Book Description
With the average payment for a screenplay over $100,000, every writer knows that screenwriting is where the money is. In this guide, successful screenwriter and teacher Cynthia Whitcomb shares her extensive knowledge on writing for the screen. This book will teach you her proven techniques, including how to:
• test an idea for its commercial potential
• plan a compelling script
• write great openings and endings
• create characters that grow and evolve
• revise and hone your script to attract Hollywood agents and producers
Includes lists of the best movies to study—and why!
Cynthia Whitcomb has sold more than 70 feature-length screenplays, 25 of which have been filmed. She has made millions of dollars for her work, and her scripts have won and been nominated for many awards, including the Emmy Award, Cable Ace Award, Edgar Allan Poe Award, Humanitas Award, and Writers Guild of America Awards. Her students have also gone on to write successful box-office hits. She has taught screenwriting for many years, including seven at the acclaimed UCLA Film School.
Whitcomb's commercial success and teaching experience make this an essential resource for anyone who wants to write winning scripts for Hollywood.
Customer Reviews:
A Great Book!.......2007-04-04
I'm writing my first screenplay and found this book to be invaluable. Worth its weight in gold.
The best!.......2007-03-14
I've read other screenplay books, watched videos and this book is the best! Not just telling you what to do but with real world suggestions. She rewrites movie endings for you so you can see how a good movie could have been a great movie. She shows you mediocre dialogue and rewrites it so it's great movie dialogue.
It's a great book for novelists too. Creating crisp believable dialogue, creating conflicted characters, pacing. It's all here.
She is direct and like a great movie, gets to the real issues fast.
Read it Thrice.......2006-10-08
"A Brief History of Time" for scriptwriters.
Compressing novel-length stories into an interesting 90-120 minutes, is a big part of the art.
Whitcomb puts a huge quantity of important information into very few pages.
She writes with simple words in short sentences, yet the content is astonishingly information rich.
And spot on.
A rare talent seen only in the very gifted.
There are books on scriptwriting that run to 500+ pages that are quite good. J. Michael Straczynski's works come immediately to mind.
However you can re-read this book 5 times in fewer minutes than it takes to read any of those longer books once. With repetition, you'll surely retain much more of what you read.
Recommended. Highly.
Finally, somebody who knows what they're talking about!.......2006-07-04
Whenever I am about to buy a 'how to write' book, I first look at the bio to see what the writer has actually done. Just about every 'how-to' is written by a 'haven't-done-much.' Cynthia Whitcomb's professional experience is far and away the most.
Not to say other books don't have sound advice, but I sensed a depth here that was lacking elsewhere. I attribute that to her experience.
BTW, I'm a published prose writer, and I recommend this book for prose writers, since a lot of what she says translates over to the written page. It wouldn't hurt novelists to structure plots and develop scenes with as much craft and skill as screenwriters do.
Writer's Guide to Writing Your Screenplay.......2006-03-06
As an old writer who is new to the field of screemwriting, I have found the industry full of mystery when attempting to write a screenplay. Cynthia's book takes away a lot of the confusion and worry by succinctly explaining terms, giving multiple clear-cut examples, and laying out the entire process so that rookies can learn the basics, and experienced writers can get a quick review from an entertaining source. I am sincerely hoping Cynthia plans to write a similar book in the future with regards to publishing hints!
Amazon.com
If Pauline Kael popularized “movie love,” Roger Ebert is the eloquent Valentino of cinephiles. This invaluable volume gathers 100 of the Pulitzer winner's mini-essays composed since 1997, revised and updated, to form a love letter that could only spring from decades of devotion. A feat of superlative analysis, historical reflection, personal diary, and journalistic odyssey, The Great Movies combines an accessible style with an academic's precision. Accompanied by photos perfectly chosen by Museum of Modern Art film stills archivist Mary Corliss, the 100 films are irrefutably worthy of inclusion, allowing room for debate (John Ford's My Darling Clementine is in, The Searchers is not--arguably a wise decision) while placing each film into its own undeniable context of superiority. Admirably, Ebert recognizes that no critic writes in a vacuum; he dedicates the book to eight master critics hailed as “teachers,” quotes many of his contemporaries, and carries on the debate with Kael's lingering spirit (Ebert counters her on Body Heat, praises her on Nashville). His appreciation of E.T. is written as a letter to beloved children in his life, and the entire book breathes with an awareness of legacy--the cinema's and Ebert's own--that underlies the sobering theme of his introduction. We need these movies (and this book) to remind us that movies can be so much better than they typically are. --Jeff Shannon
Book Description
From America’s most trusted and best-known film critic, one hundred brilliant essays on the films that define for him cinematic greatness.
