Let's get this right out front......no movie buff and/or student of cinema should be without this book. If you don't get it for Christmas or Hannukah, buy it yourself.....ASAP.
BQ could spend the rest of this year (and well into next) blathering on about all the cool stuff in this book........first, it's a meticulous, textbook quality description of the film editor's art that should be instant required reading for all film students........
Second, it's a skillfully written insider's look at the business and art of studio filmmaking that spans the 60's through today........the directors, actors, writers, composers and moguls who both clashed and collaborated to craft movies that ended up either iconic or disasters.....or somewhere in between......a exquisite detailing of the egos, brilliance, stupidity and sometimes just plain dumb luck that goes into the making of a major feature film........
We can't praise Paul Hirsch's book enough........for the voluminous amount of knowledge we gained about the the day-to-day task of a film editor........who essentially has to somehow form a movie out of raw footage given to him by the director.......(such as director John Hughes, who'd shoot enough footage to circle the globe multiple times....)
As Hirsch survives the itinerant, uncertain life of a film editor, bouncing from project to project, you'll laugh, cringe and sit amazed at the cast of characters he encounters throughout his long career.......the mercurial Brian DePalma, the modest, shy George Lucas, the fire-breathing legendary composer Bernard Herrmann and a host of other filmmakers of every stripe......from methodical geniuses to out-of-their-depth hacks.....
You'll get a treasure trove of inside scoop of what it was like to craft 'Star Wars', 'Carrie', 'Ferris Bueller', 'Planes, Trains and Automobiles'.........(but personally, we loved the stories about the making of trainwrecks like Eddie Murphy's "Pluto Nash" and the ghastly "I Love Trouble", featuring two stars, Nick Nolte and Julia Roberts who couldn't stand the sight of each other......)
What more could a film buff ask for this holiday season........you get it all in one single book......a master technician's breakdown of film editing, terrific Hollywood history.......and no end of juicy behind-the-scenes stuff........
This one automatically gets a nomination for a BQootie Best Non-Fiction Book Of The Year......a 5 star (*****) FIND OF FINDS.
So go find it. Now.
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