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James Agee made his reputation writing sterling movie reviews for Time and The Nation magazines in the 1940's. Among other glories, he wrote a much-heralded essay titled "Comedy's Greatest Era" that helped to bring silent-comedy icons (most notably Harry Langdon) out of mothballs and caused them to be re-viewed and discussed seriously among film historians. He later went on to work on the screenplays of a couple of gems titled The African Queen and Night of the Hunter.
Unfortunately, many people who regard the critics Pauline Kael and Stanley Kauffmann have either forgotten Agee's work entirely or have assigned his own work to mothballs. But among the faithful are film director Martin Scorsese, who serves as editor of the "Modern Library: The Movies" series of film books. The series has recently reissued the AGEE ON FILM book, and re-reading Agee's work (or reading it for the first time, if you're lucky enough) proves that film criticism can make for reading material as compelling as any fictional novel.
Agee passes the acid test for any film critic: Even if you don't agree with him, his writing is so lively that you can't help enjoying it. His work ranges from three separate columns (three weeks' worth, in print terms) to Chaplin's much-maligned (at the time) MONSIEUR VERDOUX, to the most concise, funniest review ever: Reviewing a musical potboiler titled YOU WERE MEANT FOR ME, Agee replied in four simple words, "That's what *you* think."
If you want to see what high-caliber movie criticism meant in the pre-Siskel & Ebert days, engross yourself in this sprawling book. It'll make you appreciate the decades before every newspaper, newsletter, and Internet site had its own minor-league deconstructionist of Hollywood blockbusters.
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Much of the focus of this little book is directed toward film preservation, although the title of the book also refers to trends in filmmaking. It is interesting to see the predictions that all three directors made for the future of film when these interviews were conducted in 1990. Along the way, we gain a bit of insight into the passion these three directors (and these two critics) have for films and their future. An interesting look for the casual fan or the serious film lover.
116 pages
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It's a good read, though text does not follow the usual stylistic protocol of essay or non-fiction book writing. Full of gushing observations about postmodernist connections between Scorsese's work and that of other film directors.
That's okay, because Scorsese is a brilliant postmodernist and pure film buff who happily steals (Hitchcock would be proud) from all kinds of filmic sources.
However so much fun reader will have, going after all the videos this book praises, the pace and path of the writing can be almost overwhelming. It is full of ricochets and breathless connections to all kinds of sources. I found it annoying, sometimes, how rather reactive the text could be... this is like this is connected to this is from this is similar to this, etc etc.
But I give it four stars because anyone who likes Scorsese will probably enjoy reading this.
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I enjoyed tremandously learning about the Teamsters, the politicians and of course the Mafia involvement in the Las Vegas casino operations. The book exceled in the abundance of information.
However, the writing itself was not so great therefore lowering the reading experience. Just as in real life, when people tell you their side of the story, it hardly ever concurs with someone else's account. Since the book was really a collage of vaious narrations, the author had a hard time weaving together different points of views and tones. Sometimes readers are left wondering what really happened.
I would recommend this book for people who are interested in information and stories regarding the Mafia. The topic is very interesting, but for those who prefers a bit more drama and fluency of writing, then this may not be your top choice.
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"Casino" became a 1995 movie of the same name. Pileggi also wrote "Wiseguy," basis for another excellent mob film ("Goodfellas") by Martin Scorsese. "Casino" doesn't quite match "Wiseguy," but it's a highly readable and informative book.
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Excellent, I'd recommend it to anyone interested in true life mafia stories and Las Vegas life.
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This book will not bring new conversation to the flogging 2001 fan who is desperate to learn every possible secret there was about this movie, instead, it works on a more basic level really being a Making of... book that goes through various trouble during production and how special effects were mastered. A book that obviously had no input from Arthur C Clarke. To be truely captivated by the movie, but you probably already have it, so buy the sequel, and the book sequels, then buy this one. It'll sit nicely next to the rest of the Making of... books that are around.
Rather disappointing due to the lack of insight into the REAL making of 2001, which in my opinion is not in a studio but at desk writing a script, we never find out what Clarke was thinking whilst he making this masterpiece with pen and paper!
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The book succeeds in giving the reader a sense of time and placement in history for 2001 as well as revealing some of the production secrets and offering some film analyzation. The film reviews alone were incredible in their revelation of reactions to the film. If you want to more about the actual process of the 2001 production, Filming The Future by Piers Bizony is a better choice. Get this book for a clear understanding of where 2001 came from, how it came to be and what effect it had. If you come to it with this in mind, I'm sure any film fan, and certainly any 2001 fan, will be blown away by the amount of information and insight presented. Don't pass this up!
Interesting to me is that he spends three weeks discussing Chaplin's MONSIEUR VERDOUX, which is a most unusual movie and mostly forgotten today. This might be because he saw it as his only chance to write a poignant piece on the greatest living film artist, or it may be because he identified with the plight of mankind theme that Chaplin was reaching for. You can pick another reason, yourself, but it was a bold decision, because most critics panned the film (according to him) and most readers probably couldn't even see the movie in their small towns. It was as if he knew he would be writing for posterity. Like all critics, he cultivated his darlings. He saw much in the work of John Huston and was very skillful in his sizing up of TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE. I was impressed that he predicted the all-time classic nature of the film, but also understood the studio system gimmicks that took away from the genius.
You don't have to be literary minded like W. H. Auden to enjoy this book. You'll like it, if you like movies.