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THE ARTS
McCarthy, Meghan

Action!: How Movies Began

48 pp. | Simon/Wiseman | August, 2022 | Trade ISBN 9781534452305 $18.99 | Ebook ISBN 9781534452312 $10.99
(2) 4-6 McCarthy takes readers back to the movies in her latest, visually rich informational picture book. More "a jumping-off point" than a thorough history of the cinema, the book covers the evolution of moving images, the innovators (all white men) who helped push the medium forward, and the amazement and shock the first motion pictures caused ("At the end of the show there was complete chaos"). The book excels when McCarthy uses side-by-side shots to mirror early moviemaking techniques, such as with nature photographer Eadweard Muybridge's series of shots of a galloping horse, and to illustrate how early films inspired later movies. In one particularly effective page turn, McCarthy draws a line from groundbreaking early German film Metropolis to Star Wars and Blade Runner, showing striking similarities between set and (droid) character design. McCarthy employs her trademark big-eyed, smiley characters (Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton are suitably silly, and even beloved Star Wars droid R2D2 hilariously sports a giant goggly eye). Extensive back matter includes an author's note, short entries on related topics from "MGM's Leo the Lion" to "The Beginnings of Hollywood," and a selected bibliography.
Reviewer: Sam Bloom

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