Taking his inspiration from the popular, and often lurid, "pulp" crime stories of the thirties and forties, Tarantino intertwines three narratives and introduces a variety of fascinating characters; thick-witted hit men, a double-crossing prizefighter on the run, his absent-minded French girlfriend, the hit men-hiring mob boss, his exotic but drug-addled wife, and two young lovers contemplating a career change - namely whether to start sticking up restaurants instead of liquor stores. Full of wicked humor, dazzling dialogue, and riveting action, "Pulp Fiction" is a master screenwriter's look at today's Hollywood and its dark criminal culture.

    Jack Lemmon played the 'schnook' who lends out his apartment for his boss's sexual trysts, only to fall in love with the boss's girl - played by Shirey MacLaine. The Apartment is a beautifully judged piece of writing saved from cynicism by Wilder and Diamond's tenderness towards their central characters. This edition of the screenplay includes a specially commissioned introduction by Mark Cousins.

    

    From the Rebels' defeat at the Battle of Hoth to the battle between Luke and Darth Vader, The Empire Strikes Back continues the story of Luke, Leia, Han, Chewie, and the others as they struggle to overthrow the evil Galactic Empire.

    His consolation is that he gets to romance an elegant female spy, but he soon learns that the game of international intrigue is played for high stakes. Ernest Lehman provides an introduction to this souvenir volume, published to coincide with the centenary of Hitchcock's birth, in which he describes the course of his cherishable collaboration with the master of suspense.

    The story of a group of thieves who specialize in invading the mind through one’s dreams, Inception explores the Nolan’s signature psychological themes of memory, paranoia, and self-doubt as the protagonist, Dom Cobb, is pitted against a hostile subconscious spurred on by personal demons and regrets from the past. In a conversational preface, Nolan discusses with brother and frequent collaborator, Jonah, the genesis of the idea for the film and the decade-long process it took to write it. Detailing the results of Nolan’s efforts, Inception: The Shooting Script includes key storyboard sequences, full-color concept art, and an appendix on the workings of the mysterious Pasiv Device that Cobb and his fellow extractors use to initiate the dream-share. An exclusive exploration of a highly original concept, Inception: The Shooting Script is the record of a writer-director at the height of his craft.

    Illustrated.

    Starring WillFerrell, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Dustin Hoffman, Queen Latifah,and Emma Thompson, Stranger Than Fiction is a heartfelt film,perhaps a comedy, perhaps a tragedy, about love and literatureand death and taxes.

    When his tentative efforts at a relationship with elegant political campaign worker Betsy come to naught, Travis conceives of an assassination attempt upon her boss, Senator Charles Palantine. But as he cruises the streets at night, Travis encounters a hapless child prostitute, Iris, and her sinister pimp, sport. Travis's mounting psychosis acquires a new focus, and violence erupts . . .One of the key films of the 1970s and winner of the Palme d'Or at the 1976 Cannes Film Festival, Taxi Driver was the first of several potent collaborations between Paul Schrader and director Martin Scorsese. Inspired by Ford's The Searchers, Bresson's Diary of a Country Priest, the diaries of real-life gunman Arthur Bremer, and an especially tormented period in Schrader's own life, Taxi Driver remains a devastating portrait of a man in urban purgatory.

    Set against the splendor and barbarity of the Roman Empire in AD 180, Gladiator tells an epic story of courage and revenge: The great Roman general Maximus (Russell Crowe) has been forced into exile and slavery by the jealous heir to the throne, Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix). Trained as a gladiator, Maximus returns to Rome, intent on avenging the murder of his family by Commodus, now emperor. The one power stronger than that of the emperor is the will of the people, and Maximus knows he can attain his revenge only by becoming the greatest hero in all the Empire. Russell Crowe heads up an international cast that includes Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielson, Oliver Reed, Derek Jacobi, Djimon Hounsou, and Richard Harris. Directed by Ridley Scott from a script by David Franzoni and John Logan, Gladiator is produced by Franzoni, Douglas Wick, and Branko Lustig, with Walter F. Parkes serving as executive producer.This is the official full-color companion book, featuring excerpts from the screenplay, historical sidebars and illustrations, details on period costumes and epic set designs, behind-the-scenes photographs from the location filming, and interviews with the screenwriters, actors, and director.

