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Best Video

Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration
From one of the co-founders of Pixar Animation Studios—the Academy Award–winning studio behind Coco, Inside Out, and Toy Story —comes an incisive book about creativity in business and leadership for readers of Daniel Pink, Tom Peters, and Chip and Dan Heath. NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER | NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Huffington Post • Financial Times • Success • Inc. • Library Journal “[ Creativity, Inc. ]. just might be the most thoughtful management book ever.”— Fast Company Creativity, Inc. is a book for managers who want to lead their employees to new heights, a manual for anyone who strives for originality, and the first-ever, all-access trip into the nerve center of Pixar Animation—into the meetings, postmortems, and “Braintrust” sessions where some of the most successful films in history are made. It is, at heart, a book about how to build a creative culture—but it is also, as Pixar co-founder and president Ed Catmull writes, “an expression of the ideas that I believe make the best in us possible.”. Praise for Creativity, Inc. “Over more than thirty years, Ed Catmull has developed methods to root out and destroy the barriers to creativity, to marry creativity to the pursuit of excellence, and, most impressive, to sustain a culture of disciplined creativity during setbacks and success.” —Jim Collins, co-author of Built to Last and author of Good to Great “Too often, we seek to keep the status quo working. “Just might be the best business book ever written.” — Forbes “Achieving enormous success while holding fast to the highest artistic standards is a nice trick—and Pixar, with its creative leadership and persistent commitment to innovation, has pulled it off. Any reader of Creativity, Inc., Catmull’s new book on the art of running creative companies, will have to agree. Catmull, president of both Pixar and Walt Disney Animation, has written what just might be the most thoughtful management book ever.” — Fast Company “It’s one thing to be creative; it’s entirely another—and much more rare—to build a great and creative culture. Over more than thirty years, Ed Catmull has developed methods to root out and destroy the barriers to creativity, to marry creativity to the pursuit of excellence, and, most impressive, to sustain a culture of disciplined creativity during setbacks and success. Catmull’s book is quickly becoming the latest bible for the show business crowd.” —The New York Times “The most practical and deep book ever written by a practitioner on the topic of innovation.” —Prof. [Catmull] uses Pixar’s triumphs and near-disasters to outline a system for managing people in creative businesses—one in which candid criticism is delivered sensitively, while individuality and autonomy are not strangled by a robotic corporate culture.” — Financial Times “A wonderful new book . An immensely readable and rewarding book that will challenge and inspire readers to make their workplaces hotbeds of creativity.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “Punctuated with surprising tales of how the company’s films were developed and the company’s financial struggles, Catmull shares insights about harnessing talent, creating teams, protecting the creative process, candid communications, organizational structures, alignment, and the importance of storytelling. [ Creativity, Inc. ] will delight and inspire creative individuals and their managers, as well as anyone who wants to work ‘in an environment that fosters creativity and problem solving.’” — Publishers Weekly (starred review) “For anyone managing anything, and particularly those trying to manage creative teams, Catmull is like a kind, smart godfather guiding us toward managing wisely, without losing our souls, and in a way that works toward greatness. What Ed Catmull shares instead is his astute experience that creativity isn’t strictly a well of ideas, but an alchemy of people. In Creativity, Inc. Ed reveals, with commonsense specificity and honesty, examples of how not to get in your own way and how to realize a creative coalescence of art, business, and innovation.” —George Lucas “This is the best book ever written on what it takes to build a creative organization. Ed Catmull is co-founder of Pixar Animation Studios and president of Pixar Animation and Disney Animation.
Reviews
"While such formidable credentials would grossly inflate many egos, he has the inner strength to recognize that he does not have all the answers, others may be more talented and mistakes will happen. Catmull argues that punishing mistakes inhibits the spirit of innovation that a manager of creatives seeks to promote. The willingness of a business leader such as Dr. Catmull to subsume his ego in search of a team’s best product and to lead others to do the same reflects, in my opinion, the power of humility. Others include The Lean Startup by Eric Ries, The Luck Factor by Max Gunther, Fooled by Randomness by Nassim Taleb, The Innovator’s Dilemma by Clayton Christensen, and Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography."
"Managers, as well as anyone who wants to better understand how companies work and what elements are necessary to make and keep them successful, will appreciate Catmull’s insight on leadership, nurturing creative environment, and protecting it from invisible threats. After reading the book, I constantly find myself quoting the concepts and examples described there when talking to my husband or friends about their jobs or my own and discussing what works, what doesn’t, and why."
