Book picks similar to
Reservoir Dogs & True Romance by Quentin Tarantino
screenplays
fiction
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plays-screenplays
The Throwback
Tom Sharpe - 1978
Rendered an absolute twit in modern society by his medieval upbringing, Lockhart must resort to drastic tactics in his attempt to return to Flawse House. Faced with the horrors of suburbia, he must either terrorise, blackmail and potentially kill an entire street of his tenants, or attempt to find his unknown and elusive father in order to inherit the estate.However, with the belief that he was dropped into his mother's arms by a stork, killing a street of people may be the wiser option for the socially inept young man. He is also under mounting pressure, as it may all be in vain if his gold-digging mother-in-law has her way. Now the wife of Flawse Senior, she has decided that if Lockhart's wealthy grandfather can't have the decency to die on his own, she will take matters into her own hands.
Ocean's 11
Dewey Gram - 2001
He's counting on the greatest team of con men in the world. If they pull it off, they can take in over $150 million. But there's just one problem--Danny's shady former wife. Based on Steven Soderbergh's update of the classic film, starring George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt, and Matt Damon, scheduled as a 2001 holiday release.
Cat's Cradle/God Bless You Mr. Rosewater/Breakfast of Champions
Kurt Vonnegut Jr. - 1973
The Air-Conditioned Nightmare
Henry Miller - 1945
He set out on a journey that was to last three years, visiting many sections of the country and making friends of all descriptions. The Air-Conditioned Nightmare is the result of that odyssey.
Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting
Robert McKee - 1997
Quincy Jones, Diane Keaton, Gloria Steinem, Julia Roberts, John Cleese and David Bowie are just a few of his celebrity alumni. Writers, producers, development executives and agents all flock to his lecture series, praising it as a mesmerizing and intense learning experience. In Story, McKee expands on the concepts he teaches in his $450 seminars (considered a must by industry insiders), providing readers with the most comprehensive, integrated explanation of the craft of writing for the screen. No one better understands how all the elements of a screenplay fit together, and no one is better qualified to explain the "magic" of story construction and the relationship between structure and character than Robert McKee.
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Martin McDonagh - 2018
When his second-in-command, Officer Dixon, a mother's boy with a penchant for violence, gets involved, the battle between Mildred and Ebbing's law enforcement threatens to engulf the town.Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri is a darkly comedic drama from Martin McDonagh.The film won Best Drama Motion Picture - Drama and Best Screenplay at the Golden Globes 2018.
A Vengeance of Spies: A WW2 Novella
Manda Scott - 2019
It is an accusation. So, in case you get no further, here is the bald fact. I killed your grandfather. War hides many secrets and some of them are better kept. But the secret of Hut Ten was never that kind: it could have been leaked and a life would have been saved. One man could have made that difference. He didn’t - and vengeance has taken forty years to catch up with him. This thrilling novella is set in the same world as Sunday Times Thriller of the Month, A Treachery of Spies. What the Critics say about Manda Scott: “This is a rich vein for fiction, and Scott does it more than justice, with this beautifully imagined, beautifully written, smart, sophisticated – but fiercely suspenseful – thriller.” – Lee Child THRILLER OF THE MONTH ‘Superb . . . a blend of historical imagination and storytelling verve reminiscent of Robert Harris.’ The Sunday Times “… the most exciting, involving thriller I’ve read in an age, and I can’t recommend it highly enough.” – Sunday Times Bestselling author Mick Herron “Scott gives us expertly wrought espionage fiction that blooms into a meditation on war, intimacy and memory” – Adam Brookes "…an extraordinary blend of the past and present.” – Terry Wogan "…seriously clever writing" – Crime Review "…staggeringly Imaginative." – Val McDermid "“A stunning feat of the imagination and an absolute must-read for lovers of historical fiction. Utterly convincing and compelling.” – Stephen Pressfield "A masterpiece in historical fiction." – New York Times ‘A Treachery of Spies is the equal of Charlotte Gray in its insights into the period and, I would say, beats it for sheer excitement… one of the most gripping spy stories I have ever read.’ Jake Kerridge, S Magazine 'Ingeniously plotted and wonderfully written.' Antonia Senior, The Times 'A fast-moving tightly-wrought thriller. The destination is in fact as unexpected as it’s satisfying - and very thought-provoking.' Robert Goddard 'A Treachery of Spies is a masterclass in thriller-writing. It is a heart-racing, heart-wrenching read, conceived with passion and executed with frightening skill. An awe-inspiring achievement.' Giles Kristian What Readers Say: ✭✭✭✭✭ "What a marvellous blend of history, espionage, mystery and politics. Beautifully written, too!" ✭✭✭✭✭ "The author's writing is absolutely masterful, reminding me of Hilary Mantel's." ✭✭✭✭✭ "Unputdownable, gripping, credible account of WW2 heroism and double-dealing." ✭✭✭✭✭ "A Top-Secret First-Rate Spy Thriller!" ✭✭✭✭✭ "Fascinating historical and political detail, brilliant characters...A powerful read.
