Universal Studios Monsters: A Legacy of Horror


Michael Mallory - 2009
    Universal Studios Monsters: A Legacy of Horror explores all of these enduring characters, chronicling both the mythology behind the films and offering behind-the-scenes insights into how the films were created. Universal Studios Monsters is the most complete record of the horror films of this legendary studio, with biographies of major personalities who were responsible for the most notable monster melodramas in film history. The stories of these films and their creators are told through interviews with surviving actors and studio employees. A lavish photographic record, including many behind-the-scenes shots, completes the story of how these classics were made. This is a volume no fan of imaginative cinema will want to be without.

Sick Little Monkeys: The Unauthorized Ren & Stimpy Story


Thad Komorowski - 2013
    Through vigorous draftsmanship, charismatic voices, irreverent sight gags, crass humor, and stellar character acting, animation's most talented and disturbed artists created an entity for the Nickelodeon cable network that pulled the art form out of a 25-year rut. The world has never been quite the same since - and we're eternally grateful!Now you too can join the rollercoaster ride that is the fascinating, insane real-life story of art, money, and ego that gave birth to Ren Hoek and Stimpson J. Cat. History Eraser Buttons need not apply. No stone has been unturned, no magic nose goblins unpicked, in this extensively detailed history of the show that defined a generation and changed an entire medium.It's everything you wanted to know about Ren & Stimpy - but were afraid to ask!

The Godfather Papers and Other Confessions


Mario Puzo - 1972
    

What Happens Next: A History of American Screenwriting


Marc Norman - 2007
    Silent-film comedy pioneer Mack Sennett forbade his screenwriters from writing anything down, for fear they’d get inflated ideas about themselves as creative artists. The great midcentury director John Ford was known to answer studio executives’ complaints that he was behind schedule by tearing a handful of random pages from his script and tossing them over his shoulder. And Ken Russell was so contemptuous of Paddy Chayefsky’s screenplay for Altered States that Chayefsky insisted on having his name removed from the credits.Of course, popular impressions aside, screenwriters have been central to moviemaking since the first motion picture audiences got past the sheer novelty of seeing pictures that moved at all. Soon they wanted to know: What happens next? In this truly fresh perspective on the movies, veteran Oscar-winning screenwriter Marc Norman gives us the first comprehensive history of the men and women who have answered that question, from Anita Loos, the highest-paid screenwriter of her day, to Robert Towne, Quentin Tarantino, Charlie Kaufman, and other paradigm-busting talents reimagining movies for the new century.The whole rich story is here: Herman Mankiewicz and the telegram he sent from Hollywood to his friend Ben Hecht in New York: “Millions are to be grabbed out here and your only competition is idiots.” The unlikely sojourns of F. Scott Fitzgerald and William Faulkner as Hollywood screenwriters. The imposition of the Production Code in the early 1930s and the ingenious attempts of screenwriters to outwit the censors. How the script for Casablanca, “a disaster from start to finish,” based on what James Agee judged to be “one of the world’s worst plays,” took shape in a chaotic frenzy of writing and rewriting—and how one of the most famous denouements in motion picture history wasn’t scripted until a week after the last scheduled day of shooting—because they had to end the movie somehow.Norman explores the dark days of the Hollywood blacklist that devastated and divided Hollywood’s screenwriting community. He charts the rise of the writer-director in the early 1970s with names like Coppola, Lucas, and Allen and the disaster of Michael Cimino’s Heaven’s Gate that led the studios to retake control. He offers priceless portraits of the young William Hurt, Steven Spielberg, and Steven Soderbergh. And he describes the scare of 2005 when new technologies seemed to dry up the audience for movies, and the industry—along with its screenwriters—faced the necessity of reinventing itself as it had done before in the face of sound recording, color, widescreen, television, and other technological revolutions.Impeccably researched, erudite, and filled with unforgettable stories of the too often overlooked, maligned, and abused men and women who devised the ideas that others brought to life in action and words on-screen, this is a unique and engrossing history of the quintessential art form of our time.

