Summer Reading. 10.

This time around, a collection of book reviews from the December 15, 2000, issue of the
Austin Chronicle:
David Garza on Paul Julian Smith's Desire Unlimited: The Cinema of Pedro Almodóvar: "The Catholic nation of Spain could not have been prepared for a director as lewd or as unbelievably talented as Almodóvar, and that may be the reason that his comparatively profound filmic studies of civil liberties, interpersonal relationships, and identity-formation were so long misunderstood as nothing more than kitsch."
Kimberley Jones on The Making of 2001: A Space Odyssey: "Kubrick tackles cryogenics, LSD, and the stars."
Marc Savlov on Joseph McBride's Frank Capra: The Catastrophe of Success: "There's nothing too unappetizing in Capra's rags-to-riches-to-forced-retirement career that McBride won't wade through with occasionally vicious glee."
Barry Johnson on James Ulmer's Hollywood Hot List: "About as hot as an iceberg."
Marjorie Baumgarten on Steven Soderbergh's Getting Away With It, Or: The Further Adventures of the Luckiest Bastard You Ever Saw (Also Starring Richard Lester as the Man Who Knew More Than He Was Asked): "'Written' is not really the most accurate word to describe this book's creative formula." (And here's an excerpt.)
Jerry Renshaw on Peter Lev's American Films of the 70s: Conflicting Visions: "Concentrates more on the politics, ideology, and theory of each film rather than a scene-by-scene analysis."
Clay Smith on Lawrence Grobel 's Above the Line: Conversations About the Movies: "He continually elicits comments that you won't hear on E! Daily News."
Posted by dwhudson at July 31, 2003 3:21 AM