Beyond Popcorn: A Critic's Guide to Looking at Film
Spokane-based critic and teacher Glatzer targets uninitiated but  curious moviegoers who want to assess films intelligently and  place them in context. He discusses film acting and camera  placement; the jobs of cinematographer, editor, art director,  composer, casting director, grip, and assistant director;  foreign films; and truly great directors (a debatable selection,  naturally). In addition, there are thumbnail sketches of 143  must-see movies, and the ubiquitous director "Alan Smithee" is  defined. Glatzer is best when analyzing Buster Keaton's comedy  and identifying stories unworthy of their supposed significance.  And his "Ten Minute Movie Maven" epilog could stand on its own  as a magazine article. On the negative side, seasoned moviegoers  will take issue with Glatzer's views that the only leading  ladies who aren't "drop-dead gorgeous" are Renee Zellweger and  Minnie Driver, that Arnold Schwarzenegger never played a heroic  role until Terminator 2 (ignoring Conan, Predator, Total Recall,  and Kindergarten Cop), and that director Robert Wise (The  Set-Up, The Day the Earth Stood Still, I Want To Live!, West  Side Story) is a "hack." All the same, his opinionated book is  recommended for public libraries. Kim Holston, American Inst.  for Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters, Malvern, PACopyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.