"Ed shared several amusing experiences creating these magnificent movies to illustrate management concepts."
"Mr. Catmull presents an impressive analysis of how corporate culture can negatively impact creativity, even when corporate leaders proclaim their support for creativity and truly believe they are doing everything they can to foster and support it."
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Hollywood Stories: a Book about Celebrities, Movie Stars, Gossip, Directors, Famous People, History, and more!
2012 Global Ebook Award Winner - Entertainment and Performing Arts Non-Fiction. “A WILD, FUN RIDE THROUGH TINSEL TOWN, PAST AND PRESENT!”. -- Jan Wahl, KCBS AM/FM & KRON-TV. At high noon on a cold November day in 1974, sixty-seven-year-old John Wayne faced off with the staff of the Harvard Lampoon on the famous campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Hollywood Stories is packed with wild, wonderful short tales about famous stars, movies, directors and many others who have been a part of the world's most fascinating, unpredictable industry! is a treasure trove for the casual reader looking for a few quick reads as well as the serious fan looking for information --Blog Critics. This book is an entertainment smorgasbord of short stories that you'll find yourself not wanting to put down. Stephen Schochet has created a special treat for movie fans with his entertaining book, Hollywood Stories . Amazing tales about actors, directors, writers and producers, brought to you with incredible research style and wit by a guy who knows it all, Stephen Schochet!"
Reviews
"In any event, the beauty of this sort of project is that if some bit, paragraph, snippet or short tale doesn't grab you, then another is coming right down the line after it."
"It is abundantly clear, many of the greats, Fairfield, Pickford, Wayne, Tracy, Flynn, Grant, Wood, Monroe, Pitt, Penn, and Damon, to name a few, knew how to party, I doubt most of them could have excelled in any other setting."
"It covers comedians, science fiction, westerns, Walt Disney, directors, the transition from silent films to talkies, television, leading men and women, and lots more. For example, during the filming of Young Frankenstein, Marty Feldman kept moving the hump on his back. When a security guard who protected several celebrities was off work and hospitalized for six weeks after breaking his leg, only Sammy Davis, Jr. continued to pay him. Some people thought that at the beginning of A Christmas Carol Scrooge was a "well-meaning entrepreneur and a contributor to society." W.C. Fields was so moved by the generosity of a clerk at the Kent, Ohio train station that he burst into tears. When he was a boy, Jackie Vernon sent fan letters to Charlie Chaplin every week for ten years, never getting a reply. Buddy Hackett turned down a chance to replace Curly Howard with the Three Stooges because he thought they were too violent. Dracula (Latin for Son of Dragon) was originally a love story and Bela Lugosi was a bigger sex symbol than Clark Gable. General Patton regretted slapping the soldier when he realized the man was genuinely shell shocked. Samuel Leroy Jackson became the highest grossing actor in movie box office history. After patenting the motion picture camera, Thomas Edison required all producers to pay him a fee before they could show a movie. She became temporarily paralyzed and had to sit on the sidelines while Mary Pickford and Gloria Swanson become the silent film stars. Louis B. Mayer would not distribute Mickey Mouse cartoons because they were too scary and dealt with rape and murder. Frank Sinatra told Sophia Loren that foul language showed endearment to Americans."
"However, the names in this book are well known even if you never saw their movies."
"Fast fun gossipy read perfect bedtime story."
"Enjoyed the read."
"Easy fun read.. however, it lacks flow and jumps decades on the same page at times."
"(I love movies) Lots of good material, whether it's about Clark Gable's difficulties working with Spencer Tracy....Lakers fan Jack Nicholson arguing with refs...or George Lucas casting the Hollywood system as the evil Empire, himself aS Luke and Francis Ford Coppola as Han for a little movie he made...some great material."
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Darth Vader and Son
Celebrated artist Jeffrey Brown's delightful illustrations give classic Star Wars® moments a fresh twist, presenting the trials and joys of parenting through the lens of a galaxy far, far away. "- Chicago Magazine. "Darth Vader and Son is Brown at the top of his artistic game with beautiful full-color pages, many of which seem imbued with a sincerity that I would expect to find in his next autobiographical work, A Matter of Life. Author and illustrator Jeffrey Brown turns run-of-the-mill parenting activities into fun moments full of Star Wars references...Overall, Darth Vader and Son is a fun read for adult Star Wars fans who like a good laugh, as well as for children just learning to love these characters." "From potty training to lightsaber batting practice to ice cream runs, the endearing absurdity of the duo's dynamic makes for a remix treat of the most entertaining variety. "You won't find a more adorable Star Wars book this year than Darth Vader and Son. "When the first Star Wars film conquered the world in 1977, no one could have possibly foreseen it going on to become such an ubiquitous part of our cultural heritage. of Darth Vader raising a four-year-old Luke Skywalker, the book twists father/son moments into scenarios within the Star Wars playground. However, the book also provides ample proof that adding a babysitting Darth Vader to any Star Wars situation makes it gently humorous.
