RECOMMENDED
BOOKS
VIDEO
Making Movies by Sidney Lumet
is one of my favorite books on filmmaking. Although not one of cinema's "legendary" directors, Lumet has had a long and distinguished career as a solid and capable professional with many good films to his credit. This book is more memoir than "how to", but he takes the reader step-by-step through the processes of making a film. For those new to filmmaking, the book is simple and straightforward. For those more familiar with the process, it offers much insight, anecdotes, and observation. This is Lumet's heartfelt and inspiring ode to a career he so obviously loves, and he truly brings that love across to the reader. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the subject.
Dodes'ka-den by Akira Kurosawa
With all the Oscar fuss over American Beauty, I have to wonder if anyone else noticed that the film's two most notable visuals were used about thirty years ago, with much more subtlety and finesse in this, the first color film from one of cinema's greatest masters. When Kurosawa turns his camera on a plastic bag floating on the wind, he does so without fanfare, without mentioning the beauty of the image. He lets it be - a fleeting ghost of beauty drifting through otherwise unhappy lives. And when he shows us an older man looking down at a young girl as she lies surrounded by red paper flowers, he presents an image more erotic and more menacing than in any recent American films. It's sad and humorous, depressing and uplifting. A true work of art.
You can buy this book online from Barnes & Noble. Just click HERE and search for the author and/or title.
And it (along with other great films on video or DVD) can be bought from REEL.COM -- just CLICK HERE!