Tag Archives: Cinema

Review: ‘Camera Man’ by Dana Stevens

Camera Man: Buster Keaton, the Dawn of Cinema, and the Invention of the Twentieth Century. Dana Stevens. Simon & Schuster. New York. 2022. 415pp. $29.99

Buster Keaton (1895-1966), the “Great Stone Face” of silent movies, found himself hurled, figuratively and literally, into the 20th century. And quite an impact he was to make! We often seek a way into a story through an event or a person. Buster Keaton proves to be a perfect guide in an understanding of where we’ve been, in terms of media, these last hundred years or so. Dana Stevens, film critic for Slate since 2006, gives Buster Keaton his due and even credits him with having more than a little to do with defining the last century.

It’s only in hindsight that we can see the big picture. One of the most celebrated anecdotes about the early years of cinema goes back to one of its inventors, Louis Lumiere, who is said to have declared that “the cinema is an invention with no future.” Perhaps that is more legend than true but it was kept alive by Jean-Luc Godard for his screenplay, Contempt. As Stevens points out, time and again, there was nothing certain about this new art form. It was a gamble. It was a game for risk takers. Enter Buster Keaton and his family of daredevil vaudevillians dealing in the most spine-tingling and acrobatic of stunts!

Buster Keaton set upon the stage at the tender age of five, just at the dawn of a new century. As Stevens does throughout, she connects all sorts of disparate dots to focus on a whole, while crafting a sense of the poetic, especially with her favored metaphor of Buster in mid-air. Here is an excerpt where she tightens the frame around Buster’s origins:

By the time Buster was taking his first public falls at the turn of the century, watching talented children onstage was a cultural thrill that came with a built-in moral twinge, even when those children weren’t being flung into scenery or the rib cages of hecklers by their strapping fathers. The awareness that “the cruelty” was liable to shut down the show must have added to the audience’s frisson of mingled guilt, pleasure, and suspense–the precise mix of affects Joe and Buster’s father-son knock-about act also specialized in eliciting. This conflicted cultural, legal, and psychological space, where children were at once fragile treasures to be protected, market commodities to be exploited, and private property to be disposed of at their parents’ will, was the world into which Buster found himself thrown.

Buster Keaton, in his own way, was the ultimate Everyman of the Twentieth Century, a regular fellow thrown into a suddenly faster world. In one film after another, in countless intricately plotted near-death antics, Buster Keaton is the sad sack in over his head, just trying to get by, but forced to contend with a topsy-turvy chain of events whether it was a house frame perfectly timed to fall only inches away from him or a locomotive set to just barely miss from killing him. Stevens, with great gusto, details every step of the way of Keaton’s ongoing good citizen trapped in a new-fangled pursuit of the American Dream.

Sharing similar childhood pathos and artistic achievement in adulthood with Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton is among that elite group of artists that simply transcend any one medium, elevated to the level of an icon. Look to his movies and you will find gems with a distinctive Buster Keaton artistic vision. Beyond his silent movie glory, Keaton remained relevant as a character actor at the dawn of television and in movies well into the sixties. It was Keaton’s special mix of talents and demeanor, a combination of the subversive and the melancholic, that truly spoke to a new generation and remains timeless. Dana Stevens is spot on to celebrate this singular talent and her book is a most fitting tribute.

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TCM Classic Film Festival | May 6-9 2021 | Interview with Mark Harris

Mike Nichols: A Life by Mark Harris

Cinema is one of the great pleasures in life. If you love good movies, then you will be delighted with the lineup for the Turner Classic Movies Film Festival (May 6-9 2021). This post will point you in the right direction as well as provide an added bonus. One of the titles featured during the festival is 1996’s Nichols and May: Take Two. I had the honor of interviewing Mark Harris, author of the New York Times Bestseller, Mike Nichols: A Life. I hope you enjoy our chat and be sure to catch all the great movies during the festival. During our conversation, I tried to fit in as much as possible regarding Mike Nichols (1931-2014), such a iconic figure in the world of improv comedy, theater and film known for such landmark films as Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), Catch-22 (1970), and Carnal Knowledge (1971). And those three titles are just scratching the surface!

