Book Review: Maitland McDonagh’s “Movie Lust”
“Movie Lust”
By Maitland McDonagh
Sasquatch Books
ISBN 10 1-57061-478-4
$16.95
If you’re a cinemaniac or want to impress one, Maitland McDonagh’s “Movie Lust” is a must!
In this collection of 90-plus short essays and a dozen director profiles, the erudite and witty McDonagh, who’s known to a wide range of fans as TVGuide.com’s Flick Chick, draws upon her encyclopedic knowledge and a genuine passion for the movies to deliver the goods on classic cinema– and let you know what films you really must see.
McDonagh covers a comprehensive compilation of genres and sub-genres, including road trips, adventures in space, at sea or aboard trains, beach scenes, horror and haunt, search and rescue, anime and ‘toons, Shakespeare derivatives, swashbucklers and drug dramas, silents and songfests, flicks featuring dogs or werewolves or starlets, and those with plots revolving around stage doors, cocktail hours or telephone connections, and a whole lot more.
McDonagh’s discerning list of “landmark” movies, stretching from 1917’s “Quo Vadis?” to 1977’s “Star Wars,” traces the changing face of cinema, while her selection of featured directors, ranging from Pedro Almodovar to Peter Weir, spotlights its highlights.
Her style’s so light and breezy, it’s easy to overlook the depth of McDonagh’s insights, as she generously reveals personal associations with specific films (we all have those moments when movies express exactly what we’re going through or carry us as far away from our circumstances as possible).
“Movie Lust” is a book to be referenced repeatedly. You’ll get a clearer picture of the movies every time you turn a page, guaranteed.
Jennifer Merin