Cult Movies: The Classics, the Sleepers, the Weird, and the Wonderful [Hardcover]

Danny Peary (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 402 pages
• Publisher: Gramercy (October 6, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0517201852
• ISBN-13: 978-0517201855
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.7 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,183,719 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

As a boy I was passionate about sports, movies, television, and music, and now I make my living by writing about each of these topics. Pretty amazing. I was born in West Virginia, grew up in South Carolina and New Jersey, got a B.A. in History at the University of Wisconsin in Madison and an M.A. in Cinema at USC. I have been living in New York City since 1977 with my wife Suzanne (our married daughter Zoe and granddaughter Julianna live too far away in Maryland), publishing books and articles on movies and sports (mostly baseball). I watch an insane number of movies and politely root for the A's, Lakers, Giants, and UConn women in basketball. I am the writer-researcher on the long-running television interview show, "The Tim McCarver Show," and have done three books with Tim, who is a close friend. I also worked with the dear Ralph Kiner on his autobiography, "Baseball Forever." My twenty-first book, written with Tom Clavin, is my first biography, "Roger Maris: Baseball's Reluctant Hero" for Touchstone/Simon&Schuster. We have a facebook fan page for the book, for which we interviewed 130 people. I also contribute celebrity interviews on brink.com and am the New York correspondent for the Australian magazine, "FilmInk." I love to write, but there's nothing more exciting than creating a project or more satisfying than finishing it.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For my money, the best series of books for the film fan!, May 1, 2001

By 

J. Remington "John Remington" (Adams, Oregon USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cult Movies: The Classics, the Sleepers, the Weird, and the Wonderful (Hardcover)

Danny Peary, a film fanatic himself, in these series of three books (I'm only dealing with the first in this review) gleefully, critically and passionately celebrates what makes film going the sheer pleasure that it is. In a series of well written, insightful, often humourous and always celebratory essays, Peary explores many classic, weird and wonderful films that raise the pulses of fans.

Many film texts are dry treatises that absolutely drain the rollercoaster vicseral joy that a film can bring. Not so with Peary's excellent series. Peary manages to legitimately relate the true art that is cinema while at the same time exploring what makes so many great films live as a part of our very extistances.

I have read and re-read this book several times and each time, I have discovered a new insight into a favorite film or been directed to a new reference point. Peary is very careful to point to other film scholars and film titles that can enhance a film cutlists experience. In deconstructing each film, he also includes fascinating tidbits of information such as interviews with the film makers, insights into the creative process and backstory history.

Especially fine are his explorations on "It's a Wonderful Life", "King Kong", "Singin' in the Rain", "Rio Bravo" and "A Hard Day's Night". He successfully argues in all those cases that superb entertainment does make great art.

Do I agree with every one of Peary's opinions? Do I enjoy every single film included in these three books? Of course not! But Peary does give vallidation to all of us who could be classified as true film geeks. Since these books are as of this writing all out of print, I with the strongest terms possible urge you all to seek them out. You will not be dissapointed!

16 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ONE OF MY FAVORITE FILM BOOKS, May 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Cult Movies: The Classics, the Sleepers, the Weird, and the Wonderful (Hardcover)

Let me state at the outset that I just love this book! I bought it when it first came out in the early '80s, and it kind of changed my movie-going habits. I'd long been a fan of the old movies, but this book, along with its two sequels, "Cult Movies 2" and "Cult Movies 3," provided me with 200 films that--largely due to Mr. Peary's enthusiastic and keen-minded style--I just had to go and see. As of today, I've seen all but a handful of these wonderful films. It's always fun to see a movie and then read a dead-on analysis of that film. Many times I will disagree with Danny Peary (for example, I think he downgrades "Forbidden Planet" unfairly), but in the vast majority of cases I will be amazed at how much Mr. Peary has picked up that I hadn't noticed. (For example, for some reason, it never sunk in with me that Janet Leigh's character in "Psycho" has the name of Marion CRANE, while Norman Bates is a taxidermist of birds!) He is an extremely observant and thoughtful reviewer, with an obvious love of his subject. The range of films reviewed in these three books is quite large, from the 1927 silent movie "Napoleon" to "Plan 9 From Outer Space"; from "Children of Paradise" to "Phantom of the Paradise." This is the type of book that forces you to respect the author's opinions, even if you wildly disagree with them. Finally, I would like to recommend the book "Alternate Oscars" by the same author...a true treat for film buffs!

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The first of three of my favorite film books., January 18, 2004

By 

Mister Chris (Peekskill, New York USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cult Movies (Paperback)

How much do I love CULT MOVIES by Danny Peary? As I write this my edition of the book (purchased in 1981) has split in two. It's spine severed from years of flipping its pages obessively from front to back. I consider it a trusted friend that I refer to many times as a fellow "film fanatic."

This expose of 100 films was one of the firsts along with Jonathan Rosenbaum and J. Hoberman's MIDNIGHT MADNESS to delve into what makes a movie a "cult movie," and Peary does a spectacular job. Unlike some surveys which focus more on indiscriblable oddities such as David Lynch's ERASERHEAD, Peary wonderfully widens the cult criteria to include a whole array of film-watching experiences. From schlock like PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE to high art like THE RED SHOES, Peary's historical overview and analysis within an ever changing pop cultural landscape is consistantly readable and on the money. Every conceivable genre gets their due -comedies, westerns, horror, musicals, film noir thrillers, kung fu epics, pornography- and, like them or not, all are made to seem wonderfully relevant and alive. Even if you disagree with Peary's opinions, afterwards you're just begging to run to experience these movies from a different angle. This is film criticism at its best.