Making Movies

Amazon.com Review
It's well known that a vast number of people work on any given movie in roles as varied as writing scripts, choosing locations, dressing sets, costuming the players, lighting scenes, manipulating the camera, directing actors, editing film, working on sound, advertising the finished product, and screening it to an audience. Have you ever thought about how these components are collated? Or why the director is most often considered the author of a film? Wonder no more, because Sidney Lumet's Making Movies is a terrific journey through each stage of filmmaking that is overseen by the director. Lumet, the veteran director of Twelve Angry Men, The Pawnbroker, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, Network, The Verdict, and many other fine movies, knows the ins and outs of American filmmaking as well as anyone. In this excellent, personable account, Lumet tells what he's learned about making movies in the course of the last 40 years. He shows why fine directors need to have strong imaginations, extraordinary adaptability, and skill in many different fields. His enthusiasm for his life's work, particularly his love of actors, is evident on every page of this book. As Herculean as the labors of film directing are, Lumet takes great pleasure in his work, almost guiltily admitting that the film director's job is "the best in the world." From Publishers Weekly
Lumet, the acclaimed director of such films as Dog Day Afternoon and Network, presents an anecdotal insider's account of the key elements in filmmaking.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Lumet's book is about the agonizing and ultimately rewarding art of filmmaking. And who better to elucidate the process than a legendary director, with credits such as 12 Angry Men, Dog Day Afternoon, and Prince of the City? Lumet discusses writers and actors, camera and editing techniques, art direction and sound. Yet Making Movies is anything but a clinical textbook. Lumet's career straddled the shift between studio management and the rise of financiers and talent agencies: he's seen both worlds and candidly reveals his predilections, including his disdain for teamsters, critics, and market researchers. He alludes to the tension between film as art and as business and shows that filmmaking is ultimately a capricious, collective enterprise with no sure formulas. Although overly mechanistic at times, Lumet is most lucid in examples drawn from his own experiences. A fascinating look at the artist at work; recommended for film studies collections.
-?Jayne Plymale-Jackson, Univ. of Georgia Libs., Athens
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist
Lumet is not the first filmmaker to write about filmmaking in order to praise it as an art form, but he may be the first to cover the process in detail from beginning to end, without missing any point of the action. That doesn't mean a reader will know how to make a feature film after reading the book. Lumet's approach is to provide a framework for both his memoirs as a film director and his argument for the purity of filmmaking, though he would probably deny both charges. Two aspects of the work are invigoratingly revealing: the ongoing discussion of his films and the last chapter, "The Studio: Was It All for This?" For all the talk about technique, camera lenses, art decorators, camera operators, and so on, the excitement of the book lies in Lumet's encounters with other artists. Rather than attempt to glean instruction from the story about using only one take to get a dolly shot of a moving train for Murder on the Orient Express, most readers will prefer the fun of simply riding the dolly with camera operator Peter McDonald or listening to the account of the time the crew and Lumet agonized on the set of The Fugitive Kind when it took Brando 34 takes to complete a scene. Lumet writes, "He looked at me and smiled as only Brando can smile, so that you think daybreak has come." The final chapter on the studio offers a harrowing look at the kind of greed people can fall into given the chance to operate with endless amounts of money. At the close, Lumet seems to be letting people know that what he has described is moviemaking, and he shows us how the studios threaten it. Bonnie Smothers --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description
From one of America's most acclaimed directors comes a book that is both a professional memoir and a definitive guide to the art, craft, and business of the motion picture. Drawing on 40 years of experience on movies ranging from Long Day's Journey Into Night to The Verdict, Lumet explains the painstaking labor that results in two hours of screen magic.

From the Inside Flap
From one of America's most acclaimed directors comes a book that is both a professional memoir and a definitive guide to the art, craft, and business of the motion picture. Drawing on 40 years of experience on movies ranging from Long Day's Journey Into Night to The Verdict, Lumet explains the painstaking labor that results in two hours of screen magic.

