Tag Archives: movies

Book Review:  Charlie Chaplin vs. America: When Art, Sex, and Politics Collided by Scott Eyman

When you think of iconic film makers of the early twentieth century few, if any, shine as brightly as Charlie Chaplin. The man was a comic genius and helped to define an art form. My personal favorite among his films … Continue reading

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Book Review:  Opposable Thumbs: How Siskel & Ebert Changed Movies Forever by Matt Singer

Before I read this book, I had no idea of the existence, let alone the popularity, of the Siskel & Ebert film criticism TV show and its various iterations such as Opening Soon at a Theater Near You, Sneak Previews, … Continue reading

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Book Review:  Hits, Flops, and Other Illusions: My Fortysomething Years in Hollywood by Ed Zwick

I have read several books on filmmaking from top directors and screenwriters, including Chasing the Light by Oliver Stone, Cinema Speculation by Quentin Tarantino, and Adventures in the Screen Trade and Which Lie Did I Tell? by William Goldman, but … Continue reading

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Book Review:  Once Upon a Time in Hollywood: A Novel by Quentin Tarantino

I am normally not a fan of novelizations of films, but this one, after all, is written by Tarantino himself, so I figured it was worth a read. It turns out that the book is not really a novelization; that … Continue reading

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Book Review:  Harlan Ellison’s Watching by Harlan Ellison

I have been going through some tough times lately and enduring situations that have left me stressed and depressed. In search of reading material to lift my spirits, I picked up this volume that I’d found recently in a used … Continue reading

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Book Review:  Chasing the Light: Writing, Directing, and Surviving Platoon, Midnight Express, Scarface, Salvador, and the Movie Game by Oliver Stone

With its subtitle in place, this book has a long, long title. I’ve found that most nonfiction books have subtitles; publishers probably figure that buyers browsing in bookstores won’t pick up a book unless a bombastic title spells out the … Continue reading

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Book Review:  Cinema Speculation by Quentin Tarantino: Part Two

When I wrote part one of this review of Cinema Speculation, my grandson Charlie was nine and a half months old. Today is his first birthday. That’s how long it has taken me to obtain a copy of the book … Continue reading

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Book Review:  Cinema Speculation by Quentin Tarantino: Part One

I have recently returned from a two-week trip to Los Angeles. (This first part of the review was written in February.) However, this was not a holiday venture during which I spent my time wining and dining and touring places … Continue reading

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Book Review: The Writers: A History of American Screenwriters and Their Guild by Miranda J. Banks

After my six-week stint at Clarion West science fiction writing workshop in 1973, my epic hitchhiking journey down the West Coast, through Mexico and into Guatemala, my return to Seattle, and my abortive attempt to get normal jobs, I got … Continue reading

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What Movies Mean to Me

I am writing this essay because I am in the midst of reading Roger Ebert’s memoir Life Itself, a review of which will appear soon.  Ebert loved films, and he is one of the few film critics (perhaps the only … Continue reading

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