Cinematherapy: The Girl's Guide to Movies for Every Mood (Paperback)

by Beverly West (Author), Nancy Peske (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Hip, hilarious, and irreverent, and in full awareness of the healing powers of film, this fantastic guide recommends a movie to suit and soothe a woman's every possible mood.

About the Author
Nancy Peske and Beverly West arefilm fanatics, best friends, identical cousins, and the coauthors of Bibliotherapy: The Girl’s Guide to Books for Every Phase of Our Lives, Meditations for Men Who Do Next to Nothing (and Would Like to Do Even Less); How to Satisfy a Woman Every Time on Five Dollars a Day; and Frankly Scarlett, I Do Give a Damn! Classic Romances Retold. They live in New York City, where they spend much of their time debating such sophistocated cinematic polemics as the merits of Gary Oldman's ripe Camembert excess as opposed to Alan Rickman's quarter-pounder stoicism, and the far-reaching cultural implications of Brad Pitt's haircut.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Dell; 8th edition (March 9, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440508509
• ISBN-13: 978-0440508502
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 7.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #586,277 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cinematherapy: The girls' guide to movies for every mood, March 20, 2000

By	Carol Ann Mahon "aieamahon" (Aiea, Hawaii) - See all my reviews

I loved 'Cinematherapy' as it included a lot of the oldies but goodies besides the current fare of movies. Reading this book sent me to Blockbusters to check out some of those movies I loved but had long ago forgotten. This book makes a wonderful gift (bought several for daughter, daughter-in-law, etc.) as it is crosses those generation lines and gives women of all ages reason to smile and nod knowingly together. The witty text has you reading the book with a grin on your face and gives you enough laugh-out-loud experiences to make one's husband want to know "what's so funny"--you know that you would thoroughly enjoy lunching with these "girls."

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rush me to the video store, but not in South America..., March 21, 2000

By	Isela G. Jaloma (Artesia, New Mexico) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I read this book cover to cover, as if it were a good novel. It gave me such an itch to go out to my local video store, then hunker down with a huge amount of salty snacks, and while away my Sunday afternoons watching great old movies. The only problem is that I'm in Paraguay, South America, and the selection in the video stores is slimmer than the anorexic women here. Next time I'm home though, I will be in that video store, Cinematherapy book in hand, indexed with post-its even, and I will watch any movie my girl-mood calls for. Loved the book. Can't wait to use it until it's fully dog-eared.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars friendly guide to picking videos, April 4, 2002

By	audrey (white mtns) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

I like this book. It offers to be a friendly and casual guide, and that is exactly what it is. There are 15 chapters, distinguished by topic: PMS movies, dysfunctional romances, seeking greener pastures, mother-issues, earth mother films, working girl blues, bad hair days, dumped and looking for revenge movies, happily ever after movies, hearing your inner voice, martyr syndrome, girl's night out, men behaving well, women behaving badly, father-issues and cult films. The approach is breezy and mildly informative. Each chapter begins with a one or two page humorous essay followed by viewing suggestions, each with a paragraph or two of description and comments, and a miscellany of quotes, facts and opinions. The second chapter, for example, "Yeah, Okay, So He's a Jerk, But He's Sooooo Cute!: Dysfunctional Romances" features No Man of Her Own (1932), Suspicion (1941), Spellbound (1945), A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), Charade (1963), Funny Girl (1968), American Gigolo (1980), The Shining (1980), The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981), Sid and Nancy (1986), Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights (1992), Ethan Frome (1993), Gaslight (1944), Immortal Beloved (1994), Legends of the Fall (1994), Leaving Las Vegas (1995), Never Talk to Strangers (1995) and Love Serenade (1996).

The films that are recommended are interesting and appropriate choices I thought. I enjoyed reading about films I'd already seen and appreciated the description of those I hadn't. There is a fair amount of humorous filler, which works because the authors are good writers and funny. Complemented by a good index, this is not a book to read straight through, but rather to be perused as the mood hits.