Arts & Music Books > Film & TV Arts & Music Books > M

Advantages: Informative, great read, realistic portrayal of Marilyn
Disadvantages: The book might be hard to find

I have recently been rebuilding my Marilyn Monroe collection and have bought several books, so that I now have around thirty on her. Most are the standard biographies, full of facts we all know already and rumours we don’t believe. But this book is something different. My Week With Marilyn is a memoir of Colin Clark, Alan Clark’s brother. Colin was third assistant director on the 1956 film The Prince and the Showgirl, starring Marilyn Monroe and ...
...a longer period of time. My Week With Marilyn concentrates solely on the period of September 11th to the 19th, 1956, which was not written about in the first book. Unlike other authors who may claim to have slept with Marilyn or even married her, Colin Clark does not come across as exaggerating his contact with the film star. He didn’t have sex with her and certainly has never claimed to have married her. Clark’s account of his time spent with Marilyn ... Read review

Advantages: Read about all the films that made the 90's, Loads of movie photos, Great reference guide, Well published and cheap
Disadvantages: Some bizarre inclusions and some major exclusions!

...stop me nattering and criticising movies for the most part of the day. Yes I’m one of these film geeks that each office environment has at least one. So on my leaving day, what else did they buy me apart from a book on my favourite topic; films. Knowing I mostly grew up with films of the 90’s they appropriately bought me Movies of the 90’s published by Taschen. I must admit, I’ve never been fond of film guides, often finding them way too littered ...
...more and more obsolete. Movies of the 90’s is different. It’s not littered with thousands of pages of short descriptions about entirely every single film since the beginning of cinema. This book doesn’t have every single film that was made in the 90’s either. Instead it concentrates on the films that made the 90’s. It’s the films we will remember in a decade’s time or the films that were inspirational. Having a quick glance at the back cover gives ... Read review

Advantages: very interesting, funny life.
Disadvantages: uncertainty behind some parts

Having been a huge Who fan for a few years, I was excited to read this biography. Once read I was not disappointed. Moments of out loud laughter combined with intrigue and sadness. The author (Tony Fletcher) attempts to be impartial, attempting to separate the myth from the legend, which is no easy task with a character at extreme characters in modern times. Even his birth date is uncertain. The book describes key moments and some very very funny ...
...of the most interesting people to live, given the money and fame to fulfil his lifestyle of excess. Excess being the key word in Keith's life, where everything including drink, drugs and jokes was over the top. Many famous friends of Keith participated in the book, giving frank and detailed interviews. Exceptions to those participating were Pete Townshend and Roger Daltry of The Who. Fletcher shows his true like for Moon as a musician by showing ... Read review

Advantages: Very funny.
Disadvantages: None.

My Booky Wook by Russell Brand. When I first heard of him it had been on Big brother's big mouth, his humour was quite extraordinary and much much funnier than the other people they have on that show. Sometime after that he began to appear on other shows wowing us with his talent in humour. The moment I saw this book in the library I got it out, hoping for some more of his work, I wasn't dissapointed, even when he was talking about his drug and ...
...read. The book begins with his child-hood and when he first went into the dramatic arts, then it goes to his drug taking and finally to the rehab centres he has had to go to. You get to have a closer look at this hyper comedian and learn more about his life. I never wanted to put the book down when I started the first chapter though be warned, this book should be read by adults only. ... Read review

Advantages: Lots of information, educational, fascinating
Disadvantages: Lots of difficult words, a little hard to understand at times

...for an overall technique. Tricks Of The Mind is definitely an interesting read and contains some fascinating information, particularly in the area of basic human psychology. I did find myself picking up the dictionary probably once ever chapter, but I think by now I have mastered Derren's vocabulary. ... Read review