Overview
The Rough Guide to Comedy Movies uncovers cinema''s funniest and most varied genre, from silent slapstick, to 90s gross-out and the dark indie humour of today. The canon of fifty greatest funnies runs from The Gold Rush and Duck Soup to Airplane and Shaun of the Dead, plus double-acts, drag-acts and ensembles from Laurel & Hardy and the Marx Bros, to the Pythons and the Coen Brothers. Seeking out the films that have amused people the most - or simply amused the most people - the Rough Guide gives you the ultimate lowdown on laughter in the movies from Wes Anderson''s Rushmore to Withnail and I, and from John Belushi to Billy Wilder.
Synopsis
The Rough Guide to Comedy Movies uncovers cinema''s funniest and most varied genre, from silent slapstick, to 90s gross-out and the dark indie humour of today. The canon of fifty greatest funnies runs from The Gold Rush and Duck Soup to Airplane and Shaun of the Dead, plus double-acts, drag-acts and ensembles from Laurel & Hardy and the Marx Bros, to the Pythons and the Coen Brothers. Seeking out the films that have amused people the most - or simply amused the most people - the Rough Guide gives you the ultimate lowdown on laughter in the movies from Wes Anderson''s Rushmore to Withnail and I, and from John Belushi to Billy Wilder.
Library Journal
With these four volumes, Rough Guides launches a new film series under the "Rough Guides" umbrella. The similarly formatted titles, each written by an expert in the field, contain relatively brief sections on the history of the genre; 50 classic films (according to the authors' personal and sometimes quirky preferences); the icons (i.e., notable films, directors, and actors); an overview of the genre in international cinema; and "Information," a catch-all term that encompasses bibliographies, specialty periodicals, web sites, video games, festivals, and conventions. Additionally, Horror and Sci-Fi each feature a section on the origins of the genre in literature through the centuries; Gangster has a section called "Tools of the Trade," which discusses archetypes like molls, mobs, and hitmen. Bottom Line Like other titles in the long-running "Rough Guide" series, these entries skim their topics and hit the high points rather than delve deeply into details. Indeed, given the multiplicity of books on all four subjects, at first glance these volumes seem so superficial as to be totally nonessential. But first impressions are deceptive: this quartet yields many guilty pleasures. Among the most interesting tidbits are the numerous sidebars that reveal unexpectedly fascinating data on the given subject. Although most suitable for one's own home library, these books are also recommended for larger public libraries.-Roy Liebman, Los Angeles P.L. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.