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General
Film Criticism, Theory & History
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Backlist;
Film > Criticism, Theory and History
(more academic); On Individual Films and Media > Film
Criticism
Ready For My Close-Up!
Edited by Denny Martin Flinn
Ready for My Close-Up! captures the timeless language of so many unforgettable moments in cinema, from Groucho Marx's humorous "I shot an elephant in my pajamas" to Julia Roberts' discontented "Basically I've been hungry for a decade," from Jack Nicholson's contemptuous "Son, we live in a world that has walls" to James Earl Jones' reassuring "People will come, Ray." this book is a must-have for all movie buffs, aspiring screenwriters Softcover, 192 pp. $22.95.
Silent Cinema
Robert J. Robb
Through a study of the earliest origins of cinema to the stars, comedians and directors who became popular from the late-Victorian era to the end of the 1920s, and including a look at the earliest Hollywood scandals of the time, Silent Cinema will be a handy guide to the art of cinema's silent years in Hollywood and across the globe. Softcover, 159 pp. $24.95.
Chasing Dragons
David West
Written for both interested filmgoers and established aficionados, Chasing Dragons is an essential introduction and guide to the martial arts cinemas of Japan, Hong Kong and Hollywood. Chasing Dragons explores over fifty key films, their texts, fighting techniques, stars and directors--set in the distinct cultures producing and forming them. Softcover, 272 pp. $26.95.
On Location: Cities of the World in Film
Claudia Hellman & Claudine Weber-Hof
Of cinema's various delights, film locations may be the most charming.
An address, a certain city square, or even a particular park bench can
close the gap between the dream world of movies and everyday life,
and the effect is pure magic. On Location: Cities in
the World of Film presents the behind-the-scenes stories from
cities and their locations- both famous and mundane- that have featured
in popular films. This richly illustrated volume presents 18 cities and
their world famous films with a forward by Wim Wenders. Hardcover, 200
pp. $58.00.
Still
Moving: The Film and Media Collections of the Museum of Modern Art
Steven Higgins
Here, for the first time, is a volume that celebrates the MoMA's remarkable film
archive. With over 500 luminous images drawn from individual films, this book
is a glorious visual narrative of the museum's collection. The lucid introduction,
by Steven Higgins, outlines the history of the collection and gives some insight
into how the museum goes about fulfilling its mandate: acquiring, preserving,
and exhibiting these extraordinary and singular works. Hardcover, 374 pp. $78.00.
50 Classic Motion Pictures
David Zinman
This enchanting and nostalgic journey through cinema history offers profiles
of 50 classics from Hollywood's golden era. Intelligently written
and lavishly illustrated, this remarkable volume will appeal to
film fans of all ages. Softcover, 311 pp. $36.50.
Glorious Technicolor
Fred Basten
This is a full account of the dazzling Technicolor years that turned the
screen from silver to every color of the rainbow. Here in one volume
are the films, the stars, the showmen and all the elements behind
the phemomenon that changed movies forever. Beautiful film stills
and rare behind-the-scenes
photos, many in full colour, taken on the sets of memorable Technicolor
movies highlight the personalities and stories behind the making
of movies.
From the long stuggle to bring perfect colour to motion pictures,
to the restoration of classic features and the evolution to digital
technologies, Technicolor has redefined the movie going experience.
Hardcover, 284 pp. $77.95.
Silent
Traces: Discovering Early Hollywood Through the Films of Charlie
Chaplin
John Bengston
Explore the traces of early Hollywood hidden within Charlie Chaplin's timeless
films. This stunning work of cinematic archeology combines Chaplin's movie images
with archival photographs, vintage maps, and scores of then-and-now comparison
photographs to conjure up the silent movie era from an entirely new perspective.
Softcover, 300 pp. $33.95.
The X List: The National Society of Film Critics' Guide to Movies
That Turn Us On
Jami Bernard
In The X List, some of today's most celebrated print, broadcast,
and online critics give their passionate take on the films that
quicken the pulse. It's an enterprise both risky and risque --
nothing short of
a tour of the most arousing films the world has ever produced.
Included are profiles of Ecstasy, Body Heat, Y
tu mama tambien,
and several other;
however, since the films reflect the critics' individual tastes,
you can expect more than a few surprise inclusions. Softcover,
330 pp. $23.50.
Fiasco: A History of Hollywood's Iconic Flops
In Fiasco, longtime industry insider and acclaimed Hollywood
historian James Robert Parish goes behind the scenes to tell the
stories of fifteen of the most spectacular megaflops of the past
fifty years. No mere financial disappointments these, each of the
artistic and financial failures covered was of a magnitude to bankrupt
studios, demolish reputations, and, in some cases, totally reconfigure
the Hollywood power structure. With verve and no small measure of
edgy wit, Parish dishes up the gossip, the grosses, and the egregious
battles connected with these disasters. Hardcover, 359 pp. $31.99.
