2 comments about Grand-Guignol: The French Theatre of Horror (UEP - Exeter Performance Studies).

1. In researching the genre, I was pointed to this book in several references. Although the wealth of full scripts is a plus, the scholarly portion relies too frequently on other sources (end notes galore) to be of any first-hand value. The authors cite Gordon's "Grand Guignol" with frequency...however, not frequent enough for me to shell out the ninety bucks it's going for these days!



2. This book proves that Hollywood writers and directors weren't the ones who invented Horror, it was the Grand Guignol theatre and its playwrights.

2 comments about Aristophanes: Four Comedies.

1. Years (many years) ago when I was an English major at UMass, we were given two translations of Aristophanes "The Birds" to read in order to make a point about reading translations. One was by a translator whose name I forgot (and gladly so). The other was by Mr. Fitts. The first was as boring as the ininitiated would expect a Greek comedy to be. But Fitts version, far truer to the original according to our professor, was totally bizarre and remarkably funny. It is as vibrant and eye-opening as Fagles translations of Homer.



2. "Whiiiine, I don't want to read old Greek plays...they're so booooring", you say? Well, you might think that is true, especially if one your teachers bludgeoned you with the horrible British translations of Aristophanes that were done in the nineteenth century. The Victorian prudes of the nineteenth century were deeply embarrassed by the content of the Greek comedies. They felt that penis jokes were not the sort of morally uplifting things that the ancients should have talked about. All that changes with the Dudley Fitts translation. Fitts bring life back to old Aristophanes. The pace is quick and the dialogue is hysterically funny. Aristophanes was the leading wit of his time. If you can imagine a mix of P.J. O'Rourke and Jim Carrey, then you'd be close to getting at Aristophanes. The humor is sharp and often over the top, often with very earthy overtones; essentially, Greek. You really haven't read Aristophanes until you've Fitts' "Aristophanes:F! our Comedies." This is a translation to be enjoyed by all and not to dreaded as a crime to assign and punishment to read.

No comments about Dancing Wisdom: Embodied Knowledge in Haitian Vodou, Cuban Yoruba, and Bahian Candomble.

No comments about Choreographies of African Identities: Negritude, Dance, and the National Ballet of Senegal.

No comments about In-Yer-Face Theatre: British Drama Today.

2 comments about From the Ballroom to Hell: Grace and Folly in Nineteenth-Century Dance.

1. Consists primarily of bits and snippits from Victorian American etiquette manuals. Some insights into high society life and how it changed through the course of the 19th century can be drawn, keeping in mind these were the suggested forms of behavior not necessarily what was actually done. There is plenty to read between the lines. Some sheet music in included along with some dance steps. There are also recipes for makeup and concoctions for cleaning. Fashion descriptions are fairly superficial, but adequate. Over all, I'm glad I bought it.



2. This book does indeed give the reeder a close look at the society and ettiquitte of this period. Since I was researching the Regency when I purchased it I was a little disapointed to find that it's focus is primarily the latter part of the nineteenth century (1830-1890), and is based primarily on American publications of ettiquitte manuals. I was delighted to discover a wealth of information about everything from dance steps to party preperation to elaborate flirting rituals that can be caried out with parasols and gloves. It certainly says everything Emily Post might have at that time as well as providing a vivid picture of society in a bygone era. A must have for anyone enamored of the Victorian era and usefull still though slightly less relavent for Regency fanatics.

5 comments about The Battle of Brazil: Terry Gilliam v. Universal Pictures in the Fight to the Final Cut (The Applause Screenplay Series).

1. This book is about the struggle between Terry Gilliam, a man trying to protect his vision, vs. Universal Pictures, a group trying to turn his vision into baby food so they can sell it to the American masses. It is not only a true behind the scenes story about what happened, but it also gives you a glimpse on the process of movie making in Hollywood in general. Add the complete director's cut of the screenplay, with some notes and photos, this makes for a very complete history on the birth of the film. You SHOULD watch the film before READING the book, as that would help you understand much of the debate going on between the two sides.



2. This is an updated, revised, expanded version of the 1986 book by the same author. (Same title, too.)

   It's really good, covering the fight to release the director's cut of the film. The villain is Sid Sheinberg, one of the executives at Universal. Sid says he doesn't want to change Gilliam's movie, but he wants to change the end. Changing the end changes the whole POINT of the film. So Sid pretended that the battle is over the length of the movie. He tried to get between the producer (Arnon Milchan) and Gilliam. He sort of succeeded, too.

   Then the LA critics chose Brazil as the movie of the year, even though it hadn't been released. (The author was one of those critics.) That move raised the stakes much higher, and ultimately led to Gilliam's victory.




3. When I was a little kid my favorite story was David and Golaith. I especially liked the part where David cuts the giants head off at the end. THE BATTLE FOR BRAZIL isn't exactly a story of biblical proportions. But it is a war worth reading about.

   Jack Mathew's book chronicles the creative and business side of one of the strangest films ever made. The book is an act of life imitating art and exposes the deep flaws in the Hollywood system, and the subborness of the little man who won't give up.

   Read the book and see the movie. You'll be really glad you did.




4. Funny and entertaining. Gilliam is crazy and hilarious! There are so many classic moments in this book, I recommend it! It also gives you a good feel for the Hollywood system of making movies.



