From red-carpet thrillers to insider accounts, the Guardian's film critic hands out his gongs to the best Oscars literature out there
Partly because Academy Award madness is almost upon us, partly because like all former PhD students I love a good reading list, and partly out of sheer nerdiness, I have compiled an arbitrary list of the top 10 Oscar-related books. This has involved the incidental pleasure of hanging out in the Humanities One reading room of the British Library, and also in the library of the excellent and under-appreciated Cinema Museum in Kennington, south London.
1) Robert Osborne – 80 Years of the Oscar: The Official History of the Academy Awards (2009)
A hefty, celebratory, coffee-table slab of a book, packed with stats and pictures like a book about sport. Very much the approved, authorised version.
2) Mason Wiley and Damien Bona – Inside Oscar: The Unofficial History of the Academy Awards (1977)
Notionally "unofficial" but in...
Partly because Academy Award madness is almost upon us, partly because like all former PhD students I love a good reading list, and partly out of sheer nerdiness, I have compiled an arbitrary list of the top 10 Oscar-related books. This has involved the incidental pleasure of hanging out in the Humanities One reading room of the British Library, and also in the library of the excellent and under-appreciated Cinema Museum in Kennington, south London.
1) Robert Osborne – 80 Years of the Oscar: The Official History of the Academy Awards (2009)
A hefty, celebratory, coffee-table slab of a book, packed with stats and pictures like a book about sport. Very much the approved, authorised version.
2) Mason Wiley and Damien Bona – Inside Oscar: The Unofficial History of the Academy Awards (1977)
Notionally "unofficial" but in...
- 2/24/2011
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
In July of 2009, A&E released the Hercule Poirot and Jane Marple DVD set that included all of those included in this new Great Detectives Anthology. The difference between this set and that 2009 release is the addition of 5 Sherlock Holmes mysteries (featuring Peter Cushing), the omission of 7 Poirot mysteries one Marple mystery. Exactly why this change in the old set was made is hard to say, but the set definitely benefits from the addition of Sherlock Holmes to the mix, it immediately makes the set more palatable to a wider audience who may not have foreknowledge of the two comparatively lesser known detectives who headlined the first set.
The Sherlock Holmes mysteries included in the set are “The Hound of the Baskervilles”, “A Study in Scarlet”, “The Boscombe Valley Mystery”, “The Sign of Four” and “The Blue Carbuncle”.
Just like with the original Poirot & Marple set, they’re oddly out of order,...
The Sherlock Holmes mysteries included in the set are “The Hound of the Baskervilles”, “A Study in Scarlet”, “The Boscombe Valley Mystery”, “The Sign of Four” and “The Blue Carbuncle”.
Just like with the original Poirot & Marple set, they’re oddly out of order,...
- 10/25/2010
- by Lex Walker
- JustPressPlay.net
Agatha Christie gifted the world with a series of mysteries so intricate and well-conceived that her name has a legendary aura in the world of mystery literature. With so much source material in the Agatha Christie library it really should come as no surprise that Agatha Christie: Poirot and Agatha Christie Marple, brilliant adaptations of two of her most famous detectives, feature compelling stories for viewers who find the offerings of the small and silver screens sorely lacking in good whodunits. David Suchet and Joan Hickson embody the characters with such familiarity and comfortable style that make each installment a feature-film quality presentation.
Keep in mind that this box set is by no means a complete collection of either series, but rather a compilation of the two with a rhyme and reason to the selections. The Poirot mysteries aren’t even a random selection of the so-called “best” of the...
Keep in mind that this box set is by no means a complete collection of either series, but rather a compilation of the two with a rhyme and reason to the selections. The Poirot mysteries aren’t even a random selection of the so-called “best” of the...
- 7/31/2009
- by Lex Walker
- JustPressPlay.net
Agatha Christie gifted the world with a series of mysteries so intricate and well-conceived that her name has a legendary aura in the world of mystery literature. With so much source material in the Agatha Christie library it really should come as no surprise that Agatha Christie: Poirot and Agatha Christie Marple, brilliant adaptations of two of her most famous detectives, feature compelling stories for viewers who find the offerings of the small and silver screens sorely lacking in good whodunits. David Suchet and Joan Hickson embody the characters with such familiarity and comfortable style that make each installment a feature-film quality presentation.
Keep in mind that this box set is by no means a complete collection of either series, but rather a compilation of the two with a rhyme and reason to the selections. The Poirot mysteries aren’t even a random selection of the so-called “best” of the...
Keep in mind that this box set is by no means a complete collection of either series, but rather a compilation of the two with a rhyme and reason to the selections. The Poirot mysteries aren’t even a random selection of the so-called “best” of the...
- 7/31/2009
- by Lex Walker
- JustPressPlay.net
Agatha Christie gifted the world with a series of mysteries so intricate and well-conceived that her name has a legendary aura in the world of mystery literature. With so much source material in the Agatha Christie library it really should come as no surprise that Agatha Christie: Poirot and Agatha Christie Marple, brilliant adaptations of two of her most famous detectives, feature compelling stories for viewers who find the offerings of the small and silver screens sorely lacking in good whodunits. David Suchet and Joan Hickson embody the characters with such familiarity and comfortable style that make each installment a feature-film quality presentation.
Keep in mind that this box set is by no means a complete collection of either series, but rather a compilation of the two with a rhyme and reason to the selections. The Poirot mysteries aren’t even a random selection of the so-called “best” of the...
Keep in mind that this box set is by no means a complete collection of either series, but rather a compilation of the two with a rhyme and reason to the selections. The Poirot mysteries aren’t even a random selection of the so-called “best” of the...
- 7/31/2009
- by Lex Walker
- JustPressPlay.net
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