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Moving Pictures (Discworld) (Paperback)

by Terry Pratchett (Author) "Watch ... This is space..." (more)
Key Phrases: pottery elephants, senior wizards, thousand elephants, Recent Runes, Throat Dibbler, Unseen University (more...)

4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (52 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

Review
"Philosophical humor of the highest order." -- Kirkus Reviews

"Unadulterated fun. Pratchett parodies everything in sight." -- San Francisco Chronicle --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Product Description
The alchemists of the Discworld have discovered the magic of the silver screen. But what is the dark secret of Holy Wood Hill? It’s up to Victor Tugelbend (“Can’t sing. Can’t dance. Can handle a sword a little”) and Theda Withel (“I come from a little town you’ve probably never heard of”) to find out.

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Product Details

Paperback: 339 pages
Publisher: Corgi (July 4, 2005)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0552152943
ISBN-13: 978-0552152945
Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.9 inches
Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces

Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (52 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,406,764 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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This is item 10 in The Discworld Series.

Inside This Book (learn more)
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First Sentence:
Watch ... This is space. Read the first page

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
pottery elephants, senior wizards, thousand elephants, other troll, wonder dog, eighth son, golden man, pointy hat, picture box

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Recent Runes, Throat Dibbler, Unseen University, Blown Away, Windle Poons, Harga's House of Ribs, Victor Tugelbend, Century of the Fruitbat, Cohen the Barbarian, Gaspode the Wonder Dog, Delores De Syn, Tower of Art, Untied Alchemists, Blue Lias, Great Hall, Ridcully the Brown, Bezam Planter, Circle Sea, Mister Dibbler, Ponder Stibbons, Sham Harga, Uncle Oswald, Uncommon Room, Dungeon Dimensions, Patrician of Ankh-Morpork

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Citations (learn more)

This book cites 27 books:

Small Gods by Terry Pratchett in Front Matter, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
The Last Continent by Terry Pratchett in Front Matter, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
Feet of Clay by Terry Pratchett in Front Matter, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett in Front Matter, and Back Matter
Soul Music by Terry Pratchett in Front Matter, and Back Matter

See all 27 books this book cites

41 books cite this book:

Youth Cultures: Texts, Images, and Identities by Kerry Mallan on 4 pages
Hogfather by Terry Pratchett in Front Matter, and Back Matter
Sourcery by Terry Pratchett in Front Matter, and Back Matter
Grimoire for the Apprentice Wizard by Oberon Zell-Ravenheart on page 248, and Back Matter
Mort by Terry Pratchett in Front Matter, and Back Matter

See all 41 books citing this book

Books on Related Topics (learn more)

Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett

Discusses:

Mort by Terry Pratchett

Discusses:

The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett

Discusses:

Sourcery by Terry Pratchett

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Customer Reviews

52 Reviews

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4.1 out of 5 stars (52 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars We Are Such Stuff As Dreams Are Made Of, February 2, 2005

By	Leonard Fleisig "Len" (Washington, D.C.) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Moving Pictures (Mass Market Paperback)

. . . and our little life is rounded with a sleep." This snippet of Prospero's from Shakespeare's The Tempest, was beautifully ad libbed by Humphrey Bogart during the filming of The Maltese Falcon. It pretty much sums up the experience I took out of reading Terry Pratchett's Moving Pictures. Life in Holy Wood, like life on Prospero's island is one where magical events occur encouraged by a host of spirits. Since these magical events unfold in that piece of the universe known as Discworld, they unfold with wit, humor, and more than a bit of thought.

As the title suggests, Moving Pictures is Pratchett's take on Hollywood. In a manner similar to his approach to Men at Arms, The Truth, and Going Postal, Pratchett takes the development of the motion picture industry and through the literary equivalent of time-lapse photography compresses it so that the reader experiences in a brief time span that which occurred over decades on our slower-moving planet. The result is hilariously funny and made me shake my head and murmur, how did we let this nonsense happen.

