John Landis (Paperback)

~ Giulia D'Agnolo Vallan (Author)
Key Phrases: werewolf movies, shrinking woman, Animal House, John Landis, The Blues Brothers (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

JOHN LANDIS, by film historian and journalist Giulia D'Agnolo Vallan, is the first American book published about the legendary filmmaker. Using an in-depth interview with Landis, as well as original interviews with and essays by his collaborators, colleagues and film critics, the book examines the life and career of the man who gave us such classic films as THE KENTUCKY FRIED MOVIE, NATIONAL LAMPOON'S ANIMAL HOUSE, THE BLUES BROTHERS, AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON, TRADING PLACES, COMING TO AMERICA, THE THREE AMIGOS, and the ground breaking MICHAEL JACKSON'S THRILLER among many others.

Contributors include Guillermo Del Toro, David Cronenberg, Frank Oz, Sam Raimi, Costa Gavras, B.B. King, Dan Aykroyd, Aaron McGruder, Elmer Bernstein, Rick Baker, Jamie Lee Curtis, Christopher Frayling, Harold Ramis, and many more. Lavishly illustrated with photographs, production and ad art, many never before published from Mr. Landis's personal collection.

Whether you know him for his award winning documentaries, SLASHER, and the recent MR. WARMTH, THE DON RICKLES PROJECT, or his comedies, musicals or horror films, JOHN LANDIS is a fascinating look at the man responsible for many of our pop culture icons. It is available now for the 25th Anniversary of MICHAEL JACKSON'S THRILLER.

Giulia D'Agnolo Vallan is an Italian film journalist and curator. She was the director of the Torino Film Festival between 2003 AND 2006 and has also been the US correspondent for the Venice Film Festival. In Italy she has published books on John Carpenter, George Romero, Walter Hill, Clint Eastwood, William Friedkin, John Milius and Robert Aldrich. This is her first English language book.

Product Details

• Paperback: 250 pages
• Publisher: M Press; 1 edition (March 5, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1595820418
• ISBN-13: 978-1595820419
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 8.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #853,146 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Book About Fasinating Director, March 5, 2008

By	Bill Kablonsky (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

I was delighted to discover that the first book I've ever seen on legendary director John Landis was not only informative but really funny! Profusely illustrated, this book is really made up of long interviews with Landis and his collaborators including Dan Aykroyd, Elmer Bernstein, Harold Ramis, Chris Miller, Jamie Lee Curtis, B.B. King and many others. There are also essays about Landis movies by such fantastic filmmakers as David Cronenberg, Guillermo Del Toro, Sam Raimi, Frank Oz, Costa Gavras and many others. And articles by film critics Christopher Frayling, Dave Kehr, Bill Khron, and more. Even an interview that Landis did with Jack Arnold for CAHIERS DU CINEMA in the eighties. And I was amazed to find it so up to date it talks about Landis most recent documentary (which aired on HBO in December) MR. WARMTH, THE DON RICKLES PROJECT. An extremely well produced book with tons of photos and illustrations, most of which I had never seen before. A truly great surprise and one of the best movie related books I've ever bought.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars John Landis...A True Film Lover, April 5, 2008

By	Howard Berger "Howard Berger" (CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

First I must say that John Landis is by far one of the most enthusiastic film makers still around today. He has also directed some of my most favorite films, ANIMAL, HOUSE, BLUES BROTHERS, AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON, to name a few. All great films and all extremely successful. I highly recommend this book as the text is great but the photos are ever better as they are not your normal press packet shots, but John's personal photos that no one has ever seen, truly inspiring.

I love this book and if you love film, you will go nuts for this amazing recap of one of my favorite film directors.