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Clerks & Chasing Amy
Kevin Smith - 1997
Clerks was the independent film success story of 1994, winning the Prix de la Jeunesse and the International Critics Week Award at Cannes, and the Filmmakers' Trophy at Sundance. Set in the everyday world of a New Jersey QuickStop and its adjacent video store, the film revolves around the obsessions, love lives, and friendships of the clerks. Janet Maslin of the New York Time called it "a buoyant comedy...and exuberant display of ingenuity," and Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times raves, "Clerks is boisterous and irreverently funny...an example of what is best and most hopeful about the American independent film scene."
The Libertine
Stephen Jeffreys - 1995
He was an anti-monarchist Royalist, an atheist who converted to Christianity and a lyric poet who revelled in pornography. The play centres on the moment his cynicism is confounded when he falls in love in earnest.Thoroughly modern in its attitude to Rochester's sexual indulgence, the play is also a thrillingly convincing portrait of the period and an accomplished comedy of manners.Commissioned and directed by Max Stafford-Clark for Out of Joint, The Libertine was first performed on tour and at the Royal Court Theatre alongside the Restoration comedy, The Man of Mode, which offers another, contemporary view of Rochester. Stephen Jeffreys is the author of A Going Concern, The Clink and Valued Friends, which won him the Evening Standard Most Promising Playwright Award. He also adapted A Jovial Crew for the RSC.
Top of the Morning: Inside the Cutthroat World of Morning TV
Brian Stelter - 2013
When America wakes up with personable and charming hosts like Robin Roberts and George Stephanopoulos, it's hard to imagine their show bookers having to guard a guest's hotel room all night to prevent rival shows from poaching. But that is just a glimpse of the intense reality revealed in this gripping look into the most competitive time slot in television. Featuring exclusive content about all the major players of the 2000s, Top of the Morning illuminates what it takes to win the AM -- when every single viewer counts, tons of jobs are on the line, and hundreds of millions of dollars are at stake. Stelter is behind the scenes as Ann Curry replaces Meredith Vieira on the Today show, only to be fired a year later in a fiasco that made national headlines. He's backstage as Good Morning America launches an attack to dethrone Today and end the longest consecutive winning streak in morning television history. And he's there as Roberts is diagnosed with a crippling disease -- on what should be the happiest day of her career. So grab a cup of coffee, sit back, and discover the dark side of the sun. Praise for Top of the Morning "Mr. Stelter pulls back the curtains and exposes a savage corporate world that might have been inhabited by the Sopranos." -- Washington Times "A troubling look inside an enterprise as vicious and internecine as a soap opera." -- Kirkus Reviews
Away We Go
Dave Eggers - 2009
So Burt and Verona head out on the road, across America, looking for the right place to call home. Along the way they encounter a succession of strange and hilarious friends and relatives (played by a cast that includes Jeff Daniels, Catherine O’Hara, Maggie Gyllenhall, Josh Hamilton, Allison Janney, and Jim Gaffigan), most of whom have no idea what they’re doing. In the end—with and despite the help of those they meet on their journey—Burt and Verona come closer to an understanding of their own definition of home and family.
How to Write a Selling Screenplay
Christopher Keane - 1998
In How to Write a Selling Screenplay, he takes writers through the entire process, from developing a story to finding the best agent. Using an annotated version of an often-optioned screenplay of his own, and citing examples from movies ranging from Casablanca and Lethal Weapon to Sling Blade and The English Patient, he discusses how to create three-dimensional characters, find a compelling story, build an airtight plot structure, fine-tune dialogue, and much more. Keane's tips on the difference between writing for film and television, as well as his advice on dealing with Hollywood movers and shakers, make this an essential companion for people writing their first--or their fortieth--screenplay.
Doctor Who: The Shooting Scripts
Russell T. Davies - 2005
This book collects together the entire shooting scripts for the first series. Seven of the scripts are by Russell T Davies, with the remainder by Steven Moffat, Robert Shearman, Paul Cornell and The League of Gentlemen's Mark Gatiss. Each story contains the essential ingredients of time travel, adventure, and the mixing of the ordinary with the fantastical that have always characterized the series, while at the same time being thoroughly in tune with contemporary culture and society. This is a Doctor Who for an age defined by irony, technology and celebrity, and the shadow cast by 9/11. It is also cinematic, with fast cutting and special effects that will satisfy viewers brought up on contemporary film and television sci-fi. The shooting scripts give a unique insight into how the first series was visualized and acted. Alongside the exciting action sequences and dialogue are hints about the characters' emotions, and evocations of the settings in which their adventures take place.Pacey, atmospheric and thoroughly absorbing, these scripts practically read like novels. Each of the scripts is illustrated with full-colour screen grabs, ensuring the book appeals to broad audience. Introductions by the writers explain the inspirations for the first series and the fascinating process of creating a Doctor Who script. As the one book that ties directly into the first series, this is a must-have self-purchase or gift for all Doctor Who fans.
A Year at the Movies: One Man's Filmgoing Odyssey
Kevin Murphy - 2002
Kevin Murphy made it his obsession, and he did it for you.Mr. Murphy, known to legions of fans as Tom Servo on the legendary TV series Mystery Science Theater 3000, went to the movies every day for a year. That's every single day, people. For a whole fricken' year. And not only did he endure, he prevailed -- for this is the hilarious, poignant, fascinating journal of his adventures: the first book about the movies from the audience's point of view.Kevin went to the multiplex, sure. But he didn't stop there. He found the world's smallest commercial movie theater. Another one made completely of ice. Checked out flicks in a tin-roofed hut in the South Pacific. Tooled across the desert from drive-in to drive-in in a groovy convertible. Lived for a week solely on theater food. Took six different women to the same date movie. Dressed up as a nun for the Sing-Along Sound of Music in London. Sneaked into the Cannes and Sundance film festivals. Smuggled an entire Thanksgiving dinner into a movie theater. And saw hundreds of films, from the Arctic Circle to the Equator, from the sublime to the unspeakable. Come along on a joyous global celebration of the cinema with a man on a mission -- to spend A Year at the Movies.
