bookshelf

CUT TO THE CHASE

Name: CUT TO THE CHASE
Author: Linda Venis
ISBN: 978-1-59240-810-8

WRITING FEATURE FILMS WITH THE PROS AT UCLA EXTENSION WRITERS' PROGRAM

edited by Linda Venis ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 6, 2013

A readable writer’s how-to that goes down smoothly.

bookshelf

A well-organized soup-to-nuts manual for aspiring Nora Ephrons and Charlie Kaufmans, from the faculty of a notable screenwriting program.

UCLA Extension Writers’ Program director Venis divides the book into four sections devoted to: preparations for writing the script, writing the first draft, rewriting and polishing, and working the system to get the script produced and your screenwriting career on track. A group of professionals—screenwriters, story analyst and readers—share advice; their film credits include Scream, Citizen Ruth, Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, Twilight, Event Horizon, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and scores of other projects for major Hollywood studios and TV networks. Encouraging without being unrealistic, the contributors use examples from dozens of award-winning and popular screenplays (The King’s Speech, Juno, Reservoir Dogs, Bridesmaids, The Hangover, etc.) to illustrate their points about how to set scenes, develop characters and propel stories through all of the scenes. Their advice to give script buyers—“The same, but different”; i.e., more of what’s selling tickets already, with a twist—may seem stifling to creative types, but it’s based on intimate knowledge of Hollywood tastes. Even if the fledgling screenwriter does not want to follow the UCLA team’s amazingly harmonious advice to the letter, there’s plenty of solid wisdom in the book to warrant giving it a careful read. The contributors insist that you can write a successful screenplay, and it’s hard not to believe them. After following the practical advice included in the book, you will not want to miss Deborah Dean Davis’ deliciously witty and inspiring final chapter on the life of a Hollywood writer.

A readable writer’s how-to that goes down smoothly.

Pub Date: Aug. 6, 2013

ISBN: 978-1-59240-810-8

Page Count: 352

Publisher: Gotham Books

Review Posted Online: June 12, 2013

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2013

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

bookshelf

NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

bookshelf

This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

bookshelf

TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

bookshelf

An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.