January 30, 2000    

Between the repeated re-freezing of Tuesday's record snowfall, not-
so-favorable reviews of Friday's movies, and a first-time reading of 
Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged"-- 350 pages devoured thus far-- I didn't 
make it to the movies this weekend.  And, as neither EYE OF THE BE-
HOLDER nor ISN'T SHE GREAT? looks particularly promising, I don't 
expect any ketchup.  (ANGELA'S ASHES, from last week, is still in 
the queue, though...)  So, while snow- and ice-bound, I turned my 
attention indoors, to my bookshelves, to my collection of books a-
bout film.  From the ever-useful "VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriev-
er" guide to the college text "Understanding Movies," they number in 
the low dozens.  Some have been read, some have been skimmed, and 
some just sit there, whining and waiting their turn alongside those 
tomes covering other interests-- music, writing, weird history, fire 
engines and fire houses, die-cast toy truck collecting, etc.  

The best of the bunch are listed below.  All are highly recommended 
for reading and/or skimming...


    "Bad Movies we Love"
    Edward Margulies and Stephen Rebello
    Penguin, 1993
    
    Big Stars!  Big Budgets!  Big Hair!  Big Mistakes!  Compila-
    tion of the same-named "Movieline" magazine column.  Covered 
    are such ouchers as AIRPORT '75, AND GOD CREATED WOMEN, BUT-
    TERFIELD 8, CHANGE OF HABIT, DEAD RINGER, DUEL IN THE SUN, 
    THE HAPPENING, THE JAZZ SINGER, KITTEN WITH A WHIP, MAME, 
    ORCA, PARRISH, PORTRAIT IN BLACK, ROME ADVENTURE, A SUMMER 
    PLACE, VALLEY OF THE DOLLS, and WILD ORCHID.  330 pages.
    
    
    "BFI Film Classics" / "BFI Modern Classics"
    British Film Institute
    
    Slim-but-substantive volumes from the British Film Insti-
    tute, issued on a per-film basis.  And only $10-$12 each.  
    I've studied "The Exorcist" by Mark Kernodle, "The Wizard of 
    Oz" by Salman Rushdie, and Sergio Leone's "Once Upon a Time 
    in America" by Adrian Martin.  And I'm waiting for Barnes 
    and Noble Dot Com to ship "Annie Hall" by Peter Cowie, "In-
    dependence Day" (!) by Michael Rogin, and "The Terminator" 
    by Sean French.  60-110 pages.
    
    
    "Burton on Burton"
    Edited by Mark Salisburn
    Faber and Faber, 1995
    
    Gothic auteur Tim Burton talking about himself and his work, 
    from his early career as a Disney animator to his increasing 
    success as a feature-film maker.  Covered are VINCENT, HAN-
    SEL AND GRETEL, FRANKENWEENIE, ALADDIN'S LAMP, PEE-WEE'S 
    BIG ADVENTURE, BEETLEJUICE, BATMAN, EDWARD SCISSORHANDS, 
    BATMAN RETURNS, THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS, CABIN BOY, 
    and ED WOOD.  Also includes numerous pre-production sketches 
    by Burton.  160 pages.


    "Conversations with Pauline Kael"
    Edited by Will Brantley
    University Press of Mississippi, 1996
    
    From their Literary Conversations Series.  Keen collection 
    of candid interviews, circa 1966 through 1994.  Roy Sawhill, 
    1994: "People don't talk about movies the way they used to."  
    Kael: "How can you talk about special effects for more than 
    a minute?  You say, how was that done?  And someone explains 
    how it was done, and you think, why did I ask?"  For a com-
    prehensive introduction to Kael's highly regarded "New York-
    er"-published criticism, consult "For Keeps," Penguin Books, 
    1994.  199 pages ("Kael"), 1291 pages ("Keeps").  
    
    
    "The Critics Were Wrong"
    Arids Sillick and Michael McCormick
    Citadel Press, 1996
    
    Misguided Movie Reviews and Film Criticism Gone Awry.  250+ 
    pages of side-splitting snippets, of movies reviewed old and 
    new, the best by far being any of John Simon's knife-twist-
    ers.  On Barbara Streisand in THE MAIN EVENT:  "Oh, for the 
    gift of Rostand's Cyrano to evoke the vastness of that nose 
    alone as it cleaves the giant screen east to west, bisects 
    it from north to south, and zigzags across our horizon like 
    a bolt of fleshy lightning it towers like a ziggurat made of 
    meat."  266 pages.
    