    The former is a psychological thriller set in the Hollywood of the 1940s, while the latter reinvents the 1930s gangster film.

    It starts with the birth of a seemingly insignificant human being (especially from a haddock's point of view) who, sure enough turns out to play no further part in the film.

    The newest screenplay from the Oscar®-nominated writers of Election and About Schmidt, Sideways is the tale of two men's adventure in California wine country.Based on Rex Pickett's acclaimed first novel, Sideways tells the story of Miles (Paul Giamatti), a failed novelist, and his soon-to-be-married friend Jack (Thomas Haden Church), a washed-up actor.To salute the remains of their youth, the two men take one last road trip in the week before Jack's wedding.A serious wine enthusiast, Miles is determined to educate his friend on the region's beloved Pinot Noir wines before the week is out.Jack indulges his best friend's passion for the grape but is mainly interested in living his last week of bachelorhood to the hilt.Trouble ensues with wine and women (Virginia Madsen and Sandra Oh), and the duo comes to some profound realizations as they come to terms with maturity.

    But look closer. Lester Burnham's wife, Carolyn, regards him with contempt, his daughter, Jane, thinks he's a loser, and his boss is positioning him for the ax.Captivated by Jane's sultry high school friend Angela, Lester decides to make a few changes in his mere existence—changes that are less mid-life crisis than a life reclaimed. The freer he gets, the happier he gets, which is even more maddening to his wife and daughter. Complicating matters, Lester finds an unexpected ally in Ricky, the teenage son of the new next-door neighbors, who sees life through a camera lens that has lately focused on Jane Burnham.In pursuit of his new vision of the American dream, Lester is about to learn that the ultimate freedom comes at the ultimate price.The 1999 winner of five Academy Awards®, including Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay, American Beauty boasts an accomplished cast led by two-time Academy Award® Best Actor winner Kevin Spacey (The Usual Suspects) and Oscar® nominee Annette Bening (The Grifters). The ensemble cast also includes Thora Birch (Ghost World), Wes Bentley (The Claim), Mena Suvari (American Pie), Peter Gallagher (Mr. Deeds), Allison Janney (NBC's The West Wing), Scott Bakula (NBC's Quantum Leap), Sam Robards (A.I.: Artificial Intelligence), and Chris Cooper (Adaptation).American Beauty marks the feature film directorial debut of award-winning theater director Sam Mendes (The Blue Room, Cabaret). The film is produced by Dan Jinks (Nothing to Lose) and Bruce Cohen (The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas) from an original screenplay by Alan Ball (HBO's Six Feet Under). Stan Wlodkowski (One Hour Photo) and Alan Ball are the co-producers.

    Jake Gittes is a successful 'bedroom dick': a private eye specialising in cases of marital infidelity. Paradoxically he might also be the last truly ethical man in a corrupt town. Lured into an investigation of the death-by-drowning of City Water Commissioner Hollis Mulwray, Gittes gets more than usually entwined with his new client, Mulwray's enigmatic widow Evelyn. He then finds himself crossing swords with Evelyn's redoubtable father, the aging business magnate Noah Cross, who has professional and personal reasons of his own for wanting both Hollis and Evelyn silenced.Academy Award-winner for Best Original Screenplay of 1974, Robert Towne's Chinatown is widely regarded as the finest American movie script of the post-war years. Complex in narrative design, infused with the sordid real-life history of Los Angeles' economic growth and unmistakably adult in its updating of the trademark violence and sexual intrigue of film noir, on the page Chinatown still shines - and cuts - like a blade.