A smart and riotous glorification of everything that is fantastic about the cinema.
That other Pulitzer Prize–winning movie critic comes out shooting.
A quick look at the oeuvre of novelist Hunter (Havana, 2003, etc.) shows that he’s a writer with a yen for tales of dirtied honor, bloodied warriors and lots of guns (American Gunfight, also Nov. 2005). In addition to being a novelist, Hunter is a film critic for The Washington Post, and an uncommonly good one at that. This collection of Post film reviews takes its name from the old theaterback in Evanston, Ill., where as a child during the 1950s, Hunter took in double features of westerns, gangster flicks and monster movies. Winner of the 2003 Pulitzer for criticism, Hunter brings an incisive eye to under-regarded works and has a propensity for vanity-deflating quips. Like the only other film critic to win a Pulitzer, Roger Ebert, he is able to wax just as enthusiastic about Cold Mountain as he does about The Third Man and Face/Off. Along the way, he demolishes a few classics (he objects to Gone with the Wind’s “gooeyness, its spiritual ugliness, its solemn self-importance”), trashes many a lousy studio vehicle and still finds time to celebrate the loud, brash and popular.
A smart and riotous glorification of everything that is fantastic about the cinema.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-7432-6125-9
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2005
An enjoyable slice of 20th-century music journalism almost certain to provide something for most readers, no matter one’s...
Music journalist and musician Wald (Talking 'Bout Your Mama: The Dozens, Snaps, and the Deep Roots of Rap, 2014, etc.) focuses on one evening in music history to explain the evolution of contemporary music, especially folk, blues, and rock.
The date of that evening is July 25, 1965, at the Newport Folk Festival, where there was an unbelievably unexpected occurrence: singer/songwriter Bob Dylan, already a living legend in his early 20s, overriding the acoustic music that made him famous in favor of electronically based music, causing reactions ranging from adoration to intense resentment among other musicians, DJs, and record buyers. Dylan has told his own stories (those stories vary because that’s Dylan’s character), and plenty of other music journalists have explored the Dylan phenomenon. What sets Wald's book apart is his laser focus on that one date. The detailed recounting of what did and did not occur on stage and in the audience that night contains contradictory evidence sorted skillfully by the author. He offers a wealth of context; in fact, his account of Dylan's stage appearance does not arrive until 250 pages in. The author cites dozens of sources, well-known and otherwise, but the key storylines, other than Dylan, involve acoustic folk music guru Pete Seeger and the rich history of the Newport festival, a history that had created expectations smashed by Dylan. Furthermore, the appearances on the pages by other musicians—e.g., Joan Baez, the Weaver, Peter, Paul, and Mary, Dave Van Ronk, and Gordon Lightfoot—give the book enough of an expansive feel. Wald's personal knowledge seems encyclopedic, and his endnotes show how he ranged far beyond personal knowledge to produce the book.
An enjoyable slice of 20th-century music journalism almost certain to provide something for most readers, no matter one’s personal feelings about Dylan's music or persona.Pub Date: July 25, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-06-236668-9
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Dey Street/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2015
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BOOK TO SCREEN
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Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
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