My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Columbia University Press for an advance copy of this ode to cinema, the act of falling in and out of love with films, what changes when we watch movies, and how life gets in the way of what we once enjoyed.

I had a notebook that I would carry around with me that had a list of movies that I needed to see. To me it was never wanted to see, it was always a need, but that is the way I felt about things people found entertaining. I needed to see it, read it, hear it have it, even more I needed to have an opinion on whatever it was. Film was odd because so many things would set me on different paths. Seeing Star Wars for the first time, my father said that was like old Flash Gordon serials, a path that set me to find old radio shows, and watch PBS channels, showing old movies. An interview about Star Wars again mentioned the "similarities" to Akira Kurosawa's Hidden Fortress, suddenly I found foreign films. Black and white, technicolor, silent to Dolby, I fell in love with stories on the screen. And so in many ways did Phillip Lopate. Lopate's collection My Affair with Art House Cinema: Essays and Reviews is a story of passionate film watching, falling in and out of love with films, how films change us, and what film has done to others.

The book is a collection of essays some old, some new, some reworked. Lopate discusses in the beginning that many of the films mentioned are of the Art House variety, which generally means movies that aren't commercial, or don't follow conventional ideas of film making. The guy might not get the girl, the girl might get the guy, but everyone knows she is settling. People at the beginning of the film might not see the end. Or the movie seems like a deranged fever dream told by a narrator fried on brown acid. Lopate mention that most of his essays never deal with conventional films, though he has no problem with those kinds of films. Lopate writes about films that he discovered by chance, and ones that he has enjoyed, until this watch. I enjoy the fact that he has no problem calling out the sacred cows of film. I've always had my doubts about certain films, it's nice to be validated. One of my favorite essays is about trying to get his daughter to watch a film with him. The negotiations one has to go thorough to make someone of a different generation watch films. I do this all the time with my nephews, just watch some of this please, if you don't like it go back to youtube, or read a book. Lopate also writes of other reviewers, how Pauline Kael would only watch a movie once, while Andrew Sarris would constantly rewatch trying to find the heart of the matter.

A great book about film because it is just about love of film and why. This is not watch these movies before you die, or if you say you like movies you should watch this. I find those books tiresome to read. Instead Lopate uses words to describe what he sees on the screen, something that he is quite good at. I like how nothing is written in stone. A movie that meant something as a youth, today as an adult with children, might not hit as hard. Or might hit harder. There are films I can't watch anymore, as I have widened my social circle, and realise some films I liked could be considered troubling. Even as a loving Uncle, some films with kids, get to me, something Lopate and I share. I enjoyed this book quite a bit, found a few movies that escaped me, and a few movies I never thought I would like, but Lopate won me over on.

Recommended for film lovers, and people who still love to read about film. There is a lot of interesting discussions on film, directors and what film means. Plus Lopate is a very good writer, and his takes on the whole industry are very interesting, and fun reading.

This book contains short essays on more than 70 art house movies. It is structured in a manner that makes it easy to find the films or the directors you are interested in. In some cases, the chapters (the essays/reviews) focus on one film, and in some others, a filmmaker’s several films. In the whole book, Lapote talks about hundreds of films - the variety is extremely rich. Lapote’s language is engaging, though he often employs lesser known words, and refers to several lesser known art house films. The book does not have to be read in order. You can pick any chapter you like and start with it. The post scripts were relevant and useful too.
I must admit that I was only remotely familiar with Lapote’s work, and read the book due to my personal interest in movies and my professional life as a film scholar and writer. I highly recommend this book to those who are not big fans of the art house film, thanks to how Lapote argues about film. Though, it will most likely be cherished by older generations, art house movie lovers, and film students and buffs.
Lapote’s voice is very prominent in the essays, yet the book offers a lot of objective information as well.

Amazing! I loved these essays and stories. I love hearing about other people's lives and their perspectives on things, and this was no different. It was a great book