Book Description
If Chins Could Kill is a delightfully irreverent, yet oddly touching epic of ambition and disappointment, fame and anonymity, and lots of fake blood. Told in Bruces wry, sarcastic voice, it is a Hollywood from the bleacher seats look at his experiences in film and TV and at his status as a cult horror and sci-fi movie god. This man with the face of a matinee idol and the heart of a Stooge first attracted what has grown into an enormous cult following as the star of Sam Raimis legendary Evil Dead trilogy of thriller-comedies. With tireless good humor and biting wit, Bruce acted, produced, and directed his way through a bakers dozen of B horror films and space operas before finally enjoying mainstream stardom on prime-time TV. Deeply earnest and fiercely funny, this book tells the story of an unlikely star who continues to lead a unique double life as cult movie icon and regular Joe.
Customer Reviews:
Just Plain Fun.......2007-09-16
Who doesn't love Bruce Campbell? You've seen him in the Evil Dead movies, in Hercules and Xena, in Jack of All Trades, in Spider-Man, in The Hudsucker Proxy, in Brisco Country Jr, in Bubba Hotep and, most recently, in USA's Burn Notice. No matter what he's in, you know it's going to be a good-old fashioned, fun, rip-roaring good time with a healthy dash of humor and slapstick. And for Campbell's fans, this book doesn't disappoint either.
If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor is a fun autobiography - Campbell tells his story in simple, matter-of-fact terms without pulling any punches or overly philosophizing. He gives us what we want - humorous anecdoes and career highlights, as well as great behind-the-scenes tales. Granted, most of this book focuses on his early career and the making of/hoopla over Evil Dead and Evil Dead II. However, you'll also get insight into a number of other elements of his career, including the roles that got away (for instance - did you know he lost out to Billy Zane for the role of The Phantom?). This is also a quick read - I got through it in less than 24 hours. If you're looking for a fun read about one of our favorite actors, you can't go wrong with this one. Check it out!
No Joke.......2007-08-23
This was an excellent read!
Such a pleasant change from many auto biographies.
He is not afraid to be totally honest and take many stabs at his credibility.
Many laughs to be had
If Chins Could Kill:.......2007-08-10
An entertaining look into gorilla film making and the ins and outs of a working actor.
Not just for Bruce Campbell fans...........2007-06-27
"If Chins Could Kill" provides wonderful insight to how Hollywood and the movie industry really works. Far too often the glamour of film (part of the mystique, schmaltz, whatever) leaves us assuming everyone in Hollywood is running around in limousines, dining with Julia Roberts, and wondering where to put their millions. Obscure wage slave members of unions who have to fight the machine and at the same time be obsequious price takers, begging for any chance, are more the reality, and Bruce Campbell does a wonderful job of making the film industry come alive from the perspective of a clever Joe-Sixpack. A wry inside observer you'd welcome as your friend.
Thoroughly enjoyable on many dimensions.
HAIL TO THE KING, BABY.......2007-04-25
BRUCE CAMPBELL
IF CHINS COULD KILL:CONFESSIONS OF A B MOVIE ACTOR
HAIL THE KING BABY, Bruce Campbell has all ways been one of my favorite actors ever since I first had seen "EVIL DEAD". I have followed his career since then and have never been disappointed by any one of his performances ever. So you can only imagine how excited I was when I first heard about this book being published, in fact I rarely ever get excited about a book [Stephen King, Shawn Michaels, Kurt Angle, Eric Bischoff, & a few others are the exceptions]. After first purchasing this book I started to wonder something, how long will it take before I get to the filming on "Evil Dead" in this book. But as soon as I started reading from the first page I forgot all about that, I found everything he had written about his childhood and growing up extremely interesting. In fact how all of them [the crew, Raimi, Spiegel, Becker, Tapert, & all the rest] got together is one of my favorite parts about the book.
Of course from there things get real interesting when they all get together to film "Evil Dead", of course the chapter before this was excellent as it is the story of how they raised the money for the film, "Within The Woods" [the sample film they made to show investors]. But on to the "Evil Dead" section of the book, this has got to be one of the greatest things I have ever read. The problems these guys went through is amazing, for a film that was so good and looked like it was a blast to make was anything but for this group. It also is to bad that somebody burnt the cabin down, but things get even more interesting as the group goes on to put "Evil Dead" in film festivals. It was cool to see how they went on to get distribution for the film that launched their careers. Also it was cool to find out That Stephen King loved the film and had some input into the second "Evil Dead" being made. Of course "Evil Dead 2" & "Army of Darkness" were some very interesting sections in this book, especially since each one of them like the original are classics.
Of course the whole book isn't about those three cult classics, in fact not all of it is about the film industry. But worry not all you TV fanatics out there, "Hercules, Xena, & Brisco County Jr." are all discussed in full detail, and if you were a fan of those shows like my self [DVD box sets are great] you will definitely be pleased with these sections. It was cool to find out about how he came into the director's chair, and learn more about his roll's on the shows. Of course he only appeared on "Hercules, and Xena" as were he starred in "The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.", but the first two is were he got a lot more time behind the camera as a director. Also his various television roles are discussed in the book as well as his various film roles, although I wish he would have discussed the "Maniac Cop" series and "Serving Sara" more, although "Maniac Cop" was discussed more so then the latter. Many other topics are discussed within the pages of this book, his family, childhood, and every day things are in here as well, and the fan conventions are talked about as well. I also have the version of the book with the extra section about "The Chins Across America", worth the purchase is all I can say.
This was a great book, and I highly recommend this book to any and everybody out there.
Book Description
Complete with behind-the-scenes diary entries from the set of Vachon's best-known fillms, Shooting to Kill offers all the satisfaction of an intimate memoir from the frontlines of independent filmmakins, from one of its most successful agent provocateurs -- and survivors. Hailed by the New York Times as the "godmother to the politically committed film" and by Interview as a true "auteur producer," Christine Vachon has made her name with such bold, controversial, and commercially successful films as "Poison," "Swoon," Kids," "Safe," "I Shot Andy Warhol," and "Velvet Goldmine."Over the last decade, she has become a driving force behind the most daring and strikingly original independent filmmakers-from Todd Haynes to Tom Kalin and Mary Harron-and helped put them on the map.
So what do producers do? "What don't they do?" she responds. In this savagely witty and straight-shooting guide, Vachon reveals trheguts of the filmmaking process--rom developing a script, nurturing a director's vision, getting financed, and drafting talent to holding hands, stoking egos, stretching every resource to the limit and pushing that limit. Along the way, she offers shrewd practical insights and troubleshooting tips on handling everything from hysterical actors and disgruntled teamsters to obtuse marketing executives.
Complete with behind-the-scenes diary entries from the sets of Vachon's best-known films, Shooting To Kill offers all the satisfactions of an intimate memoir from the frontlines of independent filmmaking, from one of its most successful agent provocateurs-and survivors.