WKW: The Cinema of Wong Kar Wai
Wong Kar-Wai - 2016
Wong Kar Wai is known for his romantic and stylish films that explore—in saturated, cinematic scenes—themes of love, longing, and the burden of memory. His style reveals a fascination with mood and texture, and a sense of place figures prominently. In this volume, the first on his entire body of work, Wong Kar Wai and writer John Powers explore Wong’s complete oeuvre in the locations of some of his most famous scenes. The book is structured as six conversations between Powers and Wong (each in a different locale), including the restaurant where he shot In the Mood for Love and the snack bar where he shot Chungking Express. Discussing each of Wong’s eleven films, the conversations also explore Wong’s trademark themes of time, nostalgia, and beauty, and their roots in his personal life. This first book by Wong Kar Wai, lavishly illustrated with more than 250 photographs and film stills and featuring an opening critical essay by Powers, is as evocative as walking into one of Wong’s lush films.
Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human
Harold Bloom - 1998
A landmark achievement as expansive, erudite, and passionate as its renowned author, Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human is the culmination of a lifetime of reading, writing about, and teaching Shakespeare. Preeminent literary critic-and ultimate authority on the western literary tradition-Harold Bloom leads us through a comprehensive reading of every one of the dramatist's plays, brilliantly illuminating each work with unrivaled warmth, wit and insight. At the same time, Bloom presents one of the boldest theses of Shakespearean scholarships: that Shakespeare not only invented the English language, but also created human nature as we know it today.
The Decay of Lying and Other Essays
Oscar Wilde - 1891
Wilde's views of life and art are illustrated through the use of Platonic dialogue where the character Vivian takes on the persona of Wilde. Wilde's goal is to subvert the norm by reversing its values. Wilde suggests to us that society is wrong, not him. Calling on diverse examples – from Ancient Greek sculpture to contemporary paintings – Oscar Wilde’s brilliant essay creates a witty, paradoxical world in which the only Art worth loving is that built on complete untruths.
Twelve Angry Men
Reginald Rose - 1954
legal system. The play centers on Juror Eight, who is at first the sole holdout in an 11-1 guilty vote. Eight sets his sights not on proving the other jurors wrong but rather on getting them to look at the situation in a clear-eyed way not affected by their personal prejudices or biases. Reginald Rose deliberately and carefully peels away the layers of artifice from the men and allows a fuller picture to form of them—and of America, at its best and worst. After the critically acclaimed teleplay aired in 1954, this landmark American drama went on to become a cinematic masterpiece in 1957 starring Henry Fonda, for which Rose wrote the adaptation. More recently, Twelve Angry Men had a successful, and award-winning, run on Broadway.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
Spike, Mike, Slackers, & Dykes: A Guided Tour Across a Decade of American Independent Cinema
John Pierson - 1996
"Mr. Pierson covers his territory with urgency and conviction."--New York Times Book Review.
Travesties
Tom Stoppard - 1975
Also living in Zurich at this time was a British consula official called Henry Carr, a man acquainted with Joyce through the theater and later through a lawsuit concerning a pair of trousers. Taking Carr as his core, Stoppard spins this historical coincidence into a masterful and riotously funny play, a speculative portrait of what could have been the meeting of these profoundly influential men in a germinal Europe as seen through the lucid, lurid, faulty, and wholy riveting memory of an aging Henry Carr.