IQ Mindbenders By Joe Cameron

Product Details

* Published on: 2005-12-01
* Format: Import
* Binding: Map

Around The World In 80 Days (Illustrated) Jules Verne

Author: Jules Verne
ISBN：N/A ISBN: N / A

Yoga In Daily Life

Product Description

His Holiness Sri Swami Sivananda Saraswati needs scarcely any introduction to the vast multitudes of reading public that pants for spiritual unfoldment and Self-Realisation. The revered Yogi belongs to the ages and ranks amongst the blessed souls who have had the good fortune to taste the Nectar of Cosmic Consciousness. In clear, simple and impressive style the Swami addresses the young and yet inexperienced spiritual aspirants and lays down before them the fundamentals of spirituality and the various means essentially requisite for Divine Wisdom. This book is a message from the great Yogi of the Himalayas to the helpless and bewildered seekers of Truth. This inspiring and soul-stirring little volume will, we venture to say, undoubtedly contribute its mite to the moral and spiritual perfection of the human race in general and the aspirants in particular. As we wish to present this volume in a popular and a presentable style, it is printed on good paper and got up excellently well. If this book appeals to the broad-minded and expanded hearts amongst the religious reformers and also aspirants, the Publishers labours will have been sufficiently recompensed.
Product Details

* Amazon Sales Rank: #873025 in Books
* Published on: 2004-12-20
* Released on: 2004-12-20
* Binding: Paperback
* 137 pages

Yoga with Weights For Dummies (For Dummies (Health & Fitness)) by Sherri Baptiste

Product Description

An easy-to-follow guide to a hot new form of yoga

Yoga with Weights is the latest breakthrough in mind-body exercise, integrating the mindfulness of yoga with the physical culture of body-building. Building on the strengths of both disciplines, this friendly guide shows readers how to safely combine yoga postures while simultaneously working out with lightweight hand-held free weights. It features customizable exercises that target specific areas of the body, each illustrated with multiple photos, and provides guidelines for combining healthy eating with workouts.

Sherri Baptiste (Marin County, CA) is the founder of Baptiste Power of Yoga, a nationally recognized method of yoga offered throughout the United States. She teaches yoga classes throughout the United States and hosts retreats around the world.
Product Details

* Amazon Sales Rank: #204078 in Books
* Published on: 2006-01-04
* Number of items: 1
* Binding: Paperback
* 360 pages

Editorial Reviews

Download Description
An easy-to-follow guide to a hot new form of yoga Yoga with Weights is the latest breakthrough in mind-body exercise, integrating the mindfulness of yoga with the physical culture of body-building. Building on the strengths of both disciplines, this friendly guide shows readers how to safely combine yoga postures while simultaneously working out with lightweight hand-held free weights. It features customizable exercises that target specific areas of the body, each illustrated with multiple photos, and provides guidelines for combining healthy eating with workouts. Sherri Baptiste (Marin County, CA) is the founder of Baptiste Power of Yoga, a nationally recognized method of yoga offered throughout the United States. She teaches yoga classes throughout the United States and hosts retreats around the world.

Review
"a good book if you want to learn how yoga and strength training can improve your fitness and wellbeing." (Women's Fitness, September 2007)

Download Description
An easy-to-follow guide to a hot new form of yoga Yoga with Weights is the latest breakthrough in mind-body exercise, integrating the mindfulness of yoga with the physical culture of body-building. Building on the strengths of both disciplines, this friendly guide shows readers how to safely combine yoga postures while simultaneously working out with lightweight hand-held free weights. It features customizable exercises that target specific areas of the body, each illustrated with multiple photos, and provides guidelines for combining healthy eating with workouts. Sherri Baptiste (Marin County, CA) is the founder of Baptiste Power of Yoga, a nationally recognized method of yoga offered throughout the United States. She teaches yoga classes throughout the United States and hosts retreats around the world.
Customer Reviews

good to do something a little different.3
This was good to do something a little different, I could think of more things that may have been in this book, but it gave me a good start.

Yoga with Weights For Dummies5
The hardest part of any exercise program is getting started. Often the programs are too complex and expect the participant to be "in shape". Then there is the cost of expensive equipment and the time commitment. Finding the right exercise program that suits your lifestyle, your needs, and your schedule seems like a recipe for disaster.

Yoga with Weights For Dummies to the rescue. Yoga with Weights is a unique program that combines the stretching and flexibility aspects of yoga with the strength training benefits of weights. The end result is long lean muscles that are strong, without the expensive equipment or inflexible exercise regime.

Yoga with Weights For Dummies actually outlines a number of different programs to gently fit different needs for energy, balance, restoration, strengthening, endurance, and abs workouts. Special adaptations and workouts are also giving for seniors and pregnant women. In all cases, the amount of weight (from no weight at all to 5 pounds) is left up to the participant based upon his or her needs, fitness levels, and goals. Moreover, unlike other fitness regimes, yoga with weights can be done in a twenty minute block of time or broken up throughout your day.

