Read Instead…in Print

Read instead…in print #26

“If The Lord of the Rings movie thrilogy portrayed New Zealand at its most magical, The Piano shows it at its most real. This haunting and enigmatic period romance winds back to colonial times when Aotearoa was no enviable holiday spot but rather a place of hardship: isolated, untamed, fierce.”

I always welcome a different take on the cinematic experience. Sarah Baxter’s Cinematic Places takes us to destinations that have set the scene for some great worldwide films. Each film story woven around a place yet revealing essential parts of its life, each place a character in its own right. We get to see each location with fresh eyes, not just through Sarah’s words and our visual memory, but also through the illustrations of Amy Grimes.

Read instead… in print is about a good book about cinema or filmmakers. No discursive, pretentious analyses, no verbose scrutiny. Because the idea is to invite you to read the book, not read about it here. But instead of using social media, I use my journal. Back to basics. Take it as a wish to break free of over-reliance on social media (even if it’s just for posting a photo of a good book) for presenting my work, cultural finds and interests. These are things to be enjoyed as stand-alone pieces in a more substantial and meaningful way than showing them in the black hole of Instagram thronged with an audience with a short attention span. This is also a look through my voluminous collection of books about film that I use as research in my adamant decision to rely less and less on the online and more on more on print materials.