For the past five years Roger Ebert, the famed film writer and critic, has been writing biweekly essays for a feature called "The Great Movies," in which he offers a fresh and fervent appreciation of a great film. The Great Movies collects one hundred of these essays, each one of them a gem of critical appreciation and an amalgam of love, analysis, and history that will send readers back to that film with a fresh set of eyes and renewed enthusiasm–or perhaps to an avid first-time viewing. Ebert’s selections range widely across genres, periods, and nationalities, and from the highest achievements in film art to justly beloved and wildly successful popular entertainments. Roger Ebert manages in these essays to combine a truly populist appreciation for our most important form of popular art with a scholar’s erudition and depth of knowledge and a sure aesthetic sense. Wonderfully enhanced by stills selected by Mary Corliss, film curator at the Museum of Modern Art, The Great Movies is a treasure trove for film lovers of all persuasions, an unrivaled guide for viewers, and a book to return to again and again.
The Great Movies includes: All About Eve • Bonnie and Clyde • Casablanca • Citizen Kane • The Godfather • Jaws • La Dolce Vita • Metropolis • On the Waterfront • Psycho • The Seventh Seal • Sweet Smell of Success • Taxi Driver • The Third Man • The Wizard of Oz • and eighty-five more films.
From the Hardcover edition.
Download Description
Be prepared. This book weighs in at 5.5MB in size. You'll need to make sure you've got plenty of room on your PDA before you try to sync up this one. This book is full of stories and photographs and is the perfect book for anyone with one of the new generation Palms or a Sony Clie. Store this book on an expansion card and you won't have any worries about running out of memory!
For the past five years Roger Ebert, the famed film writer and critic, has been writing bi-weekly essays for a feature called "The Great Movies," in which he offers a fresh and fervent appreciation of a great film.
The Great Movies collects one hundred of these essays, each one of them a gem of critical appreciation and an amalgam of love, analysis, and history that will send readers back to that film with a fresh set of eyes and renewed enthusiasm -- or perhaps to an avid first-time viewing. Ebert's selections range widely across genres, periods, and nationalities, and from the highest achievements in film art to justly beloved and wildly successful popular entertainments.
Roger Ebert manages in these essays to combine a truly populist appreciation for our most important form of popular art with a scholar's erudition and depth of knowledge and a sure aesthetic sense. Wonderfully enhanced by stills selected by Mary Corliss, film curator at the Museum of Modern Art, The Great Movies is a treasure trove for film lovers of all persuasions, an unrivaled guide for viewers, and a book to return to again and again.
The Great Movies includes:
- All About Eve
- Bonnie and Clyde
- Casablanca
- Citizen Kane
- The Godfather
- Jaws
- La Dolce Vita
- Metropolis
- On the Waterfront
- Psycho
- The Seventh Seal
- Sweet Smell of Success
- Taxi Driver
- The Third Man
- The Wizard of Oz
and eighty-five more films.
"This is a wonderful book, an appreciation of the greatest movies by the greatest movie enthusiast -- and also the shrewdest, the most humane and clear-sighted. I read this book with pleasure, enlightenment, and a desire to see many of the movies again, because I had missed what Roger saw."
PAUL THEROUX
Customer Reviews:
Movies you should see, things you should know........2007-08-13
Ebert is the most erudite of the film reviewers making money plying their understanding of the world.
I always think it's funny when video store clerks say they love movies, but haven't seen even one of the movies in this book.
While not the definitive collection of great essays on great movies, it's a hardy guidebook of films cinemaphiles should see, and why they are so great.
A pretty interesting book.......2007-06-13
Roger Ebert rules. He's hated by many, mostly because he's a film critic, which some see as a useless profession. If you look past his imperfect and sometimes erronious reviews, you will see a funny and often inspiring film buff who remains the best fim critic (regardless of what you think of critics). He provided a balance on the TV show with Richard Roeper, and it's a shame he got taken out of commission, because Roeper is incapable of seeing worth in movies that he personally doesn't like. Basically, he's a REGULAR film critic. It's funny when Kevin Smith comes on the show as guest critic, because he's even worse, and Roeper hates him.
I haven't seen most of the obscure old movies in Ebert's book. Some are mainstream, but a lot of them are far-out arthouse movies. Apparently (I didn't know this) Ebert teaches film students, and frames his critiques for the reader as he would for his class. He selects these films not out of a need to be a snob who hovers around material that nobody's ever heard of, but because they offer a new perspective on life.
His love of film is evident on every page. It's a treat to read his work, and while the book itself doesn't really insist that you go see his "great movies" (I the only I've seen so far is JFK), his narrative covers a range of directors, storytelling styles, and actors. It taught me a few thing about film; More than I learned in film history class, anyway, where the professors throw a barrage of Hitchcock at you. A highly fun book. I will definitely check out the next volume.
