic Movies and this has the reviews for them. This book is of the same high calibre as Maltin's annual movie review guide. I would say it is indispesible for any old movie buff. Bravo!

A Good Companion that shouldn't stand alone.......2006-03-01

A good book for lovers of old movies who hate browsing through the 1600 pages of Maltin's regular guide only to find the film their looking for between a BOMB by Adam Sandler and a Yugoslavian-Japanese Documentary nobody has ever heard of. The Classic Movie Guide was not made to be a list of 4-star, really great old movies. It was made as a companion guide to the regular book as a place to put older, minor films to make room for newer movies in the regular guide. People who feel cheated because their 2006 guide still contains Gone With the Wind should probably know that it will always be in both guides, but films such as Law and Order(1953) or O. Henry's Full House(1952) may one day only be found in the classic guide. They should also note that their 2006 guide is about 100 pages thinner than the 2005 guide and that reviews of vintage series (e.g. Blondie, The Thin Man) are no longer listed in the regular guide and have been moved to the classic guide. In my understanding of this book, more and more minor old films will be removed from the regular guide and placed in the classic guide which will be revised every 5 years. My suggestions for this book would be to change the title to Leonard Maltin's Vintage Movie Guide and add films made before 1965 but after 1960, such as To Kill a Mockingbird and Lawrence of Arabia. I also would suggest making a third guide in about five or six years just for foreign films, excluding British films of course.

The 101 Habits of Highly Successful Screenwriters: Insider's Secrets from Hollywood's Top Writers

Average customer rating:

A Must Read
The truth you need to hear before pursuing your dreams
Yes, I am tired of reading old reviews on Screenwriting Books too.
A Must Have For Aspriring Screenwriters
A good "dip-in" book for the isolated writer

The 101 Habits of Highly Successful Screenwriters: Insider's Secrets from Hollywood's Top Writers
Karl Iglesias
Manufacturer: Adams Media Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1580625509

Amazon.com

Aspiring screenwriters don't need another book on how to write a screenplay, says Karl Iglesias. What they need is a book on how to be a screenwriter. Voilà: The 101 Habits of Highly Successful Screenwriters, featuring interviews with 14 screenwriters, arranged by subject. The result reads like a panel discussion, touching on such subjects as collaboration, schmoozing, discipline, Hollywood, and story pitching. The dream of winning a Hollywood jackpot has lured everyone and his gardener into the screenwriting game. Still, despite the unencouraging odds, "all you need to do is write a good script," says Scott Rosenberg (Beautiful Girls). Some of the book's best advice concerns one of the screenwriter's most formidable hurdles: getting a screenplay read. Submit it to film festivals and screenwriting competitions, or follow Tom Schulman's (Dead Poet's Society) advice and hire an entertainment attorney. After all, "most of them know a lot of agents." --Jane Steinberg

Customer Reviews:

A Must Read.......2007-05-14

This is a must read for anyone who aspires to be a screen writer. Any wannabe writer has their own personal favorite blogs, a blog that helps inspire, motivate and teach them. This book is almost a best of those blogs from successful writers whose movies they have written have actually BEEN PRODUCED.
The one main theme of this book is just write and write and write because you love writing and not because you want the Hollywood celebrity lifestyle. Great writing will open a lot of doors for one and most importantly, keep that door open.
In my opinion, I like to study and and read how successful writers from all genres got their first break, their work ethic and how most importantly they work through writer's block and rejection. Again, Karl Iglesias' book does that successfully.

The truth you need to hear before pursuing your dreams.......2006-04-10

I was lucky enough to meet Mr. Iglesias at the Screenwriting Expo. He knows his craft, he loves the business. And he's brutally honest in conveying the realistic odds of breaking into Hollywood. While no one ever says it's easy, he can tell you just how hard. This book is a must read for any aspiring screenwriter. Interviewing some of the greatest screenwriters, they all are forthcoming in telling their own tales of struggle, achievement, success, and most of them, frustration.

This book may be geared toward all screenwriters, however it succeeds in leaps and bounds, by telling the realistic truth any up-and-coming screenwriter needs to hear. Too often people are putting together a script hoping to win the lotttery, sell it for mid-six figures, and not taking the time to understand that the money should never be the motivating factor of writing any script. And if that's your only motivation, you'll never succeed in making your dream come true. This book reminds those of us that do it for a different reason, what that reason is. It's the love of writing. Anything else, any other reason, is simply a waste of time and energy.