Cast and producers including Al Pacino, third from left, Meryl Streep, third from right, and Mike Nichols, second from right, hold the award for outstanding miniseries for their work on “Angels In America,” at the 56th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards Sunday, Sept. 19, 2004, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Harris first got to know Nichols during his work adapting Tony Kushner’s landmark play, Angels in America. By then, Nichols was in his seventies and a master of his craft many times over. During our talk, Harris noted: “It is remarkable to me how Nichols kept looking outward during a production, while the meter was still running, finding ways to construct and to add.” As for what might be said in describing Nichols’s body of work, Harris said it wasn’t a matter of maintaining a thematic structure. It was really more down to earth. “It was about finding what excited Nichols to pursue a project: a script, a collaboration, a writer, an actor.”

NICHOLS AND MAY: TAKE TWO (1996): TCM premiere of this documentary about the influential comedy team of Mike Nichols and Elaine May. Four of their radio sketches have been re-created with new animation created especially for the program.

Includes conversation with author Mark Harris, Mike Nichols: A Life.

Nichols and May: Take Two

SATURDAY, MAY 8 11:45AM ET

And remember, the festival kicks off May 6th! This year’s Festival will be presented virtually and feature four days of incredible programming on TCM and within the Classics Curated By TCM Hub on HBO Max, a dedicated destination for classic movie fans within the HBO Max app.

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)

Catch-22 (1970)

Carnal Knowledge (1971)

2021 TCM Classic Film Festival

Thursday, May 6 through Sunday, May 9 at two virtual venues: the TCM network and the Classics Curated by TCM Hub on HBO Max.

To learn more, go to the TCM Film Festival site right here. You’ll discover a unique film festival experience on TCM.

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Comics Grinder Holiday Gift Guide 2020: The First Top Ten List

From Black Friday to Cyber Monday and Beyond!

Comics Grinder has always got you covered for interesting tidbits, insights, and suggestions regarding comics, pop culture, and culture in general. Here are some quick suggestions for discerning Comics Grinder followers:

I’m going to keep this simple and jump right in with 10 items for your consideration beginning with Wes Anderson: The Iconic Filmmaker and his Work, by Ian Nathan, an “unofficial and unauthorised” yet stunning tribute to the beloved filmmaker. 176-page hardcover with deluxe slipcase, fully illustrated. $35. From White Lion Publishers, an imprint of The Quarto Group.

Next up will please any fan of D&D, especially younger players or anyone who enjoys a trading card style description of characters. This is Beasts & Behemoths, the fifth and latest installment in the Dungeons & Dragons Young Adventurer’s Guide series. It is by Jim Zub, Stacy King, and Andrew Wheeler. 112 pages, full-color illustrations. $12.99. From Ten Speed Press and Penguin Random House.

Moving right along, this book will need to be in your kitchen and bar as soon as possible, whether you’re a D&D fan or not yet. Welcome to Heroes’ Feast: The Official D&D Cookbook. Yes, now you can eat and drink like a hero. There are recipes here for everything from Honey-Drizzled Cream Puffs to Sembian Honey-Glazed Rothe Ribs to Bytopian Shepherd’s Bread to Roll Rum! Seriously, this is an impressive cookbook with lavish illustrations alongside charming and meticulous D&D factoids and insights. If you’ve been looking for a way to hook yourself into the world of D&D, then seek out this cookbook. Fully illustrated. 240 pages. $35. From Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Quite honestly, this is the best gift for 2020 on so many levels.

