Chinatown


Michael Eaton - 1997
    This study analyzes Chinatown in the context of the figure of the detective in literature and film from Sophocles to Edgar Allan Poe and Alfred Hitchcock.

12 Angry Men (1957 Film)


Frederic P. Miller - 2010
    Directed by Sidney Lumet, the film tells the story of a jury made up of 12 men as they deliberate the guilt or innocence of a defendant on the basis of reasonable doubt. The film is notable for its almost exclusive use of one set: with the exception of two short scenes at the beginning and the end of the film set on the steps of the court building and two short scenes in an adjoining washroom, the entire movie takes place in the jury room. The total time spent outside of the jury room is eight minutes out of the full 96 minutes of the movie.

Cronenberg on Cronenberg


Chris Rodley - 1992
    With subsequent movies such as The Dead Zone, The Fly, Dead Ringers and Naked Lunch, Cronenberg demonstrated his ability not only to touch painful nerves but also to invest his own developing genre with seriousness, philosophical dimension and a rare emotional intensity.Cronenberg on Cronenberg charts his development from maker of inexpensive 'exploitation' cinema to internationally renowned director of million-dollar movies, and reveals the concerns and obsessions which continue to dominate his increasingly rich and complex work. This edition, with an additional chapter, follows Cronenberg's work up to the creation of Crash.

Screenplay: Writing the Picture


Robin U. Russin - 1999
    A complete screenwriting course, this book features illustrative examples, writing techniques, sage advice from veteran writers, and pertinent writing anecdotes.

Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho


Stephen Rebello - 1990
    Rebello takes us behind the scenes for every step in the creation of this cinematic masterpiece-from the story's original inspiration to the controversy surrounding the creation of the famous shower scene. Drawing on new in-depth interviews as well as Hitchcock's private files, Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho is an eye-opening portrait of the artist at work.

Girl, Interrupted: Screenplay based on the book


James Mangold - 2000
    Marigold provides an Introduction in which he reflects on his graduation from low-budget independent cinema to a big-budget studio picture, while nevertheless continuing to explore unsettling, often unglamorous human stories with his particular blend of human empathy and an unblinking eye for the details of existence.

Dora Bruder


Patrick Modiano - 1997
    Placed by the parents of a 15-year-old Jewish girl, Dora Bruder, who had run away from her Catholic boarding school, the ad sets Modiano off on a quest to find out everything he can about Dora and why, at the height of German reprisals, she ran away on a bitterly cold day from the people hiding her. He finds only one other official mention of her name on a list of Jews deported from Paris to Auschwitz in September 1942. With no knowledge of Dora Bruder aside from these two records, Modiano continues to dig for fragments from Dora's past. What little he discovers in official records and through remaining family members, becomes a meditation on the immense losses of the period—lost people, lost stories, and lost history. Modiano delivers a moving account of the ten-year investigation that took him back to the sights and sounds of Paris under the Nazi Occupation, and the paranoia of the Pétain regime as he tries to find connections to Dora. In his efforts to exhume her from the past, Modiano realizes that he must come to terms with the specters of his own troubled adolescence. The result, a montage of creative and historical material, is Modiano's personal rumination on loss, both memoir and memorial.

Bardot, Deneuve, Fonda


Roger Vadim - 1986
    His book is as frank as it is revealing. Vadim tells the story of his life with Brigitte Bardot, Catherine Deveuve, and Jane Fonda - three superstars whose private lives he changed as radically as he did their careers. His life (and theirs) reads like the best kind of romance novel, beginning with his love affair with the adolescent, bourgeoise Bardot, who threatened suicide if they couldn't be together... And he tells it all their tempestuous marriage, the making of their famous movie "And God Created Woman", Bridget becoming a celebrity, and their amiable divorce. And then Catherine Deneuve, described by the press as "the most beautiful woman in the world". Vadim observed and describes her transformation from adolescent to goddess: "With me she was docile. But I did notice that she wasted no time in getting her own way...She took her profession very seriously". And in private we see Deneuve the woman, pregnant with Vadim's baby and as she became an international star with "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg", the end. Through Vadim's eyes we watch Jane Fonda's journey from the insecure child of Hollywood movie aristocracy to the mature woman she became. He tells us of their decision to have a baby - when Jane asked if the house wouldn't be too crowded with the two children already in residence Vadim pointed out, "We have five cats, six dogs and four Italians already". Of their "open marriage", "Jane and I were the guinea pigs of an unstable era and we did not know it". And finally of the breakup: "Jane wasn't leaving me for another man but for herself. I much preferred to see her taking off on the chariot of politics to her leaving me for another man. I found this to be loftier as well as much easier on my ego". It's all here, a memoir at once gossipy, explicit, and deeply moving, starring the three most beautiful and fascinating women in the world.