Reviews
"In 54 pages Brown illustrates all the common expressions of child rearing and places them in the nerd universe of Star Wars."
"Mostly one liners from the movies, but if you've got a dry sense of humor (or maybe if you're a die hard Star Wars fan), you'll enjoy it."
"I grew up during the Star Wars era - where Anakin Skywalker was a mangled, cyberfilled ball of hate with only the vocal talents of James Earl Jones saving him from eternal peril (that Jones' voice can save the soul of a man who blew up a flipping planet is quite a testament)."
"Hilarious!"
"It is full of images from the original Star Wars movies, but it doesn't follow a specific timeline like the next book in this series: Star Wars: Vader's Little Princess."
"My husband flipped through and read the entire thing when he opened it."
"Maybe I will see if the library has the rest in this series, which would still only make for an hour of reading, tops."
"Perfect gift for a Star Wars fanatic, soon-to-be brother-in-law."
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Best Video Direction & Production

Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration
From one of the co-founders of Pixar Animation Studios—the Academy Award–winning studio behind Coco, Inside Out, and Toy Story —comes an incisive book about creativity in business and leadership for readers of Daniel Pink, Tom Peters, and Chip and Dan Heath. NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER | NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Huffington Post • Financial Times • Success • Inc. • Library Journal “[ Creativity, Inc. ]. just might be the most thoughtful management book ever.”— Fast Company Creativity, Inc. is a book for managers who want to lead their employees to new heights, a manual for anyone who strives for originality, and the first-ever, all-access trip into the nerve center of Pixar Animation—into the meetings, postmortems, and “Braintrust” sessions where some of the most successful films in history are made. It is, at heart, a book about how to build a creative culture—but it is also, as Pixar co-founder and president Ed Catmull writes, “an expression of the ideas that I believe make the best in us possible.”. Praise for Creativity, Inc. “Over more than thirty years, Ed Catmull has developed methods to root out and destroy the barriers to creativity, to marry creativity to the pursuit of excellence, and, most impressive, to sustain a culture of disciplined creativity during setbacks and success.” —Jim Collins, co-author of Built to Last and author of Good to Great “Too often, we seek to keep the status quo working. “Just might be the best business book ever written.” — Forbes “Achieving enormous success while holding fast to the highest artistic standards is a nice trick—and Pixar, with its creative leadership and persistent commitment to innovation, has pulled it off. Any reader of Creativity, Inc., Catmull’s new book on the art of running creative companies, will have to agree. Catmull, president of both Pixar and Walt Disney Animation, has written what just might be the most thoughtful management book ever.” — Fast Company “It’s one thing to be creative; it’s entirely another—and much more rare—to build a great and creative culture. Over more than thirty years, Ed Catmull has developed methods to root out and destroy the barriers to creativity, to marry creativity to the pursuit of excellence, and, most impressive, to sustain a culture of disciplined creativity during setbacks and success. Catmull’s book is quickly becoming the latest bible for the show business crowd.” —The New York Times “The most practical and deep book ever written by a practitioner on the topic of innovation.” —Prof. [Catmull] uses Pixar’s triumphs and near-disasters to outline a system for managing people in creative businesses—one in which candid criticism is delivered sensitively, while individuality and autonomy are not strangled by a robotic corporate culture.” — Financial Times “A wonderful new book . An immensely readable and rewarding book that will challenge and inspire readers to make their workplaces hotbeds of creativity.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “Punctuated with surprising tales of how the company’s films were developed and the company’s financial struggles, Catmull shares insights about harnessing talent, creating teams, protecting the creative process, candid communications, organizational structures, alignment, and the importance of storytelling. [ Creativity, Inc. ] will delight and inspire creative individuals and their managers, as well as anyone who wants to work ‘in an environment that fosters creativity and problem solving.’” — Publishers Weekly (starred review) “For anyone managing anything, and particularly those trying to manage creative teams, Catmull is like a kind, smart godfather guiding us toward managing wisely, without losing our souls, and in a way that works toward greatness. What Ed Catmull shares instead is his astute experience that creativity isn’t strictly a well of ideas, but an alchemy of people. In Creativity, Inc. Ed reveals, with commonsense specificity and honesty, examples of how not to get in your own way and how to realize a creative coalescence of art, business, and innovation.” —George Lucas “This is the best book ever written on what it takes to build a creative organization. Ed Catmull is co-founder of Pixar Animation Studios and president of Pixar Animation and Disney Animation.
