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Book Synopsis(Music Sales America). Inspired by Charles-Louis Hanon''s The Virtuoso Pianist the essential technical method for any classical player these new volumes present a modern-day equivalent for the musician seeking to play the key piano styles of the 20th century. Each book develops basic technique and true facility in each genre through authentic, progressive exercises and etudes. The music in these books is fun to play for pianists at every level, building the necessary skills in each style while providing extensive musical and stylistic insight.

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Book Synopsis(Music Sales America). This series of three books aim to provide frustrated rock guitarists with new directions to explore their art. Armed with the accompanying CD, featuring detailed examples of pentatonic patterns, minor arpeggios and backing tracks, you will be able to do much more than simply learn solos and licks note for note. This book also contains a thorough explanation of music theory.

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Book SynopsisLegends have to start somewhere... Witness the King of Rock ''n'' Roll''s humble beginnings in Memphis as a young artist struggling to define his voice and break into the music industry. From the history-making Sun Studio to television sets across the nation, the trials and tribulations of Elvis Presley are explored in graphic detail by authors Chris Miskiewicz (Grateful Dead: Origins) and Marvel Comics artist Michael Shelfer. This official Graphic Novel produced in partnership with the Elvis Presley estate chronicles how a young man became The KING of ROCK''N ROLL....

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Book SynopsisIt's a madhouse a madhouse! George Taylor, Astronaut The king is deadlong live the king. Bring the cinematic thrills and shocking twists of the five original Planet of the Apes movies to your tabletop game. Now you can interact with the apes and humans that have come direct from the silver screenCaesar, Taylor, Zira, Hasslein, and, of course, Dr. Zaiusevery iconic character is gamified for campaign use with biographies and statistics. This sourcebook showcases a detailed chronology of the distinctly different timeline that arose out of choices made by both human and ape alike. The ANSA Files are filled with reference resources of the larger-than-life personalities, weapons, and settings from the classic films and novelizationsThe Planet of the Apes, Beneath the Planet of the Apes, Escape from the Planet of the Apes, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, and Battle of the Planet of Apesplus linking material from the novels Conspiracy of the Planet of the Apes and Death of the Planet of the Apes! Curated by sci-fi author Andrew E.C. Gaska the ANSA files are written by a host of award-winning talent from the POTA community, including Dayton Ward, Rich Handley, Greg Cox, Jim Beard, and David Avalone! The sourcebook acts as both an RPG expansion and a reference book for the classic Planet of the Apes universe. With more than five times the adventure in one place, this sourcebook lets you experience the span of the POTA universe like never before.