5. Terry Gilliam's film Brazil is now regarded as a classic, and rightfully so. It's a perfect blend of words (McKeown, Stoppard & Gilliam's screenplay) and image, and succeeds in realizing a completely different and yet perfectly believable world. I'm an avid filmgoer, and I consider Brazil the *best* American film of the past 25 years (better even than Raging Bull). A brilliant sci-fi/fantasy/black comedy/romance/Orwellian vision of the future--or the present--the film details the efforts of Sam Lowry (Jonathan Pryce) to find his dream girl, trucker/terrorist? Jill Leighton (Kim Greist) with the help of renegade plumber Robert de Niro. Ian Holm, Ian Richardson, and Bob Hoskins contribute wonderful cameos, and Michael Palin is as evil as he's ever been.

   Although Jack Mathews is clearly on Gilliam's side (how could anyone with an ounce of sense NOT be?!), he lets Sid Sheinberg, who might possibly be Satan, speak, and Sheinberg simply hangs himself with his own words. Mathews' wonderful tome includes an original shooting script with some magnificent deleted sequences.

   One important point to remember while reading Mathew's detailed account: The studio knew *exactly* what they were getting--the players involved had already *read the screenplay*! Gilliam's film was both on time and largely on budget, and yet the powers-that-be couldn't accept the film.

   This story has a true-life happy ending--Gilliam's gone on to make The Fisher King, 12 Monkeys, and Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas, and, according to the imdb, is finally starting on Good Omens. Sheinberg? Retired and, in all likelihood, forgotten except for his role in this near-fiasco. Like in the film, imaganation triumphs. One wishes critics' groups would make a point of awarding a "Best Unreleased Film" of the year.

   Read, and smile.

   "Brazil... where hearts were entertaining June..."

No comments about Creating Our Own: Folklore, Performance, and Identity in Cuzco, Peru.

2 comments about Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones Movie Scrapbook.

1. The Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones Movie Scrapbook is a fascinating book containing the entire plot of the film, accompanied with a series of great photos taken from the film. The written story centres around some of the interesting aspects that weren't fully explored in the film. This is one of my favourite Star Wars books, and one can only wonder just how awesome Episode III will be!



2. This scrapbook is so cool! It has so many things and to ME this and the Visual Dictionaries are some of the best Star Wars books you can get! Cool picture and reading and everything! Just perfect!

5 comments about The Bennetts: An Acting Family.

1. This biography of the generally forgotten acting dynasty, the Bennetts, is a tour de force. While father Richard Bennett is long forgotten, daughters Constance and Joan Bennett are still accessible through a number of classic films ("What Price Hollywood" and "Topper" for Constance and "Scarlet Street" and "The Woman in the Window" for Joan, among others).
   
   The author has captured the personalities of each Bennett. So many biographers fall into the trap of providing superficial detail around a chronology of the subject's life, but not so Mr Kellow. He has managed to bring alive the autocratic Richard Bennett and his 3 daughters, the troubled alcoholic Barbara, the mercurial, opportunistic Constance and the refined but passionate Joan. The book moves between each of their lives and Kellow benefited from the co-operation of many surviving members of the family. He has also created a vivid sense of the period in which the story is evolving from the girls rebellious behaviour in the roaring twenties, through career highs for Constance in Hollywood in the thirties and Joan's emergence as a femme fatale in the forties to both actresses move to the stage in the fifties as film work dried up. They were much married and all the details about their stormy relationships are vividly recreated, not in a gossipy tone but creating portraits of intelligent woman who were not afraid to take risks, particularly Constance.
   
   This is a very clever well written book.



2. This well researched and presented book is a fine addition to anyone's library of books about Classic Hollywood or about the Broadway stage. The Bennett family were hard-working and talented performers, extremely famous in their day, but not as well-remembered today as they deserve. Their stories are full of human drama and Brian Kellow tells them in detail, without any wiff of the snide, nasty edge far too many show business books have today. He's honest about the faults of his subjects, yet compassionate about their humanity.



3. For anyone interested in Hollywood's golden era, this book is a must! Far superior than The Bennett Playbill which was published in the 1970's with Joan and a ghost writer, this book is exhaustively researched and provides a much fuller picture of father Richard and daughters Constance, Joan and the ill fated Barbara. Fans of the tv show Dark Shadows will remember Joan, but probably a lot fewer remember Constance who was one of the top film stars in the early 30's only to be washed up in films by the end of the decade. Joan had a much longer film career, though it took awhile for hers to catch fire. All the marriages, scandals and career highs and lows are covered in depth and Kellow provides a critical evalution of their many film roles. The narrative does skip back and forth between family members, but Kellow does a good job keeping the narrative flowing and after a few chapters the reader will adjust to it. The Bennetts may not have ranked as high as the Barrymores, but they rank right up there with other Hollywood dynasties.



4. Brian Kellow has done a wonderful job in telling the personal and professional stories of the acting Bennett Sisters and their father theatrical legend Richard Bennett. This book really fills a gap and is so well done that it would be difficult to imagine a better book about the Bennetts unless there were individual books on Constance, Joan, Barbara, and Richard Bennett. I would have liked a listing of the various plays that particularly Constance Bennett starred in. This versatile and glamorous star appeared in the Cole Porter musical "Silk Stockings" and this was not discussed in the excellent text. This is a small complaint and I think this book is a must for fans of Joan and Constance Bennett and for great books about show business. There are also some wonderful photographs and that alone should induce the reader to buy this book!



5. At long last, someone has tackled the fascinating story of the Bennett family. The result was well worth the wait. Kellow's book is enthralling, nicely balanced, objective, and well-researched. Anyone interested in Joan or Constance Bennett or even in film history will enjoy this book.