The Art of Piano Playing by Heinrich Neuhaus

Product Details
Amazon Sales Rank: #1018106 in Books
Published on: 1995-03
Binding: Paperback
Customer Reviews

The Pianist's Bible
The Art of Piano Playing such a terrific book that every pianist should have it. I've read it through and will read it again and again. The information in this book is to the point. You can't help but come away with a better understanding of the art of piano playing

Very interesting
His uncle Felix Blumenfeld was a Horowitz teacher.
Some of Neuhaus students among many others:
- Sviatoslav Richter and Emil Gilels, both considered top 10 world pianists.
- The first teacher (the mother) of Andrei Gavrilov.
- Radu Lupu.

This book is funny as exemplified below by some excerpts:

"Thinking about art and science, about their mutual relationship and contradictions, I came to the conclusion, for some reason or other, that mathematics and music are situated at extreme poles of the human spirit, that these two antipodes limit and determine the whole spiritual and creative activity of man and that situated between them is everything that mankind has created in the field of science and art".

I found his above childish thoughts very interesting, perhaps meaning that everything is a linear combination of pure logic (math) and pure emotion (music). As I work with math and like to play piano I will tend to be a "complete" human being :-)

Other of his "jokes":

"When Emil Gilels came to study with me in the Moscow State Conservatory, I was once forced to say to him: You are already a grown man, you can eat steak and drink beer but so far you have been fed with a baby's bottle"

"I remember that when Glazunov was about fifty his mother used to tell the washerwoman to be careful with the child's linen"

"To play the piano is easy. I mean the physical process, and not the summit of pianistic art.It is obvious that to play the piano very well is just as difficult as to do anything else very well, for instance to pull teeth or macadam a road".

"I must once more apologize for this excessively long history about myself; that is always somewhat indecent. But what can one do?"

"Carl Czerny, the "dry and methodical genius" who has tortured generations of pianists wih an inexhaustible stream of studies and exercises..."

And many more...

His jokes are almost everywere. Otherwise the book has several useful recommendations and analysis about the art of piano playing and has chapters on "artistic image of a musical composition", on tone, on technique and on teaching activity.

But be advised: Sometimes the book is a bit verbose, repetitive and philosophical. It is not directed only to technical problems.

A classic....
Lets put it this way.... this is not light reading (is the slang word an airplane book?). It is though one of the best books on playing the piano. Neuhaus is concise, to the point and likes to put out interesting anecdotes, some humorous.
This is also pretty advanced so I doubt non musicians could find any utility apart from historical tidbits. Neuhaus taught Richter who taught many others.... and just like we do with other disciplines - we have to pay tribute to the forefather of this lineage/legacy, especially since he helped produce Richter.

101 Chess Opening Surprises (Gambit Chess) by Graham Burgess

Product Description

Most chess players are fed a set of dogmatic rules about how the opening must be played. The result: stereotyped, unimaginative play. The opening surprises in this book land like bombshells in the apparent calm of standard openings and disorientate your opponents as they grapple with original problems. This book is a treasure-trove of unusual ideas at an early stage of the opening, yet running against the grain of conventional play. Each idea has quick-strike potential and is supported by enough concrete analysis to enable you to try it with confidence.

All major openings are covered. There are surprises for both White and Black, deeply researched and up-to-date. Each idea is assessed in terms of its soundness and its ability to surprise and shock. A thought-provoking introduction examines the underlying concepts of opening play and considers how the standard principles need to be modified in the light of the highly combative handling of the opening now favoured by the world's top players.
Product Details
Amazon Sales Rank: #859557 in Books
Published on: 1998-03-01
Number of items: 1
Binding: Paperback
128 pages
Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher
Gambit Publications specialises in chess and has an unrivalled reputation for originality and editorial excellence. The company is owned and staffed entirely by leading chess masters and grandmasters.

About the Author
FIDE Master Graham Burgess holds the world record for marathon blitz chess playing. He is a highly versatile chess writer, whose "Mammoth Book of Chess" won the British Chess Federation Book of the Year Award in 1997.
Customer Reviews

Entertaining book of a combination of OPENING CHESS TRAPS and IRREGULAR OPENING MOVES
I really found this to be a FUN book to read. Like after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a5! OPPS! I meant to move the Pawn to "a6". Your opponent will look at you and say, ah "touch move!". Then he thinks your are a real FISH and will relax thinking he has "gotcha!". Then you play your best and play well. This isn't really sound chess, but it is fun chess, and I wouldn't really do that. But what about 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.0-0 Bg4 6.h3 h5! - OPPS! I meant to put my Bishop on "h5" not the "Pawn", can I take it back? Your opponent will say "touch move!" and then falls for the trap by greed, 6 hxg4? hxg4 7 Nxe5? (he just cannot stop feeding his army!) Qh4 8 g3 and checkmate cannot be stopped. I like this book, but give it four stars intead of 5 because it might give a beginner some bad ideas to play weak moves to try to trick your opponent instead of playing sound moves. I would also therefore suggest getting a book on "sound" opening traps like "Winning Chess Traps, Tactics in the Opening". Also, "Winning Chess Traps" is old but still good. Do I recommend "101 Chess Opening Surprises" - I do if you are getting it for fun first and understand that you shouldn't really use some of the ideas in it, but get some fun reading them.

