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THE MOVIES THAT CHANGED US

Name: THE MOVIES THAT CHANGED US
Author: Nick Clooney
ISBN: 0-7434-1043-2

REFLECTIONS ON THE SCREEN

by Nick Clooney ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 5, 2002

Serious and eye-opening.

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Former film commentator for TV’s American Movie Classics, who has clearly seen films by the thousands, discusses 20 that profoundly changed either their audiences or the film industry.

This is neither gossipy nor insider-ish about the making of films, nor is it a list of best films, such as Citizen Kane (which Clooney sees as a “stunning film . . . that did not change anything”) or Gone With the Wind (a brilliant achievement but “essentially a revisiting of ground already plowed by The Birth of a Nation a generation earlier”). It focuses instead on social mores and turning points in filmmaking. None are independent films, excellent though the independents may be. Saving Private Ryan, for example, often shown in high schools to students aghast at Spielberg’s D-day on Omaha Beach, awoke blinkered students in France to the fact that—while the French underground did its job—France did not overthrow the Nazis, nor did Europe; rather, they were saved by a non-European army from America, whose soldiers died for freedom in lands not their own. George Lucas’s Star Wars changed the content of filmmaking, heralded the narrowcasting of films, and, for better or worse, brought special effects to the fore. Taxi Driver led to the Brady Bill by way of John Hinckley Jr.’s love of Jodie Foster, admiration for pimp-murdering Travis Bickle, and attempted assassination of President Reagan. Mike Nichols’s The Graduate helped kill off romantic movies, making them “leaner, a bit meaner, and nearly devoid of sentiment,” while the vulgarity of Nichols and Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? blew the Production Code’s decency to bits. Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove led to deep skepticism about the military establishment. On the Waterfront led to films about labor unions, The Snake Pit to films about mental health. As for the great race film that changed us? Hasn’t happened, Clooney says.

Serious and eye-opening.

Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2002

ISBN: 0-7434-1043-2

Page Count: 336

Publisher: Atria

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2002

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

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

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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

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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

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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.