My Broken Pieces: Mending the Wounds From Sexual Abuse Through Faith, Family and Love


Rosie Rivera - 2016
    There was nothing that her family wouldn’t do for her, especially her sister Jenni, who was the most important thing in the world to Rosie. With her strong will and a solid foundation, Rosie was set to conquer the world.  Yet life would take a drastic turn when Rivera was scarred by sexual abuse within her family at a very young age. Living in fear and confined by painful secrets, she was plagued with constant threats, confusion, and pain. Not only was she stripped of her childhood and innocence, but she was also robbed of her confidence and self-worth. Feeling completely shattered and lost, Rivera plunged into a world of damaging habits and deep depression.   For the first time ever, and with unflinching candor and courage, Rosie shares the traumatic details of her abuse and the daily struggle to live and how, through faith and the love of her family, she found life once more. Yet Rosie’s life would be severely impacted once again as the worst tragedy imaginable hit and her biggest fear came to reality—the death of her beloved sister.   Equally harrowing and uplifting, Rosie’s story is a true testament to beating the odds and proves that despite the worst of times and no matter how many more challenges life has in store, it is always possible to pick up the pieces and find the strength and purpose to dream and live again.INCLUDES PHOTOGRAPHSFrom the Hardcover edition.

Double Lives, Second Chances: The Cinema of Krzysztof Kieslowski


Annette Insdorf - 1999
    His best-known films, Blue; White; Red; The Double Life of Veronique; and The Decalogue, remain watershed events in lmmaking history. Author Annette Insdorf, Kieslowskis close friend and translator, offers a revealing portrait of his life and monumental body of work. From the gold-bathed images of The Double Life of Veronique to the emotionally dark, visually haunting Blue, Kieslowskis films explore personal and social issues with inimitable brilliance. This paperback edition includes an updated introduction with information on the much anticipated release of Heaven (March 2002) which Kieslowski wrote and planned to film, before he died unexpectedly in March 1996.

The Principle and Power of Kingdom Citizenship: Keys to Experiencing Heaven on Earth


Myles Munroe - 2016
    For too long, too many followers of Christ have lived beneath their Kingdom inheritance. They are saved and set-up for eternity in Heaven, but they continue to live defeated and unfulfilling lives on Earth. In this paradigm-shifting work by Dr. Myles Munroe, he presents the biblical blueprint for what it looks like for you to live as an empowered Kingdom citizen. You will learn how to:• Identify and access your royal rights as a citizen of God’s Kingdom • Exercise your authority as an ambassador of Christ in your sphere of influence • Change atmospheres around you with the climate of Heaven The Kingdom is not just about going to Heaven one day after you die...it is about walking in the purpose and power of Heaven today while you are still living on Earth!

The Unkindest Cut: How a Hatchet-Man Critic Made His Own $7000 Movie and Put It All On His Credit Card


Joe Queenan - 1996
    Following in the maverick mold of Quentin Tarentino, Spike Lee, and Richard Rodriguez, Joe Queenan becomes an auteur and, in the process, funnier than ever, as he tries to master the art of writing, directing, scoring, casting, and marketing a movie--all by himself.

Hugh Glass


Bruce Bradley - 2015
     BOOK EXCERPT: By the time Hugh Glass reached Fort Tilton it was well into November. A foot of snow lay across the countryside. Fort Tilton was a small fort that belonged to the Columbia Fur Company. It had been built by William P. Tilton and boasted a garrison of only five men. As it sat near the site of another Mandan village, the Mandans who escorted Hugh dropped him off, then immediately went to visit their cousins. Hugh went to see Tilton, where he learned right away that any hopes of finding a boat to continue his journey were in vain. “Mr. Glass,” Tilton told Hugh, “I’d like to help you but I can’t. I’ve got five men here, besides myself. I can’t spare any of them. We’re under danger of attack here night and day by the Arikaras. I need every man I have to keep them away. Even if I could spare anyone, I doubt they would go. We’re watched constantly. I had one man who left the fort for only a few minutes. From out of nowhere, that devil Stanapat rode up and killed him, practically on our doorstep. If you hadn’t had the Mandans escorting you, don’t think for a moment that you would have made it in here. Those damn Arikaras would have gotten you before you even came within sight of the fort.” Disappointed, Hugh exhaled heavily. “Stanapat,” he said ruefully. “—The Little Hawk With The Bloody Hand…” Tilton looked at him. “You speak Arikara?” he asked Hugh. “Pawnee,” Hugh said absently. “The two languages are almost identical.” Tilton continued to stare at him. Slowly, a look of dread came over his features. “Oh no,” Tilton said. “Oh, Christ, I should have known by your scars—you’re the one the Indians call White Bear.” Hugh gave him a puzzled look. “How did you know?” “Mister, you’re the talk of the plains. BIG medicine. Went one on one with a grizzly, left for dead by two white men and still managed to crawl to Fort Kiowa. The Arikaras have tried to kill you and can’t, that’s what they say. Oh, I know all about you. So does every tribe from here to the Rockies. As soon as Stanapat finds out you’re here—and he will—he’ll tear this place down to get to you. New travels real fast in these parts, mister, and the news here is that the Arikaras want you real bad!” PRAISE FOR "HUGH GLASS" by Bruce Bradley-- "--The kind of book you hate to put down!" Fraser Whitbread - Muzzle Blasts Magazine "This recent book by Bruce Bradley is a great read and should be added to the library of those who have interest in the (Fur Trade) period or are an over-all student of early American History." - On the Trail Magazine "A very readable telling of an amazing story!" —Bob Griffith-Amazon.com

