Book picks similar to
Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth by Mark Cotta Vaz
non-fiction
favorites
fantasy
art-books
The Art of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Josh Kushins - 2016
A thrilling endeavour for the Star Wars franchise, Rogue One is the first instalment in the Star Wars Story series, a collection of stand-alone tales set in the same beloved universe fans have called home for decades. The plot follows an unlikely band of rebel fighters, led by the intrepid Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones), who must unite to resist the evil machinations of the evil Galactic Empire. Their mission is a desperate one: prove the existence of the Empire’s new super weapon and steal the plans for this Death Star before it can be used to obliterate all who stand in the Empire’s way. Directed by Gareth Edwards – from a script by Gary White and Chris Weitz – the film also stars Diego Luna, Forest Whitaker, Mads Mikkelsen, Alan Tudyk, Riz Ahmed, Ben Mendelsohn, Jiang Wen, and Donnie Yen.The Art of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is an invaluable visual chronicle of the Lucasfilm art department’s development of the fantastical sets, otherworldly machinery, and unforgettable characters found in this first Star Wars Story. This book will take you from the earliest gathering of artists and production designers through production, with unprecedented access to the filmmakers’ creative process.Bursting with exclusive interviews and imagery, fans can revel in hundreds of stunning works of art, including production paintings, concept art and sketches, storyboards, and matte paintings. This rich visual journey is sure to delight Star Wars fans and cineastes for decades to come. The Art of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story will stand as a definitive guide to the art behind the newest tale in the Star Wars franchise.
The Pixar Touch: The Making of a Company
David A. Price - 2008
With the help of visionary businessman Steve Jobs and animating genius John Lasseter, Pixar has become the gold standard of animated filmmaking, beginning with a short special effects shot made at Lucasfilm in 1982 all the way up through the landmark films Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Wall-E, and others. David A. Price goes behind the scenes of the corporate feuds between Lasseter and his former champion, Jeffrey Katzenberg, as well as between Steve Jobs and Michael Eisner. And finally he explores Pixar's complex relationship with the Walt Disney Company as it transformed itself into the $7.4 billion jewel in the Disney crown.
Devil's Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three
Mara Leveritt - 2002
Award-winning journalist Mara Leveritt's The Devil's Knot remains the most comprehensive, insightful reporting ever done on the investigation, trials, and convictions of three teenage boys who became known as the West Memphis Three.For weeks in 1993, after the murders of three eight-year-old boys, police in West Memphis, Arkansas seemed stymied. Then suddenly, detectives charged three teenagers, alleged members of a satanic cult, with the killings. Despite the witch-hunt atmosphere of the trials, and a case which included stunning investigative blunders, a confession riddled with errors, and an absence of physical evidence linking any of the accused to the crime, the teenagers were convicted. Jurors sentenced Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley to life in prison and Damien Echols, the accused ringleader, to death. The guilty verdicts were popular in their home state, even upheld on appeal, and all three remained in prison until their unprecedented release in August 2011.With close-up views of its key participants, this award-winning account unravels the many tangled knots of this endlessly shocking case, one which will shape the American legal landscape for years to come.
Inside HBO's Game of Thrones: Seasons 3 & 4
C.A. Taylor - 2014
This official companion book reveals what it takes to translate George R. R. Martin's bestselling series into a wildly popular television series. With unprecedented scope and depth, it showcases hundreds of unpublished set photos, visual effects art, and production and costume designs, plus insights from key actors and crew members that capture the best scripted and unscripted moments from Seasons 3 and 4. Required reading for the die-hard fan, and the perfect way to catch up on the series before the much-anticipated Season 5 debuts, this special volume offers an exclusive window into cable's highest-rated show.©2014 Home Box Office, Inc. All rights reserved. Game of Thrones and related trademarks are the property of Home Box Office, Inc.
Role Models
John Waters - 2010
From Esther Martin, owner of the scariest bar in Baltimore, to the playwright Tennessee Williams; from the atheist leader Madalyn Murray O'Hair to the insane martyr Saint Catherine of Siena; from the English novelist Denton Welch to the timelessly appealing singer Johnny Mathis--these are the extreme figures who helped the author form his own brand of neurotic happiness.
Role Models is a personal invitation into one of the most unique, perverse, and hilarious artistic minds of our time.