If you are a fan of Critical Role, then you are in very good company as this is one of the most popular role-playing game communities ever. Now, you can join in on all the fun and get all you’ve ever wanted to know about this fantasy RPG livestream phenomena in one deluxe book, The World of Critical Role: The History Behind the Epic Fantasy, by Liz Marsham and the Cast of Critical Role. Just like the name suggests, go deep into this world with up-close and personal features on all the talent involved. Critical Role was established in 2015 by a group of friends with a passion for storytelling and has evolved into a multi-platform media company with a variety of shows, comic books, graphic novels, animation, podcasts and more. Its epic adventures and memorable characters attract millions of viewers live every week. Yes, this is a big deal and, if you’re new to it, then all the more reason to get this book. This is a 320-page fully-illustrated hardcover, $35. From Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House.

Let’s shift over to the Star Wars universe and a most compelling book indeed. For anyone who cares about quality storytelling, and enjoys Star Wars lore, this is a perfect gift. From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back is an anthology celebrating the 40th anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back with forty acclaimed science fiction writers. You will find such gems as Hank Green chronicling the life of a naturalist caring for tauntauns on the frozen world of Hoth. Or about Charles Yu’s quirky look at what it’s like to be in Darth Vader’s death grip? So much to enjoy here. So kick back with a Roll Rum and get into some serious Star Wars storytelling. This is a 564-page hardcover, $35. From Del Rey, an imprint of Penguin Random House.

It’s impossible not to like the hilarious work by Yehuda Devir and Maya Devir with their comics adaptation of their everyday lives. It all began as a fun spoof on young married life. Yehuda would draw. Maya would art direct. Next thing you know, these candid illustrations went viral on social media. Welcome to One of Those Days, a collection of these funny and touching illustrations that just about anyone can relate to. This is a 272-page full color hardcover, $30. From Penguin Random House.

Dbury@50 Celebrates 50 Years of Doonesbury

Garry Trudeau’s Doonesbury has been around for fifty years and it’s time to celebrate. Enter, Dbury@50: The Complete Digital Doonesbury, from Andrews McMeel Publishing, priced at $125. This includes a 224-page “user manual,” a poster, and a thumb drive which includes what looks like a little website presenting all the comic strips on a per week basis. The fifty-year milestone celebratory package takes readers through each year of the strip, providing historical context and featuring key storylines, and proves to be a valuable first step in preserving a significant comic strip for future generations.

Another huge property is anything and everything to do with Frank Herbert’s monumental novel, Dune. Was it ever really meant to be more than a novel? Well, how about a graphic novel? The answer is yes and no. Apparently, it takes more than one graphic novel to properly attempt to cover the novel. Enter, Frank Herbert’s Dune: The Graphic Novel, Book 1. It offers a good mix of the cinematic and more cerebral that should satisfy true believers and newcomers alike. This is a 176-page hardcover, $24.99. From Abrams ComicArts.

If anyone tells you that they’ve finished reading XX, the new mammoth novel by Rian Hughes, they are lying to you. This work clocks in at 992 pages. It actually weighs in at almost 3 pounds. Isn’t that close to the weight of a newborn baby? No, the average weight is around 7 pounds. Okay, I don’t want to overstate this. What I do want to say is that the book is huge and sometimes big books come with a lot of hype. In this case, we have an art house book with a lot of type, as in fancy footwork with various fonts. This is supposed to be a glorious melding of the literary arts with the graphic arts from a master designer. I’m not sure that I’m buying all that. If you are looking for something really compelling and unusual that is playing with the literary and the visual arts, you may still need to go back to 2000 and House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. That said, I’m still working on this mountain of a book and the basic story hasn’t really hooked me in yet. I’d love to know what you think if you have indeed made it to the end. This is a hardcover, $26.43. From Abrams.

How much do you like Batman? I love me a good Batman story, but I mean something really good. Well, a lot of good things came from Batman: The Animated Series. The higher-ups at the Big Two Publishers can be a mysterious bunch but, when they prioritize, they can achieve remarkable results. Look, iconic characters like Batman are only as good as the creative team behind a certain project. What made Batman: The Animated Series work out so well was the creative team led by Bruce Timm back in the early ’90s. It seems that Timm set the gold standard and it has been honored ever since. I have yet to see a subpar DC Comics/Warner Bros. animated feature. The book, Batman: The Animated Series, honors all that hard work and dedication with stellar artwork. Enjoy. This is a 144-page hardcover, $60. From Insight Editions.