Reviews
"Managers, as well as anyone who wants to better understand how companies work and what elements are necessary to make and keep them successful, will appreciate Catmull’s insight on leadership, nurturing creative environment, and protecting it from invisible threats. After reading the book, I constantly find myself quoting the concepts and examples described there when talking to my husband or friends about their jobs or my own and discussing what works, what doesn’t, and why."
"Ed shared several amusing experiences creating these magnificent movies to illustrate management concepts."
"Mr. Catmull presents an impressive analysis of how corporate culture can negatively impact creativity, even when corporate leaders proclaim their support for creativity and truly believe they are doing everything they can to foster and support it."
"Whether you're just a Pixar fan, or you're looking for ways to improve your company, you can't go wrong with this book."
"It tells of how the company was formed and the various challenges and changes along the way as well as how the people in charge are constantly attempting to maintain Pixar as a separate entity from Disney after being purchased by the latter while fixing Disney's animation studios and making Disney a world class entity itself."
"The book is definitely about creativity and the creative process, but it's equally about business and management."
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Best Video Guides & Reviews

The Screenwriter's Problem Solver: How to Recognize, Identify, and Define Screenwriting Problems
Now bestselling author Syd Field, who works on over 1,000 screenplays a year, tells you step-by-step how to identify and fix common screenwriting problems, providing the professional secrets that make movies brilliant-secrets that can make your screenplay one headed for success...or even Cannes. Learn how to: •Understand what makes great stories work. •Make your screenplay work in the first ten pages, using Thelma & Louise and Dances With Wolves as models. •Use a "dream assignment" to let your creative self break free overnight. •Make action build character, the way Quentin Tarantino does. •Recover when you hit the "wall"-and overcome writer's block forever. Whatever your problem, screenwriting guru Syd Field can help; he's written four previous books on screenwriting, teaches worldwide, and is "involved in the reading and writing of about a thousand screenplays a year." His fixes generally involve getting to know your characters or story better, through the use of automatic writing, biographical sketches, and the like. For examples of spectacular screenwriting, he offers excerpts from the screenplays for Thelma and Louise , The Shawshank Redemption , Pulp Fiction , Apollo 13 , and Silence of the Lambs . And you'll thank him for persuading you that, yes, "a problem is an opportunity, a challenge that will allow you to ultimately improve your craft."
Reviews
"An excellent guide, but you should read his book Screenplay – The Foundations of Screenwriting first in order to better understand his terminology."
"Fully appreciate the clear guidance through the maze of hidden screenwriting problems."
"This is helping me so much to get past the hiccups in my screenwriting."
"This is one of the best books I've read on the art of diagnosing and editing screenplay problems."
"everything that i had hoped for."
"I run into problems with scenes that don't fit and the book easily explains what to do."
"Bought it new and it arrived in great condition!"
"Good information."