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Book SynopsisDiscover films that dared to be different, risked reputations and put careers in jeopardy. This is what happens when filmmakers take tradition and rip it up.  FilmQuake introduces 50 movies that shook the cinematic world, telling the fascinating stories behind their creation, reception and legacy. From unbelievable developments in technology (Citizen Kane, 1941) to feminist triumphs (Wanda, 1970); films that kickstarted New Queer Cinema (Paris is Burning, 1990) to others that challenged lawmakers (A Short Film About Killing, 1988) – FilmQuake presents the movies that questioned boundaries, challenged the status quo and made shockwaves we are still feeling today. From film's first innovators, people like the Lumière brothers, whose short film of a train arriving was reported to have terrified audiences Trade Review “Smith’s selections are often startling and surprising…” -- Christopher Schobert * The Film Stage *Table of ContentsIntroductionTHE SHOCK OF THE NEW: 1895–1929The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat Station: Auguste and Louis Lumière Women in FilmThe Birth of a Nation: D.W. GriffithWithin Our Gates: Oscar MicheauxNosferatu: F.W. Murnau German Expressionism Nanook of the North: Robert FlahertyBattleship Potemkin: Sergei Eisenstein Soviet CinemaThe Passion of Joan of Arc: Carl Theodor Dreyer Sound in FilmA WORLD IN FLUX: 1930–1959The Golden Age: Luis Buñuel Avant-Garde CinemaL’Atalante: Jean VigoTriumph of the Will: Leni Riefenstahl Propaganda on FilmThe Great Dictator: Charles ChaplinCitizen Kane: Orson Welles Auteur CinemaRome, Open City: Roberto Rossellini Italian NeorealismRashomon: Akira KurosawaPather Panchali: Satyajit RayThe Seventh Seal: Ingmar Bergman Art Film The Rise of AnimationSome Like It Hot: Billy WilderBREAKING ALL THE RULES: 1960–1979Breathless: Jean-Luc Goddard The French New WavePsycho: Alfred Hitchcock New Adventures in HorrorVictim: Basil DeardenCleo from 5 to 7: Agnès VardaThe Battle of Algiers: Gillo PontecorvoBonnie and Clyde: Arthur Penn New Hollywood2001: A Space Odyssey: Stanley KubrickWanda: Barbara Loden Feminist FilmSweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss: Melvin Van Peebles Black Cinema in the USTouki Bouki: Djibril Diop Mambéty Cinema of TransgressionJeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles: Chantal AkermanJaws: Steven SpielbergApocalypse Now: Francis Ford Coppola Developments in SoundINDEPENDENCE AND INDUSTRY: 1980–1999Fitzcarraldo: Werner Herzog An Epic CinemaShoah: Claude LanzmannThe Thin Blue Line: Errol MorrisA Short Film About Killing: Krzysztof Kieślowski Changing the WorldDo the Right Thing: Spike LeeParis is Burning: Jennie Livingston New Queer CinemaDaughters of the Dust: Julie DashTerminator 2: Judgment Day: James CameronReservoir Dogs: Quentin Tarantino US Indie CinemaChungking Express: Wong Kar-wai Cinema in Hong Kong, China Recent New WavesLa Haine: Mathieu KassovitzThe Blair Witch Project: Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez Recent HorrorTHE FUTURE IS UNWRITTEN: 2000–PRESENTRussian Ark: Aleksandr Sokurov Cinema and Time Digital CinemaBrokeback Mountain: Ang LeeUnited 93: Paul Greengrass Cinema Post-9/11Tangerine: Sean BakerGet Out: Jordan Peele Film and Black Lives Matter Change for the FutureAtlantics: Mati DiopFor Sama: Waad Al-Kateab and Edward Watts Citizen JournalismParasite: Bong Joon-Ho Glossary Further Reading Picture Credits Index

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Book SynopsisRide the Korean wave (Hallyu) of cinema and explore the most exciting and captivating films in the world today. From smash hits like Parasite to cult favorites Oldboy, The Handmaiden, and Train to Busan, Korean cinema has revolutionized the film industry. Hallyuwood is a comprehensive, cultural dive into Korean cinema from 1900 to the present highlighting more than 100 major films from Golden Age classics to intriguing indies. Asian film expert and writer Bastian Meiresonne explores how Korean cinema found its roots and the cultural, historical, and political forces that have shaped the industry over the last 125 years. With vibrant film stills and original movies posters throughout, Hallyuwood is a celebration of the past, present, and future of Korean cinema and a gateway to everything you need to know about these unique and thrilling movies.

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Book SynopsisRichard Schickel is a film critic of Time. His most recent book is Brando: A Life in our Times.

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Book SynopsisThis study provides a detailed account of the 1960s film, L'avventura, arguing that in order to appreciate its greatness it is necessary to understand not only that the film is a classic but also that it represents a revolution in cinema.

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Book SynopsisHOW TO WRITE SONGS FOR GUITAR - REVISED

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Book SynopsisIts fusion of passion and mischief remains striking and there is something undeniably heady about its celebration of a kind of sexual liberation that looks a lot like flippancy - Evening StandardFrom 1930s bohemian Paris to the dizzying heights of Manhattan society, a tempestuous love triangle unravels between a vivacious interior designer, Gilda, playwright Leo and artist Otto - three people unashamedly and passionately in love with each other. But can such a lavish love affair survive the real world?Exploring themes of bisexuality, celebrity, success and self-obsession, Design for Living is a stylish and scandalous comedy, that is often revered as Coward''s most controversial and risqué work.This new edition is published in Methuen Drama''s iconic Modern Classics series to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Coward''s death and features a new introduction by Oliver Soden.