An amazing book AND a good read.......2007-04-29
I love Ebert's reveiws for so many reasons. The reviews are well-written and literate. I'm not a film buff to any great degree, so I really don't have any deep opinions about including "The Searchers" or "Stagecoach." But Ebert explains his own opinions and perceptions enough I can usually understand how he feels and why, even if I disagree* (or don't care). He's interesting to read and I feel like I learn something not only about about movies but also about being a critic - the literature of movie reviews.
*I often think Ebert is too generous with the number of stars in his weekly reviews. New movies often get four stars but so does "Citizen Kane"? I don't think so.
Essential for movie buffs.......2006-11-06
Nobody writes about film the way Roger Ebert does. Ebert's writing about film, like his TV reviews, are always fun and entertaining, not pretentious and stuffy, like other film critics are. This book is compiled from Ebert's long-running bi-weekly column "The Great Movies", in which he examines what makes certain movies enduring. This isn't designed to be a "100 best of all time" list. It simply happens to be which movies Roger chose to write about at that particular time.
Roger takes a look at classic and popular movies such as "Star Wars", "Casablanca", and "Gone With The Wind". But he also examines lesser known movies such as "Mr. Hulot's Holiday" and the "Up" documentaries (such as "28 Up", and so on). Comedies, dramas ,thrillers ,foreign films, all genres are represented.
One can see all the joy and passion Ebert has for the cinema in these pages. In writing about Fellini, for example, (in his discussion of the film "8 1/2") Ebert writes about how some veiwers have a problem with Fellini's emphasis of images over ideas. He writes,"I celebrate it", meaning that film is a medium for images and that sometimes the most memorable images are not necessarily linked to one defined purpose.
The collection also includes anecdotes about how some movies were rediscovered and/or restored years later. The Marx Brothers' "Duck Soup" was a flop until young people in the sixties responded to its anti-authority themes. The original negative of Renoir's masterpiece "The Grand Illusion" was thought to be destroyed during WWII. A muddy copy existed for years.Roger recounts how the negative surfaced and was used for restoration during the 1990s. The underrated thriller "Peeping Tom" was dismissed when it was released in 1960. Years later, Martin Scorsese helped revive the film, and it received great acclaim. The film's director, Michael Powell met Scorsese's editor, Thelma Schoonmaker, and later married her.
All of this is examined in an enjoyably readable fashion. After finishing it, you may find youself wanting to revisit old favorite movies, or discovering ones you have not seen before, but will want to rent. I certainly did. This book is indispensable for any film buff.
gave as a gift- they loved it!!.......2006-03-04
Everyone has their own ideas about what should be on the list, but Ebert is pretty much right on!
Book Description
Digital video cameras have become more affordable and reliable than ever, and with the help of former television producer, editor, and cameraman Colin Barret, new owners of this hot technology can produce a memorable video right at home. Barret offers the fruits of his expertise in a thorough, practical introduction that covers it all. In addition to advice on choosing a camcorder and tips on getting the most out of its features, illustrated tutorials explain how to shoot creatively and master techniques such as point-of-view, close-ups, cutaway shots, and effective lighting. Spice up the sound by incorporating audio tracks, and find out how to create special effects. There's even a detailed description of how to set up a fully functional home editing suite.
Customer Reviews:
For anyone who wants to start using a video camera.......2007-09-13
I would recommend this book as a start here before anything else. Even though you'de have had a camera for months and years but just shoot movies where the ones you share it with are happy to get away from it. Buy it, it teaches you in very in an easy non jargon way how to do things looking good and impress the audence. It is good when people ask for a copy after they've seen the movie. And you hear they wantch it over and over. I love this book it is brilliant.
So-so and a little dated.......2007-08-05
I was assigned this book as the text for an intro to digital video grad class. The book was okay, but not especially impressive. It was redundant in some places and some of the information seemed dated. It's a very general book, so it's appropriate for a class where the instructor doesn't know what kinds of cameras or editing programs students will use.
However, if you're looking for a book to help you with the program and camera you have, you can probably find something more specific to your situation.
The title is a bit of a misnomer as well. There are no step-by-step guides or lessons in the book.
It's not a bad book, but it's not great either.
Nice Book..........2007-06-30
I liked the presentation, organization and the the printing of the book wich I consider is of the highest quality, It also has good color ilustrations and photos, I didn't find errors of any kind. But even when I'm a beginner videographer, I consider the information contained in the book is very general and the book is oriented to explain that "there are easy ways of making things..., that you can use several good applications available in the market for you..." But I would have liked the book explained: "ways of making... and the steps for finishing your projects.." I mean the book lacks of "How to...or the step by step for beginners". But in general is a good book. Please be aware of that...So you won't be disapointed.
