Even events off-set can conspire to stop the mightiest movies in their tracks. Witness the collapse of Francis Ford Coppola's "Megalopolis" in the aftermath of 9/11, or the demise of "Something's Got to Give" following the mysterious death of Marilyn Monroe (leaving the most famous sequence in the history of unmade movies). In exhaustive detail, this book untangles the misfortune, quarrels, and twists of fate that doomed some of the greatest movies you'll never see. With doyens of directing from Kubrick to the Coen Brothers and stars from Salvador Dali to the Sex Pistols, the eye-opening entries in "The Greatest Movies You'll Never See" unravel just why unmade masterpieces are stuck in "development hell" and assess the chances of them ever being completed and released. Each ill-fated work--from Charlie Chaplin's pet project on Napoleon to David Fincher's foray into sex and mutation--is examined in an in-depth essay. Selected entries boast script extracts, test footage frames, and concept art. Sidebars shine a spotlight on related movies, stars, and sources. Acclaimed designers and illustrators have executed spectacular original poster artwork--loyal to the vision of each original director--to accompany each of the unmade films.

    Biskind began as a radical journalist and film critic, excavating the likes of Rocky and Thunderbolt and Lightfoot for their hidden political subtexts in small lefty rags. Now he can legitimately describe himself - as he does in his autobiographical introduction to this book - as a "recovering celebrity journalist."" The ghosts of McCarthyism and the blacklist haunt Gods and Monsters as do the casualties of the counterculture and the New Hollywood. At the heart of the book are the likes of Martin Scorsese, Robert Redford, Terrence Malick, Sue Mengers, and uber-producer Don Simpson, all of whom Biskind portrays in great Dickensian detail, charting how they have had a simultaneously strangulating and liberating effect on the industry.

    Large hardback, pp272.

    Wiley and Mr. Bona have found just the right tone for writing about this most particular of American phenomena.

    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.

    The author shares his memories of his father and provides an overview of Groucho's career, his family life, and the turmoil of his final years.

    He cares about everything you go through and wants to hold you through it all. He sees your heart aches and cherishes every prayer. And God will answer your prayers. He has a plan in your suffering, and will use this season to strengthen you, and your relationship with Him. While there may be nothing good about the pain you may be in, He has the power to make your life good again. His love for you will compel Him to bless you and heal you.In these pages you’ll find the comfort you need. You’ll learn why God allows bad things to happen and how he intends them for good. You will understand His plan so that you can find peace again.

    And she herself tells the deeply moving story of her twenty-five-year love affair with Tracy. Here is a vivid portrait of the most elegant, independent, and tempestuous star to grace the screen. Over a half million copies sold.

    This is a biography of the ascerbic and witty film critic Pauline Kael.

    Voted an "outstanding academic book" by Choice, and winner of the Presidential Book Award from the American Association for Italian Studies, this classic book on Italian films and filmmakers has now been revised and brought completely up-to-date.

    He was a notoriously private man, rarely granting interviews. For the first time, his life will be portrayed in over 200 images from film, photographs, and the words and full-color paintings of Christiane Kubrick, his wife for over 42 years.Never before seen photographs offer a unique perspective on a man, his times, and his films -- from his very first, Day of Flight (1950), through to his last and unrealized project, finished by Steven Spielberg, A.I. (2001)."Stanley Kubrick": A Life in Pictures explores the many and varied aspects of its subject -- the director, the producer, the photographer, the writer and, not least of all, the man himself.

    (“Every single frame,” declared Cate Blanchett, “is burned into my retina.”) As Dyer guides us into the zone of Tarkovsky’s imagination, we realize that the film is only the entry point for a radically original investigation of the enduring questions of life, faith, and how to live. In a narrative that gives free rein to the brilliance of Dyer’s distinctive voice—acute observation, melancholy, comedy, lyricism, and occasional ill-temper—Zona takes us on a wonderfully unpredictable journey in which we try to fathom, and realize, our deepest wishes.Zona is one of the most unusual books ever written about film, and about how art—whether a film by a Russian director or a book by one of our most gifted contemporary writers—can shape the way we see the world and how we make our way through it.

    This collection of profiles and interviews turns the spotlight on those unsung heroes, whose faces were often better known than their names. Maltin’s engaging conversations with such notables as Billy Gilbert, Gale Sondergaard, Hans Conried and Una Merkel evoke a bygone era as we see what life was like for these versatile players. Looking for anecdotes about W.C. Fields or Clark Gable? This book is for you. You’ll also learn about Bess Flowers, “the queen of the dress extras” and Rex Ingram, the black actor whose imposing presence eclipsed the stereotyping of the period. This well-illustrated e-book edition features a brand-new introduction by Leonard Maltin.

    Outlines the essential traits of the New Wave and defines it as a school that changed international film history forever. Includes a chronology of major political and cultural events of the New Wave, black-and-white images, and an extensive bibliography.

    Although Lee Marvin is best known for his icy tough guy roles—such as his chilling titular villain in The ManWho Shot Liberty Valance or the paternal yet brutally realistic platoon leader in The Big Red One—very little is known of his personal life; his family background; his experiences in WWII; his relationship with his father, family, friends, wives; and his ongoing battles with alcoholism, rage, and depression, occasioned by his postwar PTSD. Now, after years of researching and compiling interviews with family members, friends, and colleagues; rare photographs; and illustrative material, Hollywood writer Dwayne Epstein provides a full understanding and appreciation of this acting titan’s place in the Hollywood pantheon in spite of his very real and human struggles.