CAST OF CHARACTERS: As a click trailer might say: Introducing Victor and Ginger (think Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers) as the leading man and lady of this epic. Also new to Discworld is Thomas Silverfish (think Samuel Goldwyn of MGM fame), the first big producer on Discworld. As in Casablanca, Pratchett has also rounded up the usual suspects. Cut Me Own Throat Dibbler (can't think of a character on earth that remotely resembles Dibbler!) and Gaspode (think Oscar Levant as played by a stray dog) are featured prominently and hilariously. This is a big step up for these two contract players in the Discworld series! Rounding out the featured players is that zany group of performers known as the wizards, led by their fearless librarian (think the Keystone Kops meets Planet of the Apes). And, as they say, a cast of thousands, including assorted trolls, an overly obsequious dog known as Laddie (think Lassie) and other delightful diverse denizens of Discworld.

THE PLOT: The plot is simple. It is about the power of dreams in a world, as Dibbler might say, "gone mad". Dreams, particularly the dreams of Ginger, play a critical role in the book. A group of alchemists have invented movies or clicks as they come to be known on Discworld. Fearing that such magic might anger the wizards of Unseen University the alchemists move out of Ankh-Morpork to a strange and wondrous place called Holy Wood. In what seems like only days, clicks become the next big thing. People from around Discworld come to Holy Wood for no apparent reason other than a strange compulsion. Perhaps mysterious forces are at work? The excitement level gradually builds, the outlines of an evil, dark plot by the spirit world reveals itself as in a dream, until all heck breaks loose. Victor strives valiantly to save the universe with the wizards following close behind in a manner reminiscent of the Keystone Kops. The climactic fight scene is both dramatic and hilariously funny. Of course, the fun in any Pratchett novel is not the ending but the journey. Hollywood references abound. It is always fun trying to spot some, even those which Pratchett may never have intended. Dibbler's hilarious product placements and his `invention' of subliminal advertising were worth the price of admission.

Some have suggested that Moving Pictures is not as `good' as his other Discworld books. There is an inference, perhaps, that it does not address profound issues relating to life, the universe and everything as was the case in Mort, Small Gods, or Thief of Time. For me, however, the profusion of cultural gods (from Valentino to Pacino) created by Hollywood and its enormous impact on popular culture throughout the world seems just as worthy of the typical Pratchett treatment as small gods in the form of a turtle. I also have to add that it was a pleasure seeing both Gaspode and Dibbler in more prominent roles.

All in all, as I finished Discworld I kept coming back to Bogart looking wistfully at the worthless Maltese Falcon that so many people had died in pursuit of their dreams. Perhaps for his next click, Dibbler can have Victor close by reminding the audience that, like Prospero:

Our revels now are ended: these our actors
As I foretold you, were all spirits, and
Are melted into air, into thin air:
And, like the baseless fabric of this vision
The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yes, and all which it inherit, shall dissolve,
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a wrack behind: We are such stuff
As dreams are made of, and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.

Th-th-th-that's all folks!!!

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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars In Life You Have to Make Your Own Bricks, June 21, 2002

By	Marc Ruby™ "The Noh Hare™" (Warren, MI USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Moving Pictures (Mass Market Paperback)

Somewhere in Discworld the last priest of Holy Wood shakes hands with Death and one of realities weak points (it has many) suddenly is unguarded. Not long after, an alchemist in Ankh-Morpork suddenly figures out how to make a form of octo-cellulose that only explodes occasionally. In no time, rolls of this miracle compound are being fed into picture boxes where tiny demons frantically paint pictures on the film. You guessed it, the Discworld entertainment industry is about to take a great lurch forward (or maybe backward).

Suddenly, ancient Holy Wood was on the map, drawing people to it form all over the world. And from outside the world as well. In the spaces between the universes, unmentionable creatures are drawn like magnets to the thin reality of feature filmmaking. Nor are the locals much more respectable. Cut Me Own Throat Dibbler sells the world's most horrible sausage business and heads for tinsel town to become a mogul, trolls enroll as bit part players, and people who should never be allowed to cook, are.

The good guys are just as various. Victor Tugelbend deserts wizardry, and Ginger Withel leaves the farm in order to make it big in show business. These two reluctantly become involved in what is really going on, which is, as usual, 'the end of everything as we know it.' But the very best character of all is poor Gaspode, the talking dog, a disgraceful looking canine who spends his time (when he isn't out drinking with his friend Laddie the Wonder Dog) keeping Victor and Ginger alive and relatively down to earth. Gaspode is as corrupt and sneaky as they come, but he knows that it is no fun being rotten when there isn't a world to do it in.