Excellent for today's high quality digital video .......2007-06-25
I'm a semi-pro photographer of stills, based in film, now dSLR's and so I understand fairly well photographic considerations in acquiring good images! This book will easily help beginners and existing still photographers bridge the gap into Digital Video capture. Going beyond just understanding the latest advances in digital camcorders, the book guides you through actual processes of capturing good story-telling footage, things that we see in broadcast everyday, but probably don't give much of a thought as to how video was captures, sequenced and edited. I was really looking for such a guide as a starting place as i just purchased a Sony HDR-HC7 mini-DV camcorder ... and needed to know basic camera operation, as well as shooting techniques and video editing techniques. The book is VERY well laid out, simple to read and find headings and TIPS as needed - I think I'll pull from this volume a great deal of useful information and wish to thank the author!
Excellent book to learn Video Photography without the jargon.......2006-05-20
After an extensive research I tried my luck and bought this book (as I could not preview the content), and I am really impressed with it. This is the perfect book for someone who really wants to learn video photography, as opposed to just learning to buy the greatest gadget and press the right buttons, thereby capturing worthless video.
I am an advanced amateur photographer for the last 15 years, and I know that taking good photo is 90% work of the mind - finding out the perfect frame and the perfect moment to shoot a great photograph, and 10% work of the hand to use the camera. Most of the other Digital Video books focus mostly on the later 10% aspect. Not this book - It teaches you extensively what to look for in a good video and how to get them.
The book is divided into 5 sections:-
- What you need to know about your camcorder
- Step-by-step shooting techniques
- How to shoot great home movies
- Step-by-step digital video-editing techniques
- Showing and sharing your movies
The sections about "shooting techniques" and "great home movies" are the largest in this book, and that's what I liked. The author is a professional in this field (former television producer, editor and cameraman), unlike authors of other books who are either wannabe movie producers or small movie makers. The other books instruct you to write down a storyboard on paper which is not feasible in a vacation movie or capturing unpredictable activities of your newborn. Here you will learn how to think so that you can create a great story on the fly.
This book is filled with lots of tips used by professionals, one good example is: not to use the zoom during shooting. Most professional productions do not contain zooming sequence. They take a wide angle shot to show the background, then next shot they show a close up of the subject, the zooming being done off-camera. Lots of zooming sequence is the typical sign of a poor home video.
On the whole, this is a perfect book to study before diving into the world of serious video photography.
Book Description
Fascinating, comprehensive reference work provides biographical/career data for major American, British, and French designers since 1909: Theoni V. Aldredge (The Great Gatsby), Edith Head, (The Greatest Show on Earth), Orry-Kelly (An American in Paris), Irene Sharaff (Funny Girl) and many others. Updated to 1988. 177 illustrations, invaluable index of 6,000 films.
Customer Reviews:
Nice book describing famous Fashion (movie) Designers up to 1988.......2007-07-27
Good book! Lots of black-n-white photos of famous movie stars wearing wonderful designer fashions!
This book was originally written in 1988,thus,the 157 famous Hollywood Fashion Designers listed in this book are all here --- from the very beginning of Hollywood's Fashion movie Era , and then all the way up to 1988.
(NOTE: The reason the copyright on this book is 1991, is because the author added an information page in 1991. However, this book was really written in the 1980's).
Anyhow, this book lists all the Academy Award Fashion winners and also all British Award Fashion winners (in regards to Hollywood FASHIONS), from the late 1800's up until 1988!
Costume Design in the Movies: An Illustrated Guide to the Work of 157 Great Designers.......2007-05-12
Excellent reference book with biographies of the most famous designers at the different studios. Nominations and Academy Awards are also referenced. There is an index that makes it easy to look up a film and find out who designed the costumes. I use it frequently. In some cases more than one designer worked on the same film. There are photographs of the designers and also their designs, however, I would like to see even more photographs...especially for the period 1930 through 1970. I would rate this book 4.5. It is also a good value for the price.
Costume Design in the Movies: An illistrated guide to the work of 157 great designers.......2006-07-22
I love fashion & many great designs were done by the designers for the old movie studios. It was interesting reading about how designers came up with ideas of an outfit to cover flaws or accent a movie star (i.e. Barbara Stanwycks low butt, Crawfords shoulder pads).
Fantastic Book For Classic Movie Lovers.......2005-09-09
One of my favorite things about watching classic films is seeing all the amazing fashions! This book is a great collection of photos of classic stars wearing classic costumes. Lots of stars are in here including Bette Davis, Norma Shearer, Carole Landis, Lana Turner, Joan Crawford, and Irene Dunne. You will learn who designed each outfit and there is a little biographical information about the designers too.