The Art of Howl's Moving Castle
Hayao Miyazaki - 2004
There's a foppish wizard named Howl, a vain witch from the wastelands, an anthropomorphic chimney fire and a young girl who carries a most unusual curse. And, of course, there's the moving castle…a towering, omnipresent structure that dominates the landscape. Already a smash success in Japan, Howl's Moving Castle finally comes to U.S. theatres this spring. To coincide with its Stateside release, VIZ is proud to present The Art of Howl's Moving Castle, a hardbound, prestige format book which acts as an essential companion to the film. A generous collection of concept sketches, fully rendered character and background drawings, paintings and cell images, The Art of Howl's Moving Castle brings the movie into your library. Along with the stunning visuals, the book also presents interviews and comments with the production staff, including key points directly from the director.There's more than one way to book passage on the moving castle. See the movie, but don't forget to reserve a copy of the book, as well. The Art of Howl's Moving Castle is a great way to preserve the magic of the next great anime classic from Hayao Miyazaki.Shortly after reaping the rewards from his movie Spirited Away, a project that earned him an Academy Award in 2003, director Hayao Miyazaki set his sites on his next film, Howl's Moving Castle.Based on the novel by British author Diana Wynne Jones, Howl's Moving Castle gave the internationally renowned director an opportunity to bring to life a fantastical time in 19th century Europe when science and magic defined the popular zeitgeist.Veering slightly from its source material, the new Miyazaki movie nonetheless retains all the novel's principal characters. There's a foppish wizard named Howl, a vain witch from the wastelands, an anthropomorphic chimney fire and a young girl who carries a most unusual curse. And, of course, there's the moving castle…a towering, omnipresent structure that dominates the landscape. Already a smash success in Japan, Howl's Moving Castle finally comes to U.S. theatres this spring. To coincide with its Stateside release, VIZ is proud to present The Art of Howl's Moving Castle, a hardbound, prestige format book which acts as an essential companion to the film. A generous collection of concept sketches, fully rendered character and background drawings, paintings and cell images, The Art of Howl's Moving Castle brings the movie into your library. Along with the stunning visuals, the book also presents interviews and comments with the production staff, including key points directly from the director.There's more than one way to book passage on the moving castle. See the movie, but don't forget to reserve a copy of the book, as well. The Art of Howl's Moving Castle is a great way to preserve the magic of the next great anime classic from Hayao Miyazaki.
Life Moves Pretty Fast: The Lessons We Learned From Eighties Movies (And Why We Don't Learn Them From Movies Any More)
Hadley Freeman - 2015
Comedy in Three Men and a Baby, Hannah and Her Sisters, Ghostbusters, and Back to the Future; all a teenager needs to know in Pretty in Pink, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Say Anything, The Breakfast Club, and Mystic Pizza; the ultimate in action from Top Gun, Die Hard, Beverly Hills Cop, and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom; love and sex in 9 1/2 Weeks, Splash, About Last Night, The Big Chill, and Bull Durham; and family fun in The Little Mermaid, ET, Big, Parenthood, and Lean On Me.In Life Moves Pretty Fast, Hadley puts her obsessive movie geekery to good use, detailing the decade’s key players, genres, and tropes. She looks back on a cinematic world in which bankers are invariably evil, where children are always wiser than adults, where science is embraced with an intense enthusiasm, and the future viewed with giddy excitement. And, she considers how the changes between movies then and movies today say so much about society’s changing expectations of women, young people, and art—and explains why Pretty in Pink should be put on school syllabuses immediately.From how John Hughes discovered Molly Ringwald, to how the friendship between Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi influenced the evolution of comedy, and how Eddie Murphy made America believe that race can be transcended, this is a “highly personal, witty love letter to eighties movies, but also an intellectually vigorous, well-researched take on the changing times of the film industry” (The Guardian).