Customer Reviews:
Outstanding guide to producing.......2007-09-13
Christine Vachon has written an extremely accessible, entertaining book about what it means to be an independent film producer. She covers every step of the movie-making process, from finding a script to casting to hiring a crew, editing, etc. She covers the material with an engaging style and a sense of humor, and the facts are punctuated with examples and anecdotes from the movies she's produced. She's candid and unapologetic, and apparently some reviewers here have a problem with that. News flash - if you intend to make a career in the film industry, you better get used to people who yell, tight schedules, high expectations, plus low budgets if indies are your thing. If you spent any time on a film set, you would know that it is the producer's JOB to be tough, to get things in on time, and to run a tight ship. At the end of the day, it's the producer's butt that is on the line. It's just plain silly to give the book a low rating because Christine had the guts to be honest about the way things work on a film set and you wouldn't want to work with her. It's clear that some reviewers here need to get a thicker skin or find a different calling.
Christine's films have been critical success stories despite their low budgets and tight time frames - she knows what she is doing and has taken the time to write a wonderful introduction to the world of filmmaking for beginners and those of us with some experience. I highly recommend this book.
There is an Indie Neverland After All.......2005-09-20
Not only is this a thorough and informative piece of work, which would make it worth twice the price all by itself, it's also an inspiration and should be read by anyone, writer, actor, producer, director, anyone.... who's ever been told you have to compromise your vision in this business to get your movie made. There are several great stories in this book but the image that keeps resonating in my head is Christine Vachon, the High Priestess of Indie Film and Soverign Protector of Infant Directors, saying to the producer's rep: "We'll talk about it" and saying to everyone else after hanging up the phone, "We're not cutting anything, we're not cutting anything." Not only did I not know there were people out there doing such things, I had begun to wonder if it was even possible. This book can make you believe again. I didn't read it. I devoured it.
Best behind the scenes indie film book I've ever read.......2002-10-14
Having just directed a low-budget feature in Hollywood, I wish I had read this book beforehand (and I certainly wish my producer had read it). Vachon breaks down the process, making it understandable to even the most novice film fan. The writing is gutsy, the tales from the trenches always interesting. One of the must-reads if you're at all interested in making movies.
Producers aren't directors.......2002-09-24
Somewhere between the world of independant movies and studio pictures reside a group of people who've bounced between both worlds and have taken up residence in the void. The author is one of those people. This book isn't very informative for the ultra low budget producer but a good read nonetheless. Although at times it wanders aimlessly while the reader tries to figure out which of the half-dozen guys named "Todd" she's talking about now. I'd recommend this book to people with budgets in the neighborhood of 100,000 to 5 million. I wouldn't call it a very good resource for locating financing.
Blunt as Hell, Thank God.......2002-06-20
If you want to know more about what it's like to produce, rather than HOW to produce...this is the book. Vachon takes you through her life, and I've learned more about producing just from reading about one of her days. She's honest, doesn't preach much, doesn't give very many golden rules (since we all make our own), and tells you how it really is. If your tired of reading books on forms and paperwork, negotiating and contacts, and are just plain interested in what it's like to be IN IT, buy the book. It's so worth it.
Average customer rating:
- I Love This Book!
- You don't need wanderlust to love this road trip!
- Not a great book for guys.
- Immediate, funny, haunting, and real
- two journeys
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Chick Flick Road Kill: A Behind the Scenes Odyssey into Movie-Made America
Alicia Rebensdorf
Manufacturer: Seal Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 General
| Sociology
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Culture
| Sociology
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Media Studies
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
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ASIN: 1580051944 |
Book Description
As a child of the 1980s, Alicia Rebensdorf was raised by TV and movies. But when she, like so many of her generation, found herself a bored twentysomething, waitressing and wondering why life wasn't as she imagined it would be, she devised a plan: She'd visit the locations of the shows and movies she grew up with and try to come to terms with her nostalgia for places and scenes that purported a real America.
Chick Flick Road Kill explores Rebensdorf's relationship to popular culture and media mythology. From the streets of Fargo, North Dakota, to the bleachers of the still-intact field from The Field of Dreams in Dyersville, Iowa, Rebensdorf learns that her generation's sense of America is, indeed, as flat as its two-dimensional TV screens.
What's more, she discovers the America behind the Hollywood myth — one that's far more exciting when freed from the mystique and power of pop culture's romanticism.
Customer Reviews:
I Love This Book!.......2007-04-11
I couldn't put this book down. It was laugh out loud funny and honest. The beautiful, witty writing lead me on a trip across the county to places I have never been to, but I had seen many times in the familiar movies I grew up with. It made me want to visit the river of Deliverance and a magical spot in Georgia. I could relate to the author's searching, her expectations and her doubt.
You don't need wanderlust to love this road trip!.......2007-04-10
Part of it was that I knew of the places she wrote about, either because I'd been there, or had seen them in the movies, but mainly because it was just such beautiful writing!! I was captivated seeing things through her eyes, the depth of her responses, the honesty. Here are JUST a few of my favorite descriptions:
"Here, like pictures drawn in grade school, land and sky meet in a thin-lipped line. The sky is absolutely all over - I can't look anywhere it's not - yet it feels light as tissue, as if I could poke through it with a finger.
Being in the presence of the Mississippi, so shiny and big and alive, feels like how I imagine it would be to be next to a whale, astounded so much mass can move.
In the sky, homing pigeons do laps, their bodies angling at the same moment, disappearing like a knife turning on its side, then turning back, black and bodied again.
I navigate the road's rare meat, the loose bloody heaps of deer and raccoon, others as stiff and whole as furniture.
The warm air rushes in as if it's about time. The humidity makes me feel lovely and grimy and young.
It's unfair how everything is striking when it's fleeting. Yet all my attempts to thwart this, trying to prolong a moment by stopping to savor a town or a view, tend only to prove it true, the high ache of passing a place collapsing the moment I try to capture it.....So now, as I drive, I try to ride that heartbreak, accepting that the very thing that makes this moment spectacular is that which will make it end."
But this book is more than just mesmerizing metaphors. It's full of self-deprecating wit, personification of cars and other inanimate objects, terrifying situations, and soul searching insights that helped me understand why I both love and hate this country.
Encore!! What's next?! I'll be waiting.
Not a great book for guys........2007-04-07
The Stand By me chapter was the only thing readable about the book.
Immediate, funny, haunting, and real.......2007-03-17
Rebensdorf's inner journey outdistances her 13,000 miles on America's roads. This girl's got the pedal to the metal of her mind and heart, and she doesn't let up on herself, not for a minute. I was pulled along on her trip, impatient for the next adventure while savoring the current one, each sentence a pleasure due to her deft phrasing and acute eye. During the few days I was reading, I felt disembodied from my own physical location, felt I'd escaped along with the writer as she drove along. I grew dismayed, towards the end, at how few pages were left for me to experience. She asks the questions I've always asked myself as well: what matters? how can I matter? Her book's both sassy and soulful, and it builds towards some lessons that are both profound and eloquent.