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Best Video Reference

The Hollywood Book Of Scandals: The Shocking, Often Disgraceful Deeds and Affairs of More than 100 American Movie and TV Idols (Encore Film Book Classics 10)
You’ll get the deep dish on: * The William Desmond Taylor murder case. * Wallace Reid’s drug-filled finale. * Jean Harlow and Paul Bern’s deadly marriage. * Errol Flynn’s statutory rape trial. * Loretta Young and Clark Gable’s secret love child. * Liz Taylor’s seduction of crooner Eddie Fisher. * Judy Garland’s pathetic public meltdown. * Marilyn Monroe’s sad fate. * Bob Crane’s baffling ghastly murder. * The X-rated Rob Lowe sex video. * The sensational fallout of Woody Allen’s union with Mia Farrow. * The killing of rapper Tupac Shakur. `* O.J. JAMES ROBERT PARISH, a former entertainment reporter, publicist, and book series editor, is the author of many published major biographies and reference books on the entertainment industry including Whitney Houston: We Will Always Love You; The Hollywood Book of Extravagance; It’s Good to Be the King: The Seriously Funny Life of Mel Brooks; The Hollywood Book of Breakups; Fiascos: Hollywood’s Iconic Flops; The Hollywood Book of Love; Jet Li; The Encyclopedia of Ethnic Groups in Hollywood; The Hollywood Book of Death; Gus Van Sant; Whoopi Goldberg; Rosie O’Donnell’s Story; The Unofficial “Murder, She Wrote” Casebook; Today’s Black Hollywood; Let’s Talk! Silent film star Wallace Reid's tragic death from drug addiction Errol Flynn's statutory rape trial Loretta Young and Clark Gable's secret love child Liz Taylor's seduction of crooner Eddie Fisher Judy Garland's pathetic public meltdown Bob Crane's baffling death The X-rated Rob Lowe sex video The killing of rapper Tupac Shakur Winona Ryder's infamous shoplifting spree and trial The Robert Blake murder trial. JAMES ROBERT PARISH, a former entertainment reporter, publicist, and book series editor, is the author of many published major biographies and reference books on the entertainment industry including Whitney Houston: We Will Always Love You; The Hollywood Book of Extravagance; It’s Good to Be the King: The Seriously Funny Life of Mel Brooks; The Hollywood Book of Breakups; Fiascos: Hollywood’s Iconic Flops; The Hollywood Book of Love; Jet Li; The Encyclopedia of Ethnic Groups in Hollywood; The Hollywood Book of Death; Gus Van Sant; Whoopi Goldberg; Rosie O’Donnell’s Story; The Unofficial “Murder, She Wrote” Casebook; Today’s Black Hollywood; Let’s Talk!
Reviews
"My mother loves these Hollywood scandal type books and she read this one in an afternoon."
"Good behind the scenes stories... lots of information regarding each story."
"Another great addition to my collection of Hollywood stories about the rich and snotty folks who never can get enough of anything, especially their own egos."
"If you love gossip, scandals, Hollywood, or history this is a must read."
"I love to learn anything I can about celebrities and this is one of those books that I learn quite a bit about old Hollywood; I can't wait to buy all the other books this author has!"
"Really a great add to my collection."
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Best Technical Video

Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business
Originally published in 1985, Neil Postman’s groundbreaking polemic about the corrosive effects of television on our politics and public discourse has been hailed as a twenty-first-century book published in the twentieth century. “I can’t think of a more prophetic, more thoughtful, more necessary – and yes, more entertaining – book about media culture.” –Victor Navasky, National Book Award-winning author of The Art of Controversy “All I can say about Neil Postman’s brilliant Amusing Ourselves to Death is: Guilty As Charged.” –Matt Groening, Creator of The Simpsons “As a fervent evangelist of the age of Hollywood, I publicly opposed Neil Postman’s dark picture of our media-saturated future.
Reviews
""Amusing Ourselves to Death" is an amazingly written and well-argued book. Today, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney have bite-sized debates where one side speaks for 1 minute and the other side gets a 30-second rebuttal. Clearly, the people then were different from the people now in terms of mainstream intelligence. The reason, Postman argues, is that the people in Dickens' era were children of "The Age of Typography," and the people today (us) are the children of "The Age of Show Business," or "The Age of Television." This book was written in 1985, but don't be fooled; it still wields enormous relevance today -- The chapter titled, "Peek-a-Boo-World" as well as the "Information-to-action-ratio" theory outlined in it are particularly pertinent regarding the modern-day use of the internet, especially with portable laptops, tablets, and cellphones."
"The book comes in 2 parts."
"Postman brought many things to light that I had not even thought about."
"Very informative in content, even for an older book."
"The type of media itself profoundly changes us apart from the content of the media."
"But while they were sci fi dystopias imposed from the top-down to control society, Postman predicted we, the people, are racing toward our own destruction in pursuit of pleasure and leisure."
"The typographic vs telegraphic mind, questioning what is television, continuity/discontinuity, context/decontextualization, hell even acculturation and cultural imperialism are hinted here."
"This book will open your mind to facts about itself and the effects of an entertainment culture that you never even considered."
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Best Movie & Video Reference

The Filmmaker's Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide for the Digital Age: 2013 Edition
Widely acknowledged as the “bible” of video and film production, and used in courses around the world, The Filmmaker’s Handbook is now updated with the latest advances in HD and new digital formats. Billed as the authoritative guide to filmmaking from fundraising to distribution, the book achieves this in clear, accessible language using current up-to-date information. A gilt-edged investment for aspiring and beginning filmmakers and it would not be out of place in the libraries of experienced professionals either.”—James MacGregor, Netribution.co.uk. No matter what corner of the subject I poked into, looking for cogent explanations, the Handbook passed with flying colors. So please accept my admiration, appreciation and thanks.”—Pat Jackson, Associate Professor, San Francisco State University; Emmy-winning Supervising Sound Editor. Edward Pincus was a director of many films, including The Axe in the Attic and One Cut, One Life.