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Book SynopsisThe Alexander Technique for Musicians is a unique guide for all musicians, providing a practical, informative approach to being a successful and comfortable performer. Perfect as an introduction to the Alexander Technique, or to supplement the reader''s lessons, the book looks at daily and last-minute practice, breathing, performance and performance anxiety, teacherpupil relationships, ensemble skills, and the application of the Alexander Technique to instrumental and vocal work. Complete with diagrams and photographs to aid the learning process, as well as step-by-step procedures and diary entries written by participating students, The Alexander Technique for Musicians gives tried-and-tested advice, drawn from the authors'' twenty-plus years of experience working with musicians, providing an essential handbook for musicians seeking the most from themselves and their art.Table of ContentsCollege/higher education; professional and scholarly; theory of music & musicology; musical instruments & instrumental ensembles; techniques of music/music tutorials.

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Book SynopsisThis book looks at the most important part of the filmmaking process from the point of view of those who grind away at a keyboard or notepad trying to bring new ideas and perspectives to an increasingly diversified world. Using The Guerilla Film Makers Handbook''s tried and true Q&A style, with selected screenwriters, creating an engaging and easily digestible conversational feel, this book chronicles story theory, formatting, business issues and the creative process itself. Whether you're a seasoned scribe or an inexperienced writer, this book will give you perspectives and tips to get your creative juices flowing and make your story happen.Trade ReviewScreenwriter’s Advice is a cut-to-the-chase book that goes to the heart of professional screenwriting. This book gives the young writer an opportunity to sit at the table with professional screen and television writers as they talk about writing. Great advice based off years of professional experience on every page. I found myself nodding in agreement throughout. This is a book you will go back to again and again. * Jack Epps, Jr., Professor at the John Wells Division of Writing, University of Southern California, USA *Jolliffe and Zinnes’ love and respect for the craft shines through in this book filled with inspiring advice from the creatives in the trenches. A practical guide to the terms and tools of the industry and terrific resource for writers! * Pilar Alessandra, “On the Page” Screenwriting Instructor and Podcast Host, and author of The Coffee Break Screenwriter (2016), USA *Genevieve Jolliffe and Andrew Zinnes are two of the most supportive people in the industry. Their advice to screenwriters is actionable, tangible, and thought out. Writers would learn a lot from them! * Joey Tuccio, CEO of Roadmap Writers, USA *What a brilliant idea, to elicit the secrets of how great shows and movies are made by asking the people who do it best to describe the process in their own words. The authors pose provocative questions about the story-making process to a deep pool of top writers and showrunners, revealing vigorous disagreement about how to approach structure, characters, and dialogue. And yet, there are fascinating threads of agreement about the rock-solid necessities of connecting with the audience. This book is a wish fulfilled – asking the very questions I would like to ask of the creators of my absolute favorite shows. * Christopher Vogler, author of The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers (2007), USA *Screenwriters Advice provides a unique and up-to-date view of the screen writing process from the perspective of professionals working in both feature and TV mediums. It is written in a colloquial style, structured around central questions of both craft and the nitty gritty of dealing with a rapidly changing industry. The contributions of professional writers with proven track records are frank, candid, and highly informative. Yet, it is the love of the craft that shines through, making Screenwriters Advice an invaluable resource. * Hing Tsang, Senior Lecturer in Digital Film Production, University of Suffolk, UK *Table of ContentsList of Tips Acknowledgements Legal Disclaimer An Introduction to Screenwriters Advice Contributors Chapter 1: The Idea Chapter 2: Pitching Chapter 3: Breaking Story Chapter 4: Character Chapter 5: Dialog Chapter 6: Rules? Chapter 7: Finding Your Voice Chapter 8: Screenwriting Competitions Chapter 9: Writing Teams Chapter 10: The Writer's Room & Writing on Set Chapter 11: Rewriting Chapter 12: Action & Thriller Chapter 13: Horror & Sci-Fi Chapter 14: Horror Comedy Chapter 15: Telenovelas Chapter 16: Comedy Chapter 17: Romantic Comedy & Christmas Movies Chapter 18: Drama & Adaptation Chapter 19: Animation & Family Chapter 20: The Business Chapter 21: Perspective Chapter 22: Inspiration Chapter 23: Writing Exercises References Index

