Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace Illustrated Screenplay – Books

May 19, 1999Posted in1990s, Authors: Bill Chambers, Books About Movies, Star Wars

written by George Lucas
FFC rating: 6/10

by Bill Chambers Chiefly, I bought Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace Illustrated Screenplay a week before the movie opened because I wanted to know what kind of screenwriter is George Lucas. (It was also the most desirable life-preserver I could grab while caught in the recent tidal wave of Star Wars hype.) The book wound up a handy reference manual as I wrote my review of the finished film, but that doesn’t justify its $21 (Canadian) sticker price. (It can be had for much less online.)

Past Imperfect: History According to the Movies – Books

May 9, 1999Posted in1990s, Authors: Bill Chambers, Books About Movies

Past Imperfect: History According to the Movies
FFC rating: 9/10
edited by Mark C. Carnes

by Bill Chambers Steven Spielberg’s nineteenth-century-set Amistad was criticized in the pages of Roger Ebert’s “Movie Answer Man” for its characters’ use of the greeting “Hello,” an uncommon conversation-starter until well after the introduction of the telephone. Experts are wont to nitpick such details, and the collection Past Imperfect: History According to the Movies has provided a panel of experts a forum for their criticisms of so-called fact-based motion pictures. For trivia buffs like myself, who learn as much from what a movie gets wrong as from what it gets right, the book is page after fascinating page of Hollywood getting caught taking liberties great and small.