1 comments about Moonlight And Magnolias.

1. great play a nice insight of how gone with the wind came about and the problems it had being made and the men who made it happen funny

5 comments about The Art of Alfred Hitchcock: Fifty Years of His Motion Pictures.

1. Shortly after Donald Spoto completed his book, Alfred Hitchcock read the book and then had a lunch with the author. He agreed with almost everything in the book about Spoto's scholarly approach to the movies Hitchcock directed. If you ever want to study the master's work, watch one of his movies and then read the chapter devoted to that movie (almost all of his movies are featured in this book) and you'll learn stuff you did not know. That's what makes this a good book. Now . . . Spoto did write a second book on Hitchcock, a biography, but avoid that because there is so many mistakes and many people who worked with Hitchcock personally on his movies lost friendships with other actors and technicians that it's best to avoid that book. But this one is one of the three must-reads devoted to Hitchcock.
   
   (The other two must-reads are the Francois Traffaut book and Grams and Wikstrom's "The Alfred Hitchcock Presents Companion". Together with these two and this book, you have the essential library and all-you-really-need references for all things Hitchcock.)



2. Good book, a little long. Gives plenty of details on Hitchock's projects. Good reference book.



3. This is not a biography but rather a discussion of each of Hitchcock's films. For each film there is:
   - Detailed synopsis
   - Cast and Crew details
   - Analysis of the film
   
   These first two of these items can be obtained from the Internet for free and who really wants to know the details of the story anyway?
   The analysis of each film is largely a waste of time as Spoto tends to over-analyse each film to the point of distraction while offering no real insights.
   
   If you want to find out more about Hitchcock's films I would recommend McGilligan's excellent biography. This discusses each film in the context of Hitchcock's life and career and is far more illuminating.



4. While this book covers all of his works, it doesn't cover any of them in any depth. Each chapter is mostly an incomplete synopsis of the plot, followed by an very abbreviated analysis. The analyses are shallow and vary greatly in their acumen.



5. Wonderful book and seller. Thank you!!
   Joan

No comments about The Harcourt Anthology of Drama, Brief Edition.

No comments about Theatre of Movement and Gesture.

5 comments about Little Musicals for Little Theatres: A Reference Guide for Musicals That Don't Need Chandeliers or Helicopters to Succeed.

1. This is a great read for people involved in amateur or community theatre especially those faced with the endless problem of what to stage next.
   
   The writer offers some useful advice and lists some of the pitfalls some people or companies will fall into when tackling some musicals.
   
   Get it now!



2. Denny Martin Flinn presents a very good book about little known musical theatre works and provides the reader with a clear a concise overview of many shows. However, what is lacking - and most important - is what the shows call for in the way of musicians. Book provides nice info as far as synopsis, original cast, musical numbers, licensing, and some difficulties/advantages, but what about the size of the orchestra? Why is it that in a "Musical" the instrumentalists are always the first to be cut (or reduced) but last to be considered? It's first and foremost a musical, not play and this information should be considered along with sets, costumes, and props. Perhaps in a future edition Mr. Flinn can add this most important of information.



3. It's been years since I've directed so I wanted to start with something small. Being a musical theatre aficionado I would love to direct a musical again. This book is a fantastic resource for smaller theatres without access to crazy special effects.



4. Over a hundred small musicals which any theatre can produce is packed into a guide which uses the background of its experienced Broadway producer author to select among the few musicals that have small casts and can be performed on a budget. Most musicals rely on glitz and expensive production eye-catchers for effects and drama, so it's especially refreshing to see a focus returned to the stage itself. Chapters serve as a reference to these selected productions focusing on synopsis, outlining musical numbers, acts, and pros and cons of production.
   
   Diane C. Donovan, Editor
   California Bookwatch



5. Licensing questions? Casting concrns? Denny Martin Flinn gives you the low-down on tons of shows that are suited to smaller theatres and budgets. After a synopsis of each play (casting/and musical numbers), Flinn lists the advantages and disadvantages to performing that show. He also includes biographies of the playwrights/songwriters. Easy to use and well thought-out.

1 comments about Telling Tales and Other New One-Act Plays.

1. This compilation was very interesting. It lacked a little in the plays with many characters. If you are looking for a book of one acts to use for directing experience or for intermediate acting experience, then I highly recomend this book.

