Average customer rating:
- Very Entertaining
- Great!!
- Great read...lousy title ):
- PIMP, HOS, PLAYA HATAS, AND ALL THE REST OF MY HOLLYWOOD FRIENDS: MY LIFE JOHN LEGUIZAMO
- Pimps, Hos, Playa Hatas, and All the Rest of My Hollywood Friends: My Life
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Pimps, Hos, Playa Hatas, and All the Rest of My Hollywood Friends: My Life
John Leguizamo
Manufacturer: Ecco
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 006052071X
Release Date: 2006-10-31 |
Book Description
John Leguizamo defies easy categorization. Fans of his smash-hit one-man shows (Mambo Mouth, Spic-O-Rama, Freak, and Sexaholic) have gotten a glimpse into his life, but this book tells the whole story, taking readers on a journey from his childhood in Queens ("my father was a strict autocrat-totalitarian-despot-dictator-disciplinarian") to his current home at the top of the Hollywood pyramid—actor, director, producer, one of the highest-paid Latin actors in the world, with the clout to shape every aspect of his own career.
Beginning on the classic New York comedy club circuit, where he made the rounds with Ray Romano, Mario Cantone, and Chris Rock, through his disastrous one-night run as Puck in Joseph Papp's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, to his brief go at Method acting with Lee Strasberg (who died the next day; "I have that effect on people") and his hit Broadway debut with Freak, the protean performer shares the stories behind his many roles—what inspired them and what transpired as he created them. Never shy, he dishes on his personal relationships with his family, friends, and colleagues, including Spike Lee, Steven Seagal, Bruce Willis, Sean Penn, Harrison Ford, Brian De Palma, Al Pacino, Baz Luhrmann, and Nicole Kidman.
Keenly intelligent and insanely funny, this book offers a unique behind-the-scenes look at the magic and chaos of stardom, as well as an intimate portrait of John Leguizamo's greatest achievement—to grow up Latino in America and to succeed on his terms.
Customer Reviews:
Very Entertaining.......2007-08-31
This book is very much like John Leguizamo's show's - introspective and intersting. While I didn't think it was too hard-hitting against his fellow thespians, I enjoyed an inside perspective into the real lives of Hollywood actors. I also really enjoyed that Leguizamo shared his failures and weaknesses. It was clever, funny, and sad all at once. A true John Leguizamo experience.
Great!!.......2007-03-09
I can't complain at all about this book. John Leguizamo is hilarious. I felt like I was sitting front row at one of his stand up comedies. He talks about his struggles and some 'beefs' he has with actors I certainly never knew about. I also admired the way he was completely honest about every role he played and every person he worked with.
Great read...lousy title ):.......2007-03-04
I am a huge John Leguizamo fan. My son introduced me to him because of his love for Leguizamo's short lived TV show House of Buggin. In addition to his films, we have seen him perform Freak on Broadway and John Leguizam Live before it was renamed Sexaholic. With a background like that, I found this autobiography to be very revealing and entertaining. However, as a long time librarian I am very familiar with how people react to book titles when they are unfamiliar with the author or the subject matter. And just as Leguizamo acknowledges bad career choices and mistakes that he has made in his career to date, I am afraid that he will have to eventually accept the fact that his unfortunate title choice has repelled rather than attracted many potential readers. By doing so, he has missed a golden opportunity to use this entertaining vehicle to expand his fan base.
PIMP, HOS, PLAYA HATAS, AND ALL THE REST OF MY HOLLYWOOD FRIENDS: MY LIFE JOHN LEGUIZAMO.......2007-01-16
THIS BOOK WAS NOT AS JUICY AS I WAS ECPECTING.... IT WAS FUNNY AND READ WITH ENJOYMENT BUT IT WAS EASY TO PUT DOWN AND FORGET ABOUT! IT WAS OK
Pimps, Hos, Playa Hatas, and All the Rest of My Hollywood Friends: My Life.......2007-01-10
I bought this book for my husband for his birthday -He is not much of a reader -We really like John Leguizamo as an actor and saw him on David Letterman promoting the book -It sounded so interesting and my husband was like -I want to read that -I was kind of surprised because he rarely ever reads. He loves the book -He's even got me reading it -John did a great job -If you like John and movies -You will love this book -It's got a lot of dirt on celebrities -But done in a playful way -Even some of the names have been changed -I would recommend this book -Excellent work John!