Reviews
"I feel like film school won't be worth the money by the time I'm done reading this cover to cover."
"This is a great book."
"Great book, best one yet have gotten on amazon, great price too."
"I have been making videos for friends, families, and clients for years without any type of formal training."
"The only criticism I have is with the quality of the paper and text formatting of the book."
"If you're getting this for college, let it be known that this is at a much better price than most college textbooks as well!"
"This book is perfect for film students and anyone looking to go into film."
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Best Movie & Video Guides & Reviews

H.P. Lovecraft: The Complete Fiction
Never able to support himself from earnings as author and editor, Lovecraft saw commercial success increasingly elude him in this latter period, partly because he lacked the confidence and drive to promote himself. The foreword by Leslie S. Klinger is a highly informative history of the horror genre and a trenchant summary of Lovecraft’s life, all of which preface the primary section of this giant book, a presentation of 22 of Lovecraft’s most significant stories, each fully annotated with identifications of people and places, definitions of unfamiliar vocabulary, and background explanations of mentioned literary works. --Brad Hooper “Annotator Les Klinger is the man you want to have by your side, as you explore the Lovecraftian Darkness.”. - Neil Gaiman “ The New Annotated H. P. Lovecraft , with its astonishingly informed and detailed notes and photographs, edited by Leslie S. Klinger, is a treasure trove for Lovecraft readers, for whom it will be an essential purchase.
Reviews
"I wish Donovon Loucks could get a similarly sized book for his collection of photos of Lovecraftian geography. Everyone is a person of their times, and the historical context given in the author's lengthy introduction was quite valuable, often skipped over in collections of Lovecraft's stories. There is no apology for Lovecraft's racism here; in fact, it is painstakingly shown how HPL's personal views may have ruined any hope of his marriage succeeding, and how they informed a great deal of his fiction. Having said that, I am glad that, for the most part, this volume uses Joshi's corrected text for the stories, so that some egregious errors are not perpetuated. Mr. Klinger has his reasons of course, but for pity's sake, why include the entire text of "Herbert West, Reanimator?" Why not include "The Terrible Old Man" or "The Strange High House on the Mist" or "The Cats of Ulthar?" Surely "Pickman's Model," "The Music of Erich Zann" and "The Outsider" merited inclusion."
"Also the book is very heavy and backward to hold - you really need to be sitting at a desk or a table while reading it."
"But they told me this book has more notes and details inside."
"Very nice, oversized edition."
"Very interesting insights- love the annotations & updated forward by Klinger that contextualizes the collection."
"Don't buy this if your looking for the annotated edition."
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Best Amateur Movie & Video Production

Simple Guide to Over-the-Air Free TV (Non Technical Guide To Cord Cutting Book 1)
Simple Guide to Over-the-Air Free TV sets itself apart by providing non-techs with over 110 pages of useful cord cutting information and a step-by-step guide to successful cord cutting. Simple Guide to Over-the-Air Free TV explains how supplementing OTA TV with streaming media players like the Roku 4, Amazon Fire TV and Chromecast, in combination with streaming media services like Netflix, Hulu, Showtime, HBO Now, Amazon Video and Sling TV, can create personalized, inexpensive options to bundled cable or satellite programming packages. If you are looking for a straightforward how-to manual to help you cut the cord, read Simple Guide to Over-the-Air Free TV and to learn how to save money and start enjoying TV on your terms today!
Reviews
"I've already ordered a Mohu antenna which will have a trial run next week in my son's apartment."
"Roku 3 love the free "Crackle" channel; 3. Subscription to SlingTV (may upgrade to add HBO when that becomes available) and took advantage of their free Roku Stick offer (for MIL's TV)."
"I was thinking I wished someone had written something like this as I was crawling through the options one by one - and lucky for me, someone did."
"Applying the ideas in this book and purchasing some of the suggested products for two different homes has ended up saving a total of $2640 per year in Cable TV cost."
"Great, short overview of one way to simplify your life and still get what you need."
"Well written and informative in a language that makes it easy to understand."
"An excellent book for anyone who is considering going to a over the air antenna or who is interested in lowering the cost of TV."