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Book SynopsisFrom the storied ache of mbube harmonies of the 40s to the electronic boom of kwaito and the amapiano and house explosion of the 00s, this book explores vignettes taken from across South Africa's popular music history. There are moments in time where music can be a mighty weapon in the fight for freedom. Disguised in a danceable hook or shouted for the world to hear, artists have used songs to deliver important truths and bring listeners together in the face of a segregated reality. In the grip of the brutal apartheid era, South Africa crafted its own idiosyncratic popular musical vernacular that operated both as sociopolitical tool and realm of escape. In a country with 11 official languages, music had the power to unite South Africans in protest. Artists bloomed a new idyll from the branches of countless storied musical traditions, and in turn found themselves banned or exiledthe profound epiphany that music can exist both within the pleasure of itself and for serving a far greater pTrade ReviewYour next great music read. . . . Phillips explores how music had the power to unite a country of 11 official languages in times of sociopolitical unrest and the brutal apartheid era. * Consequence of Sound *A beautiful book in the 33 1/3 Genre series. -- Jesse Mulligan * Radio New Zealand *Table of ContentsIntroduction: Simunye: We Are One1. The Lion Sleeps, The Evening Bird Sings 2. Bantu Radio and Shebeen Jazz 3. The Rebel Flute 4. They Cannot Say Qongothwane 5. Separate Development and Exile 6. Grace, the Land, and Graceland 7. The White Zulu 8. Sun City, Bubblegum, and Shifting Afrikaans 9. Free Nelson Mandela 10. Creating the New: Mzansi Fo Sho 11. Our House Ten Essential Tracks Notes

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Book SynopsisTeen pop is a sub-genre of popular music marketed to tweens and teens. Its melodic yearning and veneer of sincerity appeal to an emerging romantic eroticism and autonomy. But tweens and teens buy music that isn't primarily marketed to them, too. Teen pop encompasses several kinds of musical styles, not limiting itself to just oneteen pop wants to play. During the 1970s, teen pop sometimes worked subversively, challenging the status quo it seemed to represent. Male pop stars such as David Cassidy were shown suggestively in popular magazines and female pop stars such as Cher had their own TV shows. Teen magazines, pin-ups, comics, films, and TV programs provided luscious visual stereo, promoting fashion styles, lingo, and dance moves, signaling individual identity but also community. The music provided a way for young people to believe they had something all their own, an authenticity experimenting with sexuality and social conduct, all dressed up in glitter and satin, bluTable of ContentsLiner Notes Rewind Play Fast Forward Ten Essential Tracks Pause Record Stop/Eject

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Book SynopsisFrank Zappa was an unremitting musical innovator and experimenter, always looking for ways to exploit the latest advances in technology. His working life coincided with the explosive development of music technology that ran from the 1960s through the following three decades. Without such inventions as the Marshall amplifier, the Gibson SG, the wah-wah pedal, and the Synclavier much of it modified to his requirements and used in ways for which they had never been designed Zappa s air sculptures, as his music has been described, would have had a significantly different shape and texture. Lavishly illustrated including over 180 unique photographs of Frank Zappa s guitars and equipment taken by the author at his UMRK studio in LA and featuring a foreword by Dweezil Zappa Zappa s Gear offers an unprecedented inside look at the machinery behind the legendary music. In addition to a detailed presentation of the equipment, Zappa s Gear also introduces some of the pioneering inventors, engineers, and entrepreneurs without whom the instruments would not exist. Zappa s Gear is an official Frank Zappa book produced and written with the full cooperation and endorsement of Gail Zappa and the Zappa Family Trust.

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Book SynopsisColour outside the lines with GG Allin.

