"This selection of McFarlane's writings on film, taken as a whole, tells a story about what has brought us back to the cinema again and again, from recent times to a now more distant past...our guide brings back memories, fills gaps in our knowledge, triggers conversations, and inspires delight and enthusiasm."--Back cover.

Includes bibliographical references.

Machine generated contents note: pt. I Starters -- Film Reviews -- 1.My Brilliant Career -- 2.Nijinsky -- 3.Gallipoli -- 4.84 Charing Cross Road -- 5.Hope and Glory -- 6.Comrades -- 7.The Whales of August -- 8.There's a Lot Going On in Australia: Baz Luhrmann's Claim to the Epic -- 9.Shakespeare's Brave New World and Julie Taymor's Tempest -- 10.The Odd Couple: Language and Life Lessons in The King's Speech -- 11.Clouds tree t anew -- 12.The Filmmaker as Adaptor: Fred Schepisi Takes On Patrick White in The Eye of the Storm -- 13.A Tale of Two Terences: The Deep Blue Sea -- 14.Much Ado About Nothing: `Oh, what a merry war' -- 15.Shuttlecock: What Maisie Knew -- 16.All That Glitters The Great Gatsby -- 17.No Surrender: Suffragette -- 18.Taking the Plunge: The Water Diviner -- 19.Sunset Song -- Book Reviews -- 20.Ealing Studios -- 21.Days of Their Lives -- 22.Some Kind of a Man: Orson Welles: The Stories of His Life --

Contents note continued: 23.Conjuring the Rebel without a Pause: The Rebel: An Imagined Life of fames Dean -- 24.A Cinema Torpid But Not Terminal: Icons in the Fire: The Decline and Fall of Almost Everybody in the British Film Industry 1984-2000 -- 25.Flaunting Your Perfections: The Original Million Dollar Mermaid: The Annette Kellerman Story -- 26.Hepburn Springs Eternal: Kate -- 27.A Poignant Tale Worth Playing Again: Ingrid: Ingrid Bergman, A Personal Biography -- 28.Australian Screen Classics: Alvin Purple -- 29.I Peed on Fellini: Recollections of a Life in Film -- 30.The Spellbinder: God of Speed -- 31.`He really was a contender': Somebody: The Reckless Life and Remarkable Career of Marlon Brando -- 32.Bowery to Broadway: The American Irish in Classic Hollywood Cinema -- 33.`Mommie dearest' Just One Role Among Many: Possessed: The Life of Joan Crawford -- 34.One Man in His Time: John Gielgud: Matinee Idol to Movie Star --

Contents note continued: 35.Out of the Dark: I Found It at the Movies: Reflections of a Cinephile -- 36.Routes of Passage -- 37.John Wayne: The Life and Legend -- 38.The Trouble with Ackroyd: Alfred Hitchcock -- pt. II Mains -- 39.The Biography Industry: Creatures Great and Mostly Small -- 40.Local/Global: The Bank and Lantana -- 41.Mothers: Some Kids do 'ave 'em -- 42.Portraits in Celluloid -- 43.Shooting Minds -- 44.Size Doesn't Matter: Big Stupid Films -- 45.Country Towns in Australian Films: Trap or Comfort Zone? -- 46.From Rock of Ages to Rock `n' Roll -- 47.Softly and Tenderly -- 48.Finding Ourselves in Australian Films -- 49.A Curmudgeon's Canon: Random Thoughts on Summer Heights High, The Office and Other Nasty Pleasures -- 50.How Weird Does this Mob Still Seem? -- 51.Kath & Kimderella: From Box to Multiplex -- 52.The Voice of a Generation -- pt. III Afters -- or Just Deserts -- 53.A Gifted, Trenchant Friend: Lindsay Anderson -- 54.Who is Lance Comfort? --

Contents note continued: 55.Jill Esmond Olivier: The First Wife -- 56.The Choice Fruit of The Mango Tree -- 57.Obituary: Sir John Mills.

For more than forty years, readers of The Age newspaper have learned about the latest films through the interpretations and judgements of Brian McFarlane, now himself a Melbourne institution of sorts. Over that time McFarlane's reviews of and articles on film have also featured in Australian Book Review, Cinema Papers, Inside Story, Meanjin, Metro, Screening the Past, Senses of Cinema, Sight & Sound, and many other newspapers, magazines, and journals. This selection of McFarlane's writings on film, taken as a whole, tells a story about what has brought us back to the cinema again and again, from recent times to a now more distant past. In his attuned but easy style, sprinkled with wit and insight, our guide brings back memories, fills gaps in our knowledge, triggers conversations, and inspires delight and enthusiasm. Making a Meal of It is a first-rate resource for film buffs and excellent dinner-table company.