"Beneath Mulholland" is one of the best books about movies ever written. David Thomson is incredibly imaginative, erudite, creative, and risk-taking in his musings on Hollywood movies. His pieces on Cary Grant and Greta Garbo are among the best short essays on actors I have ever read. Other especially fascinating pieces are "James Dean at 50" and the amazing "Perkins Cobb". The whole book is just wonderful.

I was really struck by the complexity of thought in this remarkable book. If you love films and want insight into the true Hollywood of 1999, this is the book. Superb essays and flights of truth and fantasy by an outstanding author. I will read this book many times.

Dr. Weiner is quite reknown in the field of psychological testing. His expertise is evident in advisor to Rita Aero's smashingly effective test methods.

This opus is coloured with pleasant outreach. I recommend it highly.

1) vey useful for clinical psychologist 2) unfortunately, it is not computerized.

David Thomson is arguably the most gifted writer on the cinema -- his "Biogrpahical Dictionary of Film" one of the subject's most valued reference guides. Singling out Howard Hawks' film version of Raymond Chandler's "The Big Sleep" as the most entertaining movie ever made is clearly a bold move on Thomson's part, but his arguments are steadfast and persuasive. Anyone choosing to read this work will emerge with a deeper understanding of the great detective film and an irresistable desire to see it again as soon as possible.

This is the best book on db that I have seen since Black Book. The photos and text are excellent. The snippets of info describing the photos are great and very informative. You feel you know him a bit better after reading this boo

This updated, expanded edition celebrates Dylan's 60th birthday and includes writings by some of the notables of his time, from Ken Kesey and Joan Baez to Simon Winchester and Bruce Springsteen. Essays offer insights on his life and influences and provide a personal overview of music and history.

This is a fantastic book covering 1914 to the end of the 20th century. Not only are the economic aspects critiqued, but social history as well as political motives are covered well. Works as a great introduction to someone looking for a general aspect of british history, as well as someone wanting to pry deep into British political thought.

What a great book! Even though this is a first person record, it is so well written it reads almost like a novel. The author makes good on his fascination with the mountain men of the early west by setting out into the wilderness on his own. The beauty and dangers of the american rocky mountains unfold as he follows the paths of the original mountain men and searches for himself along the way.

Like the TV series on which they are based, the series of
"Biography" books are accessible approaches to the men and
women on whom they focus. (They are also a great marketing idea.
Give that boy/girl a raise!) Each volume is written by a
well-known and/or respected author; "Marlon Brando" was penned
by David Thomson, whose past achievements include tomes on
Orson Welles and David O. Selznick. The books are pithy
and pleasing, highlighting and spotlighting (in concise detail) its subject, and not shrinking away from controversy or scandal. The photos are terrific; the layouts are done in that appealing, yet not over-the-top, DK style. Think of these books as printed soundbytes that are as interesting and insightful and welcome as their
small-screen counterparts.

Since 1992, John Boorman and friends have put together Projections, a yearly forum where filmmakers from all disciplines write about their craft. Projections 4 was published in 1995, to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the first public exhibition of the Lumiere Brothers' new invention, Le Cinematograph.

This year's edition is split into seventeen articles divided into six sections. The Centenary begins with a transcript of a 1948 interview with Louis Lumiere, followed by what has perennially been my favorite continuing section, The Burning Question. This year's question, "In this year, when we celebrate 100 years of cinemas, what is the greatest gift and worst legacy of the movies?", is answered by 16 directors from all around the world, whose careers span the past half century. Some answers are short and to the point, while more than one filmmaker spends pages clarifying their viewpoint. Then Martin Scorsese talks about his former fears of shooting anamorphically.

The Journal. Every year, Boorman recruits a director to keep a copious diary recounting their previous year. In 1994, Boorman asked writer/director James Toback, whose year started out with a large quake in Los Angeles and proceeded to go downhill from there.

The Career talks to Arthur Penn and Ken Burns about their years struggling to maintain their individual vision.

The Process is rather self explanatory. Six articles about filmmaking from various points of view. The first two cover Oscar winning screenwriter Leslie Howard's tumultuous Hollywood career, in his own words. We then move to a dilapidated theatre in New York, where Louis Malle, Andre Gregory and the cast of "Vanya on 42nd Street" offer their views on making this unique movie. Sound design guru Walter Murch speaks about the early days of American Zoetrope and sound in cinema. From the Malaysian set of Beyond Rangoon, John Boorman has a great exchange with Eddie Fowler, longtime prop master to David Lean. This section ends with cinematographer John Seale comparing his collaborative efforts with many of his directors.

Gotta Dance includes what became one of Gene Kelly's last discussions about the art of choreography in film. Sally Potter adds her thoughts about dance in cinema, during post production for her own "The Tango Lesson".

Farewell sums up the lives of two artists who were lost in 1994, Federico Fellini and Sandy Dennis. The book ends with Lindsey Anderson's summation of working with John Ford on The Quiet Man.

I bought the first Projections book on the recommendation of a filmmaker friend shortly after its release. I have pre-ordered every issue since, often before I even knew what the contents would entail in any particular year. The entire series has consistently been that good.

If you are a major film fan or a budding filmmaker, this series must be on your bookshelf. Although, if you are like me, they'll never spend much time on the bookshelf.

I lack the adjectives to describe either the book or my reaction to it adequately. It has a cumulative power and majesty that must move even (especially?) the so-called conventional "social drinker" to wonder. Where, it forces me to ask, among the array of well-limned personalities in this finely written volume and among these tenderly laced vignettes am I? The book has a lyric quality to it that saves it from any sign of preachiness. It compels one to visualize, even if one has not had the experiences of Mr. Thomson's fellowship, the agony lurking in the transcient pleasures of drink. Bravo and congratulations, Mr. Thomson!

The impact of David Earl Thomson's Fellowship of Men and Women is powerfully and eloquently made. It comes in no small part from the easy familiarity with which one gets to know his characters before realizing that the lives of each of these ordinary people is spinning ever more rapidly out of control. As any recovering alcoholic can attest, it is the person in the eye of that vortex who is usually the last to see it. Thomson's portraits give form to "the mass of men" that Henry David Thoreau described over a hundred years ago leading "lives of quiet desperation" and how some choose to deal or forget. Readers should not be surprised to find a friend or loved one--or themselves--on these pages, so perceptive are Thomson's observations. Buy this book for someone you love.

This powerful book stands alone in its literary value and has the added emotional impact of an inside look at various kinds of alcoholism and its effects on those around them. It makes clear that it is a disease. The book makes you care about each of the people and you find yourself realizing that they need help and not condemnation. A must read for a deeper understanding of one of today's most pressing issues.