June 2023 MBR The Theatre/Cinema/TV Shelf

The Theatre/Cinema/TV Shelf

Lady Director: Adventures in Hollywood, Television and Beyond
Joyce Chopra
City Lights Publishers
www.citylights.com
9780872868687, $17.95, PB, 232pp

https://www.amazon.com/Lady-Director-Adventures-Hollywood-Television/dp/0872868680

Synopsis: Joyce Chopra came of age in the 1950s, prior to the dawn of feminism, and long before the #MeToo movement. As a young woman, it seemed impossible that she might one day realize her dream of becoming a film director -- she couldn't name a single woman in that role. But with her desire fueled by a stay in Paris during the heady beginnings of the French New Wave, she was determined to find a way.

Chopra got her start making documentary films with the legendary D.A. Pennebaker. From her ground-breaking autobiographical short, "Joyce at 34" (which was acquired for NY MoMA'S permanent collection), to her rousingly successful first feature, Smooth Talk (winner of the Best Director and Grand Jury Prize at Sundance in 1985), to a series of increasingly cruel moves by Hollywood producers unwilling to accept a woman in the director's role, Chopra's career trajectory was never easy or straightforward.

"Lady Director: Adventures in Hollywood, Television and Beyond" is engaging, candid memoir, in which Chopra describes how she learned to navigate the deeply embedded sexism of the film industry, helping to pave the way for a generation of women filmmakers who would come after her. She shares stories of her bruising encounters with Harvey Weinstein and Sydney Pollack, her experience directing Diane Keaton, Treat Williams, and a host of other actors, as well as her deep friendships with Gene Wilder, Arthur Miller, and Laura Dern.

Along with the successes and failures of her career, "Lady Director" provides an intimate view of a woman's struggle to balance the responsibilities and rewards of motherhood and marriage with a steadfast commitment to personal creative achievement. During a career spanning six decades, Joyce Chopra has worked through monumental shifts in her craft and in the culture at large, and the span of her life story offers a view into the implacable momentum of the push for all womens' liberation.

Critique: Simply stated, no personal, professional, community, college, or university film school's Cinematic History collection can be considered complete or comprehensive without including "Lady Director: Adventures in Hollywood, Television and Beyond" by Joyce Chopra. Enhanced for the reader with the inclusions of a section of black/white historical photographs, "Lady Director" is as fascinating a read as it is informative. It should be noted for film history students, academia, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Lady Director" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99).

Editorial Note: Joyce Chopra (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joyce_Chopra) has produced and directed a wide range of award-winning films, ranging from Smooth Talk, winner of the Grand Jury Prize for Best Dramatic Feature at the Sundance Film Festival, to the A&E thriller The Lady in Question with Gene Wilder. She has received American Film Festival Blue Ribbon and Cine Golden Eagle Awards for her numerous documentaries, including That Our Children Will Not Die, about primary health care in Nigeria, and the autobiographical Joyce at 34, which is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art.

Goin' Crazy with Sam Peckinpah and All Our Friends
Max Evans, author
Robert Nott, author
University of Nevada Press
www.unpress.nevada.edu
9780826365026, $19.95, PB, 304pp

https://www.amazon.com/Goin-Crazy-Sam-Peckinpah-Friends/dp/0826365027

Synopsis: Almost as famous for the legendary excesses of his personal life as for his films, Sam Peckinpah (1925-1984) cemented his reputation as one of the great American directors with movies such as The Wild Bunch and Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid.

Max Evans, one of Peckinpah's best friends, experienced the director's mercurial character and personal demons firsthand. In this enthralling memoir we follow Evans and Peckinpah through conversations in bars, family gatherings, binges on drugs and alcohol, struggles with film producers and executives, and Peckinpah's abusive behavior -- sometimes directed at Evans himself.

Evans's stories comprising "Goin' Crazy with Sam Peckinpah and All Our Friends" (most of which previously unpublished) provide a uniquely intimate look at Peckinpah, their famous friends (including Lee Marvin, Brian Keith, Joel McCrea, and James Coburn), and the business of Hollywood in the 1960s and 1970s.

Critique: Original published in hardcover in 2014, this newly published paperback edition of "Goin' Crazy with Sam Peckinpah and All Our Friends" from the University of Nevada Press will be of special appeal to academia and non- specialist general readers with an interest in American Cinematic History in general, and the movie director Sam Peckinpah in particular. While highly recommended for both community and academic library American Biography/Memoir collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "Goin' Crazy with Sam Peckinpah and All Our Friends" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99).

Editorial Note #1: Max Evans (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Evans_%28writer%29) was the author of over thirty works of fiction and nonfiction. He was the recipient of the Spur, Wrangler, and Owen Wister awards, and he was the subject of the biography Ol' Max Evans: The First Thousand Years and a documentary film of the same title. Evans made his home in Albuquerque, New Mexico, for over fifty years.

Editorial Note #2: Robert Nott has been a reporter for the Santa Fe New Mexican for more than fifteen years. Among his previous books are The Films of Randolph Scott and He Ran All the Way: The Life of John Garfield.

A Lie Called the Present
Jim van de Erve
Atmosphere Press
www.atmospherepress.com
9781639887521, $17.99

https://www.amazon.com/Lie-Called-Present-Jim-Erve/dp/1639887520

The play in verse A Lie Called the Present revolves around a cast of elderly and middle-aged characters who represent a family in chaos. Each member is hiding some aspect of their lives and personas. As the story unfolds, these truths come to light in unexpected ways to test the family's past, present, and future connections. Jim van de Erve presents the drama with a military edge of reflection: "Who is a daughter but a spy/with a matron's cloak and assassin's dagger?/And who are parents but generals/raising their off to be divided/by the stars into their separate zealots." As intellectually reflective as its introduction demands, the heart of this story lies in relationships tested by time and the advancement of years as dementia and disparate special interests both challenge the family and threatens its foundations.

Intriguing connections are made via seemingly-ordinary conversations that ring with authenticity. The truths that are revealed within each family member's particular vision, limitation, and objective come to light as the play moves through time and experiences. The resulting tale of lives tested by aging, the betrayal of self and loved ones, and revelations made by a family already connected in unusual ways contributes to a play that ideally will be both read and considered for stage production. Libraries and readers seeking contemporary scenarios and literary dramas that employ poetic, psychological, and dramatic embellishments will welcome the hard-hitting issues and structure of A Lie Called the Present, which may also be chosen for drama classes as an example of modern issues brought to life using new literary approaches to broaden both its message and potential audience.

EDITOR'S NOTE:

The Midwest Book Review is an organization of volunteers committed to promoting literacy, library usage, and small press publishing. We accept no funds from authors or publishers. Full permission is given to post any of these reviews on thematically appropriate websites, newsgroups, listserves, internet discussion groups, organizational newsletters, or to interested individuals. Please give the Midwest Book Review a credit line when doing so.

The Midwest Book Review publishes the monthly book review magazines "California Bookwatch", "Internet Bookwatch", "Children's Bookwatch", "MBR Bookwatch", "Reviewer's Bookwatch", and "Small Press Bookwatch". All are available for free on the Midwest Book Review website at www (dot) midwestbookreview (dot) com

Anyone wanting to submit books for review consideration can send them to:

James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review
278 Orchard Drive
Oregon, WI 53575-1129

To submit reviews of any fiction or non-fiction books, email them to Frugalmuse (at) aol (dot) com (Be sure to include the book title, author, publisher, publisher address, publisher website/phone number, 13-digit ISBN number, and list price).

James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review