Simply fabulous!.......2001-12-20
I am a costume designer and have had this book in my research collection for about 10 years. It is one of my top favorites. I have turned to this book for inspiration countless times. They just don't make clothing like this anymore! The hair and makeup styles are also well represented.
Average customer rating:
- A well researched academic trawl through visual fabland
|
The Beatles Movies (Cassell Film Studies)
Bob Neaverson
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America Divided: The Civil War of the 1960s
ASIN: 0304337978 |
Customer Reviews:
A well researched academic trawl through visual fabland.......1999-04-07
Taking the Beatles' incursions into the world of film chapter by chapter, this fascinating and well-researched book uses reminiscences of people who were there to create a thorough and absorbing account of the construction of a uniquely varied visual repertoire. The author's enthusiasm for the material in question is tempered by a willingness to probe deeply and critically into the guts of the Beatles' creative processes. Despite the somewhat dry academic style of this book, I still found myself reading it from cover to cover, almost in one sitting. This is a recommended book on a seminal but often scorned chapter in movie history.
Average customer rating:
- Great quick reference on film genres
- What a Glorious Feeling
|
Great Hollywood Movies
Ted Sennett
Manufacturer: Abradale Books
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Customer Reviews:
Great quick reference on film genres.......2005-06-07
I remember seeing this one in the Walden's Books locations here in Omaha and in the Kansas City, MO area, around the time I was in college(mid 80s). It was still kicking around some years later, for a discounted price, at the time I received it for a Christmas gift from a girlfriend. At the time, I had just considered it a coffee table book: good size, lots of pictures, a conversation piece. It seemed like a decent gift, especially considering my love for film. Whether I looked upon it with much merit or not, the girlfriend had obviously put some thought into the topic and I'd appreciated that. Now, a decade and a half later, I still have it, making this one my longest-owned books.
I have probably used this text nearly as often as my thesaurus, dictionary, and several film guides and encyclopedias(good thing it was a hardbound). If you're a serious film student,or self-proclaimed critic, I'm not going to say this book is a necessary addition to the short list of any personal library, however, this will definitely be more than useful when it comes to a quick reference on film genres-which is the real use of this book. Every chapter is broken down to the most important films of the given genre. For example, "The Sound of Laughter: Great Comedy Movies" begins with brief examples of film comedies by the decade. This is followed by two pages of Charlie Chaplin(perhaps a little long), followed by Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, the Marx Brothers, WC Fields, and Mae West.
Then, it goes into the films themselves: "It Happended One Night", "Bringing Up Baby", "The Philadelphia Story", etc. Now, although no actors, directors, or films are dealt with in much depth, the true charm here is, as in most coffee table books, the pictures. If you only use the book for pictures, it's still worthwhile, for these offer the big titles that typify each of the genres. Whenever I'm referring to a genre, I usually grab this book first, for its quick overview. Genres covered: comedy, musical, romance, western, war, mystery, horror, sci-fi, fantasy, crime, the lower depths(includes some noir), great book and theater adaptations, the "great" movies(Gone With the Wind, the 2 big DW Griffith epics, Citizen Kane, and Greed), and a chapter on the "American" movie, which seems fairly trivial-as a genre, anyway. If you love film, this will be a handy source.
What a Glorious Feeling.......2000-02-29
While I was walking down the street,I decided to take a look at the books.And seen Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable's romantic picture which's taken from the classical hollywood movie 'Gone With The Wind'.Without stopping,I've decided to buy it.When I came home,I started to read the whole book.It was perfect.As I want to be a part of Hollywood,I learn new things from this book about classics.From my personal star Gene Kelly to Bette Davis all the stars are in this book.I recommend it to everyone.Just open the book,and you'll be a part of it then understand the glorious feeling!
Book Description
Continuing the pitch-perfect critiques begun in The Great Movies, Roger Ebert's The Great Movies II collects 100 additional essays, each one of them a gem of critical appreciation and an amalgam of love, analysis, and history that will send readers back to films with a fresh set of eyes and renewed enthusiasm—or perhaps to an avid first-time viewing. Neither a snob nor a shill, Ebert manages in these essays to combine a truly populist appreciation for today's most important form of popular art with a scholar's erudition and depth of knowledge and a sure aesthetic sense. Once again wonderfully enhanced by stills selected by Mary Corliss, former film curator at the Museum of Modern Art, The Great Movies II is a treasure trove for film lovers of all persuasions, an unrivaled guide for viewers, and a book to return to again and again.
