The Rough Guide to Horror Movies Review

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The Rough Guide to Horror Movies ReviewThis is really a remarkably good overview of horror cinema. It offers a variety of information (historical, filmographic, aesthetic, cultural) which is organized to encourage casual or random browsing but also very readable from cover to cover. The background chapter on horror literature is particularly informative. No special theory is offered; some otherwise excellent horror film books take an overly-specialized perspective, but you won't have that problem here. The genre is taken seriously, but the fun of it is always kept in view. Many very fine (and some rarely seen) photos grace the book throughout. I only noticed one "blooper": in the sidebar on Barbara Steele, Fellini is reported to have "cut her out" of his film "8-1/2." However, when I saw it recently, Babbara was beautifully present in one important scene. Otherwise, this is a very well-done volume and is heartily recommended.The Rough Guide to Horror Movies OverviewThe Rough Guide to Horror Movies is a comprehensive guide to the world''s most terrifying films. The guide includes all the icons, from Boris Karloff to Wes Craven and Frankenstein to Freddie Kruger, including classics from Argentina, Pakistan, South Africa and the recent chillers from East Asia. The canon of fifty essential horror movies features The Cabinet of Dr Caligari and Switchblade Romance, via Psycho and The Exorcist. Everything you need to know is covered from festivals, adaptations, magazines and merchandise. The guide tells the stories behind the movies that have scared us throughout the twentieth century.

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The Guitar Player Book - The Ultimate Resource for Guitarists Review

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The Guitar Player Book - The Ultimate Resource for Guitarists ReviewGuitar Player is the best guitar magazine on the market and this book contains some of the best interviews with some of the best guitarists in all genre from classic to blues , as well as lessons , gear and stomp boxes reviews . Informative , insightful, and simply a wonderful read .A great coffee table book as well !The Guitar Player Book - The Ultimate Resource for Guitarists OverviewA must-have for serious guitarists and guitar aficionados — and for the 155,000 readers of Guitar Player magazine — this best-of collection covers the magazineÂ's four-decade history. Providing guitarists with valuable information for improving their playing and understanding their instrument, the book features exclusive interviews with past masters such as Chet Atkins, Duane Allman, Jimi Hendrix, and Frank Zappa, as well as six-string stars like Bonnie Raitt, Carlos Santana, Eddie Van Halen, Keith Richards, and B.B. King. With Guitar Player Book, readers can take courses led by John Scofield and Larry Carlton, learn the basics of repair, get pro advice on recording guitar music, and learn about the 50 all-time greatest guitar tones and the 101 greatest moments in guitar history — including an interview with Leo Fender.

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The A List: The National Society Of Film Critics' 100 Essential Films Review

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The A List: The National Society Of Film Critics' 100 Essential Films ReviewThere can never be a definitive list of the 100 greatest movies ever made that satisfies everyone, but this particular list has a lot going for it. Each film is alloted about three pages of commentary that deals with the origins of the film, why critics love it, why it has endeared itself to the general public, what is so significant about it in the context of film history. All the essays are great fun to read before and after watching a particular film. I have made it an ambition to watch as many of these films as are available on VHS and DVD. (I have so far seen about 60+ movies on the list). The list is commendably broad-based, with a fair number of Asian and European films. Yes, the usual suspects are there (Citizen Kane, Godfather, Lawrence of Arabia), but, if for nothing else, I must thank this book for having introduced me, someone who is not a student of film, to films and film-makers I hadn't even heard of before, but who have since established a place in my heart. It was here that I discovered Carl Dreyers' powerful film The Passion of Joan of Arc, and Yasujiro Ozu's Tokyo Story, which is the most sublimely beautiful movie I have ever seen. Surprisingly, the critics have steered clear of being too arcane in their choices; there are nods here to B-movies, Hollywood musicals, Hong Kong martial arts flicks, summer blockbusters, westerns, science fiction. Rather than being a list of the GREATEST (Enter the Dragon! Jailhouse Rock!), this is really a list of the most INFLUENTIAL films across a range of genres. So you will find one or two representatives of German expressionism, Italian neo-realism, French New Wave, Russian montage, film-noir, etc., but you can easily think of many films that, aesthetically, are greater than some of the movies on this list but have not been included because they are not considered as influential. How else can you explain the inclusion of ,say, Close Encounters of the Third Kind but not Apocalypse Now? Perhaps the latter was left out because Coppola already has Godfather on the list. (But Federico Fellini has three of his films included, Spielberg and Kurosawa two each.) I would have liked to see a Jacques Tati film represented, and also one from Indian Bollywood. Overall, if you treat this as a guide that leads you to discover more films that are not on the list, then you will open up before you a wonderful world of films not restricted to just Hollywood.The A List: The National Society Of Film Critics' 100 Essential Films Overview