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Book Review: REFOCUSING CHAPLIN

The Little Tramp off into the sunset. Illustration by Henry Chamberlain

The Little Tramp off into the sunset. Illustration by Henry Chamberlain

Aristotle speaks of the mimesis of the first order and the mimesis of the second order. When creating art, the goal is to distance oneself from the source. Mimesis of the first order is simply art imitating nature. Mimesis of the second order is art perfecting nature and turning it into something transcendent. That rule is certainly at play in the work of Charlie Chaplin. As Marco Grosoli points out in his essay on Chaplin, this was an artist keenly aware of his myth and in a unique position to go on to make great art from that myth. Marco Grosoli’s fascinating essay is part of a collection of essays from various writers on one of the masters of cinema, “Refocusing Chaplin,” published by Rowman & Littlefield.

There may never be another artist quite like Charlie Chaplin. However, his influence and relevance continues to evolve. And so that gives this collection of essays a great sense of urgency. In the same way that an artist of the first rank like Ray Bradbury could have anticipated social media some fifty years ago, so too did Charlie Chaplin foresee the power of a meme in a career that began over one hundred years ago. To say that Charlie Chaplin was beyond famous is an understatement. He reached the level of myth. It is not short of phenomenal that he continued to grow as an artist through a career that spanned the evolution of cinema.

Chaplin in 1941's "The Great Dictator"

Chaplin in 1940’s “The Great Dictator”

In Marco Grosoli’s essay, he examines the friction between two formidable myths in Chaplin’s “The Great Dictator,” from 1940. By then, Chaplin was more than ready to leverage some of his celebrity for the sake of his art. The timing could not have been more perfect. The difference between the myth of Hitler and Chaplin could not have been more extreme. As Grosoli indicates, Chaplin was not merely imitating Hitler. Chaplin was channeling the myth of Hitler. In that respect, Chaplin was getting at a greater truth. In a work that deeply explores the power of meme, Chaplin plays both the role of Dictator Adenoid Hynkel and a Jewish barber who looks identical to Hynkel. Dictator and barber are, in a sense, interchangeable. In the proper costume and context, everyone accepts whatever the Jewish barber has to say, dressed as Hynkel, even if it is the total opposite of what Hynkel would say. Push two extremes together, Grosoli suggests, and they strangely equate each other, form a perfect nothingness.

"Refocusing Chaplin: A Screen Icon Through Critical Lenses"

“Refocusing Chaplin: A Screen Icon Through Critical Lenses”

Essays in this collection feature a wide spectrum of themes including Marxism, feminism, gender studies, deconstruction, psychoanalytic criticism, new historicism, performance studies, and cultural criticism. This critical study covers a wide reach of films including The Circus (1928), The Gold Rush (1925), City Lights (1931) Modern Times (1936), The Great Dictator (1940), Monsieur Verdoux (1947), and Limelight (1952). This collection proves to be a valuable resource on one of the leading masters of cinema.

“Refocusing Chaplin: A Screen Icon through Critical Lenses” is a 250-page hardcover, published by Rowman & Littlefield. Visit them right here.

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Filed under Art, Book Reviews, Books, Charlie Chaplin, Critical Studies, film, Hollywood, movies, pop culture, Rowman & Littlefield

Farewell to Seattle’s Cinema Books

Cinema Books, 4753 Roosevelt Way NE, Seattle

Cinema Books, 4753 Roosevelt Way NE, Seattle

We say farewell to a true Seattle landmark, the shop that’s catered to a movie lover’s needs since 1977, Cinema Books. It used to be that a sizable part of a fun date in the U-District could take place all on one block. On the corner of Roosevelt and 50th, housed within a structure that looks like it was an old Victorian house at one time, you would have dinner at Ristorante Doria, see a cool indie movie at Seven Gables, and lose yourself amid the stacks of movie memorabilia at Cinema Books.

