“It’s probably the most pessimistic, downbeat film about America ever made, because no one wins anything, everything’s sad, there’s no happy ending. On any level. [laughs] And it’s just bleak. And yet the technique through which this bleak story is told is so dynamic and exciting that it actually makes you feel the opposite of what you would feel if you just go by the story. And that’s the interesting tension in that movie.
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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