FROM FRED AND GINGER TO ‘LA LA LAND’: A GREAT NEW BOOK
THE MOVIE MUSICAL! By Jeanine Basinger (Knopf) I promised myself a gift for the holidays: time enough to read Jeanine Basinger’s 634-page book about movie musicals. I’m so glad I made good on that promise. What a wonderful addition…
NEW AND NOTABLE FILM BOOKS December 2019
There’s never enough time to read, so please consider this a survey rather than a series of reviews. I’ve only included books that interest or intrigue me. THE MOVIE MUSICAL! by Jeanine Basinger (Knopf) In addition to…
‘LETTERS FROM HOLLYWOOD’ AND OTHER NEW AND NOTABLE FILM BOOKS
LETTERS FROM HOLLYWOOD: INSIDE THE PRIVATE WORLD OF CLASSIC AMERICAN MOVIEMAKING Compiled and Edited by Rocky Lang and Barbara Hall; foreword by Peter Bogdanovich (Abrams) This is, quite simply, one of the finest books I’ve ever read about…
SCARFACE, CAPTAIN AHAB, AND KING KONG: GREAT READING
Normally I review only film-related books on this site, but I’ve just devoured two volumes written by friends that I can’t resist writing about. One is a work of fiction, the other non-fiction. When I finished reading them I…
NEW AND NOTABLE FILM BOOKS – June 2019
As always, books arrive on my doorstep at a faster pace than I can possibly read them, so with a few exceptions these are not reviews but a survey based on browsing. I look forward to spending more time…
“OF MICE AND MAGIC” IN RUSSIAN? DA!
Next year will mark the fortieth anniversary of my book Of Mice and Magic: A History of Animated Cartoons. I feel lucky that it’s still in print; that’s because it has been adopted by high school and college courses covering…
FIVE NEW DISNEY BOOKS—AND MORE
MICKEY MOUSE: THE ULTIMATE HISTORY by J.B. Kaufman and David Gerstein, edited by Daniel Kothenschulte. (Taschen) This gigantic tome is hard to lift but easy to love. The authors set out to document all facets of Mickey Mouse’s 90-year…
