Books We Love / The Blockbusters of 2013
Guillermo del Toro Cabinet of Curiosities By Guillermo del Toro & Marc Zicree [Harper Design, $60]
Imagine if you were good friends with cinematic genius Guillermo del Toro and he invited you to his amazing house and showed you some of the brilliant sketches and drawings he had done throughout his career. Well, this new book provides us with a similar experience by featuring early drawings, sketches and storyboards from the Mexican master’s oeuvre. Not only is there a wealth of art from movies such as Cronos, Mimic, The Devil’s Backbone, Blade II, Hellboy and its sequel, Pan’s Labyrinth and last year’s Pacific Rim, we are also treated to some of his designs for unfinished projects like At the Mountains of Madness and Meat Market. There’s even a section devoted to del Toro’s famous home (known as Bleak House) in Calabasas, which holds many of the macabre objects he loves (we’re talking movie props, books, character figures and life-size sculptures including the monster Sammael from Hellboy, and even some Totoro collectibles!). Overall, it’s an insightful glimpse into the mind of one of the most creative and daring filmmakers of our time.
The CG Story By Christopher Finch [Monacelli Press, $75]
The fantastic visual journey from Ed Catmull’s 1972 A Computer Animated Hand to Disney’s latest feature Frozen is a familiar one to animation and CG fans and professionals. But what celebrated author and artist Christopher Finch ( The Art of Walt Disney) brings to his latest 368-page epic is a sense of variety and wonder about what the art form’s pioneers (people like George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Ridley Scott, John Lasseter, James Cameron and Peter Jackson) have contributed to our modern culture. Showcasing a wealth of images from the making of Toy Story, Star Wars, Avatar and other popular animated and CG-laden films, this beautiful collection is a great keepsake for those of us who have witnessed how innovations in technology have transformed the medium and allowed visionaries such as James Cameron and John Lasseter to realize their fantastic dreams for audiences around the world. We assure you that you won’t tire of leafing through the pages of this spectacular tome.