Happy 200th Birthday to Pride and Prejudice

Posted on January 31, 2013 at 3:56 pm

Jane Austen’s beloved story of the headstrong Elizabeth Bennett and the arrogant Mr. Darcy is one of the most popular and influential books ever written. Pretty much any story that involves a couple who battle until they fall in love is based in part on Austen’s story. There are many movie versions, but the best are:

Pride and Prejudice (1940): The classic Hollywood version won an Oscar for art direction and features an all-star cast, including Greer Garson as Elizabeth and Sir Laurence Olivier as Darcy. Maureen O’Sullivan (Mia Farrow’s mother) is a lovely Jane and Edna May Oliver is a wonderfully haughty Lady Catherine de Bourgh. The witty script was written by the legendary Aldous Huxley, but I can’t forgive him for one important departure from the book in softening the Lady Catherine scene.

Pride and Prejudice (1995 mini-series): This is a magnificent version of the story, long enough to include all of the book’s most important scenes and characters. Colin Firth makes a sensational Darcy (the addition of a scene where he cools off by diving into a lake caused some controversy but was popular with the fans) and Jennifer Ehle (an American actress who can be seen with Firth in “The King’s Speech” and also appears in “Zero Dark Thirty”) has the “fine eyes” Austen described.

Pride & Prejudice (2005) Director Joe Wright directed a magnificently natural version of the story starring Kiera Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen (who play brother and sister in his latest film, “Anna Karenina.”)

Win a Copy of My New Book: 101 Must-See Movie Moments

Posted on January 23, 2013 at 8:00 am

My new book is out in paperback! 101 Must-See Movie Moments is available on Amazon for $12, but I have three autographed copies to give away. It’s 101 brief essays on great moments in neglected movies (like “Miss Tatlock’s Millions,” “The April Fools,” and “Wives and Lovers,”) and neglected moments in classic movies, (like “Sounder,” “The Godfather,” “The Shining,” and “Top Gun”), plus the singing underpants in “The Tall Guy.” Send me an email at moviemom@moviemom.com with 101 in the subject line and tell me one of your favorite movie moments. Don’t forget your address! (US addresses only.) I’ll pick three winners at random on January 30. Don’t forget, whether you win a copy or not — if you write a review on Amazon, I’ll send you a free ebook — either my 50 Must-See Movies: Weddings or 50 Must-See Movies: Mothers.

KISS Book FREE — This Weekend Only!

Posted on January 19, 2013 at 4:00 am

Happy birthday, Paul Stanley! The KISS Starchild superstar turns 60 tomorrow and the fans get the gift! Miniver Press is making Chris Epting’s ebook All I Need to Know I Learned from KISS: Life Lessons from the Hottest Band in the Land FREE all weekend.

Author and AOL Music journalist Epting was recently interviewing rock legends KISS when it suddenly flashed before his eyes that, bizarre as it might seem, the band he had loved since childhood actually played a huge part in shaping how he looks at the world. In that instant, he decided to write about his life long journey with the band, starting out in the early 1970s when he joined the KISS Army and continuing until today. Epting takes us through the history of KISS, weaving in historic tidbits and trivia with his personal observations, while laying out the rules for living that he absorbed from “the hottest band in the land.” The book’s title of course is an homage to the 1989 bestseller by Robert Fulghum, “All I Really Need To Know I Learned in Kindergarten,” but this story speaks to the love that many people have with that one special band or artist they followed while growing up. As Epting learned as an adult though, when it comes to your favorite band, the roots run deep – perhaps deeper than you ever imagined.

Stone Temple Pilot founder/bassist Robert DeLeo adds a heartfelt foreword and some rare sketches he drew of KISS as a youngster – back when he was in the Army, too.

Related Tags:

Books Music

Free This Weekend: Ebook About Parenting

Posted on December 29, 2012 at 8:00 am

This weekend only, get Annie Fox’s ebook, Teaching Kids to Be Good People: Progressive Parenting for the 21st Century for free on Amazon.

“Not all teachers are parents, but all parents are teachers. When we teach kids to be good people who possess the social courage to do the right thing, we help to make the world a safer, saner, more accepting place for all of us,” Fox says. This is a very personal, step-by-step guide to teaching your children to make healthy choices (online and off). Because being good is not enough. She explains that we have to do good and gives simple, accessible ideas on how to have “conversations that count.”

It’s a pragmatic and funny guide that includes essays, podcasts, prompts, tools, questions, answers, and self-assessment quizzes to help parents become engaged in this process and inspire your children to do the right thing when no one’s watching, and when everyone is watching.

Related Tags:

Books Parenting

A Book on Every Bed: Amy Dickinson’s Proposal for Every Child

Posted on December 16, 2012 at 12:56 pm

It is a pleasure to once again endorse “Ask Amy‘s” program to encourage parents to share the love of reading by putting a book on every child’s bed so that the first thing they see when they wake up is a wonderful story. The holidays may be filled with things that beep and flash and connect to the internet, but it is a good time to remind children of the power of words. Some of my favorites:

The Secret Garden A fierce little girl with a new home in a mansion on the moors discovers a secret garden where more than flowers bloom.

The Phantom Tollbooth A boy goes on a journey to a mysterious land where two battling kings have lost touch with rhyme and reason.

Press Here Touch the yellow spot and you will find that imagination can transform even better then technology.

Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch A lonely man gets a mysterious letter with the message in the title. It changes the way he sees the world — and the way the world sees him.

Z Is for Moose This hilarious adventure through the alphabet has a surprisingly tender finale.

Related Tags:

Books