Book Description
The ultimate biography of National Lampoon and its cofounder Doug Kenney, this book offers the first complete history of the immensely popular magazine and its brilliant and eccentric characters. With wonderful stories of the comedy scene in New York City in the 1970s and National Lampoon’s place at the center of it, this chronicle shares how the magazine spawned a popular radio show and two long-running theatrical productions that helped launch the careers of John Belushi, Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, and Gilda Radner and went on to inspire Saturday Night Live. More than 130 interviews were conducted with people connected to Kenney and the magazine, including Chevy Chase, John Hughes, P. J. O’Rourke, Tony Hendra, Sean Kelly, Chris Miller, and Bruce McCall. These interviews and behind-the-scenes stories about the making of both Animal House and Caddyshack help to capture the nostalgia, humor, and popular culture that National Lampoon inspires.
Customer Reviews:
This Is Where Modern American Humor Begins.......2007-02-08
Say the name "Doug Kenney", and you're likely to draw blank stares and numerous "who"s from the average comedy fan. But say "Animal House", "Caddyshack" or "National Lampoon", and they'll likely know what you're talking about. That's the time to tell them why the first name is so important.
Doug Kenney was a shadow figure in the history of comedy, a magazine writer and co-founder of the Lampoon's national version who managed to write some great articles, the scripts for two legendary comedy classics, and numerous other artifacts of his time all before his death in 1980, of an apparent suicide or accidential fall from a cliff in Hawaii. The fact that he died so young and so unheralded outside the insular world of comedy is a shame, especially considering what a legacy he left.
In Josh Karp's book, Kenney is even a minor character in his own life story, as whole portions of the book focus on the hangers-on at the Lampoon (various writers and other talents whose lights shined more brightly than that of Kenney or his co-founder, Henry Beard). But this is not a fault of the biographer: Kenney's own story is inevitably tied to the magazine and entertainment empire he helped found, and which owes him more than the current crop of "direct to DVD" releases and smarmy Paris Hilton cash-ins currently under the banner of "The National Lampoon".
Kenney's gift and his curse was his talent, one which produced masterpieces like "Animal House" and Nancy Reagan's "dating tips" but also let him down when it came to writing his "great American novel" of TACOS (Teenage Commies From Outer Space). Karp gives us a peek inside the mind of this elusive character and reveals a man of deep contradictions whose short, happy-sometimes-sad-othertimes life was offset by the impact he and his cohorts made on the world of American humor in the Seventies.
If you're an admirer of the Lampoon's golden era, or simply curious thanks to Animal House or Caddyshack, do yourself a favor and get this book. Whereas Tony Hendra's memoir of his time at the magazine (Going Too Far) is grandiose and self-congratulatory, this book offers a great history of one of the leading lights of American humor, and a man who arguably should be listed with the greats.
A Futile and Stupid Gesture.......2007-01-18
The first book I have read straight through in a LONG time, and I read lot of books. Very acute social history of the period--having myself been a bright Midwestie (from Dacron, Ohio) in a an elite east coast college circa 1962-6, I could fully understand Kenny's insider/outsider conundrum and Beard's drive to succeed on his own terms. The mix of types and personalities on the the creative side was well deliniated, and their continual tension with the business end--but for whom they would not have had careers--was the heart of the story. The book appears to be thoroughly researched and clips along nicely. The "what happened in the year" intros to each segment were seriously useful. Anyone who watched SNL when it was funny or looked at the parody yearbook and mistook it for his or her own MUST read this book.
thanks to Josh Karp.......2006-11-10
More information than I never knew existed about National Lampoon. The extraordinary detail that Josh Karp uncovered to put this book together is absolutely amazing.
