World Famous Comics: Seagalogy: A Study of the Ass-Kicking Films of Steven Seagal
Seagalogy: A Study of the Ass-Kicking Films of Steven Seagal
By: Vern Publisher: Titan Books Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Titan Books Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 352 Publication Date: June 10, 2008 Release Date: June 10, 2008
Product Description: Vern, the self-styled ‘outlaw film critic’, is known to millions for his hilarious reviews on the Ain’t It Cool News website, and is described by Hellboy director Guillermo Del Toro as “equal parts Hell’s Angels and Pauline Kael... a national treasure!”
Now, finally, Vern is ready to unleash his magnum opus: an in-depth study of the world's only aikido instructor turned movie star/director/writer/blues guitarist/energy drink inventor — the ass-kicking auteur Steven Seagal. From Above the Law to his Mountain Dew commercials, his entire career is covered in Vern’s inimitable style.
As Vern himself puts it, Seagalogy is “a book that will shake the very foundations of film criticism, break their wrists and then throw them through a window."
Informative and very amusing at the same time I highly recommend Seagalogy for all movie buffs and anybody looking for a good laugh. Fans of Steven Seagal will love Seagalogy because of the depth of information about his movies, commercials, music and products. Even those of us who don't like Steven Seagal will still enjoy reading Seagalogy, because Vern mockingly and sincerely writes reviews about every movie Steven Seagal has made, comments on the absurdity of his movies and unusual characteristics.
if your a seagal fan then you must own this book This book is laugh out loud funny. I was unable to put it down once I picked it up. There is a wealth of information here but its never hard work to digest as Vern doesn't take it too seriously. Best 10 dollars I have spent in a long time. Hopefully Seagal continues making many more movies so Vern can do a part 2 of Seagalogy.
Takes it a little too seriously... I was hoping for the Seagal equivalent of the hillarious Wrestlecrap books. Those books show their love for the material but also aren't afraid to rip it apart for laughs. This book seems more like a 400 page high school thesis paper about reoccuring themes that appear in Steven Seagal movies. Interesting stuff like his mob claims and lawsuits, as well as his problems with production on movies like Mercenary for Justice are hardly even touched on.
Instead of describing the hillarious flubs in his DTV movies, the reader is treated to an overly long sypnosis of the film, and then a rundown of the themes which connect them to other Seagal films.
As a fellow Seagal fan I can appreciate Vern's love of the material, but overall it came off as way to dry for such a ridiculous concept for a book.
Intriguing, innovative, and worth the money and time. This could be a ground-breaking book.
Usually in a book with a subject like this the reader would expect one of two things - either predominantly fawning and uncritical adulation peppered with the occasional swipe at safe targets ala the tomes of Telos that cover the recent seasons of the returned Dr Who - or wholesale emasculation of the works considered and their dissection for comedic purposes, the sort of thing the Medved brothers made their name doing.
Vern does neither, and instead finds an intriguing way of reflecting on a genre that actually, surprisingly, may have much to reveal both about the way cinema and celebrity function in the modern age. Writers to come could learn much from this manner of study, one that is respectful of the film-makers' intentions and the audiences responses - or non-responses - to these and we might learn a few things along the way. It helps that Vern can also write extremely well, has an eye for a decent joke or two and an understanding of the modern age that allows him to draw conclusions that surprise, delight and inform.
What do we learn from this book ?
Well, that there is more to Seagal than just another dumb action movie star. Vern makes a pitch in his opening for ascribing auteur status to the man, an assertion that initially strikes one as either tongue-in-cheek to the point of incomprehension, taking the mickey out of the reader or misplaced adulation. Yet in his quiet, analytical way Vern demonstrates that he has a point - like many an auteur Seagal has themes and memes that carry through from one film to the next, and where they haven't been present has gone to some lengths as writer, director or actor to introduce them. Moreover Seagal appears to have come to the screen already fully formed, no working his way up for him but immediately launched in a vehicle for his talents - Nico -Above the Law - that's suggests that someone, somewhere, must have felt the man had something to say worth hearing. Subsequent success suggests that in the late 80s and early 90s, people wanted to hear it.
We are used to the idea of the action heroes as ubermenschen - arrogant, opinionated, always in, and politically on, the right. Seagal, Vern shows, is that rare thing - a left-wing action star. Repeated themes he finds in the films are the corruption and incompetence of intelligence agencies, the dangers of turning a blind eye to the environment, violence as a tool that when utilized should be deployed quickly, efficiently and without undue flash or adulation and never as a solution in and of itself, and a quiet asceticism that makes his hero something of a Renaissance man. This latter is a particularly strange thought, but Vern shows us the evidence, presents his own conclusions and also allows that we have the intelligence to draw our own. Seagal deliberately set out to impart his philosophies to his audiences - and that is what auteurs do, surely ?
This is no dry, academic tome however. It is also very funny, warm, enlightening and entertaining. It's a book to carry onto the plane - for who knows what the in-flight movie may be ? - or to read in the bath or you'll annoy close friends and relatives by reading the best bits aloud. It is that good.
So come to mock by all means - but stay to learn and enjoy. And since that's the essence of Steven Seagal's own philosophy of cinema, from what I gather here, this is a book that does the man proud.
He wrote my book!! Damn, damn, damn - Vern wrote my book!! I am your basic NPR junkie, with a video collection heavy on German, French and Japanese classics, and never miss Masterpiece Theatre. Guests are always amazed when they come across my complete set of Seagal films - but I adore these films! They are entertaining, often very funny, and have a unique point of view. I had long planned that my retirement project would be to write THIS BOOK!! Fortunately, it is very well written, and gives great insight without ignoring the smirk factor. Well done, but I still am resentful!
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