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Book SynopsisLet the wisdom of the Harry Potter films guide you with this card deck and book set featuring quotes, activities, and prompts to help you bring the magic of the Wizarding World to your daily life.This enchantingly designed inspirational card deck features 64 cards, each of which offers the reader a unique question, prompt, or invitation for self-reflection based on the major characters, moments, quotes, and themes of the Harry Potter films. It comes packaged in a decorative gift box with a book that delves deeper into the cinematic moments explored in the cards and the inspiration the filmmakers drew from while creating them. Harry Potter Guided Deck and Book Set is the perfect gift for fans looking to tap into the powerful messages of love, hope, and heroism in the Harry Potter films. INCLUDES 64 CARDS: Each card includes a question, prompt, inspirational quote, or suggestion to help guide your day FACT-FILLED BOOK: Included book delves deeper into the themes of love, hope, and heroism in the Harry Potter films PERFECT GIFT: Packaged in a beautiful gift box, Harry Potter Guided Deck and Book Set is an ideal gift for the Harry Potter fan OFFICIAL WIZARDING WORLD GIFT SET: Created in collaboration with Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

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Book SynopsisA Taste of Honey (1961) is a landmark in British cinema history. In this book, Melanie Williams explores the many, extraordinary ways in which it was trailblazing. It is the only film of the British New Wave canon to have been written by a woman – Shelagh Delaney, adapting her own groundbreaking stage play. At the behest of director Tony Richardson and his company, Woodfall, it was one of the first films to be made entirely on location, and was shot in an innovative, rough, poetic style by cinematographer Walter Lassally. It was also the launchpad for a new type of young female star in Rita Tushingham. Tushingham plays the young heroine, Jo, who finds she is pregnant after her love affair with Jimmy (Paul Danquah), a Black sailor. When Jimmy’s ship sails away, Jo is comforted and supported by her gay friend Geoff (Murray Melvin), while her unreliable mother, Helen (Dora Bryan), has her own life to lead. Candid in its treatment of matters of gender, class, ethnicity, sexuality and motherhood, and highly distinctive in its evocation of place and landscape, A Taste of Honey marked the advent of new possibilities for the telling of working-class stories in British cinema. As such, its rich but complex legacy endures to this day.Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction: Tasting Much Sweeter Than Wine 1. Hivemind: Origins and Production of the Film 2. Into the Film: A Young Woman’s Prospects 3. ‘This is the place’: An Interlude on Location, Landscape and Local Knowledge 4. Unique, Young, Unrivalled, Smashing: Jo’s Progress 5. Is There Honey Still for Tea?: Assessing the Film’s Legacy Notes Credits

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Book SynopsisOne of the greatest collaborations of cinema history, L' ge d'Or(1930) united the geniuses of Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dali in the making of a Surrealist masterpiece - a uniquely savage blend of visual poetry and social criticism. The film was banned and vilified for many years in many countries, becoming justly legendary for its subversive eroticism and its furious dissection of 'civilised' values. In a remarkable, intuitive reading of L' ge d'Or, Paul Hammond interweaves a detailed account of the extraordinary circumstances of its production with a dazzling interpretation of its aesthetic and political nuances. At once authoritative and polemical, this is a study entirely in tune with its subject, a fitting celebration of a major landmark in world cinema.Trade ReviewA lovely book. A sharp new look at an great old film. -- George MellyTable of ContentsForeword to the 2020 Edition The first prismatic articulation The second The third The fourth The fifth A sixth vesicular joint, the poison sac Notes Credits Bibliography Acknowledgments

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Book SynopsisIn this follow up to their 100 Cult Films, Ernest Mathijs and Xavier Mendik provide a guide to one hundred more incredible films from the history and present of cult cinema around the world, from the 1911 Italian silent Dante''s Inferno to Jordan Peele''s 2017 horror classic Get Out. Their richly-illustrated guide addresses the work of filmmakers including Stanley Kubrick, Paul Verhoeven, Julien Temple, Ana Lily Amirpour, Lizzie Borden, Rob Reiner and John Carpenter, and movies from countries ranging from Iran to Peru, South Korea, Sweden, Japan and the USA. The films represent genres including sci-fi, romance, horror, vampire, comedy and action, and in their subject matter and through the debates (and sometimes controversies) that surrounds them raise issues about identity, home, belonging, exoticism, censorship and what it means to be ''weird''. By presenting films that confirm and interrogate the notion of what makes a cult film', 100 Cult Films: The Sequel reinvigorates the debate about cult cinema while affirming its foundations in today's volatile and vibrant cultural climate.