Open Wide: How Hollywood Box Office Became a National Obsession
Dade Hayes & Jonathan Bing
In Open Wide, veteran Hollywood journalists Dade Hayes and Jonathan Bing
illuminate the quest for box office supremacy, shining a bright
light on the inner workings of Hollywood's vast sales and marketing
machine. As the
authors explore how and why box office receipts have evolved from
a closely guarded corporate secret to national obsession, they
bring an acute insight
to an industry that is increasingly devoted to producing the next
big blockbuster that they can "open wide" Softcover, 438 pp. $18.95.
Rebels and Chicks: A History of the Hollywood Teen Movie
Stephen Tropiano
This book takes both an insightful and humorous look at the evolution of
one of Hollywood's most popular genres and how it has endured and changed
with the times. Readers will take a nostalgic trip through the major
cycles of Hollywood teenpics past and present: the teen horror films
and juvenile-delinquent
dramas of the 1950s; beach-party musicals of the 1960s; sex comedies
of the 1970s; slasher films and John Hughes pictures of the 1980s; and
more recent flicks like Reality Bites, Clueless, American
Pie, and Thirteen.
Softcover, 296 pp. $26.95.
Adventures of a Hollywood Secretary
Valerie Belletti & Cari Beauchamp
In 1924, Valeria Belletti moved from New York to Los Angeles and landed
a job as Samuel Goldwyn's personal secretary. Now, through a series
of letters sent back east, she provides an insider's view of the
film studios of the 1920s--and the first from a secretary's perspective.
Rich
in gossip,
it is also an eyewitness report of Hollywood in transistion. Valeria
intimately documents her personal journey while giving us a unique
portrait of a fascinating
era.
Softcover, 230 pp. $27.95.
Uncle John's Bathroom Reader: Plunges into Hollywood
Uncle John
Grab your popcorn, sit back, and enjoy the show. Uncle John focuses on Hollywood
in this latest bathroom reader devoted to the trials, triumphs, and trivia
of tinseltown. Featuring the inside stories, quotes, quizzes, and bits
of lore that Uncle John's readers have come to expect, Plunges into Hollywood
goes behind the scenes to give you the scoop on: Hollywood legends and
landmarks;
discoveries, big breaks, and comebacks; and scandals, secrets, and murder
mysteries. Softcover, 487 pp. $23.95.
The Big Show: High Times and Dirty Dealings Backstage at the Academy Awards
Steve Pond
The Oscars breed their own peculiar mania, and a billion people are alleged
to tune in every year -- a tremendous audience to what is essentially
a television program. But this is no ordinary show. Love it or loathe
it, the Oscar show is an irresistible spectacle: a gloriously gaudy,
glitzy,
momentous, and foolish window into the unholy alliance of art and
commerce that is the film industry. The Big Show is the only book
ever to offer
an unguarded, behind-the-scenes glimpse of this singular event, along
with remarkable insight into how the Oscars reflect the high-stakes
politics of Hollywood, our obsession with celebrities, and the cinematic
states
of the union.
Softcover, 427 pp. $21.50.
The Big Picture: Money and Power in Hollywood
Edward Jay Epstein
In this unprecedented, all-encompassing, and thoroughly entertaining account
of the movie business, acclaimed writer Edward Jay Epstein reveals
the real magic behind moviemaking: how the studios make their money.
Epstein shows that in Hollywood, the only art that matters is the
art of the deal:
Major films turn huge profits not from the movies themselves but
through myriad other enterprises, from video-game spin-offs and soundtracks
to
fast-food tie-ins and even theme-park rides. Alongside its remarkable
financial revelations and incisive profiles of the pioneers who helped
build Hollywood,
The Big Picture is filled with eye-opening insider stories.
Softcover, 402 pp. $22.95.
Street Smart: The New York of Lumet, Allen, Scorsese, and Lee
Richard A. Blake
New York City's heterogeneous economic and ethnic districts -- where people
live, work, shop, worship, and go to school -- often bear little
relation to the image of the city created by the movies. In Street
Smart, Richard
A. Blake examines the cultural influences of New York's neighborhoods
on the work of four quintessentially New York filmmakers: Sidney
Lumet, Woody
Allen, Martin Scorsese, and Spike Lee. Hardcover, 335 pp. $50.50.
The Stewardess is Flying the Plane: American Films of the 1970s
Ron Hogan
This is a lavishly illustrated, fun, and informative look at more
than 400 films of the decade -- not only classics like The Godfather or Taxi
Driver,
but cult favorites like Kansas City Bomber and even spectacular flops
like Lost Horizon and Myra Breckinridge. More than just a collection
of glamorous
movie star photos, it is a pop-culture history that places the films
in the broader context of a time when the counterculture became America's
culture. Softcover, 271 pp. $37.95.
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