Rating: Summary: I peed my pants. Review: This is the best book of all time. It makes War and Peace look like Curious George. It's Ulysses only graphic and with long sentances. It's a Dennis Miller routine, but when you tell one of the jokes to your friends they laugh!
Rating: Summary: Laugh your way through the secrets of Lusty Lloyd's life. Review: This book is really funny. Even better, it is easy reading for those of us who are more at home in low budget movie theaters than at the library. You can take All I Need To Know.Toxic with you on the subway or to the dentist and pick up anywhere when you loose your place. People will stare over your shoulder when you pause at pictures of Mrs. Kaufman and the Tromettes. Just keep your finger ready for a quick switch to the close-ups of Lloyd and you'll be back on your own fast. For entertainment combined with an education in the lowest possible cultural movement of the modern world, you can't go wrong with Toxic.
Rating: Summary: a truely tromatic experience for any "serious" film freak Review: If you've ever seen a Troma movie, you probably wonder if Lloyd Kaufman learned anything about filmmaking from the low-budget/camp-sleazfest that is "The Toxic Avenger". But the title of the book is deceptive. It's not really another stuffy lecture about the logistics of filmmaking. It's a silly but insightfull look at the depraved life and times of a truely unique individual. The lunatic ravings from someone who has made a career out of taking on the system. Save your film school tuitition and use it for something useful like pornography. You'll learn everything you need to know about "The Industry" by reading this book.
Rating: Summary: Better than any film book from school. Review: I'm a film student, and this book is sooo much better than anything I've had to read for class. Especially when I'm trying to do special effects for projects, without spending a lot of money, this book tells you everything you need to know. Stuff I haven't seen anywhere else.
Rating: Summary: Mad Movie Mogul Invades the Planet with his Killer B's Review: Lloyd Kaufman, President of Troma Studios and creator of the Toxic Avenger, has written a book about the history of the world's oldest (and one of the last remaining) independent film studios. All I Really Need to Know About Filmmaking I Learned from the Toxic Avenger is not just a how-to guide for young filmmakers, it is a humorous, witty, and often touching story about the creation of a B-Movie Empire, and the people Mr. Kaufman took with him on the way up (or down, whichever way you want to interpret it.) Not only does it touch on the history of the studio itself, but it also hits on some of Kaufman's more human sides: His relationship with his three daughters (Who, from my personal experience, he treats like queens) and his relationship with his wife, Patricia, who is the New York State Film Commissioner. Fart Jokes and other forms of crude humor aside, All I Really Need to Know about Filmmaking I Learned from the Toxic Avenger is the story of one man's dream, an! d the obstacles he had to overcome to fulfill it.
Rating: Summary: Extremely vile and hilarious! Very highly recommended! Review: While I've never been a fan of Troma Studios or their films (in my book, there is nothing less funny than intentional campiness/cheesiness), Troma co-founder Lloyd Kaufman's autobiography is one of the best film books I have ever read. With anecdotes that will make you laugh and cringe at the same time, Kaufman's autobiography is the funniest and least pretentious director's memoir since John Waters' "Shock Value."
Rating: Summary: Filled with hillarious anecdotes and stories. Review: Tired of standing around while all those pretentious Hollywood types grab all the glory? Sick of people not being able to recognizing your brilliant talent for writing/directing or producing films because it's impossible for you to get your foot in the door? Fed up with bullies cutting you in the lunch line in high school, making you lick the floor with your tongue, only to have them lock you in your locker!There are thousands of "how-to" make a film texts by people who have never even made one, now comes a book by a man who has written, directed, produced and distributed hundreds. Lloyd Kaufman, President of Troma Entertainment, Creator of the Toxic Avenger, champion of the good and the righteous everywhere, has written the long awaited book All I Need To Know About Filmmaking I Learned From The Toxic Avenger, the most up to date and knowledgeable guide to that sleazy underworld co! ! unterculture, known as the film industry. Read about how Kaufman clawed his way to the top without compromising his principles or stabbing his associates in the back with a dull rusty blade, as you might have read is common practice in other independent filmmaking guides. "I can keep my dignity and still make movies," you say. "No, that's not what I said," I say. "I said you can keep your principles and still make good movies." I'm afraid that your dignity can never be salvaged once you enter the world of filmmaking, but I know you'll get over it. Lloyd Kaufman, a man who has literally worked every position in this freak show known as the movie biz, has written his book as an enjoyable insider's read, with loads of practical knowledge on everything from working on the cheap, on the sub-cheap, and on the welfare-cheap to how to deal with bigoted old film industry types (i.e. MPAA board). With a bathtub full of hilarious anecdotes and ! ! stories, you'll read it, flip it over and read it again. T! hen you'll read it six more times, eat some lunch and change your underwear and do it all over again. Chuck out all those boring old texts on Godard, Felini, Spielberg and all those other freaky foreign art guys and get the authority on independent film, Lloyd Kaufman's All I Need To Know About Filmmaking I Learned from the Toxic Avenger.
Rating: Summary: original, surprising journey thru independent film making Review: lloyd kaufman's memoirs of his life in tromaville are far more entertaining and intelligent than any of his movies. they represent a free associative journey from kaufman's most interior, nearly psychotic, regions to the most minute detail of independent film making. beyond the deliberate attempts to disgust is an abundance of information about how to finance, produce, and distriibute movies without the assistance, and in some instances, in the face of opposition by the establishement, whatever that is. kaufman instrucrts on economies like repetitive uses of car crash scenes, and what to do if you realize only months after filming has been completed that you've neglected to shoot the ending. its swings from informatrive to revolting to contemporary, intimate conversations with kaufman's wife, and pleas with the editor not to kill the book keep the reader wondering what will he talk about next. in the hands of an appropriate director, the book could well become ! ! the basis for a picaresque ramble through the fringes oif the movie making business. defintely an original.
Rating: Summary: Tromatizing Review: The Troma Team is proud to announce that All I Need To Know About Filmmaking I Learned From The Toxic Avenger, published by Boulevard, an imprint of Putnam/Penguin! All I Need To Know About Filmmaking I Learned From The Toxic Avenger is the amazing, true story of the birth of Troma Entertainment. Lloyd Kaufman, creator of the Toxic Avenger and president of Troma Entertainment, wrote the book with the assistance of James Gunn, the screenwriter of Tromeo & Juliet. Roger Corman, legendary B-Movie king and producer of the original Little Shop of Horrors, has written the Foreword to the book.
Rating: Summary: Lloyd told me to! Review: Catching a screening of Troma's new film "Terror Firmer" at the Chicago Film Festival, I had the great experience of meeting Mr. Lloyd Kaufman, one of the nicest people I'm ever likely to come into contact with. He told me I should go on Amazon.com and review his fabulous book, "All I Need to Know About Filmmaking I Learned From The Toxic Avenger." Coming from most famous people (yeah, he's famous), telling a fan to boast them up might sound kind of arrogant, but not from Mr. Kaufman. He has got to be one of the last true caring people in the film world and it shows in his excellent book. The book is packed with anecdotes, insights, how-to techniques and plenty of other elements to keep even non-Troma fans interested and amused. I've never found myself laughing out loud so much at a book before. It's hilarious. I suggest reading this book and John Waters' "Shock Value" back-to-back to truly discover what kind of minds make films of the most fantastic and questionable "art" of our times.
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