Mr. Iglesias lays it out in plain view, through interview after interview, just how much of an uphill battle it is get someone to simply give your script a look, and even then, chances of your selling it are slim. Nicholas Kazan once spoke at a seminar. He told them to go turn in their registration forms and go home. He then told them that if any of them seriously entertained that advice, they would never make it. It's all about challenge and it's all about sacrifice. This book will help you realize how important both of those things are.

Yes, I am tired of reading old reviews on Screenwriting Books too........2006-03-06

I always find it frustrating when I go to Amazon and look at the reviews that are posted and find that they are at least 2 to 3 years old. So I decided to at least make a more up-to-date review.

First and foremost, this book is NOT a `How to Write a great Script' book. This book is about screenwriters and their knowledgeable insight on the practice we all know as Screenwriting. These established screenwriters ( Akiva Goldman: A Beautiful Mind, A Time to Kill, and the up coming The Da Vinci Code Steven E. de Souza: Die Hard, 48 Hours.) reference their past experience on what works, what does not work, and what habits you need to establish to have a successful career in the shark infested waters of Hollywood. Not sure how many hours you need to write day in day out? Thinking that you are the only one with a spouse and kids, fearing that you will not have enough time to write? Arrived at Hollywood lost with no plan of action on how to get your script read? Worried that you born yesterday and began sending inquiry letters to agents and producers? Fear of rejection (it is inevitable) from everyone? All these topics are discussed and more in this book.

This book is required reading for all serious screenwriters. I also suggest Breakfast with sharks by Michael Lent, The Art of Dramatic writing by Lajos Egri, Story by Robert Mckee, Making a good script Great by Linda Seger, and The Writer Got Screwed by Brooke A. Wharton.

A Must Have For Aspriring Screenwriters.......2005-11-28

This is one of thost books that you absolutely must read if you are an aspiring screenwriter. It's a goldmine of quality information to help you go from being a decent or lousy writer to a great one. Fourteen of Hollywood's most successful screenwriters share their secrets and tips to writing and selling your scripts to Hollywood. It's like getting private lessons from the pro's. Don't pass this book up, it will make a big difference in your writing career.

A good "dip-in" book for the isolated writer.......2004-12-20

Think of this book this way: it's you having a cup of tea with a bunch of good and not-so-good (but working) screenplay writers. This is not a formula for greatness, but rather a list of suggestions and experiences that you can greatly benefit from if you are so inclined.

Don't be put off by the cover. This is a good book. The best thing about it is it creates a sense of community and exchange of knowledge in what is essentially an isolated (and some might argue isolating) occupation.

This is a "dip-in" book which I find useful and refer to often.

75 Years of the Oscar: The Official History of the Academy Awards

Average customer rating:

great resource book
75 Years of the Oscar: The Official History of the Academy Awards
An all-inclusive encyclopedia of the Academy Awards
Just What I was Looking For
An Educational & Interesting Read

75 Years of the Oscar: The Official History of the Academy Awards
Robert Osborne
Manufacturer: Abbeville Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0789207877

Book Description

75 Years of the Oscar, newly updated, revised, and expanded, is the official history of the Academy Awards written by film critic Robert Osborne in association with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It begins with a general history of the Academy followed by the author's lively, decade-by-decade overviews of the accomplishments, trends, and events that occurred during each ten-year period within the Academy and the film industry. The book also provides a year-by-year portrayal of the actual ceremonies, plus a complete listing of the nominees and winners in every category, making it the most comprehensive book on the subject. In addition to Osborne's text, there are personal remembrances of more than 100 Oscar winners, including Mickey Rooney, Mary Astor, Sir Laurence Olivier, Fred Zinnemann, Clint Eastwood, and Emma Thompson.

The 725 candid pictures from the evening's events, stills from the movies, and original posters for every best picture round out each section. Combining Osborne's extensive knowledge and the Academy's exceptional archives, including many rarely seen photographs, this book, ideal for scholars and film buffs alike, is unrivaled in illustration, accuracy, and scope.

Other Details: 725 illustrations, 60 in full color.