Puts the fun back into playing the openings
I remember back to when I first began playing chess, and the excitment that came from springing a big opening surprise on an (equally) inexperienced opponent. To me this book recaptures the experience, and boy does it deliver the promised bombshells!
Each surprise is graded for soundness and surprise value. An example at the extreme end of the Soundness scale would be surprise 16, the Spanish Bulgarian Defense. The shock move 3...a5 is assigned a Soundness ranking of 1, but can you imagine the effect on your opponent? As Burgess says, the move has never been clearly refuted.
An example of a more main-stream idea is Surprise 71 in the Queen's Gambit, 7 e4. Burgess reminds us that this old pawn sacrifice has been resurrected with some dangerous new ideas. The Soundness ranking is 4, a tribute to the quality of players adopting it with white, including Sokolov and Gelfand.
As with the other 101 titles, it is pleasant to be able to browse at random. Great book.

By the book ?
He's (or she's) playing chess by the book'is very often a disdainful remark. But every chessplayer, sooner or later, wants to increase his knowledge of chess. He won't be able to do it on his own. He will need help, help from '101 Chess Opening Surprises', say. This book is very userfriendly. It has only 128 pages but the most important openings are discussed. The notation uses co-ordinates (the easiest way it seems to me) Moreover, on every page are three diagrams to illustrate the moves that are discussed. A must!

Dangerous Men and Adventurous Women: Romance Writers on the Appeal of the Romance (New Cultural Studies Series)

Product Description

Romance readers and writers will find this collection of essays by some of the most popular romance novelists writing today unique and fascinating. For the first time, these authors explain why romance is so popular, reveal why they write in this genre, explore the unheralded benefits of reading and writing romances and much more.
Product Details
Amazon Sales Rank: #93621 in Books
Published on: 1992-12-19
Number of items: 1
Binding: Paperback
204 pages
Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Why read 'em? Why write 'em? Some of us may scoff at romance novels, yet they make up 35-40% of mass market paperbacks. They have a language and a genre all their own that non-readers don't (or won't) understand. This series of essays by popular romance novelists explores the unique qualities and purpose of romance novels.

From Publishers Weekly
In 22 essays, romance novelists address why romances are popular. These authors are convincing when they simply write what they think, as when Sandra Brown flatly asserts that romances "are fun--fun to write, fun to read, fun to dissect and discuss." Some more complex arguments, which invite closer scrutiny of their logic, don't always fare as well. For example, Linda Barlow and Jayne Ann Krentz maintain that "outsiders tend to be unable to interpret" the language, images and symbols that recur, but only a few pages later they claim that such "codes" are "universally recognized by women." When disjunctions arise from the arguments of different authors, however, they can be intriguing: Elizabeth Lowell says of romance heroes that "at core, they are decent"; Anne Stuart maintains that her heroes are men "whose sense of honor and decency is almost nonexistent." There are hints of how interesting these authors could have been, had they not been tied to the book's fairly defensive theme. Notable are Kathleen Gilles Seidel's comments on the nature of romance (prompted by her judging a Valentine's Day essay contest) and her suggestion that information theory might offer useful insights on repetitive reading of romances. Krentz is a bestselling romance novelist who also publishes under the pseudonym Amanda Quick (see Fiction Originals).
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Customer Reviews

Major Mark recommended book
I picked up this book as research for understanding the type of language women respond to. As referenced in this book, Romance Novels account for about 50% of total book sales. This means that from a mans perspective, something in this genre is resonating with with the Venus gender and if nothing else we should see what language patterns are of worth.

I definitely noticed the interesting wrapping of words in descriptions. Where a simple minded man would say "I love you", the romance novelists would say "There exists this deep yearning from the core of my being to express to you the intense warmth and tender feelings of never-ending love I have developed in this beautiful journey we have shared together." And that would be the romantic hero saying this.

I also liked the one explanation where a novelist confessed that she would love to have a romantic fling with the type of man she would never want a permanent relationship with. hmmmmmm, what age old non PC phrase would describe the winner of such attention?