Only Because I Paid for It........2006-11-05
I more or less forced myself to read the entire book because there were some great anecdotes and also several nodes of connectivity where someone famous first got their start working with some of the other persons mentioned in its pages.
But the factual detail and the amount of time spent on uninteresting background and financial dealings made for slow reading. I really wasn't all that interested in the various ownership deals between the principals of the story. Too much blah, blah, blah and not enough sizzle.
By the second half of the book I was skimming the pages trying to find something/anything interesting to keep me engaged. I'm donating this along with a bunch of other books that I've read, to a local shelter.
Outstanding Cultural History (And It's Funny, Too).......2006-10-10
The title "A Futile and Stupid Gesture" is, of course a quote from "National Lampoon's Animal House", one of the most beloved, successful, and influential films of the past 30 years. Doug Kenney helped write that movie and played the role of "Stork", as well as writing the almost-as-adored "Caddyshack", along with being one of the first and most powerful editors of the legendary magazine "National Lampoon". Josh Karp's book is both a biography of Kenney and a history of the whole "Lampoon" scene, which because of the sway of the quasi-spinoff "Saturday Night Live", becomes a social history of American comedy during the 1970's. And that decade was to comedy like the 1960's was to rock--a time which transformed show business and culture not just in the U.S. but in the whole Western world. The irony is that, as a woman who worked with the almost all-male writers of that scene said of them, "they were the most miserable bunch of guys I've ever known."
Karp's book is astoundingly thorough. He has interviewed pretty much everyone involved with the epic story and read encyclopedic amounts of social history so he can present the whole Lampoon cultural revolution in its widest context. Kenney was like the Forrest Gump of comedy in that he met almost everyone during that time, so you get sharply etched portraits of the SNL gang, Michael O' Donoghue, Harold Ramis, P.J. O'Rourke, Tony Hendra, Anne Beatts, and a whole constellation of stars that came into contact with the Hollywood-Lampoon axis. Karp is a smooth, novelistic storyteller so the book is as fun to read as the old magazine itself. And there are large chunks of the Lampoon excerpted, so you get a rich taste of what the publication was like at its best.
Karp is also a competent historian, so you also get a suprisingly objective and rationally considered picture, especially about the above-mentioned personal misery of Kenney and his crew. Karp is unsparing in writing about the drug abuse which may have eventually wrecked Kenney's life, and about the misogyny and darkness of much of the comedy produced at the time. At this late date it's still hard to know whether Kenney's death was an accident or suicide, but his demise was a signature event of the era, not unlike the more famous passing of John Belushi 18 months later. It was a signal to "come inside and join the adults at the table", as O'Rourke would put it. Anyone who wants to have a fuller understanding of American cultural history in the twilight of the 20th century should consult Karp's excellent book.
Customer Reviews:
Nyuk, Nyuk, Nyuk.............2006-10-12
Having been a "Stoogeaphile" for more years that I care to remember, this book was a MUST HAVE (spead out)...!
Moe Howard's commentary over the decades of their comedic reign is second to none, and there are just SO many great photos, both of the boys "on action" and family photos (pick out two)...!
If you're looking for a list of all they did, it won't be in here. This is just the complete STORY of who the 3 Stooges were, both on screen and off (we ALL put the yeast in)...
But make no mistake, this is THE book to have is you want to find out what made the Stooges the comedy trio of all time (soitenly)!
We shall never see their kind again...sadly. They were the best at what they did (slowly I turned...step by step)...!
Book of Moe required reading for knuckleheads.......2006-02-15
This is a first hand account of one of the great comedy teams in history- the 3 Stooges. Moe was the leader on and off screeen - mostly by default as Larry, Curly, and Shemp just weren't the leader types.
Knuckleheads will enjoy Moe's account of his brilliant career and there''s lots and lots of pictures so we don't have to read too many words. Just like this review.