Films featured in The Great Movies II
12 Angry Men · The Adventures of Robin Hood · Alien · Amadeus · Amarcord · Annie Hall · Au Hasard, Balthazar · The Bank Dick · Beat the Devil · Being There · The Big Heat · The Birth of a Nation · The Blue Kite · Bob le Flambeur · Breathless · The Bridge on the River Kwai · Bring Me the Head of Alfredo García · Buster Keaton · Children of Paradise · A Christmas Story · The Color Purple · The Conversation · Cries and Whispers · The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie · Don’t Look Now · The Earrings of Madame de . . . · The Fall of the House of Usher · The Firemen’s Ball · Five Easy Pieces · Goldfinger · The Good, the Bad and the Ugly · Goodfellas · The Gospel According to Matthew · The Grapes of Wrath · Grave of the Fireflies · Great Expectations · House of Games · The Hustler · In Cold Blood · Jaws · Jules and Jim · Kieslowski’s Three Colors Trilogy · Kind Hearts and Coronets · King Kong · The Last Laugh · Laura · Leaving Las Vegas · Le Boucher · The Leopard · The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp · The Manchurian Candidate · The Man Who Laughs · Mean Streets · Mon Oncle · Moonstruck · The Music Room · My Dinner with Andre · My Neighbor Totoro · Nights of Cabiria · One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest · Orpheus · Paris, Texas · Patton · Picnic at Hanging Rock · Planes, Trains and Automobiles · The Producers · Raiders of the Lost Ark · Raise the Red Lantern · Ran · Rashomon · Rear Window · Rififi · The Right Stuff · Romeo and Juliet · The Rules of the Game · Saturday Night Fever · Say Anything · Scarface · The Searchers · Shane · Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs · Solaris · Strangers on a Train · Stroszek · A Sunday in the Country · Sunrise · A Tale of Winter · The Thin Man · This Is Spinal Tap ·Tokyo Story · Touchez Pas au Grisbi · Touch of Evil · The Treasure of the Sierra Madre · Ugetsu · Umberto D · Unforgiven · Victim · Walkabout · West Side Story · Yankee Doodle Dandy
Customer Reviews:
very good book.......2007-08-03
I love reading eberts reviews. This book gives alot of information on movies that not just ebert likes but that alot of people like. Ebert gives alot of valuable information.
Roger Ebert - always interesting.......2007-01-29
While I may not always agree with Roger Ebert, I always find his opinion valid and his choices are always intriguing.. His second installment of the great movies is no exception.. Ebert is familiar with a broad range of cinema.. from the classics, to lesser-known foreign films, to neglected movies that deserve more attention.. Ebert's straightforward writing style is unpretentious and stands alongside some of the finer film essays of our time.. It is refreshing to know that such a popular critic has integrity and truly cares about the preservation of cinema..
Film buffs will love this.......2006-11-06
Roger Ebert follows his book that compiles his bi-weekly column "The Great Movies" with a second volume.
Classics such as "The Grapes of Wrath" and "Five Easy Pieces" are examined here. Foreign films get their due, with films by Godard, Ozu, and Kurasawa that are discussed at legnth. So are obscure movies in need of rediscovery.
What may surprise some readers is the inclusion of some audience favorites as "A Christmas Story", "Planes, Trains and Automobles", "Say Anything" and "This is Spinal Tap". We watch different movies for different reasons, and Ebert is no exception. If someone like Ebert loves to watch "A Christmas Story" (one of my favorites) over and over, then why shouldn't he include it in his book? How many other critics would have thought to include these movies together with "Rashomon" and "The Searchers"? Not very many. Bravo to Ebert for doing so.
Ebert also looks at Gene Siskel's favorite movie "Saturday Night Fever". It as much a tribute to Gene's memory as it is a film review.
Movie fans will love both volumes of this series. They are essential reading for anyone who loves film.
why would one see or not see a movie based upon one man's advice.......2005-11-03
roger ebert has his own individual tastes and I respect that. I have my my own tastes too. Ebert thought "the pillow book" was a great film. He didn't like reservoir dogs. Don't adhere to this guy's recommendations. Anyone who does should read a story called the emporor's new clothes and reflect on the moral.
Some Surprises Liven Up a Typical "Critic's Choice".......2005-09-26
Roger Ebert isn't your typical movie reviewer; he takes the time to evaluate a film, highlight its good points and bad, and let you know what he really thinks of it (as opposed to some studio-paid shill who automatically praises whatever's sent down the pipeline). And Ebert collects some of his favorites in "The Great Books II", a continuation of the previous collection from 2002. To be sure, there are plenty of obvious "artistic classics", but it's the suprises that make this a worthy read.
