Variety.com

Filmcraft: Editing

Fri, 27 May 2011 15:11:06 PST

Book Reviews: Angus Wall began his entertainment career as an editor of musicvideos and commercials in the late 1980s before he and his wife, Linda Carlson, established Rock Paper Scissors, an editorial house based in Los Angeles. Wall's collaboration with David Fincher began when he designed the titles for the director's "Seven" (1995).

The Ballad of Rango: The Art & Making of an Outlaw Film

Fri, 27 May 2011 15:10:08 PST

Book Reviews: "I believe that audiences are always hungry for something new, something truly original," (Gore Verbinski) says thoughtfully. "You sit in a big theater, and you go, 'Oh, that was a little weird,' or 'Well, that was different!' All those bumps and flaws and choices, that's voice. And I just love movies that have a voice. So much of what we do is about elimination of voice. We need to find that moment that's just a little awkward, a little off, and celebrate it, put a magnifying glass on it, champion it. I've been lucky enough to surround myself with very talented artists who I think also believe the same thing."

Infamous Players: A Tale of Movies, the Mob (and Sex)

Fri, 27 May 2011 15:08:07 PST

Book Reviews: He was a tall, silver-haired man, square-jawed with a military bearing, always impeccably attired in a dark blue suit. It was only a few weeks into my Paramount job when I came to understand that Sidney Korshak would be part of my new corporate family, even though he did not work for Paramount. His visits were a daily occurrence, but did not linger or chat with anyone other than (Paramount head of production) Bob Evans, nor did anyone on staff ever refer to him or acknowledge his visits. Korshak was the ghost who was always there but never there.

Wishful Drinking (Carrie Fisher)

Fri, 19 Dec 2008 15:30:16 PST

Book Reviews: Carrie Fisher can't stop writing or talking about her life, but who can really blame her? With stories like these, there's no need for her to hide behind fiction any more.

Pop Surf Culture: Music, Design, Film and Fashion From the Bohemian Surf Boom

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 16:27:09 PST

Book Reviews: In 1963, Variety wrote about a new musical fad called "surfing music" and predicted it would "take hold of the teenage market on a national scale."

The Man Who Owns the News (Inside the Secret World of Rupert Murdoch)

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 16:24:57 PST

Book Reviews: You do realize how fabulously plugged in Michael Wolff is, don't you? The media chronicler has so much in common with Rupert Murdoch that he can't help sharing it in "The Man Who Owns the News."

Call Me Ted (Ted Turner with Bill Burke)

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 16:23:01 PST

Book Reviews: Anecdotes gathered by co-author Bill Burke provide expected color and emotional shadings, but the overall portrait can't help but disappoint those expecting more a lively discourse from Turner himself.

Ziegfeld: The Man Who Invented Show Business

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 13:14:49 PST

Book Reviews: There's no doubt as to who forever changed Broadway in Ethan Mordden's biography "Ziegfeld: The Man Who Invented Show Business." Among the many questions that follow are how -- and with whom -- Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. did it.

The Naked Truth

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 13:10:54 PST

Book Reviews: You don't have to be a perve to wish Kevin Sandler could flash a little more skin in his thought-provoking but doggedly academic treatment of the movie ratings system, "The Naked Truth."

Center Field Shot ( A History of Baseball on Television)

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 10:46:58 PST

Book Reviews: As evidenced by mammoth Super Bowl ratings, football and television are a marriage made in small-screen heaven. Not the case with baseball. The national pastime has a complicated and, at times, dysfunctional relationship with TV, evidenced in recent years with the World Series being televised long after children, and many adults, have been sleeping for hours.

No Time to Think: The Menace of Media Speed and the 24-Hour News Cycle (Howard Rosenberg & Charles S. Feldman)

Fri, 7 Nov 2008 14:03:01 PST

Book Reviews: Howard Rosenberg and Charles Feldman spend so much time outlining the perils of the 24-hour news cycle in "No Time to Think" that they give short shrift to people's hunger for information in times of great turmoil.

Somebody: The Reckless Life and Remarkable Career of Marlon Brando (Stefan Kanfer)

Fri, 7 Nov 2008 13:59:52 PST

Book Reviews: "Somebody" fails to do justice to Marlon Brando's prodigious, and oft infuriating, talent. The literary equivalent of "The Freshman," Stefan Kanfer's highly derivative book shows occasional flashes of wit but never really takes flight.

Have You Seen … ? (David Thomson)

Fri, 7 Nov 2008 13:46:00 PST

Book Reviews: San Francisco film historian David Thomson has added yet another tome to his groaning board of must-own film books. Old-fashioned in its tree-destroying simplicity, "Have You Seen … ?" is 1,000 one-page reviews (of about 500 words each) of must-see movies.

Hollywood Independents (The Postwar Talent Takeover)

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 18:13:26 PST

Book Reviews: The most remarkable thing about Denise Mann's account of post-World War II Hollywood is how topical it seems. Fifty years after the collapse of the studio system, the majors are still trying to figure out how to balance artistic and commercial concerns, adding and shuttering specialty labels with abandon.

Excerpt: 'Tim & Tom: An American Comedy in Black and White'

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 17:10:43 PST

Book Reviews: When Tim Reid and Tom Dreesen began performing stand-up together in the late 1960s, the country was barely ready for an integrated comedy team, let alone a black presidential candidate. They recall the reception they received in "Tim &Tom: An American Comedy in Black and White."

Hollywood Dreams Made Real: Irving Thalberg and the Rise of M-G-M

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 17:08:09 PST

The Ingmar Bergman Archives

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 17:05:17 PST

Book Reviews: This sumptuous tome delves into the life and career of Ingmar Bergman in glorious detail.

Not So Quiet on the Set (My Life in Movies During Hollywood's Macho Era)

Fri, 5 Sep 2008 17:19:50 PST

Book Reviews: A showbiz memoir masquerading as a sociological treatise, "Not So Quiet on the Set" makes much of Robert Relyea's alliance with Steve McQueen. Too much, in fact. Relyea's five-year partnership with McQueen may have been his closest brush with celebrity, but it was far from his first or last interaction with a larger-than-life showbiz character.

I'll Have What She's Having: Behind the Scenes of the Great Romantic Comedies

Fri, 5 Sep 2008 17:14:43 PST

Book Reviews: Variety's Boston correspondent Daniel M. Kimmel tells the story behind romantic comedies ranging from "The Philadelphia Story" to "There's Something About Mary." The overview begins with Ernst Lubitsch's largely forgotten 1932 pre-Code tale, "Trouble in Paradise," before moving on to more familiar territory with pics such as "It Happened One Night" and "My Man Godfrey."

You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story

Fri, 5 Sep 2008 17:08:46 PST

Book Reviews: This handsome coffee table book is a tie-in to the five-hour PBS docu that Richard Schickel wrote and produced to celebrate the studio's 85th anni. Here, he shares the writing honors with George Perry, providing essays on the studio's history from its 1923 beginnings through various changes in corporate ownership.