    
    "The Cutting Room Floor"
    Laurent Bouzereau
    Citadel Press, 1994
    
    Movie Scenes Which Never Made it to the Screen.  Covered are 
    Hitchcock's SUSPICION, TOPAZ, and SPELLBOUND, Robert Zemec-
    kis' BACK TO THE FUTURE trilogy and DEATH BECOMES HER, Rid-
    ley Scott's BLADE RUNNER of course, James Cameron's THE 
    ABYSS, ALIENS, and THE TERMINATOR, Steven Spielberg's CLOSE 
    ENCOUNTERS and 1941, John Boorman's THE EXORCIST II, Brian 
    DePalma's DRESSED TO KILL and SCARFACE, William Friedkin's 
    THE EXORCIST, CRUISING, and TO LIVE IN DIE IN L.A., and Paul 
    Verhoeven's BASIC INSTINCT.  243 pages.
    
    
    "Gramophone Film Music Good CD Guide"
    Edited by Mark Walker
    Gramophone Publications, 1996
    
    Excellent collection of some 400 soundtrack album reviews, 
    plus a couple compilations.  For a 256-page paperback that 
    even contains advertisements, though, the $15.95 price is a 
    bit steep.  Maybe you can find a used copy, as I did.  And 
    since you asked, my favorite scores include Danny Elfman's
    BATMAN, James Horner's ALIENS, Alfred Newman's unforgettable 
    AIRPORT, composer and editor John Ottman's THE USUAL SUS-
    PECTS, and John Williams' STAR WARS trilogy.  256 pages.
    
    
    "Hollywood Hex: An Illustrated History of Cursed Movies"
    Mikita Brottman
    Creation Books, 1998
    
    Death and Destiny in the Dream Factory.  Volume 13 (!) of 
    their Creation Cinema Collection.  Covers a comprehensive 
    history of Hollywood and death, as well as such "cursed" 
    films as ROSEMARY'S BABY, THE EXORCIST, THE TWILIGHT ZONE 
    movie (Vic Morrow, helicopter), the POLTERGEIST series 
    (three movies, three deaths), and THE CROW (Brandon Lee).  
    Hard to go wrong with any book that warns of "adult materi-
    al."  201 pages.
    
    
    "If You're Talking to Me, Your Career Must Be in Trouble"
    Joe Queenan
    Hyperion, 1994
    
    Movies, Mayhem, and Malice.  Compilation of Queenan's essays 
    from "Movieline" magazine, plus a couple pieces for "Rolling 
    Stone" and "The Washington Post."  Wonderfully wicked stuff.  
    (Mulling Melanie Griffith "bimbonic" qualities: "She talks 
    like an idiot and does not always give the impression in in-
    terviews that she is participating in the Massaschusetts In-
    stitute of Technology's Directed Readings Program.")  The 
    Dave Berry blurb says it best:  "If you're a fan of informed 
    viciousness-- and who isn't?-- you will love this book."  
    267 pages.
    
    
    "Roger Ebert's Book of Film"
    Edited by Roger Ebert
    W.W. Norton and Company, 1997
    
    From Tolstoy to Tarantino, the Finest Writing From a Century 
    of Film.  Along with Ebert, authors include Groucho Marx, 
    Howard Koch, Janet Leigh, Quentin Crisp, Graham Greene, Ray-
    mond Chandler, Martin Scorses, Satyajit Ray, Susan Sontag, 
    E.M. Forster, Charlie Chaplin, Mario Puzo, William Castle, 
    Sam Arkoff, Eleanor Coppola, Truman Capote, Rex Reed, Tom 
    Wolfe, H.L. Mencken, Terry McMillan, Walker Percy, and James 
    Agee.  792 pages.
     
    
    "Starring John Wayne as Genghis Khan!"
    Damien Bona
    Citadel Press, 1996
    
    Hollywood's All-Time Worst Casting Blunders.  They're all 
    here and more: Babs in HELLO, DOLLY!, Brando in THE TEAHOUSE
    OF THE AUGUST MOON, Lucille Ball in MAME, Mickey Rooney in 
    WORDS AND MUSIC, Demi Moore in THE SCARLETT LETTER, Richard 
    Gere in FIRST KNIGHT, and Mary Tyler Moore and Elvis Presley 
    in CHANGE OF HABIT.  Plus numerous wonderfully wince-induc-
    ing stills, such as the cover photo of the Duke's Mongolian 
    warlord.  224 pages.
    
    
    "Wake Me When It's Funny"
    Garry Marshall with Lori Marshall
    Newmarket Press, 1997
    
    How to Break into Show Business and Stay There.  Very amus-
    ing autobiography of Garry Marshall, who still acts, here 
    and there, and has directed ten (or more) films, including 
    PRETTY WOMAN, FRANKIE AND JOHNNY, and BEACHES.  He also cre-
    ated such hit shows as "Happy Days," "Laverene and Shirley," 
    and "Mork and Mindy."  He also wrote some 100 scripts for 
    televisions, plus a couple plays, and had an early career as 
    a nightclub joke writer.  330 pages.


Copyright 2000 Michael J. Legeros
Movie Hell is a trademark of Michael J. Legeros

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