For more than forty years, readers of Melbourne newspapers and journals and radio listeners have learned about the latest films through the interpretations and judgments of Brian McFarlane. Over that time, McFarlane's reviews of and articles on film have featured in The Age, Australian Book Review, Cinema Papers, Inside Story, Meanjin, Metro, Screening the Past, Senses of Cinema, Sight & Sound, and many other sources online, on air and on paper.

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.

'In his new book, Making a Meal of It, Melbourne academic and author Brian McFarlane is not shy about what he doesn't like. The result is entertaining and sometimes provocative.' - The Weekend Australian

'One of the most prolific writers on film currently working in English, Brian McFarlane is also one of the most knowledgeable and wide-ranging...I know of no critic who has written more insightfully about the negotiation both the subtle and less subtle aspects between a screen adaptation of classic work of literature and the original text.' - Simon Caterson, The Age