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Book SynopsisActor-turned-director Barbara Loden's only feature length film, Wanda (1970), tells the story of a struggling working-class woman, Wanda Goronski, as she faces a troubled life, a failing marriage, and a sense of detachment from society. The film received critical acclaim upon its release and was the only American film chosen for the Venice Film Festival in 1970. Today, it is recognised as one of the most significant films made by a woman director.Elena Gorfinkel's study of the film examines Loden's unconventional approach to storytelling, including long takes and a meandering narrative. Drawing on interviews, oral history and archival sources, she charts the film's lasting aesthetic and political potency. She considers the tension between acting and directing in Loden's manipulation and management of gesture, posture, voice and habitus, comparing her performance of Wanda in relation to independent and arthouse strategies and developments in de-dramatisation.Gorfinkel goes on to situate the film within Loden's career as a whole, discussing the recollections of her key collaborators and drawing on new archival research. She argues its significance to 1970s American film culture and its continuing influence on contemporary film practice.

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Book SynopsisI Know Where I'm Going! (1945) is widely regarded as one of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's most remarkable achievements and a cinematic tour de force. A simple moral tale set in the wild Scottish Highlands, it follows the journey of a headstrong young woman forced by her encounter with this magical, mythic world and its exotic customs to revise her materialistic priorities. Pam Cook traces the film's production history, exploring its place in Powell and Pressburger's canon and showing how it wove into its narrative the memories and aspirations of an international group of film-makers working in 1940s Britain. Focusing on the extensive use of special effects, she reveals a technologically ambitious masterpiece. I Know Where I'm Going! is, for Cook, a multilayered work rich in allusions whose emotional power reaches beyond boundaries of time and place to touch profound human desires. In her foreword to this new edition, Cook argues that I Know Where I'm Going!'s ability to be both of its time and timeless is what ensures that it continues to captivate successive generations of viewers.Table of ContentsAcknowledgments 'I Know Where I'm Going!' Notes Credits Bibliography and Sources

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Book SynopsisJohn Ford's masterpiece The Searchers (1956) was voted the seventh greatest film of all time in Sight & Sound's most recent poll of critics. Its influence on many of America's most distinguished contemporary filmmakers, among them Martin Scorsese, Paul Schrader, and John Milius, is enormous. John Wayne's portrait of the vengeful Confederate Ethan Edwards gives the film a truly epic dimension, as does his long and lonely journey into the dark heart of America. Edward Buscombe's insightful study provides a detailed commentary on all aspects of the film, drawing on material in the John Ford archive at Indiana University, including Ford's own memos and the original script, which differs in vital respects from the film he made, to offer new insights into the film's production history.Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Foreword to the 2022 Edition 'The Searchers' Notes Credits Bibliography

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Book SynopsisFederico Fellini's masterpiece 8 1/2 (Otto e mezzo) shocked audiences around the world when it was released in 1963 by its sheer auteurist gall. The hero, a film director named Guido Anselmi, seemed to be Fellini's mirror image, and the story to reflect the making of 8 1/2 itself. Whether attacked for self-indulgence or extolled for self-consciousness, 8 1/2 became the paradigm of personal filmmaking, and numerous directors, including Fassbinder, Truffaut, Scorsese, Bob Fosse and Bruce LaBruce, paid homage to the film and its themes of personal and creative ennui in their own work. Now that 8 1/2's conceit is less shocking, D.A. Miller argues, we can see more clearly how tentative, even timid, Fellini's ground-breaking incarnation always was. Guido is a perfect blank, or is trying his best to seem one. By his own admission he doesn't even have an artistic or social statement to offer: 'I have nothing to say, but I want to say it anyway.' 8 1/2's deepest commitment is not to this man (who is never quite 'all there') or to his message (which is lacking entirely) but to its own flamboyant manner. The enduring timeliness of 8 1/2 lies, Miller suggests, in its aggressive shirking of the shame that falls on the man – and the artist – who fails his appointed social responsibilities.Trade ReviewD.A. Miller's study of the film suggests that we can now see more clearly how tentative Fellini's groundbreaking incarnation always was, and its enduring timeliness, he argues, lies in its determined shirking of the shame that falls on the man – and the artist – who fails his appointed social responsibilities. -- Sight & Sound...an excellent addition to one of the finest collections of film criticism ever collated...[Miller] makes an interesting and persuasive argument for his theory and, like much great criticism, sheds new light on a classic film. -- Laurence Boyce * Netribution *Table of ContentsForeword to the 2022 Edition Prologue 1. From No One to Someone 2. From Auteur to Person 3. From Substance to Style Finale Acknowledgments Notes Credits