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.

The Lady in the Van - The Complete Edition


Alan Bennett - 2015
    Their unique story is funny, poignant and life-affirming.

The Satanic Screen


Nikolas Schreck - 2001
    "The Satanic Screen" documents all of Satan's cinematic incarnations, covering not only the horror genre but also a whole range of sub-genres including hardcore porn, mondo and underground film. Heavily illustrated with rare still photographs, posters and arcana, the book also investigates the perennial symbiotic interplay between Satanic cinema and leading occultists (for example, Aleister Crowley), making it essential reading for anyone interested in the Black Arts and their continuing representation in populist culture.Nikolas Schreck is the editor of "The Manson File" (1988), and director of the film "Charles Manson Superstar" (1989). He is a world-respected authority on occultism and true crime.

The Devil's Advocate


Andrew Neiderman - 1990
    When Kevin Taylor joins the Manhattan criminal law firm of John Milton and Associates, he's hit the big time. At last, he and his wife can enjoy the luxuries they've so desired-- a chauffeur-driven limo, a stunning home in the very building that Mr. Milton himself lives in. Little does Kevin realize that he's joinedA BROTHERHOOD OF BLOODJohn Milton assigns Kevin one of the most notorious cases of the year, along with a file that had been put together prior to the crime. Throwing himself into his work, Kevin begins to see a pattern of evil emerging from behind the plush facade of his firm. As he watches them win every courtroom battle, and sees every criminal walk free, his mounting suspicions give way to all-out terror. For Kevin has becomeTHE DEVIL'S ADVOCATEand there's no turning back from the world of the damned...

Inside The Wicker Man: How Not to Make a Cult Classic


Allan Brown - 2000
    Allan Brown describes the filming and distribution of the cult masterpiece as a 'textbook example of How Things Should Never Be Done'. The omens were bad from the start, and proceeded to get much, much worse, with fake blossom on trees to simulate spring, actors chomping on ice-cubes to prevent their breath showing on film, and verbal and physical confrontations involving both cast and crew. The studio hated it and hardly bothered to distribute it, but today it finds favour with critics and fans alike, as a serious—if flawed—piece of cinema. Brown expertly guides readers through the film's convoluted history, attempting along the way to explain its enduring fascination, and providing interviews with the key figures—many of whom still have an axe to grind, and some of whom still harbour plans for a sequel.

The Wes Anderson Collection


Matt Zoller Seitz - 2013
    A true auteur, Anderson is known for the visual artistry, inimitable tone, and idiosyncratic characterizations that make each of his films—Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, The Darjeeling Limited, Fantastic Mr. Fox, and Moonrise Kingdom—instantly recognizable as “Andersonian.”The Wes Anderson Collection is the first in-depth overview of Anderson’s filmography, guiding readers through his life and career. Previously unpublished photos, artwork, and ephemera complement a book-length conversation between Anderson and award-winning critic Matt Zoller Seitz. The interview and images are woven together in a meticulously designed book that captures the spirit of his films: melancholy and playful, wise and childish—and thoroughly original.

My First Movie: Twenty Celebrated Directors Talk about Their First Film


Stephen Lowenstein - 2000
    Each chapter focuses on a director's celebrated debut and tells the inside story of the film's creation. Along the way, every aspect of the movie industry is explored-from writing the script and raising the money to casting the actors and assembling the crew, from shooting and editing to selling the movie and screening it. These interviews are not only memoirs of particular movies; each one is also an emotional journey in which the director relives the pain and elation, the comedy and tragedy, of making a first feature film.