SCREEN SAVER TOO: HOLLYWOOD STRIKES BACK (audiobook)
If you enjoyed Screen Saver: Private Stories of Public Hollywood, a memoir by former movie press agent-turned-film critic/producer Nat Segaloff, he now unlocks the La La Land Laundromat to show the dirty laundry left behind. More celebrity stories, as well as richer anecdotes, reveal how the television, radio, and studio industries really work. Anybody thinking of going into the entertainment industry take caution.
Return to Nat’s encounters with Gene Hackman, Charlton Heston, Max von Sydow, Dustin Hoffman, Peter Graves, Charley’s Angels, Gene Autry, Roddy McDowall, Butterfly McQueen, Linda Lovelace, Arthur Penn, Charlton Heston, Cheryl Ladd, Dom DeLuise, Dustin Hoffman, Gene Autry, Jaclyn Smith, John Belushi, William Friedkin, Woody Allen, and others.
Discover the nitty gritty in the town without pity.
23 chapters. Index. Illustrated.
About the author: Nat Segaloff is the author of Stirling Silliphant: The Fingers of God; Mr Huston/Mr. North: Life, Death, and Making John Houston’s Last Film; Final Cuts: The Last Films of 50 Great Directors; Lloyd Nolan: An Actor’s Life With Meaning (with Sandra Grabman). He is a former movie publicist for Fox, United Artists, American-International and independent companies, film reporter for The Boston Herald, tipster and producer for Evening and PM Magazines, and producer/director for A&E Biography. He currently co-writes Says You!, the word/game show on public radio.
SHORT TAKES: Overflowing with amazing anecdotes culled from decades of working as a movie publicist, journalist and producer, Nat Segaloff's SCREEN SAVER TOO: HOLLYWOOD STRIKES BACK (BearManor Media; www.bearmanormedia.com; $20.00) is an assortment of showbiz encounters which runs the gamut from Howie Mandel and Max von Sydow, to Charlotte Rampling and Butterfly McQueen. A sequel to last year's SCREEN SAVER book, this 172-page softcover ricochets between hanging out on the set of Billy Friedkin's THE BRINK'S JOB; the ROCKY-fication of STAYING ALIVE; an unpublished interview with Linda Lovelace; frustrations while producing BIOGRAPHY episodes for A&E; plus the making of Segaloff's 1974 short film CHICKENS! Including helpful tips on interviewing, the demise of critics in the digital age and thoughts on the future of cinema, this is a warm. weird and often extremely funny glimpse into Hollywood's more private moments... THE 101 SCARIEST MOVIES EVER MADE by Christopher Wayne Curry, David Hayes, Charles Pratt, Jr., Andrew J. Rausch, and R.D. Riley (BearManor Media; www.bearmanormedia.com; $25.00) is a 350page selection of the most terrifying films of all time according to its authors. Each selection includes why that particular film made the cut, a brief synopsis, scariest moment, memorable dialogue, critics' quotes, and (often silly) "If you like this, you might also like" suggestion. There are obvious additions like THE EXORCIST and ALIEN, older gems (PEEPING TOM, Murnau's NOSFERATU), cult favorites (THE WICKER MAN, NEAR DARK), plus foreign fright fare (LET THE RIGHT ONE IN, AUDITION). And like any subjective listing, you're bound to disagree with a few choices (Sure, Pasolini's SALO is disturbing, but I wouldn't exactly call it "scary"). It's slight yet amusing, though probably best appreciated by curious newcomers to the horor genre.
-- Shock Cinema