Marilyn


Gloria Steinem - 1986
    16 pages of full-color photos.

Movies (And Other Things)


Shea Serrano - 2019
    One of the chapters, for example, answers which race Kevin Costner was able to white savior the best, because did you know that he white saviors Mexicans in McFarland, USA, and white saviors Native Americans in Dances with Wolves, and white saviors Black people in Black or White, and white saviors the Cleveland Browns in Draft Day? Another of the chapters, for a second example, answers what other high school movie characters would be in Regina George's circle of friends if we opened up the Mean Girls universe to include other movies (Johnny Lawrence is temporarily in, Claire from The Breakfast Club is in, Ferris Bueller is out, Isis from Bring It On is out...). Another of the chapters, for a third example, creates a special version of the Academy Awards specifically for rom-coms, the most underrated movie genre of all. And another of the chapters, for a final example, is actually a triple chapter that serves as an NBA-style draft of the very best and most memorable moments in gangster movies. Many, many things happen in Movies (And Other Things), some of which funny, others of which are sad, a few of which are insightful, and all of which are handled with the type of care and dedication to the smallest details and pockets of pop culture that only a book by Shea Serrano can provide.

Movie Geek: A Geek's Guide to the Movieverse


Simon Brew - 2017
    Discover hidden stories behind movies you love (and, er, don't love so much), and find out just why the most dangerous place to be is in a Tom Hanks film.Fascinating, surprisingly and hugely entertaining, this leftfield movie guide is gold for film buffs, and might just bring out the geek - hidden or otherwise - within you...Includes:Alternative movie endings that were binned Movie sequels you didn't know existedMassive box office hits that were huge gamblesThe collateral damage of Tom Hanks moviesHidden subtexts in family moviesDisastrous things that went wrong on modern movie sets...and much, much more!

American Cinema/American Culture


John Belton - 1993
    Ideal for Introduction to American Cinema courses, American Film History courses, and Introductory Film Appreciation courses focused on American Film, this text offers a cultural examination of the American movie-making industry, with particular attention paid to the economic and aesthetic institution of Hollywood.

Stanley Kubrick


Paul Duncan - 1999
    He broke into the film scene at the age of 26 with the ambitious, independently produced Killer's Kiss and within a few years was working with the likes of Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, and Peter Sellers on such seminal films as Lolita and Spartacus. Having gained the support of the actors, producers, and movie studios with his early efforts, Kubrick garnered the creative control he needed to produce uncompromising masterpieces such as 2001: A Space Odyssey, Clockwork Orange, and Barry Lyndon. Polishing off 1999's Eyes Wide Shut just before his untimely death, Kubrick left behind a puzzling and positively brilliant body of work.

Cassavetes on Cassavetes


John Cassavetes - 2001
    Having already established himself as an actor, he struck out as a filmmaker in 1959 with Shadows, and proceeded to build a formidable body of work, including such classics as Faces, Woman Under the Influence, The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, and Gloria. In Cassavettes on Cassavettes, Ray Carney presents the great director in his own words--frank, uncompromising, humane, and passionate about life and art.

The Filmmaker's Eye: Learning (and Breaking) the Rules of Cinematic Composition


Gustavo Mercado - 2010
    This book has struck a chord worldwide and is being translated into several languagesAfter a short introduction to basic principles, a variety of shots are deconstructed in the following format:- Why It Works: an introduction to a particular type of shot- How It Works: callouts point out exactly how the shot works the way it does--the visual rules and technical aspects in action- Technical Considerations: the equipment and techniques needed to get the shot.- Breaking the Rules: examples where the rules are brilliant subverted

Agee on Film: Criticism and Comment on the Movies


James Agee - 1960
    H. AudenJames Agee was passionately involved with the movies throughout his life. A master of both fiction and nonfiction, he wrote about film in clean, smart prose as the reviewer for Time magazine and as a columnist for The Nation. Agee was particularly perceptive about the work of his friend John Huston and recognized the artistic merit of certain B films such as The Curse of the Cat People and other movies produced by Val Lewton.

