Leni Zumas's writing crackles. Her books are sharp, bleak, funny, and possibly dangerous. When her collection of short stories, Farewell Navigator,...
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What an insightful read! Wasson's book is more than a simple collection of anecdotes from Hollywood personnel on the making on this iconic film; it also examines the life of Truman Capote and his numerous inspirations for both his timeless novella and its main character, Holly Golightly. The book also effectively displays the personal turmoil surround actress Audrey Hepburn as she tackled this character, a far cry from her usual on-screen persona, but the one which she is most famous for because it set a new tone for women in film at the dawn of the 1960's. Highly recommended for all fellow film buffs.
David Thomson offers a comprehensive study of the cinematic themes found within the 1960 horror film, "Psycho", as well as biographical anecdotes about director Alfred Hitchock and the changing mood of filmgoers by the late 1950's which allowed for a movie with such altered expectations to be made at that time. Thomson uses the first half of his book to probe every intimate detail of the film with rich points-of-interest, before moving on to discussing other relevant films that followed in "Psycho"'s wake and analyzing characters and themes of Hitchcock films prior.
Classic cloak-and-dagger spy adventure, all the more thrilling for the fact that James Bond doesn't appear until late in the story to propel the espionage forward. Fleming focuses much of the novel on descriptive locales and colorful backstories involving a secret Russian spy organization and its top agents. The cat-and-mouse double-crosses don't even let up at story's end, where Bond's fate is left uncertain in a cliffhanger that defies the serie's many cinematic adaptations.
Jay Mohr's name will never be synonymous with "Saturday Night Live", but the comedian did spend two years in the mid-nineties struggling as a featured player on the late-night sketch comedy institution, and he has plenty of interesting and amusing backstage anecdotes to satisfy even the show's casual viewers. Topics he dishes about include Shannen Doherty's refusal to perform a sketch she found funny because it would mean sharing screentime with an unknown newcomer, Norm MacDonald's insistence at cracking up Bob Newhart with a fake sketch pitch he had no intention of actually writing, and the extreme level of horseplay and pranks Chris Farley would pull on his fellow cast members. On a more serious note, Mohr discusses his personal anxieties which were heightened by the time he spent on "SNL", as well as his regrets over plagiarizing another comic's sketch in a desperate attempt to get a piece on the air.
Yang's amusing and sometimes intentionally politically-incorrect graphic novel tells three unique stories, all focused on being true to one's identity, that unexpectedly come to one conclusion. The first story is about Jin Wang, an American-born Chinese boy who struggles to fit in at his school; he is the only student of his origin until Wei Chen Sun transfers to his school from Taiwan. The second story relates an ancient Chinese tale about the Monkey King, a mighty ruler who wants to be a god among his people. The third story focuses on Danny, a popular student who suffers from great embarrassment at the hands of his cousin Chin-Kee, the ultimate negative Chinese stereotype. The culmination of these three stories is interesting to watch unfold, as the characters' eye are finally opened to the potential their lives have to offer.
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Patrick Lonergan has commented on (12) products.
Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.: Audrey Hepburn, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and the Dawn of the Modern Woman by Sam Wasson
Patrick Lonergan, June 22, 2011
What an insightful read! Wasson's book is more than a simple collection of anecdotes from Hollywood personnel on the making on this iconic film; it also examines the life of Truman Capote and his numerous inspirations for both his timeless novella and its main character, Holly Golightly. The book also effectively displays the personal turmoil surround actress Audrey Hepburn as she tackled this character, a far cry from her usual on-screen persona, but the one which she is most famous for because it set a new tone for women in film at the dawn of the 1960's. Highly recommended for all fellow film buffs.The Moment of Psycho: How Alfred Hitchcock Taught America to Love Murder by David Thomson
Patrick Lonergan, June 16, 2011
David Thomson offers a comprehensive study of the cinematic themes found within the 1960 horror film, "Psycho", as well as biographical anecdotes about director Alfred Hitchock and the changing mood of filmgoers by the late 1950's which allowed for a movie with such altered expectations to be made at that time. Thomson uses the first half of his book to probe every intimate detail of the film with rich points-of-interest, before moving on to discussing other relevant films that followed in "Psycho"'s wake and analyzing characters and themes of Hitchcock films prior.From Russia with Love by Ian Fleming
Patrick Lonergan, February 25, 2011
Classic cloak-and-dagger spy adventure, all the more thrilling for the fact that James Bond doesn't appear until late in the story to propel the espionage forward. Fleming focuses much of the novel on descriptive locales and colorful backstories involving a secret Russian spy organization and its top agents. The cat-and-mouse double-crosses don't even let up at story's end, where Bond's fate is left uncertain in a cliffhanger that defies the serie's many cinematic adaptations.Gasping for Airtime: Two Years in the Trenches of Saturday Night Live by Jay Mohr
Patrick Lonergan, November 16, 2010
Jay Mohr's name will never be synonymous with "Saturday Night Live", but the comedian did spend two years in the mid-nineties struggling as a featured player on the late-night sketch comedy institution, and he has plenty of interesting and amusing backstage anecdotes to satisfy even the show's casual viewers. Topics he dishes about include Shannen Doherty's refusal to perform a sketch she found funny because it would mean sharing screentime with an unknown newcomer, Norm MacDonald's insistence at cracking up Bob Newhart with a fake sketch pitch he had no intention of actually writing, and the extreme level of horseplay and pranks Chris Farley would pull on his fellow cast members. On a more serious note, Mohr discusses his personal anxieties which were heightened by the time he spent on "SNL", as well as his regrets over plagiarizing another comic's sketch in a desperate attempt to get a piece on the air.American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
Patrick Lonergan, July 11, 2010
Yang's amusing and sometimes intentionally politically-incorrect graphic novel tells three unique stories, all focused on being true to one's identity, that unexpectedly come to one conclusion. The first story is about Jin Wang, an American-born Chinese boy who struggles to fit in at his school; he is the only student of his origin until Wei Chen Sun transfers to his school from Taiwan. The second story relates an ancient Chinese tale about the Monkey King, a mighty ruler who wants to be a god among his people. The third story focuses on Danny, a popular student who suffers from great embarrassment at the hands of his cousin Chin-Kee, the ultimate negative Chinese stereotype. The culmination of these three stories is interesting to watch unfold, as the characters' eye are finally opened to the potential their lives have to offer.1-5 of 12next