Category: Movie books
The X-Files: The Official Archives by Paul Terry (book review).
‘The X-Files: The Official Archives’ is a copy of what was left of the files from the office of FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder after the 1998 office fire. I did have a ponder on this. After all, I thought when Jeffrey Spender was briefly in charge, he shredded many files and Mulder unshredded them. […]
The Art Of Onward by Drew Taylor (book review).
A peculiar trait of Chronicle Books’ Pixar ‘Art Of-’ books is you don’t really need to know much about the films to enjoy these books. Mostly because there are only hints about the plots and the emphasis is on the preliminary production art as it evolves into a film. Such is with ‘The Art Of […]
John Badham On Directing: 2nd Edition (book review).
I did raise an eyebrow at being asked to review a second edition of ‘John Badham On Directing’. I mean, what else did he have to say but was assured there was a new section that needed to be looked at. This time, it’s the fourth section dealing with episodic TV. Even so, looking at […]
The Making Of Enter The Dragon by Robert Clouse (book review).
Considering how popular the 1973 film ‘Enter The Dragon’ is to this day, it’s amazing how few books are available on the subject. When I came across this 1987 book, ‘The Making Of Enter The Dragon’, I hoped I could get a decent copy at a good price in the lockdown and lucked out, even […]
S.S.R.N. Seaview Technical Manual designed & written by Frederick Barr (book review).
I’ve known about this book, ‘S.S.R.N. Seaview Technical Manual’, for some time and only pulled a copy recently. Buying it directly from FabgearUSA, will also get you a free copy of two blueprint posters to put on your wall should you choose to. The original version of this book was only 40 pages long but […]
Creating Special Effects For TV & Films by Bernard Wilkie (book review).
I picked up ‘Creating Special Effects For TV & Films by Bernard Wilkie about 6 years back and only now found time to read it. The name ‘Bernard Wilkie’ should ring bells to ‘Doctor Who’ fans as he was the uncredited special effect man on its very first season. His credits are far longer. As […]
The Making Of The Planet Of The Apes by J.W. Rinzler (book review).
It’s hard to believe that the original ‘Planet Of The Apes’ was 60 years old when this book, ‘The Making Of The Planet Of The Apes’ was released in 2018. Fortunately, its author, J.W. Rinzler, was alive when he saw it the first time around. He also had access to Frazer Heston’s father’s notebooks that […]
The Creatures Of Farscape: Inside Jim Henson’s Creature Shop by Joe Nazzaro (book review).
You’d hate to see my bucket list of books I would like to read and some being doubtful that I would even see their dustcovers. Opportunity presented me with the 2004 release, ‘The Creatures Of Farscape: Inside Jim Henson’s Creature Shop’ by Joe Nazzaro. So, if you’re patient enough and look occasionally, you really don’t […]
Cinema Retro vol. 15 #44 Spring 2019 (magazine review).
I haven’t looked at ‘Cinema Retro’ for a few years now but spotting the cover of # 44 and Monica Vitti posing from the 1966 film, ‘Modesty Blaise’ did mean rare photographs, something this magazine is built around. This also applies to the other content, like ‘Fathom’ (1966). Anyway, the whole issue is dedicated to […]
BFI Film Classics: Rosemary’s Baby by Michael Newton (book review).
Nothing makes for a film to get fast tracked than being based off a successful book. In this case, Ira Levin’s ‘Rosemary’s Baby’. Interestingly, it was director William Castle who got the film rights but took up producer status so Roman Polanski could direct it. Interestingly, both Levin and Polanski are agnostic and the latter […]