Conversations with Wilder


Cameron Crowe - 1999
    In his distinct voice we hear Wilder's inside view on his collaborations with such stars as Barbara Stanwyck, Gary Cooper, Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis, William Holden, Audrey Hepburn, and Greta Garbo (he was a writer at MGM during the making of Ninotchka. Here are Wilder's sharp and funny behind-the-scenes stories about the making of A Foreign Affair, Double Indemnity, Sunset Boulevard, Love in the Afternoon, Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, and Ace in the Hole, among many others. Wilder is ever mysterious, but Crowe gets him to speak candidly on Stanwyck: "She knew the script, everybody's lines, never a fault, never a mistake"; on Cary Grant: "I had Cary Grant in mind for four of my pictures . . . slipped through my net every time"; on the "Lubitsch Touch": "It was the elegant use of the super-joke." Wilder also remembers his early years in Vienna, working as a journalist in Berlin, rooming with Peter Lorre at the Chateau Marmont -- always with the same dry wit, tough-minded romanticism, and elegance that are the hallmarks of Wilder's films. This book is a classic of Hollywood history and lore.

Cinema Studies: The Key Concepts (Key Concepts)


Susan Hayward - 2000
    Now in its second edition, the text has been completely revised and expanded to meet the needs of today's students and film enthusiasts. Some 150 key genres, movements, theories and production terms are explained and analyzed with depth and clarity. Entries include: * auteur theory* Blaxploitation* British New Wave* feminist film theory* intertextuality* method acting* pornography* Third World Cinema* Vampire movies.

Inventory: 16 Films Featuring Manic Pixie Dream Girls, 10 Great Songs Nearly Ruined by Saxophone, and 100 More Obsessively Specific Pop-Culture Lists


A.V. Club - 2009
    Club issue a slightly slanted pop-culture list filled with challenging opinions (Is David Bowie's "Young Americans" nearly ruined by saxophone?) and fascinating facts. Exploring 24 great films too painful to watch twice, 14 tragic movie-masturbation scenes, 18 songs about crappy cities, and much more, Inventory combines a massive helping of new lists created especially for the book with a few favorites first seen at avclub.com and in the pages of The A.V. Club's sister publication, The Onion. But wait! There's more: John Hodgman offers a set of minutely detailed (and probably fictional) character actors. Patton Oswalt waxes ecstatic about the "quiet film revolutions" that changed cinema in small but exciting ways. Amy Sedaris lists 50 things that make her laugh. "Weird Al" Yankovic examines the noises of Mad magazine's Don Martin. Plus lists from Paul Thomas Anderson, Robert Ben Garant, Tom Lennon, Andrew W.K., Tim and Eric, Daniel Handler, and Zach Galifianakis -- and an epic foreword from essayist Chuck Klosterman.

Dark Victory: The Life of Bette Davis


Ed Sikov - 2007
    Jack Warner called her "an explosive little broad with a sharp left." Humphrey Bogart once remarked, "Unless you're very big she can knock you down." Bette Davis was a force of nature--an idiosyncratic talent who nevertheless defined the words "movie star" for more than half a century and who created an extraordinary body of work filled with unforgettable performances. In Dark Victory, the noted film critic and biographer Ed Sikov paints the most detailed picture ever delivered of this intelligent, opinionated, and unusual woman who was--in the words of a close friend--"one of the major events of the twentieth century." Drawing on new interviews with friends, directors, and admirers, as well as archival research and a fresh look at the films, this stylish, intimate biography reveals Davis's personal as well as professional life in a way that is both revealing and sympathetic. With his wise and well-informed take on the production and accomplishments of such movie milestones as Jezebel, All About Eve, and Now, Voyager, as well as the turbulent life and complicated personality of the actress who made them, Sikov's Dark Victory brings to life the two-time Academy Award-winning actress's unmistakable screen style, and shows the reader how Davis's art was her own dark victory.

Agitator: The Cinema of Takashi Miike


Tom Mes - 2004
    This edition features a new and expanded colour section, completely updated DVD information, and several brand new reviews of Takashi Miike films that were unavailable for coverage at the time of the book's initial production.

Inside Oscar: The Unofficial History of the Academy Awards


Mason Wiley - 1985
    Wiley and Mr. Bona have found just the right tone for writing about this most particular of American phenomena.

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.