Good - not great.......2005-01-16
This is a good book - one of the better Three Stooges books out there - but it's not a "great" book. For one thing, the editing of this book is deplorable. There are several errors in the captions of the pictures, and two of the captions from pictures of the same short even contradict each other. Secondly, it felt like Moe rushed through some parts of the book. There is hardly anything about the Shemp era - which I found disappointing. I would have liked to read his views on Columbia's small budget that forced them to make remakes as the 50s progressed. But on the positive side, it's a very easy and fun read, with many stories you won't find elsewhere. He sheds light on the end of Larry's life, as well as some personal stories at home in the mid 1940s.
A tribute to one of the world's greatest comedians.......2004-03-27
Moe Howard began writing this book several months before he died in 1975. This book was posthumously published in 1977. I bought my paperback copy of this book from Funny Side Up,a mail order catalog in 1985. This book is not only the biography of Moe. It also is about the legacy of his comedy team,The Three Stooges. He also told everything he knew about his 5 fellow Stooges,Larry Fine,Joe Besser,Joseph Wardell aka Curly Joe DeRita,and his brothers Curly and Shemp. Being a longtime Three Stooges fan is what motivated me to buy this book. There is also a listing of all Three Stooges movies. The 190 short subject comedies,the feature films,the cameo appearances and the Stooges' separate appearances. Besser and Wardell were still alive when this book went to press. Five years after this book was released,THE THREE STOOGES SCRAPBOOK came out,co-written by Moe's daughter,Joan Howard Maurer. Joan's husband Norman later would become the Stooges' manager. This book is packed with photos of Moe,with and without his fellow Stooges. I dedicate this book to the memory of Moe(June 19,1897-May 4,1975) and his five fellow Stooges.
A Must-Read for any Stooge Fan!.......2003-11-21
Moe Howard shows that he was not only a gifted comedian but also a gifted writer! This is one of the best autobiographies I have ever read. With load of interesting tidbits of the greatest comedy group of all-time by the man who lived it himself! Too bad the Stooges never had a sharp agent to deal with Columbia Pictures and all the other movie moguls that ripped them off especially when the shorts became a hit on tv.
Book Description
Examining the evolution of American film comedy since the beginning of the sound era (c. 1930), Christopher Beach focuses on how language, class, and social relationships in early sound comedies by the Marx Brothers, the screwball comedies of the 1930s by Capra, Sturges and others, and 1950s comedies of Frank Tashlin and Vincente Minnelli, and contemporary films by Woody Allen, Whit Stillman, and the Coen brothers. Beach argues that sound and narrative expanded the semiotic and ideological potential of a film, providing moments of genuine social critique and also mass entertainment. Christopher Beach teaches at the University of California, Irvine, and has taught at the University of Montana and Claremont Graduate University. He is the author of three books on American poetry, including Poetic Culture (Northwestern, 1999). This is his first book on film.
Download Description
This book examines the evolution of American film comedy through the lens of language and the portrayal of social class. Christopher Beach argues that class has been an important element in the development of sound comedy as a cinematic form. With the advent of sound in the late 1920s and early 1930s, filmmakers recognized that sound and narrative enlarged the semiotic and ideological potential of film. Analyzing the use of language in the films of the Marx Brothers, Frank Capra, Woody Allen and the Coen brothers, among others, Class, Language, and American Film Comedy traces the history of Hollywood from the 1930s to the present, while offering a new approach to the study of class and social relationships through linguistic analysis.
Amazon.com
The Three Stooges are admittedly an acquired taste. To fully appreciate them, as with NASCAR racing, practical jokes, and Steely Dan, it helps to be a guy. But there's no denying the durability of the Stooges' fearless physical performances. Every eye poke, noggin crack, face slap, and nyuk-nyuk-nyuk feels as edgy today as it did in their earliest two-reelers, and it's safe to say that their routines, for better or worse, helped pave the way for the Farrelly brothers, the Zucker brothers, Adam Sandler, and Jim Carrey.
