Tag Archives: Film Production

The Wes Anderson Collection by Matt Zoller Seitz

American Literature October 8, 2013 Superfast Reader

Synopsis: An in-depth look at the career of filmmaker Wes Anderson, as told through film stills, production photos, essays, and interviews with the filmmaker himself. Review: For me, the excitement of opening up The Wes Anderson Collection had as much to do with film critic Matt Zoller Seitz as it did with Anderson (and nothing to do with Michael Chabon, who wrote the foreword and who still can’t do anything to please me.) Seitz opens the book with a few personal recollections of the times…

Night Film by Marisha Pessl

American Literature September 4, 2013 Superfast Reader

Synopsis: When the daughter of a reclusive horror film director commits suicide, a disgraced investigative journalist sets out looking for the truth, only to find himself in a labyrinth straight out of one of the director’s “night films.” Review: The biggest hook in Night Film is Stanislas Cordova, a character who is a delectable melange of Stanley Kubrick, Roman Polanski, Michael Haneke, and Eli Roth. Descriptions of his oeuvre pepper the novel, with tantalizing plot details that made me ache to see the movies. I…

Why the Writers are on Strike

On Reading November 6, 2007 Superfast Reader 17 Comments

You may be aware that members of the Writers Guild of America are on strike, sending late night talk shows into reruns and threatening the remainder of the television season. I am one of them. You may have no idea why. Here’s a short video that explains what’s at stake:

Books In Movies

On Reading September 26, 2007 Superfast Reader 9 Comments

No, not books TO movies, books IN movies, used as props or set dressing. Whenever I see a character reading, I want to know what they’re reading. All too often you can’t tell, but when you can, it’s usually informative. The AMC series “Mad Men” has had some fun book cameos. Set in the 1960s New York City advertising world, the show consciously references books and films of the time. I noticed in the first episode that the main office set appeared to be an…

How to Turn a Book Into a Movie

On Reading March 31, 2007 Superfast Reader 529 Comments

I’m often asked what I look for when I evaluate books for the movie biz. First and foremost, I look for the elements that are important to my employers–things that they are specifically looking for in terms of genre, execution, etcetera. I read for a couple of different places, and each has a slightly different mandate. In general, in order for a book to become a movie it has to have a strong, forward-moving plot line, and a premise that you can easily picture on…

A Killer Life by Christine Vachon

American Literature December 5, 2006 Superfast Reader 2 Comments

Synopsis: Christine Vachon is an independent film producer, and in this book she tells the story of how she made films like Far From Heaven, Boys Don’t Cry, and more.

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