Figure Fantasy : The Pop Culture Photography Of Daniel Picard
Not much in the way of actual text other than an introduction from Picard,a funny foreword by Simon Pegg and a nice afterword from director Kevin Smith.The photos ate stunning,basically Picard puts his vast collection of figures in individual,unusual and amusing settings and situations,then photographs them.So you get to see images like the assassin droid/bounty hunter IG-88 from The Empire Strikes Back, in a Yoga position on a beach.
Embassytown by China Miéville
A really absorbing book with great characters and a simple plot that follows a communication breakdown between the relationship of an alien and colonial that must be fixed.
Just finished a good,little book called Off Rock by Kieran Shea.A really faced paced story set on a miming facility in space.The main character,Jimmy is a disillusioned minor who finds gold but faces a dilemma of calling it in or keeping it for himself.It basically becomes a heist story blended with elements of Red Dwarf and Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The only drawback is being so short(300 plus pages)some of the other characters are sligjtly underdeveloped.Otherwise very enjoyable.
Giger's Alien by HR Giver
A complete record of the dark surrealist's work on the 1979 classic film.Featuring notes from his diary,sketches,concept paintings for all aspects of the creature's life cycle,scenery and the bone ship.
Warner Bros : The Making of an American Movie Studio by David Thompson
Told with plenty of style and brio,Thompson paints an idealistic portrait of the studio during its glory years but he also focusses more on Jack Warner and his randy antics than his brothers.Still a great read though when it gets into WB stars including James Cagney,Humphrey Bogart and Bette Davis.
À Bientôt
By Roger Moore and Gareth Owen
Not quite a as good as his 2008 autobiography,this tends to spend more time on the late actor's winter years as a raconteaur and memoirist but you get some nice information on some films he wanted to make but never got the chance which include
Escape To Victory, Victor(a Frankenstein spin off)and Home Alone 2 : Lost In New York.
Just finishing off The Thing by Alan Dean Foster.
Great little movie tie in to John Carpenter's The Thing adapted from Bill Lancaster's script but with a few subtle differences here and there mostly involving the individual deaths of the team members.Fast paced,descriptive,horrific and quite frightening in places with characters that you actually care about.Overall a top read and all for 75p from a book stall.
Harry Potter : Page To Screen
An utterly comprehensive guide from preproduction to release of each film in the series put together by Bob McCabe.Essential if you're a fan of the films or have an interest in fantasy film making in general.
Rebel : My Life Outside The Lines by Nick Nolte
An incredibly candid autobiography that,in these overly sanitised Hollywood puff pieces reads like a hurricane of fresh air.From his days as an all American high school athlete to his acting breakthrough in the 70s and the acclaim he received in the 90s and beyond,its all utterly absorbing as he broaches his feelings about struggles with addiction and public meltdowns.Well worth a look if you've ever been a fan of his work.
The Girl by Michelle Morgan
Morgan's fifth book about Marilyn Monroe covers the two year period making The Seven Year Itch and the aftermath when she began to try and strike out on her own.Morgan is clearly trying to present the star as a feminist and totally destroy the stereotypical "dumb blonde" tag that Monroe was seen as by the public for many years.