Customer Reviews:

great resource book.......2007-05-13

a great book to review past Academy Award winners and nominees
i really enjoyed the notes from previous award winners and their thoughts on receiving the award
i have given this as a gift to fellow movie lovers and it is a big hit
has also helped me in a few movie trivia contests too!!

75 Years of the Oscar: The Official History of the Academy Awards.......2006-03-07

This is a must-have of any film buff and is the most comprehen-
sive book of its kind that I have seen.

An all-inclusive encyclopedia of the Academy Awards .......2006-02-23

This book is not a history in the since of most history books. It does not detail how the academy began, or how it changed over the years, or give you any kind of insider view of its workings. Instead, it is a complete listing of every nominee and every winner in every category since the award ceremony's inception in 1927. There are plenty of photographs of the nominees and images of scenes from the nominated films for each year, so it is not dry in the way many reference books are. In fact, Mr. Osborne's love of film and its history really shine through in the book. It is interesting to look through this book and see what we consider to be films that have withstood the test of time versus which ones were rewarded by the academy at the time. For example, in 1939, the Academy did recognize that "Gone with the Wind" was the best picture of the year, which people were lining up to watch in movie theaters until its television broadcast premiere in 1976. However, in 1941, "How Green was My Valley" won best picture, which is a film that hardly anyone watches anymore, while "Citizen Kane" was completely ignored. It's also interesting to see how the Academy compensated for past oversights by awarding performances that were less than stellar in subsequent years. For instance, in 1934 Bette Davis was overlooked in her performance in "Of Human Bondage". This caused a huge public outcry. The following year the Academy gave her the best actress award for her performance in "Dangerous"- a move that has largely been seen over the years as a consolation prize for what happened the year before.
This book is full of little insights such as these, and it is a fun book that gives hours of entertainment for film history buffs. I bought my first copy of this history by Mr. Osborne back in 1987 when he was then detailing the 60 years of the Oscar, and I enjoyed it so much I have been updating my copy every time he releases a new edition. Highly recommended.

Just What I was Looking For.......2005-10-17

Over the years, I have picked up a few books about the Academy Awards. I did so primarily to get a list of winners but I have also been interested in knowing the nominees. In the early days of the award it wasn't unusual to have eight or nine nominees for a particular award. However, the inference was still that there was something special about this particular movie in regards to this particular awards. I like that "75 Years of the Oscar" lists not only each award winner but each award nominee as well. I espcially appreciate the listing of all nominees for the Best Foreign Language award. I hadn't come across that before in any of the books I'd found.

"75 Years of the Oscar" makes for a large tome and I did have to send back the first edition of the book that I received due to weak binding for a book this size. The book provides an overview of each individual year as well as each decade of the award. Over the years the Academy Awards have over-rated some turkeys and ignored some movies now considered classics. The Academy has had a tendency, over the years, to focus on five to eight movies a year for 95% of all nominees. It certainly seems that it is a popularity contest more than an artistic examination. However, it's still a fairly reliable source for finding good movies of the past and that's what I use it for.

An Educational & Interesting Read.......2005-09-16

This book is chock full of facts about everything to do with the Academy and it's evolving from nothing to what it is today. It tells how and who started it, and how the different categories for Oscars were added as the years went by. The first 2 chapters or so overwhelm you with dry details which make it tedious reading; at least that is how I felt about it.
The rest of the book's chapters go year by year telling you all the nominations and winners of Oscars in all the different categories, and show you dozens of good pictures of the stars. You can also read the acceptance speeches given in the book by the stars that won Academy Awards.
There also is a section that lists the names of all the stars that have won 2 or more Academy Awards. This is what I really liked. This is what I bought the book for.
It is a huge book to read, so just take your time and read a little bit at a time.
I'm glad I bought it because I am a movie fan and have learned from it; and can always refer back to it when I want to find something out.

Average customer rating:

If you loved the DVD, this is a nice addition.
Nice but could have been more.
COOL BOOK - GREAT PRICE
Best Bond
Fans of Daniel Craig and Casino Royale will love this book

Bond on Set: Filming Casino Royale
Greg Williams
Manufacturer: DK ADULT
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0756622727

Book Description

Featuring the debut of a brand-new Bond and set in a number of spectacular European locations, Casino Royale is the latest addition to the most successful film series ever made. Working alongside cast and crew, premier showbiz photographer Greg Williams creates a unique visual record of the making of the movie.

