Through his long and distinguished career he managed, like very few others in the teeth of a huge and relentless industry, to elevate each of his films to a distinctive level of art. His Rashomon—one of the best-remembered and most talked-of films in any language—was a revelation when it appeared in 1950 and did much to bring Japanese cinema to the world's attention. Kurosawa's films display an extraordinary breadth and an astonishing strength, from the philosophic and sexual complexity of Rashomon to the moral dedication of Ikiru, from the naked violence of Seven Samurai to the savage comedy of Yojimbo, from the terror-filled feudalism of Throne of Blood to the piercing wit of Sanjuro.

    Her comments are so fresh and direct, it's as if the movies had only been released last week.

    When Robin Wood returned to his writings in Hitchcock's films and published Hitchcock's Films Revisited in 1989, the multidimensional essays took on a new shape―one tempered by Wood's own development as a critic.This revised edition of Hitchcock's Films Revisited includes a substantial new preface in which Wood reveals his personal history as a film scholar―including his coming out as a gay man, his views on his previows critical work, and how his writings, his love of film, and his personal life have remained deeply intertwined through the years. This revised edition includes all eighteen original essays and a new chapter on Marnie titled "You Freud, Me Hitchcock: Does Mark Cure Marnie?"

    

    Special effects have long been used to enhance scale and place, and to suggest realities that are but imagined. Once intended to save money, special effects films have now developed into the dominant motion picture genre.

    Director Herbert Biberman and his colleagues Michael Wilson and Paul Jarrico struggled for a dozen years to get their film shown in the U.S. Biberman's account of the making of Salt of the Earth and the lengthy battle to get the film seen was first published in 1965. The film is now regarded as an American classic--one of the first films to be added to the National Film Registry. This new edition, with an introduction by James Monaco, will be of interest not only to filmgoers but also to feminists, union organizers, and those interested in Latino issues because of its unique subject matter.