I cannot imagine anyone who wouldn't enjoy this book -- the America she writes about is the one that's shaped or shaping us all.
two journeys.......2007-03-11
This author takes the reader on two journeys. As she travels the country seeking out the sources of the movie myths with which she grew up, she also introspectively looks into herself as she has to cope with new situations and deal with loneliness, self-image, romantic fantasies, fear, preconceived notions, men - all under the shadow of 9/11. The result is a disarmingly honest, intelligent and witty book which will elicit chuckles and tears. The reader is led into the consciousness of a Gen X-er and emerges with a better appreciation both of the younger generation and how the media affects our perceptions. This is a great read!
Book Description
David Carradine is Bill—the complex, charismatic master assassin from the critically acclaimed, monstrously successful Kill Bill films. Throughout the filming of Quentin Tarantino's brilliant, violent epic, Carradine kept a daily diary—capturing all the action, the genius, the madness, and the magic that combined to make a masterpiece. More than simply an insider's close-up look at the filmmaking process and the astonishing cast and crew—director Tarantino, star Uma Thurman, and all the other artists whose extraordinary skills helped create something glorious—The Kill Bill Diary illuminates the fine points of the serious actor's craft, as a truly unique talent takes us along with him on a quirky, breathtaking, no-holds-barred, and altogether miraculous journey. It is a must-own volume for anyone who loves the movies.
Customer Reviews:
Carradine is king!.......2007-07-19
A must have for tarantino fans. More insight into making of Kill Bill. Magnificent reading!
A minor gem underneath the autograph.......2007-05-21
Before Tarantino, David Carradine was--and I'm quoting here, so don't think I'm dissing--a "cult actor who couldn't get work". As I imagine this sums up many opinions, the reader can forgive much from Carradine's production diary. And there's much to forgive, but it's always fun. Carradine's an engaging writer: parts puffy testosterone and lowly gratitude, arrogance and wide-eyed observer. He's everything you'd think (or fear), but never, ever pompous. And the star of the book--the superhero who comes off looking like a mutant crusader for film--is the ever-enthusiastic Tarantino. No wonder the cover quotes Quentin as saying--or yelling--, "I LOVED it!"
Carradine raps on everything--Thurman and Hannah's beauty, the weirdness of China, even Einstein: "Someone once asked Einstein if the universe was infinite. And he said, 'No. But it's ALMOST infinite.' Albert was one of the greatest stand-up comics of all time; I mean, look at his hair. He had to know that was funny. And I think the mustache was camouflage, to hide the secret smile."
Carradine takes the reader to production meetings, through fabulous sets, and out of snaffus that boggle the organized mind. Tarantino chucks out whole scenes, changes plot mid-stream, and coaxes grand performances out of everyone with a winning smile and hyperactive energy. I'd dearly like to know him, and now feel that I do.
Sure this book is mostly fluff, but underneath the glitz, we glimpse the sobering life of an aging minor (if cultic) star, and the gratitude with which he receives a second career. I actually held my breath at Carradine's bravery--one whole chapter is dedicated to a nightmare variation to the naked in class-taking the test you forgot in the course you never attended--dream, but on the set, his elusive script forever out of reach. The anxiety expressed here, the fear that something could go wrong with his comeback, is a universal fear anyone past the age of 30 can relate to, and I thought it was human of him to express it. Well, after all, it is a diary of sorts!
I found this book enjoyable, and a lot more thought-provoking--and fun--than I feared it would be. I hope he writes more.
It's not bad, it's just very light..........2007-04-19
The Kill Bill Diary is sort of a hard book to review. I ended up giving it four stars because it's well written and engaging, but unfortunately very light. Carradine has done a wonderful job of chronicling his time spent working on the film, as well as shedding some light on both his process as an actor and what it's like as an actor to deal with studios such as Miramax (now the Weinstein Company), but the book tends to be a little off balance if only because it's so guarded. Carradine's prose is very interesting and comfortable, and the book reads very quickly, though in a very nice conversational way.
There is something to be desired in its Diary approach as the book struggles in this style choice, shifting between some all too expedited daily synopses to some almost uncomfortably personal correspondences (in particular a couple of gushing letters to Tarantino) with not much middle ground in between. Though at times Carradine's voice borders on arrogance (and with his lengthy body of work and his iconic rock star status after Kung Fu, who can blame him), he can just as easily come across as the most humble man on earth, so overall the POV of his experiences on the film come off almost pretty well balanced. At the end of the day though it's not as personal as one would think a "diary" would be, and because it tends towards skirting details it feels like he's holding back. Don't get me wrong, I think the book is very honest, and Carradine has a very positive outlook (I'm not expecting him to dish dirt or anything), but because he tends to hold back a little (either guardedly leaving out names or not really getting into detail) it reads a little flat or more like a blog instead of a book.
My biggest gripe with the book though is in its marketing. The back cover blurb makes the book out to be a "making-of" on the Kill Bill film when honestly it's really only about Carradine's time on the set which amounts to about a fourth of the film.
If you're looking for some light, behind the scenes reading on the film industry, this book is great, but if you are looking for "...an insider's close-up look at the film-making process and the astonishing cast and crew, ...the fine points of the actor's craft, ...[and a] breathtaking, no-holds-barred ... miraculous journey" (taken from the back cover) then you might be a little disappointed.
kill bill diary.......2007-03-10
i found the book very interesting . i would have to add that i am a huge Tarantino fan who loved kill Bill so im probally pretty biased on this one .
Diary of a Film Masterpiece.......2007-02-23
I finally finished this and I'm sad it's over. I can't call it 5-star worthy, because there are obvious flaws, but anyone who would take the time to read this, probably won't care about it. (If you hated the film why on earth would you read the book, right?).
This is actually NOT Carradine's first book (see Endless Highway, which is unfortunately out of print) and since I just started reading it, I can't say which I prefer, but Carradine's friendly narrative is what draws you in and keeps you reading even when the story flags. Like any journal there are some bits that maybe we could have lived without (much to much family stuff, but hey they sound great, so why not go on and on about them?) and of course his experience on Kill Bill was limited to the time he was involved.
This is certainly NOT a complete Making of Kill Bill. It's budget prohibited David being on the set except when he was needed so there are definite gaps in the "movie" story. This is more than made up for with Carradine's letters to Tarantino, dozens of "insider" details about his time on the set, his hope that this will revitalize his career and much more. Carradine is a fascianting dude. This more than comes across in the story!
The one thing I kept thinking throughout the story and even more so now as I see a cheesy tv commercial featuring Carradine, is that unlike John Travolta, Kill Bill did NOT revitalize Carradine's career in the same way. He has been in very little of note since he made Kill Bill. I'm glad he's working, but what happen to the "Tarantino Revitalization"?
This is a somewhat sad footnote to the story that leaves me curious. Bill "was" a career making performance and role. Perhaps it is a continuation of the industry's slight of the film (no Oscar nominations, mixed reviews, no respect, darn it). Very little was made of Uma Thurman's brilliant performance (even more of an Oscar slight in years when very few female performances were Oscar-worthy). Is the industry jealous of Tarantino? Was this there chance to exact a little revenge on the bad boy outsider?
