Past Imperfect: History According to the Movies (Henry Holt Reference Book) Review

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Past Imperfect: History According to the Movies (Henry Holt Reference Book) ReviewWhen you're both a student of history and a movie buff, as I am, it can be difficult to sit and watch a film that presumes to have an accurate historical context without fighting the urge to evaluate it and pick holes in it. And I'm not the only one. This is a collection of analytical essays, most of high quality, by experts (not all of them historians) analyzing and critiquing individual films: Stephen Jay Gould on _Jurassic Park,_ Antonia Fraser on _Anne of the Thousand Days,_ Thomas Fleming on _1776,_ Dee Brown on _Fort Apache,_ William Manchester on _Young Winston,_ and numerous others. Sticking to those films about which I have some knowledge of the historical events they claim to portray, most are right on the money. James McPherson, commenting on _Glory,_ points out that while the context and general atmosphere are very well done, and the costuming and so on are exact, there are still deliberate historical errors for the sake of drama; none of the soldiers in Col. Shaw's 54th Massachusetts were ex-slaves, for instance, all of them having been recruited from among the state's free black population. And Catherine Clinton does an excellent job taking the wind out of _Gone with the Wind_'s mythical sails. There's a great deal of good information and criticism here and it's a compliment to say that nearly any of these essays will start an argument.Past Imperfect: History According to the Movies (Henry Holt Reference Book) Overview

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Edith Head: The Life and Times of Hollywood's Celebrated Costume Designer Review

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Edith Head: The Life and Times of Hollywood's Celebrated Costume Designer ReviewEdith Head was a fascinating woman who worked in a lost world. How could you go wrong with a book about her? This book does just that. Edith Head was a costume designer so you would expect to see page after page of glorious photos of her work, right? This book skimps on photos. You might expect to read some saucy tales of old Hollywood, but this book fails to provide them. It's too stiff, too careful--it reads like a libel attorney was the final editor--and it bored me. Hunt down the Dress Doctor instead.Edith Head: The Life and Times of Hollywood's Celebrated Costume Designer Overview

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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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VideoHound's Horror Show: 999 Hair-Raising, Hellish and Humorous Movies Review

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VideoHound's Horror Show: 999 Hair-Raising, Hellish and Humorous Movies ReviewI bought this book as a supplement to research on a term paper. Wow, was I surprised!! This is the end-all be-all of horror film books. Mike Mayo is amazingly honest, and though there are some strange entries (The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-up Zombies rates 3 stars), he never becomes defensive. He lists some excellent sources, and as with all Videohound books, cross-indexes everything. Those movies that are not included are not included for good reason. Those movies that are included...well, let's just say this is the ultimate horror book.VideoHound's Horror Show: 999 Hair-Raising, Hellish and Humorous Movies Overview

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