5 comments about Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner.

1. Being a big fan of the film I found this book easy to read and full of extremely interesting detail. This book gave me a greater understanding of what Ridley was trying to acheive. I will never be able to look at the film the same way again. If your a fan. Buy it.



2. If you just appreciate Blade Runner like every other movie, this book is not for you. But if you are indeed hooked on it and want to confirm that what you've seen in the movie is for real, get this book!
   
   I had the priviledge to watch Blade Runner in the movie theater when it first came out. I've bought the VHS and watched it over and over with increasing attention to detail, memorized lines, researched Philip K Dick and the whole nine yards. I've once thought of writing it all down so I would not forget.
   
   More than a decade later, I saw this book at Amazon and gave it a shot! Everything that I've deemed interesting is in it: from the "mistakes" (we actually will never know if they were on purpose or not!) of a relatively inexpensive production (you can see wires that were not supposed to be seen, lips moving that do not match the lines, cheap wigs falling from stunts heads etc.
   
   By the way, the Voigt-Kampff test is here!



3. At best, this book should be looked at if you're interested in the facts behind the production of the film and you're able to look past Sammon's masturbative narrative.
   
   While the book is informative on what happened and the difficulties behind the making of the film, the author's writing ability is about the same as someone standing next to you with a bullhorn. Self-aware and bordering on narcistsic, Sammon's dirt-basic writing ability has a constant feel of "Hey! I was here to see all this!" attitude that really undermines his attempt at objective writing.
   
   Frustrating and amatuerish, "Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner" is an unworthy footnote and a worthwhile coffee coaster.



4. The book provides a fascinating look into the trials and tribulations that was the making of Blade Runner. The movie is easily Scott's best, and his relentless pushing of the cast and crew is a testament to his determination and vision. Future Noir gives an in depth view of all the turmoil; the "various cuts debacle", the studio interference, the collaboration, and the omnipresent friction.
   It is worth the read but the writer's prejudices are just that. This is not the most influential scifi made. It was a quiet, intellectual scifi and I'm not sure it's influence can ever be quantified. But I enjoyed it-actually it is my favorite scifi behind The Phantom Menace(that's a joke people)-and I enjoyed this book.



5. This is a fantastic book and reference tool, and a must-have for any hard-core Blade Runner (BR) fanatic. It's packed with names, places, dates, fascinating factoids throughout, a trivia cornucopia. But, you've gotta be a serious BR fan to stick with author Paul Sammon all the way through this densely detailed, thorough, and clearly personally meaningful work. The book does have one major flaw: Sammon's failure to prove his subtitle promise that Blade Runner is the most influential sci-fi film of all time.

   The book reads easily and well, Sammon's style informal. He writes as one BR fan to another, a great approach. The production details are thorough, insightful, and wonderful to read, 441 pages in 18 chapters, with nine appendices containing interviews, production details, the cast list, etc. Sammon is a total BR devotee, I compliment and commend him on his achievement and the recognition of those who worked so hard to make BR.

   There is vast information throughout from all members of the cast and crew, all of them supportive of Sammon's effort to tell their story. There is surprisingly liberal information from the movie's principals, Ridley Scott, Harrison Ford, Sean Young, Michael Deeley, Syd Mead, Hampton Fancher and David Peoples. One disappointment is the absence of direct input and comment from the soundtrack maestro, Vangelis. Sammon nevertheless gives him thorough justice.

   Wonderful esoteric tidbits abound through the book, such as the revelation that the original lead was not Harrison Ford, but Dustin Hoffman. Edward James Olmos provides great background on his preparation for his role as Gaff and his detailed construction of his Cityspeak dialog (most of it sadly unused). We learn of fantastic special effects scenes never realized, and that in the background in one of the aerial city shots is a painted Millennium Falcon model. We learn that the process of creating this movie was a years-long, highly personal effort, first by Hampton Fancher to secure rights and create a screenplay, then later by Ridley Scott and other members of the team who continued to craft the film even after they were fired by the production company. It is a story of dedication to craft and art from a group of artists looking to raise diverse artistic, social, moral, and ethical issues with this genre-transcending film. I often was reminded of the documentary Hearts of Darkness, the story of Francis Ford Coppola's unending dedication to and struggles with the making of Apocalypse Now.