'Moving Pictures' is parody and punning, as Pratchett makes fun of everything from 'Gone with the Wind' (Blown Away) to H.P. Lovecraft. This is one of his works that is a bit short on plot, but makes it up with humor and a string of outrageous sight gags. The portrayal of Hollywood's foibles is spot on, and you will find yourself recognizing pieces of famous films, carefully twisted to create snorts and chortles. (You will never, ever, feel the same about King Kong again) Even though this is not one of Pratchett's very best - try 'Small Gods' and 'The Truth' for that - it is still delightful entertainment.

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good for Those Familiar With Pratchett, November 22, 2004

By	R. G. Somebody "Feegle" (Louisville, KY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Moving Pictures (Mass Market Paperback)

Moving Pictures, like all of Pratchett's work, is entertaining, satirically funny, and very poignant, containing all the finer elements of the early books and some unexpected twists from the Disc as it warps our view of reality into the Discworld view. All manner of delightful Hollywood lore ends up in this tale of Holy Wood, including A Night at the Opera, Gone With the Wind, The Little Rascals, Lassie, King Kong (my favorite passage in the book) and Ben Hur. There are way too many wonderful parodies to list, and each one contributes a bit of a gem to this book, which like many of Pratchett's, causes the reader to think while he is engaged in reading.
The Alchemists awaken a great evil beneath Holy Wood, and it's up to a student wizard who never graduated, a farm girl, and Gaspode the Wonder Dog to save the day as the fate of the Disc hangs in the balance. There's romance, action, and a thousand elephants, all Discworld style. This book also contains the most scenes with Windle Poons, the Disc's oldest known wizard, and for me that was worth the price of admission.
If you are a Pratchett fan, you will naturally read this book in your progression from title to title, but if you've never read Pratchett, start your journey on the Disc elsewhere, like in one of the series. This stand alone is good, but only superb to the truly devoted. I liked it, and I never stopped smiling during my sit through with it. Essentially it is a "dog book," but it contains wizards, trolls, eldritch boding, and dwarves. Not many other dog tales can boast that loud.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A Very Moving Book
"Moving Pictures" for some reason is ranked low on the scale by some hardcore Pratchett fans. Being one to buck a trend, I hereby declare it to be near the top. Read more

Published 4 months ago by not4prophet

5.0 out of 5 stars terry does it again
Another amusing Terry Pratchett book. Not much more to say. The hidden puns are zingers worthy of a good read. Enjoy!

Published 5 months ago by Shreimer

5.0 out of 5 stars Laugh out loud!
Here is another masterpiece by Terry Pratchett that you will not want to put down! I read it through twice the the first time I got it! Great comedy! Great parodies! Read more

Published 7 months ago by Jim Guess

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid novel skewering cinematic clasics
This is an early Discworld novel, and with most of them it's best read if you have some familiarity with the setting and characters, but it can still be read "cold" with no... Read more

Published 9 months ago by Matthew Farrell

3.0 out of 5 stars Movie Magic
I'm going to be lazy here and borrow heavily from the review of the last Discworld book I read recently because really, it's about the same thing. Read more

Published 10 months ago by BJ Fraser

5.0 out of 5 stars IN A WORLD GONE MAD WITH A THOUSAND ELEPHANTS!!!
Just do yourself a favor and read the thing. You won't be sorry. I wouldn't spend over a hundred on the audio book though. Read more

Published 14 months ago by K. Griffin

5.0 out of 5 stars Smile Please

Terry Pratchett has become one of the most popular authors alive today and his popularity is richly deserved. Read more

Published 17 months ago by J. Chippindale

4.0 out of 5 stars Not Free SF Reader
Pratchett chooses yet another industry to satirise, and Hollywood and the whole movie business isn't a bad choice. Read more

Published 22 months ago by Blue Tyson

4.0 out of 5 stars the magic of holy wood
The tenth Discworld novel is Moving Pictures by Terry Pratchett. Pratchett takes on Hollywood, here called Holy Wood, and the movies as the death of the guardian of a particular... Read more

Published on January 11, 2007 by Joe Sherry

3.0 out of 5 stars Mediocre Discworld book, cinema is a hard topic to write about
I've read all the Discworld novels up until this one, and this was one of the worst of the bunch. I think the problem with this book is that there's not enough things you can... Read more

Published on October 24, 2006 by The Alchemist

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