Michael Fleming, a columnist for Daily Variety, has diligently compiled the history of the Stooges, from their vaudeville days through the height of their fame in the '30s to the '50s and beyond. What An Illustrated History lacks in clear organization it more than makes up for in attention to detail, about the lives of Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Curly Howard (plus the other "third Stooges," Shemp Howard, Joe Besser, and Curly Joe DeRita); the genesis of their routines; and the heavy-handed business deals that left them, the most successful comedians of their day, with virtually no residual income. The book's best segment dissects each two-reeler and film (including Men in Black, the only Stooge short to be nominated for an Oscar), with a wealth of publicity photos and a tally of slaps, eye pokes, and head conks. Might Fleming make even non-Stooge fans appreciate their humor? Why, soitenly. --Anne Hurley
Book Description
More people today can name the members of the Three Stooges than can name three justices of the Supreme Court. The Stooges are comedy icons whose enduring appeal and slapstick legacy have made them one of the most famous and beloved comedy troupes in the world. Michael Fleming's
The Three Stooges
TM is the first complete, authorized biography of the men who made pie fights part of our national cultural heritage.
A juggernaut of wise guys, headlocks, and unforgettable insults, this book tells the whole history of the Stooges, starting with their origins in the golden years of vaudeville, when the boys from Brooklyn honed their craft. Moe, Curly, and Shemp Howard were born Moses, Jerome, and Samuel Horwitz--and were believed for many years to be the three least accomplished sons of their Lithuanian immigrant parents. Ultimately, of course, the Three Stooges reinvented the rules of slapstick comedy: never be caught unprepared in a pie fight, never slap one wise guy in the face if you can slap three in a row, and never underestimate the value of a good poke in the eye.
Signed in 1934 by Columbia Pictures to a renewable contract that had them making at least nine short films a year, the Stooges learned firsthand about the sharks swimming through Hollywood's early waters. And after nearly a quarter century of producing the short films for which the Stooges are so well known and loved, the studio declined to renew their contract in 1954, and the pioneering pie-throwing professionals lost their jobs. Fittingly, though, Moe & Co. were destined to have the last laugh: the advent of television revived their careers after the decline of vaudeville and Hollywood shorts, and a new generation of belly laughs was born.
From the Stooges' humble origins to movie stardom to comedy legends, there's something here for every level of fan--from folks who watched them on television as a kid to Stooge scholars and certified "knuckleheads." Featuring over two hundred photographs, many of them rare; interviews with Stooge friends and families; and a complete filmography with every "woob-woob" and crashed society cocktail party lovingly detailed, this book will be treasured by all Stoogedom.
From the Hardcover edition.
Customer Reviews:
OK...so it "ain't" Shakespeare..........2006-10-12
But when you think STOOGES...only THREE will come to mind.
I can't see ANY of these guys doing Hamlet...(would probably be called OMELET, knowing them), and yet their works have endured over time, and endeared them to us, generation after generation.
Mr. Fleming does an outstanding job of capturing the essence of being a "stooge" in the heyday of talkies following vaudeville. The photos are numerous AND hilarious. The quality of paper used in the printing is of note as well.
One major selling point is the compilation of ALL their works from the first short to the last appearnance...it's all there!
Having read the Moe Howard book as well, it was nice to see another person's perspective on one of (if not the best) comedy teams of all time.
I grew up with the stooges shorts being shown on local TV (in Philly), and in all that time, we never lost an eye at our school...lol!
So if you need a good, concise tome on these knuckleheads...look no further. This is a very good book, and will surely conjure up a lot of memories.
Succinct overview.......2005-11-11
This isn't a full biography of the Stooges so much as it is a detailed general overview of their careers and lives. I also wish more time had been spent on talking about their childhoods and lives offcamera, but that's what a longer, more in-depth biography is for. It's true that some events were glossed over or not even mentioned, but I found the information that was included to be fascinating and informative, such as particularly the Stooges' run on vaudeville when they were supporting Ted Healy. The best thing about this book are the pictures, on practically every page, from all stages of their career. The final section was also a highlight, recapping all 190 of their shorts, complete with a slap count and tally of conking heads, memorable lines, and pies thrown. And I really hope that the story related in the second section was true and not just urban legend, the very unorthodox (to say the least!) way Moe finally got Larry to start paying back money he'd been lent, since it's just too good to have been made up! If you're just looking for a good general overview of their career, this is a good book to go to, but if you're looking for a more detailed in-depth look at the boys, both onscreen and off, you'll be better-served reading an actual biography or 'The Official Three Stooges Encyclopedia.'
