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By Teresa Letizia | Contributing Columnist
Happening today … Not just the shift to daylight saving time, aka time to spring forward, but the 96th annual Academy Awards ceremony at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. Did your invitation get lost in the mail? Yeah, mine too. That’s O.K. — the ceremony will be televised (earlier than usual) at 4 p.m., on ABC.
Even if we aren’t eligible to receive a shiny gold Oscar and are not invited to party among the stars, we can find quite a few new books about movies with which to console ourselves at the A.K. Smiley Public Library. There’s a great variety too, including books on individual movies, critics, the film industry, and the awards themselves.
“Oscar Wars: A History of Hollywood in Gold, Sweat, and Tears” by Michael Schulman, author of New York Times bestseller “Her Again: Becoming Meryl Streep,” delves into the history of the Academy Awards, some stories never before revealed, often connecting incidents to a broader cultural change. The publisher notes, “The road to the Oscars may be golden, but it’s paved in blood, sweat, and broken hearts.”
“The Academy and the Award: The Coming of Age of Oscar and the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences” by Author Bruce Davis, former executive director of the Academy for over 20 years, was given unprecedented access to its archives for this book, and was able to debunk many long-held myths, including how the Oscar got its name.
“Opposable Thumbs: How Siskel and Ebert Changed Movies Forever” — You may remember a time when film critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert ruled TV airwaves with their movie review show (late 1970s-1990s). Each renowned in their work for rivaling Chicago newspapers, they were often diametrically opposed in their opinions making for lively discussions, but oh, the rare occasions when they gave it “two thumbs up!” Author Matt Singer goes behind the scenes of the show learning from its staff and other sources how the rivals, and eventual friends, transformed critique-as-opinion into critique-as-discussion, a whole new way of viewing the art of movie-making.
“Steven Spielberg: All the Films: The Story Behind Every Movie, Episode, and Short” — Spielberg fans will enjoy this comprehensive, detailed, and photo-filled account of the prolific director’s life and work, from his early direction of television episodes to his more than 30 feature-length films. The three film journalist authors especially shine in highlighting Spielberg’s use of visual symbolism.
Other new books break down genres such as horror, “Monsters on the Couch: The Real Psychological Disorders Behind Your Favorite Horror Movies,” and comic book-superhero-science fiction, “MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios,” or eras like Hollywood and the “Movies of the 50s.”
And to get the inside scoop on three classic movies, check out “The Exorcist Legacy: 50 Years of Fear;” “No Crying in Baseball: The Inside Story of A League of Their Own: Big Stars, Dugout Drama, and a Home Run for Hollywood;” and “Surely You Can’t Be Serious: The True Story of Airplane!”
Visit Smiley Blog at www.akspl.org, to view this article with links to our catalog.
Teresa Letizia is a library specialist at A.K. Smiley Public Library, 125 W. Vine St., Redlands.
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