Cinema Books is shutting its doors. This is its last weekend of sales. The final day is July 15th. I’ve been a Seattle native since 1993 and I would stop by now and then and browse the shelves. I was never a regular visitor but I valued every occasion. I found the owner, Stephanie Ogle, to be quite gracious. And, I suppose, I just took it for granted that the place would always be around. Well, of course, the fate of independent bookstores has become decidedly precarious.

There is simply no other place like Cinema Books in Seattle and nothing on the horizon to fill the void. The amount of material on view is quite staggering. Lately, my schedule has allowed me to stop by and check in on Cinema Books in its last days. It sort of pained me as I watched collectors and enthusiasts pile in and take advantage of the marked-down prices. Here were all these people who had never set foot in the store before and now, like culture vultures, they were leaving with armfuls of books. I could see an uptick in activity with each new visit. Quite frankly, I found myself buying one item and then another and another.

Gwili Andre, "America's Most Beautiful Model," 1932

Gwili Andre, “America’s Most Beautiful Model,” 1932

One curious gem led to another. How about a postcard of Gwili Andre? She was known as “America’s Most Beautiful Model” when David O. Selznick brought her to Hollywood in 1932. Alas, after ten films, RKO was unable to turn her into a star. Who Knew? Who will know? Yes, it’s all supposed to be on the internet but you still need to know where to look.

"Screening the Novel: Rediscovered American Fiction in Film" by Gabriel Miller

“Screening the Novel: Rediscovered American Fiction in Film” by Gabriel Miller

It is only in such a place as Cinema Books that each new visit is rewarded in unexpected ways. It saddens me that we’re losing this little haven. A haven that offers something precious. Hard-to-find and rare items are simply what they are. There are only so many out-of-print books. And they’re not all on Amazon. For instance, you won’t readily find a book I just bought from Cinema Books. How many places do we still have where you can stumble upon a treat in real time, hold it, examine it, maybe even discuss it a bit with real people in real time? Less and less.

How must Ms. Ogle feel about all of this? I’m sure she was experiencing a sense of loss that she was still processing. And yet, as far as I could tell, she was taking it all in stride.

Judy Garland, "The Wizard of Oz," 1939

Judy Garland, “The Wizard of Oz,” 1939

Observing Ms. Ogle with her patrons, it looked like it was business as usual in that moment. For these remaining moments, the show must go on. Judy Garland. Mae West. Marlene Dietrich. German Expressionism. Steven Spielberg. The Bowery Boys. Fatty Arbuckle. Hedda Hopper. Hitchcock. Tarantino. All of Hollywood, all of filmmaking, was still in play in that little store, that little magic shop. You’re looking for an anthology of Hollywood crime stories? Yes, we’ve got it. How about the definitive guide to film from 1946? Yes, it’s still here. All the memories. All the ghosts. Everything still swirling about, still dancing, for the moment.

"Charly," directed by Ralph Nelson, 1968

“Charly,” directed by Ralph Nelson, 1968

One of my purchases was an original movie poster for the 1968 film, “Charly,” starring Cliff Robertson and Claire Bloom. I gravitated to the iconic image. I had taken it down from where it was pinned and was about to roll it up when Ms. Ogle quickly said, “No!” I waited for her next move. “You want to fold it up at the creases. That’s how the studios used to send posters to the theaters. It will keep best that way. Once you’re ready to hang it up, then you can smooth out the creases.” I gratefully followed her advice. Another treasure safely made its way out the door.

Perhaps the sense of loss was outweighed by a sense of freedom. All those items, all that clutter, would soon be gone. It brings to mind the recent collective sigh from the media at the sight of the entire set to “Late Show with David Letterman” in a dumpster. Heck, where was it supposed to go? Well, in the heat of the moment, no one had planned for that. Things change. Things need to go. Decisions need to be made. Either someone walks away with it or it needs to be demolished. We move on.

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