But I'll get off my tangent for now (it was afterall inspired by Carradine's optimism). To sum up: Read It! It's fun. It's gossipy. It's insightful. It's never boring! Some great color photos round out the text. Let's hope that Carradine is still acting and writing for some time. Thanks to Tarantino for making it all possible. And how about reprinting "Endless Highway" someone, anyone?
Book Description
The only major biography of Sam Peckinpah in print, David Weddle's If They Move...Kill 'Em! tells the wild story of Peckinpah's life with novelistic verve and does justice to one of the most important bodies of work in American cinema. Born into a clan of lumberjacks, ranchers, and frontier lawyers, David Samuel Peckinpah served in the Marines and then made his way to Hollywood, where he worked on a string of low-budget features before being hired as a writer for Gunsmoke in 1955. Quickly becoming the hottest writer in television, Peckinpah went on to direct a phenomenal series of features, including Ride the High Country, Straw Dogs, The Getaway, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, and The Wild Bunch. The life he led -- glamorous, wild, and beset by personal demons -- is as vivid as his films. A hopeless romantic and a grim nihilist, inspiration to such luminaries as DePalma, Scorsese, and Tarantino, Sam Peckinpah was an audacious American original. If They Move...Kill 'Em! is his wild and woolly story.
Customer Reviews:
A Response.......2005-06-16
If you are interested in a detailed look at Sam Peckinpah's life and work, this book is a great starting point. I was particularly struck by Weddle's descriptions of Sam's creative process. Near the end of the book, the recurring theme of "he was drunk (and/or) high again," gets somewhat stale. But Weddle was only reporting fact. For any Peckinpah fan or even those just finding out about the director, this book is well-worth your time.
Last thing...Sorry, but I have to respond to a previous reviewer J. Austin. You lose all credibility as a reviewer when you criticize a biographer for not knowing enough about his subject when you--yourself--fail to spell the subject's name correctly. Secondly, the author's name is Weddle, not Waddle. Thirdly, Weddle hardly claims that Cross of Iron is embarassing. You quoted one word, "embarassing," and removed the entire context around it. Weddle stated that some scenes in Cross of Iron were embarassing (a result of Peckinpah's erratic behavior and inability to focus for a full day's work), but overall Weddle was complimentary of the film. It was Convoy that Weddle dismissed altogether--something I think all Peckinpah fans would agree with. And finally, Weddle apparently did meet Peckinpah on the set of The Osterman Weekend, as he points out in the introduction to Paul Seydor's The Western Films.
peck himself would have shot the man.......2005-04-18
sorry, but i have to differ w/ the other posted 'reviews'.
this book is a sorry mass of sensationalism & subjective criticism.
any 'fimmaker' who thinks this books paints an accurate picture of the man does not truly understand him or his work.
most of the text regarding THE WILD BUNCH is ripped from other sources. extant descriptions read like a bad screenplay (or bill o'reilly's novel)
what really irks me is that waddle dismisses CROSS OF IRON as embarrassing--how many times did he actually WATCH THE FILM?
clearly, the fact that Welles commented on it means it is worth intensive viewing. waddle would rather talk about peckingpah's drinking and obvious malformations . . .
so beware, true peckingpah fan . . . nothing new from this compendium (and it is thick)
a pity the author never met the man he was paid to write about.
jra
Tragic examination of the Sam Peckinpah myth.......2003-05-11
David Weddle's fine biography of director Sam Peckinpah "If They Move...Kill'em!" is a harrowing book, detailing an extraordinary professional life wrought with alcoholism, drug addiction, rage and eventually paranoia. This book doesn't attempt to brush Peckinpah off the mountain he will forever possess, but it does detail his inspirations, influences and life-long battle with the demons within. Peckinpah was indeed tortured, an Ernest Hemingway or even Jack Kerouac of his time. He was also one heck of an SOB.
As a fan of Peckinpah's extaordinary films, including "The Wild Bunch," "Cross of Iron," "Straw Dogs" and "The Getaway," I was always perplexed by the erratic quality of the films later in his career and his eventual disappearance from the filmmaking scene. I suppose Weddle's work provides an uneasy answer to these questions, and I think his arguments about Peckinpah living the life of the characters he created in his films is valid.
Peckinpah's legend has always overshadowed Peckinpah's work, which is why such underrated jewels as "Noon Wine," "Junior Bonner" and "The Ballad of Cable Hogue" have been overlooked. I appreciate Weddle's attempts at exposing this myth, and revealing the troubled inspirations and obsessions of Peckinpah. I have problems with the way Weddle skims the surface of many of his films, rarely providing much critical insight or interpretation. But to do so would be treading on the groundbreaking territory of Garner Simmons' ultimate work "Peckinpah, A Portrait in Montage." Weddle should be applauded for avoiding areas that perhaps have already been covered.
To support his argument, Weddle ignores films from Peckinpah's resume, and makes several generalizations which are not entirely accurate. As the years go by, curious viewers will eventually realize that "Cross of Iron" was one of his great films, just as they will also begin to appreciate the gritty greatness of "The Getaway." These films will never serve as examples of the eroding talent of Peckinpah. Though I do agree with Weddle that "Bring Me the Head of Alfred Garcia, "The Osterman Weekend" and "Convoy" are hollow shells of a once-great talent.
"If They Move...Kill'Em!" is eye-opening and disturbing. It needed to be written. Many artists who rose to prominence during the 1960s and 1970s suffered a similar Peckinpah fate - cocaine addiction, alcoholism, a life of excess. That he was still able to make his films was a stunning achievement. That he took 10 years and 5 films off of his life (at the very least), is an American tragedy. Weddle has done a good job at revealing a man who not only was his own worst enemy, but who lived the ignoble life of the tortured artist to the extreme. To know Peckinpah the man, is to eventually understand his utterly unique films.
Even the worst of us. . .Sometimes the worst most of all........2003-03-04
As I peddled my latest play, "Rust To Dust", I thought I was being pretty cute by describing it as "The Glass Menagerie meets The Wild Bunch". Working under the false pretense that my work uniquely combined the "hot ice and wonderous strange snow" of Williams' delicate and tender memory play with Peckinpah's bloody machismo driven Darwinistic fables, I thought I had something rare. Wrong.
According to Weddle, Sam Peckinpah himself had already beaten me to the punch.
In reading David Weddle's expansively researched and annotated biography of one of film's great colorful and tragic characters, I rediscovered the suprisingly sentimental and softly poetic side of Peckinpah.
Influenced tremendously by the symbollic stage poetry of Tennesse Williams (Sam was one of his champions!)along with the he-man adventures of John Ford, Howard Hawks and John Huston, Peckinpah brilliantly (admittedly only consistent in three films)managed to combine both seemingly polarized worlds.
