I really hope you are enjoying the posts this week as the kick-off to my Year in Review. If you missed any, please be sure to go back and check them out at the links below.

• Biggest Surprises of 2022
• Biggest Disappointments of 2022
• Favorite Performances of 2022
• Top Short Films I Watched in 2022
• Top 10 First Time Watches in 2022
• Top 10 Films of 2022

We’re almost done with this first week and today is my new category this year, books about movies. I’m going to split this into two separate groups of books, biographies and behind the scenes. But before I get to that, there is one book I must mention that straddles the categories.

James Cameron is an icon in the film industry, and this book covers his career in quite some detail, taking the reader movie by movie, with some sidebars into other projects.
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Cameron might be best known for reinventing multiple genres across his 40-year career in films. Starting with The Terminator and his work on Aliens and T2: Judgement Day, and continuing through The Abyss and True Lies before shifting to drama with the smash hit Titanic Cameron has always found new ways to approach his subject matter. (affiliate links) “He doesn’t simply make films,” writes Nathan, “he invents the means to match his imagination.” And that imagination seems to know no bounds as his films have taken us to futuristic wastelands, deep sea stations, and of course to distant planets.

Nathan’s book (affiliate link) provides a wonderful companion for those looking to dive even deeper into the world of James Cameron and learn what makes this master tick as they patiently wait for his most anticipated film to arrive in theaters this December.

Check out my reviews of Cameron's movies below:
The Abyss

Don Bluth had such an impact on my childhood even though I didn’t know his name at the time. I grew up on his films, specifically The Land Before Time, All Dogs Go to Heaven, and An American Tail (affiliate links) and reading about the man behind those stories took me right back to my formative years.
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Bluth’s story is one that takes him from his birth in Texas, to Utah, before landing at Disney as an animator. This book is told in his own words, and it truly feels like you’re sitting fireside, listening to him recount his life. Bluth brings plenty of humor and wit to the telling, and weaves in “conversations” he had with his biggest critic, the man in the mirror, throughout his life.

​After reading this book, I have a better appreciation for the world of animation, understanding what a stranglehold Disney had on the animation industry throughout the 20th century. When Bluth left Disney to create his own company, everyone told him he would fail, and Disney threw as many hurdles in his way as they could.

Perhaps best known for his roles as Chuck Bartowski in the television series Chuck, Flynn Rider in Disney’s Tangled, and the lead role in the superhero film Shazam!, Zachary Levi has been a rising star in Hollywood over the past decade. That success is only part of the story, a story that Levi discusses in his new book Radical Love: Learning to Accept Yourself and Others (affiliate links).

This book surprised me in many ways. There is often a feeling about Hollywood actors that they have it all and oftentimes, nothing could be further from the truth. In reality, they are people just like us and have some of the same problems we have. Levi presents the struggles he has experienced throughout his life including strained relationships with both of his parents, dealing with depression, and even thoughts of suicide. The book is really an exploration of why he struggles the way he does, but also a bit of a guide as to how he is working to overcome those struggles. ​

Green Book is one of the most recent films on my list this year and it is fantastic. There is a reason this film won the Oscar for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Mahershala Ali), and Best Original Screenplay a few years ago and was nominated for several others.

Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s not a perfect film by any stretch, but a great film doesn’t have to be perfect. There is plenty to quibble with in the film and its depiction of race in the Southern United States in the 1960s, but at the heart it is a story about two men from different worlds that come to understand and respect each other through a series of shared experiences.

If you don’t know the story, Ali stars as Dr. Don Shirley, a black pianist who is about to embark on a concert tour of the American Midwest and South. He hires Tony Lip (Viggo Mortensen) as his driver. The men start off as complete strangers, Shirley trying to get Tony to act with more refinement and class, while Tony makes some attempts to get Shirley to lighten up a bit and “live a little.”

As the trip wears on and the pair venture further into the Deep South, the attitudes towards a black man change and Tony starts to see how Shirley is treated. The final straw comes when Shirley is denied permission to eat dinner in the very dining room of a white country club that he has been hired to perform in that evening. Tony stands fully by Shirley’s side and begs the owners to relent on their rules and allow Shirley to dine with the white members.

While I don’t know much about the two men depicted in the film, I do love the actors that portrayed them. I have been a Mortensen fan since seeing him in G.I. Jane and of course his star turn as Aragon in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Ali has been a rising star as well, garnering his second Oscar for this role following his win for Moonlight several years ago. These two roles couldn’t be more different, so it’s wonderful to see the actor inhabit these drastically different characters.