The year’s social and cinematic concerns are captured in this well-sculpted inaugural volume on film from guest editor and cameo actor Plimpton (The X Factor, 1995, etc.). Beginning with Libby Gelman-Waxner’s gleeful trashing of Barbra Streisand’s The Mirror Has Two Faces, the collection lopes nimbly among subjects and moods, from sly critique to Evan Hunter’s wistful recollection of Hitchcock to Gerald Peary’s amiable portrait of John Waters regulars in Provincetown. Together they fulfill series editor Jason Shinder’s belief that movies are “arguably the most influential form of communication we have today,” and that film writing is an “emerging genre.” Equally varied are article sources, which include not only Premiere and Vanity Fair but such small magazines as the Michigan Quarterly Review and Parnassus, and authors ranging from film writers (Donald Bogle) to filmmakers (Martin Scorsese) and novelists (Alice Walker). Despite the assortment, some common threads for the year emerge, notably in the treatment of black women and gays in the cinema. The dismal state of choices for black actresses is seen in two pieces, including one on current biopic hot property Dorothy Dandridge. Likewise the gay experience of films is seen in two works, one of which is a trenchant analysis of the necessary death of diva worship. A thought-provoking commingling of shop talk, sociological meditation, and personal memoir that shows the range of responses possible for an art form at the height of its popularity.
Pub Date: April 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-312-18049-7
Page Count: 336
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1998
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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