Weddle really brings to light the complex character of Sam Peckinpah. Weddle pulls no punches and portrays the director as abusive, selfish, self destructive, malignant and paranoid. He also illuminates the softer, romantic side that created some legitimate and heartbreakingly penetrating works of art. Sam felt moved by poetry and the longing we all have to find the innocent and pure sides of our selves. He searched for salvation. Even in the hearts of deeply flawed and violent men. Knowing that he, like his famous protagnists, would only find it in honorable death.
Weddle does a fine and admirable job painstakingly finding the autobiographical currents running through all of Peckinpah's work.Weddle really shines as a film critic as he deconstructs all of Sam's work. He deftly balances negativity with effusiveness like a fine concert pianist. Like Williams' masterpieces, Peckinpah used his art to exorcise his demons.
It is so refreshing to learn that Peckinpah did not just educate himself on a diet of films, as so many young directors choose to limit themselves. He was a voracious reader of philosophy, history and literature. He loved the stage.
Many of Peckinpah's fans will already know much of the incidents present in the book, which will cause one to skim. But when Weddle works to humanize a deeply misunderstood artist, this book really shines.
"Let's Go!".......2001-07-05
If there has ever been a man for whom the phrase "consumed by his inner demons" was apt, that man was director Sam Peckinpah. And as David Weddle makes clear in this massive and massively detailed biography, Peckinpah's films bring many of these demons out to strut or cower on the silver screen. As Weddle remarks, almost everyone who loves film can remember the first time he saw THE WILD BUNCH, and yet, like almost all of Peckinpah's "serious" films other than RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY, it was severely mutilated by studio meddling.
Not since Orson Welles has there been a famous director who had so much trouble with studio interference. And yet there were clearly times when some intelligent interference was more than justified... MAJOR DUNDEE falls completely to pieces in its "third half," to echo Tom and Ray of CAR TALK. THE BALLAD OF CABLE HOGUE is a giant void at its center... where there should be a love story, there's absolute vacuum, despite the talents of the performers. STRAW DOGS is repellant and unmemoriable despite the efforts of Dustin Hoffman. Sam turned every film in which he had much control into a psychodrama in which his characters wrestled with Sam's own problems. In this, he was a true auteur.
Weddle's research is overwhelming and his information about Peckinpah's childhood, college days and TV career is very enlightening... but he makes a major mistake in trying to relate these early experiences of Peckinpah in the most mechanical and naive way to Peckinpah's massive later psychological problems. We even listen in to some of Peckinpah's innermost thoughts, which is pretty preposterous in a supposed work of nonfiction.
And as another reviewer has noted, the list of influences on Peckinpah has a gigantic lapse--- other directors! Apart from a few random mentions of John Ford, there's hardly a hint that Peckinpah ever went to movies, or ever studied the works of other directors. Yet his early films burst onto the scene precisely when there was a directorial ferment almost without precedent in US and international film-making.
Peckinpah's film career is a sad and disturbing litany of maniacal career- and self-destruction. After alcohol withered his talents to a minimum, he discovered cocaine, and spent the rest of his short life in a moronic haze penetrated randomly by spurts of insane violence and agression... until his heart stopped abruptly. Ironically, in his decline he did a couple of by-the-numbers potboiler action films, and these were the only ones of his films that made real money for the studios. His best known, and best, films, like the WILD BUNCH, were box-office failures and not available for viewing even today in their uncut, unmutilated forms.
It's almost all here, a repellent and tragic story that only a Shakespeare could really do much justice to. Recommended, if you've ever wondered what kind of man could have had the vision embodied in the first 15 minutes or the final 15 minutes of THE WILD BUNCH.
Customer Reviews:
Wallmart On-Line.......2005-10-08
I never received the product despite desperately trying to correct your error in persisting to consider my two-year's old address current. And because you refuse to have any vital contact with your customers but merely treat them as numbers I've decided never to do business with your Brave New World monolith again. Thanks for nothing. The money I lost due to your policy of disconnectedness from your buyers was well worth the result.
Three screenplays by the Modern American Chekov.......2002-04-28
I still remember watching "To Kill a Mockingbird" in the theater, absolutely stunned that the jury had convicted Tom Robinson when it was so clear, so perfectly clear and obvious to even a kid in grade school, that Atticus Finch had proved he was innocent. Horton Foote's screenplay for "To Kill a Mockingbird" is one of three collected in this volume, along with "Tender Mercies" and "The Trip to Bountiful." They represent three different types of screenwriting experiences since the first is adapted form a novel, the second from Foote's own stage play, and the third a work originally conceived as a film. Perhaps it is somewhat ironic that Foote won Oscars for the two adaptations. All three reflect Foote's emphasis on character development and dialogue rather than action and spectacle.
I taught Harper Lee's novel "To Kill a Mockingbird" and screened the movie for an assignment in which students had to compare and contrast the novel with the film. Perhaps the best testament I can give to the quality fo Foote's script is that while students would always come up with favorite scenes from they book they wish had been in the film (number one choice was the hermaphrodite snowman the kids built), there was never a serious argument that Foote had left out something important. For me what stands out is how Foote picked up on one of my favorite parts of the novel, which was the nobility of Jem. The story is primarily about Scout and Atticus, not to mention Boo Radley, but it was Jem who also impressed me, and Foote captures that nobility in several key scenes. If you have a copy of the screenplay, then it is a lot easier to help students with that particular assignment, which always produces solid results.
Great Book.......1999-06-23
This is a really great book for people who like Foote's work. If you do not especially enjoy reading Foote (or watching his plays), I would not suggest this book. The character devolopment in each of the stories is fanatical and the introductions show what was happening at the time when he wrote each play. Also, you get three plays in one book. For a Foote fan, not much could be better.
Book Description
Everything You Need to Know to Become a Film-Industry Insider
Have you ever wondered what the difference is between a gaffer and a grip? Or what makes the best boy so great? In Strike the Baby and Kill the Blonde,* Dave Knox, a top camera operator and longtime veteran of the film industry, gives you the inside story on the lingo and slang heard on the set. This is an A-to-Z guide to making a movie: the equipment, the crew, and the sometimes hilarious terminology—everything you need to know to sound like a seasoned pro.
* Remove the small spotlight from the set and switch off the two-kilowatt quartz light.
Customer Reviews:
A dictionary for filmmakers........2006-04-28
Anyone who works in the industry knows that they and their co-workers live in their own little world. Film is filled with things specific to the industry... The average person probably thinks that N.Y.P.D. Blue is just a TV show, has no idea what a stinger is, thinks a lollipop is just a piece of candy on a stick, and "C47" most likely means nothing to them.
I found this to be one of the most valuable books I've ever purchased. It's a handy reference manual that I keep in my tool box at all times - Proving itself to be a priceless addition.
A lot of people will find it cheesy - And to a degree, some of the things covered are, but it's 10% cheese and 90% awesomeness.