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Five Stars How to Become a Film Critic, The World's Greatest Job Review

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Five Stars How to Become a Film Critic, The World's Greatest Job ReviewThere aren't many books pertaining to movie reviewing, and in fact, according to
Christopher Null, the author of Five Stars: How To Become A Film Critic, The
World's Greatest Job, this is the first manual for aspiring film critics ever to
be published.
Null is the founder of the web site, filmcritic.com that today is one of the
largest and most successful movie websites on the Internet.
As the author points out, the primary focus of Five Stars: How To Become A Film
Critic, The World's Greatest Job, is teaching newcomers how to break into
Internet criticism and grow a career from there.
I must admit that I had reservations if it was possible to condense film
reviewing techniques with all of its complexities into a 255 page informative
manual.
But Null's manual goes a long way toward assuaging my doubts.
Written in a lively and organized manner, the book divides itself into fifteen
easy to read chapters providing an overview of the film industry, and dealing
with such topics as the market for film criticism, film history and
understanding film making, reviewing concepts and techniques, grading, starting
your career, building a movie review site, securing complimentary movie passes,
film critic etiquette, handling your own criticism (this is quite amusing), and
interviewing.
There is even an appendix suggesting 300 must-see films for aspiring critics.
While the focus may be for the aspiring film reviewer, the manual nevertheless
serves as an excellent primer for even those among us who have no inclinations
of becoming reviewers.
This is particularly in evidence when we consider the book's remarkable breadth
and its success in articulating the basic ingredients necessary to appreciate
movies.
As an example, an entire section of the book devotes itself to different genre
of film and what to look for when watching movies.
We are provided with tips as to how to evaluate slapstick comedy, satire,
sequels and remakes, documentaries, foreign films, classics, children's movies,
oddball movies,
In addition, Null provides us with a framework of questions to ask ourselves
when viewing movies: did the movie achieve its goal, is the story interesting,
how are the performances, how's the direction, what about the support crew, was
here a worthwhile point, is it too long, and how well does it all come together.
Although, as Null points out, these should not be looked at as if it's a
checklist, or a grading test, they are nonetheless important elements to take
into consideration when evaluating any film.
Anyone who wants to know about film reviewing and what to look for when watching
any genre of film would do well to read this book. Who knows, you may even be
able to show off some of the information you gleaned from the book at cocktail
parties, when participating in conversations concerning the latest movies.
Norm Goldman Editor Bookpleasures.comFive Stars How to Become a Film Critic, The World's Greatest Job Overview

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Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons; Revised and Updated (Plume Books) Review

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Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons; Revised and Updated (Plume Books) ReviewThis is the book that turned me on to animated films. Well-known movie critic and buff Leonard Maltin wrote the third great book on American animated cartoons (the first two being "The Art of Walt Disney" and "Tex Avery: King of Cartoons"), and he gives us a look at all of the great cartoons of old, from Betty Boop and Koko the Clown through the eras of Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, Mister Magoo, and even Fritz the Cat. His book is somewhat out of date now, as this book was published in 1985. Three years later, 1988 proved to be a watershed year in animation with the rebirth of Disney animation in "The Little Mermaid," while "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" made it okay for adults to enjoy cartoons. (Disney's "Duck Tales" also led the way to a new beginning of quality animation for TV, leaving the shoddy kiddie toy merchandising fodder in the dust...almost.) The years following these animation landmarks opened the gates to a flood of terrific cartoons that Maltin's book doesn't cover, including Spielberg's "Tiny Toons" and "Animaniacs;" Disney's "Toy Story;" the mainstream popularization of Japanese animation; quality children's cartoons with "Rugrats," "Bobby's World," and "Doug;" Warner Bros.' animated "Batman" and "Superman;" animation aimed at older audiences with "The Simpsons" and "South Park;" and so much more. The the animation renaissance of the past dozen years or so has brought a new rebirth to the animation industry...and in fact, the definitive book on the new era of animation hasn't been written yet. But the cartoons of the Golden Age are widely available, and indeed, they are still broadcast on TV every day, more than fifty years after such great live-action contemporaries as Bogart, Cagney, and so many others have passed into the archives of movie history. Maltin's book is an exceptional, delightful look into an innocent era of animation that has finally taken its rightful place in film history.Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons; Revised and Updated (Plume Books) OverviewFilm historian Leonard Maltin recreates a whole era of Hollywood cartoons, from Betty Boop to Spielberg's "An American Tail". It also brings the reader up to date on the modern work of Walt Disney and the Warner Bros studio, plus new developments in animation. The book includes a filmography of cartoons and sources for video rental.

