John Waters on The Wizard of Oz: “To me, it’s about one person, the whole movie: the Wicked Witch of the West. She inspired me. When I first saw the Wicked Witch of the West, I was completely obsessed by her. I didn’t know why Dorothy wanted to go back to that smelly farm, with that badly dressed aunt and black and white, when she could live with gay lions, basically, and magic shoes.”
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"If you love films and care about filmmakers, you'll have a hard time putting this book down. These lively conversations reveal just how much one generation of filmmakers influences the next - and how a single movie can change the course of a young person's life and career."
-Leonard Maltin, author of Leanord Martin's Movie Guide -
"A great and provocative read. Elder begins with a simple question and leads a wide variety of filmmakers down all sorts of unexpected paths. Why do we respond so passionately, even irrationally, to the movies that change our lives? The wonderful thing about being a critic or a lifelong movie lover is that life changes all the time in relation to the spells being cast on the screen. Elder's book honors that alchemic relationship many times over. It's addictive."
-Michael Phillips, film critic, Chicago Tribune