Strike the Baby ... is a dictionary of film making slang........2006-03-14
I just love the title. It takes some guts to buy this in a bookstore as the checkout person might think you're a bit wierd. I recommend that if you are sensitive to this sort of thing then buy the book on the Internet.
The book is a clever, wonderful listing of terms in alphabetical order and each term is defined by the author in a style that is slightly flippant, which I find sometimes annoying, but also seems to bring some real life experience to the definitions that an academic would never impart. The book lacks pictures of the items being defined but that inclusion would increase the book size and cost. This book sells for a very reasonable cost. Who is this book for? Any film student or PA that wishes to break into the film industry should memorize almost all these terms. Above and below the line people, now in the industry, might find quite a few terms that they did not yet hear or understand. For some film professionals, some of the terms may be part of their passive vocabulary and now one can now discover how close or distant their prior understanding was to the book's more "exact" meaning. This book should be a second text for some film classes. Instructors in those classes should require definitions be understood as part of the course in filmmaking. For the non-professional film buff that wants to dabble in understanding this field, this book should be within easy reach of the porcelain throne for brief reads. I think the level that this book is written is at high school level. I strongly recommend that high school or even middle school students consider this book to impress their peer group. For everyone else, the book is a treat.
Light the Blonde on This Really Cool Book! .......2006-03-03
The film industry, especially being on the set, is near and dear to my heart. Being with the crew (the people who make the movie possible) was always one of my favorite things in life, which is what drew me to this cool book.
The industry has a language all of its own. Due to saving time, especially during long shoots, the lingo actually saves time (and money) to get things done properly, without a long explanation. Thus this book is awesome to learn the lingo shortcuts when you're on the set.
Any actor, producer, writer, film student, new Inde production company should have this in their library, both for reference, and to know what the crew are actually talking about while on the set. It saves time, and if you're in the industry, you really need to know what the terms mean.
A good analogy would be a medical student in training to be a surgeon would need to know the lingo in an operating room. It's that important.
I loved reading this awesome and incredibly accurate book. It made me feel super nostalgic wanting to be on the set again. Being on the set is either in your blood or not. If you love the industry, you'll definitely LOVE this book!
(FYI) "Kill the Blonde" means to turn off the 2,000 watt spotlight. That's why I titled this review: "Light the Blonde on This Really Cool Book!" It's awesome!
Barbara Rose, Ph.D. author of Stop Being the String Along, Know Yourself, and If God Hears Me, I Want an Answer!
Average customer rating:
- Autobiographical in an eerie way
- Let's All Kill Constance
- Bradbury Style
- Old Hollywood Mystery Intrigues and Delights
- Not typical Bradbury
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Let's All Kill Constance: A Novel
Ray Bradbury
Manufacturer: William Morrow
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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Release Date: 2002-12-24 |
Book Description
On a dismal evening, an unnamed writer in Venice, California, answers a furious pounding at his beachfront bungalow door -- and once again admits a dangerous icon into his life. Constance Rattigan, an aging, once-glamorous Hollywood star, stands soaked and shivering in his foyer, clutching two anonymously delivered books that have sent her running in fear from something she dares not acknowledge: twin lists of the Tinseltown dead and soon-to-be dead . . . with Constance's name included among them.
And, just as suddenly, she vanishes into the stormy night, leaving the narrator with her macabre "gifts" and an unshakable determination to get to the root of the actress's grand terror.
So begins an odyssey as dark as it is wondrous, as the writer sets off in a broken-down jalopy with his irascible sidekick, Crumley, to sift through the ashes of a bygone Hollywood. But a world that once sparkled with larger- than-life luminaries -- Dietrich, Valentino, Harlow -- is now a graveyard of ghosts and secrets. Each twisted road our heroes travel leads to grim shrines and shattered dreams -- a remote cabin where history is preserved in mountains of yellowed newsprint; a cathedral where sinners hold sway; a forgotten projection booth where the past lives eternally on in an endless loop of cinematic youth and beauty. And always the road turns back to lost filmdom's temple, a fading movie palace called Grauman's Chinese, and to the murky hidden catacombs beneath.
Prepare yourself for a mystery as enthralling as the most well-crafted whodunit; a satire as keen as the edge of a straight razor, a phantasmagoric celebration of a lost world built on equal parts dream and nightmare -- the latest fantastic flight of glorious imagination by Ray Bradbury, the one and only.
Customer Reviews:
Autobiographical in an eerie way.......2007-06-08
If you've ever had the honor of hearing Mr. Bradbury speak in person, this book is like an extension of what he speaks about on stage. This story has a strange flavor to it, like he's speaking about himself while actually participating in his own story as a character, much like his short "The Pedestrian". I'd almost go so far as to say that this one is best read by the fans who know a lot about Ray Bradbury the person rather than by those who've only read his work. I very much enjoyed this glimpse into the mind of a genius of our time.
Let's All Kill Constance.......2007-03-08
I have been reading Ray Bradbury for close to 40 years now. He never ceases to amaze me. Wonderful book, well done, again !!
Bradbury Style.......2006-03-25
I sometimes think that Ray Bradbury is not, in fact, a multi-genre writer. That through his entire career, he has only written in one genre a genre to be named "Bradbury." I feel that way because no matter which genre he chooses to write in (are there any that he hasn't?) his inimitable style is always dominant.
In "Let's All Kill Constance," this style is applied to a murder mystery set in 1960 in Hollywood. An older actress named Constance receives an old phone book, many names are crossed out, even some of people who are still alive. Then she disappears and bodies turn up. The unnamed narrator (who is possibly Bradbury himself) must find out what's going on.
That's the simple part. The special Ray Bradbury touch is that while the overall plot structure is purely genre murder mystery, all the dialog and all the scene setting is pure Bradbury. The people all talk like they're slightly (or more than slightly) unhinged, and the scene descriptions are pure poetry (and as such, don't always make the most sense).
Now, here's a bit of heresy. I prefer Bradbury's work in the short form. I loved "Illustrated Man" and "The Martian Chronicles," but even at a brief 210 pages, I found it a bit wearing to read the dialog of all these crazy people. But that's just me. If you've ever been curious to see what Bradbury might do to a standard mystery to make it completely his own, you should read this.
Old Hollywood Mystery Intrigues and Delights.......2005-01-28
Ray Bradbury, celebrated author of modern classics such as "Fahrenheit 451" and "The Martian Chronicles," brings us "Let's All Kill Constance," a mystery running in 1960 set amidst the backdrop of a bygone Hollywood when Eric Von Stroheim held sway.
An unnamed writer, the narrator of the novel, begins the suspense with the cliché, "It was a dark and stormy night." Constance Rattigan, an aging former starlet, hastily gives the unnamed writer two books - a 1900 Los Angeles phone book and her old address book - both containing red-circled entries with crosses that suggest who will die next; Rattigan is one of the names circled.
Some of the names circled begin to die suddenly under suspect circumstances while Rattigan concurrently becomes difficult to find. Is she the next victim or the murderer? The unnamed writer becomes obsessed with procuring answers. Entertaining sidekicks like Crumley, a lovable grouch, and Henry, a blind man that invariably sees more than everyone, accompanies the unnamed writer's search within fast-paced engaging dialog.
