Holiday season to bring out the best for film fanatics
The holiday season brings out the best for movie fans. Marketing companies know that film fanatics love gifts related to their cinematic interests and make sure informative and entertaining items are available during December.
Some suggested gifts for that movie maven in your life include:
A DVD player that makes beautiful music
Sure, you already have a DVD player in the house, but there’s a new modestly priced player that shows terrific movies and makes beautiful music.
The Pioneer DV-563A Universal Disc Player shows movies on DVD but also allows owners to insert state of the art DVD-Audio and Super Audio CD (SACD) for the best sound on the face of the earth. At just over 2 inches in height and available for $250 or less, the Pioneer player won’t overwhelm your system or put too big of a dent in your wallet.
According to “The Digital Bits” Insiders’ Guide to DVD” (McGraw Hill; $17.95) by Bill Hunt and Todd Doogan, DVD-Audio discs feature high-resolution sound that is designed primarily for the surround sound presentation of music, so most discs contain 5.1 mixes. That means the sound around the room makes the listener feel like he or she is right in the recording studio. If you don’t believe it, just listen to the DVD-Audio of the Beach Boys’ “Pet Sounds” ($19.99), recently named by Rolling Stone magazine as the No. 2 rock album in history (right after the Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”).
Likewise, SACD, developed by Sony and Phillips, is intended to present the music in quality that is as close as possible to the original recording but in high-resolution with a 5.1 multi-channel surround format. The sound is pristine, as evidenced by diverse titles such as the late Rosemary Clooney’s holiday album, “White Christmas” ($18.99), and Bruce Springsteen’s “Live in New York City” ($24.99). Both feature multi-channel sound (putting the listener in the center of all the audio elements), and “White Christmas” is a “hybrid” SACD, meaning it can also be used in regular CD players (but without the incredible “Super Audio” surround sound).
For anyone who loves movies and music, the Pioneer universal player ranks as a sweet deal that’s easy on the eyes and ears.
A fabulous ‘Fincher’
One of filmdom’s least studied and most innovative directors receives attention in “Dark Eye: The Films of David Fincher” (Reynolds & Hearn; $19.95) by James Swallow.
Fincher, who recently dropped out of directing Tom Cruise in “Mission: Impossible 3,” has attracted a serious fan base due to his work on a number of intriguing films. Those are: “Alien 3” (1992) with Sigourney Weaver and Charles S. Dutton; “Se7en” (1995) with Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman and Gwyneth Paltrow; “The Game” (1997) with Michael Douglas and Sean Penn; “Fight Club” (1999) with Pitt and Edward Norton, and “Panic Room” (2002) with Jodie Foster and Forest Whitaker.
Fans of the “Alien” series should enjoy the chapter “Third in Line,” which details Fincher’s problems mounting the third installment of the sci-fi franchise. Also insightful is the section devoted to “Fight Club” in which the 41-year-old director discusses his fascinating view of the gritty work as a comedy.
Black directors on ‘Magic’
With “Why We Make Movies: Black Filmmakers Talk About the Magic of Cinema” (Broadway Books; $15.95), author George Alexander offers interviews with African American directors such as Melvin Van Peebles, Spike Lee, Fred Williamson, Bill Duke, Forest Whitaker and John Singleton.
The creative talents discuss the trials and tribulations of working in and out of the Hollywood system and speak about incidents that inspired them to continue their struggle to make motion pictures.
John Singleton, whose credits range from “Boyz N the Hood” to “2 Fast 2 Furious,” praises Spike Lee for a life-altering moment.
“I’ll always love him (Lee) for this,” Singleton says. “After the movie (an advance showing of Lee’s “She’s Gotta Have It” at a Santa Monica theater), all of these Hollywood types were surrounding him. I walked out of the theater and was trying to get to him in the crowd, and he moved everyone aside and came to me and said, ‘What’d you think of the movie?’ I told him I really liked it and was happy he’d made it, and I said, ‘I’m going to film school, watch out for me.’ It’s a classic story.”
Old-school screen idols
Two of the silver screen’s most enduring talents – Judy Garland and Marlene Dietrich – receive lavish attention in a couple of beautifully illustrated books.
“Judy Garland: A Portrait in Art & Anecdote” (Bulfinch Press; $50) by John Fricke contains a forward by the performer’s daughter, Lorna Luft, and uses the text and photos to celebrate her talent, artistry and love of audiences. There are also some rare photos of Garland with Jack Paar on his talk show, in concert with Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. and on the set of “The Wizard of Oz.”
Compiled by Jean-Jacques Naudet, “Marlene Dietrich: Photography and Memories” (Alfred A. Knopf; $40) chronicles the life of the legend through portraits and snapshots of her possessions and the actress at work.
There’s a complete filmography, beginning with her appearance in “Man by the Wayside” (1927) and concluding with “Just a Gigolo” (1978). Also included are detailed listings of her theater and concert appearances throughout her career.
Reference roundup
True film fanatics can never have too many reference books in their libraries, and numerous new or updated ones have reached stores in recent weeks.
On-line film critic James Berardinelli takes the glass-is-half-full approach in “ReelViews” (Justin Charles & Co.; $21.99), which contains more than 1,000 titles that the author recommends as worth watching. Best known as the personable and insightful host of the Talk Cinema series in Philadelphia and Voorhees, Berardinelli benefits from his enthusiasm about movies, something many people have previously experienced by visiting his Web site, www.reelviews.net.
For those who visit video stores and only want to know about films that rank as the cream of the crop, “ReelViews” provides a helpful guide.
Those seeking a reference that combines highbrow offerings, cult titles and foreign favorites should applaud the new edition of editor David Bleiler’s informative “TLA Video & DVD Guide 2004” (St. Martin’s Griffin; $19.95). Subtitled “The Discerning Film Lover’s Guide,” the detailed book offers short reviews of more than 10,000 films, as well as indexes to stars, directors, countries and themes.
Bleiler’s “Guide” is an important reference simply due to the way some overlooked films receive insightful reviews that encourage people to discover them. For example, the listing for the critically acclaimed, commercially ignored “Rabbit-Proof Fence” (2002), a film about racist crimes in 1931 against the Aborigines in Australia, includes an impressive amount of information. In a limited space, Bleiler and his staff inspire a viewer to discover the unsettling and compelling work, directed by Philip Noyce.
And a terrific stocking-stuffer for any film fan is Mick Martin and Marsha Porter’s “DVD & Video Guide 2004” (Ballantine Books; $19.99, oversized paperback; $7.99, regular paperback).
In addition to giving grades and capsule reviews to hundreds of films, the “DVD & Video Guide 2004” provides incredibly detailed cast and director indexes with the credits of hundreds of performers and filmmakers. It also contains a listing of Academy Award winners in the major categories and a two-page guide to locating hard-to-find video titles.
A killer ‘Yakuza’ book
Movie fans who were energized by the dazzling samurai-sword battles in Quentin Tarantino’s rousing “Kill Bill Vol. 1” and want to understand some of the film’s foreign influence should appreciate Mark Schilling’s “The Yakuza Movie Book: A Guide to Japanese Gangster Films” (Stone Bridget Press; $19.95).
The author interviews seven genre directors (including “Beat” Takeshi Kitano of “Sonatine”, Takashi Miike of “Dead or Alive” and the late Kinji Fukasaku of “Battle Royale”) and provides an A-to-Z listing of hard-edged Yakuza (gangster) titles.
For those who want to discover such fare but know they won’t find it in their local video stores, Schilling provides a valuable listing of North American dealers – including the Delaware Valley-based Diabolik (www.diabolikdvd.com) – who sell Japanese gangster titles.