Tag: entertainment industry

“The Last Decade of Cinema” by Scott Ryan – Review

By: Angie Haddock

Ah, the nineties. Movies were something in those days. We’ re talking about a decade that began with GoodFellas and ended with Magnolia, with such films as Malcolm X, Before Sunrise, and Clueless arriving somewhere in between. Stories, characters, and writing were king; IP, franchise movies, and supersaturated superhero flicks were still years away. Or so says Scott Ryan, the iconoclastic author of The Last Days of Letterman and An Oral History, who here turns his attention to The Last Decade of Cinema— the prolific 1990s.

–Goodreads

I would say that this book speaks to people in my age range… but really, anyone can enjoy movies from any era, if they seek them out and choose to watch them!

But this was a fun romp down memory lane for someone who actually remembers some of these movies from when they were first out (either in theaters or on VHS).

For this examination of the author’s favorite decade of movies, he watched about 160 movies from the era, and chose 25 to write essays about. Aside from the deep dives into individual movies, though, Scott Ryan pontificates a lot about why the 1990s was, in his mind, the “last decade of cinema.”

(Spoiler: a big part of that was the shift to digital projection, and/or just watching stuff at home. Yes, he has a noticeable dislike of big franchise movies, too, but that really comes later than 2000.)

I can’t say I’ve seen every movie on his list, or agree with every point he makes. This book is full of subjective opinions, albeit from someone who knows a lot about movies. The fun is just in thinking about these gems, or thinking about them again after a long time. And, of course, maybe considering watching some that this viewer/reader passed on when they first hit Blockbuster Video.

Just to whet your appetite, a few of the movies he highlights include:

Pretty Woman, Terminator 2, Malcolm X, The Shawshank Redemption, Pulp Fiction, Swingers, The Birdcage, The Big Lebowski, and The Cider House Rules.

The essays are organized by year. He also includes some short (one paragraph, mostly) thoughts on some of the other movies he watched, and a full list of all of them at the end. So, even after the big thoughts on the 25 heavy hitters he picked to focus on, you can keep the nostalgia going by seeing the full list and remembering other faves from the era.

This book is for you if you have ever had lengthy discussions about the likes of Ben Stiller, Jon Favreau, or even Martin Scorsese and Robert DeNiro. Or if you haven’t, but aspire to someday. If you’re in film school, just do it.

This trip through a bygone era is out today. I read ahead on NetGalley, thanks to Black Chateau and BookFest.

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Back in my “memoirs” era, and two mini-reviews

DId I just read two #SNL memoirs at the same time? Yes, I did.
#bookreview #colinjost #kenanthompson

By: Angie Haddock

As some of you know by now, I read a lot of advanced reader’s copies for this blog! But, I still find time here and there to read a few books off my TBR, too. A few weeks ago, I was looking for something “light-hearted,” and pulled Colin Jost’s memoir off my shelf.

About a week into reading that, an audiobook I had on hold through my library came in… of Kenan Thompson’s memoir.

So, yes, I was taking in both of these concurrently! If you know who these men are, you’ll understand that there is a lot of overlap here. While they obviously grew up in different circumstances, they have spent roughly the last 20 years on the same show, Saturday Night Live. (Thompson joined the cast in 2003, when he was 25, and Jost was hired as a writer in 2005, when he was 23.)

There are a few similarities in these books, as expected. Both have a chapter where the author lists some of his favorite sketches he was involved with over the years – either as a performer or writer. And both have a line in there mentioning that people always ask who the worst host was, but they would never answer that kind of question. (Jost then puts his answer in parentheses, anyway. Even funnier: Jost’s worst is one Thompson lists as a favorite!)

Now, a small recap of the parts of the stories that do not overlap!

“A Very Punchable Face” by Colin Jost

Jost grew up on Staten Island, with a family full of firefighters who mostly lived in the same neighborhood. He was a little chunky as a kid, but did play sports. By the time he was in high school, however, he was more into the debate team (where he competed against Josh Gad!).

Later, he went to Harvard and eventually started writing for the famed “Lampoon” magazine. He was basically always a writer. In fact, straight out of college, he spent a while working for his local newspaper before landing a job at SNL.

There is a chapter in his book titled “Why I Love My Mom.” My initial reaction: “Aw, that’s sweet.” THINK AGAIN. This chapter is a rundown of all the things his mom – a doctor with the FDNY – went through on 9/11. It was a total gut-punch, but definitely worth reading. Have tissues handy.