Brief chapters - many five pages or less - and simple word usage are effective throughout the novel. The climax is unclear as many twists abound, a given in a Bradbury production - remember the fireman Guy Montag from "Fahrenheit 451" who starts fires? Bradbury dazzles and boggles the mind till the final pages.
Bohdan Kot
Not typical Bradbury.......2005-01-25
After reading (or rereading) several other Bradbury stories, I was looking forward to this one to see how his style has changed. I must say I am disappointed. I couldn't bring myself to care about any of the characters; they were all too busy with their "witty" repartee to be sympathetic (or even interesting). The main character, obviously based on Bradbury himself, would cry at the deaths of other characters, but I felt nothing because Bradbury didn't paint them realistically or sympathetically. To top it off, the main character was really just a jerk, but I got the impression that the reader is supposed to like him. Characters with major character flaws can be interesting. This one was not; he was just a jerk, and for no apparent reason. The only part I liked was the description of how LA used to be, since I grew up in southern California.
I am surprised by the number of reviewers who described this as "typical Bradbury." Not in my experience. If this were typical of his other work, I couldn't recommend any of it. Luckily that's not the case. You would be better served by rereading some classic Bradbury than by spending any time on this.
Customer Reviews:
Great Read for Industry Insiders and All.......2006-11-22
Well written and easy to read, Dawn Steel combines key events in her life with key strategies to make it in today's entertainment world. The book is humorous and enlightening. It may not be The Art of War, but it's a great read none-the-less. It's just too bad the book was so hard to find. No longer available as a new buy, it is readily available in the used book market. Although Dawn left us in 1997, her spirit lives on within each page read. A recommended read for those looking to learn the basic principals of succeeding in this industry.
Dawn Steel died in 1997.......2005-07-24
Dawn Steel, Hollywood's first female movie mogul, died in Cedars-Mount Sinai Hospital on December 20, 1997,of a brain tumor after a long battle with cancer. She was 51. Steel was named president of Columbia in 1987, leaving two years later when Sony took over. Commenting on Steel's death in the New York Times, writer-director Nora Ephron said, "Dawn certainly wasn't the first woman to become powerful in Hollywood, but she was the first woman to understand that part of her responsibility was to make sure that eventually there were lots of other powerful women. ... The situation we have today, with a huge number of women in powerful positions, is largely because of Dawn Steel."
A Trip to Hollywood!.......2005-03-10
They Can Kill You...But They Can't Eat You (Lessons From the Front) by Dawn Steel. Some might call this a book strictly for women...but it's not. Dawn Steel, former, first, and only woman who ever became president of Columbia Pictures, gives us a fast-paced peek into the world behind motion pictures, sharing so many names of stars, producers, directors, writers, who was and is the "in crowd," that you can't possibly grasp the magnitude of what it takes to have those new movies appear before us each week.
The book, according to the inside cover, was written "For every woman (or man) who knows there's a great person in there dying to escape, but lacks the confidence or tools to truly express oneself...for every woman trying to get out of the typing pool...for every woman who wants to be valued for cherishing her role as a mother...for corporate vice-presidents who are as sick as Dawn Steel was of wanting to be one of the boys...for every woman who, just as she conquers the next step, wonders, "so what do I do now?" Dawn Steel offers hard-won insights to help accelerate the trip, eliminate some of the angst and pain, and create a spirit of optimism and hope."
Dawn Steel's book is fun--it makes you cry, it makes you angry, it makes you cheer when she succeeds. It makes you sad when one more job is lost, but over it all, it makes you realize your own potential. You realize that others have had those wild entrepreneurial schemes, and that they have gone out and did them! Dawn sold amaryllis as "penis plants" and created the advertisement headline to "Grow Your Own Penis. All it takes is $6.98 and a lot of love." Now, when you read about someone who comes up with such ideas, you just got to love her...right?
Dawn's life is anything but normal and traditional. Her book opens as she overhears in the "second-floor ladies' room in the Administration Building at Paramount" that "She's dead." While her first reaction is to paraphrase Mark Train, "The reports of my death had been greatly exaggerated," she shares that it actually "took another six months for them to kill" her.
From Paramount to Penthouse, to Columbia, to selling her own ideas, Dawn tells all of us that we can survive anything--being fired, having someone come in over or under us in the corporate ladder and sabotage us, being chased out because of being pregnant, or being referred to as "The Queen of Mean" in newspapers.
The life of Dawn Steel started in 1946 and as her story is told, Dawn highlights for the reader what was happening at that time. These little references takes us back through our own lives and we live her life along with her as songs like "Zip-a-Dee-Do-Dah" that year, on through to Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" in 1987, play through our minds. She helps us recall how the last thirty or so of our lives have gone, and you find you quietly do a comparison of where you could be if you had dared to "risk."
Underlying the story line of her life, the glamour of working at major motion pictures and for "men's magazines," Dawn inserts, casually, but effectively, all the lessons learned in these fascinating arenas. So in the midst of learning about the problems of making the movies, Fatal Attraction or Flashdance, or while negotiating or going to events with Harrison Ford, John Travolta, Sylvester Stallone, Eddie Murphy, et. Al., Dawn drops in her sage advice, like:
Sometimes you have to accept that there are bosses and colleagues whom you can never turn around. Instead of going home frustrated and torturing yourself and the people around you, move on and find another way. There are people with whom you pass a point of no return and you should give up on them...
You can't let your competition sway you. On of the most important things I learned is that you must be willing not to get it. You must be willing to let go. Then it will come back to you...or
Set your boundaries ahead of time. Set your appetite ahead of time. Then be ready to let go...I learned my job by doing and watching...
As these little nuggets sink in, you realize that this book is about power, personal power. But after all she accomplished, Dawn Steel closes the book with an image..."I had this image of my mother. She was going off to work, dressed in one of her suits. She had to go to work. She had to take care of her family. She didn't have a job with a fancy title, or a plush office, or her own parking space. The guard didn't know her; in fact, there probably wasn't even a guard where she worked. She didn't have a hundred calls a day to define her status. She wasn't looking for anyone to rescue her. She wasn't looking for power. My mother did what had to be done because the power was already in her." And Dawn shares her own realization that she, too, didn't want to look for power anymore...that it had been there, inside her, all along.
This book makes you feel good. It's definitely written for those in the business world, but is written from such a personal slant, where even how potty training for your daughter is handled during the work day, that you don't realize until you've completed the book how it has elevated your spirits and challenged you to look at your life and use that power that is there within us.
Take a trip to Hollywood with Ms. Steel--you'll have a wonderful time!
