Cinema Year by Year by David Thompson Magnificent

 Cinema Year by Year by David Thompson

Magnificent

Like most people, I love movies and I think I take this fondness to a level where there are many interlocutors that have never heard of titles that I mention.

It is also true that apart from two pool mates that watch films, the others are somewhat outsiders and rarely sit in front of the magic screen.

Leviafan aka Leviathan, the latest miracle from the Russian cinema is a topic we have discussed with relish, the three movie buffs.

As for the rest, I guess they have not even heard of it.

Every year, I try to see at least the Academy and Golden Globes nominations, and especially for foreign film.

Almost always they turn out to be at least very interesting if not outright extraordinary, meaningful and even unforgettable.

I am thinking The Man Who Cried, Des Hommes et des Dieux, Timbuktu, and films they left outside, like Mungiu’s masterpiece.

But the American Awards are not all that representative for what was best in the past year, not as much as Cannes.

The Palme d’Or is not only the most prestigious award in many eyes, but also reflects a different level of craft and message.

It is amazing for many film funs- I guess- that quite a number of films that have been acclaimed on the French Riviera are not appreciated across the ocean.

Winter Sleep, the Turkish chef d’oeuvre and 4 Luni Trei Sapatamani, together with many others have not even made it on the Nominee list.

And finally arriving at the book-

-          Cinema Year by Year is stupendous

I have read from it for more than one year- I think.

And this is not just because it has- I don’t know- more than one thousand huge pages?

It is because I am fascinated by the subject and it is treated in a sensational way, with necessary details.

It has plenty of photographs, movie posters, various actors, directors and other people from the industry.

But it also deals with some technical aspects, evolutions in the business, independent phenomena and festivals.

You find also inside information like the fact that Kim Bassinger- if I am not wrong- was sued for abandoning a project.

She lost quite a few million dollars in the process and this is not the only piece of information that escaped me.

It is also a gorgeous book that you could hardly enjoy on a kindle- if at all, since it is glossy, with many colored pictures.

Yes, you can access all this on a tablet, but without being conservative, this is exactly the type of atlas that would hardly do in digitized form.

In physical shape, you can easily move back and forth and as mentioned, look at amazing stills from films, admire posters, ceremony photographs, stars that have travelled to Cannes, artistic imagery and more…much more.

And this is not the plea of an old fashioned guy, who keeps his paper books in the bag with him…I have moved with the ages and I now read from a kindle-in fact, I have read so much in this format, that I am now at the second device.

My first Kindle has died of exhaustion and too much use- I am so fond of this new age way of doing things.

But I repeat- an atlas like Cinema Year by Year is only fabulous in real print, with huge luscious paper pages.

Exhilarating and majestic…really!