Awesome and fun.......2005-06-13
Not only does this book give a biography of the Stooges, but also an interesting run-down of each of the shorts that they starred in. The history itself was worth the cost of the book, there were many eyewitness accounts of the lives of the Stooges, background into life at that time (so that one can understand what they did and why), and descriptions of the people who influenced them. The descriptions of the shorts is fun, since the author kept "slap counts" for each episode. Not just a book for guys, I was baffled at the statement that only guys like the 3 Stooges, I've been a lifelong fan and I love this book, too.
Dutiful But Dumb.......2005-03-17
This is the WORST book about the Stooges on the market. As a member of the Three Stooges Fandom Honor Roll (along with Jay Leno, Johnny Carson and Jerry Seinfeld, among others) take it from me: the errors begin on the first page and don't stop until the end of the last. The author misses all the Stooge's puns in Yiddish (believing that they are uttering "gibberish"); he mis-credits directors, actors, producers and misspells names, gets dates wrong, constantly refers to Moe Howard's grandson as Moe's son, but worst of all he completely misses the point of their comedy. The question is not why this book is so bad, it's why this guy bothered to write the thing in the first place, since he knows so little about the Stooges, their humor, the forces that shaped them and the actual members of the act from its inception in 1924 to its demise in 1970 (he leaves out most of 'em). AVOID AVOID AVOID!!!!
Middling.......2003-01-26
A nicely packaged book. If you're new to Stooge fandom, then this is a good book for you. But, if you're a longtime fan who wants to read and learn...
MOE HOWARD AND THE THREE STOOGES (by Moe Howard himself) *
THE THREE STOOGES SCRAPBOOK (co-authored by Moe's daughter) *
CURLY (again, co-authored by Moe's daughter) *
THE COMPLETE THREE STOOGES (by Dr. Jon Solomon)...
Those are the books you should buy!
If you decide otherwise, this book is a nice simple read, with nothing new to offer. There are better ways to learn about the Three Stooges.
Average customer rating:
- Bringing slapstick into the 21st Century
|
Comedy Is a Man in Trouble: Slapstick in American Movies
Alan S. Dale
Manufacturer: University of Minnesota Press
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The Crying of Lot 49 (Perennial Fiction Library)
ASIN: 0816636583 |
Book Description
Legendary screen comedian Jerry Lewis once said, "The premise of all comedy is a man in trouble." The films that endeared Lewis and others to us hinged on the physical assault of their hero, the pie in the face or slip on the banana peel that reduced the movie star to the level of the audience. Alan Dale presents a lively and accessible look at slapstick, a form of comedy with roots in the circus and vaudeville that has been refashioned by actors ranging from Buster Keaton to the Marx Brothers, from Katharine Hepburn to Jim Carrey.
Alan Dale worked at a Los Angeles talent agency before earning a Ph.D. in comparative literature from Princeton University. He is currently working toward a J.D. at Yale Law School.
Winner of the Theater Library Association's Special Jury Prize for Distinguished Achievement
Customer Reviews:
Bringing slapstick into the 21st Century.......2000-11-08
Dale's book is an entertaining and academic look not only at the medium of slapstick itself but also at our need to be entertained by it. The book's examination of silent slapstick includes not only the major players (Chaplin, Keaton, Lloyd) but also covers women in silent comedy. What's also respectable is that Dale discusses Jerry Lewis's important contribution to slapstick in film without putting him on the pedestal other critics (and often Lewis himself) put him on, as well as Lewis's influence on contemporary visual humorists like Jim Carrey and the Farrelly Bros.