"For the total newcomer to OTA use it provides many insights and links to more information."
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Best Movie & Video History & Criticism

The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside The Room, the Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made
From the actor who somehow lived through it all, a “sharply detailed…funny book about a cinematic comedy of errors” ( The New York Times ): the making of the cult film phenomenon The Room . But more than just a riotously funny story about cinematic hubris, “ The Disaster Artist is one of the most honest books about friendship I’ve read in years” ( Los Angeles Times ). The Room, a 2003 film written, directed, and starring the inscrutable Tommy Wiseau, was massively and enthusiastically lambasted by critics, proclaimed by some as the worst movie ever made (an insult, some movie fans might say, to Ed Wood’s Plan 9 from Outer Space). But it’s also the story of a very interesting friendship between Sestero and Wiseau (who knew each other for several years before The Room), and the story of an enigmatic and incredibly self-absorbed man who, in making his film, seemed to be trying to exorcise a troubled past and build an entirely new version of himself.
Reviews
"Greg Sestero has done something fantastic. I think as fans we sometimes forget that these characters we see onscreen (and yell insults to on countless midnight screenings) are portrayed by actual human beings, separate from their characters. Without this book I would never have known that I've memorized The Room better than Tommy Wiseau."
"Kooky, weird and touching, it tells the now infamous story of the making of The Room, that wonderfully terrible film that has now become a cult classic."
"There is no making sense of "The Room," and little likelihood of understanding Tommy Wiseau -- but this is a fascinating, funny, and oddly moving revelation of how the Worst Serious Movie Ever Made was actually put together in all its glorious awfulnesd."
"This book is amazing I read it cover-to-cover in like two days I couldn't put it down watching the movie The Room is a experience all on its own but the things you discover in this book make the film even more obscure."
"What an incredibly fun read!"
"When I read that Greg Sestero was writing a book about his experiences working on the movie's production, I thought it would be a book full of behind the scenes disasters and stories about the film's director, Tommy Wiseau. This book is fascinating and enlightening, and anyone interested in film should read it."
"Like many people out there, I was sucked in by the myth of the famously bad movie The Room."
"As a huge fan of "The Room," I went into this book expecting to hear a first-hand account of the wackiness that must have occurred while filming and maybe a little inside info on Tommy Wiseau. In a way, Greg Sestero has created the moving, raw, true-to-life biography that "The Room" was supposed to be. Also, the book is informative and interesting as it follows Greg through the excruciating process of trying to make it as an actor in LA."
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Best Movie & Video Direction & Production

Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration
From one of the co-founders of Pixar Animation Studios—the Academy Award–winning studio behind Coco, Inside Out, and Toy Story —comes an incisive book about creativity in business and leadership for readers of Daniel Pink, Tom Peters, and Chip and Dan Heath. NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER | NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Huffington Post • Financial Times • Success • Inc. • Library Journal “[ Creativity, Inc. ]. just might be the most thoughtful management book ever.”— Fast Company Creativity, Inc. is a book for managers who want to lead their employees to new heights, a manual for anyone who strives for originality, and the first-ever, all-access trip into the nerve center of Pixar Animation—into the meetings, postmortems, and “Braintrust” sessions where some of the most successful films in history are made. It is, at heart, a book about how to build a creative culture—but it is also, as Pixar co-founder and president Ed Catmull writes, “an expression of the ideas that I believe make the best in us possible.”. Praise for Creativity, Inc. “Over more than thirty years, Ed Catmull has developed methods to root out and destroy the barriers to creativity, to marry creativity to the pursuit of excellence, and, most impressive, to sustain a culture of disciplined creativity during setbacks and success.” —Jim Collins, co-author of Built to Last and author of Good to Great “Too often, we seek to keep the status quo working. “Just might be the best business book ever written.” — Forbes “Achieving enormous success while holding fast to the highest artistic standards is a nice trick—and Pixar, with its creative leadership and persistent commitment to innovation, has pulled it off. Any reader of Creativity, Inc., Catmull’s new book on the art of running creative companies, will have to agree. Catmull, president of both Pixar and Walt Disney Animation, has written what just might be the most thoughtful management book ever.” — Fast Company “It’s one thing to be creative; it’s entirely another—and much more rare—to build a great and creative culture. Over more than thirty years, Ed Catmull has developed methods to root out and destroy the barriers to creativity, to marry creativity to the pursuit of excellence, and, most impressive, to sustain a culture of disciplined creativity during setbacks and success. Catmull’s book is quickly becoming the latest bible for the show business crowd.” —The New York Times “The most practical and deep book ever written by a practitioner on the topic of innovation.” —Prof. [Catmull] uses Pixar’s triumphs and near-disasters to outline a system for managing people in creative businesses—one in which candid criticism is delivered sensitively, while individuality and autonomy are not strangled by a robotic corporate culture.” — Financial Times “A wonderful new book . An immensely readable and rewarding book that will challenge and inspire readers to make their workplaces hotbeds of creativity.