Reading movie magazines may be my greatest vice — a habit as hard to kick as smoking. But how can I resist? They carry interesting interviews with actors, actresses and filmmakers and present intriguing film analysis pieces and reviews. I find reading different views on a film after actually watching it to be intellectually rewarding — it presents alternative interpretations of the same artistic work.

In a way, it’s like screening the film once more, only this time it’s projected with words on paper.

When I first arrived in England in the early 1960s, the sheer volume of American and British magazines specializing in film amazed me. Magazines came out in droves. Over the course of time, some disappeared, while others kept chugging on — some even to this day.

With their expanded arts and culture sections, the Sunday papers created star critics who became quite influential over the fates of films and filmmakers alike. The late Dilys Powell was one such critic — her reviews in the Sunday Times impacted the industry greatly. Press screenings were often delayed until her arrival. And when she reviewed Steven Spielberg’s feature debut Duel (1971) — which was originally shot for television — her excitement over the film prompted Universal Studios to release it in theaters worldwide.

Pauline Kael, another film critic extraordinaire, wrote a review of Bernardo Bertolucci’s controversial Last Tango in Paris (1972) that was published in Time magazine. Her piece, in which she described the movie to be “poetry on film,” all but made the film a classic even prior to its release.

In the past, Hollywood films all had special press screenings prior to release; nowadays, distributors give critics only select screenings in order to avoid early negative notices.

The late Egyptian film critic Samy Al-Salamony was a professional with a conscience: He adopted a personal policy of delaying poor reviews, while pushing ahead positive reviews when possible. In this way, he meant to avoid harming the already troubled industry and helping it prosper instead. His theory was that a bad film didn’t need any help to prove how bad it was, whereas a good film deserved all the attention it could get.

Often, film books prove even more irresistible. As a director, I particularly enjoy filmmaker biographies that detail their struggles and life experiences. A good example would be Ingmar Bergman’s two biographies, The Magic Lantern and Images — both remarkable literary achievements revealing his memories in a mixture of pain and joy, and exposing his turbulent inner feelings with great honesty. I, Fellini is based on conversations conducted over the course of 14 years with Italian master Federico Fellini. It gives a brilliant verbal picture of the great artist.

In 1967, French director Francois Truffaut performed a tour de force of tact in his now classic interview book Hitchcock Truffaut. Alfred Hitchcock, of course, has had the lion’s share in terms of the number of books published on his life and work, with countless texts published on him since his death in 1980.

Just because it is classified as literary work doesn’t mean it can’t be trash. An excellent example of this is a book entitled The Bare Facts Video Guide. This thick, regularly updated volume claims that if any actor or actress has done a nude scene and it’s available on video, then you’ll find it listed in this book — down to the exact minute. The book redefines the word “trivial.”

What I find really amazing, though, is not the book itself, but the amount of time the author must have invested watching these films — frame by frame — to find the exact instant an actress flashed her right or left breast to the camera. He surely must have acquired a ‘peeping tom’ degree before embarking on this endeavor, which, in its latest paperback version, amounts to a 1,030-page extravaganza, weighing in at over a kilo. Another guidebook, Who’s Had Who, claims to be the world’s first sex register, its pages dedicated solely to the sexual liaisons of monarchs and film celebrities.

The list of movie books has no end: From Hollywood Lesbians and Off Screen/On Screen to The Dictionary of Film Quotations, whole libraries have been published, all in the name of cashing in on anything that is even remotely related to the film industry. With such comprehensive aspirations, it’s no surprise the authors of such volumes often scrimp on the research.

I was surprised to find my own film El-Harreef (1983) listed as a sport film in The Guinness Book of Movie Facts and Feats. I was less than impressed, as my film was about the life of a poor shoe factory worker. The protagonist only happened to play street ball for money — the film wasn’t about football at all.

A bit more research would’ve helped.  et

In a career that has spanned nearly 30 years, Mohamed Khan has helmed some of the nation’s most memorable films — and commanded some of the most prominent actors in the region. A regular Egypt Today columnist, he may be reached on his personal email at mokh@soficom.com.eg