How to Watch a Movie

September 15, 2015
Celebrated movie critic and film studies teacher Thomson (Moments that Made the Movies, 2013, etc.) implores viewers to scrutinize themselves as closely as what's playing on the silver screen-or YouTube. Whether reclining in a darkened movie theater or on your couch at home, there's a lot more happening on our collective screens than the fantastic images might suggest-and it appears as if the author has considered them all, including the screens themselves. Readers will need to possess a storehouse of cinematic knowledge that stretches all the way back to D.W. Griffith and Fritz Lang to fully appreciate the rich and robust dissertation Thomson undertakes with ease. Those lacking that price of admission should probably slip out and at least prime themselves on Citizen Kane, Persona, and Psycho to try and catch up. But once they do, they'll see that Thomson not only closely mines those legendary films, but also the likes of Pretty Woman, Heat, and The Godfather as well. The author's encyclopedic knowledge of cinema history makes for some truly fascinating associations-often in the space of a single poetic phrase. Reams have already been written about Leni Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will (1935), but how many other authors or critics could careen so effortlessly between that infamous work of Nazi propaganda and a Gatorade commercial featuring Yankees great Derek Jeter? Or the heretofore-unknown relationship between Persona and recent DirectTV spots starring actor Rob Lowe? In probing these uncanny parallels, along with other cinematic information, including story, editing, and sound, Thomson assuredly seeks to expose the magician's many secrets-but only so we can all access a better appreciation of the wonder of film. "If you really want to watch a film," he writes, "you must be ready to recognize your own life slipping away." An enjoyably deep dive into the interaction between cinema and psyche.

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October 1, 2015
Per film-critic and author extraordinaire Thomson (Why Acting Matters, 2015), although movies may have simply been entertainment for the first 60 years, their intent and purpose have steadily grown, along with their technical capability, ensuring we leave many movies not just smiling but also thinking. Thomson backs his suppositions here with discussions of movies from such great filmmakers as Hitchcock, Sturges, Welles, and more; the advent of sound; the promisesbroken or keptof storytelling; and the true person behind a movie's success. All components are thoughtfully pondered and poetically covered. Filled with analysis and musings, the book's coverage is fascinating, wide ranging (from art to critics), and immensely knowledgeable, with no aspect of filmmaking, or contributors to same, slighted in analysis. Readers ranging from filmmakers to movie buffs will learn much here. As Thomson notes, The movies did one potent thing: they broadcast the sight and sound of beautiful people in situations of exceptional and unsettling intimacy. No wonder we like to watch.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

September 1, 2015

If anyone is qualified to guide readers in how to watch a movie, it is veteran film critic Thomson (The New Biographical Dictionary of Film; Have You Seen...?). For the author, movie watching is not a passive entertainment, though he is admittedly massively entertained by film, but an elegant exercise in paying attention and awareness. To watch a movie is to see it more than once. With a prose style more conversational than didactic, Thomson dissects how the technical vocabulary of filmmaking, such as the frame, shot, cut, and sound, is used to re-create the human experience on screen. Part film interpretation, part psychology, this volume explores how the experience of watching artifice on celluloid film, digital print, or LCD screen arouses real-life emotions. Thomson supports his thesis with penetrating analysis of some of the usual suspects--Citizen Kane, Rebel Without a Cause, and several Alfred Hitchcock classics--as well as some deep cuts and recent releases. VERDICT Highly readable and wickedly smart, this title will inspire both lay film fans and film students to watch more closely. [See Prepub Alert, 5/11/15.]--Amanda Westfall, Emmet O'Neal PL, Mountain Brook, AL

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2015

Sure, you go to the movies, but do you really know how to look at them? Top critic Thomson, whom you will know for having authored six editions of Biographical Dictionary of Film (New Biographical Dictionary of Film topped Sight & Sound magazine's 2010 expert poll as the best film book of all time), gives you the background to appreciate what you typically let just flow by on the silver screen.

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.