   Highlighted superbly in the book is the true key to BR's success, Ridley Scott's intense attention to detail, his relentless questioning of the larger context and physical placement of the story. For example, Scott insisted on instructions painted on the futuristic parking meters in the street scenes. Absolutely illegible in the finished film, this sort of detail nonetheless set a compelling, even subconscious tone for the set and those who worked within it.

   Particularly entertaining is Chapter 8, the scene by scene account of the shoot, with comment from the actors, producers, specialists, crew, and Scott. Also very useful for the true BR fanatic are the appendices listing all of the various BR versions, their formats, availability, and catalog information. Sammon does the same for the various soundtracks and musical compositions heard throughout the film, even the music and lyrics from the advertisements sported on the ad-blimps. Especially enjoyable is Appendix C's detailed list of "blunders," a compendium of the film's both obvious and subtle continuity errors, dubbing flaws, and inserted footage.

   There are dozens of illustrations throughout the book, and Sammon gives due credit to BR's still photographer for the hundreds of stills that BR fans know and collect. The main problem is that the ONLY color photos in the entire book are on the front and back covers. The B/W photos in the book are small, grainy, poorly reproduced, and do not reflect Sammon's praise. These sorry photos do not allow the reader, who hasn't seen many of these never-before-published stills and production drawings, to revel in the details.

   Sammon is overly obsessed with cataloging ALL of the different versions of the film, and detailing the most minute differences. We have chapter after repetitive chapter discussing the differences between the Workprint, the pre-release revisions, the theatrical release, the various video, broadcast, and satellite releases, as well as the competing director's cuts. The fascinating core tale of the political, economic, and artistic fights over all of these versions of the film is lost as Sammon loses track and focuses too closely on the details of the different versions, obsessing to the point of irrelevance on miniscule details. For the BR fanatic this is invaluable, but for most readers this makes the narrative tedious and repetitive, given this technical information is available also in Appendix B.

   Sammon's promised discussion of BR's influence on sci-fi film is absent. His subtitle, "The Fascinating Story Behind the . . . Most Influential SF Film Ever Made" promises a discussion of BR's influence on filmdom. His discussion is poorly introduced, disorganized, and sorrowfully weak on supporting facts and testimonials, leading ultimately to the conclusion that BR simply is NOT the most influential sci-fi film of all time. In fact, the paltry six-page discussion of BR's influence is one of the shallowest, most poorly researched and organized parts of the entire book. Sammon's strength and enthusiasm clearly lie in the film's production details. Nowhere in the book does he cite any filmmaker, actor, editor, producer, or special effects artist describing BR as an influence.

   This book is an invaluable acquisition for any die-hard BR fan, and a great memoir for any student of filmmaking. It's not for the casual BR or film fan; it's a cult book, just as Blade Runner is a cult film. Disappointingly, Sammon fails to deliver a crucial element of his work, a thorough and convincing discussion of BR's influence on cinema and its place in greater filmdom.

5 comments about My G-String Mother: At Home and Backstage with Gypsy Rose Lee.

1. What an entertaining book. I truly enjoyed "My G-String Mother: At Home and Backstage with Gypsy Rose Lee." The book is well written and full of great pictures of an era. I so enjoyed the descriptions of Gypsy's house, her wardrobe, and her choice of life-style. Further, the story provided insights of her life and relationships. The photographs of the important people in her life were excellent and certainly enhanced the book. Gypsy Rose Lee was a woman of substance, intelligence and certainly paved the way for independent women of the future.



2. I've spent hours interviewing Erik Lee Preminger about his life and his famous parents. I've read other things he's written and watched his compilation of his mother's home videos. This guy is the real deal. He had a childhood most kids couldn't survive intact and he emerged from it as a smart, honest, hardworking, funny and very kind man. He loved his mother when he was a kid, and when he was an adult, he learned to appreciate her strengths (and she had a great many!) and forgive her weaknesses (and we ALL have a lot of those).
   
   He sees Gypsy for what she was - a brilliant, clever, hilarioulsy funny, talented (even her stripteases were punctuated by comedy pieces that she wrote) often selfish, often generous, ambitious and relentlessly hardworking woman.
   
   She REALLY had the childhood from Hell and HER mother makes Gypsy seem like Mother Theresa! But she too emerged from the ashes as a never bitter woman who practically invented the phrase "Carpe Diem."
   