From an informative stand point I did enjoy some of the insight gained from this book. It was repetitive enough to drill the point home, and as an excercise in research was worth the time and money spent.

great resource
This is by and for romance authors. Though there is some repetition, it is nice to get a published author's take on why the romance genre is so popular. Recommended for anyone who wants to know the whys, rather than the hows of the genre.

It's a start...
I enjoyed reading this collection of essays exploring the themes, types, symbols, and (most of all) the appeal of romance novels. In a time when cultural studies is turning its attention on sit-coms and daytime television, should we ignore what romance writing has to teach us about our selves and our culture? I think not. I didn't find definitave answers here--no gospel of women's fiction--but there are a plethora of perspectives. I was challenged to evaluate how and why I read to see if my experience matched up with the authors'. It is a bit of an apologetic...I guess many of the people who read and write romance novels (like myself) are well-adjusted and well-educated people, and we wonder why we're so attracted to books commonly described as "trashy." It probably won't convince any "outsiders" (as the earlier review said) of the value of romance writing, but if you love romance and you don't know why, give this book a try.

How to Develop a Perfect Memory By Dominic O'Brien

Product Details

* Amazon Sales Rank: #1932108 in Books
* Published on: 1994-04
* Binding: Hardcover
* 176 pages

Customer Reviews

A technique that really works5
I read this book back in the late 90's when a friend loaned it to me, i was impressed but i never had the patience to try and memorise the 100 characters and there actions who's initials go with the numbers.

Over 10 years later i started purchasing Dominic O'Briens books and was hooked. I have learnt all 100 names and the first time i tested memorising a deck of cards I got about 47 out of the pack correct.
This is just one of the techniques in the book, but it 100% works if you put in the time to learn it. You also have to go over the things you memorise just like you would if you was studying for an exam. I used to know all the 50 US states and there capitals using his methods but because i never kept it up i forgot them all after a few months.

I have most of Dominics books but i agree with the other poster, i think it's outrageous that this is selling for $200 some places. I think they need to re-publish this. I must say if you cannot afford this book, order Dominic's CD series Quantum Memory Power. All the techniqes which are in this book Dominic explains in great detail in his CD series. I would much prefer the CD series than pay $200 for this.

I have to say a personal thankyou to Dominic if he ever reads this stuff.
Your books are a real inspiration, if only i knew this technique when i was at school.

Dominic's best work .....5
Here's the contents of the book:
2)How to remember lists
3)What's in a name?
3)How to remember numbers
5)The mental diary
6)The mental in-tray
7)Memory and job interviews
8)How to remember speeches
9)How to remember directions
10)Learning the twentieth century calender
11)How to recall 'lost chapters' of your life
12)How to learn languages
13)How to remember geographical facts
14)How to remember history
15)Popular mnemonics
16)How to memorize a pack of cards
17)How to win(always) at Trivial Pursuit
18)Memory and sport
19)How memory can improve your golf swing
20)How memory can improve your chess game
21)More on cards-how to memorize thirty-five decks
22)Number crunching
23)Remembering binary numbers
24)How to win at blackjack
25)How to beat quiz machines
26)Memory and the Greeks
27)Famous Memory men

This is the first and fullest exposition of the DOMINIC Memory system."How to Develop a Perfect Memory" ia one of the more informative and certainly the most enjoyable memory book I have ever come across.This book would be of most interest to participants in memory competitions and conjurors who incorporate memory routines into their act.Dominic's other great work "How to Pass Exams" is,as its name suggests, more geared towards academic applications
The e-book,($39.99)is definitely value for money;an actual second hand copy($149-$645.94???!!!) probably isn't .
Luckily for me..hehe...I found a copy in my local library.Even better value!








Best memory book I have found5
Dominic Obrien, revolutionized the way people memorize. 8 time world memory champion. He dominated the sport until others figured out how he did it.

This is his most comprehensive book. It's goes in great detail and is a great read.

The concepts are easy to understand, but many(like the number system) require a lot of practice. But if you do your homework, you will be able to do things like memorize hundreds of phone numbers, dates, decks of cards, binary numbers etc. It took me months to get the techique fast enough and familiar enough to use it. But well worth it.

Even if you don't have world memory champ aspirations, a lot of the techniques are quite simple and can be used to improve everyday memory(task lists etc.) But for that kind of stuff his other(in print) books will do.

It's a shame this book is out of print and selling for the outragious price of $199 used. Try to find it in a library or borrow it from someone(this book is very very hard to find though).