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Screen World: 2000 Film Annual: Volume 51 Expanded Format With Over 1,000 Photographs Review

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Screen World: 2000 Film Annual: Volume 51 Expanded Format With Over 1,000 Photographs ReviewTracing all of the releases of 1999, this superb book of films released that year is a perfect resource for those who enjoy film. Tracing the best and most popular, to the most obscure. Including pictures of most of the films released that year, including "The Sixth Sense", "The Green Mile", and one of my favorites "Anna And The King". Superbly sectioned by release by year, Foreign films, etc. A perfect companion to the previous books in this series.Screen World: 2000 Film Annual: Volume 51 Expanded Format With Over 1,000 Photographs OverviewJohn Willis' Screen World, since 1949, has been the essential, comprehensive pictorial and statistical record of each year's movie season. Volume 51 provides an illustrated listing of American and foreign films released in the United States in 1999, all documented with more than 1,000 photographs. The 2000 edition of Screen World includes such notable movies as American Beauty, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, Being John Malkovich, The Blair Witch Project, Boys Don't Cry, The Cider House Rules, The Green Mile, The Hurricane, The Insider, The Sixth Sense, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, and hundreds more. As always, Screen World's outstanding features include photographic stills and complete credits from the films, biographical notes on selected individuals, full-page shots of Academy Award-winning actors, and a look at the year's most promising new screen personalities.

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Universal Horrors: The Studio's Classic Films, 1931-1946 Review

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Universal Horrors: The Studio's Classic Films, 1931-1946 ReviewThe classic horror films of the 30's and 40's have never been as popular as they are today. Baby Boomers who grew up watching the old Shock Theater packages in the 50's and 60's hold a tremendous fondness for the films that terrified them as children. The Boris Karloff Frankenstein and Bela Lugosi Dracula are still the most recognized images of those two classic monsters...so much so that their families had to move to legally trademark their images to protect them.
The Universal horror films are the subject of Universal Horrors, the second edition of this outstanding book by noted classic film historian Tom Weaver and Michael & John Brunas. Throughout the massive 608 page hardcover, the authors cover each one of the 85 horror films made by Universal from 1931 - 1946. Just do the math...that's an average of about seven pages spent on each film during this period. This is no mere listing of actors with a one-page synopsis. Rather this is a definitive guide to these 85 films with complete cast and credits, detailed storyline synopses, production history, behind-the-scenes information, critical analysis, period reviews, and commentary by cast and crewmembers. Most of the comments come from the voluminous numbers of reviews that Weaver has conducted over the years.
The films are listed chronologically beginning with Dracula in 1931 and ending with The Brute Man in 1946. It even includes the Spanish version of Dracula which was filmed on the same set as the original at the very same time! White The Lugosi version was shot during the day, the Spanish crew took over at night. In many ways, the Spanish version outshines the Tod Browning directed original.
One of my guilty favorites of the Universal Classic film era is 1932's Murder in the Rue Morgue, presenting Lugosi in truly one of his most sadistic and macabre roles. This film ended up being the bone that both Lugosi and Director Robert Florey received for NOT getting their respective parts in Frankenstein, which instead went to Karloff and Director James Whale. This rather film features Lugosi as Dr. Mirakle, who injects the blood of an ape into women he captures. When the experiments fail, he dumps the women into a river. It's a highly underrated film and one of Lugosi's best roles.
Weaver and partners don't give a short shrift to lesser-known films. While the most popular films do get more coverage, even the least well-known of the Universal Horrors gets several pages devoted to it...and there are a number of lesser known films. Unfortunately a number of these are not on DVD or even VHS for that matter meaning that the entry in this book is probably the closest you'll get to the film without actually seeing it.
Many of these lesser-known films are not true horror but often murder mysteries with horror trappings such as "old dark house-style" films. These films include Secret of the Blue Room, Secret of the Chateau, The House of Fear, and The Black Doll. The appendix goes on to list several dozen more films that were borderline exclusions...close, but just not making the cut to receive a full write-up for various reasons. Actually it's somewhat difficult to figure out while some of these were left out of the main listing since many are quite similar in plot and tone.
This book is simply fabulous. Everything that Weaver does is always meticulously researched and extraordinarily entertaining. This is THE Bible to fans of Universal's classic horror films, and one of the finest film reference books I've ever read.REVIEWED BY TIM JANSONUniversal Horrors: The Studio's Classic Films, 1931-1946 Overview

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