Surely You Can’t Be Serious? An entire book about the (arguably) funniest movie ever, Airplane? By its creators? Sign me up (and feel free to call me Shirley)! There hasn’t been a book about the making of Airplane before and now there is. Yay! Admittedly, it is better to watchContinue Reading
Every person who has watched a John Wick movie has thought They Shouldn’t Have Killed His Dog. It is the last straw that pushes him down a path the bad guys are not going to enjoy. This book itself goes down two paths. The first third is an almost scholarlyContinue Reading
I confess that I am fascinated by, and a bit addicted to, streaming TV. I have every popular service as well as a few obscure ones like Britbox and Wondrium. However, I still find myself frequently at a loss to find a great show to watch. I hate to complainContinue Reading
I love Vivian Leigh, the actress. But now, after reading Truly, Madly, I admire her courage in going all out for her dreams despite serious mental health issues. Vivian and Laurence Olivier had a real love story—not just a Hollywood romance. And, unfortunately, not all real-life stories have a happyContinue Reading
Secrets of the Force contains a multitude of material about the creation of the first six films in the Star Wars universe. There is lesser information about the films made without George Lucas. Quotes from movie insiders including George and some of the actors do release some secrets. At overContinue Reading
Why is Harry Potter such an icon of children’s literature? Because the characters, at least at the beginning, are such fun! Who wouldn’t want to discover there is a secret underlying all reality and that you are a famous part of it? Now that all the movies are available toContinue Reading
The 1958 Orson Welles film, Touch of Evil, is analyzed from a filmmaker’s perspective. Unfortunately, there is little new information here. It reads like a master’s thesis regarding other’s writers’ analyses of the film. 10% of the book is the Notes section referencing other sources. Another 5% of the bookContinue Reading
What is Rosemary’s Baby? The answer is surprisingly much more complicated than a 1969 horror film directed by Roman Polanski. The movie has a gothic woman-in-danger who-can-help-her plot. Newlyweds Rosemary and struggling actor, Guy, find the perfect apartment in New York City. And the neighbors seem so friendly. But thenContinue Reading
The Big Book of Reel Murders is chockful of well-known authors like Dashiell Hammett, Arthur Conan Doyle, Ian Fleming, and W. Somerset Maugham. Even better, it has some of my favorite silver-age short story writers from 1950-1989 Alfred Hitchcock and Ellery Queen mystery magazines like Cornell Woolrich and Stanley Ellin.Continue Reading
Running from Carrie through upcoming film Doctor Sleep, Stephen King at the Movies shows both the good and the bad of movie and tv miniseries adaptations of King’s work. But there are secrets scattered throughout the text. The Shining as a fugue or an autobiography? The original Pennywise in ItContinue Reading
Fascinating story about how the author of The Wizard of Oz went about Finding Dorothy interspersed with the making of the movie in 1938-39. Maud Baum is the unifying character in the two strands of her life described in the book. It begins with a 77-year-old Maud attempting to getContinue Reading
Have you ever wondered about the engine under the hood of your favorite movie or television show? If so, Talking Pictures: How to Watch Movies is a comprehensive resource you need to read. Beginning with the screenplay, this book has a chapter about each part of the movie making process.Continue Reading
The Nightmare before Dinner includes recipes used in the famous Beetle House restaurants in New York and Los Angeles. There are chapters for sauces, appetizers, soups/salads, entrees, and desserts. Most look more tasty than scary though they do have clever names like Edward Burger Hands, Silence of the Lamb Chops,Continue Reading
From Mary Shelley’s 1818 book to The Munsters and beyond, the Vault of Frankenstein is an extensively researched look at the impact of a single book published 200 years ago. “Only Sherlock Holmes, Tarzan and Dracula have appeared more often in media than Frankenstein’s monster.” Not bad for a nineteen-year-oldContinue Reading
“Making a no-budget indie film is like going to war. But you’re not General MacArthur storming the beaches with a force of a hundred thousand soldiers. Instead, you’re more like a small squad of Vietcong guerillas behind enemy lines, trying to complete an impossible mission using guile and your wits,Continue Reading