Make Your Own Damn Movie!: Secrets of a Renegade Director


Lloyd Kaufman - 2003
    In 25 years, Kaufman, along with partner Michael Herz, has built Troma Studios up from a company struggling to find its voice in a field crowded with competitors to its current--and legendary--status as a lone survivor, a bastion of true cinematic independence, and the world's greatest collection of camp on film.As entertaining and funny as it is informative and insightful, Make Your Own Damn Movie! places Kaufman's radically low-budget, independent-studio style of filmaking directly in the reader's hands. Thus we learn how to: develop and write a knock-out screenplay; raise funding; find locations and cast actors; hire a crew; obtain equipment, permits, and music rights (all for little or no money); make incredible special effects for $0.79 each; charm, schmooze, and network while on the film-festival circuit; and, finally, make a bad actor act so bad it's actually good.From scriptwriting and directing to financing and marketing, this book is brimming with utterly off-the-wall, decidedly maverick, yet consistently proven advice on how to fully develop one's idea for an independent film.

The Fun of Dying


Roberta Grimes - 2010
    Roberta Grimes has spent decades studying nearly two hundred years of abundant and consistent afterlife evidence, principles of quantum mechanics and consciousness research, and other scientific insights to assemble a detailed understanding of the death process and the amazing realities that we enter at death. Every human mind is eternal! We know now that living forever in a greater reality more wonderful than our most optimistic imaginings is our universal birthright.In The Fun of Dying – Find Out What Really Happens Next, Roberta lays out these facts in simple and understandable terms for people who are just beginning to explore what is known about the afterlife. She includes an annotated bibliography of some seventy books organized by topic so you can research and learn to your heart’s content. Discovering what can now be demonstrated to be true about God, reality, death, the afterlife, and the meaning and purpose of human life turns out to be not about dying after all. It’s a way to conquer every fear so you can live your most peaceful and empowered life.

The Mailroom: Hollywood History from the Bottom Up


David Rensin - 2003
    But for many, it happens to be true. Some of the biggest names in entertainment—including David Geffen, Barry Diller, and Michael Ovitz— started their dazzling careers in the lowly mailroom. Based on more than two hundred interviews, David Rensin unfolds the never-before-told history of an American institution—in the voices of the people who lived it. Through nearly seven decades of glamour and humiliation, lousy pay and incredible perks, killer egos and a kill-or-be-killed ethos, you’ll go where the trainees go, learn what they must do to get ahead, and hear the best insider stories from the Hollywood everyone knows about but no one really knows. A vibrant tapestry of dreams, desire, and exploitation, The Mailroom is not only an engrossing read but a crash course, taught by the experts, on how to succeed in Hollywood.

The Wire Re-Up: The Guardian Guide to the Greatest TV Show Ever Made


Steve Busfield - 2009
    Nothing like it has been made before and—to its millions of fans—nothing as good will ever be made again. It is a show that prompts endless debate, and the debates continue here. Is Omar Little the coolest criminal since Robin Hood? Which series has the best theme tune? Will Bubbles survive Baltimore? Avon or Stringer? How does McNulty have so much success with women? With the show now over, these and hundreds of other questions are discussed in this brilliant collection of features and comments from the Guardian's Wire Re-up blog. Together with interviews with the show's creators and stars, running totals per episode (murders, Bunk drunk, Herc screw-ups, and much more), and a quiz created by the stars themselves, this book will guarantee fans that one last fix they've been craving.

Why Romney Lost


David Frum - 2012
    David Frum urges a Republican party that is culturally modern, economically inclusive, and environmentally responsible - a party that can meet the challenges of the Obama years and lead a diverse America to a new age of freedom and prosperity.

No Safe Place


Bill G. Cox - 2000
    The shocking true story of a marriage that spiraled into the most forbidden acts a man and woman could commit, and of a husband who began a campaign of intimidation against his wife that ended in murder.