Customer Reviews:

If you loved the DVD, this is a nice addition........2007-08-24

A wonderful compliment to the DVD. I loved the movie and was not disappointed by the extremely candid photography taken on the set of Casino Royale. Greg Williams captured the film set beautifully. My only request would have been to include more photos of the entire cast. Otherwise, this is a true example of professional photography at its' best.

Nice but could have been more........2007-05-15

I liked the book,but it's a little thin on imagery. I would have loved more photo's of the characters and scene's. A stronger narrative of the movie. And the ladies,what a missed opprotunity!

COOL BOOK - GREAT PRICE.......2007-04-03

This is a COOL BOOK! Mainly just pictures - no distracting graphics, text, etc... except for some candid thoughts here and there. Eva Green being funny, smoking at the piano between takes... And you see how Daniel Craig really put himself into the physical side of the film: nursing a black eye with an ice pack, busting through a wall of sheetrock (it's really him), wearing bandaids on a swollen hand (cover picture).

The color and black/white photos are large, close-up and feel almost vintage/period. A favorite already is one of Bond resting between takes through the window of his stunt car... all black/white/silver looking. Very cool.

As others have also commented, I was unsure of this new Bond until I saw the film - now it's my favorite. This book is definitely worth more than the Amazon price - I added it on a whim to my order of the soundtrack - and am glad I did.

Best Bond.......2007-04-02

I've always been a Sean Connery Bond man. Some guys are Roger Moore guys...etc..
I even thought Pierce Brosnan was the best since Connery. So when the announcement of Daniel Craig as Bond surfaced I was not too thrilled. But as soon as I saw the movie I was sold! If not actually better than Connery (I'm still debating), he's right on par with a new take.
"Bond on Set" is a great picture essay all about the making of "Casino Royale". It puts you there like a little visit to the set. If you like Bond and if you like the reboot of "Casino Royale", pick it up!

Fans of Daniel Craig and Casino Royale will love this book.......2007-03-30

This stylish coffee table book is filled with stunning color and black and white behind the scenes shots. The book also contains concise and interesting commentary about the filming of Casino Royale and its various cast members, Daniel Craig in particular. I could not resist buying this book. Not only is Daniel Craig my favorite actor, but I also collect film/cinematography books.

Film and Literature: An Introduction and Reader

Average customer rating:

An Engaging Intro to "Film and Literature"

Film and Literature: An Introduction and Reader
Timothy Corrigan
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0135265428

Book Description

This book is a wide-ranging introduction to the long history and provocative debates about the interactions between film and literature. KEY TOPICS: Film and Literature: A Reader presents essays from a variety of cultures that address the major issues in the exchange between film and literature since the beginning of the twentieth century. The book provides landmark discussions of different genres and practices (such as poetry and movies or film scripts as literature) through writings by such figures as Vachel Lindsay, Walter Benjamin, and Alexander Astruc. It presents a concise, but detailed history of film and literature and the critical terms and techniques used in film and literary analysis as well as a detailed history of the bond between film and literature, from theatrical narratives of the silent film era to recent blockbuster adaptations of Shakespeare and Jane Austen. It also features introductions to each essay and suggests how the essays may be used to analyze works involving film and literature. An essential resource for every reader interested in film.

Customer Reviews:

An Engaging Intro to "Film and Literature".......2007-09-20

In the preface to his book FILM AND LITERATURE, Timothy Corrigan notes the "enormous scope" of the topic. Wisely, he subtitles the book "An Introduction and Reader."

Part I, "Film and Literature in the Crosscurrents of History," comprises eight brief and lively chapters, beginning with the silent era of theatrical depictions to the adaptations of novels. Among the problematic adaptations dicussed are The Grapes of Wrath, The Shining, and Lolita.

Part II, "Critical Borders and Boundaries: Analytical Categories for Film and Literature" introduces basic concepts in Film and Literary Studies.

Part III, "Major Documents and Debates," more than two-thirds of the book, is an anthology of essays on cinema excerpted from the writings of influential scholars such as Walter Benjamin, Sergei Eisenstein, Andre Bazin, George Bluestone, and Kristin Thompson.

The book makes very engaging reading.

-- C J Singh

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