For The Snob In All Of Us

Posted Feb 1, 2006 by Kevin Walker

Updated Feb 1, 2006 at 04:22 PM

Just in time for you to make fun of the Oscars - and the pretentions of the film industry - comes The Film Snob’s Dictionary by David Kemp with Lawrence Levi. You’ll find definitions for terms like Italian Neorealism, as well as lists like The Ten Great Ubiquitous Overweight Veteran Character Actors of the Modern Cinematic Era (Joe Don Baker, Martin Balsam and Charles Durning make the list).

Durning is so ubiquitous that way back in college, a friend of mine wrote a (very good) song called: “What Does Charles Durning Make In A Year?”

For the same marketing reasons, i.e. Oscar season is upon us, Roger Ebert has released “The Great Movies II,” in which the famous midwestern film critic includes essays on his favorite films. Important if you want someone else’s opinion on what films to watch (and his is as good as about anyone else’s).

On a more literary note, Stephen Wright will release his second novel later this month, called The Amalgamation Polka. it concerns Liberty Fish, raised in upstate New York but also the grandson of slaveowners in the Carolinas. Holy torn asunder family, Batman! Fish takes a journey in an effort to reunite the family as the Civil War rages through the country. Good timing.