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “Punctuated with surprising tales of how the company’s films were developed and the company’s financial struggles, Catmull shares insights about harnessing talent, creating teams, protecting the creative process, candid communications, organizational structures, alignment, and the importance of storytelling. [ Creativity, Inc. ] will delight and inspire creative individuals and their managers, as well as anyone who wants to work ‘in an environment that fosters creativity and problem solving.’” — Publishers Weekly (starred review) “For anyone managing anything, and particularly those trying to manage creative teams, Catmull is like a kind, smart godfather guiding us toward managing wisely, without losing our souls, and in a way that works toward greatness. What Ed Catmull shares instead is his astute experience that creativity isn’t strictly a well of ideas, but an alchemy of people. In Creativity, Inc. Ed reveals, with commonsense specificity and honesty, examples of how not to get in your own way and how to realize a creative coalescence of art, business, and innovation.” —George Lucas “This is the best book ever written on what it takes to build a creative organization. Ed Catmull is co-founder of Pixar Animation Studios and president of Pixar Animation and Disney Animation.
Reviews
"Managers, as well as anyone who wants to better understand how companies work and what elements are necessary to make and keep them successful, will appreciate Catmull’s insight on leadership, nurturing creative environment, and protecting it from invisible threats. After reading the book, I constantly find myself quoting the concepts and examples described there when talking to my husband or friends about their jobs or my own and discussing what works, what doesn’t, and why."
"This book has radically altered all of my pre-existing views about what it means to be creative, to strive for quality, to lead a team, and to be passionate and persevere in the face of obstacles."
"Ed shared several amusing experiences creating these magnificent movies to illustrate management concepts."
"Mr. Catmull presents an impressive analysis of how corporate culture can negatively impact creativity, even when corporate leaders proclaim their support for creativity and truly believe they are doing everything they can to foster and support it."
"Whether you're just a Pixar fan, or you're looking for ways to improve your company, you can't go wrong with this book."
"It was about the things in this book."
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Best Screenwriting

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screenplay
Inspired by the original Hogwart’s textbook by Newt Scamander, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original screenplay marks the screenwriting debut of J.K. Rowling, author of the beloved and internationally bestselling Harry Potter books. J.K. Rowling is the author of the bestselling Harry Potter series of seven books, published between 1997 and 2007, which have sold over 450 million copies worldwide, are distributed in more than 200 territories and translated into 79 languages, and have been turned into eight blockbuster films by Warner Bros. She has written three companion volumes to the series in aid of charity: Quidditch Through the Ages and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them in aid of Comic Relief; and The Tales of Beedle the Bard in aid of her children's charity Lumos.
Reviews
"For Potterheads worried that Fantastic Beasts will be another Harry Potter fan fiction that messes with your view of the original characters, fear not. While the original HP series revolved around one hero and his fight against the all powerful You Know Who, Fantastic Beasts seemed more lighthearted without being childish. And then there are Tina and Queenie, beautiful, talented, charming and kindhearted sisters, stuck in menial positions in the wizarding world and wanting more."
"I did not read this until after I had seen the movie, so I had the visuals playing in my head as I read, down to Newt's awkward lovability and Jacob's wonder."
"Once again Ms. Rowling delivers a fantastical world within our own."
"Yes, it's a screen play, but just a few pages in and already laughing at the amazing wit JK Rowling brings us."
"In whatever form, this world created by JK Rowling will always be amazing."
"Most of the time, readers dwell on missing events or wonder what the... reason something was added or changed. For those of you who read the book before seeing the movie, I'm confident that JK's writing will give you more than enough information to see it in your mind. Then, when you see the movie (which I'm sure you will), you'll no doubt be captured by the incredible visual feast it delivers, and its wonderful interpretation of what you've already read. I already know that this book will be re-read many times in the future, and I can barely wait for the next Fantastic Beasts installments from JK."
"Fantastic Beasts was exactly what I expected from the author."
"I'm a huge fan of Harry Potter, so I was definitely interested when this book came out."
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