I’d like to recommend a book which reviews films on videocassetes, and I know I recommended it once before -- but the book is so wonderful that I think it is worth recommending again. It is called Time Out Film Guide, and it is a British review of films, but you can buy it at any American bookstore. Why is it so great?
I always carry the book when I go to the video store. I rented a film I never heard of “Against all odds’ because it recommended the film. I liked it so much I went back & re-read the review. The first sentence of the review said “This places itself in much the same category as Jim McBride’s “Breathless -- a glossy remake of an old & much loved classic, in this case Jacques Tourneur’s 1947 noir thriller “Out of the Past.” In one sentence I have been introduced to two films I must rent “Breathless, and “Out of the Past,” but that’s not all.
Suddenly I hear the name Jacques Tourneur. Who the heck is Jack Tourneur? Like all good film guides, there is an index of Directors. When I turn to Jack Tourneur I find a long list of films, and when I read the reviews of those films, I find there are six more I want to rent. For instance, “The Flame & the Arrow.” “The first of Burt Lancaster’s attempts to revive the swashbuckling spirit of of Douglas Fairbanks senior. Perhaps not quite so irresistably ebullient as The Crimson Pirate...but great fun...and beautifully paced by Tourneur.” Now I want to rent “The Crimson Pirate” -- and I know that Tourneur is a director who is good at pacing a film.
When I turn to the review of “Out of the Past” I find out that it is “the definitive flashback movie...the mood of obsession was never so powerfully suggested.” What high praise for a movie -- and I had never heard of the movie -- or this director, Tourneu. The review goes on to say “Superbly crafted pulp is revealed at every level: in the intricate script by Daniel Mainwaring (whose credits for Phoenix City Story and Invasion of the Body Snatchers need no further recommendation), the almost abstract lighting patterns of Nick Musucara (previously perfected in Cat People and the Spiral Staircase), and the downbeat tragic otherworldliness of Jacques Tourneur (only equaled in his I Walked With A Zombie).
What a wonderful book this is! You read a review of one movie and suddenly there are five other movies you have to check out: Invasion of the Body Snatchers -- which most of you have heard about -- but Cat People? The Spiral Staircase? Phoenix City Story? I Walked with A Zombie? And once I check those out, I’m sure that those reviews will lead me to still other movies, other directors.
You must buy this book. No other review of movies even comes close to being as intelligent as this bookis. Again, the title is Time Out. If you just remember the word Time, I’m sure the bookstore can locate the book for you. Again, Time Out -- an absolutely stunning book about movies. It will lead you to movie after movie after movie that you will enjoy. It is a pleasure to read -- and it will give you the pleasure of choosing the right movie.
Copyright © 2004 Henry Morgenstein