"Turan's sketches are a blend of cultural analysis, historical anecdote, and sordid Hollywood controversy--astute critical appraisals, all suffused with his abiding love for the silver screen. [His] favorite films range across all genres, low and high. From All about Eve to Seven samurai to Spirited away, these are now timeless films--classic and contemporary, familiar and obscure, with big budgets and small--each as interesting as the lives of the authors and actors that made the usually two-or-so-hour-long cinematic experience itself"-- Provided by publisher.