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice: The Art of the Film
Peter Aperlo - 2016
With these two icons at war with one another, a new threat quickly arises, putting mankind in greater danger than it has ever known before. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice: The Art of the Film, takes fans deep into this world, accompanied by insight and interviews with cast and crew, including an afterword by director Zack Snyder. This official companion takes an in-depth look at the artwork and design of 2016’s most anticipated movie, including the earliest concept sketches of the Batcave, all the way through the set-building process, to the final version seen on screen. It explores Metropolis and Gotham City from the streets to the skies and showcases the costumes, weaponry, vehicles, allies and enemies of our two heroes. Packed with stunning concept art, Zack Snyder’s storyboards, blueprints, costume detail and behind-the-scenes shots from the set, this book is an invaluable insight into the world of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE and all related characters and elements © & ™ DC Comics and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (s15)
Guillermo del Toro: At Home with Monsters: Inside His Films, Notebooks, and Collections
Jim Shedden - 2016
This book will be the perfect accompaniment to the exhibition, which focuses on del Toro’s creative process, including the well-defined themes that he obsessively returns to in all his films, the journals in which he logs his ideas, and the vast and inspiring collection of art and pop culture ephemera that he has amassed at his private “man cave,” Bleak House. Filled with imagery from the exhibit, including favorite pieces of art that del Toro has chosen for the exhibit, and pertinent journal pages, the book will further delve further into the director’s world through exclusive in-depth interviews and commentary from notable figures in the art world. Forming a perfect companion to the exhibition, this book will deliver an engrossing look into the mind of one of the great creative visionaries of our time.
The Art and Making of Penny Dreadful
Sharon Gosling - 2015
The Showtime TV series was created by John Logan and executive produced by Logan and Sam Mendes and stars Josh Hartnett (Sin City), Eva Green (Casino Royale), Billie Piper (Doctor Who) and Timothy Dalton (License to Kill).
Lulu in Hollywood
Louise Brooks - 1982
Eight autobiographical essays by Brooks, on topics ranging from her childhood in Kansas and her early days as a Denishawn and Ziegfeld Follies dancer to her friendships with Martha Graham, Charles Chaplin, W. C. Fields, Humphrey Bogart, and others are collected here. Originally published: New York: Knopf, 1982.
The Art of How to Train Your Dragon
Tracey Miller-Zarneke - 2010
There are also behind-the-scenes section on the bold cinematic techniques used in creating this strikingly original animated movie. With an exclusive preface by Cressida Crowell and forward by Craig Ferguson, How to Train Your Dragon will be a delight for all movie and animation lovers as well as dragon and Viking fans.
Harry Potter Page to Screen: The Complete Filmmaking Journey
Bob McCabe - 2011
Rowling's acclaimed novels to cinematic life. Developed in collaboration with the creative team behind the celebrated movie series, this deluxe, 500-plus page compendium features exclusive stories from the cast and crew, hundreds of never-before-seen photographs and concept illustrations sourced from the closed film sets, and rare memorabilia. As the definitive look at the magic that made cinematic history, "Page to Screen" is the ultimate collectible, perfect for Muggles everywhere.
Shit, Actually: The Definitive, 100% Objective Guide to Modern Cinema
Lindy West - 2020
In Shit, Actually, Lindy returns to those roots, re-examining beloved and iconic movies from the past 40 years with an eye toward the big questions of our time: Is Twilight the horniest movie in history? Why do the zebras in The Lion King trust Mufasa-WHO IS A LION-to look out for their best interests? Why did anyone bother making any more movies after The Fugitive achieved perfection? And, my god, why don't any of the women in Love, Actually ever fucking talk?!?!From Forrest Gump, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, and Bad Boys II, to Face/Off, Top Gun, and The Notebook, Lindy combines her razor-sharp wit and trademark humor with a genuine adoration for nostalgic trash to shed new critical light on some of our defining cultural touchstones-the stories we've long been telling ourselves about who we are. At once outrageously funny and piercingly incisive, Shit, Actually reminds us to pause and ask, "How does this movie hold up?", all while teaching us how to laugh at the things we love without ever letting them or ourselves off the hook.Shit, Actually is a love letter and a break-up note all in one: to the films that shaped us and the ones that ruined us. More often than not, Lindy finds, they're one and the same.
Danse Macabre
Stephen King - 1981
In 1981, years before he sat down to tackle On Writing, Stephen King decided to address the topic of what makes horror horrifying and what makes terror terrifying. Here, in ten brilliantly written chapters, King delivers one colorful observation after another about the great stories, books, and films that comprise the horror genre—from Frankenstein and Dracula to The Exorcist, The Twilight Zone, and Earth vs. The Flying Saucers.With the insight and good humor his fans appreciated in On Writing, Danse Macabre is an enjoyably entertaining tour through Stephen King’s beloved world of horror.