   She had quilting bees at her house with dozens of Hollywood superstars. She adored her beloved little Chinese Crested dogs. She hosted a popular tv talk show. She wrote a best-selling murder mystery. She was still doing USO tours and making our troops laugh when she was ill with cancer. And even that couldn't dim her indomitable spirit. Her acceptance of that terrible illness should be a lesson to us all.
   
   Until I met Erik, all I knew about Gypsy was the tiny bits portrayed in the play and movies, but after reading about her in Erik's books, listening to him talk about her, I have learned to love her dearly.
   
   Erik writes with a very clear, unpretentious style about a child's life with a famous (and infamous) woman and about his eventual understanding of what a truly remarkable woman his mother was. And listening to him talk about his relationship with his dad (when they finally got to know each other) moved me to tears. That should be the next book he writes!
   
   Buy the book. It'll surprise you.



3. Young Erik undoubtedly suffered some frustration from having a famous, tenacious, indomitable mother in the form of the glamourpuss Gypsy Rose Lee. But his portrait of her is a tender one--he does not idealize her, but he does not lambast her. It is a mature and loving representation of the bond between a mother and child in the theater business. It is also an interesting account of successful single motherhood far ahead of its time. Anyone who loves Burlesque, Vaudeville, Gypsy Rose Lee and Theater History with love this book. A fun, entertaining non-fiction read.



4. Preminger's half hearted attempts at humility don't exactly leave him coming off smelling like a rose (Gypsy or otherwise)and I think he may have watched one too many performance of AUNTIE MAME. While the chapters go by quickly enough, the reader can't help but find this dysfunctional family pretty tough to like or admire. Selfish and mean spirited characters disguised in campy, candy coating.



5. Erik Lee Preminger doesn't paint a rosy portrait of his mother, the enigmatic Gypsy Rose Lee, but it isn't a hatchet job either. Miss Lee was obviously a difficult, frugal woman, but also was warm, loving (to an extent), funny, brainy and to her public, glamorous. Preminger's recollections are alternately maddening and hilarious, but the reader finishes the book with the notion that the "Queen of Burlesque" was indeed an amazing piece of work. Why Gypsy Rose Lee isn't more of an icon today is beyond my imagination!

5 comments about Hollywood, Interrupted: Insanity Chic in Babylon -- The Case Against Celebrity.

1. 
   Review blurb from Publishers Weekly about this book: "This diatribe is so unrelentingly negative that it loses all power to persuade."
   
   Someone needs to hand them a mirror. Theirs seems to be cracked.
   
   Too funny.



2. In a sense this is like an updated version of Hollywood Babylon by Kenneth Anger except where Anger painted a sinister, evil picture of a Hollywood that chewed its "stars" up and spit them out, the authors of this book paints a humorous picture of the Hollywood sets dysfunctionality and kookery as well as portraying them as coddled and pampered as opposed to being exploited and used. Ivory tower trendy leftist political causes, kooky new age religious practices, weird sexual habits, substance abuse, dysfunctional family and marital relations, its all here. I was also surprised and happy to see that they talked to zinester/blogger The J Man, whose stuff I have read for years, when they researched this book. Overall this is a very funny book that mocks a segment of society that in most cases absolutely deserves it.



3. I wasn't really impressed by this book. I understand that many celebrities are narcissists, shallow people who *think* they are profound and mirror the actions of profound people, all the while craving adulation, money, and prestige, while not thinking about anyone else (they also lack true empathy and conscience, somewhat in the sociopathic style). I understand that they are annoying and shouldn't be representatives of our politics; however, I see nothing wrong with vegetarian celebrities promoting vegetarianism or something of that nature because having compassion towards animals is actually a positive thing. I work with adolescents, some of who have shown cruelty towards animals, and we already know that people who are violent towards animals are then violent towards other people. Also, vegetarianism is good for the health. Anyhow, back to my review. In sum, I think the book really should have explored why the average person, the common man or woman or child, adulates and supports Hollywood. It's our money that feeds the machine. Is it because we have low IQs? I for one never watch television because I realise exactly what it is -- cheap entertainment with boring and repetitive storylines, and don't even get me started with reality shows, I've never kept up with any of them. But in the end the fault is that of America's citizens -- what is the fascination with celebrity and why does America support it? Perhaps there is a hidden narcissism in the regular person who aspires to live like a celebrity, or perhaps the average person, lacking a modicum of IQ, really admires wealth and power and can only see the trappings of wealth and power set before him or her, and is blindsided to everything else? This to me would mean there is also something very wrong with the average American. A book like this, if already using "clinical" terms like narcissism, should have in turn had opinions of more psychiatrists or other professionals and also analysed America's own narcissism and preoccupation with celebrity.