Average customer rating:
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Will Rogers at the Ziegfeld Follies
Will Rogers
Manufacturer: University of Oklahoma Press
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Average customer rating:
- I'd like to see another one.
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Whoopi Goldberg: Her Journey from Poverty to Megastardom
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Customer Reviews:
I'd like to see another one........1998-03-14
I found Whoopi Goldberg's life to be interesting (dare I say even inspiring?). I commend this biography because it provides plenty of details and Parish backs up his factual account of her life with lots of quotes from Whoopi. But I was really annoyed by how often he mentioned he doesn't think she's good-looking. Also, he sometimes offers long descriptions of movies she herself didn't think much of, but then shorts others like The Long Walk Home. Passable, but there's room for another book or more about this remarkable woman we seem to know so much and so little about all at the same time.
Average customer rating:
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American Dark Comedy: Beyond Satire (Contributions to the Study of Popular Culture)
Wes D. Gehring
Manufacturer: Greenwood Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0313261849 |
Book Description
From Charlie Chaplin's The Gold Rush to Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, Gehring presents a compelling theory of the black comedy film genre. Placing the movies he discusses in a historical and literary context, Gehring explores the genre's obession with death and the characters' failure to be shocked by it. Movies discussed include: Slaughterhouse Five, Catch-22, Clockwork Orange, Harold and Maude, Heathers, and Natural Born Killers.
Customer Reviews:
Three Scripts and Freundschaft Too!.......2000-05-27
"Three Screen Comedies" is much more than an anthology which takes a few scripts, puts them under one cover, and republishes them. These weren't the shooting scripts but have been altered by Mr. Raphaelson to make them more readable and to reintroduce some bits that were cut from the finished movies. This said, this wouldn't be a bad book if republishing the scripts were all that it did. The screen comedies to which the title refers are: "Trouble in Paradise," "The Shop Around the Corner," and "Heaven Can Wait." In this reviewer's opinion, each screenplay would be a mega-hit in today's movie market.
One, in fact, is. "The Shop Around the Corner," which premiered in 1940 and starred Margaret Sullavan and James Stewart has been remade as "You've Got Mail" with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. What were pen-pals in the original became e-mail "pals" in the update. Like the original, the remake is warm, funny, witty and has a happy ending.
The Warren Beatty movie, "Heaven Can Wait," shares nothing except the title with the original which starred Gene Tierney and Don Ameche. In the author's notes introducing "Heaven Can Wait" in the book under review, Raphaelson felt it necessary to comment that ""The title "Heaven Can Wait" has been used recently on a movie that in no way resembles our original film. I don't know why this was done."" A rather subtle understatement in my opinion.
What makes this book different than the run of the mill anthology are the insightful and informative introduction by Pauline Kael, the then movie critic for "The New Yorker," and the inclusion of Raphaelson's "Freundschaft: How It Was With Lubitsch and Me," which was originally published in "The New Yorker" in May of 1981. Both Kael's introduction and Raphaelson's "Freundschaft" could, among other things, serve as textbook examples of the workings of creative minds joined together in what they do best, creating.
"Freundschaft," arguably Raphaelson's finest piece of writing, was a memorial to Ernst Lubitsch (the incomparable producer/director of many outstanding movies). Raphaelson and Lubitsch worked together for thousands of hours, each feeding off the other's ideas, whims, and comic utterances, in the creation of 9 films spanning two decades, the 30's and 40's. Although Raphaelson was ostensibly the writer, and Lubitsch the director/producer, no such distinction seemed to exist when they collaborated. "Freundschaft," in addition to being a memorial to Lubitsch, is also the story of a collaborative relationship and an ode to a "love/hate/love" intellectual, emotional, creative relationship that is unique in the movie business.
I recommend this book for its screenplays, for Mrs. Kael's introduction and for Mr. Raphaelson's paean to Ernst Lubitsch. You can't go wrong on any of these counts, and having them all in one book is a real treat.
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