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Book SynopsisDavid Weir is Emeritus Professor of Comparative Literature at the Cooper Union, New York, USA. He is the author of books including Decadence and Literature (edited with Jane Desmarais, 2019); Decadence: A Very Short Introduction, (2018), and Ulysses Explained: How Homer, Dante, and Shakespeare Inform Joyce's Modernist Vision (2015), as well as a study of Trouble in Paradise (2021), also in the BFI Film Classics series.

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Book SynopsisRobert de Niro and Al Pacino have acted opposite each other only once, in Heat, Michael Mann's operatic 1995 heist thriller. De Niro is Neil McCauley, a skilled professional thief at the centre of a tight-knit criminal team; Pacino is Vincent Hanna, the haunted, driven cop determined to hunt him down. Boasting a series of meticulously orchestrated setpieces that underline Mann's sense of scale and architecture, Heat also presents a rhapsody to Los Angeles, as Hanna closes in on his prey. For Nick James, the pleasures and virtues of Heat are mixed and complex. Its precise compositions and minimalist style are entangled with a particular kind of extravagant bombast. And while its vision of male teamwork is richly compelling it comes close to glorifying machismo. But these complexities only add to the interest of this hugely ambitious and accomplished film, which confirmed Mann's place in the front rank of American film-makers. In his afterword to this new edition, published to coincide with the film's 30th anniversary, Nick James reflects upon its lasting impact and on Michael Mann's subsequent film-making career.

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Book SynopsisRichard Linklater's trilogy of romantic dramas, Before Sunrise (1995), Before Sunset (2004), and Before Midnight (2013), follows the evolving love story of Jesse (played by Ethan Hawke) and Céline (played by Julie Delphy) over the course of nearly two decades. With the release of each subsequent film, the series' reputation has grown, enchanting and engaging new audiences.Lucas Hilderbrand reflects on the experience of falling of love with, living with, and having one's own life shaped by the Before trilogy. He offers a close reading of each of the Before films, considering the extent to which they operate beyond the generic norms of romantic comedy or melodrama, incorporating aspects of realism and naturalism through their location shooting, long takes, and near-real time temporality. He positions the films within their historical contexts, as time capsules of their respective moments, considering the impact of evolving politics and technologies, and how they impact or interrupt the characters' intimacy. All the while, he pays attention to the films'' subjective impact on viewers over 18 years.

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Book SynopsisEdward Buscombe has written about Stagecoach and The Searchers in the BFI Film Classics series. He is the author of Cinema Today (2003), among other books.

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Book Synopsis?Bringing Up Baby, directed by Howard Hawks in 1938, is one of the greatest screwball comedies and a treasure from the Golden Age of Hollywood. Cary Grant plays a naive and repressed palaeosaurologist who becomes entangled with (and ensnared by) a wilful heiress (Katharine Hepburn). Chaos ensues as romance blossoms and not one but two leopards are set loose in verdant Connecticut. All of Hawks''s signature skills are to the fore: there is the wonderful ensemble cast, the characteristically refined but unselfconscious visual style, an endless succession of pratfalls, innuendo and jokes (written by Dudley Nichols and Hagar Wilde) and, underneath the chaos and good cheer, a serious dream of escaping life''s troubles by dint of nothing more or less than nerve and luck. There are no human babies in Bringing Up Baby, but there are those leopards and the relentless terrier George and, as Peter Swaab explores in his witty and original study, Hawks''s film wonders pro

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Book SynopsisWith its jagged, stylised sets, menacing shadows and themes of murder, madness and delirium, Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari (1920) remains the source and essence of German Expressionist cinema. Fusing carnival spectacle with the paranoia of the psychological thriller, it centres on the haunting, sexually ambivalent presence of Conrad Veidt as Cesare the somnambulist exploited asan instrument by the sinister Dr. Caligari. David Robinson challenges long accepted versions of the history and reception of Caligari and redefines its relationship to the larger phenomenon of Expressionist art. His reassessment of the relative contributions of director, designers and writers becomes a fascinating detective story, as he investigates the status and significance of the single surviving copy of the original script, which came to light only in the late 1980s when almost all those involved in the production were dead. This second edition features a new introduction that considers the place of German E

