Stanislavsky in America explores the extraordinary legacy that Constantin Stanislavskirsquo;s system of actor-training has left on acting in the US.Mel Gordon outlines the journey of Stanislavskirsquo;s theories through twentieth century American history; from the early US tours of the Moscow Art Theatre to the ongoing impact of The System on modern American acting.This fascinating study by a leading theatre critic and practitioner provides hundreds of original acting exercises; used by the pivotal US figures who developed his teachings; such as Lee Strasberg; Stella Adler and Bobby Lewis. By going back to these primary sources; Gordon cuts through the myths and misapprehensions which have built up over time.Part memoir and part practical guide; Stanislavsky in America is an essential resource for anyone wanting to understand Stanislavskirsquo;s work and his relationship with American theatre.
#244126 in eBooks 2007-03-01 2007-03-01File Name: B002U4XPII
Review
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Finding out about what Ebert thought were the worst movies ever is interesting. but gets to be a bit much all at onceBy Richard Frantz Jr.This book is organized in alphabetical order by movie title. There is no over-arching description of how the bad movies relate to each other. which is too bad because although a snarky review of a bad movie is fun. reading a whole bunch of the reviews one after the other is like eating a whole box of chocolate - taste great but you get a stomach ache from too much of a good thing.You may disagree with Ebert on how bad a movie is. (Is this really a hard science fiction movie where the bad science is a killer or is it almost a spoof of science fiction?) But he is articulate and explains why he feels its a bad movie. And he can be a bit snarky when called for.If nothing else this will be a list to check before getting a movie to see if I should be worried that Im getting ready to waste two hours watching what an expert calls a really bad movie.2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Very enjoyableBy morehumanthanhumanThis book collects reviews from a fairly limited time period. Some forgotten (Alex Emma) and some classics of terrible cinema (Battlefield Earth) are included.Reading anything by Roger Ebert is going to be enjoyable and these reviews are no exception. I enjoy his writing on classics (The Great Movies). but honestly enjoy his negative reviews more. Theyre witty and insightful and theyre motivated by a true love of the movies rather than just an desire to be nasty for the sake of it. Some of the pieces collected here go beyond bad reviews to outline a larger theory of what movies could represent in our lives (the reviews for "Chaos" and Wolf Creek are great examples of this). Also on display is his fundamental fairness -- after savaging the initial cut of The Brown Bunny and getting into a war of words with the direction. he actually reevaluated it after it was recut and gave it three stars (both reviews are included in this book).This book is for both fans of movies and for fans of excellent reviews.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Witty and informativeBy Sebastian ZavalaAmazing book. Theres nothing like reading Eberts reviews for bad movies--theyre sarcastic. theyre witty. theyre funny. and theyre a very entertaining read. I definitely miss his writing style--therell be no-one like him for criticising bad movies.