Ebert's reviews are presented alphabetically, with no frills. It's his writing that he's known for (apart from his show with the late Gene Siskel and now Richard Roeper), and that's what carries even the more boring choices. Heavy on French New Wave and Japanese cinema, sometimes the book could get to be too much for people looking for a casual recommendation. But even if you get tired of hearing about Godard, Cocteau, and every single French or Italian director who ever lived, there's plenty else to keep you interested.
It's the surprises that make this book work for me; who would've thought that a critic with the esteem of Ebert would give time to movies like "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles"...and not only talk about it, but praise it? As Ebert admits in the introduction, these aren't necessarily the *greatest* movies, but they're great for what they represent, what they speak about, and what they mean to continuing generations of people who discover them for the first time. "Spinal Tap" gets equal play to "Rashomon", "Scarface" is praised *for* Al Pacino's performance (most other peer reviewers cited him as the reason it didn't work), and "Say Anything", "Moonstruck", "Raiders of the Lost Ark", and "Saturday Night Fever" get some well-deserved praise.
What Ebert is doing with these reviews is that film criticism doesn't have to be "All Truffaut, All The Time"; you bring to a review what you like about the film, and what makes it work for you. And that's true whether you're talking about Nigel Tufnel's guitar amps or Ingmar Bergman's camera angles and lighting choices. Ebert proves you don't have to be a snob to be a film critic. It's your perspective, anyway, that's all that should matter as long as you bring intelligence to it and can back up your position.
To be sure, Ebert's affection for foreign films gets to be a bit much, but the point is that he wants to expose readers not only to the obvious choices for any aspiring film-lover but to those films that he loves, and why. If he leads you to seek out some obscure flick that he praises for three pages-worth of the book, then he's done his job. And if you come away from it understanding why he chose to include the film in a book titled "The Great Films", then it's time well spent.
Roger Ebert does first-rate criticism not only on the films that everyone would expect, but also on the films that few would think merit "serious" criticism. That's what makes "The Great Movies II" such a delight. And that's what makes Roger Ebert the greatest at his craft.
So pick up "The Great Movies II", and hope that "The Great Books III" is just as good.
Customer Reviews:
Strunk & White for Digital Video.......2005-12-25
Don't end up like me-time wasted at camera store book racks;
fatigue from endless internet book searches. Eliminate the grief. Buy "The Complete Digital Video Guide" by Bob Brandon.
Chapters include: choosing a camera; using your camera; your camera and light; composition; telling a story; capturing sound and pictures; building your story; shooting a personal profile; editing your video.
A professional videographer's lifetime of experience distilled into an essential book. Strunk & White for digital video.
Average customer rating:
- A Celebration Of Christmas Movies From The Silent Era Up To The Present
- THE compilation of Christmas Movies -- more than just a list
- A disappointing rush job
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American Movie Classics' Great Christmas Movies: Celebrating the Best Christmas Films of All Time
Frank Thompson
Manufacturer: Taylor Trade Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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It's Christmas Time at the Movies
ASIN: 0878332146 |
Book Description
This book celebrates the films that have become a cherished element of every Family's Yuletide tradition.
Customer Reviews:
A Celebration Of Christmas Movies From The Silent Era Up To The Present.......2006-12-29
Christmas movies are without a doubt one of my favourite movie theme areas and I'm sure I'm correct in saying that the festive season for many people would not be complete without the regular screenings of many of the well known classics. Each year come December 1st I eagerly look forward to working my way through an ever growing list of films whose main theme is centred around this most special of holidays. Christmas movies have been produced in one form or another since the silent era began and there are now so many memorable and greatly loved Christmas themed classics out there that come back each year via television and now DVD to charm us, allow us to shed a tear, and importantly to remind us in this cynical present day of the true meaning of Christmas. Classics such as "It's a Wonderful Life", "White Christmas", "Miracle on 34th Sreet", and of course the immortal "A Christmas Carol", in its countless versions automatically come to mind as the standout films in this genre however there are so many other less well known films centred around Christmas that deserve to be better remembered. In his wonderful book "Great Christmas Movies", author Frank Thompson examines in detail these famous classics while also managing to bring back into the spotlight many obscure Christmas films now largely forgotten. His book takes the reader on an entertaining look at the famous, the infamous, the obscure, and the down right weird film titles that can be included under the theme of Christmas movies and which for all their own unique reasons have become an essential part of so many people's festive celebrations.
THE compilation of Christmas Movies -- more than just a list.......1998-12-06
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Thanks Frank Thompson, for a starting place for a thorough listing of Christmas Movies.
This book is a REFERENCE book in that you can breeze through it rather quickly.
It's critiques and reviews are the reason you picked it up, but background stories and personal rememberances of the actors are the true backbone of the book.