“When I Was Your Age” by Kenan Thompson

Thompson grew up in Atlanta, and spent a lot of his childhood in church. He and his older brothers were “latchkey kids,” and loved TV from early on. When he realized that Turner Broadcasting was in Atlanta, and there was TV being produced right where he lived, he was determined to become a working actor.

By his mid-teens, he was a staple on Nickelodeon, and was spending some of his time in L.A.

His biggest struggles hit immediately after his Nick years, as he had trouble transitioning from being a kid actor to being cast in adult roles. He says his baby face is a “blessing and a curse.” He had all his early earnings swindled from him by an accountant, so he was also starting over financially at this time. Landing at SNL was a dream come true for him, even though he loved L.A. and had initially seen himself working on that coast.

I enjoyed both of these books. Of course, I’ve been a loyal Saturday Night Live fan since the Wayne’s World days, so I may be biased. But, if you’re a fan of the show, please enjoy!

I have a lot more memoirs and biographies still on my TBR – mostly actors and comedians. Should we tackle some more this year? Have you read any good ones lately?

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“Opposable Thumbs” by Matt Singer – Review

By: Angie Haddock

On a cold Saturday afternoon in 1975, two men (who had known each other for eight years before they’d ever exchanged a word) met for lunch in a Chicago pub. Gene Siskel was the film critic for the Chicago Tribune. Roger Ebert had recently won the Pulitzer Prize—the first ever awarded to a film critic—for his work at the Chicago Sun-Times. To say they despised each other was an understatement.

–Goodreads

Have you ever read my bio on here? I’m not judging you if you haven’t. But if you have, you should not be surprised that I was excited to read the ARC for this new release! (Spoiler: I loved Roger Ebert’s memoir, “Life Itself.”)

If you’re old enough to remember watching Siskel & Ebert, or if you’re interested in film criticism or the film industry itself… this one is for you.

The basics: Roger had an early interest in journalism, although he didn’t originally set out to be a film critic per se. Gene found journalism a bit later, and also did not see himself covering the film “beat.” But each, at different Chicago newspapers, found themselves writing film reviews for their jobs. They eventually became well known in the area for their opinions on these things.

The local PBS station, looking for new material, tried putting them together to review films on TV. The show actually did not start out well! For one, their printed film reviews were much longer than what they could realistically say in an on-air review. Secondly, they were not comfortable in front of the cameras. Thirdly… they were rivals, and could not hide their disdain for each other.

The station gave the project over to a different producer who, instead of hiring new hosts, decided she could coach Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert on those first two items. The third became their calling card, as they projected an “Odd Couple” vibe for the rest of their partnership.

The show was picked up by more and more PBS affiliates throughout the country, and eventually made the move into syndication. The pair stayed together for almost 30 years, until Siskel’s death at age 53.

This book highlights a few reasons the show “worked,” and a few reasons it was revolutionary. Firstly, it was one of the earliest shows on TV that featured heated debates regularly. People came to expect Gene and Roger to disagree, and sometimes were more interested in that than the films being discussed!

Another revolutionary feature was that they showed clips of the films they were talking about. This was before film studios sent press kits to every outlet available, and the marketing departments had a stranglehold on what clips could be aired. Gene and Roger actually picked out what parts they wanted to show, to support their critiques, and their staff had to laboriously “cut” these from the pair’s review copies. This was exciting for the hosts, too, as showing their audience what they were talking about was something they could not do in their print reviews.

Both critics kept writing for their respective papers. Roger Ebert lived just long enough to eventually spin his thoughts onto the internet’s media landscape, too. But the disagreements and the movie clips were what set the show apart from all their written work.

Today’s movie-going audience is used to seeing clips before a movie comes out, so this may not seem revolutionary now. But now, studios are very much on top of what can be uploaded to YouTube, and copyright infringement becomes the issue. When Siskel & Ebert started using clips, they controlled what was shown, and it was always to show the audience that they should – or should NOT – bother with seeing the movie at the theater.

And often, the audience listened! There were several examples in the book of the critics championing an indie or under-the-radar film, and then it going on to do well.

And, fun fact: the phrase “two thumbs up!” is trademarked by their estates. Which is why most film reviewers use stars, letter grades, or other rating systems today.

This fun trip through film and film criticism history comes out today. I was able to read ahead via Netgalley and the publisher, Putnam.

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