Amusing bluster about stars and movie themes by wiseacre Queenan (Imperial Caddy, 1992), a regular contributor to Rolling Stone, Movieline, etc. States Queenan: ``As readers familiar with my work know, I make my living by watching unspeakably foul, hopelessly incomprehensible movies, and then issuing belated, useless warnings to the viewing public, telling them not to go to movies they have already gone to see...I really don't have anything better to do with my time than to sit at home wasting a whole day watching Once Upon a Time in America (227 m.) and Heaven's Gate (219 m.).'' Not everyone will agree with Queenan's dismissal of the bulk of Woody Allen's work in favor of a handful of his comedies, or his twitting of Meryl Streep as a ``monotonously talented humanoid.'' Sometimes he strikes a semi-serious note, as in his piece on Martin Scorcese (``The Lonely Raging Bull''), a director who makes movies about movies but is nonetheless brutal and disturbing, ``never stupid, condescending, or trendy....'' Perhaps Queenan's most wicked piece- -again at Woody Allen's expense—is his Home Nymphet Video Collection of movies Allen should have seen rather than studying Bergman's The Seventh Seal so assiduously, all of them about the corruption of childwomen by much older men: Lolita, Baby Doll, Pretty Baby, Georgy Girl, etc., flicks in which the man invariably gets his comeuppance, or worse. Readers will have a fine time weighing whether his hatchet job on Barbra Streisand matches Rex Reed's infamous interview with her. Nor should readers miss ``In the Realm of the Senseless,'' in which Queenan eviscerates the plots of the worst features in recent memory, quite often Mickey Rourke movies, though Norman Mailer's Tough Guys Don't Dance seems to win the author's stinkcheese Oscar. Queenan has an audience from his sneerpieces in entertainment magazines, so this may do well with the video generation.
Pub Date: Feb. 3, 1994
ISBN: 1-56282-788-X
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1993
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
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.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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