Lots of picutres, well designed, all the classics (except SCROOGED, THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS and CHARLIE BROWN'S CHRISTMAS) are listed and given coverage including Jesus films, the Monty Python LIFE OF BRIAN and the Christmas Horror classics.
A VALUABLE ASSET FOR CHRISTMAS CELEBRATORS!
A disappointing rush job.......1998-11-25
In the acknowledgments, the author admits that this book was rushed to print, apparently to be timed with an AMC special, and the rushing shows, both in the production--several typos, a rather poor selection of photos (too many photos from the MGM "Christmas Carol" and none at all from the silent versions or the Seymour Hicks version, all of which get several pages of text attention)-- and in the odd imbalance of film coverage. Imagine a book on Christmas movies that gives 11 pages over to "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, but only 4 1/2 pages to "It's a Wonderful Life"!! Because the author interviewed people like June Lockhart, Margaret O'Brien, and Chevy Chase, he apparently felt the need to include almost every word they said, even though most of the interviews have little light to shed on the movies under discussion. This is especially wasteful when 15 pages are devoted to an "oral history" of "A Christmas Story"; some judicious editing would have helped greatly. The space would have been much more wisely used for some deeper analysis of the Christmas movies. As it is, the author settles mostly for plot summary and the odd production detail and, despite mentioning the interesting fact that Fred Astaire bowed out of "White Christmas" because he hated the script, the author doesn't even get around to summarizing the plot at all, not even noting that it's basically a remake of "Holiday Inn." The chapters on silent films and the various "Christmas Carol" films are interesting, and he justly notes some overlooked gems like "Remember the Night" and "Come to the Stable." Still, my advice is to skip the book and wait for the TV special.
Book Description
A VCR, a great movie, a tub of popcorn and a Management Goes to the Movies Study Guide . . . management training doesn't get any better, easier or more fun than this!
"MOVIES FOR LEADERS: MANAGEMENT LESSONS FROM FOUR ALL-TIME GREAT FILMS" is the first volume in a series of self-study guides aimed at helping managers cope with difficult situations and improve day-to-day performance. This guide uses the movies "Hoosiers," "The Wizard of Oz," "Moby Dick" and "The Bridge on the River Kwai" to help managers sharpen their leadership skills, train their staffs to lead, think through key leadership issues and enliven their business presentations. The guide also contains references to online quizzes from moviesforbusiness.com where, after reading the book, readers can take an online examination and earn a Hollywood MBA (Master of Bijou Advice) in Leadership.
Based on a corporate-training program developed by Shaun O'L. Higgins and Colleen Striegel and used in their companies for more than 15 years, "Movies for Leaders" also features an introductory essay on business as portrayed on screen from the 1930s to the 1990s.
"Movies for Leaders" presents reel business lessons for real business performance. Among the lessons in its pages:
* Why "The Wizard of Oz" is one of the greatest leadership training films ever made.
* How minor strengths can blind you to a manager's major weaknesses.
* Why you can't afford not to train every member of your team.
* How to develop a mission statement employees can march to.
Each chapter is filled with practical lessons on the keys to leadership, including motivational skills, decision making, judgment, planning, competitive strategy, ethics, communication and team building. Each chapter also features helpful sidebars with information about the movie, illustrative examples from actual businesses and elaborations on key concepts.
Customer Reviews:
A magnificent and brilliant idea!.......2004-12-19
Regardless of the era , some business sectors seem never to receive a fair shake in the movies . Their seems to be an internal process of restriction in which the movie is simply evasion and it does not exist the power of will to go beyond the message exploring just only the boundaries .
The authors present us an interesting set of movies related with the Management . Undoubtedly you may argue the proposal is not enough and you are right but the important is the first step , because never before no one saw the enormous world of possibilities hidden a simple movie ..
Hoosiers, Wizard of Oz , The Bridge on the River Kwai and Moby Dick were in this case the selected ones .
This initial release might be well the enormous gate to explore another items in different topics .
I would suggest from hawk gaze three different sets of them .
First set : Bounty mutiny , Rashomon , King Lear (believe or not , there is a huge lot of issues) the authority never be delegated only the responsibility and Tunes of Glory
Second set: Master and Commander , Twelve o clock high , Command decision and Das Boot .
Third set : China Syndrome, L'argent des outres (The money of the others) , Blow up and Character .
The idea is extraordinary and very original . In my personal case i `ve shown some particular issues who illustrate widely different approach to teach the organization in different levels , specially the High , Media and Low Management .
Excellent initiative which I expect keeps and acquires a major impulse and importance to the Managers because if it is certain the movies do not reflect the same life , this reasoning may be valid for films with low scope but never can be accepted to foot letter .
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