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Book SynopsisA visually stunning and heartfelt riposte to the emotional sterility of Kubrick''s 2001: A Space Odyssey, Douglas Trumbull''s eco-themed Silent Running (1972) became one of the defining science-fiction films of the seventies. Bruce Dern excels as lonely hero Freeman Lowell, cast adrift in deep space with three robotic ''Drones'' who become his ''amazing companions'' on a journey ''beyond imagination''.Mark Kermode, writing on his favourite science fiction film of all time, traces Trumbull''s sentimental masterpiece from its roots in the counter-culture of the sixties to its enduring appeal as a cult classic in the 21st century. Drawing on a new interview with Trumbull, Kermode examines both the technical and thematic elements of this uniquely moving space adventure, which continues to be mirrored and imitated by film-makers today.This special edition features original cover artwork by Olly Moss.

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Book SynopsisBrief Encounter (1945), adapted from Noel Coward''s play Still Life, is a classic of British cinema a tale of impossible love between a married woman and a man she meets while waiting for a train. Though it''s a film made by men, it is the woman''s voice we hear recounting the story of a small-town love affair and her renunciation of it. In his lucid analysis of the film, Richard Dyer explores how its depiction of powerful feelings kept under wraps is a definitive example of a particularly English style of emotional restraint, but also how it spoke to a gay audience for whom this subject forbidden love between ordinary people had a special resonance.This reissued edition features original cover artwork by Rania Moudaress and a substantial new foreword that revisits the film and recent readings of it, covering its enduring legacy and adaptation for theatre and television.

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Book SynopsisQuite simply, Last of the Summer Wine is the longest-running comedy programme in the world. It premiered 37 years ago, in 1973, and, after 31 series it finally came to an end last year - even though all its original protagonists - Compo, Foggy, even Nora Batty - are now dead. Remarkably, for a series of such longevity and international appeal, it is all about elderly people, has little action or plot, and is set and filmed in and around the small Yorkshire town of Holmfirth. Now, Andrew Vine, the deputy editor of Yorkshire's daily newspaper, has written the definitive history of this television phenomenon. It covers the show's inauspicious beginnings, with low ratings, its endless reinvention as participants like Bill Owen, Michael Bates, Brian Wilde and Kathy Staff retired or died, the appearance of a string of guest stars from John Cleese and Norman Wisdom to Thora Hird and Russ Abbott (both of whom soon found themselves fixtures in the cast), and the ingenious plot contrivances as the protagonists became too old and frail to attempt any of the slapstick stunts with runaway prams - indeed any outdoor action. Holmfirth is now a year-round tourist attraction, and endless repeats and new DVD box sets will ensure a readership for this book for years to come.Trade Review'Thorough, affectionate and well-written, this is a must-have for all fans of the show' Choice magazine 'Celebrate the final series of this television classic with this superb book' The Daily Telegraph, Books 'An authoritative history of the show' -- Roger Lewis Mail on Sunday

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Book Synopsis

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Book SynopsisThe classic three volumes of Hebridean Folksongs, reissued simultaneously for the first time since their original publication (1969, 1977, 1981), contain 135 songs connected with the waulking of homespun tweed cloth in the Hebridean isles. Volume 1 is based on waulking songs collected by Donald MacCormick in South Uist in 1893. Volumes 2 and 3 are based on John Lorne Campbell's recordings of songs made between 1938 and 1965 in Barra, South Uist, Eriskay and Benbecula. The translations for all the songs in Volumes 2 and 3 and many of those in Volume 1 are by John Lorne Campbell, who also wrote detailed notes discussing the songs. Multiple versions of the same song are compared with each other and with versions drawn from unpublished manuscript sources. Francis Collinson's meticulous musical transcriptions of the songs, and musicological analyses, are invaluable. The songs are from the repertoires of some well-known singers of their generation, including Miss Annie Johnson, her brother Calum and Miss Mary Morrison, all of Barra, Mrs Neil Campbell of South Uist, and Miss Nan MacKinnon of Vatersay.

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