| Reviews |
" "Bambi vs. Godzilla" is far and away the best commentary on how movies are made thus far written by an American . . . Citing everyone from Aristotle to Preston Sturges' s The Lady Eve, Mamet demonstrates what works and what doesn' t in a movie narrative, while noting what does not work, as we have been witnessing for the last decade or so: statistically, in 1958, Hollywood turned out 2,000 films which listed in their credits 230 producers, while in 2003 Hollywood produced 240 films with 1,200 producers listed. " Happily, Mamet keeps on in theater and film pretty much on his own terms, and now, with "Bambi vs. Godzilla," like his great predecessor George Bernard Shaw, he can illuminate as a critic-practitioner the not-always-friendly Darwinian world he has been obliged to flourish in." - Gore Vidal " No other director has written about the movies with such a fearless mixture of amusement, anger, frustration, and rueful love." - Roger Ebert " What fun to dive into this book of Mamet musings and words of wisdom! But be warned: Like munching popcorn (or Raisinets) at the movies, once you get started it' s hard to stop." - Leonard Maltin " David Mamet is supremely talented. He is a gifted writer and observer of society and its characters. I' m sure he will be able to find work somewhere, somehow, just no longer in the movie business." - Steve Martin "From the Hardcover edition.", ""Bambi vs. Godzilla" is far and away the best commentary on how movies are made thus far written by an American . . . Citing everyone from Aristotle to Preston Sturges's The Lady Eve, Mamet demonstrates what works and what doesn't in a movie narrative, while noting what does not work, as we have been witnessing for the last decade or so: statistically, in 1958, Hollywood turned out 2,000 films which listed in their credits 230 producers, while in 2003 Hollywood produced 240 films with 1,200 producers listed. "Happily, Mamet keeps on in theater and film pretty much on his own terms, and now, with "Bambi vs. Godzilla," like his great predecessor George Bernard Shaw, he can illuminate as a critic-practitioner the not-always-friendly Darwinian world he has been obliged to flourish in." -Gore Vidal "No other director has written about the movies with such a fearless mixture of amusement, anger, frustration, and rueful love." -Roger Ebert "What fun to dive into this book of Mamet musings and words of wisdom! But be warned: Like munching popcorn (or Raisinets) at the movies, once you get started it's hard to stop." -Leonard Maltin "David Mamet is supremely talented. He is a gifted writer and observer of society and its characters. I'm sure he will be able to find work somewhere, somehow, just no longer in the movie business." -Steve Martin "From the Hardcover edition.", "Sharp, savvy. . . . Icily hilarious. . . . Mr. Mamet writes with insight, idiosyncrasy and a Godzillian imperviousness to opposition." -Janet Maslin, The New York Times "Winningly pugnacious. . . . [ Bambi vs. Godzilla ] is funny and angry and intemperate and passionate enough to tell the truth about movies." - San Francisco Chronicle "This is a book infused with love the sweet, helpless love Mamet has for film, and the communal process that makes it." - Los Angeles Times "Playful . . . deft. . . . Mamet the dramatist has developed a career as a prolific philosophical essayist." - Chicago Sun-Times, "Bambi vs. Godzillais far and away the best commentary on how movies are made thus far written by an American . . . Citing everyone from Aristotle to Preston Sturges's The Lady Eve, Mamet demonstrates what works and what doesn't in a movie narrative, while noting what does not work, as we have been witnessing for the last decade or so: statistically, in 1958, Hollywood turned out 2,000 films which listed in their credits 230 producers, while in 2003 Hollywood produced 240 films with 1,200 producers listed. "Happily, Mamet keeps on in theater and film pretty much on his own terms, and now, withBambi vs. Godzilla, like his great predecessor George Bernard Shaw, he can illuminate as a critic-practitioner the not-always-friendly Darwinian world he has been obliged to flourish in." Gore Vidal "No other director has written about the movies with such a fearless mixture of amusement, anger, frustration, and rueful love." Roger Ebert "What fun to dive into this book of Mamet musings and words of wisdom! But be warned: Like munching popcorn (or Raisinets) at the movies, once you get started it's hard to stop." Leonard Maltin "David Mamet is supremely talented. He is a gifted writer and observer of society and its characters. I'm sure he will be able to find work somewhere, somehow, just no longer in the movie business." Steve Martin From the Hardcover edition., "Sharp, savvy. . . . Icily hilarious. . . . Mr. Mamet writes with insight, idiosyncrasy and a Godzillian imperviousness to opposition." -Janet Maslin,The New York Times "Winningly pugnacious. . . . [Bambi vs. Godzilla] is funny and angry and intemperate and passionate enough to tell the truth about movies." -San Francisco Chronicle "This is a book infused with love the sweet, helpless love Mamet has for film, and the communal process that makes it." -Los Angeles Times "Playful . . . deft. . . . Mamet the dramatist has developed a career as a prolific philosophical essayist." -Chicago Sun-Times |
| Synopsis |
From the Academy Award-nominated screenwriter and playwright: an exhilaratingly subversive inside look at Hollywood from a filmmaker who's always played by his own rules. Who really reads the scripts at the film studios? How is a screenplay like a personals ad? Why are there so many producers listed in movie credits? And what on earth do those producers do anyway? Refreshingly unafraid to offend, Mamet provides hilarious, surprising, and refreshingly forthright answers to these and other questions about every aspect of filmmaking from concept to script to screen. A bracing, no-holds-barred examination of the strange contradictions of Tinseltown, Bambi vs. Godzilla dissects the movies with Mamet's signature style and wit., Award-winning playwright and screenwriter David Mamet gives an exhilaratingly subversive inside look at Hollywood from the perspective of a filmmaker who has always played the game his own way., Addressing a significant gap in Burns studies, this collection focuses on the reception and representation of Robert Burns in the Americas. While scholarship has quite rightly paid attention to Burns as a representative figure of Scottish national identity, Burns's important role in the cultures of other nations has been under-explored. And yet, Burns's unique status as a poet and songwriter whose international portability and malleability are unsurpassed has resulted in the production of radically diverse material-oral, textual, musical, ceremonial, and architectural-throughout the Americas. Ambitious in its scope, the volume is divided into six sections that take up the following broad topics: transatlantic concerns in Burns's work, Burns's early publication in North America, Burns's reception in the Americas, Scottish emigrants and the creation of Burns's reputation, Burns's extra-literary transatlantic legacy, and Burns today. In shifting the academic focus on Burns from a national to a global perspective, the editors and contributors show how universal themes in Burns's work, such as loss, liberty, and nostalgia, are reinvigorated in innovative and generative ways in the emergent cultures of the Americas. |
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A sharp, witty insider’s take on Hollywood—Mamet’s no-nonsense style cuts through the glamour to expose the brutal realities of the movie biz. Packed with brutal honesty and dark humor, this book is a must-read for film buffs and aspiring filmmakers. Even used, it’s in good shape—some highlights but totally readable. A steal for the insights!