Breaking Bad: The Official Book
David Thomson - 2015
This one-of-a-kind book—the ultimate official guide to the show—covers the evolution of Breaking Bad from the pilot to the final episode and beyond. Adapted and expanded from Breaking Bad Alchemy, the interactive e-book for the iPad, it highlights the unique elements that made the series so magnetic. The book is filled with insider secrets about the making of the show and the meanings behind its iconography, as well a complete Breaking Bad timeline; in-depth looks at the series’ groundbreaking cinematography, music, and special effects; exclusive interviews with creator Vince Gilligan; and new text from noted film critic David Thomson. Bad fans will enjoy the book's updated design, more than 100 new images, and perceptive captions. Renowned critic David Thomson reveals an extensive interview with Vince Gilligan just for this edition, and provides an insightful introduction—arguing that Breaking Bad is not only a great show, but one of the most significant works of fiction in the new century. In addition to exploring how this epic series came to be, Thomson sets Breaking Bad in the context of both crime literature and long-form television.
The Alchemy of MirrorMask
Dave McKean - 2005
Animated by Dave McKean and written by Neil Gaiman, MirrorMask combines animation and live action with a compelling storyline to take the cinematic experience to a stunning new level. MirrorMask is the story of Helena, a fifteen-year-old girl who works for her family's circus. She juggles, sells popcorn, and longs to run away and join the "real world." Helena also dreams, and one day she wakes up to find herself in a strange new world populated by mysterious creatures…a dream world where she embarks on an amazing journey. Each chapter in The Alchemy of MirrorMask begins with an introduction by McKean and Gaiman and then guides readers through the different types of visuals used to create the film, including sketches, paintings, storyboards, 3-d models, photographs, texture maps, frame blow-ups, and more. Also included are photos taken on the set and during McKean's travels to Venice, Prague, Trieste, Warsaw, and other places that provided inspiration for MirrorMask. Gaiman and McKean's insightful commentary sheds light on the film's journey from concept to screen. Gaiman and McKean fans, cinema buffs, and visual art enthusiasts will all delight in The Alchemy of MirrorMask, a rare, behind-the-scenes look at the making of an extraordinary film.
Copenhagen
Michael Frayn - 1998
The popular image of the men who made the bomb is of dispassionate intellects who number-crunched their way towards a weapon whose devastating power they could not even imagine. But in his Tony Award-winning play Copenhagen, Michael Frayn shows us that these men were passionate, philosophical, and all too human, even though one of the three historical figures in his drama, Werner Heisenberg, was the head of the Nazis' effort to develop a nuclear weapon. The play's other two characters, the Danish physicist Niels Bohr and his wife, Margrethe, are involved with Heisenberg in an after-death analysis of an actual meeting that has long puzzled historians. In 1941, the German scientist visited Bohr, his old mentor and long-time friend, in Copenhagen. After a brief discussion in the Bohrs' home, the two men went for a short walk. What they discussed on that walk, and its implications for both scientists, have long been a mystery, even though both scientists gave (conflicting) accounts in later years. Frayn's cunning conceit is to use the scientific underpinnings of atomic physics, from Schr?dinger's famous cat to the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, to explore how an individual's point of view renders attempts to discover the ultimate truth of any human interaction fundamentally impossible. To Margrethe, Heisenberg was always an untrustworthy student, eager to steal from her husband's knowledge. To Bohr, Heisenberg was a brilliant if irresponsible foster son, whose lack of moral compass was part of his genius. As for Heisenberg, the man who could have built the bomb but somehow failed to, his dilemma is at the heart of the play's conflict. Frayn's clever dramatic structure, which returns repeatedly to particular scenes from different points of view, allows several possible theories as to what his motives could have been. This isn't the first play to successfully merge the world
Wild and Crazy Guys: How the Comedy Mavericks of the '80s Changed Hollywood Forever
Nick de Semlyen - 2019
In between, Nick de Semlyen takes us on a trip through the tumultuous '80s, delving behind the scenes of movies such as Ghostbusters, Beverly Hills Cop, The Blues Brothers, Trading Places, and dozens more. Chronicling the off-screen, larger-than-life antics of Bill Murray, Eddie Murphy, Chevy Chase, Steve Martin, John Belushi, et al, it's got drugs, sex, punch-ups, webbed toes, and Bill Murray being pushed into a swimming pool by Hunter S. Thompson, while tied to a lawn chair. What's not to like?Based on candid interviews from the stars themselves, as well as those in their immediate orbit, Wild and Crazy Guys is a fantastic insider account of the friendships, feuds, triumphs, and disasters experienced by these iconic funnymen, and reveals the hidden history behind the most fertile period ever for screen comedy.
The Late Shift: Letterman, Leno & the Network Battle for the Night
Bill Carter - 1994
This is the inside account of this high-pressure confrontation.
Ex Machina: Screenplay
Alex Garland - 2015
But when Caleb arrives at the remote location he finds that he will have to participate in a strange and fascinating experiment in which he must interact with the world's first true artificial intelligence, housed in the body of a beautiful robot girl.
EX MACHINA is an intense psychological thriller, played out in a love triangle. It explores big ideas about the nature of consciousness, emotion, sexuality, truth and lies.