The kind of advice your best girlfriend would give you..........1999-09-16
I happened upon Dawn Steel's book and fell for the title. She speaks honestly and with humor about her triumphs and her trials, demonstrating that to succeed, you must first take some risks. I was saddened to learn of her death a couple of years ago--she's someone I wish I'd known in person.
must-read stuff for women in the work place.......1998-06-15
i just liked this book alot. i fell in love with dawn steel. she was a mover and a shaker. her energy jumps to you from the book. i recommend this book to any female who feels lost, misdirected, or going nowhere in her career. this book ought to be everywhere.
Average customer rating:
- Well Written, but Convoluted Plot
- Make the Motion!
- An engaging story from a promising author
- An excellent read
- I *did* manage to finish it, but just barely
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Motion To Kill
Joel Goldman
Manufacturer: Pinnacle
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ASIN: 0786014474 |
Customer Reviews:
Well Written, but Convoluted Plot.......2006-07-29
I enjoyed this legal thriller enough to give it a mild recommendation.
Joel Goldman is without question a talented writer of words. I read an interview with Michael Connelly where he referred to Goldman has an excellent writer of legal thrillers. Based on that recommendation, I bought MOTION TO KILL, Goldman's debut novel. And I think Connelly was right: Goldman is very talented, and has breakout potential.
I think the major problem with this particular book is the remarkably complicated plot. There are a lot of characters in this book, and none of them are particularly well-developed. Most of them just seem to be there to push the convoluted (and quite unrealistic) plot forward. After a while, it was tough for me to keep track of what was going on, and I'm an attorney myself.
If you like plot-driven books, this is not a bad choice. In the end, though, I skimmed a lot of this book, because I didn't really identify with the protagonist or the rest of the cast. In particular, I found the portrayal of women in this book to be somehat insulting, since most of them are portrayed as sex objects wanting affairs with the lead character or dispensing sexual favors of one sort or another.
In short, you may want to try one of Goldman's more recent novels, which I know have gotten better reviews.
Make the Motion!.......2003-08-01
It is bad enough not to like your job when you work for a prestigious law firm in Kansas City, Missouri. It gets a little worse when your boss asks you to dispose of documents that would harm the case you both are working on and could damage the firm. Things get even worse when your boss is found dead and floating in the lake and you have no real alibi. But things can get even worse as detailed in this enjoyable novel.
As the novel opens, Lou Mason has one heck of a headache thanks to drinking the night before to excess. He has spent the night outside, on a deck chair at the retreat for his law firm. He feels guilty over the case that he lost and plans to quit as soon as possible. He works for Sullivan & Christian, a Kansas City law firm that "... employed forty lawyers to merge and acquire client's assets so they could protect them from taxation before and after death." Their biggest client is a powerful banker by the name of Victor O'Malley. The U. S. Attorney, Franklin St. John, believes that he is dirty and has been building a case against him and now has invited O'Malley to appear before the grand jury. It does appear that O'Malley is guilty of something and Sullivan had asked Mason to lose certain incriminating documents. Mason refused and now has been asked to identify a body that or may not be Sullivan's by the beautiful Sheriff Kelly Holt.
It does not help that the Sheriff has discovered a memo from Sullivan stating that Mason asked Sullivan to destroy the documents, that he refused, and that Sullivan was going to fire him Monday morning. It also does not help that Mason has other reasons not to tell the Sheriff everything, both for himself and the firm. They have enough problems without that, but soon Mason realizes after several incidents, that someone believes he knows more than he does. As he dodges attempts on his life, the body count grows and he feels the pressure from all sides.
While this novel is very enjoyable, I would not refer to it as a "legal thriller" as it is marketed. Nothing in this 380-page novel takes place in a courtroom and little takes place at the law firm. Instead, with limited character development, this novel as in most action and adventure novels relies on physical confrontation and death to move the story and plot forward. Readers expecting a courtroom style case where the killer cracks on the stand would be disappointed. However, ignoring how the novel is marketed, this is a very good action novel, which uses the law as a thematic backdrop for a complex mystery. In that respect, this work is highly entertaining and a worthwhile read.
An engaging story from a promising author.......2002-12-25
Lou Mason is a trial attorney. A major client of the law firm that he works for is under the scrutiny of the FBI for possible involvement in illegal activities. When the senior partner in that law firm turns up murdered, the rest of the organization has to scramble to see just how deep their corporate entanglement goes. Lou Mason is assigned to gathering the details.
The situation gets further complicated when another prominent partner is murdered and all signs point to Lou Mason's name being the next on the list. Kelly Holt, the local Sheriff is conducting the murder investigation but it appears as if most of her efforts are spent trying to keep Lou from being killed.
It seems that Lou is in possession of some highly volatile evidence implicating some major mobsters. He picks up his old ex-cop buddy, "Blues" along the way to help guide him through the homicidal maze. The situation is complicated and almost all of Lou's associates appear to have enough motives to be suspects. The danger seems to come from all directions.
I won't reveal too much of the story here, except to say that Joel Goldman, with his great command of the art of storytelling, does an outstanding job of guiding the reader through a complex plot that embraces a large cast of characters. The story flows along smoothly with goose bump producing situations occurring at just the right intervals. The pace is fast and the dialog both clever and gritty. Although this story has been pigeon-holed as a Legal Thriller, it has the fiber to hold it's own along with the best of the Hard Boiled.
With any luck, we'll be hearing more from Lou Mason.
An excellent read.......2002-03-03
Joel Goldman has produced an enjoyable thriller for his first novel. The characters are interesting, the dialogue crisp and the plot thrilling yet believable. Anyone who enjoys Elmore Leonard's tight dialogue and John Grishim's twisting plots will find this a fast paced, fun page-turner. I would not be surprised if Motion To Kill is nominated for the Edgar Award. I can not wait for Mr. Goldman's next book.
I *did* manage to finish it, but just barely.......2002-02-24
Terrible writing, with terrible editing to go along with it -- there were passages where it appeared that two different draft paragraphs were left in. But the real problems were:
- One-dimensional characters
- Zero-dimensional plot
- Dialog that was horribly cliche
- Not a single legal machination in a "legal thriller"
Other than THOSE, however, a fine book: it had pages and print.
VERY disappointing, given previous reviews.
Books:
- In the Blink of an Eye Revised 2nd Edition
- Learning and Soft Computing: Support Vector Machines, Neural Networks, and Fuzzy Logic Models (Complex Adaptive Systems)
- Learning Cocoa with Objective-C, 2nd Edition
- Legacies: Fiction, Poetry, Drama, Nonfiction
- Letting Go: A 12-Week Personal Action Program to Overcome a Broken Heart
- Limnology: Lake and River Ecosystems
- Lolita
- Love & Respect: The Love She Most Desires; The Respect He Desperately Needs
- Lover Revealed (Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 4)
- Maximum Ride #3: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports (Maximum Ride)
Books Index
Books Home
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- International Financial Integration: A Study of Interest Differentials between the Major Industrial
- A Completion of Sanditon, Jane Austen's Unfinished Novel
Make Love the Bruce Campbell Way
Bubba Ho-Tep (Limited Collector's Edition)
Jack of All Trades - The Complete Series
Army of Darkness
The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. - The Complete Series
