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Printed Matter
Hispanics in Hollywood:
A Celebration of 100 Years in Film and Television
By Luis Reyes and Peter Rubie
Lone Eagle Publishing $21.95
Too often, well-meaning scholars look to the past in an effort to recognize forgotten figures, but the approach usually overreaches and ends up as mere hagiography.
When Rita Moreno first came to Hollywood, she wanted "nothing more than to be the next Lana Turner." She wound up "relegated to playing a spate of nameless Indian maidens and Mexican spitfires." Even after attaining recognition, the Oscar-, Emmy- and Tony-winning actress still had to fight typecasting. Knowing whereof she speaks, Moreno praises Hispanics in Hollywood for saluting "both those who paved the way and those who broke down the barriers of stereotypes with their talent and fortitude."
This reference book with a heart divides its nearly 600 pages into sections on the Hispanic influence and/or themes in Films, Television (series, movies and miniseries), Zorro and The Cisco Kid and Biographies. Each category is preceded by a thought-provoking introduction in which the subject at hand is artfully placed in historical perspective. From the silent era, when Mexican extras populated The Birth of a Nation (1915), to recent achievements by such talents as Edward James Olmos directing, producing and starring in American Me (1992) - or Sam Mendes directing last year's Academy Award-winning American Beauty (1999) - the Hispanic presence in Hollywood is documented from varied creative angles. Authors Reyes and Rubie point out that today's Hispanic American filmmakers are creating and defining their own images rather than allowing themselves to be defined by someone else. There are also "Hispanic directors working in Hollywood on projects without a Latin cultural link..."
Perhaps one of the more subtle but telling indications of the progress made by Hispanics in Hollywood is to see the prevalence of keeping Latin names. I wonder what the late Francisco ("Chico") Day, the first Hispanic American assistant director in Hollywood, and his late brother, actor Gilbert Roland - both born Alonso - would feel about the likes of Andy Garcia, Jennifer Lopez, Esai Morales, Cameron Diaz et al. And just think: if only Martin Sheen had remained Ramon Estevez, we'd sort of feel we had the first Hispanic American President of the United States.
-Lisa Mitchell
The Film Director
Second Edition
By Richard L. Bare
Foreword by James Garner
Introduction by Robert Wise
IDG Books Worldwide, Inc. $16.95
When "But what I really want to do is direct" is not a punch line, and you think that everybody and his sister must feel the same way because the competition to break in the biz is so stiff, and you secretly wish for greater understanding of the craft of directing so you can bring off your art ... get a copy of Richard Bare's The Film Director and read it, read it, read it.
Originally published in 1971, this second edition of the industry classic is revised and updated to give you the best of both worlds of then (DeMille, Vidor, Capra) and now (Cameron, Spielberg, Leider). Your pointers on everything from effective camera moves to directing novice actors could be through examples from Golden Age movies as well as from recent blockbusters.
New or aspiring directors, take comfort in having the Bare basics with you to go over the principles of good filmmaking, which really haven't changed all that much since giants walked the earth. This veteran's guidance on setting the pace or on the art of rehearsal or cheating backgrounds or learning about the camera and its components - even his advice on how to land a job - just make sense; make you feel as though there is a method to this madness and that you can do it! Sections on low-budget filmmaking, the importance of joining the Directors Guild and a glossary of motion picture and television terms round things out nicely.
Bare, a DGA Award winner and three-time Academy Award nominee, has taught directing at USC and holds what may be the all-time record for directing a successive number of TV shows (168 episodes of Green Acres). He opens the coffers of decades of experience here - and not just his own. As Robert Wise says in his Introduction, Bare is "an articulate spokesperson for his fellow directors." And he wants you to become one of them.
-L.M.
Movie Awards
By Tom O'Neil
Berkley Publishing Group $19.95
When it comes to Oscar, you could be walled in by the books that answer the questions of "which film won?" and "which person won?" But what about the other awards? How did those films and film artists fare in the DGA Awards, the New York Film Critics, National Society of Film Critics, Golden Globes, Sundance Film Festival, SAG and WGA? Tom O'Neil, who's covered this turf for a number of publications including Variety, TV Guide, New York Times and E! Entertainment Network, decided to compile all the winners and nominees into the ultimate awards-reference resource. It's a veritable feast for the trivia junkie. Not only does O'Neil list the awards chronologically, from 1927 to 1999, but he also introduces each year with behind-the-scenes, blow-by-blow info culled from the archives of Variety, New York Times and a number of other sources. There's even trivia about each of the awards. While it's undeniably a fantastic reference, it's also a pretty darn good and frequently amusing read. It's a one-stop awards-info shop and deserves a place on the bookshelf.
-Ted Elrick
FYI Book Bag...
Faber and Faber, an affiliate of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, has been publishing a series of screenplays by directors, illustrated with scenes from their movies. Some recent titles to note: O Brother, Where Art Thou? by Ethan and Joel Coen ($14), Requiem for a Dream by Darren Aronofsky and Hubert Selby, Jr. ($14) and Almost Famous by Cameron Crowe ($14).
Also from Faber and Faber is Projections 11: New York Filmmakers on New York Filmmaking, edited by Tod Lippy ($20), which offers interviews with such directors as Jim Jarmusch, Spike Lee, Nora Ephron, Tim Robbins and Sidney Lumet. And if you've ever wanted to get inside Terry Gilliam's head, Gilliam on Gilliam, edited by Ian Christie ($15), is your portal. Christie's intelligent questions and comments unleash open, funny, articulate, fascinating responses from Gilliam. Accompanying the text are the amusing drawings/storyboards of this cartoonist cum director. There is also what must be the world's most minutely detailed filmography of Gilliam's singularly creative, ideosyncratic films.
-L.M.
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