4. It just goes-to-show what we should have already known; celebrities, like everyone else, are only human. That includes politicians too. Both major parties. Just because someone skyrockets into the limelight, doesn't now make them the experts on what to believe, morals, or who to vote for. Most of these people don't even know what they believe themselves, only the "politically correct" trends-of-the-day. We may enjoy the movies they make, or maybe that beautiful song they just put out, but when it comes to being a spokesperson for today's issues, use your brain and think for yourself.



5. It's been a heck of a long time since I've bothered to write a review, but after finishing reading this book, I felt compelled to.
   "Hollywood Interrupted" opens with chatroom correspondence between the two authors, who despite one of them being "liberal" and the other "conservative" they both find they have an apathy for celebs and their lifestyles. Conservative Breitbart and Liberal Ebner then have a classic bright-lightbulb-materializes-above-the-head moment! Why not WRITE A BOOK full of rehashed gossip, unfunny attempts at humor and stupid moralistic posturing but also rants about THEIR free speech being trampled on!
   Throw in constant unfunny references to "the heterosexual Tom Cruise" (Sure, I make fun of TC, but I try to come up with new stuff, and though I disagree with his views on psychology, I don't HATE the guy.), an entire chapter dedicated to Courtney Love and her problems. Sure she's messed up, but Hole were a good band.
   However, the chapter on Scientology is amusing. In fact, this book could have been a 13 page booklet consisting of that chapter alone. That said, you can't put the damn thing down- that is if you can stomach all the arrogance and mean spiritness of the writers. It could have been helped by a healthy leavening of satire, but Breitbart and Ebner appear to be too dim-minded and/or overcome by psychotic rage to be genuinely funny.
   By all means read this book. It's not for everyone, but if you are one of those people fascinated by the gory scenes on websites such as rotten.com and the like (and I'm one of them) you may find this worth a look. Although chances are you'll know most of the "news" here: Eddie Murphy and the tranny, Whitney Houston's "Crack Is Whack" schtick and of course the Arquettes, the Phoenixes and the Baldwins -though no Wayans'es- it could be that there's just too darn many of them, or the "authors" may just be racists as well as moralists and homophobes. As the title song in Herschell Gordon Lewis's "2000 Maniacs" (and the remake "2001 Maniacs") goes: "The South's gonna rise again! Yee haw!". I give it an extra star for the sheer sleaziness of it all. If two morons can keep me glued to my chair and entertained for a couple of days, then it can't be all that "bad".(And no, I am not talking about me sitting and amusing myself with a couple of hand puppets). Bad is a relative term.
   My next review due sometime in 2007. Those of you with no lives mark it off on your calendars. :-)

2 comments about Grey Gardens: The Complete Book and Lyrics of the Broadway Musical.

1. This is a nice paperback version of the complete libretto/script for Grey Gardens, the musical. It includes several photos (the same that are in the show's brochure program) and it is a wonderful volume for any musical theatre lover, especially now that the show has closed. This was a lovingly produced show, and the main reason was the heartfelt music, and the amazing script. What brought this to life was the amazing cast. Read this book and play the CD as you go along, pausing to read the next passage, and you will have a partial "feel" for the show -- although you will miss the wonderful live performances, and the beautiful (and clever) stagecraft - projected cats, and all.



2. Grey Gardens closed all but too quickly on Broadway. It was absolutley enchanting, thrilling, funny, sad and altogether, brilliant. The music of Scott Frankel, while not represented here, was inventive and complex, while being memorable and tuneful at the same time. The lyrics of Michael Korie, printed in this volume, were witty, moving and intricate. Doug Wright's libretto was absolutely stunning.
   Thankfully, the libretto of the show has been released for our reading pleasure. What memories it brings back of this wonderful show and the performances of Christine Ebersole and Mary Louise Wilson. Bravo to all involved!