Good morning 🐣

If you’re looking to buy something for that special cinephile in your life (or just wanna treat yourself), you can’t go wrong with these: a sampling of new books about film (or are at least film-adjacent). There are also plenty more in the official Cinescape Bookshop!

• One of the most talked about releases right now is Quentin Tarantino’s first foray into nonfiction, “Cinema Speculation,” which covers his criticism, theory, and celebration of ’70s cinema like “Dirty Harry” and “Taxi Driver” in a way only his unique voice can provide.

• Paul Newman’s memoir, “The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man,” delves into his childhood, career, his life with Joanne Woodward, his drinking and innermost fears, and his thoughts on Marlon Brando, James Dean, Elizabeth Taylor, and John Huston. It also includes comments throughout from Joanne Woodward, George Roy Hill, Tom Cruise, Elia Kazan, and others. It’s a project that started in 1986 and lasted for five years, when Newman and his friend, screenwriter Stewart Stern, compiled an oral history with one rule and one rule only: anyone who spoke on the record had to be completely honest, including Newman himself.

• I’ve already written multiple times about the magic of Studio Ghibli and master animator Hayao Miyazaki. “Spirited Away” and “Princess Mononoke” are instant classics recognizable around the world, but back in 1983, Miyazaki published a watercolor graphic novel titled “Shuna’s Journey” that’s never been translated into English… until now.

A brief intermission 🍿

For those still recovering from Thanksgiving feasting and wondering just what exactly was in that casserole your weird Uncle Jeff brought…

More holiday gift ideas 🎁

• I sent out a 🚨 Weird Al Alert 🚨 only a few weeks ago and it seems we’re already due for another. Hot on the heels of the Greatest Biopic of All Time (“Weird: The Al Yankovic Story”) comes “The Illustrated Al: The Songs of Weird Al Yankovic,” featuring illustrated interpretations of over 20 of his classic songs by several artists, including indie animator superstar Bill Plympton, as well as a foreword by the comedian Emo Philips.

• Steve Martin’s career spans over 40 years, which is represented in his new memoir, “Number One Is Walking: My Life in the Movies and Other Diversions.” He writes about working on the sets of comedy classics with the likes of Paul McCartney, Diane Keaton, Robin Williams, and Chevy Chase. This book also includes numerous illustrations by New Yorker cartoonist Harry Bliss.

• Y’all know I love me some good handmade special effects. I previously devoted an entire issue of this newsletter to the wizardry of Phil Tippett and his colleagues in films like “Star Wars,” “Jurassic Park,” and “Starship Troopers.” Following up on the recent release of his stop-motion animated passion project, “Mad Gods,” comes “Mad Dreams and Monsters: The Art of Phil Tippett and Tippett Studio” by Gilles Penso and Alexandre Poncet, a compendium of thousands of behind-the-scenes images and anecdotes, featuring a preface by Tippett himself and forewords by acclaimed visual effects artist Dennis Muren and director Paul Verhoeven.

• The next car on that special effects train is “Masters of Make-Up Effects: A Century of Practical Magic” by Howard Berger and Marshall Julius, with a foreword by Guillermo del Toro and an afterword by Seth MacFarlane. It chronicles the history of the movie make-up that transformed actors into the aliens and beasts that we all love. “Planet of the Apes,” “An American Werewolf in London,” “The Thing,” “Star Trek,” “Star Wars,” “Harry Potter,” and more are all covered, with contributions from make-up artists, actors, and directors.

Like I said these are just a few options of great new books that are sure to inform and entertain movie fans young and old. And there’s plenty more to browse in the Cinescape Bookshop. Check ’em out!

Until next time! 👋

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