Named & Shamed The World's Worst and Wittiest Movie Reviews from Affleck to Zeta-Jones
Christopher Tookey
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Buy NowWhy I wrote this book
I have compiled this book over more than 25 years, and it has confirmed me in the belief that some of the best, funniest and most astute criticism has been hostile, if not downright cruel.
It is a unique collection of the worst and wittiest reviews ever written, and it can be dipped into or read like a normal book.
If you like movies, enjoy witty writing or simply fancy a good laugh, this book is for you.
Synopsis
Author Christopher Tookey and a host of critics, from the celebrated to the obscure, provide feedback on some of the biggest films to have reached our screens, indexed by actor or actress and presented alphabetically. Many of the most famous people of the last 100 years are here, from Woody Allen to Will Ferrell and Andrew Lloyd Webber to Julia Roberts. No celebrity is left unscathed, with short one-liner comments to paragraph reviews, such as: To my eye, [Daniel] Radcliffe still looks like the teenage offspring of Hitler and a gay owl. (Robbie Collin, News of the World) Christoper takes inspiration from books including Diana Rigg's No Turn Unstoned and Matthew Parris' Scorn. Named & Shamed is guaranteed to make you laugh at least once per page and will appeal greatly to the general reader and in particular to all film fans.Reviews
Barry Norman, Film Critic:Review 1: A great read, great fun. It shows, delightfully, what thoroughly nasty, spiteful people movie critics can be.
Julian Fellowes, Oscar-winning screenwriter, director, actor and author:
Deriving pleasure from others' misery is not an elevating pastime, and I am not proud of how much I enjoyed this book. But I could not put it down.
David Gritten, Film Editor, Daily Telegraph:
A comprehensive tribute to the neglected heroism of film critics, who watch awful performances so the public doesn’t have to, warning them off with dark, savage wit.
About the Author
Christopher Tookey was educated at Tonbridge School and Exeter College, Oxford, where he was a History Scholar, President of the Union, Editor of Isis, President of the Etceteras and Musical Director of Oxford Theatre Group. He also directed the winning new play in the Sunday Times-NUS Drama Competition. Since 1993, he has been the film critic for the Daily Mail, the UK’s best-selling mid-market daily newspaper. Between 1994 and 1998, he was Chairman of the British Film Critics’ Circle, producing and presenting their annual awards ceremony in aid of the NSPCC. He is author of the non-fiction book The Critics’ Film Guide and www.movie-film-review.com, the biggest collection of film criticism in the world.
For several years before 1993, he was TV and Film Critic for the Sunday Telegraph and TV critic for the Daily Telegraph. He has also been theatre critic for the Mail on Sunday and written for Prospect, the Sunday Times, Observer, European, Books & Bookmen and (in the USA) National Review.
He is a prolific broadcaster, interviewer and interviewee on radio and TV, and has worked in the theatre and television, as a writer, composer, director and producer.
The hundreds of TV programmes he has directed include the award-winning rock series Revolver (ATV), the acclaimed Channel 4 series After Dark, the Emmy-winning Network 7, the ratings successes Showtime, Luna and Celebrity Squares (Central), and international chart-topping rock videos including the Katrina and the Waves classic, Walking On Sunshine.
He has composed and arranged theme music for several long-running television series and composed 12 stage musicals, produced at the Theatre Royal, Windsor, Haymarket and Phoenix Theatres Leicester, Arts Cambridge, Belgrade Theatre Coventry, Bush and Gate Theatres on the London fringe, and Theatre Royal, Haymarket.
Also in the West End, he has produced and directed shows at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, May Fair, Piccadilly and Fortune Theatres.
Book info
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Genres
Format
Paperback
256 pages pages
Author
Christopher Tookey
Publisher
Matador an imprint of Troubador Publishing
Publication date
1st November 2010
Author's Website
ISBN
9781848765603
